My plan for this week’s Easin’ Along was to share the fun we had at our last two stops on our way home from a memorable trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway. That won’t happen because after a couple of weeks at home, Helen (adorable wife) and I left for a week of fall beach weather at Edisto Beach, SC. In my haste to pack Gracey for a return trip to one of the South’s great campgrounds, I left the flash drive containing my pictures for this post on my desk…another senior moment. The details of our time at Tanglewood RV Resort in Clemmons, NC and our hike along a wildflower trail, at Smokemont Campground in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park will have to wait.
Instead, I am going to share a few of my favorite pictures from our trip that were not included in previous posts. We truly enjoyed this journey and have some great memories of some fabulous views and charming small towns along the high road less traveled. I hope readers enjoy the pictures while we enjoy our time at the beach. We will share Edisto pictures next week. I promise I won’t forget.
Amazing wildflowers everywhere!
Always enjoy your beautiful pictures!! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Hi, Gloria,
I got caught up in the beauty of the Blue Ridge and couldn’t stop snapping. Glad you enjoyed them and have a great weekend!
I love to follow your blog. Many of the places you visit are the places we have visited. The only sadness I feel for you is that you live in Knoxville, so far away from our beloved Vanderbilt U and Nashville. But you have to play with the cards you were dealt.
I write you primarily because of the devastation that occurred along our favorite places on the “Forgotten Coast”of Florida. So many times we have walked the pristine sands of Mexico Beach, the tiny excellent restaurants there. The destroyed homes on Cape San Blas. St George Island, Apalachicola, and Eastpoint where Lynn’s our favorite oyster house was smushed. You loved the area as well.
You were just there. We were scheduled to leave today for another week of bliss. Nocando. Our cottage”Simple Abundance” has a foot of water in it. The owner seems to not have the heart to restore it to its former glory. She is 75 and said her heart was ripped out seeing what was left. Maybe take the insurance money and sell out.
Anyhow, I know you loved your visit there and perhaps in the future we will return.
The area won’t be forgotten in the future. Condo developers will destroy the exact reason we loved going there. And 6 lane highways as well.
Hello, Jack,
I have many friends who attended Vanderbilt. I used to be pretty cocky around them during football season but I am much more humble around them now that the shoe is on the other foot. Football notwithstanding, VU is a great school and Nashville is an awesome town.
Helen and I have great memories of our two recent trips to the Florida panhandle. We drove through Mexico Beach and commented on what a great place it would be to vacation there. I hope it is rebuilt with the concerns of those who love it taken into consideration.
My family vacationed in Pawley’s Island, SC for over 30 years. During most of those years, Pawley’s was a quiet little beach town described as “arrogantly shabby”. A few hurricanes later, the place is hardly the same and the prices are well beyond my budget. If that is progress, they can have it.
Thanks for checking in. I hope you’ll stay in touch.
Joe
We live in Charleston/Summerville. You are so correct re: Pawleys\Litchfield etc. I thought we had achieved a modicum of wealth until I drove thru there several years ago. I guess not.
Jack,
Oh well, we have the memories and the pictures. They’re both priceless.
Great photos. Love the one of you on the beach.
Thanks for posting.
Hi, Cindi,
Many thanks for the kind words about our pictures. Comments from a professional photographer are most flattering. Helen took the picture of me one morning with her IPhone. In this post, the subject matter (Blue Ridge Mountains) made this task much easier. Great to hear from you!
Bolar Mountain State Park looks very appealing, Joe, and I love that photo at the top of your post!
The pic of Helen enjoying her puzzle brought a question to mind . . . How do your store your puzzles while traveling?
Enjoy your stay at the beach – it’s such a great time of year to be camping!
Hi, Mary,
I receive more questions about Helen’s puzzle system more than on any other subject covered on Easin’ Along. I’m always happy to share because her system works great for RVers.
If you look at the picture in this post, you will see her puzzle on a felt board. That is actually a large, flat briefcase with the top half folded underneath the half she is working on. The top half is also lined with felt. When she finishes a session, she folds the top half over and zips both sides together. The felt holds the puzzle together. She stores the briefcase vertically in the space behind our sofa in Gracey. She sorts loose pieces roughly by color and keeps them in square, stackable storage trays in the box they came in. Those trays are stored in our pass-thru underneath Gracey. All of the puzzle system came from BitsandPieces.com where she occasionally buys puzzles. I’ll send you a picture of both the briefcase and the trays by email if you’re interested.
Bolar Mountain is beautiful, but very remote. The campground has electric hookups, but water is shared between campsites. I would call it “boondocking plus”. Nevertheless, if you really want to get away from it all, go there!
Editsto Beach is great right now. Perfect fall beach weather for fun with our two granddaughters who left this morning. Seems kinda quiet without them now.
Great to hear from you! Hope all is well!
Thanks for the info, Joe. I think I’ll go poke around on the BitsandPieces web site to see what I can find to add to my Christmas wish list. (Bolar Mountain might have to go on our travel wish list – it sounds like a place we’d enjoy.)
Alan and I felt the same after the kids left our Sacandaga campsite – it sure got way too quiet awfully fast. Hope you and Helen continue to have good weather and enjoy the rest of your stay at the beach!