Where we go; what we see.
This is the second time this year we have camped at Lake Ogallala. It is such a nice campground! Right alongside the Dam at McConaughy Lake State Recreational Area. And it’s about halfway between us and our son, Mike – so we’ll be staying there again! This time I tried to capture the fall colors:
Wow – what a cool park! We got there after the season was over, so it was nice and quiet. But, it appeared like a scene form the ‘Dirty Dancing’ Movie — stages, boats, picnic areas, beaches. Very Cool. Probably crazy in mid summer. But we enjoyed the peaceful quietness of the place in October.
We were joined on our adventure by Scott and Miranda (and their dog Wade). Got some great hiking in – saw a bit of wildlife (snakes, bear, that sort of thing). Had a wonderful time!
What a cool place to stay at! (They even had showers!)
A giant rock is the centerpiece of this park – but it also had many trails and waterfalls and some historical homesteading exhibits.
After the Overland Expo East in North Carolina, we had a chance to meander up some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had run most of this on our motorcycles a few years back – but this time we were camping in our Vanagon and taking it slow.
We spent the night at Crabtree Falls campground. The leaves were just starting to change, and you had to be careful because of all the falling acorns! Very few people camp here in October!
The next day we drove to Linville Falls and did the hikes there:
Our longest adventure to date (four weeks away from the house) was to the east coast and back. The new camper was not quite ready, so we embarked on this 4000+ mile trip with our 1983 Vanagon.
The only firm date we had to meet was to be at Overland Expo East in Asheville, North Carolina starting 29 September. We had several neat touristy stops in mind on our way east, but we were running late and had to boogie across the country. (We do intend to go back a little slower and hit those spots we whizzed through someday…). Our first relaxing stop was at the Tennessee/North Carolina border: Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We camped along side the Little River at a beautiful, relaxing site at Elkmont campgrounds.
We also had a chance to hike the Laurel Falls Trail. I’d rate it as realistically easy, although a bit rocky. The falls were nice, but not spectacular.
