Sunset over Clinch Mountain range Our travels north took us further west this year. For the first time in our RV travels, we headed into northwest Georgia and then to southeast Tennessee, taking advantage of a slower trip north to explore some new areas.
Camp Margaritaville on Lake Lanier
Leaving Petersburg Campground on a Friday morning, we made our way toward Lake Lanier, north and east of Atlanta. Our destination was Camp Margaritaville, and our biggest challenge on the route north was avoiding the notorious Atlanta commuter traffic. And for the most part, we were successful. One of the perks of our stay at this resort was some free tickets to the Fins Up water park.
Leaving Petersburg Campground on a Friday morning, we made our way toward Lake Lanier, north and east of Atlanta. Our destination was Camp Margaritaville, and our biggest challenge on the route north was avoiding the notorious Atlanta commuter traffic. And for the most part, we were successful. One of the perks of our stay at this resort was some free tickets to the Fins Up water park.
Beach at Fins Up Waterpark in Margarita ville We hadn’t been to a water park in a long time. And our first trip down the Raging River ride on a double-tube told us we were probably over the age limit for doing this any more. However, the wave pool was just our speed. We spent most of our time cooling off in that pool or wandering the park enjoying other people’s wild rides.
The mobile margarita cart at Camp Margaritaville. Of course, being at Margaritaville, it seemed to make sense to try a margarita. And the park made it easy, since a cart drove through the campground each evening selling them. We flagged down the mobile bar one evening and tried some. They were pretty good.
A new state for our RV travels. Into Tennessee
We left Margaritaville on a Thursday morning and made our way into the southern Appalachians in SE Tennessee. Our first stop was at a campground on Tellico Lake, formed by the damming of the Little Tennessee River back in 1979. Toqua Campground was named for a Cherokee town, many of which now sit beneath the waters of the lake.
We left Margaritaville on a Thursday morning and made our way into the southern Appalachians in SE Tennessee. Our first stop was at a campground on Tellico Lake, formed by the damming of the Little Tennessee River back in 1979. Toqua Campground was named for a Cherokee town, many of which now sit beneath the waters of the lake.
Riding the Dragon - rt 129 between eastern TN and western NC While at the campground we did some exploring. First we drove up river on the first few miles of The Dragon, a route over the mountains to Fontana Lake that has a reputation among motorcyclists. The signs at the entrance touted “318 curves in 11 miles”. We hadn’t traveled far before we saw our first of dozens of bikers. Talking with some at scenic overlook, we learned that this was going to be a busy day, since a BMW rally was going to be a big draw. Sure enough, we passed several convoys of “Mvading the Dragon” BMW’s on their way into the dragon’s mouth.
Little Tennessee River But we were just there for the scenery, and it was a lovely day to drive along the river. But not wanting to fight the traffic, we turned around to find some lunch at nearby Maryville Calhoun’s. We were given a tip by Pastor Michael in his Father’s Day sermon that we couldn’t resist.
Reconstructed barracks at history Fort Loudoun Closer to home, a couple of miles from our campground, we toured historic Fort Loudoun, an early British fort that only survived 4 years, but was reconstructed and is now a state historic site. Across the highway is the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, bringing to life the significant contributions of this man who provided the Cherokee with a written language and whose statue sits in the Capitol Rotunda.
Bill Nickle at Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center Our next stop was further north near Jefferson City on another reservoir, this one by the Cherokee Dam. We chose this stop because we wanted to visit a friend of Cathy’s at the Narrow Ridge Earth Literacy Center in nearby Washburn TN.
Cathy, Carolyn and Bill at Narrow Ridge Along the Narrow Ridge
It had been decades since Cathy had last seen Bill Nickle. He was the youth pastor during her father’s appointment as Senior Pastor at Ardmore UMC in Winston-Salem back in the late 60’s. Yes. That long ago. He led the UM Youth Fellowship and officiated at Carolyn’s (Cathy’s older sister) wedding 50 years ago. Exchanging Christmas cards over the years had kept us in touch.
It had been decades since Cathy had last seen Bill Nickle. He was the youth pastor during her father’s appointment as Senior Pastor at Ardmore UMC in Winston-Salem back in the late 60’s. Yes. That long ago. He led the UM Youth Fellowship and officiated at Carolyn’s (Cathy’s older sister) wedding 50 years ago. Exchanging Christmas cards over the years had kept us in touch.
His vision to create a center devoted to sustainability began to be realized over 30 years ago and has become a reality in Narrow Ridge. Carolyn joined us in a day long tour of the center with Bill as our guide. The center has several hundred acres that are dedicated to the center’s mission of sustainability, spirituality and community. That includes a lodge and several cabins where visitors can gather to participate in the center’s programs or simply relax in the natural setting. There is also a land trust which leases land to individuals willing to abide by the center’s covenants on sustainability and protecting the environment (such as no pesticides and no septic system).
There are 2 natural burial sites, a pollinator field, a stand of recently planted American chestnut trees, and an active education program that invites groups and individuals to learn more about Earth Literacy, a concept that originated with one of the center’s benefactors, Mac Smith. We had a great visit, learning about the work at Narrow Ridge and catching up on a lifetime of memories.
Going to Carolina
Leaving Tennessee, we were making our way to NC to visit with Cathy’s family. Our route from northeast TN took us briefly into SW Virginia before crossing back south into NC. We had a stopover in Mt. Airy NC, Andy Griffith’s hometown at (where else?) Mayberry Campground. We only had time to refuel the truck and then refuel ourselves on Little Richard’s BBQ, which was the best we’ve tasted in quite a while.
Leaving Tennessee, we were making our way to NC to visit with Cathy’s family. Our route from northeast TN took us briefly into SW Virginia before crossing back south into NC. We had a stopover in Mt. Airy NC, Andy Griffith’s hometown at (where else?) Mayberry Campground. We only had time to refuel the truck and then refuel ourselves on Little Richard’s BBQ, which was the best we’ve tasted in quite a while.
The next day, we drove to Durham where we would be staying at Rolling View Campground on Falls Lake. This would be our home for the next 10 days while we visited with family. Being in one place for a while, we pulled out the smoker again to cook up some meats for the upcoming holiday celebration.
What virus?
It was a moving day, and we had several hundred miles to travel. So, Dave wasn’t expecting to be working on a problem with Faith’s website first thing that morning. Then he received an email from Pastor Mike, who had wanted to view the church’s recent service. But when he went to the Faith website, he received messages that raised alarms. He quickly closed the site. When we tried the site and got the same result, we were dumbfounded. How could this have happened? More importantly, how would find and fix it?
While Dave investigated the church’s entries on GoDaddy, Cathy logged onto Weebly. Initially, we could find nothing wrong. Dave chatted with GoDaddy, but Weebly’s support wouldn’t be available for another hour. Then Cathy checked one more setting in Weebly and there it was. Someone had inserted code into the site’s header and footer that didn’t belong. We wiped it out and re-published, which removed the malware. But the question remained: How did it get there? The church members authorized to edit the website were definitely not likely to have made the change.
Checking logs, it appeared that one user had signed in the day before. But we verified with her that she had not been on the site in a week. After confirming with Weebly, we worked with her to reset her password, and so far we haven’t had any more issues. Lucky for us, Pastor Mike’s inquiry found the problem before it had been on the site more than a few hours. And now we had managed to cure our first online virus.
It was a moving day, and we had several hundred miles to travel. So, Dave wasn’t expecting to be working on a problem with Faith’s website first thing that morning. Then he received an email from Pastor Mike, who had wanted to view the church’s recent service. But when he went to the Faith website, he received messages that raised alarms. He quickly closed the site. When we tried the site and got the same result, we were dumbfounded. How could this have happened? More importantly, how would find and fix it?
While Dave investigated the church’s entries on GoDaddy, Cathy logged onto Weebly. Initially, we could find nothing wrong. Dave chatted with GoDaddy, but Weebly’s support wouldn’t be available for another hour. Then Cathy checked one more setting in Weebly and there it was. Someone had inserted code into the site’s header and footer that didn’t belong. We wiped it out and re-published, which removed the malware. But the question remained: How did it get there? The church members authorized to edit the website were definitely not likely to have made the change.
Checking logs, it appeared that one user had signed in the day before. But we verified with her that she had not been on the site in a week. After confirming with Weebly, we worked with her to reset her password, and so far we haven’t had any more issues. Lucky for us, Pastor Mike’s inquiry found the problem before it had been on the site more than a few hours. And now we had managed to cure our first online virus.
Could anything else go wrong?
The morning that started with a computer virus turned into a day with technical glitches. As we left the campground at Cherokee Dam, we had no cell service for the first few miles. RV Life, our new navigation software, didn’t handle it the way it had in the past. Instead of proposing the offline route, it recalculated a route to our final destination several stops down the road, and ignored our waypoints taking us on I-81, I-77 and I-74 to Mt. Airy. Instead it wanted to head down I-40. Getting back into cell service didn’t immediately fix the problem either. But at some point, it just corrected itself. We never completely understood why.
Then the tire monitor for our trailer tires stopped working. Since we were traveling into the sun on another 90+ degree day, we thought this was a problem with the monitor getting too hot. We repositioned it, but weren’t getting any readings. So, we stopped at a rest area to check the tires. They were fine. And the monitor started working again. Only to stop again as we got underway. Finally, the light bulb came on. We have a repeater that transmits the signal from the trailer tires to the monitor in the front of the truck. We had forgotten to turn it on. Oops. Sure enough, once we did, the monitor worked like a charm.
But trouble comes in threes. So, we had one more glitch to deal with. Pulling into Mayberry Campground, Cathy opened the RV Leveler app to check the level as we parked the RV. But it wouldn’t connect with the sensor. We have other ways of sensing level that are more cumbersome, which we used instead. Luckily, the problem with the RV Leveler just turned out to be a dead battery in the leveling sensor. Since it had been in service for about 2 years, it was about time to replace it.
Given our track record on this day, we were glad we were in safely, and that our problems were merely technical and not actual breakdowns.
Parting Shots
The morning that started with a computer virus turned into a day with technical glitches. As we left the campground at Cherokee Dam, we had no cell service for the first few miles. RV Life, our new navigation software, didn’t handle it the way it had in the past. Instead of proposing the offline route, it recalculated a route to our final destination several stops down the road, and ignored our waypoints taking us on I-81, I-77 and I-74 to Mt. Airy. Instead it wanted to head down I-40. Getting back into cell service didn’t immediately fix the problem either. But at some point, it just corrected itself. We never completely understood why.
Then the tire monitor for our trailer tires stopped working. Since we were traveling into the sun on another 90+ degree day, we thought this was a problem with the monitor getting too hot. We repositioned it, but weren’t getting any readings. So, we stopped at a rest area to check the tires. They were fine. And the monitor started working again. Only to stop again as we got underway. Finally, the light bulb came on. We have a repeater that transmits the signal from the trailer tires to the monitor in the front of the truck. We had forgotten to turn it on. Oops. Sure enough, once we did, the monitor worked like a charm.
But trouble comes in threes. So, we had one more glitch to deal with. Pulling into Mayberry Campground, Cathy opened the RV Leveler app to check the level as we parked the RV. But it wouldn’t connect with the sensor. We have other ways of sensing level that are more cumbersome, which we used instead. Luckily, the problem with the RV Leveler just turned out to be a dead battery in the leveling sensor. Since it had been in service for about 2 years, it was about time to replace it.
Given our track record on this day, we were glad we were in safely, and that our problems were merely technical and not actual breakdowns.
Parting Shots
The mimosa trees have been in full bloom as we travelled through Tennessee. The feathery pink blooms decorate the highways.
