Head West not so young Man

[daugen]

Drew, during these rainy days, if you don't have anything to do, you should read some of the early North Carolina Colonial histories. At least one of their civil wars {the Cary Rebellion in 1711} was brought about because of the political struggles between the Church of England folks and the Quakers.

Larro

Cary's Rebellion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

fascinating. An armed sloop attacking an armed plantation. The plantation owned by non Quakers who sided with them. And then the Marines came and it was all over.

Quaker Communities in Albemarle

 

[daugen]

Asheville NC
decided to leave two hours early and try to beat the late afternoon storms. Just under four hour drive, 30mph in very low visibility fog over the mountains following a semi who was driving carefully. I thought 40 was a lot bigger road than it was, but it was pretty, and oh so many cross streets against 55+ mph traffic. It was only spitting when I left and then poured for about half an hour. But just before I turned at the Swannanoa exit, the rain stopped, got into the campground, set up, got the car off, and was quite pleased with myself I didn't have to do the setup in the mud.

Now a rest and off to my friend's home in Hendersonville, about half an hour South of here.
Asheville pics tomorrow.

 

[sodamo]

Looks like nasty stuff to drive
Glad you're safe.

David Sent from my iPad Air using TractorByNet

 

[MacLawn]

Man, be careful in this weather! This is our time of year for tornadoes, as happened yesterday, and some are still in the forecast. Maybe you'd better find a good safe spot and wait things out a while.

 

[Larro Darro]

Glad you made it in one piece Drew. Stay safe in this bad weather we are having. {The lightning got my modem this morning and the repairman won't be coming until tomorrow, so I came in to town to post to What's for Supper?? I have to think of all the food **** fans out there}

Although the Quakers in Pennsylvania gets all the historical publicity, they were very important in the early days of North Carolina. The Church of England folks had to resort to all sorts of shenanigans to get them out of power. It took about a hundred years, but over time the numbers were against the Quakers and most of the office holders were C of E folks.

Larro

 

[Buppies]

Hopefully you had a nice dinner last night and did not get to wet. Think you will have some storms today nothing like what you were supposed to have Florida got it so Mid Atlantic will not. Clearing skies and smooth sailing tomorrow be safe

 

[daugen]

thanks Buppies, yes I was surprised that it did not storm all night. My friends here say Asheville is fairly protected from bad storms, being in the valley surrounded by mountains. Sadly one of my stops on the way is in Tupelo MS. Sure going to call ahead first. If they are up and running, they need business to pay for the cleanup so I'll try to stay on schedule.

Now normally I'm a total fan of trains, and that enjoyment is being stretched at the moment; seems there is a freight line about 500 feet away from the rv, hidden nicely by trees, but boy does it rumble.
only a couple of times a day, so no big deal. So far I'm finding KOA campgrounds to be very close to roads/trains, whatever and so far have been a bit noisy. It's one thing to be "easy on and off", it's another thing to have a constant symphony of Jake brakes from truckers going down a local hill.
Well, just turn on the roof fan and it all goes away. Due to the topography here in the mountains, apparently everything, trains, roads, etc come through this one area.

With less rain on the forecast, I have more options today. Going to tour Asheville and maybe get into the Biltmore if it's not raining. Really want to see their gardens in Spring.

well, a little update...32 bucks? nope.
well I guess only the rich get to see the rich.
I've never seen an entrance fee this high to get into anything, other than a Broadway show. For 59 bucks, they can pick me up in a leather appointed golf cart and feed me champagne...
Daytime Pricing | Biltmore

 

[Buppies]

Maybe because we stayed there it wasn't nearly as much or maybe the time of year but it is one place we plan on going back to in the future. Christmas time is supposed to be spectacular. The grounds are impressive the house even more so

 

[MacLawn]

Daug, thanks for coming on to Tupelo! The folks there will surely appreciate it! We shop there often, and eat there. It the largest town close to us, an hour. Oh, speaking of eating - just eat, eat, at The South restaurant on Gloster St. It's one of those "just eat there" places! Some of the best food anywhere!

Keep'er between the lines.

 

[daugen]

http://www.southrestauranttupelo.co...btable=UXDocument&moddate=2013-10-08 04:30:49

what a cool menu. Those crawfish etoufee and skillet corn will be new, and I'll try them.
Thanks Mac for the tip.

did a lot of touring the Asheville area, and what a pretty area it is, but oh so hilly.
Not sure there would be any level farm land here, need to go further East. The Mission hospital is highly rated and it is immediately obvious that this area is highly influenced by the wealth the medical profession has brought here. Very upscale in parts. Pics to follow. Laundry running and it's time to lighten my load of quarters. Luckily the laundry is about 100 feet away, super convenient. This campground is very, very nice. I drove all over it early this morning and it is huge. And beautifully maintained. i particularly liked the "primitive areas".

 

[daugen]

Asheville NC pictures. Very hilly, I just took pics from the car. Traffic moved so slowly it was easy. And what I found remarkable was that there were so many red lights in town, and they each took several minutes to cycle. So I spent a great deal of time just sitting in traffic, and there wasn't much of it.
None of the lights were smart lights with sensors.

An older husband/wife team of employees here at the campground asked about what part of Pa I was from. Turns out he graduated from my home town high school twelve years before me. And during the summer he helps out here at this campground and loves it, been doing it for the last twenty years. I know lots of his family and my carpenter is his nephew. What a small world.

This campground has 70 acres and it's just beautiful.

 

[MacLawn]

You going to Biltmore house? Never been, but heard it's a good visit. There's a few things to see over in Sevierville, but very touristy. There's a good restaurant there too where you sit at a big round table with whoever. We really enjoyed that the time we ate there. It's on left, kind of an old wood looking building. Yep, I've been and eaten about everywhere. Met a Swedish and then a French chef at a flea market place in Bluffton, SC a few years ago. The French chef asked if I was a professional cook. Nope I said, but I am a professional eater.

 

[daugen]

no, couldn't see the area, and see the Biltmore and get my laundry done...but I drove past it enough times. You can see where the Vanderbilt money was lavished on the area, at least at the bottom of their hill, the town looks nice. Likely because they had it rebuilt for them...

tomorrow's trip is not long but should be very, very scenic. Headed from Asheville to Lenoir City way over on the left on the map. I wondered how windey rt 40 was going through the Smokey Mountains, and Google earth lets me just peer down there and oh yea, it winds and winds and winds. no pic taking during that. But will try to stop at some scenic overlook things if they have them and get some while taking a needed stretch. And otherwise get in line with those pachyderms in the right line as they wind through the mountains holding each others tail...

but the weather should be clear and dry. Time to visit Tennessee. Too bad I'm not a whiskey drinker, am told the hooch here is mighty fine.

rumble grumble rumble, the burble of a high power diesel motorhome coming in. And what a beauty. A Tiffin Allegro Bus. The maroon and other color paint job is really snazzy. but actually the local ducks were friendlier, on their rounds right under my window, so I took their pic as they waddled and quacked along. It must be the season, because earlier it was like someone had given viagra to the local ducks, they were hopping on top of each other while we locals watched on in amusement. Dozens of ducks around here due to the lakes and the folks feeding them. So they make the rounds. Very cute.

 

[wngsprd]

Enjoy the mountains tomorrow. I guess they are the last you'll see until Santa Fe.
Even if you don't drink, if you have time to take a tour of a distillery, it is well worth it.

 

[Buppies]

Really enjoying your pictures thanks for sharing. Be careful in your travels today

 

[ronjhall]

The road is not to bad. It's the climb that will tax your motorhome. Do not be afraid to run the V10 at 4000 rpms during the climb. Enjoy the view.

 

[3930dave]

AFAIK, you don't have a ham radio license, but I wanted to mention these guys, as domestic electronic manufacturers like this are pretty much in the white rhino class these days....

TenTec

Not sure how close Sevierville is...

Ten-Tec has an excellent reputation as a company to deal with.

Rgds, D.

 

[MacLawn]

I-40 is indeed curvy and a bit steep. But, worth the drive I think. Just take it easy. Between Knoxville and west on I-40 toward Memphis is beautiful country!

 

[daugen]

well that was sure a fun drive. Would have been amazing in a Porsche....some of the curves were so sharp I had to slow to 40mph and even then my eyes were getting wide. What beautiful country, and boy is Tennessee pretty so far. About half way through the mountains I finally got behind an 18 wheeler train and just relaxed following them. Man there are a lot of trucks on that road and the driving wasn't as polite as I've seen.

Nice campground right off 40 in Lenoir City. Small but a perfectly level spot just driving up. I have a bubble level on the flat part of the dash and it bullseyed when I stopped. I'll take it. And then I felt industrious, or just full of nervous energy after that drive, and spent the next hour plus washing the rv and car. 8 bucks for the water charge. Nine bucks at the next stop in Nashville. It's just beautifully crisp and clear out now, with clouds thinning and just fine to get some exercise outdoors. All clean with nice weather ahead so maybe it will stay that way.

and the only other exercise I want is to finish tipping back this ice cold Molson Canadian that was my reward for the wash job.

yes, I was super careful taking these pics. No scenic pulloffs whatsoever.

 

[mjcountrybumpkin]

It truly is a shame you didn't drop the $32 bucks on the tour of the Biltmore house. It is an incredible masterpiece.
If you liked I-40 coming from Asheville you will love it heading over the Cumberland Plateau, has some of the longest grades on southern east coast.
Really enjoying the pictures and narration.