Outing #2 to Mountain Stream RV Park, Marion, NC (9/26-9/28)

Our second outing in T@Bouli was a short trip to an RV park near Marion, NC. We made some new T@B friends there (Sharon and her sister Becky) whose Splash T@B is visible in some of our pictures. We had a great time, but have promised ourselves that our next trips will be at least three-night trips. Mountain Stream RV Park is located near Marion and is about 5 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. Our site backed up to a rocky stream - the sound of the water was so relaxing!



This was the view from our campsite - a beautiful mountain stream!


Bob working on dinner - chicken in foil, broccoli and fried leftover sweet potatoes. It was delicious!


We hiked to the top of this peak - Crabtree Pinnacle - it was not as high as it looks.


This was the view from atop Crabtree Pinnacle.

This trip was not planned - we went on the spur of the moment. Wow! It's fun to be retired! Bob made B&B reservations in Glendale Springs, NC and Floyd, VA (both on the Parkway) a few months ago (before we bought the trailer) to celebrate my 60th birthday. Back to the Blue Ridge but T@Bouli stays home this time.

Maiden Voyage - Trip to Hanging Rock St. Park (NC)

We took our first trip in our new T@B this week and had a great time! We went to Hanging Rock State Park in NC. There were only five other campsites being used when we arrived on Tuesday and only two others by the time we left on Thursday. On Wednesday we had beautiful weather and hiked up to Hanging Rock. The hike was described in the brochure as "moderate." We decided that if this hike was moderate, we would not take any strenuous hikes on this trip! After lunch, we hiked to the Upper Cascade Falls only to find a trickle of a waterfall (due to the drought). Today, before we left for home, we hiked to the Lower Cascade Falls and found a lovely waterfall.

Last evening, the ranger stopped by to see how we were doing and asked if we had any questions. He commented about Bob's t-shirt (Eno River) and said his sister, Jenny Nygard, had designed it. It turns out that his mother was Margaret Nygard, one of the founders of the Eno River Association and a long time advocate of making the Eno River a state park. Thanks to her efforts and others, the Eno is now a beautiful, stable river with many parklands from Hillsborough to Durham, NC. Margaret Nygard was a hero for conservation efforts on the Eno.


The view from the top of Hanging Rock was spectacular.


The drought has affected the waterfalls - but the Lower Cascade Falls were worth the hike!


Here is Bob preparing breakfast.


Susan making homegrown tomato sandwiches for lunch.

All in all we had a great first trip in our T@B. On the way home, we were already planning our next adventure. More to come!

Introducing T@BOULI, our 2007 T@b that we purchased in July. We towed her home to NC from FL in August. We had originally planned to stop at a campground along the way, but with no AC and the temperature in the high 90s to over 100, we decided to stop at a Hampton Inn instead. We did enjoy the interest several people showed when we stopped at rest stops and for the night in Brunswick, GA.

We have been "outfitting" the trailer and tried her out in the driveway (slept in her a couple of cooler nights, sat under the awning in the morning with a cup of coffee, etc.). We're excited about taking her out to Hanging Rock State Park next week for a few nights. We've enjoyed cooler weather lately and hope it sticks around. More to follow after our first camping experience with T@BOULI.