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Time for quiet solitude to find myself again. Traveling north to the smoky mountains, Knoxville to see my daughter and son in law, Mammoth Cave, and the bourbon trail Read more
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  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 1

    First Stop

    April 17, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    First stop: Breakfast in the Walmart parking lot. Pick up a few things and get fuel. Plan: make it to Fort Valley GA by 4pm. We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Feeling like the bayou here, and I'm still in Florida.Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 1

    Lane's Peach Orchard

    April 17, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌧 75 °F

    First day and I'm about 6 hours up the road in Fort Valley, GA. Two years ago when I bought my first RV, I joined Harvest Hosts which is a membership club of thousands of farms, breweries, wineries and golf resorts that allow members to park on their property, visit with them for a small purchase or participation in the products they offer. Today is my first time using my membership.

    I arrived at Lane's Orchards and will stay the night here. It's Easter, so of course they are closed. At the moment I am the only one here. It's very beautiful. Acres and acres of peach trees. The leaves of the peach trees are the brightest green of spring. There are strawberry fields, old tractors on display, and a cute little playground. It's starting to rain. Tomorrow morning the shop and diner open at 9 am, so I hope to go in and buy something, maybe some peach wine or peach cobbler.

    As the rain gets heavier. The winds have picked up. The van rocks back and forth. So I close the door and the west facing window and lock up for the night. It's only 5 pm. I'm enjoying some red wine, smoked gouda and crackers and trying to decide what I want to cook for dinner tonight. Before the rain started, I had thought I might grill outside under the pavilion so as not to heat up the van. I'm going to try not to run the AC, so I save my lithium battery charge. But now I will reconsider dinner plans and perhaps go back to the original plan of making Spaghetti. As the rain comes down hard I'm thinking I will turn the van windshield wipers on to clean off the remains of the bugs that were sacrificed at the expense of my ventures.

    Tonight besides eating, I am planning to get online and process payroll. Yes, I still have to do some work on this trip.

    In the resurrection spirit of this day, here's to new beginnings, renewed life and rebirth.

    Miles today: 368
    Fuel expense: $70.92    Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    1
    Day 2

    Day 2

    April 18, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F

    Happy Monday! Took me 30 min to clean up this morning including my Puerto Rican shower with Dr Bronner's peppermint soap (quite invigorating). Then sat with coffee and went through the stack of mail that I grabbed on my way out of the condo yesterday morning, which gives me a few phone calls to make while I'm driving.

    Lane's Southern Orchard is charming and peaceful. I bought zesty pickled asparagus, raspberry pepper jam (just need some brie to go with it), and fruit juice sweetened peach jam. Of course I got some peach cobbler which besides the peaches is all sugar and gluten, the two things that I try to avoid. But I'm on vacation.

    Today I have a zoom team meeting at 12:30 so I'll stop somewhere with good phone signal or wifi access. I plan a total drive of less than 4 hrs, depending on Atlanta traffic, landing me in Franklin, NC. I'm planning to stop by Dry Falls before heading into my next Harvest Host destination late afternoon. It's supposed to rain again so plans could change. I've been to Dry Falls several times as a child and maybe even once when I was around 20. That's been a little bit ago.    Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 2

    Dry Falls, Highlands Rd/US Hwy. 64, High

    April 18, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F

    I've been to Dry Falls and Bridal Falls many times before, but it's been a very long time. It stopped drizzling just long enough for a hike down. The drive through the mountains along that pass was great. The rhododendrons are just about to bloom. Would love to be here when they are blooming. I can see that the next few days are going to be a trip down memory lane for me.Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    1
    Day 2

    Springtime in the Mountains

    April 18, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 45 °F

    Today I drove into the Smokey mountains of North Carolina. I've never been to the Smokey Mountains in springtime before. As a child we came here every summer to visit my grandparents, and autumn sometimes as well. Spring is gorgeous. The dogwoods are blooming. BJ and Stephanie, the couple whose property I'm staying on tonight, said that it snowed here last week. The grass is brilliant green and the trees, while not all are in their full leaf, are shining brightly. The narrow winding roads that weave up and down and around the mountains are a bit intimidating at first in a large vehicle. Gotta really put the pedal to the metal to get up the hills. But by the last 10 miles, I felt like a race car driver, whipping around those mountain ledges. The van and I became one.

    Tonight it's getting down to 33 degrees. I have a little space heater in here and am electric blanket. My hosts are gracious enough to let me stay here connected to their water and electric for free. And I can dump tomorrow morning before I head out. Tomorrow I'll be once more off the grid completely like last night.

    I'm really enjoying this time away. I find myself smiling while I'm driving. I have RBF, so to someone else it might just look like a pleasant resting face, but I am smiling and my heart is smiling. Music of the day was Fresh Country station. I knew none of the words to the songs, but it was enjoyable and allowed me to drift off in thought. I'm pretty sure I heard "Jesus is a chicken" in one of the songs, but I looked it up and I can't find that anywhere... so not sure. But yeh country music is interesting, so are billboards these days.

    My thoughts are many and random as I'm driving. Coming back here makes me think about my childhood. I had so much hope and belief that anything was possible for me as a young girl. I fear I've lost that hope gradually over the years as things such as heartbreak, loss, death, health issues, and the stress of intense work load have slowly smothered the internal fire inside me. Where is she? Maybe I can find that girl again.

    So today I drove from Fort Valley, Georgia to Franklin, North Carolina. Found fuel for $3.13 a gallon! I discovered that the silly little desk thing that I never use as a desk is a great stand for me to do my piriformis muscle stretches... that's a whole other story. I went to Dry Falls in Nantahala National Forest, amazing place. Then I came into this perfect little mountain haven that this lovely couple has allowed me to stay in, and I made Spaghetti for dinner. Needed something warm and savory that would stick to my ribs on this chilly night. Brrrr.

    Tomorrow: Hot Springs Resort & Spa
    Miles today: 249
    Fuel: $119.70    Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 3

    Hot Springs Resort & Spa

    April 19, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F

    Woke up this morning to an INSIDE temperature of 51 degrees. Brrrr. There was ice on the windshield. Got myself and everything ready for travel, coffee made, unhooked the camper and dumped. My grey tank was full, of course, I was hooked to water last night so I used more than I would have otherwise. But still 2 days I think is a good amount to go between dumping and refilling water. Maybe I could make it to the 3rd day. I have 2 extra gallons of tap water just in case I run out. And I suppose if I found a very remote place, I could dump some grey water even though not supposed to. My fingers and toes were freezing this morning.

    I drove just under 2 hours into Hot Springs NC to the Hot Springs Resort & Spa. I had a reservation for a 1.5 hour Mineral water spa with my own private cabin and gas fire pit. Thank you to my neighbor, Chris, who told me about this place. It was very relaxing. I was in tub 5, which is located right on the water where the creek meets the river. I saw two Canadian geese floating down stream on the river into the rapids. Not sure how they can stand water so cold. I was pretty much emerged to my chin the whole time. The low jet hit my lower back just right. It was 45 degrees outside and the wind was whipping through so too chilly to get out. The water they say is pumped in from a mineral spring and it's 100 degrees. I was wishing the water could be about 2 degrees warmer, but that's not possible they day. I was in the water the whole time, never broke a sweat. It was my first bathing since leaving home so I brought my biodegradable soap and washed my hair. It was a little rough exiting and getting dressed in 45 degrees but I managed and headed back to the van to eat blow dry my hair and eat lunch.

    Next venture of the day: hike the Appalachian Trail to Lover's Leap    Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 3

    Appalachian Trail Lover's Leap

    April 19, 2022 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 52 °F

    I'm sitting in a big, beautiful barn right now. Why? There is no wifi except in the barn, and there is no phone signal here either. So when I walk back to the van for the night, I will be off the grid. Emergency calls only. I'm at this cute little place called Paint Rock Farm for the night. Planning to open the bottle of red wine I bought and maybe set up the grill. It is quite chilly though.

    After leaving the spa, I parked in town by the railroad tracks and walked to the outfitters store. Evidently, Bridge St in Hot Springs is part of the Appalachian Trail. As I was driving in, I saw many hikers with backpacks, walking sticks and long beards. Speaking of... I haven't shaved in 3 days. Like I didn't even go that long after my surgery.

    So, I go to the outfitter store. It's amazing the things they have in there for camping and hiking. So cool. For some reason I couldn't remember why I wanted to go there before my hike. So after looking around awhile, I left for the 2 plus mile hike from town up to Lover's Leap via the Appalachian Trail. Once I got on the trail I remembered why I wanted to go to the outfitters store.... to get a walking stick.

    The trail starts out asking the French basin river, and there is a small waterfall there. I was alone on the trail, just like my drive into Hot Springs this morning, no one to be seen. It is absolutely gorgeous. I did see a couple of campsites along the river, but no persons. Once I started the hike up, the trail got pretty steep. I was wishing for those walking sticks. The further up the trail i climbed, the quieter it became as the river became further away. After stopping about 5 times to slow my heart rate down from about 180 bpm I finally made it to the overlook. The view was amazing.

    I walked quite a bit more and was looking for the orange markers for the trail back to the road, but they weren't there. I kept climbing up, and I was saying outloud to myself, I got to be coming down this mountain soon. I looked on the map and it looked like I was half way to Tennessee or something. All I could think of was having a heart attack, falling down the mountain and the panthers licking my contusions. I was so afraid of getting lost and didn't have a good map. I took that picture of the trail after I came back down the mountain. So I turned around and walked back down the way I came. I passed about a dozen hikers coming back down, almost all of which had hiking sticks.

    I made it down and walked back into town to the outfitters store to look at hiking sticks. I pick a set up and they were $150 so I decided I would do some research first before making a purchase. The I went next door to see what they had there. It was an exquisite selection of gourmet foods. I chose a bottle of red wine from Barcelona. Danny recommended it; he said it had peppery notes. I also grabbed some crackers and went to check out. When I went to get my wallet out of my orange Italian leather backpack, it was not there!

    So I walked back to the van to look for my wallet... no where. I looked everywhere 5 times. Checked my discover card activity and it was silent. So I looked around outside the van, nada. I walked down the street to the brewery and inquired to see if anyone turned in a wallet. One guy asked another guy who asked another guy and then the guy sitting next to him yells out "Kimberly". I jumped, put my hand up in the air and said, "That's me!". They asked me where I was from and they said you check out. They have your wallet over at City Hall. But alas it was 5:45 pm and City Hall was closed. I went back to the van to get some cash. Thankfully, all of my cash was in my purse and not in my card holder pocket. By golly, I went back to the gourmet store to buy that wine and crackers. That's when Danny said he would text the mayor and see if she could help me.

    A couple minutes later the Mayor Norton of Hot Springs, NC called me. She was two doors down so she came over to City Hall and found my wallet for me. Miracle on Bridge Street.

    I don't know what I would have done if I'd lost that. So that's my day. Now going to go off grid and turn in for the night. 🌙 night night    Read more

  • TravelerSmoky Mountains Bourbon Trail
    Day 3

    Crazy Night- Battery Depleted

    April 19, 2022 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 45 °F

    I had a pretty crazy night. I had just finished eating dinner when the power flickered and all the plugged in appliances stopped. The portable heater stopped running, my phone flickered as the charging stopped. I looked at the battery panel, Inverter control and Balmar system and it was so low (<20%) that it had shut itself off. This happened to me once before, so I knew the only way to get it turned back on was to plug in to an electrical outlet. Only takes a second, but have to plug in. Well, it wouldn't have been such a big deal except that it was only 9:20 pm and it was already 37 degrees outside, plus I had no phone signal at all. I did have just under 3/4 tank of gas.

    So, I figured I had three options: 1) wake up Lindsay the kind host on the property with 2 small children under the age of 6 to see if she could move me to a non boon docking space. 2) turn the van engine on and off throughout the night to keep the van warm (but I wasn't sure how well this would work at freezing temps) or 3) drive to Ashville, find a place to plug in briefly and be in a place that has phone service and fuel.

    Now mind you, I was 8 oz of wine in and had just popped a muscle relaxer. Three days before leaving on the trip I went to the orthopedic urgent care. I had been having pain in my butt and hips for over 3 weeks, and the last week it was so intense that I couldn't work. I diagnosed myself with piriformis syndrome. I had 3 massages, 2 chiro adjustments, 2 physical therapy appointments, a myofascial release session, had iced and heated and stretched, and was taking ibuprofen. At the urgent care they did an x-ray which I knew was pretty much useless for diagnosis of what I had. They found a couple other things, but none the less, Dr agreed with me on the piriformis diagnosis and prescribed me a steroid pack and muscle relaxers...

    In my dilemma, I chose the third option... get to a place with more resources. I knew I only had 2 hours before the muscle relaxer would kick in and I wouldn't be able to keep my eyes open. I quickly buckled up the van for travel and set out back to town. There was no phone signal, so I had to go off my memory on how I got to this remote location. I found Hot Springs, but on a week night at almost 10 pm, the town was shut down. Now having phone signal, I pulled over to get directions to Ashville which was almost an hour drive away.

    So I headed off on the steep, curvy mountain roads in the pitch black of night, the only lights being my headlights. Sign says 8% grade, "okay brake 3 seconds every 10 seconds". Ears popping, runaway truck ramp, my screen displays "possible ice on roads"... I find a small town gas station that is closed, but I spot an electrical outlet on the front of the building. It's not secured to the concrete, so it's sort of dangling in place. I put my coat on and quickly jump out to plug in for a second. That instantly restarts the inverter, so now I'm charging as I'm driving.

    I roll into downtown Ashville at 11 pm. All I see are homeless men. I wonder how they will stay warm tonight. I just need to find a gas station, so I can top off my tank and then a safe, well lit parking lot to sleep in. I ended up in the Trader Joe's parking lot. I woke up every 30-60 min to turn on the engine or turn off the engine so i could have heat and recharge the battery. The heat or the cold woke me up each time. It wasn't a very restful night.

    Today, I'm just recovering I guess. Might take a nap. I joined The Joint recently so went to see the chiropractor here in Ashville. Thanks to a friend who gave me a Massage Envy gift card I have a massage scheduled for 3 pm.

    I spent an hour on the phone with tech support to find out how to work the automatic engine start up when the battery gets low... only to find out that this battery system doesn't have that option. I've done Ashville before, so today I will just rest. I need a good night's sleep.    Read more

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