Pisgah!

That's right! I said Pisgah! Pronounced Piss-gah. More about that later though.

We left Myrtle Beach and started heading Northwest towards our final destination of Minnesota. We saw a national park called Congaree and wanted to go check that out. So we found a state park fairly close and booked a site there.

Now if you go online and look at the photos of the place you would think that it is a beautiful place to stay. We did. When we got there we thought "Holy hell, what is this?" The roads are narrow and in terrible shape. It was two lane but with our truck and camper we took  up both lanes. Sadly, once you turn in you are committed to go all of the way in to either the campground or park office. We drove about 3 miles back in and found the turn off to the campground. Unbelievably that road was even narrower. Still paved but washed out in many areas. This is not looking good.

Up the hill we drove to the campground. The road splits at the top. One way to go to an overlook and the other to go to the campground. It is no longer paved but sand and gravel now. Again washed out in many areas. Lisa actually got out and walked it to see if we could make it which we would have had to,  I was not backing down a winding one lane road to get out of there. We got in there and found our site and unhooked.

Once in it was fine. So we went down to the office to check in. I am glad that we never met any oncoming traffic. Have I mentioned how bad the roads where? We were supposed to stay 2 nights but the rains were coming so we did not want to stay with those roads the way they were. So we left after one night and moved onto Asheville, NC. We decided that that state park was the state park South Carolina forgot they had. It needs renovation badly. So do not take a big rig to that park at all.

Our next stay was at Bear Creek RV Park in Asheville, NC. We needed full hookups for laundry and this worked out just fine. For anyone that doesn't like road noise, do not stay here. It is sandwiched between I-26 and I-40.

This is our site. 5A. That picnic table on that concrete slab is another site. Now I will show you the park map so you can see where we are in relation to the rest of the campground.

I-40 runs along that one side of it. They don't show I-26. There is a road that circles in front of the campground. That's where the pull throughs are at. You pull through and then park next to that road where people are going about 50 around that bend. We are in 5A. Now I will show you a closer view of those sites.

Whoever designed this was on drugs. Each pull through has a mini site attached to it. Literally side by side without any space between them. If it was rented we would not get our awning out. And why is 4B diagonal into the front of our site? It is what it is I guess.

We started to explore this area. It is very pretty here in the Appalachian Mountains. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs right through Asheville. Our first day was cloudy. We read about a waterfall near Brevard, NC not far away so up into the mountains we went.

It is early spring here and there aren't many leaves on the trees yet.

We found the waterfall and it was inside of the Pisgah National Forest. I have never heard of this forest before now but it sure is beautiful here. We stopped at  the visitor center and learned about the park and about a few hikes. Pisgah is Hebrew, meaning summit. There is Mount Pisgah here also. 

The waterfall is called Looking Glass Falls. They also have what they call Slide Rock here. The water runs over a slick rock where you can slide down it when its warmer.

No one was sliding that day. To get back we had to go back over the mountains. Our return trip was a little harrowing because the clouds had rolled in at the top. Unbeknownst to us however.

There were spots up there that was zero visibility. All we could do was follow the yellow line. Once down we cleaned out our shorts and went home for the day. We have learned on this trip that it is not a good idea to be up on the Parkway when there is low cloud cover. Also, driving these mountainous roads  it would be nice to have something smaller than a one ton truck. Dorks on parade.

Our next couple of days found us back up in the mountains again. This time it was sunnier. 

The Blue Ridge Parkway is just a road that goes across the mountain tops. It is about 450 miles long and the speed limit is only 45 mph. There are nothing but views up there to look at. No restaurants or stores or anything. So if you are driving it you have to turn off and go down to find a town. Don't bring your RV's up there either. Most roads are going to be narrow with switchbacks, steep inclines and tunnels. 

Apparently in this area where we are at there are over 200 waterfalls. I heard of one and just had to see it.

I was intrigued by the name. I even brought cash.

We stopped in Dupont State Forest where there are many waterfalls. I learned that parts of one of my favorite movies was filmed here. The Last of the Mohicans.

These are images from the movie I got online. The waterfalls are the Triple Falls area.

This is Triple Falls the day we were there. Then we hiked to High Falls.

There is a covered bridge that crosses this waterfall. We did get some hiking in here. We haven't hiked in quite awhile.

Here I am enjoying one of the many comfortable benches on the trail as Lisa just keeps walking on by. I keep reminding her that they put those benches there for a reason. It would be a waste of taxpayer money not to use them.

Here I am in my triumphant pose. "HA! You didn't kill me today!"

The thing that we like about this area is that there are so many things to see and do. We really like this area a lot. We need to come back and stay a month or so next time. After hiking the waterfalls we were hungry and stopped at the Pisgah Fish Camp restaurant in Brevard. It was very good and the server told us about Sierra Nevada Brewery not far from there. I don't really like Sierra Nevada beer but we decided to stop by and check it out. I am glad we did.

The brewery is fairly large and on weekends they have bands that play out back for free. We walked in and were amazed. They have brewery tours of course. Some free and some you have to pay for. There's a gift shop, restaurant, bars and out back they have outdoor games, seating areas and a stage for music.

It was pretty cool too just sit there and watch. We had to get some drinks and we watched from the balcony for awhile.

Lisa was hammering back a few. They also let you walk around some of the area of the brewery in a self guided tour. 

The factory part made us think of Amazon with all of the conveyors.

Our time here in Asheville or as I affectionately call it, Assville has come to an end.

"Gladys, let's get going! The Posse is coming!"