Back Home and Watching It Snow!

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

We were really hoping that Spring would come East with us, but not having power over the weather, we are now sitting in Maryland watching the snow pile up. At least we are not stuck in the rig and have a warm spot inside out daughter and son-in-law's home. We managed to stay behind the bad weather all the way east, after our close call in Texas.

Leaving the rest area outside of Lamesa, Texas, we set our sights for Arkansas. At the border we spent the night in the Texas Welcome area, a quick u-turn back into Texas in Texarkana. After a noisy night we drove straight across southern Arkansas on a state highway and on across Mississippi, staying the night at a Flying J truck stop. Another noisy night and the next day, after grabbing a hot breakfast at Huddle House, we drove on into Alabama, still on the state highway. At Birmingham we reluctantly drove on to the interstate heading toward Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Albany, Texas Artist Area

House in Albany, Texas

Courthouse on the town square

Dallas

Last Dose of Texas BBQ before going BBQ-free for a few weeks

Crossing the Mississippi

Pulling into a rest stop to eat lunch we parked next to a large Class A motorhome. They had the dashboard curtains drawn and their levelers out. Hmmm, guess they are taking a nap. We glanced around the rest stop and spotted a dump station and water! We decided, when they left a short time later and dumped, that maybe they were taking showers. One look at each other and we decided that we were overdue after nights of rest stops and truck stops. Our last rig shower, I am embarrassed to say was in the Gila Wilderness, many states away! (BTW, we do find other ways between showers to maintain our personal hygiene!).


We finished lunch, drew the shades, and enjoyed the last of our water taking showers in the rest area parking lot! A new experience for us. Then we dumped the tanks, refilled our water and drove back onto the interstate feeling refreshed!

North of Chattanooga we found a Love's Truck Stop and a reasonably quiet place to park. The next day, since we had three days left to get back to Maryland, we decided to slow down a bit. Northeast of Knoxville, we drove off the exit for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. First we had to drive through the tourist traps of Sevierville, Gatlinburg, and the continuous strip of development in between. Greg had to stop at the largest knife store in the world. He is now the proud owner of a pair of survivalist type pants, rip-stop fabric with lots of pockets, but khaki, not camo!

Mr. and Mrs Claus on vacation

We finally made it to Gatlinburg after passing endless hotels, restaurants, mini-golfs, Ripley's Believe It Or Not, the Titanic, an upside-down mansion, King Kong on the Empire State Building, Hillbilly shows, the entrance to Dollywood, and places to buy cheap souvenirs! Gatlinburg was only slightly less “kitschy”, but we drove on through it into the park. Ahhh, mountains, trees, and wilderness, and Spring Break! The visitor center was crowded, only three campgrounds open, roads still closed for the winter, and after a quick parking lot lunch, we decided to just make the drive over the mountain to North Carolina and move on.
We stopped at the top to see the view and fight the crowds and descended down the other side. By the time we reached Asheville, we made a last minute decision to drive off the interstate and stop late at a small campground. Not ideal, too expensive, but easy to get too, and the sun was setting soon. It had a beautiful setting along the French Broad River, but with interstates on three sides, and a rail trail down the center of the campground road, it was very noisy and busy. Might as well have stayed in a truck stop again, but we couldn't find one close by. We did have hook-ups so we enjoyed those.

Crossing Smoky Mtn National Park - Big Enough tunnels

No Cactus?

Haze over the Smokies on a relatively clear day

FDR stood here to dedicate the Park in 1940

Campsite on the French Broad River in Asheville

Beautiful location but lots of noise from the nearby interstates

Since we didn't get very far the day before, it was time for monotonous interstate driving the rest of the way home. I was determined to find a quiet spot to spend our last night before the hustle and bustle of the DC metro area. As we drove north on I-81 we found a small national forest campground not far off the highway called North River outside of Buchanan. We climbed up into the mountains, through the forests, along a tumbling trout stream. Near the Blue Ridge Parkway we found the 16 site campground. No one was there. We had it all to ourselves. Our selected site was along the beautiful rocky stream, whose sounds lulled us to sleep that night, as the stars peeked between the branches of the fir trees.

Stream rushing down from the Blue Ridge past our secluded camp

Okay, back on I-81 to I-66, and traffic, here we come. The sky grew overcast. Where were the 60 degree temperatures and the sunny skies that were predicted? The rain started as we approached Maryland. The spoiled nomads began to miss the sun and wide open spaces of the Southwest!

It's lovely to be back with family, and there is lots to do and catch up on before we start west again after Easter. We'll take a jaunt briefly south during this time, perhaps North Carolina, come back to settle on the sale of our condo, finally..., and enjoy Easter with the family. We will probably not post again until then as we concentrate on our time here. Once on the road west we will be starting our summer junket to Northern California, the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, and British Columbia. Can't wait!