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RE: Do we stay or do we go??? Gustav :(
Okay, we cancelled. Did not want TD #8 cutting off our return trip. Sooo, any suggestions??? Maryland, Virginia? We were wanting to be on water.
If you chose Maryland be aware that they are doing some construction work on the Bay Bridge this weekend and will have lanes closed. They are warning people to avoid the bridge and take the northern route to the beaches instead. That may be the route you would take anyway but I thought I'd give you a head's up that that way will probably be more congested, too, due to the rerouting.
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Pamelajo
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08/28/08 05:47pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Formaldehyde Lawsuit
I saw that story on the news this evening. I wish one of those employees had spoken out earlier. Workers were passing out right there on the production room floor and no one said anything? I guess they were afraid they would be fired but still, that's pretty bad.
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Pamelajo
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07/08/08 09:22pm |
General RVing Issues
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RE: I've been shot...!
That's terrible. I'm glad you and your dog are okay.
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Pamelajo
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06/28/08 05:48am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: When will this bubble burst??
In January of 2001, when the Shrub took office, regular gasoline was selling for $1.45/gallon.
The Dems have been in control for 4 years.
Nope, not even close. Try a year and a half.
It doesn't matter, though. There won't be a real solution until BOTH parties stop playing politics and work together. Of course, we'll probably see pigs flying before that happens.:p
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Pamelajo
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06/28/08 05:46am |
General RVing Issues
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RE: Tioga George ? Updated!....
Whew! Thanks, firedude.
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Pamelajo
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06/20/08 08:40pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Tioga George ? Updated!....
I saw that and was getting ready to post the same question. I've been searching other RV forums and can't find anything like what the poster mentions. I think it's either a miscommunication or a hoax. If it's the latter, well then, that's one cruel, heartless, S.O.B.
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Pamelajo
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06/20/08 12:29pm |
Full-time RVing
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
We're back!
We had a great time and I thought of all of you a lot as the advice I received in this thread came in handy many times on the trip. I can't tell you how much I appreciate all the suggestions.
I loved the Smoky Mountains but I think my favorite part of the trip was driving on the Parkway and the rural areas of North Carolina. We took almost four days to drive to Cherokee and I really enjoyed that pace. We stayed in some terrific campgrounds-my favorites were Campfire Lodgings in Asheville, Happy Holidays in Cherokee and River Plantation in Seveirville.
My favorite stop was the Blue Ridge Music Center on the Parkway near Boone, NC. It had an interesting little museum but the best part was the bluegrass musicians playing outside the museum. We sat in rocking chairs enjoying the scenery and the cool breeze and the music. It was one of those perfect days that we'll never forget.
Actually the whole trip was pretty perfect and the B was, as always, so great to travel in. Now it's time for some sleep and dreams of our next adventure.
Thanks again!
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Pamelajo
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06/15/08 08:16pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Meeting other Forum Folks
Being new to this forum, I'm finding it interesting just to see where people are from say anything about meeting them! Of course, when we get back on the road again, that might become a reality. Nice to hear of the good exchange....see ya. C
Welcome aboard, bohemians!
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Pamelajo
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06/04/08 09:10pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Thanks again to everyone for all the great suggestions. I'm going to print out this thread before we leave so that I'll have all the info on routes and possible stops. I really appreciate all of your comments.
I'm thinking now that I will try to make a few reservations tomorrow. I was planning to reserve a spot where we wanted to stay Friday night but now I think I will reserve a Saturday night spot near the Va/NC border,too. Maybe in Galax or Mount Airy.
I think I'll leave Sunday and Monday night unreserved and then book a spot in Cherokee for Tuesday and Wednesday. We like what we've seen about the Jellystone and Happy Holidays parks so I want to see if we can get a waterfront site at one of those and maybe just kick back one day and do some fishing. Then I thought I'd leave Thursday unreserved and either stay another day in Cherokee or move over to the Tennessee side. I thought I'd book a site for Friday night in Townsend or Sevierville.
I think this plan might still give us some room to explore and move at our own pace but eliminate getting stuck in motel rooms. I don't mind if that happens once or twice on the trip but I would hate to do it a lot or to spend too much time looking for a campground. That only leaves four nights without a reservation but they are spaced out enough during the trip to give us some different options about where we go and how fast we travel.
It's kind of frustrating because I really want to be more laid back on this trip and not have an itinerary but it also seems silly not to at least reserve a few nights at our destination, especially if it could mean getting a really great spot.
Well, I'm just rambling now, so I'll shut up. Thanks again for all the help.
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Pamelajo
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06/01/08 06:54pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but we usually avoid both Cherokee and Gatlinburg, too crowded and not our cup of tea.
Is Cherokee as crowded as Gatlinburg? We were originally going to go to the park from the Tennessee side and one reason we switched our route to the NC side was that we thought it would be less touristy than what we had heard about Gatlinburg.
Thanks for the recommendation for the campground. I bookmarked their site and will definitely check them out if we are in that area around the time to settle in for the day.
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Pamelajo
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06/01/08 06:19pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Carpet Out - Tile In
Very, very nice. Your hubby did a great job!
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Pamelajo
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05/30/08 07:44pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Thank you, Aikensbest. I just checked out their site and it looks like a great park. I love those waterfront sites.
We've decided to leave next Friday evening and will be gone around 10 days. I'm still torn between planning our stops and making reservations or just getting on the road and taking things as they come. Do you have any idea what that park would be like mid-week in June? Any chance we would get a site on a Tuesday or Wednesday without a reservation?
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Pamelajo
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05/30/08 07:40pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Atlee, Thanks for the photos. They're beautiful!
WncNative, Thanks for the campground tips. Do you have a preference for any you mentioned? Welcome to the forum!
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Pamelajo
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05/28/08 10:18pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
I'm no expert on the BRP, just real familiar with the area around Asheville. Strictly my opinion, this is probably not the best time of year to visit... more crowded and hazy views June thru mid-Sept., but when you gotta go, you gotta go :). And a B is, of course, the ideal vehicle for touring the P'way.
We are thinking about trying to go pretty soon. We were leaning towards the third week of June but might move it up to the second week. Most schools are still in session in the early part of June so I thought we might miss some of the summer vacation crowd. Sounds like the views might be better if we go earlier, too.
A few more caveats... Food and gas on the BRP are rare. The roads that cross it at high elevations are where folks encounter miles of steep, narrow, winding roads to get to gas and civilization
Thanks, that is very helpful. It's hard looking at maps to know the best places to get on/off the Parkway so I'll definitely be keeping the elevation factor in mind.
Yep, you'll need CG reservations this time of year.
Now that part depresses me. I hate making too many reservations in advance because it puts the whole trip on a schedule and we really wanted to do more of a meandering type of trip where we stay longer in one place if we feel like it or move faster through parts if we get that urge. I might gamble on this initially and then make some reservations once we are on the road and have a better feel for how things are going. We could always stay in a motel if we got stuck finding a campground. I would hate to have to do that but I really like the freedom to change plans as we are traveling.
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Pamelajo
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05/28/08 07:19pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Thanks everyone! There are a lot of great tips and suggestions here and I really appreciate it.
We like 81 through Virginia, too, so I think we'll probably go that route through Virginia and maybe get on the Parkway a bit that first day or just wait until we are closer to North Carolina. We can always do part of the Va section on the way back or it's close enough to us to do a weekend trip.
I like the suggestion about trying 11 through the small towns. I think some combination of roads is a good idea-81/11/Parkway etc. 221 out of Roanoke through Floyd looks like a possibility too.
So, if we do decide to get on and off the Parkway, does anyone have any tips about places where it is best to do that? Are there places where it is easier to get on/off? Are there sections that we shouldn't miss?
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Pamelajo
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05/28/08 06:58pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway are 2 of my very favorite places to travel. Two private campgrounds that I have stayed at that are right on the Parkway are Racoon Holler and Bear Den.
Thanks for those suggestions. I'll definitely check them out.
I also love the Folk Art Center near Asheville. The Smokeys are nice also but if I were you I would absolutely take the BRP.
I've always wanted to visit the Folk Art Center so I was really excited when I saw that it was right on our route. It's funny, we originally were talking about a fast trip down to the Smokies and spending most of the week there but now we are looking at spending more time on the Parkway. Mostly, we don't want to feel too rushed after our 7000 mile/3 weeks cross-country trip last fall. We want to stop a lot and not drive really long days.
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Pamelajo
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05/27/08 10:08pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
I'm starting to get excited about this. I lived in Harrisonburg when I was very little so I've been on the Parkway a lot but I don't have real strong memories of it. I love a good drive and am always looking for scenic byways so this should be fantastic.
The reason we thought we would have to avoid the park campgrounds is because our generator isn't running well and needs to be serviced. It's so hard to get to that I don't think we'll get this done before the trip. Our frig doesn't run on propane and that's the part that worries me. We'd probably be okay for a night with just battery power but I hate to risk it with the frig if there are other good parks nearby. You all are making me very tempted though on the Park campgrounds. They sound wonderful.
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Pamelajo
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05/27/08 09:58pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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Blue Ridge Parkway in a B
We've been talking about taking a trip to the Smoky Mountains and are thinking about taking the Blue Ridge Parkway on the way down. I was wondering if anyone has done this drive in their B and, if so, do you have any tips?
I'm mostly trying to decide if we should take the Parkway the whole way or just pick sections of it and spend some time on the Parkway and some time on 81. Originally we planned to do the latter so we could make better time but now we are thinking about spending fewer days in the Smokies (3-4 days) and spend 3 or 4 days getting there with short, slow travel days and lots of stops.
I hope it is okay to put this in the B forum. I started to put it in Roads and Routes but I think B traveling is very different than the type of traveling you do with a bigger rig so I thought I might get more relevant answers in the B forum. Plus, I know Handbasket is a bit of an expert on this area and I figured he would see my questions here.:) I'd love input from anyone who has traveled in that area though.
I'm also wondering if I will need to make reservations at campgrounds on the way. The Parkway campgrounds don't have electricity so we will probably be looking at a few private campground close to the Parkway. I found this park link last night and thought it looked so nice that we might even want to stay a couple nights and just kick back before moving on into the Smokies. I'd also like to go to Mount Airy and the Folk Arts Center near Asheville. From there we would probably head into GSMP and stay a few days at River Plantation in Seveirville and then head back to Maryland via 81. I'm leaning towards making reservations at these campgrounds and then just hope for the best the rest of the way.
We are looking at 10 days roundtrip and are thinking we want to do it soon to try to avoid the summer crowds. I'm thinking the second or third week of June might be good although it doesn't give me much time to plan.(Which might be a good thing-lol.)
Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!
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Pamelajo
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05/27/08 08:59pm |
Class B - Camping Van Conversions
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RE: Moab and Canyon Lands, UT
I think Jo and Fred (The Wandering Wishnies) are there right now. You should check out their blog. Also, Ara (The Oasis of My Soul) has been in that area a lot lately but I think he has headed down to Monument Valley now.
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Pamelajo
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05/23/08 08:15pm |
Campgrounds, Resorts and Attractions
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RE: Tioga-less George in Israel
Living in Israel is very much like living in MsTioga in the USA and Mexico. We get up each morning and go out searching for adventure. Except instead of driving in MsTioga, we go across the road and get on an Egged Bus.
Pretty neat, huh? :)
George
Yes, very neat, George. I have been enjoying your adventures in Israel a great deal.
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Pamelajo
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05/14/08 07:07pm |
Full-time RVing
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