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 you only see this time of year.

Evenings are getting cooler, reminding us that it will soon be time to turn the van south. For now, we are enjoying the autumn air and crisp mornings.

We spent a super day at the North Carolina Arboretum, which was just down the road from our campground. The entire Arboretum – the garden design, plants, and trails – more than exceeded our expectations. We hiked the Creekside Trail that meandered streamside past rhododendrons and mountain laurels.

The formal garden is clever in design and well-maintained. The Bonsai exhibition garden was one of the best we’ve seen. I especially liked that the interpretation with the Bonsai encouraged anyone who is intrigued by the artform to give it a try. It was a very welcoming invitation.

Asheville

Our day trips into Asheville included stops at several of its breweries. I had a great birthday lunch at Sierra Nevada Brewery.

This brewery is no small affair. It’s a large property with an impressive winding drive through highly landscaped grounds. Once inside, we were lucky to snag a couple of seats at the bar. Their sit-down restaurant was entirely booked for the day. We enjoyed a few beers and portabello mushroom sandwiches. Very nice!

Asheville is very young, funky, and a mecca for artists. We visited some of the artist studios in the River Arts District, where hundreds of artisans have works on display – and for sale. You could spend days there, but we only toured two of the four sections.

Our timing was also right to catch the Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center. The booths at this juried craft fair occupied two floors of the downtown convention center. With so much competition, you really have to wonder how so many artists can sell enough to be successful. But the area and all of downtown were buzzing with tourists, so maybe my concern is unfounded?

With so many breweries, you can’t visit just one, so we also stopped at New Belgium Brewery. New Belgium is well-known for Fat Tire and Voodoo Ranger beers. We tried a few of the “only available at the brewery” selections.

It was a sunny afternoon for sitting and enjoying beer in the bier garden.

Hendersonville, NC

On our way to our next camping spot, we decided to call Carl von Schummer, to see if we might meet up. Carl’s a friend from our former life in Vermont, and he now lives in Hendersonville. Turned out to be a great decision. Carl fixed lunch for us (which was delish!) while we caught up, and we made plans to connect again the following afternoon.

Carl, like John, has moved on from a lifetime of BMW motorcycles (such a long story…) to now enjoying adventures on four wheels. Carl invited John to take the wheel of his Tesla and drive around town, which he did. Definitely, a different driving experience!

We had lunch at White Duck Taco in Hendersonville and walked the main street of town. Hendersonville is small, artsy, and friendly, without the crush of people in Asheville. Before we parted ways, we drove out to Flat Rock to take a look at the Simple-Life community.

Simple-Life is a community of tiny homes. Selling like hotcakes. (They also have another community in Florida.) The residents own their homes, but lease the land for their home from the community. Interesting concept. Maybe something to consider one day, but not quite yet.

It was great reconnecting with Carl, and we plan to stay in touch.

We continued on from Hendersonville, and checked into our Boondockers Welcome site for the next few days: Foothills Getaway in Columbus, NC. Like our previous experience with BW, our stay with Mark Levin was terrific.

Mark has a 10-acre, former horse farm near the North/South Carolina border. The surrounding area has sweet small towns with independent businesses, yet it’s close enough to bigger cities for times when they’re needed. If you’re a Boondockers Welcome member, this is a perfect place to stay!

Mark also has a conversion van, a shiny Pleasure Way that he’s still getting used to, so he was very interested in our home-built version and in our fulltime status. A retired teacher who writes articles for the local newspaper, Mark enjoys making videos about things that spark his curiosity. We sat for a casual conversation with him, which he videoed. His website is Country Life with Columbus Mark, and you can view our video on YouTube. Here’s a link to his site. We’re currently his most recent You Tube video, which should be easy to find. “Fulltime Living in 72 Square Feet”

https://www.columbusmark.us/

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

From Mark’s place, we headed off to the Smoky Mountains, America’s most visited National Park. We took a side-trip to see Looking Glass Falls in the Pisgah National Forest, and then continued on to Smokemont.

Smokemont is one of just a few campgrounds within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (GSMNP).

The park campgrounds are very popular, even though they don’t have showers or electricity, because they are close to hiking trails and sites of interest.

We stayed a couple of days, did some hiking, and then moved further north to stay on the Tennessee side of the Smokies in Elkmont.

So…what do we do about no showers? On our way to Elkmont, we stopped in Pigeon Forge at the Community Center. It’s similar to a YMCA, with an indoor pool and activities, but it’s community-run. For a small fee, we were able to take nice, hot showers. We found a laundromat next door, and a large grocery store nearby. A stop for gas, and we were fully prepared for our next camping stop.

Elkmont is near the northern edge of the park, not far from Gatlinburg. It’s best to stay in the park and enjoy the mountains and history. For the most part, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are huge tourist traps. Moccasins, genuine Indian-made souvenirs, pottery, jewelry, and mini-golf parks with fake mountains and bright blue waterfalls. You can have your picture taken with a Cherokee in full costume. They stand around all day waiting for customers and tips. I adore Dolly Parton, but the traffic in these towns will give you a Tennessee-size headache.

The community of Elkmont was a large logging town, and later a summer resort, in the early 1900s. The logging town was where the campground is now. Nearby, a collection of cottages and a clubhouse from the early days are being restored by the National Park Service and Friends of the Smokies.

We walked up to the cottages from our campsite and met Dan Paulin, a docent with the Park. Paulin is an authority on Elkmont; he authored “Lost Elkmont,” a book on its history. Click here for more about Elkmont.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elkmont,_Tennessee

He shared great anecdotes, including one about Clarence Darrow. Once again, a volunteer docent brought empty buildings to life and helped educate us on their history.

Elkmont was a good jumping off point to drive parts of the park, including Cades Cove and the road along Little River.

The morning mist rising from the river, sunlit yellow foliage, and the seemingly never ending mountains made for a perfect experience.

Nashville

From the Smokies, we decided to go see Nashville. Parks close to Nashville were fully booked, so we opted to stay at Bledsoe Creek State Park, about 45 minutes from downtown Nashville.

We spent a Friday walking the main streets of the city. The city was jammed with tourists and serious party-goers – at 11:30 in the morning.

The main streets are lined with bars that have open windows facing the street. Music blasts onto the sidewalk from each location – some country, some thumping rock music, occasionally a solo performer.

We were tourists, like everyone else, people watching and gawking at the skyscrapers right next to buildings from the 1800s.

I chuckled when I saw a Tavern on Wheels going down the street – an outdoor, pedal-powered bar- with about 10 people pedaling like crazy while they drank beer (this is known as multi-tasking). A local standing next to me shook his head and said, “It’s just Friday morning in Nashville.”

On our way back to our campsite we stopped at Moby Dickys, in Hendersonville, TN, for a seafood dinner. We sat looking out at the Cumberland River, thinking about all we’d seen in just a couple of hours in Nashville. Next time, we’ll stay longer.

Back at Bledsoe Creek, we started planning our next route. Looks like we’re heading south to Alabama.

On our final night at Bledsoe, we were treated to great Halloween decorations.

Happy Halloween Everyone!