Since we had gotten in from Clingman’s dome very late the night before, we found a View next to us in the morning. We awoke to discover Robbie and her husband Cory from southern Mississippi parked next to us in the morning. It was a 2008 View H, identical to ours, except cleaner and with some tricked out windows and accessories. They are exceedingly nice people. We talked for a while about the pluses of owning a View. They bought theirs new, and Cory built a storage shelter for it by their house with full hookups. The condition of the View’s roof looks as if new, so it was a good decision on his part to build the structure. They have a married daughter and a son who attends Florida State University. The outside colors of the View is happily the same colors as FSU. Continue reading
Author Archives: Bob Kelly
Cades Cove
As I write this I’m sitting at a turnout just east of Clingman’s Dome waiting for the sun to set. We decided to finish both our day and stay in the Great Smoky Mountains at Clingman’s dome partially because we were shut out the last time we attempted to make plans without consulting with Mother Nature. After fueling up in Pigeon Forge earlier in the afternoon, we headed back to the park and headed straight for Clingman’s dome. Continue reading
Shenandoah National Park July 11
We woke early, turned over and went back to sleep. Vacation is great, especially when you have a loose schedule. The plan for today was to get to Loft Mountain Campground and see the sights. Cereal and coffee started the day, we broke camp, and it’s getting easier all the time, and headed south. We hit all the overlooks and drove through Lewis Mountain Campground. The camp seemed mostly 1930’s style family cabins. We continued south and at Eaton Hollow Overlook we spotted what I thought to be a fishing lure at the top of f tree. I know that doesn’t make any sense, but that’s what it looked like. Turned out it was a bird. It stayed there and sang for a long time, so long that I was able to change out lenses to get a better picture, and then return for the video camera. No video, it flew. A quick reference in the bird book, and Lo!, it was an Indigo Bunting. A beautiful bird that somehow glowed blue/turquoise with a very sweet song. We really enjoyed its presence. Continue reading
Shenandoah National Park, Great Meadows
Early morning rain shower had everyone scrambling to cover up and take in. I left out the chairs, table and firewood from the night before, so I put up the awning low and moved the firewood and went back to bed. It was much better than the middle of the night scratching on the table outside. I was sound asleep when I got up and took care of that, so I have no idea what was going on then. Continue reading
Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway
We started the day off with a big breakfast of sunnyside up eggs, bacon, potatoes, toast coffee and OJ. We ate outside under the awning. It was very resortish. Big Meadows is one of the quietest campgrounds that I have ever been to. There is a large RV up the hill from us, and they run a generator in the morning during the allowable hours. It’s barely audible and sounds like an air conditioner running somewhere undeterminable. Continue reading