Almost to Apex, NC (Aug 26-27)

August 26: Boone, NC to Forest River Campground need Lexington, NC.  Getting out of the campground at the KOA in Boone was challenging.  I couldn't just turn onto the path from our site because of the large tree situated at the corner and the large enbankment right on the other side of the path.  So...I went through our site and through the one directly in front of ours.  That site also had a large tree in almost the same place, but it was not as close to the corner and the embankment was not as big.  Haha...it was very close (inches) but I did manuver the camper around it.  

While I was packing up the camper and manuvering my way out of the site there was an older gentleman watching my every move from about 5 sites away.  He wasn't trying to hide it either.  He was just standing there watching everything I was doing.  I should have waved on my way out, so that he knew I "knew."  

We passed under the Blue Ridge Parkway today!  I wish we would have traveled on that for a day or so, but with the camper that would not have been a good move.  Right after the parkway the road began to descend.  I think we went from about 3500 ft down to about 800 ft in only 4-5 miles.  It was an intense but controllable downhill.  John rode the same stretch on his bike!  Weeee!

I didn't call ahead for the campground, but was able to see that they had space on their website that morning.  It turns our that they do not very often take campers for short periods of time.  Most of their very full resort is being filled with annual "members."  This was the longest check in process yet.  I got past the gated entrance, then had to go to the office...parking the vehicle and getting the kids out, then we paid for our site (way too expensive BTW at $60/night), then the "ranger" (not a real ranger because this is a campground resort not a state or national park) showed me all of the available 3 sites via golf cart and let me pick one.  The kids got to ride around in a golf cart, so that was fun.  All in, it probably took over an hour just to check in.  For $60 I was expecting something special since the location was nothing special...it was not worth the price.  We didn't even get to use the pool.  The neighbor said hello thinking that I was a new resident.  This shows how ofter they take overnight guests.

At least the set up and was fairly easy.

August 27: Graham's Birthday!!  Two Years Old!!

Forest River Campground to Raleigh, NC.  We debated about where to stay.  Jordan Lake looked lovely, but there were no sewer hook ups and their gates close at 9 pm with no entry after that.  Given that we were going to be visiting with family most of the time, I didn't want to risk being locked out.  Instead we chose the State Park Fairgrounds in Raleigh.  Only about 10 miles from the family in Apex.  

Before we arrived we met John for lunch.  He had already biked a long way by that point in the day, so he packed it up for the day at that point.

Off to Raleigh!  The fairgrounds were actually pretty straight forward.  Full hookups, but no other amenities.  No bath house, pool, or laundry...totally fine with us!  The security folks met us at the site to settle up and we were set.  Super easy!

I will continue the rest of Raleigh/Apex in another post.

3 days, 4 states (August 23-25)

Kentucky August 22 additional note for previous day...

This morning after dropping off John at his starting point, I saw something interesting.  In Iowa this would really surprise me, but nothing is that surprising in KY anymore.  As I was pulling out of the gas station a women in her large SUV pulled in past me.  Her young son was on her lap in the driver's seat.  He looked to be just a little younger than Graham.  I didn't see anyone else in the vehicle nor did it appear to be an emergency.  There are some things that just wouldn't fly where I am from and this is one of them!  Deep down I was angry, but I had to laugh at the cultural differences within one country.

Virginia August 23: Traveled from Sheltowee Trace Outfitters to the Cumberland Gap National Historic Park Campground in VA.  We spent most of the day driving in KY and ended the drive with a long tunnel into TN, then 1 mile stretch in TN before reaching our campground just barely into VA.  We escaped KY!!!

We drove around the National Historic park area and up to the overlook where you can see 3 states.  KY, TN, VA

VA (rainbow), TN, KY

Selfie failure 

Better

Deer on our drive

There was a heavy down pour while we were out driving around.  The bathroom ceiling vent was open on the camper and Charlotte thought that someone had peed all over the toilet seat.  Haha!!  Just rain water.

In this site we were unable to get the camper level from front to back because of the size of the incline, so we are nose down...so much so that John and I slept the "wrong" way on our bed so that our feet wouldn't be higher than our heads.  It was an awkward night of sleep.

Happy to be out of KY!!

Tennessee August 24: From Cumberland Gap to Kingsport, TN KOA.  Once again we have a pool and we can do laundry!!  This is the longest we have gone without doing laundry...a week.  Doesn't sound like much, but we packed light for the summer, so laundry is necessary at least every 4-5 days.

Getting into the site was "fun."  You would expect that a KOA would have easy to access sites and so forth, but this place has some really steep driveways...the sites are mostly level, but the roads around them were not.  The trailer once again ate ground on the way into the pull thru site, however no damage done.  Also, I discovered that I had forgotten the spring bar tool for the new hitch at the last campground...boo!!  I found the old one, which worked just as well.  I couldn't make the camper level because the hitch would not come off once again.  I really wish that we had locked the old hitch.  There were several times before it was stolen that I thought maybe we should get a lock for it, but we had gone through most of our trip without an issue, so I figured we were in the clear.  Now I KNOW!!

Swimming was great!! 

Biking today was a mix. The first 40 miles were excellent as I rode on a multi divided highway out of the gap and there was a huge shoulder! I stopped at a great little diner for breakfast customer and spent a long time talking with the lady who owned it. I met up with Rebecca and the kids just at the right time. My huge highway had become a very narrow very busy 2 Lane Rd. with no shoulder. I decided to take a break in the middle of the ride and hop in the truck until the road conditions got better. About 20 miles from our campsite the road was supposed to break off to a small country road so I decided it would be worth a try. This road was absolutely gorgeous for about 3 miles until it turned into gravel and very hilly. The last 10 miles of the trip was probably the heaviest hardest urban riding I've ever done. I was super happy to get to the KOA!

North Carolina August 25:  From Kingsport KOA to Boone, NC also a KOA.  It turns out that Boone is a college town and looks like it.  Today we spend way too much time traveling.  We were in and out of the truck from 11 am - 5 pm.  We did stop for lunch and shopping, but it was just a long day of traveling.  The kids don't do very well on those days.  This was John's last mountain climbing day of the trip.  It is all down hill from here.

The KOA was at about 3600 ft elevation and Boone was at about 3000 ft.  Those last 4 miles were up, up, up.  Once again the KOA was very interesting to maneuver.  This time in addition to steep driveways, they were also narrow and full of trees.  It was a lovely spot to camp, but not easy to get into or out of.  This time I did have to level the camper from left to right...it was necessary.  So...to do this I took off the stabilizer bars and then put it up on blocks.  Not the order of operations that I'm used to, but it worked.  As I was getting set up I also noticed how difficult it was going to be to get out of the site in the manor that they would suggest.  I ended up asking the KOA staff to hold the spot directly in front of us so that we can go through that one to leave in the morning.  They agreed.

The temp here was only 72F sounds nice, but it actually felt a little cold at the pool.  They also had roosters, goats and donkeys to see.  The kids enjoyed that.  The animals actually came running to us because they are so used to being fed by people.

John ended up stopping before Boone because of the traffic and people honking at him.  This was one of the least hospitable biking roads and coincidentally one of the few that I saw signs for "share the road."  I guess they don't really want to share.

John found this outside of our campsite while looking for a stick.

We are getting really close to the end.  John has only 5 days ir so of biking left!!

Still in KY...(August 21-22)

August 21: We started the day unsure of the next campground, but at least a route.  I called the first campground and they only offer annual camping sites...even though their website has nightly rates.  I luckily found another one nearby.  It has been interesting working with some of these places.  They are very casual about the process.  Getting paid doesn't even seem to be a focus for most of them.  

As usual I got the kids and the camper packed up in the later morning.  This should have been like any other day except we have a new hitch system.  While this one is generally the same idea as the old one, it is not broken in and is a little more complicated of a design.  After grunting and struggling with it for several minutes in the hot sun, I called John and explained that I might be stuck in place.  I was unable to move the stabilizer bars back and forth.  A hammer used like a baseball bat didn't even make it budge.  After discussing this with John, he recommended using the broken WD40.  It worked just enough to get the bars to move with all of my body weight.  Shortly after this I found a new can of WD40.  Finally...we are off to the Wolf River Resort Marina and campground...very little emphasis on the campground portion of this.

This happened on the car ride:

The resort marina was a nice spot, no phone service, but usable Wifi.  They rent houseboats!!  Who's in for next year?  A week on a houseboat?

August 22: Albany KY to Corbin KY (west of Corbin in the Daniel Boone Forest).

We again didn't have a reservation for the night.  Seems to be a trend this half of the trip.  We found the Sheltowee Trace Outfitters campground.  They have zip lining, river adventures, etc.  Sounds like fun, when the kids are older.  

We are now in eastern time!!!  Lost my lunch hour today.  We also found that the new hitch is not easy to unhook when the campsite isn't level from side to side. Our solution...don't unhook it! :)  

I think we are getting a little feisty after 8 weeks on the road.  We are definitely ready to leave KY...tomorrow!!  No phone service again tonight.  The wifi is ok.  It is odd though, we have phone service while traveling and then right before we arrive at the campground POOF gone.

We are looking forward to the next campground with an "h2o containment unit"...our secret parent lingo for pool.  

Mammoth Cave & Jellystone Park (Aug 19 - 20)

August 19:  After our new hitch was installed we visited the Aviation Heritage Park in Bowling Green, KY.  They have several planes on display and you can go right up to them, walk under them, etc.  While there we ran into Arnie...who was cleaning up and pulling weeds.  He is one of the pilots of one of the planes on display.  He told us all about the park.

About Arnie...

Arnie's plane is on the far left.  All of the planes are somehow tied to local aviators.

All of the astronauts who have walked on the moon have flown in this plane.

Finally we arrived at Jellystone!!  We took a swim, used the splash area and Charlotte had fun on the water slide!!

August 20: Rest Day!!  We visited the jumping pillow at Jellystone.

We saw some ducks/geese...not sure exactly.

Lastly we visited Mammoth Cave NP.  We picked the shortest, easiest tour but Graham was still a pill.  We weren't allowed to bring the stroller or the backpack carrier...so he walked or was reluctantly carried...while screaming.  It was great for Charlotte!  She even became a Junior Ranger!!

Junior Ranger!!

Bad Luck Blues (August 15-18)

August 15: We went from Van Buren to Dexter, MO.  The campground Wildwood RV Park was unattended, no website, and didn't answer their phone.  We rolled in to town unsure if we were going to have a place to stay that night as there were no other campgrounds that we could find in our searches for 25-30 miles.  It actually turned out to be a nice place with many permanent residents.  The gentleman in site 1 was the person in charge of the joint while the owners were away.  Pretty uneventful stay. The first part of the ride was super flat and fast. As I got into Poplar Bluff to meet for lunch the heat turned up. About a 1/4 mile after lunch my brand new Gstor Skin tire ripped open and was toast. There was a Dunhams sport store close so I walked over but they did not have any road tires. So, Rebecca came back and saved the day. I was back on the road no more than 5 miles and my brand new Conti 4000s tire I just put on had a torn side wall, exact same damage. By this time it was HOT and I was back on the busy highway. So, I had some electrical tape and psyched the side wall hoping it would hold. I limped back to camp and called it a day. 

August 16:  We went from Dexter, MO to Columbus, KY.  We found a state park there that has full hookups.  The first state park with such amenities.  Columbus-Belmont State Park on the Mississippi.

The horse flies were terrible, but we still managed to spend some time outdoors. 

Charlotte found a frog and ended up smothering it to death...haha...kids!  We warned her not to handle it so much, but she obviously thought we didn't know what we were talking about.  In this photo it is still living.

August 17 (incident day): We went from Columbus to Cadiz, KY and were introduced to the awful KY drivers.  I'm not going to go into great detail here, but lets just say that John was side swiped by a car going 45-50MPH.  He was only 15 miles into his ride that day.  After a careful inspecation at the hosptial John was cleared to ride again. He took the rest of the day off from riding...clearly a sound choice.

We were able to enjoy the pool at the Kamptown Campground in Cadiz and venture to a nearby Cracker Barrel for dinner.  It turns out we had been at this exact Cracker Barrel previously when headed south on I24.

August 18 (theft day): We went from Cadiz to Bowling Green, KY.  Yes John was back on the bike and rode 95 miles!

The KOA site was amazing...patio and right next to the pool!

We were off to a great start after the events of the previous day.  While I was at Kroger taking this photo...the kids loved the car cart!!

Someone decided that our trailer hitch was a nice looking piece of metal and stole it right off the back of the truck while I was shopping.  If you have had a trailer weight distribution system before, you know that this is a major bummer!  It isn't any old ball hitch.  

Luckily we were near a Camping World and while the staff in the store could use a few lessons on customer service, we were able to solve our problem.  BTW, solving our problem meant getting a whole new hitch system...and the new one is not a nice as the old one.  We are hoping that the RV dealer back home can get the replacement part for us so that we can sell the new one when we get home.

After installation during a morning breakfast stop at Cracker Barrel, we were back on our merry way!

John: My bike ride to Bowling Green was great. I will use the phrase "get back on the horse." I needed a good one and got it. I rode all on major roads with big shoulders and I am glad I did. I spent some time at the Jefferson Davis memorial and went to the top of the monument. It is an interesting part of our history.

Branson rest day and birthday fun! (August 12-14)

Branson is a mix of WI Dells and Pigeon Forge.  We decided the best way to spend our limited time there was on a duck boat tour.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, they are WWII era "trucks" that also function as boats.  They are now used for fun tours in areas like Branson and WI Dells.  The trip was  over an hour and took us all over the Branson area.  Charlotte and Graham even got to captain for a short time while on the water.

Duck Quakers...

Table Rock lake was beautiful.

Back in Springfield that night we decided to celebrate my birthday a day early since there were more restaurants in Springfield.  We found a place called Fuji Japanese.  It was a great find...inexpensive hibachi, sushi and a koi pond too!!  They even sang happy birthday (Japanese style), gave me nice metal chopsticks, a pineapple dessert, and a photo as a gift.

The only downside was my swollen jaw.  Lasted through dinner and the rest of that evening, but with some ice and painkillers it was mostly gone the next day.  There were no incidents to case this just the usual activities.  Grinding and jaw issues are not a stranger to my family, so I guess it is just my turn.

Later that night we had cake at our camper.

Now for my actual birth day...

We left Springfield and spent the night in Mtn Grove.  

At this point we have altered our route again and are heading across MO on Hwy 60.  The recommended routes are hilly, narrow and the cars move along on them pretty fast.  Not a great combo for a biker.

It was a low key night of movie watching and dinner.  We finally drank the special bottle of wine that we purchased in Sonoma CA!!

August 14...

From Mtn Grove on to Van Buren.  Another day on Hwy 60, about 84 miles. We visited Big Spring which is part of the Ozark National Scenic Riverway.  It is a spring about 55-58 F that comes out of the boulders at the rate of 288 million gallons of water a day!!  It is very clear blue water too.  

One more night in MO...