Of Good and Better, I think...

I ranted on about our mechanical troubles yesterday, so please forgive me. Stuff happens, and we have to deal with it. The appliance repairman called last night about 9, just after he got home and ran us through a couple of diagnostic checks on the washing machine. He took the information and called Whirlpool, the manufacturer, this morning and checked back with us. The news was not good. Whirlpool's approach was to start throwing parts at the machine until something worked. Not a good approach. Chuck also told us that at a minimum the charges would be about 2/3 of the cost of a new machine. Not good. So we've thanked him and decided to purchase a new washing machine as soon as we return home in the late fall. It's laundromat time for the next 3 months!

Just after talking to Chuck about the washer, we checked in with Newmar, the coach manufacturer, to get some more info about fixing the inoperable slide out. They directed us to a repair facility in Chattanooga, TN, which we called, and had a very nice conversation with Mike. We came away with a good feeling about the shops' abilities, and made a tentative appointment for August, when we'll be in that area. Alligator number two out of the picture!

By now it was time for brunch, so we checked into the Stackem High restaurant down the street. The Stackem High is a modified cafeteria style establishment, but with awesome biscuits and sausage gravy! I didn't really say that, did I, Julie? Check your blood pressure, Gary....

 A bit south of Nags Head, we got to the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. This preserved area is home to all manner of nesting wildlife, and is kept as pristine as possible.

In several places, however, the public is allowed to enjoy the cool Atlantic water. Today it was just a perfect 88 degrees in the water!

A large portion of Pea Island, in the Wildlife Refuge, is a memorial to Charles Kuralt, a North Carolina native who filmed many of his "On the Road" segments in and around the Outer Banks. He was renowned for promoting the preservation of this area.

Eventually we came to the Cape Hatteras Light Station, our goal for the day.

Arguably one of the most photographed Lighthouses in the country, it's distinctive black and white striping sets it apart.

Normally the lighthouse is open for climbing. The view is said to be wonderful from the top. Today, however, it was closed due to high temperatures. When the "feels like" temp reaches 103, the lighthouse is closed because it is a strenuous climb of some 252 steps to the top. Add in the lack of a/c and a bunch of sweaty bodies, and you have a recipe for disaster. The base was open, so we snapped a photo looking up the spiral staircase.

When the lighthouse was built in 1870 it was 1,500 feet from the shoreline. By 1999, the shifting sand had reduced that distance to 150 feet. This diminished the structural integrity of the lighthouse, and the decision was made to move it inland. A road was constructed to the new location, and a system of rails was laid on top. The lighthouse was raised 6 feet into the air by more than 100 jacks controlled by a computerized central panel. Once raised, Hillman rollers were placed between the base cribbing and the rails. A series of long jacks was placed behind the base of the lighthouse, and began to push. At a maximum of 5 feet at a time, 23 days was required to move it 2,900 feet to a location again safely 1,500 feet from the shoreline!

The Hillman rollers don't seem like much, but with enough of them, you can move....well, a lighthouse.

So long, Cape Hatteras Light Station!

Waiting...

Our bedroom slide out continues to malfunction, so we have left it in the stowed position so that at least we can move the coach. We are concerned that if we extend the slide, we won't be able to retract it! We contacted Route 12 RV Repair on Monday and made arrangements to met with Percy this morning. Well....the morning came and went, and no Percy, and no phone call. Hmmm. We had previously contacted McGeorge RV in Ashland, Virginia, just north of Richmond, our next long stop, but were told that since we did not purchase the rv from them, they couldn't service it until November. Not happy. So it's back to the phone tomorrow for a conversation with the manufacturer.

The parts for the non functional washing machine arrived today, a day later than the overnight service that we paid for (!). This was a result of much internet/You Tube research, and seemed to fit the situation to a T. Unfortunately, it did not, so the machine still doesn't work. I called several local appliance repair shops today, and all but one were scared off by the motorhome aspect of the problem. I'm still expecting a call from another repairman, whose wife returned our call and was very, very helpful. Hope this one can help.

In any case, we took off about 1 this afternoon, heading north on Hwy 12, stopping in Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk for a look at the Atlantic side beach.

Hundreds, if not thousands of people were on the beach escaping the 90+ temperatures.

After a stop in the town of Duck (a bird sanctuary, strangely enough) for lunch at DuckDuck Burger, we continued north to the end of the road a few miles north of Corolla. At that point, the road veers onto the beach, with 4wd vehicles required. Our Jeep is 4wd, but we elected not to explore the beach due to the lateness of the hour and the concern that we were not prepared for off-roading. The beach access road continues to the Mustang Horse Sanctuary, and we would have enjoyed seeing the wild horses romp in and about the beach. Hundreds of people take guided tours of the area, and we understand that it's beautiful.

Corolla is also home to the Carrituck Beach Lighthouse. Now part of a lovely park complex, the lighthouse is open to the public for climbing, and the view from the top is spectacular they tell us. Unfortunately, the lighthouse is not air-conditioned, and with 20 to 30 people climbing at a time, we just couldn't bring ourselves to go to the top!

The lighthouse is constructed entirely from brick, with a unique octagonal base.

With a fond look up at the lighthouse, we threaded our way through the Segway riders, bicyclists and joggers to return to Kill Devil Hills.

On the way home, we marveled at the number of beach houses lining the coastline. Both on the Atlantic side and the Inlet side, rows upon rows of homes, condos, and apartments stand guard to prevent the casual tourist from accidentally reaching the beach!

Back in KDH, the temp is still well above 80, with a predicted low tonite of 78. On it goes....

First in Flight

We left the farmlands of eastern North Carolina this morning, and managed to drive 102 miles to the Outer Banks. This long strip of barrier island runs from Ocracoke, North Carolina in the south to just south of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and includes Cape Hatteras, Nags Head, Kill Devil Hills, and Kitty Hawk.

US 64 runs due east across Virginia Dare Bridge over Croatan Sound. Sound familiar? Virginia Dare was the first child born in the colonies, and Croatan is the name given to a now extinct tribe of the Algonquin native americans that lived in the area. Several spellings of the name exist, but the most famous is the word "Croatoan" that was carved into a tree in 1590 after the Roanoke colony disappeared.

We soon arrived in Nags Head. Legend has it that horses and mules had lights hung around their necks to draw ships into rocks where the cargo could be stolen.

We arrived at OBX Campground early in the afternoon. Located in Kill Devil Hills, the park has many long term residents and reflects limited attention to maintenance. The road into the park, about 1/2 mile or so, is dusty, pot-holed gravel, which effectively made yesterday's motorhome wash a joke. We have been assigned site 2, which is very satellite friendly (read....no trees), and it's certainly large enough for Nessie's length. The pad is gravel, with a fringe of grass, and the utilities are adequate. The wifi at this site is unusable, so we're hooked up to our cell hotspot.

One important advantage that this park has is it's proximity to the site of the Wright Brothers first flight. After setting up, we decided to brave the "feels like" temperature of 107, with 57% humidity, and take a look. The monument is operated by the Park Service, and has a small, but very nice Visitors Center. The memorial itself is located on a large hill that once was just a very big sand dune where the Wright Brothers honed their flight skills using gliders launched from the top of the sand dune. More than a thousand practice flights were performed in 1901 and 1902, using the constant wind and isolation of the area to perfect the design of their craft.

Returning to Kill Devil Hills in 1903, with a craft powered by a lightweight gasoline engine designed by the brothers, they were finally ready to test their theories on December 17th, 1903. The brothers used a flat sandy area at the foot of the hill they had used for glider flight for their powered experiment. In the distance, the wooden hanger and living quarters have been recreated and stand just to the right of the large rock marking the launch point of the aircraft.

The Wright Brothers used a metal rail and a dolly with wheels that supported the air craft to launch the craft. The sand was nice to land on, but very difficult to launch from. This boulder marks the exact spot where Orville and Wilbur's craft left the ground.

The boulder has a plaque inset that was placed on the 25th anniversary of the flight. Among the dignitaries attending was Amelia Earhart!

At 10:35 am, Orville Wright released the restraining wire, and, with Orville running alongside to balance the craft, ran down the launch rail. Orville fought the controls as he flew into a 27 mph wind, but he hit the sand 120 feet from the rail after a 12 second flight. History had been made!

A total of four flights were made that day, with the brothers alternating at the controls. The second flight traveled 175 feet in 12 seconds, the third 200 feet in 15 seconds, and the fourth flight traveled 852 feet and lasted 59 seconds. The Wright Brothers had achieved their goal. Two bicycle mechanics with no engineering experience, but with an uncanny ability to see through to the solution to a problem, had made history. The Wright machine would never fly again-after the last flight it was caught by a gust of wind, rolled over, and damaged beyond repair.

The Wright Brothers devised methods for controlling roll, yaw, and pitch that are still used (with much refinement, of course). The air age was born.

The hot temperatures began to abate in the late afternoon and evening, with a brief thunderstorm blowing through. The low temp tonite is predicted to be 78. Looks like the air conditioners will continue to run again this evening.

Where is Williamston?

Well, let's see. It's 30 miles east of Tarboro, 47 miles east of Rocky Mount, and 47 miles west of Roper. Got it?

We left Greensboro this morning at about 9:30, and scooted east on I-40 until it turned south in Raleigh, North Carolina. Then east again on US 64 through Zebulon (love that name!) and ended up in Williamston, NC. We're staying in Pierce Mobile Estates & Travel Trailer Park just a couple of miles off the highway. This is a casual park with a handful of mobile homes scattered about. The remainder of the lots are available for RV's.

When we checked in just after lunch, Jill Pierce met us at the door to her home and directed us to pick out any one of the eight sites "in the center". So we did.

We expected more rv's to pull in, but it didn't happen, so we had the center of the park all to ourselves.

We had arrived so early that we were able to get a few chores done. Nessie hadn't been washed since sometime in the Spring, so it was long past time to do that!

Sasha enjoyed running and playing ball while we worked on the motorhome. Unfortunately, the temp was a "feel like" 106, with 80% humidity, so she had to stop and rest from time to time, as did I!

This is a great park, perfect for an overnight stay, unless I'm missing something to do in Williamston....We heard there's a Walmart nearby, so all is not lost. The park offers full hookups with strong wifi and great local and satellite reception.

Put this park on your list if you're in the area, because it's a lot better than the parking lot of Walmart, and only $25 a night!

Greensboro, North Carolina

We're on our way to the Outer Banks in eastern North Carolina. Today's journey was 190 miles from Asheville to Greensboro, and we're overnighting at a KOA, one of our least favorite series of rv parks. We had originally planned to overnight at the local Walmart, but with a "feels like" temp of 107, we wanted and needed electricity for the air conditioning system.

We ended up in site 20 with our front wheels near 2" off the ground since the site is so out of level. The first site they tried to give us was so out of level that I ran out of cribbing for the front wheels and the jacks. Not good, but here we are, safe and sort of sound!

You'll Never Get Bored If.....

You own an rv!

Last Thursday we took an opportunity to drive to Highlands, NC, to visit an old friend and to meet her husband. The drive took us through more spectacular countryside.

The town of Cashiers (pronounced Cashers hereabouts) and Highlands have proven to be a mecca for Easteners escaping the heat of summer. Coming mostly from Florida, the sleepy town of Highlands swells from it's normal 900+ population to over 20,000! Highlands was established in 1875 by Samuel Kelsey and Clinton Hutchinson, who drew a line from Chicago to Savannah and from New Orleans to New York. The point where the lines intersected was believed to become a world class trading and economic center. Well....not so much.

In the 1930's Bobby Jones founded the Highlands Golf Club, and today it is one of seven successful residential golf communities in the area. Highlands is typically 15 to 20 degrees cooler in the summer than the lowlands, but it is also known as North Carolina's Rain Forest, receiving 87 inches of rain typically, with over a 100 inches not uncommon.

After lunch with Jan and Richard and several hours of catching up on old times, they told us of an alternate way to return to Asheville that goes through "The Gorge". Highway 64 was a beautiful drive and the waterfalls were great to see!

Bridal Veil Falls is only 45 feet high, but has the distinction of being the only waterfall in the state that one can drive a vehicle behind.

Dry Falls is a 65 foot waterfall that allows hikers to walk behind the falls and remain relatively dry, hence the name.

Quarry Falls is a small waterfall in the Callasaja River that is known for it's large, deep pool at the bottom. The rocks are slick with algae, and so the locals call this "Bust Your Butt" Falls, because so many people slide down into the pool!

The shadows were growing long, and Richard was having a bit of trouble with his vintage Russian motorcycle, so we parted ways.

Having had such a good time with Richard and Jan on Thursday, we made plans to meet with them again on Friday! This time they drove "down the hill" to our rv park, where we talked until the wee hours of the morning! A stop mid afternoon took us to lunch at Little Pigs BBQ for some Carolina BBQ, and then to the Western North Carolina Farmers Market. This market is open seven days a week, with both wholesale and retail areas. We bought vegetables and cantaloupes, tomatoes and honey, Amish home made bread and peaches. Wow!

Today, Saturday, we had plans to hang around the motorhome and relax after a late night yesterday. We needed to clean the coach, take a nap, walk Sasha, take a nap.....

During our cleaning phase, the bedroom slide out needed to be moved to retrieve one of Sasha's toys that had become lodged under the bed. As the slide moved, loud banging noises came from the drive motor, scaring us half to death! Investigation and a call to Newmar's 24/7 customer team resulted in a diagnosis of a broken gear. We found that the part is roughly $500 plus shipping, but we can't get it until next week. We probably will need to modify our plans a bit.

As if that weren't enough, the coach power began to intermittently go off and come back on. Now, the day was warm, and a lot of air conditioners were running, but nothing particularly unusual. More investigation, and a call to the park electrician revealed that instead of having 120 volts on both sides of the 50 amp service, we had 120 on one side and 106 on the other. Just enough to play tricks on the Energy Management System. Net result? The main control board in the washing machine shorted out because of the "dirty" electricity, right in the middle of a load of clothes! D is not happy! The laundry room is right next door, which has been a bad thing since we've dealt with most of the campers in the park using our site as a route to the laundry room all week, Today, however, it was a good thing we were close!

So.....we have slide out issues and will probably need to get a new washer, since the control board costs about 1/2 of the cost of a new one. We'll do all of this while we're sightseeing, of course...

Hey, every day it's something new.....You'll never get bored traveling in an rv!.

Blue Ridge Parkway, 390 to 444

Wanting to drive a bit more of the Blue Ridge Parkway, we climbed aboard the Parkway at the same location as day before yesterday, taking US 25 to an access road, and turning south instead of north. The landscape is significantly different from our previous trip, showing more of a rocky character with different trees.

At milepost 422 we stopped at Devils Courthouse. This is a rugged, exposed mountaintop rich in Cherokee traditions. It's said that within a cave on the mountain the Devil holds court. In Cherokee lore, the cave is the private dancing chamber of the slant-eyed giant Judaculla.

The overlook sign tricked us with a promise of a 20 minute, 1/2 mile walk to the top of the mountain. Yeah. Maybe a Texas 1/2 mile! Both Donna and I had to take several breaks. Sasha was, of course, ready to run up the trail!

From the top of the Devils Courthouse, four states can be seen: Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and North Carolina. The parking lot in the lower right is the train starting point.

Along about milepost 432, we stopped for a photo at the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We bailed off the parkway on US 74 and dropped off the mountain into Paynesville, NC, where we had lunch at the Church Street Depot. A four star hamburger restaurant, their menu is not extensive, but it is delicious! We also met a very nice lady, originally from New York, but now a North Carolina resident, who happens to have a Boston Terrier similar to Sasha! We were able to eat on the outside patio, where our server brought a bowl of water for Sasha and cookies for later!

On the way home, we took a side road through Clyde, Canton, and Enka Village before getting into Fletcher, NC, just before the thunderclouds covered the sky at sunset.

We had purchased a couple of two-day tickets to the Biltmore, but decided to share the second day with an elderly couple across the street who appeared to be running on a shoestring. They were very appreciative, and we felt good for doing a good deed. Besides, we wanted to go back to the Blue Ridge! Tomorrow we plan to visit the North Carolina "rainforest", so stay tuned!