Thursday, April 9, 2015

North Carolina, Tennessee (again) and Virginia

We made it to our kids’ in Virginia today. We had originally planned on taking the Blue Ridge Parkway, but we found out it isn’t really conducive to large RVs. Then the other option is finding places to stay along the way and take our Jeep to the places we want to see. It’s another 45 mph highway, and we found that a lot of the camping areas don’t open until April 15th to May 1st. No, we’re not in a hurry, but with the weather the way it’s been and not knowing where to go, I decided to just go head to Springfield where our two sons and daughter-in-law live.

North Carolina: IMG_6281IMG_6289IMG_6291 IMG_6293  IMG_6303  IMG_6309  IMG_6311  IMG_6314  IMG_6317  IMG_6326 This is a 9-story observation tower, and “the most photographed view”, but there was no way we were going to be able to stop without knowing about that ahead of time going down 9% grade, and there was no RV parking anyway when we went past. And, of course, it was raining again.
 IMG_6343  IMG_6354  IMG_6355  IMG_6360  IMG_6373  IMG_6381 

Tennessee: IMG_6403IMG_6410IMG_6423  IMG_6443  IMG_6448  IMG_6451  IMG_6456  IMG_6458  IMG_6463

Virginia: IMG_6468IMG_6496IMG_6499    Natural Bridge in Virginia is near the highway we were on so we stopped to see how much it was, what we could see, etc. I know people who have seen it say it’s great, but we couldn’t justify $40 to see it. It’s another $16 for both of us to see the cavern. We saw a lot of pictures at the gift shop. They also do a night show, which we wouldn’t be staying around for (same price). The road runs across the naturally created bridge, and nothing can actually be seen from the top as protective fences at the top block any view. Storms were on the radar and we decided to keep on going. Click here for history.
IMG_6537  IMG_6565  IMG_6576  IMG_6504  IMG_6585  IMG_6586  IMG_6588  IMG_6599  IMG_6614  IMG_6621  IMG_6633  IMG_6654     

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort

 We decided to spend the next two nights at Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort at Cherokee, North Carolina. Being a holiday weekend, we wanted to stay off the highways, and the resort parking lot was fairly empty. Saturday night we had a row of RVs and trucks, but Sunday was only a couple of us. They have a strip on the highway side of the parking lot for larger vehicles, and even have some picnic tables and a walking trail to the resort, or you can go to the shuttle stop and catch a ride.
IMG_6251  IMG_4313   IMG_6253 IMG_6254  IMG_4312  IMG_6257  IMG_6259  IMG_6261  IMG_4315 
We did not try our hand at gambling, but a few people tried fishing in the stream beside us. I didn’t see anybody catch anything though.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

From Tennessee to North Carolina

This is a traveling day from Chattanooga, TN to Cherokee, NC. The road we went on, Hwy 64, then 74, is a lot of up and down, steep grades, corners and twists. The speed limit varies from 25 mph to 65. We were surprised there was a lot of traffic on it, but there’s not much for the upper east-west in North Carolina and it is a holiday weekend.

We started out with an elevation of 832 feet. First picture below is of Lookout Mountain where the battlefield is that we were at yesterday and took pictures with an elevation of 1850 feet.  I think our highest elevation driving today was 2720 feet.

IMG_5971  IMG_5979  IMG_5989IMG_5990 IMG_5999  IMG_6005    IMG_6010  IMG_6013IMG_6026   IMG_6029  IMG_6049  IMG_6059  IMG_6073  IMG_6097  IMG_6139  IMG_6142  IMG_6143  IMG_6150  IMG_6152  IMG_6167  IMG_6169  IMG_6178  IMG_6181  IMG_6201  IMG_6206  IMG_6207  IMG_6209  IMG_6220  IMG_6222  IMG_6233  IMG_6236  IMG_6248  IMG_6250 
The 1996 Centennial Olympics was held on the Ocoee River in Tennessee. Also the 2013 World Freestyle Kayaking Championships were in another area of the river in North Carolina. There is a lot of wildwater rafting, kayaks, ziplines, etc. along this river. They definitely know how to make money on the Ocoee River. Lots of people out this Easter weekend, and I bet the water is cold!
IMG_6131  IMG_5998  IMG_6039  IMG_6063  IMG_6066  IMG_6069  IMG_6091  IMG_6096  IMG_6174