Tennessee – The Spoke N Van

East to West: Our Trail to Yosemite

August 20, 2024 Sally

Yosemite National Park has been on our bucket list for several years. Actually, my interest began in the 1970s, when I got my first 35mm camera and started monkeying around with photography. Ansel Adams’ photos sparked both my desire to capture better images and also to visit the place that so inspired his work. Booking campsite reservations in the National Parks is a high tech sport in itself. On-line reservations for mid-June opened on February 15, at 7am, PST. With…

Westward Ho

June 1, 2023 Sally

Virginia to Colorado May 2023 Our route for this year’s westward journey began in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Our first night out we stayed in Harrisonburg at Shenandoah Heritage Market, and then continued south on Interstate 81. Near Knoxville, we picked up Interstate 40 and followed it through Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Texas panhandle, to Albuquerque, New Mexico. From there, we went north into Colorado. Although this route was almost beeline direct, and mostly interstate, we tried to sample…

October in the Mountains

October 25, 2021 Sally

Our search to find a good base for exploring Asheville led us to Lake Powhatan Recreation Area. Lake Powhatan is near Bent Creek, just a few minutes from downtown Asheville. The campsites are in the woods bordering the small lake. It’s small and sweet, with nice woodsy trails. Our timing was good. The surrounding mountains were starting to put on their fall foliage show. Our afternoon drives have been golden, with the kind of blue skies and puffy clouds that…