Chuck and Naomi Adventures in RV Land

Feb. 9: Columbia has a lovely little zoo on the shore of the Saluda River,  very close to the RV park.   This is probably worth a full day visit during the season that the botanical garden is blooming or for those with kids who want to try some of the attractions such as the climbing wall.  

This zoo is really a mix of zoo, aviary, aquarium and botanical garden.

We got to the zoo just in time for feeding the gorillas.  This is done right by the viewing port, so the gorillas are very close to the audience – they do not seem to mind.  The zoo has two large males, kept in different parts of the enclosure.  One of them had all the toys and the other had all the females.

A unique thing in this zoo is that the public are allowed to feed the giraffes and the lorakeets.  The giraffes have a specific feeding time, and for $2, you can get a bucket of greens and hand-feed.  Some very small children were doing this when we were there and the giraffes seemed very gentle.
The lorakeets are in a large netted cage.  If you go in with a small container of nectar, they land on your arms, shoulders, head …

The zoo has a few animals we have not seen before.  The fishing cat is a bit bigger than a domestic cat and is native to Asia.  When we were there it was wading in its pool and chasing minnows (very successfully).  There was also beautiful tiny wild cat from Africa, the black-footed cat.
The koalas were busy being role-models for how we should be spending our time – i.e. they were peacefully curled up and sleeping.

The flamingos were starting their courting season, so there was a lot of activity – some birds (presumably the females) were doing a lot of splashing and fluffing out of wings and feathers.  Others (presumable the males) were dancing around with wings fully spread to show the full glory of their pink and gray coloration.

We decided that it would be worthwhile to get a zoo membership, as it would give us multiple entries to this zoo (if we come back to enjoy the garden later in the season) and 50% of the cost of entry to many other zoos and aquariums elsewhere.

 

Superbowl Sunday:  We are now at the Barnyard RV Park, a very large campground in suburban (or maybe sub-suburban) Columbia.   (Although this RV Park has a goose pond which helps keep the campground dry, there is nothing “Barnyard”y about it – this seems to be the name of the neighborhood.)

Most private campgrounds provide cable, and this is true of the Barnyard RV Park where we are now camped.  However, our RV is also equipped with a digital antenna, (which finds the stations automatically) and this proved to be the key to good reception for the game.

Most private campgrounds also provide wifi, but the Barnyard RV Park does not.  Chuck had prepared for this by arranging for a hotspot on one of our phones.  This is also handy for confidential interactions such as credit card purchases.  (Chuck did a lot of research into RV life before we left, and it is paying off big-time.)  This is fortunate because Chuck is falling behind at work and we need internet.

One of the things that has surprised me on the trip is how few people we have really chatted with. I thought RV life would be more social. It may be that it is just too cold for people to be outside. However, we rarely see other campers, even when walking the dog. And people may wave, but they seldom stop to chat. Besides the laundry room conversations and a few “how do you do that” tips, most conversations have started with the license plate: “I see you are from PA” or “I see you are from Canada,.” At our last campsite, we camped beside a family with 3 kids for 5 days and did not do more than nod at them.

The parking lot type campground structure reduces interaction. The campers are packed in tightly, at an angle to the road. The main entrance to an RV is on the passenger side so that is where the picnic table, awning etc are, while the electrical, water and sewer hook-ups are on the driver side. As a result, each camper has its own space that is accessible from the road, but not directly from another camper. Just imagine a street of small houses with each house rotated by 90 so that people on the street see the side of the house and walking out of the front door brings you to the back of the next house.  When we make an effort, people are friendly – inviting us in to see their RVs or spending time chatting.

For example, an RV just like ours pulled in towing the same model car we have pulled in while we were spending a day lazing.  We spent part of the afternoon picking the brains of this 80+ couple, who have been RVing for years, and go from place to place to ballroom dance.  Continuing to do this at their age takes a great attitude as well as good luck!

Another interesting feature of the Barnyard RV Park is that it is beside a flea market.  I have been to flea markets in other places, but nothing like this.  Besides clothes and the usual assortment of junk, cheap goods from overseas etc, there was a lot of fishing and hunting equipment (including holsters but no guns), all kinds of toiletries, bulk food and so on.  And swords – yes several people were selling swords.  I wanted a picture of the swords, but decided it would be best to talk to one of the vendors first.  He and his competitor were really friendly.  They explained that these were mostly collectable.  the competitor told me that they mostly were not sharpened – we then felt a blade and discovered it was razor-sharp.  He also had a very impressive display of hunting knives.

Feb. 6:  Since it was a beautiful warm day, we headed out for kayaking and hiking in Congaree National Park, which is just south of Columbia. Congaree is a bottomland flood plain, essentially a swamp that is successively submerged after rainfalls and has dry areas between rains. It includes many ecosystems. As a result, it is a hotbed of biodiversity.

The park is supposed to be teeming with bird and animal life, including alligators and wild boars. Due to the last two, Rumple spent his park visit on leash. We need not have worried however – the only animals sighted were a couple of turtles (not even squirrels) and we might have seen 10 birds. Apparently early February is not prime time for animal and bird life in the park. On the plus side, the insect and spider activity which others complained about was also very subdued.  The “Mosquito Meter” is prominently displayed in the visitor center, but we suspect that by the time a visitor has seen it, they already know.

The park brochure suggested a kayak launch site on the Cedar River that can be traversed both up and downstream.   The scenery was truly eerie. The sun dappled the murky water through the mature growth. However, most of the trees are tupelos, with weirdly swollen trunks and baldcyprus with flying buttresses at the base of the trunk and large “cypress knees” poking through the mud.
These “knees” which look like dead trunks are actually part of the root system, allowing the roots to survive being fully submerged –although no-one actually knows what the knees do. In any case, it is easy to imagine a swamp monster emerging from the murk.

At this time of year, there are no leaves on the cypress trees, although there were rhododendrons, hollies and palmettos that gave some green to the forest. Spring is beginning here though, and the occasional maple tree keys gave some red color.

 

Being safety conscious kayakers, we started our trip by heading upstream. We soon saw the error of our ways, as around the first bend the river was blocked by a fallen log. Getting Rumple in and out of the kayak is not fun, but having no choice, we pulled up on shore. And it was then that we discovered that Congaree mud is more like grease …

Chuck tried to step out of the kayak and pretty much ended up rolling in the mud. Rumple did slightly better, and was coated only to his knees (actually ankles). Naomi got out of the kayak OK, and then slithered around on the bank. Needless to say, however, by the time she was back in the kayak with Rumple, a fair amount of his mud made it onto her.

Another bend, and an even more intimidating pile of logs and branches filled the river. We decided to try downstream instead. Of course, this meant disembarking once again to get around the first obstacle. By this time it was pretty clear that getting back in the car without taking a ton of Congaree mud with us was going to be a challenge, but heck, why stop rolling in it once you get to that point?

Downstream all was placid and clear. We drifted with the current, spotted turtles, remarked on the weird vegetation and enjoyed the day. We chatted briefly with a couple canoing back upstream, and two young men on a kayak camping trip who had lifted over all the upstream obstacles.

When we had enough kayaking, we paddled back to the landing, reloaded the kayaks on the car, and went for a hike. This trail is supposed to be the primary birdwatching trail, but today it was eerily silent. We saw a single cardinal – otherwise not a single animal bigger than a gnat, and we did not even hear any birds. It was, however, a very nice walk in the woods. The trail is often covered in water, but today was dry. On either side of us, there was a mix of swamp and dry vegetation. The trail is absolutely flat.

When we were sufficiently hot and dry, we decided to return to the RV for some food and to clean up. It is not clear that we will have dry shoes tomorrow, but the RV park laundromat took care of the clothes. The kayaks had to be cleaned out with rags and a hose.

We returned to Congaree the next day     and were glad we did. We visited the visitor center and hiked along the board walk – a lovely hike through enormously tall trees. The loblolly pines are particularly huge. As well, the boardwalk has interpretory signs, which were helpful in understanding what is going on.

 

The highlight of the hike occurred at the most scenic spot, Weston Lake, where we started to chat with two other couples. As is often the case, Rumple was the ice breaker, and we started off chatting about pets and travels. After a while, the women moved off, and we started talking with one of the men, Mitch, about his video photography. He had started off when someone left a camera for his wife to do some video-filming. She was intimidated by the equipment, and asked him to take over. That was about 20 years ago, and he has continually upgraded both his equipment and his knowledge. He showed us some of his work, and he is really good, although he claims it is a hobby.  Mitch took the nice photo of the 2 of us.

Mitch then started talking about the other man, Jim Howle, who was a Barnum and Bailey clown and an artist. I had never heard of Mr. Howle, but when I had a chance to look him up I realized that I was quite familiar with both his clown act and his art. He was the “sad clown” on the Red Skelton show, and many of his clown paintings are famous. (http://www.charliethejugglingclown.com/Jim%20Howle.htm) In due time, he meandered back to tell Mitch that the wives were getting impatient, but in the end the two of them told us a lot of entertaining stories and jokes  about Jim’s career. It was great meeting these two entertaining gentlemen and their wives, and learning a bit about clown art.

Feb. 4: Our planned departure to pick up our RV in Statesville was delayed somewhat.  Whether it was the Lyme meds or food poisoning, Naomi spent much of the night tossing her dinner and had some queasy moments for a couple of days following, too.  In any case, as she had already made a mistake in the meds dosing, she decided it would be wise to talk to a doctor.  The growth of “urgent care” clinics and the fact that she is now signed up for Medicare has made this much easier than one might expect, and we were on the road only a couple of hours late.

The RV was ready to go including repairs and cleaning of the contaminated storage bays.  The dealership had put most of our refrigerator items in an office fridge, and so we also got some of our groceries back.  All that remains is to complain to Winnebago and try to recover some of our expenses.

We stayed at the KOA in Statesville for the night, figuring it would be best to be near the dealer in case anything went wrong.  All seems to be well, and we headed south to some seriously warm weather to arrive in time for the Superbowl.

 

Since the RV was under repair, our home in Asheville was the Super 8.  I am including a picture of our  room, because it was a very good value – $60 +tax (+$10/day for the dog), including 2 beds, wifi and breakfast.  It was on “the strip” so the surroundings were not beautiful, but it was 10 minutes by car to the Blue Ridge Parkway, downtown Asheville and the Biltmore Estate.

 

 

Feb. 2 (Thursday) With another sunny day before us, we headed out of Asheville for a day trip to Chimney Rock.  This is a trip over the continental divide, with lots of switchbacks on a narrow road.

We had a marvelous view of Chimney Rock from the small touristy village at its foot, and a hike along the creeks.  We also had a delicious lunch at Genny’s a small restaurant – along with a dose of religion.  (This is the “back of the mountain country”.)

Unfortunately, what we did not have was a trip to Chimney Rock, which is closed 2 days weekly – Wednesday and Thursday.

Chimney Rock is in the background of the picture of Genny’s above the “T” and in the picture below.  This is a family-friendly blog,  so all I have to say is that it looks even more like what you are thinking than this photo suggests.

 

Behind the town you can enjoy the River Walk, which is a piece of the state park along Hickory Nut Creek.  It is a nice scramble over the rocks, which the humans in our group enjoyed but Rumple did not.
Making the best of the situation, we headed off to Lake Lure, a couple of miles away.  This was the set for “Dirty Dancing” (which is supposed to take place in the Catskills).  It is very scenic, although the lake itself was drained for dam repair.  (The problem with sightseeing during the off-season is that hours are reduced, repairs are being done, etc.  Of course, the advantage, as we found at Biltmore, is that rates are reduced and crowds are minimal.)  In honor of our visit, we watched the movie in the evening.

At Lake Lure we very much enjoyed the Flowering Bridge, a series of minigardens planted on a bridge over the Broad River.  In the spring it is probably spectacular.  Even in February, with very little in bloom, it was lovely and whimsical. It is clear that a lot of people had fun creating whimsical displays.  We also walked along the drained lake – less fun for the humans but better for the dog.

We’ll look forward to seeing the Flowering Bridge in the spring or summer some day.

 

 

 

The following day, we returned to Chimney Rock, up the winding road and over the divide.  What we did not anticipate was very different weather west of the divide – rain and mist hiding the Chimney Rock and cliffs.  We were grateful for the views we had on the previous day, and returned to Asheville for a look at downtown.

Asheville has some very nice old civic buildings – a historical sign on the main plaza notes that they were preserved primarily because during the Great Depression the town could not afford to replace them.  Asheville is now booming, but the downtown retains some of its old ambience, along with a lot of new coffee shops.

The weather turned bitter, and we turned to the “French Broad Chocolate Shop” for designer hot chocolate.  (FYI and before anyone gets offended, the “French Broad” is the name of the part of the Broad River going through Asheville.)

Back at our hotel we got the welcome news that the RV was ready to pick up.

After a morning of work, we headed out to the Biltmore Estate, the palatial home of George Vanderbilt and a primary attraction of the area.  Despite our initial skepticism, we have to say that it was worth the visit.

    The self-guided house tour goes through many of the magnificent rooms in the main part of the house, as well as servant quarters, kitchens, storage areas and the laundry in the basement.

As “Downton Abbey” fans, we also signed up for the guided “Upstairs/Downstairs” tour which explained the workings of the household and took us through more areas.  The house has amazing views of the surrounding area and mountains.The house tour took about 4 hours in all, leaving us some time to go to the gift shop for free samples of some of the Biltmore sauces and dips.  There was also a free wine-tasting at the gift shop, but we opted to wait for the tasting at the Winery later in the evening.

 

 

 

 

All of this left us with a couple of daylight hours to go through the Conservatory (filled with orchids, bromelids and amarylis) and hike around the Bass Pond.  Had it been summer, the extensive flower gardens would also have been appealing.

With more energy and daylight, we might have taken a long walk or bike ride along the river, or on some of the other trails.

As evening approached, we headed to the on-site winery for the wine tasting included in our admission.  The tasting menu had about 20 varieties.  Although they recommend that you try at most 6, you can try all the offerings if you are so inclined.  Naomi asked for a 1/2 taste so that she could try a some extra varieties while staying (fairly) sober.  Much of the wine was excellent and we discovered that we both liked the same ones.  We very much enjoyed chatting with our two sommeliers – both about our age who had recently moved to Asheville and were enjoying combining part-time work as sommeliers with other interests.

We decided to stay on-site for dinner as well.  We both had a very good and reasonably priced shepherd’s pie.  To our astonishment, the restaurant gave us a free dessert, which can only be described as a scrumptious concoction of whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel  and brownies.

We can certainly see that an annual membership that provides access to the trails and gardens, and possibly the wine-tasting and house could be very appealing to Asheville residents.  And despite the pricey admission (remember – $10 less at the Visitor Center) it was well worth the visit.

 

Chuck was very worried about the long-term effects of our sewage leak – corrosion, mold, odor etc.  Naomi decided that the best plan was to call up Winnebago customer service and suggest that they give us a new RV.

To make a long story short, we called the dealer we purchased from, and they called the Statesville service department and walked them through tank inspection.  The tank is not cracked.  The sewer pipe detached from the tank, so that the sewage was flowing out of the bottom of the tank (yuck!).  But the tank is sound.  The pipe needs to be re-attached and then everything that was touched by the sewage needs to be thoroughly cleaned.  Needless to say, Winnebago will not be giving us a new RV.  However, we hope to be back in the RV by Monday at the latest and we will push for some type of compensation.

Chuck was very tired after all this, and perhaps also a bit under the weather.  He spent a relaxing day in the hotel room, reading and napping.

Naomi cannot enjoy a day in a hotel room, and headed out with Rumple.  Since she does not enjoy highway driving, she tried to drive to downtown Asheville following Google’s suggested walking route.  It turns out that there is a steep ridge between the hotel and downtown Asheville.  Even after going over the crest, with a clear view of the town center, she could not negotiate the twisting tiny streets on Google’s route, and ended up on the highway. Frankly, walking this route (which has no sidewalks) seems a bit dangerous, too.  The streets are small and many unpaved, but visibility is poor for any cars that a walker might encounter.

The wonderful volunteers at the Asheville Visitor Center were extremely helpful in identifying possible dog walks both in town and around.  Also of note: tickets to the Biltmore Estate (a primary attraction which is ridiculously expensive) are $10 cheaper at the Visitor Center.
With the temperatures in the 60s, Naomi decided that a hike along the Blue Ridge Parkway would be fun.  She met a number of friendly hikers, both with dogs and without, who gave her advice on trails and eateries.  Several hikers in their 60s had moved to Asheville in retirement – certainly it is a great place for outdoor fun and crafts.

She did two hikes – one along a gravel road that leads down from the Parkway to the NC Arboreteum and another that leads up from the same parking spot to a trail right on the ridge with views on both sides of the ridge.  Unfortunately, even with the leaves off the deciduous trees, there are too many trees for more than glimpses of the view.

Despite making several doggy friends and even getting a treat from a friendly dog owner, Rumple finally refused to take another step forward.  Since the Blue Ridge Visitor Center and Crafts Center were both prominently advertised at the trailhead, Naomi decided to hop in the car and visit them.  Unfortunately, she neglected to check Google maps for the mileage, which turned out to be further than she planned to go.  However, at the point she gave up, she turned out to have rejoined the highway just about a mile from the hotel.

We both had some work things that needed to get done, and that plus dinner and our TV show (Madame Secretary) completed our evening.  And yes, Chuck was feeling better after his rest.

Owning an RV is like owning a house – except that the house is subject to bouncing around on the road.  You have to deal with the electrical system, propane and plumbing.

One of the mysteries we have been dealing with is why our black water tank continues to register as empty.  As well, there has been a slight but definite odor near the RV.  On Sunday the toilet backed up but still the sewage outlet hose was not getting any action.  We decided to unblock the toilet and then fill up the tank with water so we could let it out in one big gush – hopefully draining any sludge.

We were successful in unblocking the toilet and filling the tank from the hose.  But then we noticed that sewage was dripping from the underside of the RV.  As well, some of the storage bays under the RV were showing signs of water dripping in.  Ugh!

We quickly opened the sewage pipe, so most of the contents went down the campground sewers.  Still, we had to deal with dilute sewage on our campsite and in the storage bays.  This was not a fun time.  We used the bleach (from our drinking water tank disinfecting episode) and a heavy-duty spray bottle (from Chuck’s battle with a wasp nest last summer) and did the best we could.  The campground manager kept fairly cool about the spillage, and I guess hoped that the bleach was good enough.

Since it was Sunday. when no RV service shops are open, there was nothing we could do.  On Monday, Chuck phoned around and found a Winnebago service shop in Statesville, north of Charlotte, that said they could fit us in.  We packed up and headed out.

The news in the shop was not good.  The technician had never worked on a black water tank but he felt pretty sure that it was cracked and probably had been since day one.  He figured it would take 2 weeks to repair – once a new tank arrived, which could take a couple of weeks.

Since we could not live in the RV with no bathroom, we packed a couple of suitcases and emptied the fridge and freezer.  All those nice fruits and veggies we had just bought in Charlotte went to the dealership staff. They kindly found some freezer space for the things that could be saved.

After some discussion, we decided to make the best of it and head for the hills – literally.  Naomi had wanted to ski, and there we were, only a couple of hours away from Asheville and Boone – the best skiing in NC.  And if there was good news on the repair, we could be back in Statesville in a couple of hours.  If not, we could stay in the mountains.

So we were off to a dog-friendly Super 8 in Asheville for the night.  And we agree that it is a great value.  For only a few dollars more than a campsite, we have a very nice room, good wifi and breakfast conveniently located near zillions of restaurants and the highway.  It is 4 minutes by highway to downtown and 4 minutes to the Blue Ridge Parkway.   If you are going to Asheville, we strongly recommend this place.

Jan. 27: Our day in Charlotte was eventful, with shopping at the Farmers’ Market, lunch with former PSU graduate student Eliana Christou, a Segway tour of downtown and dinner at the 7th Street Public Market.

Charlotte’s Farmers’ Market is a bit out of the way.  It is not exactly scenic, as the market is located inside several long metal sheds. But inside it is lovely.  The “local produce” area was a bit sparse at this time of year.  However, the “market” shed was well populated with some rather large sellers.  For some reason piles of fresh produce just look beautiful.  And the local stuff was cheap.  We stocked up.

For lunch we headed to the north of the city to UNC Charlotte to meet with Eliana who has just started a faculty position there.  She seems to be doing well in the very large math and stat department.  We later learned that UNC Charlotte is growing rapidly and now has 27000 students.  So this is a position with potential.  (As usual, we forgot to take a picture with a friend.)

Our lunch location was a mall with an artificial lake.  Rumple enjoyed the walk around the lake.

 We signed up for a Segway tour of downtown Charlotte.  Our guide, Tremain, was very knowledgeable.  Downtown Charlotte has the appearance of being sparkling new.       

Even the few older neighborhoods look newly painted (or perhaps newly vinyled).  The downtown core is just full of new highrise glass towers.  There is also a new rail line.

We particularly liked the 7th St. Market building, which has an interactive component.  It has panels which make a musical tone when touched (which happens often when kids or Naomi are around).
Apparently if they are touched in a particular order, the building plays a tune and getting this to work has become a popular “team building” activity in Charlotte.  The shops are mostly restaurants and we enjoyed the ambience for dinner.

 

We also enjoyed the many parks that were on our Segway itinerary.  Many had interesting layouts or sculptures.  One was full of artistic bird feeders.  Another had inspirational quotations from literature and stone renderings of writing materials including pencils, rubber stamps and typewriter keys.

As evening fell, the skyscrapers reflected on the glass of other skyscrapers.  And of course many buildings were lit up.

  

 

Jan. 27: Just south of Charlotte is beautiful Lake Wylie, which is in both North and South Carolina.  We crossed over the lake when driving to Kings Mountain and decided to go back the next day.  It was a bit chilly for kayaking, so we decided to try the many bicycle trails listed by Google maps in a park in the town of Tega Cay.

Unfortunately, Google maps led us astray – it was not a park but the (definitely private) Country Club, and these were not bicycle trails but golf cart byways.  In fact, most of the lakeshore in Tega Cay is private, with two small access areas (with parking for residents only).  We parked at a local park, and biked around the streets with many tantalizing views of the lake.  We also biked down to one of the access areas, which was on a point with excellent views of the lake.

We had a nice chat with someone whom we met at the local park walking his 4 dogs but who actually lives on the point.  He noted that is it only 30 minutes to Douglas airport, making Tega Cay an ideal spot to live for someone who likes to be on the water.

Rumple does not bicycle, and spent much of this time in the car, except for a brief walk around the park. To make up for this, and to find more lake front, we also went to McDowell Nature Center, a county park with lots of trails and a bit of lakefront.  By this time it was close to park closing time, so we walked down to the lake and along the shore and then went back to the RV.  However, we returned to the McDowell two days later and went for a more extensive hike, covering most of the trails, which were very nice.  They were also well-utilized by other dog-walkers (it was the weekend) so there was no off-leash time for Rumple.