Returning to
Western North Carolina and East Tennessee is a bit like returning home; we
never tire of it.
Once again
we parked The Wanderer for a couple days
at Lake Powhatan campground and took Roger (aka the pick-up.) to go exploring.
A couple of
days does not satisfy but was enough to allow ABN a shopping spree at the impressive,
open-air outlet mall and also sample a few beers at our favorite craft breweries.
Twin-Leaf
Hi-Wire
Burial (Our Personal Favorite)
Don’t get
concerned, the tastings were only 4-5 ounce pours (mostly.)
These Sacred Trespasses Against The Misunderstood was an exception. Outstanding!
A beautiful
drive through the Smoky Mountains brought us to our friends, Roger and Jean, in
Walland, TN where we gathered with four other friends to celebrate Roger’s
birthday. A fun filled weekend with special friends, scrumptious food and excellent
wine in the magnificent mountains of East Tennessee was a perfect ending for
our Fall 2022 Adventure.
If you have been reading our blog the past few years then, yes,
you have heard of Harvest Hosts. But do you know what it is? No? Well, let us
tell you.
Harvest Hosts is an organization in which RVers can purchase a
yearly membership. The membership allows RVers to boondock (that means no
amenities like water and electricity) overnight
at designated establishments throughout the country at no charge (of
course one is expected to make a purchase at the establishment.) Yeah, we know,
one can do that at Walmart or Cracker Barrel without a club membership. But
that is so boring and noisy. With Harvest Hosts we have stayed at wineries and
breweries (okay, maybe that is what initially got our attention.) We have also
parked at an alpaca farm, a sugar maple farm, a lavender farm, in a peach
orchard, at a car dealership, a date farm, and the list goes on. The best part
is we get off the interstate and usually into a small town or rural area. We
meet people in the communities and often other travelers. It just feeds our
adventurous souls.
This past week we had a fun time at the Orange County Distillery
near New Hampton, NY. In addition to spirits, they offer wine and beer
(including an outstanding Southern Tier Pumpkin Ale that was just right for a
crisp fall New England evening.)
We listened to live music and chatted with the locals.
Let’s just get this out there, New York is more than New York
City! This is the third brewery at which we have parked in rural New York. The
folks are the friendly, blue jeans and flannel shirt types, just like us.
Sharing our space was a couple from Canada.
Next we stayed at The Appalachian Brewing Company in
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
This was a rare dud. Basically, it is a restaurant with a large
parking lot next to a Tesla dealership in a metropolitan area. The food and
beer was okay but nothing special. The staff was pleasant as one would expect
in a restaurant but no personal interaction.
Five or six other rigs were in the parking lot, we spoke with a
couple from Colorado but there was no common gathering place. It was pretty much like staying in a Walmart
parking lot.
The next night’s stay at Barren Ridge Winery
overlooking the beautiful Shenandoah Valley made up for the dud.
We visited with a local couple as we sipped wine on the patio.
Most interesting was Captain’s conversation with the owner. At
age 83 (yes, she revealed her age and also indicated Captain was not that far
behind her) she is still actively engaged in running the winery. She stopped by
the RV on her way home to invite us back the next afternoon to listen to a
musician from Sweden. Unfortunately we were already committed and couldn’t stay
over.
Driving through Massachusetts, Connecticut and the Poconos was
stunningly beautiful.
We could share about 6 hours of video but will spare you and show
only a clip that might inspire you to experience the Northeast in the fall if
you have not already done so.
We parked overnight in the driveway of our good friends, Steve
and Wendy.
You might remember them from earlier posts as we have visited
them multiple times in West Texas. Recently they moved from Andrews, Texas to
Johnson City, Tennessee.
As an unofficial tour guide, Wendy gave us a tour of Jonesborough,
the oldest city in Tennessee.
Wendy is doing a great job as she has only lived in the area for a
little over a year and she now understands the challenge of finding parking for
an RV. (It was great, Wendy, thank you
so much!)
We continued to enjoy the fall colors as we drove through the
Appalachian Mountains.
Today we are back in familiar territory.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and
narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts.
Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by
vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”Mark Twain
Alison is our granddaughter. She is a marine biologist gaining experience as an intern at the International Fund for Animal Welfareon Cape Cod. Her current focus is on rescue and rehab. It was SO MUCH FUN hanging out with her this past week. Friends who have young grandchildren, try to imagine what it will be like when they are adults. It is so cool!
The first part of our week was like this
But the sky cleared for a couple of days and Alison showed us around the Cape.
Provincetown
Chatham Light
Cape Cod Brewery
and we found a new favorite brew.
It does our souls good to know she loves her work and is living her dream.
Having been together in The Wanderer 24/7 for the past 10 days, we were ready for a break. Captain explored the Marconi-RCA Wireless Museum
while ABN poked around the shops in Chatham (and Alison was working.)
We are enjoying the beautiful colors of New England as The Wanderer turns southward.
The jaunt to Cape Cod took us through the beautiful fall colors in the Northeast
and also to some interesting Harvest Host stays. Our first night found us at Wildside Winery in Versailles, KY.
We
were pleasantly surprised to find a couple of nice wines that pleased our
palates. Most of the wines we have tasted east of the Mississippi River, due to
the moisture, are too sweet for our tastes. While Wildside has a nice
selection of sweet wines they also import grapes from the Lodi region of
California to make pleasing dry wines.
Yes, we were there on a Tuesday.
On
our way to the Eastern Seaboard last fall, we stopped at Lambert’s Winery in
Weston, WV.
We
had a lovely time so we did a re-visit this year. As we tasted wine, we watched
the devastation from Hurricane Ian on TV as it hit Florida. We felt our host,
Debbie’s, anguish as she watched the neighborhood of her winter home wash away.
Nevertheless, she was gracious and had a fire built for us.
Next
stop, Pfisterville near Frederick, MD. (That would be the home of our good
friends, Juanita and Greg.) Of course that meant we had to pay a visit to Flood
Zone (not to be confused with Dry Ground.)
Meandering our way through Maryland and Pennsylvania, we arrived at a Harvest Host in Staatsburg,
NY.
Camping
next to us
were
a young couple with a 6 month old baby on their inaugural RV trip. We had a
most pleasant visit while drinking beer and listening to a band at the brewery.
Since
we were so close to Hyde Park, it seemed appropriate to drop in for a visit with Franklin and
Eleanor.
We experienced a bit of adventure leaving New York (we still don't understand why Ms. Garmin thought it a good idea to leave the highway.)
Still we found the Harvest Host golf course in Rhode Island.
Laurel Lane Golf Course, West Kingston, Rhode Island
We
were anticipating a delicious lobster roll in their restaurant. Unfortunately
it was a cool, windy day that did not bring out the golfers, so they closed the
restaurant early. We pulled some vegetable soup and cornbread from the freezer
and settled in to watch a movie.
Not
all was lost as we were able to check RI off our map!
45 down, 3 to go!
We found her!
Now
for a fun week with Alison showing us around Cape Cod!
