Berea, Kentucky and a stopover in Versailles

Yep, we’re still in Kentucky.  It’s a good thing we love it here!

We spent, what seemed like, two very long weeks parked in Oh! Kentucky RV Park in Berea.  Again, we were waiting for another medical appointment.  It seems like we’re in a vortex; like we’re going round and round and not getting anywhere.  I guess, in a way, that’s the truth of it.  Honestly, it’s rather disappointing but we’re trying to remain positive praying that one day soon we’ll be heading beyond Kentucky’s borders.

Oh! Kentucky RV Park is a nice park just off I-75.  The bath house was nice and clean and offered a laundry facility and a nice pool.  There was no place to ride our bikes and the main road in front of the park was rather noisy but otherwise we enjoyed our stay here.

Ronnie went to Owsley Fork Reservoir a couple times to fish.  I spent those times finding a place to tuck the few books I brought along or have picked up at thrift stores along the way and tackled our home canned goods under the bed.  What a job that was!

I started by manhandling the mattress out from the cabinets above the bed and out of the bedroom through a narrow doorway then leaned it against the dining table.  I squeezed my way back into the bedroom and began removing all the jars.

I quickly took inventory of what we had then tried to figure out the best way to organize them so that they were easily accessible.  I labeled the jars that weren’t labeled and wound up putting like things together back into the heavy duty boxes we originally had them in — jams & jellies, pickled beets and pickles, vegetables, fruits, and various tomato products.

It’s now so much easier to find what we’re looking for while holding up the mattress with our head and shoulders!  I also found the salsa I was looking for last week and got a better idea of all the goodness from our farm that we had stored in our ‘pantry’.  Mission accomplished.

As the two weeks dragged on I was thinking that this was going to be another short blog post with very few photos like my last post until it dawned on me that there is so much more to Berea than just the campground.  Our farm was in the next town and I had come to take Berea for granted. I wasn’t looking at it with fresh eyes as if being here for the first time.

With that in mind I began to think of what might be interesting to others visiting for the first time.  Let’s start with the beautiful, historic Boone Tavern.

It’s a lovely building that encompasses an entire block and houses not only the hotel and restaurant but several unique shops, a coffee & tea shop, a favorite pizza place of ours – Papaleno’s, a favorite fudge and ice cream shop of ours – the Fudge Shop, and gift stores featuring lots of local artistry.

In the heart of Berea is the beautiful campus of Berea College.  It’s a private liberal arts work college founded in 1855. Berea College charges no tuition; every admitted student is provided the equivalent of a four-year scholarship and works at the college to pay for their tuition.  What a great concept!

A mile or so down the road, in historic downtown, is the Artisan Village where many local artisans have working studios.  When we bought the farm I had the silly notion that I would be frequenting these stores and taking classes in various forms of arts and crafts and meeting other crafty people.  What a silly notion that turned out to be!  Between renovating the house, beautifying the grounds, daily chores, working two jobs (at the local paper and a local B&B), blogging, building a cabin and opening up an AirBnB who had time!  I did frequent the fabric store from time to time buying fabric or having a quilt top machine quilted however I never made it to the rest of them. You can check out the working studios HERE.

Speaking of the Bed and Breakfast I used to work at I had the privilege of seeing all the girls I worked with and for.

What an amazing group of ladies! I wanted to see as many of them as possible so the boss formulated a plan to get them all together and I popped in and surprised them.  It was SO fun and SO good to see everyone!  Each and every one of these women hold a special place in my heart.  We’ve been through all the ups and downs in each other’s lives which gives us a special bond.  Not to mention that we’ve all had the privilege to work at one of the most beautiful places – Snug Hollow Farm B&B in Irvine (click HERE for more info).

After all the hugs and catching up I had the honor of actually being an overnight guest (Ronnie stayed with LizzieBelle in the camper). I stayed in one of the upstairs rooms in the big farmhouse (there are four other cabins on the property).

It’s a large room with a king size bed but I chose a twin bed in this cozy corner and slept with the door open.  I soaked in all the sounds from the night and had forgotten how dark it gets in the country.

And the view from my private porch outside my room…

… pure bliss!

After breakfast the following morning I walked around in the misty rain to take some photos.  I strolled by the flower gardens…

… along the trail…

… and around the pond…

There is so much beauty nestled in these 350 acres in the holler. It did my heart and soul good to see everyone and to soak in the peacefulness and beauty that Snug Hollow offers.

Other things to enjoy while in Berea: for hiking check out The Pinnacles (you can read more about it HERE); or maybe renting a kayak, canoe, SUP or e-bike from Get Outside KY (click HERE for more info); or maybe you’d like to check out some of the antique stores.  There’s also Tater Knob Pottery and Farm (click HERE) down a ways off scenic Red Lick Road.

I’m sure I’m missing more things to see and do but if you’re ever in the area I would say that there is something to see and or do for everyone.

~~~~

From Berea we headed an hour and a half or so northwest to Camp on the Kentucky in Versailles.  We were originally going to stay there for two weeks but we decided that this wasn’t where we wanted to spend two weeks without full hookup and nothing to do.

The campground is on the Kentucky River but there is no way to access the river on foot to do some bank fishing.  There is a nice boat ramp just outside the campground but there are no piers or no steps to easily get to the river bank.  We did find a place where we could get close so we loaded up LizzieBelle’s ‘chariot’ (a rolling cart) with chairs and fishing stuff and made our way down the gradual slope where Ronnie set up to try and do some bank fishing.  During that time he caught one non-keeper, broke his line a few times and actually broke one of his poles.  Not a good day of fishing.  The Kentucky River is never kind to him! We did, however, enjoy being by the water and the shade from the trees was nice as it was quite hot and muggy while we were there.

Another reason for changing our reservation was our site itself.  It was nice and grassy but had quite a slope to it.  We did not have enough blocks to put down at the front of the camper to raise it up enough to get it level.  With the incline it was easy to lose one’s balance when getting up too quick.  So, with that we decided this wasn’t the campground for us and headed back to Oh! Kentucky where you’ll find Ronnie fishing at White Hall and me hanging out at the camper taking LizzieBelle in and out, blogging and relaxing.  This time our site is at the back of the campground so the road noise is more muffled and much quieter.  We also chose a site with trees on both sides of the camper giving us more shade.  After Camp on the Kentucky we’re happy to be back here where we can swim, fish, relax and are close to amenities.

Dates at Oh! Kentucky RV Park:  July 8 – 22

Dates at Camp on the Kentucky:  July 22 – 25

Dates at Oh! Kentucky RV Park:  July 25 – August 5

General Burnside Island and Fort Boonesborough State Parks, Central Kentucky

Our plan after leaving Piney Campground was to head to Conley Bottom Resort in Monticello, Kentucky where we would stay for a couple weeks – through the Fourth of July holiday and Ronnie’s doctor appointment.  It is a first come, first serve campground so we thought arriving on a Monday would be perfect. The weekenders would be gone which would leave plenty of camp sites available to choose from.  This was not the case.  We arrived early afternoon and stopped at the office to get the scoop on how we go about obtaining a campsite.  There was no one in the office so Ronnie asked a fella working on a boat just outside the office.  He said that we could just drive around, pick a spot and someone would come around to collect payment but he wasn’t sure of the nightly cost.  It seemed a little unconventional but Ooo-kay.

We did indeed drive around and much to our surprise the campground was literally packed with campers.  We found one or two sites that we might have been able to squeeze into but at this point my mind was saying ‘absolutely not’.  First, we had no idea of the nightly rate.  Second, the campground was packed and buzzing with people on a Monday (which is atypical).  Third, the sites were not very distinguishable one from another and they were so close together I really believe that our awning would have touched our neighbor’s camper.  As I was taking all this in I was also thinking that if we don’t stay here that we now faced the challenge of finding another place to stay. With the upcoming fourth of July holiday I had a sinking feeling that it might be difficult but there was no way I wanted to be here. Maybe if the price had been right but since we didn’t know the price that was a chance I wasn’t willing to take.

We drove out of Conley Bottom with our heads in a fog trying to figure out where to go from here. We headed to the nearest state park which was General Burnside Island State Park located in Burnside just south of Somerset.  The island encompasses 430 acres in the middle of Lake Cumberland and is the only island park in the state.  There were no sites available during the holiday but we were able to book a site for four nights.  While Ronnie and the gal at the check in booth were booking our site I was on the phone calling Fort Boonseborough (as I couldn’t think of another place near his doctor’s office) to see, if by sheer luck, there were any sites left since our time there would be during the holiday .  Thank God they had two sites left.  I immediately booked one of the two.  Whew!

The campground at General Burnside encompasses 75 acres with rolling hills and various loops with camp sites making the campground seem small and not crowded and therefore more cozy.  It’s a great place to stay if you play golf and/or have a boat.  There’s a nice boat ramp in the park but there’s no fishing or swimming allowed.  The pool has been closed for quite some time according to the gal at the check in booth which was disappointing. After doing some research I found an article from 2016 that stated the pool is in need of repair and no monies were appointed to General Burnside in the $18 million parks maintenance fund at that time. From the looks of it still no money has been appointed.

Despite not having much to do we were extremely grateful to have a place to stay.  A place to stay with full hook-up I might add.  The sites were a nice size so we enjoyed sitting outside under the awning watching the comings and goings of fellow campers and simply relaxing.

It was here that I started making personal jars of sun tea.

There’s not enough room in our fridge for a pitcher of tea so I grabbed two pint jars, filled them with hot tap water, stirred a tablespoon of honey in each until dissolved then put one tea bag in each jar.  I do this in the mornings and leave them for a couple of hours to steep.  I have a spot in the door of the fridge for each jar and it’s working out great.  I’m learning that creativity is your friend when living in a camper full time.

The four days went by quickly and before we knew it we were packing up and heading to Fort Booneseborough.  I spent my birthday moving from one campground to another – yippee!  We were recently there for a week over the Memorial Day holiday.  If you missed that post you can read about Fort Boonesborough HERE.

We crammed a lot into that week – fishing, a doctor’s appointment, a vet appointment, a birthday dinner with friends, a visit to our church to see our church family, a visit with my great niece and her family, a trip to the storage unit, and more fishing.

I went with Ronnie one morning to White Hall where I managed to make two dish scrubbies while he fished.  I stayed at the camper with LizzieBelle the other times he went.  He enjoyed his fishing time and did well…

We’ve been grilling the fish or blackening the fillets on the griddle rather than frying them and they’ve been delicious!  Served with rice and steamed broccoli it’s a much healthier (and tastier, in my opinion) way to eat them.

Although we didn’t do much sightseeing we were thrilled to have a place to stay.  When Conley Bottom didn’t work out as I had hoped I got a little nervous.  I think that’s the most difficult part of full-time RVing – finding places to stay especially on the weekends and over the holidays.  Once we are finished with doctor appointments and are free to travel beyond Kentucky I hope that we’ll be able to start booking places more in advance which should help.  Since none of our travel plans have worked out so far we’ll just see how it goes!  At least we’re able to be flexible and as I continually remind myself – we always have a roof over our head whether we’re plugged in somewhere or not and for that, I am grateful.

All too soon it was time to move on again. Till next time friends!

Dates at General Burnside Island State Park:  June 27 – July 1

Dates at Fort Boonesborough State Park:  July 1 – 8

Piney Campground, Land Between the Lakes in Dover, TN

The trip from O’Bannon Woods in southern Indiana to our next stop at Piney Campground in southwestern Land Between the Lakes in northern Tennessee was a long one – just a little over five hours and not, unfortunately, without incident.

Driving through one of the towns along our way we were fortunate that someone flagged us down at a stoplight to let us know that we were about to lose our fishing poles.  Yikes, not the fishing poles!  We pulled over as soon as we found a suitable place to check it out.  What we discovered was that we were about to lose the entire rack, not just the poles.  We had hit a rather bone rattling bump earlier in the trip and apparently the effects of the bump rattled the rivets on the rack and sheared them off…

Ronnie took everything off the rack and squeezed it into the back of the truck between the bikes.  The extra propane tank was put inside the truck and wedged behind our seats on the floor board where it remained until we reached our destination.  It was not ideal but we were so very thankful that someone let us know.  The rest of the trip was uneventful and LizzieBelle did extremely well for such a long drive.

Oh, the life of a traveling dog! I’m just truly glad I thought to do this. Being now blind and deaf I reckon her bed is her security blanket and as long as she has her bed and knows we’re around all is well in her world.

After a trip to the nearest hardware store Ronnie came up with a solution for the rack – heavy duty shelf supports mounted to the bumper with u-bolts.

He drilled holes in the brackets to align with the u-bolts. This rack was several hundred dollars so we wanted to at least get our monies worth before having to scrap it.  The supports should help.

After the rack hiccup and the long drive we definitely wanted to find a tasty local restaurant.  I was craving a pizza so Ronnie asked the camp host for a recommendation and he was told to check out TNT Pizza saying they would even deliver.  We prefer our pizzas hot and right out of the oven so we drove a few miles to the restaurant.  We were hungry so we ordered some cheesy bread as an appetizer and a medium pizza.  We ordered way too much, took the remains home and had two more meals from all that.  

Piney Campground is located right on Kentucky Lake and is a campers’ campground.  There’s no day use allowed so all the amenities the campground has to offer is strictly used by campers.  Piney has two boat ramps, a fishing pier…

… and a swimming area with a white sandy beach…

Even though the campground was almost full over the weekend it was still not crowded at the swimming hole or the fishing pier.  Awesome!

There’s even an archery range, ball field, biking and hiking trails, and primitive cabins with basic necessities are also available to rent.

While at the hardware store Ronnie bought a three day fishing license.  He spent a good amount of time fishing those three days but didn’t catch anything worth keeping.

Piney is a national park so we were finally able to use our Senior Pass and got a refund of $56.  We need to find more national parks! Our campsite (which we were lucky to get at the last minute) was electric hookup only so we filled the holding tank, used water sparingly and walked to the bath house often to use the facilities. Again, we managed to have enough water for the seven days we were here and our black and grey water tanks didn’t get full.

Piney is a large campground so we were able to get some good bike rides in.  We also rode them to the swimmin’ hole and to the camp store a couple times to cool off our innards with an ice cream cone.

Speaking of the camp store, it was probably one of the most well-stocked camp stores I’ve seen.  There were grocery items, camp gear, souvenirs, ice cream, bait and more.  We bought some mild ground sausage and made a delicious soup using leftover chicken broth (from cooking egg noodles), leftover yellow wax beans, leftover tomato sauce, leftover egg noodles (thrown in at the last minute), frozen corn, diced onions, a couple sliced carrots and Italian seasoning.  We had no idea if it would be any good but, thankfully, it was.  The wax beans, tomato sauce and corn were from last year’s garden.  It thrills me to be able to eat from our labors even while traveling.

I rode my bike to the store one another time to get some salsa.  (Since our fridge was quite bare I was grateful for the camp store). For the life of me I could not find the salsa I had put up.  All of our home canned goods are stored under the bed in heavy duty, open produce boxes. They’re not organized in any particular way so it’s difficult to find what you’re looking for especially while holding the bed up with your head and shoulders while looking.  Note to self:  get it organized one of these days to make life a little easier!  Anyway, I thought maybe we didn’t have any more so I hopped on the bike and headed to the store to get some.  (I grabbed a jar of pimento stuffed green olives as well.) That night’s dinner was to be a rice bowl topped with black beans, diced onions, salsa and green olives and the salsa is a must.  We usually add diced, grilled chicken but since we didn’t have any we left it out.  It was just as good.

The camp sites were close together but most were arranged in a manner where you and your neighbor weren’t so close you could hear each other breath.  We had a good spot with nobody directly in front of us.

We spent a good amount of time outdoors watching boats and barges on the lake (Kentucky Lake is a major navigable reservoir along the Tennessee River in Kentucky and Tennessee), enjoying the views, swimming, bike riding and watching the almost endless parade of golf carts drive through the campground and past our camp site.

Each day ended with the most gorgeous sunsets…

I was able to finish another cross stitch piece – another one that was started a long time ago by my Mom.

As I began working on it the shading was not looking right so after studying the colors I discovered that a couple of them were not labeled right. After getting the threads sorted out I now had to rip out the colors that were wrong and redo the stitches with the right colors. Once that was done the rest of it was fairly easy and before I knew it I was backstitching and it was done. Speaking of backstitching, it makes a world of difference in the final piece. The following image on the left is before any backstitching and the image on the right is the final piece with all the backstitching complete…

Are they not the cutest? I don’t know what I’ll do with it but I’m one piece closer to my goal of finishing pieces that were started ages ago either by me or my Mom.

Dates at Piney Campground:  June 20 – 27

O’Bannon Woods State Park, Corydon, Indiana

Our next stop, O’Bannon Woods (formerly Wyandotte) State Park , was two plus hours away.  Another nice, short trip without any issues.  We’re always thankful for easy trips and especially thankful when there are no hiccups from point A to B.

LizzieBelle has gotten used to her new riding routine and is doing quite well with the arrangement…

… which means Mama does quite well during the trip making it easier for me to keep us going in the right direction.

We headed west following the Ohio River until we crossed the bridge taking us into Indiana.  Just as we crossed the bridge we were in Madison.  What a great town with an awesome downtown!  It was several blocks long and was alive with shops, restaurants and people milling about.  I would’ve loved to have stopped and checked it out but with the camper trailing behind us and no parking lots large enough to accommodate us it was out of the question.  However, seeing such a lively and happening downtown did my heart good.  If I had all the money in the world I would see to it that all of our country’s historic downtowns were revived such as this one so that there was more of an opportunity to shop local and shop small businesses.

As we neared the campground we wound our way up, down and around noticing markers that stated when various trees were planted and/or thinned – from the 1930’s till late in the eighties.  We were definitely in the woods and definitely without Internet.

O’Bannon Woods encompasses 240,000 acres in Corydon, Indiana.  Within the State Park is a swimming pool with two water slides, a kiddie pool and splash park; a large campground with four sections: A, B, C and D with the D section dedicated as a horse park; horse trails; various trails for hiking and biking; the Wyandotte Cave (which is closed); a nature center; a Pioneer village; and a working 1850 Hay Press. 

We loved this campground.  Each campground has an aura about them.  Some are nice places to simply park our house while others beckon you outdoors to do some real camping.  We were here for ten days.  During those ten days the weekends were nice and cool after rain fell on both Fridays.  We were outside as much as possible during that time.  Monday through Friday, however, was an entirely different story.  It was h.o.t. HOT!!!  There was a heat wave that week with temps in the mid-nineties.  It was not enjoyable to be outside whatsoever.  So Monday afternoon we hung out at the pool enjoying the cool and refreshing water.  Lots of other people had the same idea!  When we figured we’d had enough sun we headed back to the campground and to the bath house to wash off the accumulation of sun screen we had acquired while in the pool.  We spent the rest of the day indoors watching movies, playing games on our iPads and cross stitching (me) while absorbing the cool, air-conditioned air.

We broke tradition by not finding a local restaurant our first night and stayed at the campground.  Instead we finished the marinated cheese and garlic stuffed olives while some Lobster Bisque was warming on the stove. We enjoyed all of it while sitting around the camp fire.

I could not bare to throw out the marinade (olive oil with Rosemary & Garlic seasoning) so I put it in the fridge thinking I might dip some bread in it at a later time.  What I wound up doing was taking a simple grilled cheese sandwich to the next level by smearing it on the inside of the bread before grilling.  SO good!

Speaking of grilling, Ronnie bought himself a small Blackstone griddle while here. During the family camping trip at Fort Boonesborough he watched a friend of ours cook all sorts of stuff on his large Blackstone griddle and he thought it would be a good investment. It heats and cooks up quick with easy cleanup. One morning he made breakfast quesadillas…

… scrambled eggs, homemade hashbrowns, veggies (onions, peppers, jalapenos), and cheese, each placed on a quadrant of the tortilla (make one cut from the center to the edge) then folded over (cheese put on the last quadrant so that it binds all the folds together) and toasted on each side. (We usually add refried beans but we didn’t have any this time.) Those two weeks he cooked up all sorts of stuff testing it out – fish, veggies, french toast, pancakes, chicken tenders, burgers and more. Cooking outdoors and camping just go together. Plus cooking outdoors reduces heat in the camper. It was money well spent.

Tuesday we spent part of the day doing laundry.  Two doors down from the laundromat was Adrienne & Company – a bakery, donut and cafe.  While the clothes were in the washing machine we walked down to check it out.  Everything looked so yummy but we decided on a couple of donuts each and a cup of coffee.  We ate them in the store and struck up a conversation with who, I am assuming, was Adrienne.  By the time we left I was walking out with a free Tiramisu which was quite delicious, I might add, as were the donuts.

The shop had free Wi-Fi so we went back on Wednesday with iPads and computer in hand to catch up on emails and such.  Of course, another donut and some milk were in order.  We were recognized and welcomed back.  While we were eating and computing she came by with a container of assorted cheesecakes and wanted to ask us an R&D question – would we buy this if it was already packaged like this and ready to go?

Absolutely!  There are times you’d like a piece of cheesecake but a whole one for two people would be too much and could possibly go to waste.  (Not to mention the waistline from a whole cheesecake when there’s only two of you!).  There are also times when you can’t make up your mind as to which kind of cheesecake you would like. Having four slices packaged and ready to go is a perfect solution.  We wound up walking out with the container of cheesecake as a thank you for our input.  YUM!!!

It was still blazing hot on Thursday but we knew we needed to get in some bike riding to counteract all the yummy sweets we’ve consumed so we decided to check out the 1850 Hay press a mile or so down the road first thing in the morning before the temperature started to climb.

We were fortunate to meet the ranger in charge of the hay press where he explained its origin and how it operated.  He even popped in a video for us to watch showing the press in operation.  A demonstration of the hay press takes place six times a year (typically on holidays and a couple local special events) and at the end of the demo a large bale of hay is produced.

Of course, Ronnie and I were fascinated with the barn itself which was built strictly as a hay barn.

Barns are used for many things but they are typically built with a certain use in mind such as for livestock, horses, tobacco and in this case, to house a hay press.  Our barn at the farm was an old tobacco barn with stalls for livestock added after the farm stopped producing tobacco (long before our arrival).  This particular barn (the Leavenworth-Lang-Cole Hay Press and Barn) was donated in 2000 by Dr. Cole to the Department of Natural Resources to be moved a few miles down the road to its present location in the park.  By this time there were less than a dozen hay presses remaining in the United States and none were operational or open to the public.  The barn had fallen into some disrepair but many timbers were salvaged and are original.  Since the barn was going to have spectators more requirements were necessary to make it structurally sound such as a solid foundation and rocks at the base of the vertical supports.

The press is three stories in height and sits in the center of the barn. It is a structural part of a post and beam barn that is about 60 feet wide by 130 feet long…

And here is an explanation of how it basically works…

The engineering and fabrication of such a thing – genius back in the day!

Forrest, the ox, is the muscle behind the press.  Early Friday morning we rode our bikes past the hay press another half mile to see Forrest and his mini donkey buddies in their paddocks.

Forrest was resting in some hay chewing his cud and those donkeys – they were so adorable I just wanted to take them home.  Good thing home is the travel trailer making it out of the question.

Behind the barn is the Pioneer Village…

This particular building is the summer kitchen…

With the heat wave we’re currently having I can see why a summer kitchen is a smart move – keeps the heat out of the living quarters during the summer.  Our old farmhouse didn’t have central air so there were many times I had longed for a summer kitchen especially when it came time to put up (or can) the harvest from our garden.  With the stove going for hours during that time it didn’t take long to heat the ol’ house up.

As we walked back to where we had left our bikes I noticed a barn with all sorts of stuff stored in it…

…along with many types of carriages. This one caught my eye…

What a beauty it probably was back in its heyday.

It was still hot Wednesday and Thursday but Friday morning’s rain showers brought the temperature down making it another gorgeous weekend.  Yay!

By Friday afternoon we were watching the campers and horse trailers pour in.  We enjoyed riding around the horse park and seeing all the beautiful horses enjoying some hay after taking their owners for a ride on the horse trails…

Camping and horseback riding – what fun for both the horses and their owners!

This was the first campground where the only hookup we had was electric.  We were quite shocked that we there was no water hookup but since we had no other choice we did as all the other campers were doing and stopped at one of the many water spigots throughout the campground to put water in our holding tank before heading to our site.  We didn’t quite fill the tank so we (OK, I) was concerned about having enough water for the length of our stay but using it sparingly we had more than enough to get us by for ten days.  Good to know.  We (OK, I) also figured out how to lower our awning.  This is our first time having an awning that can be brought in or out with the push of a button so we were unfamiliar with the arm mechanisms and didn’t know how to raise or lower them.  Our awning has always come straight out with no pitch whatsoever (which is the only way it can be brought in or out) but having no pitch means it will collect water when it rains.  Common practice is to lower one end of the awning to encourage the water to runoff rather than pooling.  With this awning we could not figure out how to do that, that is, until Friday morning when it looked as though it might rain.  I studied the arms and noticed a small silver button on each arm.  In line with the button were six small holes.  Surely that had something to do with it.  Since I couldn’t reach it I pointed it out to Ronnie where he immediately checked it out.  Sure enough!  One can push the small button in and slide the arm up or down until it clicks into the desired hole.  Viola!  Now we can finally lower one end of our awning if necessary and we now have a good estimate on water usage from our holding tank – two good things we learned about our camper on this trip.

All too soon it was time to pack up and head to the next campground.  O’Bannon Woods we had a blast!

Dates at O’Bannon Woods SP:  June 10 – 20

Two Rivers Campground, Carrollton, KY

From Fort Boonesborough we continued heading north to Two Rivers Campground in Carrollton, Kentucky.  Google Maps estimated our travel time to be one hour and forty five minutes but in reality it was over two hours.  There was one stretch of road where we wound ‘round on top of a ridge.  That stretch was an extremely curvy and narrow ten miles long and it took us about a half hour to go the distance.  We were never more happy to see I-71 shortly after that.

Two Rivers Campground is a small but very nice campground on the Kentucky River with paved and almost level sites, full hook-up (yay!), a playground, and a nice, clean bath house.

As we were setting up the skies turned ominous…

… and we wondered what kind of night we were in for. Instead of Van Gogh’s Starry Night it was Stormy Night.

Thankfully the rains held off until we were finished setting up.  We were even able to continue our tradition of finding a local spot to eat a few miles down the road in historic downtown where we ate at Welch’s Family Restaurant located by the river before the rain started.  The food was OK but the view was fantastic.  We watched a tug boat pushing some loaded down barges up the river while we waited for our food.

Night time brought some heavy rain but thankfully all was well with everyone in the campground and there was no storm damage locally.  These days you just never know so when one comes out at the end of a storm unscathed it’s a good thing.

We were in need of some groceries so the following day we went to Kroger in the newer part of town by the interstate.  I was glad to see a Kroger in town.  It gave us the opportunity to earn some highly valued fuel points.  And, even though we had not eaten before we shopped we stuck to our list and no unhealthy snacks found their way into the buggy.

On the way home we stopped at Mi Viejo Mexican restaurant for a bite to eat.  They offered a buffet so after checking it out that’s what we both went with.  It was delicious and probably some of the most flavorful Mexican food I’ve had since we lived out West.

While Ronnie rested I grabbed my camera and took a short walk…

The Kentucky River flows right behind our camp site and I couldn’t help but think that this beautiful blue bridge that spans it should be the color of the bridge in our old town of Irvine.  The towns folk bleed blue not only for the Kentucky Wildcats but for their Estill County High School Engineers as well.  However, the bridge in Irvine just (and I do mean just – the bridge was unveiled just this week) got a fresh coat of green paint.  Maybe next time.

I was also curious about these pillars standing tall beside the bridge…

They’re directly across each other on each bank. My guess is that they once supported a train track?  Again, it’s just a guess.  I just thought they were cool.

The following day we unfolded the bikes and took a short ride to the river.  Carrollton’s River Walk is a paved walking trail along the Ohio and Kentucky River banks. It begins (or ends depending on where you start!) in the campground about where our truck is and wraps around behind our camper…

… and leads to a nice park, Point Park, on the Ohio River.  There was a serious soccer match going on; people sitting on benches or walking; and a fella launching his boat at the boat ramp.  There’s a small splash park for the kiddos and a skate ramp for those a bit more daring.  It’s the perfect place for a picnic, with shelters and public restrooms, basketball court, volleyball court, and the walking trail.  Point Park is aptly named as its location is where the Kentucky River meets the Ohio River.  

The Kentucky River was always muddy in Irvine and is muddy even this far north – constant runoff from the surrounding mountains I suppose. Here, the mud seemed to just stop right where it met the Ohio River without flowing into it.

As we were admiring the view from one of the benches another tug boat was making its way down the river with five empty barges.

It was moving along much quicker than the loaded down tug boat we saw going upriver the other night.

Two Rivers Campground had a good WiFi and Internet signal which meant we were able to watch a few shows on Amazon Prime and I was able to get caught up on blogging.  I’ve done a little bit of research regarding Internet for RVers and it appears to be costly no matter which option we would choose.  So, the verdict is still out on that.  Meanwhile, we’ll just use whatever is available at campgrounds that provide it.

Our last day full day at Two Rivers was a most gorgeous day!  The door and windows were open and there was a nice, cool breeze blowing all day making it quite comfortable to be outside.  Mid-afternoon we hopped on the bikes and rode to Welch’s for some ice cream.  The River Walk takes you to Main Street so it was an easy, safe ride. After enjoying some Butter Pecan ice cream in a waffle cone we rode along Main Street.  Ronnie popped into the hardware store for some washers for our water filter then we popped into a boutique to have a look around.  I’m always hesitant to do any sort of shopping because we are limited on space.  We’re almost to the point of having to get rid of something if we bring something new in so if I don’t shop then there’s little chance that we’ll get to that point.  But, there are times when curiosity gets the better of me!

While we had full hook-up Miss LizzieBelle got a much needed bath.  She’s never cared for water other than to drink it.  In fact, one time while I was floating on the Colorado River with her on my lap she bailed on me.  Without warning she literally jumped out of my lap into the water and swam back to shore.  She had had enough of that floating in water nonsense, ha!  Anyway, she tolerates the bath because she knows she gets a tasty treat when it’s all said and done.

.

I was reading a very old magazine I had brought with me and I ran across a recipe for Marinated Cheese.  I tossed the magazine without saving the recipe but being a Cheese-aholic I’ve thought of nothing else since.  I decided to make some using ingredients I had on hand and from what I could remember of the recipe.  This is what I came up with..

Marinated Cheese

• 4 oz. or 1/2 block white sharp cheddar (can use provolone, mozzarella, Colby jack, etc.) cut into cubes
• thinly sliced garlic clove (I used two small cloves)
• several pinches of rosemary garlic spice (can use whatever spice(s) you like)
• enough extra virgin olive oil to coat (I used a 1/4 cup or less)

Combine everything in an air tight container and let marinate for at least four hours.  About an hour before eating let the cheese come to room temperature.

Ronnie asked me what I was making and he was less than thrilled saying it didn’t sound very good.  I told him he didn’t have to eat any (which would mean more for me!).  However, when it was ready I forked a piece of cheese and gave it to him.  He ate it.  And, he liked it saying it was very good!  Well, phooey, looks like I’ll have to share.

Till next time friends!

Dates at Two Rivers Campground:  June 6 – 10

Kincaid Lake State Park, Falmouth, KY

From Fort Boonesborough we headed north to Kincaid Lake State Park in Falmouth, Kentucky.  It was a nice, short trip.  LizzieBelle is beginning to enjoy having her bed to lay in as we travel and I’m enjoying having a free lap!  It makes the trips much easier on everyone.

Kincaid Lake State Park is huge with lots to offer those who visit:  golf, swimming, hiking, camping, fishing, boating, miniature golf and much more.  As we entered the park we spotted the golf course first…

Ronnie was wishing he hadn’t put his clubs in storage.  Being left handed I knew the odds of borrowing or renting a set of clubs would be slim so I encouraged him not to store them.  However, they are quite bulky and heavy and can be in the way whether they’re stored in the  back of the truck or the camper’s cubby so into storage they went just last week.  Sigh.   As Ronnie has been looking at various campgrounds to book he’s noticed several golf courses at or near the campgrounds so I think we’ll be pulling the clubs out of storage when we are back that way for his doctor’s appointment.  

The next thing we noticed were the boat ramps then a country store…

… and to the left of the store was the pool sitting above the lake…

What a beautiful setting! The pool is a community pool and there is a small fee to swim. Campers get $1 off.

We continued on passing a large picnic pavilion and a recreation area before entering the campground.  There are 84 camp sites with water and electric and at least that many, if not more, primitive camp sites.

Our lot was at the front of the campground, site 5.

We had a couple neighbors here and there throughout the week but most of the campers were towards the back of the campground.  And the weekends?  Oh my!  On Friday’s we find ourselves saying “here comes another one” and on Sundays “there goes another one” as camper after camper file in or out.  We’re glad that so many people hit the campgrounds on the weekends.  They’re “getting outside and blowing the stink off them” as my Mom used to tell me to do in my younger years – probably when I had pestered her one too many times!  Anyway, by Sunday evening after most of the weekend crowd has gone back to their reality, we find ourselves decompressing from all the noise and activity that a full campground brings.  Once again we hear and see more natural, soothing sounds and sights – the birds singing their song, the leaves rustling in the breeze, the serenading cicadas, fireflies (or lightnin’ bugs as we say!) twinkling in the night and it feels so good.  We consider ourselves lucky to be able to witness so much beauty and peace.

As I mentioned earlier, we were at the front of the campground and there was no bath house near us.  The closest one was quite a distance from our site and uphill both ways. Just kidding! It was only uphill on the way to the bath house.  I chose to walk for the exercise but we decided it was not wise for Ronnie to attempt the walk so he drove in order to avoid the possibility of having chest pain from the exertion of walking uphill.

We put our bikes to the test as the campground is on a ridge with lots and lots of hills.  The hill coming back from the boat ramp was very steep.  We bumped the Pedal Assist up to 2 and combined with our pedaling we made back up the hill without any problem (or chest pain!).  I have to say, I am quite impressed with our Lectric bikes.  The battery power is still above the halfway mark, they are sturdy, great for traveling and easy to operate.

Resting, relaxing and recuperating (from our busy camping trip last week!) was the agenda for this week.  Of course, for Ronnie, it was fishing, fishing and more fishing, ha! I’d say he’s getting his monies worth out of his Kentucky fishing license.

After trying out a couple different fishing spots we finally found the perfect spot…

… in one of the primitive camping areas.  There was no one there during the week so that was his go-to spot until the weekend when the campground was full.

He caught quite a few fish keeping some but releasing the others.  One time we decided to take the bikes.  It was quite a feat figuring out how to strap everything down but we were determined.  And we’re off…

Ronnie had a 5 gallon bucket, fishing pole, chair and tackle box to deal with whereas I only had to strap my chair down.  My camera was around my neck and my knitting was in a plastic bag hanging from my handle bars.  While Ronnie fished I took pictures…

Great Blue Heron

… and made dish scrubbies.  I managed to complete the dish scrubby order of ten scrubbies…

I have some extra scrubby yarn so I’ll make some more when I get the urge to grab my knitting needles.  Knitting and crocheting small projects is a nice, portable craft – great for impromptu fishing trips.

Another project I worked on was the backing for the Yuletide Bell Pull.

I set everything up on the picnic table, cut the fabric then sewed the cross stitch piece and the backing together on three sides then turned it inside out.  I’ve ordered the bell pull hardware and once it arrives from England I will fold the top and bottom over and sew together respectively making sleeves then I’ll insert the hardware and it will be finished.

We did leave the park a couple times – one to find a local restaurant in Falmouth and the others to get bait. We wound up at Howard’s Place the day of arrival. Howard Jerome Hoess was a U.S. Army Veteran who had owned the local Dairy Queen since 1989. He restored it after the horrific flood on March 1, 1997 but years later it burned down and he opened up Howard’s Place – a Western themed restaurant with foods similar to Dairy Queen. It was not the healthiest place to eat but there really weren’t many places to choose from. I got the impression that the town is still trying to recover from the flood as we saw several downtown buildings crumbling from neglect. I must say that their ice cream was some of the best I have had. I got the smallest hot fudge sundae with nuts and the ice cream was so creamy. Yum! The rest of the week we ate better and got some exercise.

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Kincaid Lake State Park.  If we are ever back there again we’ve picked out site 73 as one we’d like to book.  It’s closer to the bath house, mostly level, a nice size site with lots of shade, and somewhat private.  And next time, we’ll have Ronnie’s golf clubs so he can play a round!

Dates at Kincaid Lake State Park:  May 30 – June 6

Fort Boonesborough State Park, Kentucky

Our next stop was a campground that we had actually booked a couple years ago with our adopted family.  Then the Covid pandemic hit and all campgrounds were closed.  The following year, 2021, the campground was closed yet again. The Kentucky River reached historic water levels from rain and snow melt earlier in the year flooding not only our town but the campground as well causing damage to the electric hubs at the camp sites and trashing the bath houses. Two years later we finally made it to Fort Boonesborough State Park just north of Richmond, Kentucky.  Better late than never!

Our camping crew occupied seven camp sites and there were as many as thirty plus people at any given time over the course of the Memorial Day weekend.  It was an awesome week of catching up, relaxing, fishing, playing games, hanging out at the camp fire and eating.  So much so that I failed to get any photos while at the campground.

Since fishing was high on the agenda for many we discovered a beautiful spot to fish about seven miles from the campground – White Hall Lake.  I went with Ronnie one afternoon when no one else wanted to go.  He packed his fishing stuff, I packed my camera and knitting needles, we each grabbed our chairs and we were on our way.

White Hall is a beautiful property with a mansion, picnic area, walking trails and a lake.

While he fished I walked around with the intention of taking photos but just after the following shot by battery died.

Sigh. One of these days I’ll get a spare battery.

White Hall has some interesting history associated with its inhabitants.  In case you’re interested you can read about it HERE and HERE and while you’re reading up on it you can see photos of the mansion which I was unable to get.

Saturday was camper appreciation day at the fort where campers were allowed free admission from 1:00 – 1:15.  We found out about it just before one o’clock but since we weren’t really doing anything in particular we decided to check it out.  We like history and we really like free!

The fort we toured had actually been relocated and rebuilt a few miles away on higher ground.  After all the flooding we’ve witnessed since living in Kentucky that was a smart move.  The original fort had fallen into disrepair and was smaller in scale than the new fort.

Several volunteers were dressed in period style and were demonstrating things like candle making; weaving and blacksmithing.  Of course having weaved a thing or two myself I was very interested in the weaving process.  Back in the day it would take a year or more from the time the hemp or flax seed was planted before the fibers inside would be ready to be spun into wool or thread.

Can you imagine having to wait that long to have access to thread or wool just so you can make a necessary item of clothing or blankets?  I simply can not fathom it.

The fort was a community with a tavern…

… where important meetings and business also took place…

and a store…

I find it fascinating that there is so much Transylvania history and mention of Transylvania in Kentucky.  (Transylvania University is in Lexington. It’s a private university founded in 1780 and was the first university in Kentucky.) My family ancestry goes back to Transylvania.  The sign in front of the store reads Transylvania Store, R. Henderson, Est. 1775.  How cool is that?

Another thing I found really neat was the living quarters…

So simple and cozy with everything you need.

We thoroughly enjoyed touring the fort.  It’s something we never would’ve done had it not been for some camper appreciation that weekend.

One day we ran some errands. We picked up a trailer we had to leave at the farm and took it to our friends’/adopted families place. In return for allowing us to store it on their property we offered the use of it to whomever of the family needs it. After that we tended to some business at the bank then stopped for a few groceries before heading back to the campground. Another day we spent a few hours at a doctor’s appointment. A day later we found out that we needed to hang out in Kentucky until at least July 5 for another doctor’s appointment. Once again our travel plans have changed so we’re playing it by ear until we get the outcome of that appointment. It’s a good thing we’re able to be flexible.

While we were at the farm we bought some of our ol’ girls’ eggs…

… so pretty and so tasty. One thing we sure miss is our farm fresh or country eggs as they say in these parts!

We’re discovering that a lot of campgrounds don’t offer full hook-up. What that means is most camp sites offer water and electric but no sewer. Water + electric + sewer = full hook-up. We’ve learned that we can get by for at least one week without needing to empty our tanks – both black and gray water tanks. That’s good to know. However, that also means that the use of the toilet is minimal; showers are taken at the campgrounds’ bath house; and water used for washing dishes is used sparingly at sites without sewer. So far, all the campgrounds have had a dump station or two so we’ve been able to dump our tanks before heading to the next campground.

All too soon the week was over and we were packing up and saying goodbye. Or rather, till we meet everyone again, Lord willing, at Christmas.

Till next time friends!

dates at Fort Boonesborough: May 22 – 30

Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park, London, Kentucky

From Asheville we took the scenic route between the Smoky and Appalachian mountains and headed to our next destination – Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park in London, Kentucky.  It was a longer drive than we typically like to take but we wanted to be closer to our next destination.  LizzieBelle was over it after about three and a half hours.  She was antsy and wouldn’t settle down on my lap.  I finally put her towel on the floorboard between my feet and put her down there.  It took her twenty minutes or so before she settled down but she finally laid down and went to sleep.  That’s when I decided that from now on I would put her bed down there and see if that makes the trip easier for all of us.  By the last half hour of the trip we were all more than ready to arrive at the campground and get set up and settled in.

Speaking of her towel, there was a little incident right before we pulled out at the KOA.  I was walking her around trying to make sure she was all tinkled and poopied out before we started our journey when the neighbor dog wanted to say hello.  Even being blind and deaf LizzieBelle doesn’t mind other dogs ‘checking her out’ within reason.  This dog was a Boxer and as the owner was telling me that he sometimes will attack smaller dogs if they growl or snap at him I was thinking that I should grab LizzieBelle because there are times when she’s had enough of being ‘checked out’ and will snap at them to tell them so.  Before I could even finish the thought it happened.  She had had enough and snapped at him.  He attacked and before we could separate them they were both rolling a few feet down the hill right into the lake.  Thankfully it was shallow but poor Belle was laying in the water with her head and feet sticking up wondering what in the world just happened.  I snatched her up and did a quick assessment and found that she was OK, just a little startled and a muddy mess.  Since we were ready to pull out I had to squeeze between the slide out and the kitchen counter to get her towel while Ronnie dug a garden hose out of storage.  We rinsed and dried her off outside then we were finally on our way.  Dogs – ya gotta love ‘em!

We reached our destination – Levi Jackson Wilderness Road Park in London, Kentucky – around mid-afternoon.  We were there on a weekend so the campground was full.  It was a large campground with nice facilities and a unique history.  You can read about it HERE.

We backed up to the woods but our site was right across from the basketball court which wound up being a bit too much for these two old fogies.  It seemed the best time to play some basketball was in the evening.  Multiples balls constantly bouncing even after quiet time which was ten o’clock.  The bouncing balls could still be heard inside our camper and with the fan running.  Since falling to sleep was out of the question for me I got back up and edited some photos until the bouncing finally stopped and the court lights were turned off.  Whew, now this ol’ girl can get some sleep!  The next night we just planned on watching a movie hoping it would end about the same time as the bouncing balls.  Thankfully the timing worked out well.  And, thankfully, we were only here for two nights.

As has become our custom, after getting all set up we headed to town to see what’s there and to find a local place to eat.  We like checking out Main Streets and old downtowns so that’s where we headed.  We found two restaurants across from each other – The Abbey and The Butcher’s Pub.  Finding no more options we turned around and chose the one on the right, The Butcher’s Pub.

As I looked at all the flags and memorabilia from England displayed in the restaurant it dawned on me why there was an Abbey and a Pub downtown – we were in London, of course!  Well, London, Kentucky that is.  Having been to London several times I was curious as to how the town got its name.  I found the following from Wikipedia – “Upon the establishment of Laurel County in 1825, a vote was held to provide for the new area’s seat of government. The land offered by John and Jarvis Jackson was selected, along with their suggested name of London, honoring their English heritage.  The town was founded the next year, its post office established in 1831, and its city rights granted in 1836.

During the late1930s and early1940s, London served as a central collection agency for books donated to the Pack Horse Library Project. It also had a pack horse library which delivered books to rural residents in the mountains.”

Discovering the tidbit of information about the Pack Horse Library Project was a nice surprise.  I love books and libraries and have read the fictionalized version of the Pack Horse Library Project ‘The Giver of Stars’ by Jojo Moyes.  I had the privilege of meeting her at Snug Hollow B&B where I was employed at the time.  She was working on the book while there and I couldn’t wait until it was published.  To imagine people delivering books on horseback to the most rural parts of the Appalachians astounds me.  Anyway, if you like to read I’d encourage you to check out her book and make sure you read the acknowledgements!  As I said, it’s a fictionalized version but you’ll get the idea of the work involved in organizing such a library and the tenacity of those that thought getting books into the hands of the most rural peoples was of utmost importance.

I digress. Anyway, we enjoyed a tasty meal then headed back to the campground.

Since we were only here for two nights we used this time to do some errands.  We weren’t far from our old stomping grounds so we decided to put a few more things in our storage unit then head over to see my great-niece.  We picked up some pizza’s and headed over to see her and her family and to pick up our mail and some packages that we had sent to her place.  One of the items, OK two items, we were anxious to get was the electric bikes we purchased.

A couple at Salt Springs had a pair so I got the scoop from them.  They had nothing but good things to say about the brand and the bikes so we decided to bite the bullet and get some for ourselves.  They each weigh 64 pounds and they fold in half making it easy to put in the back of the truck when on the road.

We enjoy bike riding but with Ronnie’s bad knees and my out-of-shape legs riding bikes was out of the question.  With the aid of Pedal Assist when going uphill riding bikes would now be doable.  We couldn’t wait to charge the battery and check them out.

We enjoyed time spent with family and all too soon it was time to head back to the campground.  Once back in London we stopped to have the oil changed in the truck.  It was almost closing time and we were the only ones there.  Once we were good to go Ronnie asked the guys if it would be possible to have air put in our bike tires.  They graciously filled the tires and we were on our way.  Now all we had to do was charge the batteries and we could take our inaugural bike ride.  The batteries charged in about four hours but since it was already dark we would have to wait until tomorrow for that bike ride.

Tomorrow finally arrived and we were off and riding first thing in the morning.  It took me a bit to get the hang of getting on and off and getting started but the old saying “it’s just like riding a bike” is true.  It wasn’t long before I had the hang of it again and I began learning about the bike and how it operates.  The inaugural bike ride around the campground was awesome!   We did most of the pedaling with only a few pedal assists here and there.  The exercise was invigorating and much needed.  Now that we have no farm work to do we’ve both packed on a few pounds since we began full time RVing.  Lots of delicious food and a more sedentary lifestyle is not a good combination. Here’s hoping for some lost pounds in the future!

After our bike rides we casually began the process of packing up. Time to head to the next destination which was less than two hours away. Yay!

dates in London, Kentucky: May 20 – 22

Asheville, North Carolina & a piece of the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway

The trip from South Carolina to North Carolina was another short trip.  At the first sight of the mountains we both found ourselves smiling.

There’s just something about the mountains!

We spent four nights at the KOA East in Swannanoa just outside Asheville.  This was a campground with a view…

The camper backed right up to a small lake and the mountains could be seen through the trees.

No sooner than we got set up Ronnie was wetting a hook…

No sooner than he wet the hook he was pulling out a nice size fish…

He was one happy camper! He threw it back in but catching something right off the bat was a nice way to start off our stay in North Carolina.

You never know what you’re in for when choosing a campground sight unseen. Thankfully this was a beautiful campground…

… with nice facilities and amenities.

I enjoyed watching the young geese and ducklings imitate their parents and the turtles basking in the sun.

While we were in and near Asheville we thought we might check out the Biltmore Estate again.  We were there several years ago during Christmas and we toured the estate in all its glory while the halls were decked out in holly.  It was a sight to behold so we thought we’d like to see it this time of year with the gardens bestowing all their glory.

The days of just showing up and buying your ticket are gone.  As I got online to check out the prices I discovered a) that ticket prices had gone up considerably since the last time we were there and b) that reservations with time time slots needed to be made then paid for and c) tickets needed to either be printed or could be shown on one’s phone.  The first two were surprising to discover but not really a big deal.  The third one posed a problem as we don’t have a printer anymore.  I did manage to get my email set up on the phone so that would have taken care of the tickets.  However, I waited a day to make the reservations and in that time of waiting I decided that we probably wouldn’t get our monies worth since Ronnie is not able to be on his feet for very long.  He was willing to go because he knows how much I love that place but there’s a lot of walking involved between touring the estate and walking the vast gardens and I didn’t want him to be miserable.

Instead, we took a drive a short ways along the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at almost all the scenic overlooks.  Such beautiful views!

We drove through tunnels; saw a waterfall and lake; and enjoyed the cool weather.

It was a wonderful day spent absorbing the beauty of nature.

On the way back and not far from the campground we ate at Okie Dokie Smokehouse for supper.  We like checking out local restaurants and this one was worth the stop.  It was delicious!

Another day we walked a block or two around downtown Asheville.  We spent quite a bit of time in two of the stores in particular – the Asheville Gem Mine and The Bee Charmer.  We stopped at the Bee Charmer first.  Oh my!  Honey and bee themed stuff galore.  I love them both so I’m pretty sure my mouth was open for the first few minutes after entering the shop.  They had such a variety of honey from local to around the globe.  There was even a taste testing bar.  I think we were both a bit overwhelmed so after walking the entire store we walked out empty-handed.

The next store we spent a lot of time in was the gem mine or rock shop.  Rocks are so cool because what may look plain and simple and possibly even ugly on the outside may have a beautiful gem inside.  I’ve always like rocks.  When I was a kid I had a rock tumbler.  It was a kit and came with some rocks and sand.  I remember it being noisy so I had to put it in the garage.  I can’t remember how long those rocks tumbled but when I finally turned it off and opened up the tumbler I had the smoothest, shiniest and pretty rocks.  They were so different from the rough and jagged rocks I originally put in. To this day I still have all those rocks stored in a glass Walt Disney World candy jar.

Ronnie and I must’ve checked out every rock and gem in the store and I walked out with this inexpensive but beautiful necklace…

…plain on the outside but beautiful on the inside!

We wound up back at the Bee Charmer and this second time around we weren’t quite so overwhelmed.  This time we sampled several various infused honey’s and walked out with quite a few of the one’s we sampled – Chai infused honey, Cocoa infused honey, Fireweed honey and Firecracker Hot honey.  When I saw the hot honey on the shelf I couldn’t imagine how it might taste but it was delicious!  It’s going to be so tasty drizzled over goat cheese or used as a glaze on chicken or salmon.  The Fireweed will pair nicely with Greek yogurt and the Chai and Cocoa infused honey’s will be lovely in a cup of hot tea and maybe over some ice cream.  I’m sure we’ll discover more uses for them but this bee and honey-loving girl was in bee themed and honey heaven!

We also snagged an adorable drip-free honey server sporting a honeycomb design. The honey comes out the bottom and you can put warm water in the stand to keep the honey from crystalizing.  It works great although I do have to put it in a cupholder in the truck when we’re on the road because it’s glass and I don’t want to take the chance of it toppling over or breaking.  It’s worth the precaution though!

After we were finished walking and shopping we stopped at the Mellow Mushroom for lunch.

It’s a converted gas station and in case you’re wondering what those colored things in the wall are they’re bowling balls.  How fun!

We started with a Bruschetta appetizer which was delicious…

…then we enjoyed an equally delicious pizza for lunch.  I failed to get a picture of the pizza because it was gone before I thought to get a photo. oops!

After lunch we drove around looking for a place like a park or something where we could sit and enjoy the French Broad River.  We could not find any such place on the river so we drove to the Historic River Arts District.  What a neat place!

I really like that these wonderful old buildings are being used as artists’ studios and shops and not sitting vacant or being torn down.

These buildings are part of our nations’ history and are still creating history and art.  We like trying to determine what the buildings were used for back in their day from old signage or writing. If those walls could talk I’m sure they would have some stories to tell!

While in the Historic River Arts District we did find a spot where I could see a portion of the French Broad River…

Shortly after snapping the above photo a couple of kayakers and rafters came floating by.

The rest of our time in Asheville was spent at the campground relaxing, enjoying the view, fishing for Ronnie, and blogging and knitting for me.

Speaking of knitting, I checked email one day and discovered a request for ten dish scrubbies.  I had a little bit of scrubby yarn left so I was able to get started but I’ll have to get some more when we’re out and about.

And speaking of email, we’re finding out that there’s not too many campgrounds with Internet or WiFi available.  A few days without it is OK but we may have to come up with a solution so that we’re not without for too long.  Personally, I don’t mind being disconnected but I’m getting behind on blogging and we don’t want to miss any important messages or emails.  Hopefully we’ll find a solution that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.

Till next time friends!

dates in Asheville, NC: May 16 – 20

Colleton State Park in South Carolina

Our next stop, Colleton State Park, was a little over two and half hours from St. Mary’s. We stopped here because our intentions were to go to Savannah, GA one day then Charleston, SC another day and this campground was almost in the middle of the two.

However, when we arrived at the campsite we decided neither one of us was very keen on driving the hour or so to each respective place so we stayed put. We’re terrible that way. Neither of us do well in crowds and we typically tend to shy away from cities so where does that leave us? Content at our campsite or checking out small towns and the treasures they hold.

Colleton SP is located in Walterboro.

It’s another quaint little town whose slogan is ‘The Front Porch of the Lowcountry’.

We checked out a couple of antique stores and visited the water tower.

The tower has an interesting story. The following excerpt about the tower is taken from the town’s website… “The tower (built around 1915) is built of reinforced concrete and is 133 feet high. The tank section above the windows holds 100,000 gallons of water. At the base of the Tower are three jail cells where travelers, if stranded here many years ago and not able to pay for lodging, were allowed to stay here.” Is that not too funny? Did you notice the bed frame in the ‘room’ on the right?

The very first thing I noticed about the town were the sidewalks made out of oyster shells…

It had me wondering where all these shells came from and why did the town decide to use them in their sidewalks. Which is kinda funny that I should wonder about such things. As a child I never asked questions. As an adult it seems that’s all I do.

On our way back to the campsite we ate at Duke’s Barbecue – an all-you-can-eat buffet. Our waistlines really didn’t need a buffet but the food was delicious and reasonably priced. Ronnie had the fried chicken saying it was done perfectly and I had a sizable vegetable plate.

Colleton State Park is a smaller campground and backing into one’s spot can be tricky because of all the trees. I’m so glad Ronnie is an excellent backer. They also had the cutest bath house I have seen so far…

We stayed three nights but had to change campsites after the first night because no spots were available for three consecutive nights when we booked. Moving was OK but the people in our spot didn’t leave until the last minute (I can’t blame them) which meant our morning was gone. That’s another reason why we opted to forego trying to get to Savannah and Charleston.

The campground is on the Edisto River and is a favored spot for canoeists and kayakers. We saw many people (both locals and campers) heading down to the water either in bathing suits or with fishing poles. When we walked down to the river we found a few people fishing but no one was swimming. We’ve declared it to be a secret swimming hole as we never found anyone swimming in all the areas that we walked.

Speaking of walking, there was a nice boardwalk to the river’s edge where people could launch their canoes…

… but once you left the boardwalk one had to watch where they were going so as to not trip over a cypress knee…

We noticed as we were walking along the swampy edge of the river that at one point the river had been up quite a bit. You can see the water line on the trees…

All those cypress knees would’ve been well under water.

The river was flowing rather quickly so we really weren’t sure where people might be swimming but it was a nice river and popular with motor boats.

There was a canoe rental across the river and there are a couple cabins for rent in the campground.

We enjoyed our short stay at Colleton. With leaving to only tour the town I had plenty of time to actually FINISH the cross stitching on the Christmas Bell Pull. YAY!!! I still have to get some fabric for the back, sew it together and find some hardware to hang it.

I’m just glad it’s done. This one was tricky with lots of blended colors to create the intricate shading and the use of various colored filament for some sparkle in each motif. The picture doesn’t do it justice but it sure is pretty and was worth the tediousness.

Now on to another adventure. Till next time friends!