Back out through the cattle gates and on the road to North Carolina.

We took a quick spin through downtown Asheville to see what the town is like. It’s really cute, and we definitely need to go back for an official visit. A bit south of Ashville is Chimney Rock (not to be confused with the Chimney Rock that we saw a week earlier in Nebraska). It’s a very twisty, winding road from Ashville, but pulling the camper was fine. We entered the park to start an even more winding road, but saw a sign, “all RV’s pull off here”. There was an office there, but it was closed. What to do? We’re pretty small – do we need to leave the camper here? Do we want to leave the camper? But we wanted to check out Chimney Rock. We backed the camper into a corner of the parking lot, took it off the hitch, locked it up good, and drove away. It was probably best that we left the camper down at the base. We would have done ok – until we met a truck coming in the other direction.

I had read about Chimney Rock and remembered something about 187 or 257 steps up to the top. That’s a lot, but we usually climb lighthouses when given the chance, and that’s about a lighthouse. We had a short hike through a hickory forest before the stairs started. And they went on, and on, and on… Slow and steady and we made it to the top. It was pretty crowded, but the view was great and it was fun to have done it. Coming down, I decided to count the steps – 635! My calves finally stopped hurting 4 days later! The camper was patiently waiting for us at the bottom – Phew!

That night we had reserved a spot at a Harvest Hosts vineyard. Harvest Hosts is a program where vineyards, breweries, farms and museums offer free overnights to fully contained campers in exchange for a purchase. It’s a fun alternative to traditional camping and you can meet some great people. We stayed at Hanover Park Vineyard in Yadkinville, NC. Once we got the camper settled, we had a snack of smoked trout and crackers with the red wine flight. They have tables set up outside and we chatted with the owner and some of the guests, then took a stroll through the vineyard. It was a beautiful day and a nice, relaxing afternoon. Once you patronize the establishment, you may end up spending more than you would at a campground, but it’s good to support them, especially in these times.

One more day of driving and we’ll be at the beach! We were eager to get our driving done, and didn’t come across any easy sights, so nothing to report for this day – other than the wonderful Atlantic Ocean waiting for us.

And the Scamp fits nicely under the house!

We spent 3 days at our beach rental in Oak Island, NC. We hadn’t been down since last winter, so it was good to check in – especially after the hurricane hit in August. Since the house is on piers, we don’t get the damage from the storm surges, but we did have 3 feet of water under the house. We did some clean up and small repairs, visited with neighbors and friends, and walked the beach. Oh, and took long, hot showers! We would have stayed longer, but renters were coming in…