This is our third time to Asheville and The Blue Ridge Parkway, and it never gets old! The views and tunnels are absolutely amazing! The only better way to visit is by motorcycle, which we did back in 2015. Visiting the town of Asheville is so quaint and peaceful… we love it here!
While staying in Asheville, we visited the nearby Sierra Nevada Brewery. The guys that had a vision to create the Sierra Nevada Brewery were from Chico CA. The grounds included not only a brewery, but a restaurant, a farm to table garden, an amphitheater, a nature path to a little river and Adirondack rocking chairs which we enjoyed on the back patio.
This being what we think is our third attempt to visit the Carowinds Amusement Park in Charlotte NC (bad weather over prior years), we finally spent the day there. Carowinds is the only amusement park that has a roller coaster that crosses two state lines… North Carolina and Sound Carolina. Sallie and Ruth enjoyed as many roller coasters that their heads would allow them, without exploding. Including the Fury, which has an 83 degree drop at speeds of over 90 mph. Head banging, to say the least! Sue chose to spend the day at the Carowinds Water Park staying cool in the lazy river and the wave pool.
On our way to Atlanta and Stone Mountain Georgia, our 2013 Thor Tuscany Coach odometer reached 55,000 miles! Over 10,000 miles on this trip alone… whoohoo!!!
In Georgia near Atlanta, we had an awesome camp site at Stone Mountain RV Park, with beautiful views of the lake. Ruth’s daughter Kat was able to join us for this part of the trip. Ruth was elated to have her daughter with her. We spent one afternoon kayaking in the lake, roasting under the Hotlanta sun, traversing under a covered bridge and enjoying a picnic lunch at the Grist Mill. We then went into Stone Mountain Park and were sad to see many of the attractions were closed due to the time of year with kids returning to school. The Confederate Generals and their horses sculpture on the side of Stone Mountain is always a site to see. We enjoyed the gondola ride up and views from above.
We finally made it back to Florida and our favorite spot on the panhandle, located in Destin, Camp Gulf. We discovered the Emerald Coast our first year traveling in the motorhome and have been back to this RV Park located on the Santa Rosa Beach 6 times. If the winter weather here was anything like the Fort Lauderdale area, we probably would have settled here as our home. It just gets too cold here for us fair weather girls. Shorts and tank top all year long is our desire! In Southern Florida, it’s all about outdoor living.
We enjoyed the flour-like beach and emerald waters everyday during our last week on the road. We also spent some time at Crab Island. A sand bar where everyone comes to enjoy water toys, water volleyball, drinking and partying in the beautiful warm gulf waters. Aside from the annoying jellyfish, we had a wonderful time!
Chargrilled oysters… our absolute favorite at the Acme Oyster House (same as the famous Acme in New Orleans). We each had their dozen oyster appetizer 3 times for dinner during our stay. We just couldn’t get enough. Sunset over Crab Island was spectacular!
Over the last 4 1/2 months, we traveled through 26 states, 1 Canadian Province, visited 20 National and State Parks, 1 Amusement park, hiked 65 miles, biked 9 miles, 2 horseback rides, 2 mountain tram rides, 3 mini vacation overnights, 1 ferry ride, celebrated a 20th Anniversary, celebrated a 1 year Sober Anniversary, enjoyed 2 visitors (AJ and Kat), drove 5,450 miles in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, ran 62 generator hours and drove 10,103 miles in the Motorhome. The main purpose of the trip was to get out to California to empty a huge storage unit we had been renting since 2015, have a garage sale and donate whatever was left over.
The visit to the Bay Area turned out to be a nightmare for us when Sue’s sister passed away. We are still in disbelief, but know that she is watching over us and will be with us always and forever! We love and miss you Sandy… RIP
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