Summer Van Adventures Continued – North Carolina and Virginia

Ok. Time is moving way too fast.

I seriously intended to keep this blog a little more updated closer to real time.

However, I can report that the reason I’m so behind is a good one – we’re just having way too much fun!

We did recently find some time to shoot a quick video update on our van trip, as our YouTube channel has been quite neglected too. But we won’t be documenting this trip in video as travelogues, as obviously I barely am finding time for blogging and Facebook.

So let’s see, last we left you – we were at a lavender farm.

Let’s continue the journey..

Stop 1: Smokemount Campground – Great Smokey Mountains National Park

From our lavender farm, with no cell signal and barely usable Starlink due to the trees – we were trying to plot our next stop. We had tentative plans to meet some friends up on the Blue Ridge Parkway in a couple days, so we had some remaining time to fill in.

We chose Smokemount Campground near Cheeroke, NC because it is basically at the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway. And were surprised to find that we could snag a sweet looking corner RV site last minute for a Saturday evening. Thankfully Starlink stayed online just long enough to complete the transaction.

We enjoyed the park and got some hiking in – there’s a great little trail right in the campground. We didn’t have time to explore much else in the national park this time around. And again, little to no cell signal – so Starlink is what got us online, albeit with frequent drop outs due to the trees.

On last summer’s van trip we spent a couple weeks traveling most of the Blue Ridge Parkway. But we missed the first 70 or so miles.

So the location made it possible to fix that. And what a gorgeous day for it. With mist all around we could really see the blue haze in the skyline that gives the park it’s name.

A lovely day of epic scenery on our way into Asheville.

Stop 2: Driveway Surfing in Asheville

There were tentative plans to meet up with our friends Jen & Deas (Nealys on Wheels) and Brandon & Kerensa at Mount Pisquah Campground along the Blue Ridge Parkway. But the weather was looking a bit rainy, so instead Jen invited us all converge at their house in Asheville.

We’ve driveway surfed with them multiple times over the years, and it was super fun to snug in with Brandon & Kerensa too as our neighbors.

It was several days of living in a little awesome driveway community. Jen also is part of our team at MIRC, always a joy to get to work together in person instead of virtually.

And Heather (also our nomad specialist tax preparer, aka Tax Queen) and Paul were in town too to join in the merriment.

Much awesome food, catching up, laughter and playing with Oculus virtual reality (no dogs were harmed – thanks for the save Brandon)!

These are the memories that make life on the road worth the while.

Stop 3: Exploring the NC Winery Region

After we left Asheville, we spent a couple days hopping between NC wineries with our Harvest Hosts membership.

We thoroughly enjoyed Grassy Creek Vineyard & Winery. Lovely wines, great folks and access to an amazing network of hiking trails.

They also limit stays to just 1 RV at a time so everyone gets the experience of solitude. Perfection.

Stop 4: Fries New River Trail RV Park

Fourth of July is always a challenge for full timers and we totally forgot about the upcoming holiday weekend. Campgrounds tend to be booked up, and even if you snag a site they might be more of a party atmosphere than desired.

We feel quite fortunate to have called Fries New River Trail RV Park in Fries, VA (pronounced ‘Freeze’ not ‘Fries’) rather last minute on a whim. Sure enough, they had a last minute spot for us over the long weekend.

We spent 4 nights perched at the top of their campground with easy access to the New River hike & bike trail.

What a perfect quiet weekend. Not much to do but eat ice cream out of a caboose and experience the small town charm of a 4th of July parade featuring lots of tractors.

And bike. And bike we did. Over our stay we put over 70 miles on our e-bikes along the gorgeous New River (which isn’t new) – including a 36 mile one day trip to Galax (pronounced ‘Gaelics’) and back.

The park itself is a gem and so lovingly planned with large sites and maintained. No cellular, but rocking Wi-Fi that we could bond with Starlink.

Stop 5: Roanoke Distillery Stay

Next we overnighted in Roanoke at Brady’s Distillery – which technically isn’t open yet.

A Harvest Hosts stay, and the owner met us in the morning to give us a tasting and tour (bourbon for breakfast? Y-Not). We loved our brief exploration of Roanoke – great greenway bike trails, fabulous homemade ice cream and funky little downtown for lunch.

Stop 6: Douthat State Park

The first state park in the VA system is where we headed next, where we were able to grab a 2-night stay.

Douthat (pronounced ‘Dough-hot’ not ‘Do-That’) is lovely, but the Whispering Pines campground a bit far from the highlights of the park (beach!). Thankful for our bikes to get around and explore, and enjoy a dip on a warm sunny afternoon.

On the way out, taking some meandering back roads, Starlink announced their new Maritime satellite service.

So we hit the road with an eye towards a spot we could stop and film.

We found a lovely scenic overlook to setup the filming gear (which consists of an iPhone and an external mic on a tripod). But there were swarms of bugs that appeared as soon as we hit record. And several other vehicles pulled in too. But Chris was a pro – and didn’t let it distract him. Even almost falling down the hill mid way.

Oh, and in case you are wondering. Maritime service is $10k for equipment and $5k/mo for eventual global coverage. Not really targeted at most consumer cruisers, certainly not us! Story up over at MIRC.

Up Next / Real Time Update

And we’ve got even more stories to catch you up on – including our first stay at a nudist RV park and attending our first Burning Man regional in nearly a decade.

And, as of yesterday – we are now in Canada!

See, told ya we’re having too much fun! Next time I can take a break, we’ll fill ya in.