Pilot Mountain

Another beautiful day here in Mayberry! Today, we took a drive to Pilot Mountain. Located less then 20 miles from Mt. Airy, it was a lovely drive. When we got there it was HUGE! Being from the NYC area, I’m not used to seeing mountains that large with a huge knob on top. We decided to take a drive through the campground area and while the sites were nice, it is not something we would take our motorhome to. The roads are too steep, the sites are not level and are very small, but the view is amazing. From there we continued up the mountain. At times, I had to close my eyes. I don’t like heights and some of the drop offs were more than my heart could stand. We finally got to the top and what a view. Words cannot do it justice so enjoy the pictures. Len climbed to very top and took some more pictures. Enjoy the views.

		Pilot Mountain VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A lovely sunset topped our day. Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails. Until next time…

Mayberry

Today we got another late start, but it wasn’t because I slept in! It was because we are having a problem with our car. Yesterday when we got here and Len disconnected the car from the tow bar, it wouldn’t start. He thought maybe he left a light on, but this morning it wouldn’t start again. When we finally got it started, (thank God for jumpers) we went to the gas station, filled up and it took FIVE minutes to get it to turn over. It’s not the battery because the clock still works, the windows went up and down, etc. so we’re not sure what is going on, but will need to get it checked soon. After dropping off some mail at the post office, we walked over to The Snappy Lunch to enjoy their famous pork chop sandwich. I had mine all the way (chili, onions, coleslaw, tomato), Len just had chili on his. After lunch, Len went in to Floyd’s barber shop and got an $8 haircut. No offence, but Floyd needs to retire. Len was in that chair for an hour! I walked across the street to the wine shop, tried some different wines, found one I like. I am enjoying a glass as I write this blog. From there we went into Opie’s Candy Shop and then up the street to the Ice Cream Shop and had Ice Cream soda’s. It wasn’t busy so the owner sat down to talk with us. We told him how we live in our RV and travel. We continued to browse through the shops finishing up at the music shop owned by James Easter of the Easter Brothers. We enjoy Blue Grass and Southern Gospel and talked with him for a bit. Found out he and his brothers are performing at the campground this Saturday and they are having a southern bar-b-que, so we extended our stay here until Monday. That gives us plenty of time to see the rest of the sights and tour some more wineries. We walked back to the car and guess what??? Wrong! It actually started. Who knows what’s up with this engine! We drove over to the Andy Griffith Museum 

where they are doing construction on the sidewalks, so we walked down stairs, through an alley and then up stairs to enter through the back door. It was interesting, but no photography was allowed inside the museum, just in the lobby. Then we returned the same way and went to see the display on Eng and Chang Bunker, the Siamese twins whose descendants own this campground. It was a long afternoon and a lot of walking, but we enjoyed every minute of it. Look for more posts this week as we explore more of Mayberry and the surrounding area. Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails. Until next time…

Travel Day

Travel days for us usually start early, depending on how many miles we’re covering. Well, today we were traveling about 200 and I slept in! All these recent time changes has reeked havoc on my body. Well, at least that’s what I keep telling myself. We finally left Pride RV Resort in Waynesville, NC and pointed our coach eastward then north to Mayberry Campground. While much of the fall foliage is past peak there were still magnificent views around every bend in the highway. Then came the signs. Not the “here’s your sign”, sign. No these signs would make most newbie RVer’s nervous. 6% grade ahead for four miles. 35 MPH speed limit for trucks down the other side of the Smoky Mountains. The smell of hot brakes as you near the bottom of the hill. Run-away truck ramps, not one, not two, but THREE of them as we continued down the mountain. Oh, how I enjoyed the views as Lenny drove. Oh, how Lenny gripped the steering wheel as I oohed and ahhed! I-40 is a wonderful drive across NC, except for one section that was tooth rattling. Before we knew it we were heading north on 77 to our destination of Mt. Airy, NC. For those of you who may not know, Mt. Airy is the town that Mayberry, RFD is based on…The Andy Griffith Show. Now, I am much younger than my husband, He remembers The Andy Griffith Show, I don’t. It went off the air in 1968. In 1968 I was still a toddler, not even in school yet. But I will let you know that I was out of diapers. It was almost 5 by the time we were in our sight and set up so off to dinner we went. A friend had recommended the Prime Sirloin Buffet up the road. Diners and workers were all dressed up for Halloween, so we told told them we were dressed up as RVers! LOL Anyway, after dinner we went for a drive through town. Tomorrow looks like a busy day, so much to see and do while we are here. It’s getting late and if I don’t get to bed, I will turn into a pumpkin, no pun intended. Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails. Until next time…

Sunset in Mayberry

Quick Blog Update

O.K., I am really going to try and write at least once a week. Sometimes I think my life may be too boring. After all, who wants to read that I woke up at 6, had two cups of coffee, played on the computer all morning before getting ready to go out for the day? But once again I was reminded that I don’t write often enough, so let me bring you up to date. We spent a few days in Crossville, TN. A lovely RPI park for $10 a night. We knew we were in the south when we passed a beautiful home on a large plot of land flying a Confederate Flag! The scenery in the area was breath-taking. From there we were headed to Asheville, NC. We have friends here that we had not seen in years. Friday night we drove to Melanie and Vance’s to have dinner with them. They have the cutest kids. Solomon, 4 1/2 and Nathanial, 2 1/2. Although you would think there were four small boys playing including Len and Vance. They thoroughly enjoyed the Halloween cupcakes we bought them. The view from Melanie’s kitchen window was awesome. To look out at the hills and valleys, with the cows grazing. WOW. To Melanie’s surprise, she made my most favorite meal, meatloaf, baked potato and broccoli. It was very enjoyable and the boys were well behaved and funny. By the end of the night, they were repeating everything Lenny said. It’s been awhile since we’ve been around kids like that. Saturday we went for a drive thru the town of Maggie Valley where they have a tower you can climb to take pictures. The view leaves you speechless. When we got back from our jaunt, Lenny recognized a motor home belonging to friends, Nick and Terry Russell of The Gypsy Journal. We had met them many years ago at a Life on Wheels seminar. Nick is a very prolific writer about the RV lifestyle and has even written a murder mystery that is very good. They had gone to the Wheels Through Time museum and on their way back stopped at our coach and we chatted for a while. Today, Sunday, Melanie and Vance are bringing their boys here so they can see our “house on wheels”. Tomorrow we leave to explore more of North Carolina. Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails. Until next time…

Country Home

We left Grandma’s RV Park around 10 this morning heading south on I-65. Looking at the GPS and the paper map, it was taking us in a straight line to Lebanon, TN, our next stop. The map made it look like ok roads to drive, but being unfamiliar with the area only time  would tell. We exited onto a county road and would be on this road for 20 miles before our next intersection. Well, it started out ok, but went downhill from there. Literally, down hill. It was a two lane road, very pretty drive, but nerve racking. There were ditches to the right, no shoulder on either side and no where to pull over. With that twenty mile stretch behind us we turned onto a much better road. Still a two lane road but plenty of shoulder. Before we knew it, we were almost to our destination. I am still not feeling well, so I looked around for an Immedicenter or Urgent Care facility. This cold is turning into an infection and I can just feel it. On Saturday’s, the urgent cares close at 2pm. Too late for us, so off to the ER we go. I was impressed. In less than two hours I was out of there with a prescription for antibiotics and was told it was the start of bronchitis. Got this nipped in the bud, from there it was off to Walgreens to fill my Rx and then home to rest. I want to enjoy the Nashville area, so tonight is a short post. We gained an hour coming here, in two weeks when we leave, we’ll loose that hour. Two weeks after that we’ll gain it back when the clocks change. I am very confused with all this “what time is it” so I think I’ll just stay put on EST! Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails…till next time.

Kentucky’s Bourbon Trail

Today didn’t start out too well. I have a really bad cold working on me. Must be the drastic changes in temperatures. What with going from Northern Indiana to Kentucky with a rise in temps of 20+ degrees, coupled with allergies! But my woes are nothing compared to those on I-65 south this morning. Two tractor trailers and a car. One of the trucks ended up in the ditch, the car ended up under one of the trucks and at least one fatality, so I’m not complaining about my cold. More vitamin C to take, orange juice and hot tea with lemon and honey will do the trick.
With all the traffic and me not feeling well, we decided to stay put in KY and move to TN tomorrow. Later in the day we headed out to the Jim Beam distillery. It’s about 6 miles from the campground. This was one of the places we wanted to visit anyway. What we didn’t know was that today was the start of the Kentucky Bourbon Race. These people have teams of 12 and they each run 8-12 mile legs over two days, totaling 200 miles for each team. Wow, I can’t even run one mile and some of the hills they had to run were pretty steep! Now, picture this…two grey haired fat people in a station wagon with a handicapped placard hanging from the rear view mirror. We pull up to an attendant and she asks us if WE ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE RUN!!! Really??? Are you serious? Do we look conditioned to run that far? I really wanted to say something, but figured I would just keep quiet and let her tell us where to park for the tour. We made our way around hundreds of runners and vans and found a place to park. We enjoyed touring the facility and listening to the band and then we were greeted by one of the descendants of Jim Beam or whoever started the company. We saw thousands of barrels of bourbon and oh the aroma. Finally, at the end, I decided to try some. I’ve never had bourbon and I can truthfully say, “How can you drink that stuff?” All it did for me was numb my throat for the afternoon.
There was another distillery not too far from Jim Beam, so we went to check that one out too. As we approached Heaven Hill Distillery we saw more runners. Ouch is all I can say as we watched them make their way up that hill. This was a nice place too. They had samples of different sauces and jams that they make with the bourbon. It was nice to be able to try them out before buying them. We didn’t spend too much there, but did buy a few more Christmas presents. That is one nice thing about traveling…we can get Christmas presents from all over that our daughter and other loved ones would never find back home. There are four other distilleries on the Bourbon Trail, but like I said in the beginning, I wasn’t feeling well, so we came home so I could rest some more before heading to Tennessee tomorrow morning. Thanks for traveling along with us on The Thomas’ Trails…till next time. Click here to see the rest of the pictures.