After our initial outing in the camper to Lake Lure, we scheduled a trip to meet up with some friends of ours, Dean and Angie. They have been camping for years and were gracious enough to invite us along on this outing and show us the ropes, so to speak.
On this trip we would be staying at Turkey Creek Campground in the Fontana Lake area about 10 miles from Bryson City. We would be arriving on Monday, July 29th, and leaving on Thursday, August 1st. Four days would be the perfect length of time for our second outing. This way we could really get the feel for how to do this camper thing!
For this trip there were a few changes from our first outing. First, we had sorted out the hot water and black tank issues under warranty at a local service center. Second, we would be bringing our eBikes. We enjoyed eBikes so much in Italy we decided we would need to have these on camper trips for running around and for scenic rides. Dean and Angie are avid cyclists, like the real deal kind of cycling. They were enthusiastic about taking us out for a ride so we were looking forward to that.
Shortly before we were to leave it started raining. Heavy rain. I knew this could last all day so I hooked up the trailer in the pouring rain then went in to shower and get dry clothes before hitting the road. I had already put the bikes on the rack and we had fully packed so we were ready to roll!
As luck would have it the rain let up just as we were leaving.
Off to a new adventure!
We hit some heavy rain on the way but the truck did an excellent job pulling, even up the mountain in the rain.
We arrived at Turkey Creek Campground around 5:00pm in another downpour. I got the camper set up in the rain same as hooking up in the rain earlier that day. Even with the rain setup went rather quickly this time due to having more practice. Not only had we camped before, but we had also set up in the driveway several times since the last trip so we were getting better at it.
Dean and Angie were already there and set up. Our camp sites were creek side and although muddy the location was beautiful.
Dean and Angie have a first night tradition of making your own pizza whenever they are camping. They invited us to join them and we made delicious pizzas in their outdoor camping oven. We spent the evening visiting and catching up. The rain had let up and things were getting off to fun and relaxing start.
The next morning we enjoyed coffee by the creek...
The plan for the day was to go on a bike ride. Dean and Angie had picked a route not too far from the campground that would consist of paved and dirt roads. They had brought their gravel bikes and our eBikes were good for off pavement as well.
After breakfast I put the bike rack on Dean's truck and loaded up the bikes. He has a built in bike transport system in the bed of his truck so it made sense to load ours onto his truck also. We had no idea what to expect and Lynn was a little nervous. Dean and Angie were very understanding and accommodating and made it clear that if this did not work for us we would halt the whole idea and do something else. They get plenty of serious cycling time so they did not need to make this a challenging ride.
Loaded and ready to go! Lynn showing a bit of apprehension...
We parked about half way up what would have been a strenuous incline but since we cut out the first mile by parking where we did it would make that first incline a bit easier. Unloaded and ready to roll!
Lynn got the hang of it rather quickly. She was concerned about knowing when to shift and what level of motor assist to use when, etc. Did not take long for her to be rolling pretty good! This route has some serious inclines both up and down. It wasn't long before we realized we would be passing Dean and Angie on the up hill sections due to the motor assist, and they would be passing us on the down hill sections due to their experience.
Uphill, you say? No problem! Dean took this one from his bike... I'm not even sure I was pedaling. These things have a throttle also that you can just hold down and go. Awesome!
Our first stop for photo ops was the suspension bridge along the route. We did not know it at the time but we were supposed to cross that bridge and continue the route on the other side. Phone service and GPS were unreliable here so we missed that minor detail. We looped back to it but it added a few miles to the run.
We ended up riding a little over 24 miles that day and what a blast we had! Dean and Angie were so patient with us non-cyclists and they really made the experience enjoyable for us. Lynn really got into it and made it a point to let us know she hit 33mph on one of the down hill sections! We think the eBikes will be a welcomed addition to our camping experiences going forward. The bikes performed well and with 24 miles on the batteries the charge was only down 33%. We should be good for 60 to 75 miles with these easily. Can't imagine we would do that in one outing but it does mean we don't necessarily have to recharge after each ride.
Here is a snapshot of our ride. That upper loop is where we deviated and looped back to the suspension bridge at one point.
That evening it was our turn to host. I cooked burgers on our newly acquired Blackstone camping griddle under the awning as it had begun to rain again. I highly recommend this grill for camping. It has plenty of griddle surface and is non-stick. My first time using it and love it! I use a full size Blackstone at home all the time but the maintenance on the cooking surface is not something I want to deal with while camping so this works great for us. It is the 22" Adventure Ready with non-stick surface. This was also my first time using the propane quick connect valve on the camper. Worked great! A neighbor of mine is a welder and he is making a grill mount that fits in the auxiliary 2" receiver on the side of the camper. Should make this easy to use anywhere.
Dean made smash burgers on his Blackstone and Lynn and Angie both made salads. We were ready for a feast! Since it was raining we would be hosting inside.
Camper is ready for entertaining!
We sat down to a nice meal and enjoyed drinks and played card well into the night.
The plan for the next day was to take the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad train ride from Bryson City to Nantahala and back. Dean served up a delicious breakfast hash and then we headed into Bryson City.
The train ride was scenic and our guide was extremely knowledgeable about the areas we travelled through. I never knew there were floating houses on Fontana Lake. The have been there since the 1960s. Our guide has lived in one for the past 25 years. Interesting way to live.
After the train ride we enjoyed a late lunch (or early dinner, depending on your perspective) at Anthony's in Bryson City. From there we went up to explore the Road To Nowhere. I have written about this before in our page about our Bryson City trip with neighbors. Steep in history and an interesting story about how the flooding of Fontana Lake drastically affected the local population. You can read more about it here: https://www.romanticasheville.com/road_to_nowhere.htm.
The views on the way back down from the Road To Nowhere were impressive...
That night we enjoyed food and drinks around the campfire. This would be our final night. We really enjoyed the peaceful setting by the creek with the fire pit. Enjoying it with friends made that much better.
The next morning it was time to get packed up and head home. We were getting better at this as we went along. I had already packed up the bikes so that was done. I worked on the outdoor stuff which consisted of packing up the grill, chairs, outdoor rug, etc., as well as disconnecting power and water and packing those things up. This site did not have sewer hook ups so we would be dumping the tanks at the station on the way out. While I did this Lynn worked on securing everything on the inside and making sure we were road worthy.
We were out by about 10:30am and on the road to home. This was a wonderful trip! The Bryson City area is a great place to visit and we highly recommend Turkey Creek Campground if you are a camper. While we would be home relaxing Dean and Angie would be getting ready for an epic 3 month cross country camping adventure! They would be leaving the following week. We can't wait to here all about that trip!
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