One Day at a Time: North Carolina

I promised more details about North Carolina - Part one

Leaving the Walmart parking lot early .... The road into North Carolina was full of twists and turns and reduced speeds.

Looking ahead, we could see the haze of the Smokey Mountains.

We arrived at our home for the next 6 days - the Pisgah National Forest. Serene and green ... and to our dismay, no sites were available with services (although a staff member had assured me two days prior that was not the case).

We had not really prepared ourselves for boondocking or dry camping (no electric or water) but we didn't have anywhere else to go so we toughed it out. Bruce was hesitant to run the generator due to the noise and diesel fumes, but after assurances from the park manager (a most friendly guy who turned out to be our friends neighbor) and our loop host from Florida, Bruce did run it each day thereafter. It was nice to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning and air/heat as needed.

While the forest was a camper's paradise, I found it a bit dungeon-like after our bright blue sunny New Mexico skies. Our campsite was really, really shady and dark which would be appreciated on a scorching, hot day but not this trip.

We spent several days with our friends Bruce and Karen. They had lived across from us on Redman Road in New York state many years ago and retired in Hendersonville, NC. They took us to downtown Hendersonville which is picture-postcard pretty ... huge baskets of hanging flowers, water out for the dogs, and painted bears everywhere.