Harvey-the-RV  - Roadtrip 2009

North Carolina

23rd June - 5th July 2009

With the offer of excellent value camping facilities, high up in the cool mountains of North Carolina on our minds, we quickly made for Chris and Vivian's house in Little Switzerland.    Harvey is particularly unfond of the steep, mountain-climbing highway to reach their home, so we decided to give him a break and from Asheville took the Blue Ridge Parkway route, slower, winding but far more scenic and kinder for our beloved vehicle.    

Blue Ridge Parkway

Phil complains (ha, ha) that he'll have to take his fishing rod apart to get it into the Porsche!

Naturally, there is no such thing as a free campsite and the condition of our stay was a request to collect their dogs, Zapper and Shelley from the kennels and look after them in the absence of their owners, who were living it up in Vegas.     Still, when the loaner car was a Porsche, it wasn't such a hardship.    

Zapper and Shelley were most definitely pleased to see us and leapt eagerly into the car.     A detailed instruction manual for the dogs had been left for us dog-novices and we religiously followed the instructions.     It didn't seem that this was going to be too much of a chore, until the following morning that is.......  

We opened to door to the room where he dogs spend the night, to be greeted with what could only be described as a " total poop-fest".    Aargh!    It seemed that certainly one and possibly, judging by the volume of poop, possibly both dogs were somewhat upset in the digestive area.    Phil quickly disappeared, claiming that as he was the one responsible for dealing with grandchild nappies (diapers) in the UK, Christine was duly appointed as the Team Anju member in charge of dog poop.     Great - a promotion!     By the time the major clean up operation was complete, she was a little off her morning porridge.......

Phil was keen to check out the fly-fishing opportunities in the area and we headed into the nearby metropolis of Spruce Pine to the local outfitters.    The owner of River's Edge Outfitters kindly passed on many tips of good fishing spots in the area and which flies to use.

First Phil decided to go with the cheapskate option. For only $5 you could get a license to fish specific spots on the town's river, which looked promising if perhaps a little over-fished.     That very evening he managed to somehow pack his rods, waders and boots into the tiny boot of the Porsche and ventured out on a fishing expedition.     

Next day he hit the main part of town, where the river passed right through the town park.    Meanwhile Christine went on a different kind of hunt, around the local thrift stores in search of bargains.     Both had a lot of fun, although no fish were landed until Christine returned and was able to witness the event.  

Cheap Fishing in Spruce Pine

Phil enjoys his guided fishing trip

The outfitters offered reasonably priced guided fishing trips and Phil booked himself a half-day.    He was taken by his enthusiastic young guide to the company's private prize fishing waters, where he proceeded to astound his guide with the size and number of fish he managed to hook.     

Beautiful Linville Falls

The dogs try to persuade Phil to cool his heels too!

As instructed the dogs were religiously exercised each day and we were happy to take them on a hike around the trail at Crabtree falls.    We enjoyed the scenery, the dogs took a dip in the river and we all got a fair amount of exercise.    

On another occasion we walked to the falls near our friends' house, where the dogs half-scared us to death disappearing out of sight into the woods for long periods of time.     Eventually they turned up again though and we all staggered home, tired but happy, particularly Shelley who at one point decided she was going no further and lay down stubbornly in the road for a while before we were able to drag her back to her feet.  

The hill before Shelley's epic flop

We were happy when our friends returned after a very traumatic return trip from Vegas, courtesy of normal airline chaos.    By Independence Day on the 4th, we'd also be joined by their friends Rob and Joan, who flew in by means of their own small plane.    Together we enjoyed and over-indulged through a relaxing holiday weekend.

Marking the 4th

After a visit to neighbour Jo's Upper Street Cafe in Spruce Pine for traditional fare of hot dogs, we made a stop at The Orchard on the Parkway.    The Orchard was a working farm-cum-local fare and tourist shop, where a celebratory dance was being held with live music.    Most of the dancers were well into their golden years but put us to shame as they whirled around the dance floor.     The day was also marked by the firing of a cannon into the surrounding forest.    We hoped there were no passing hikers that day!  

Fresh from their Vegas adventure, Chris and Vivian were keen to introduce Phil to the joys of on-line poker.   Luckily it was the just for fun kind of game, not involving any real money, as Phil quickly became hooked.     Christine would be eternally grateful - hmph.

Oy - Poker heads - I've got your dinner ready.