On the road again!

We enjoyed a great drive today down to Gorges State Park in west North Carolina, 55 miles southwest of Asheville. We hadn’t been aware of the park, but Jen had read about it and suggested it. The drive for us was a little under 7 hours of actual driving time, plus bathroom breaks, filling up with gas (much more frequently when you’re towing a camper) etc. We got off around 10 am and arrived at getting on for 6 pm. Jen’s drive was much shorter than ours, about 2 hours 45, so we kept in touch during the day, and she left home accordingly and arrived within about 10 or 15 minutes of each other. Whilst much of our drive was on interstates, the last 30 miles or so was on winding mountain roads, very scenic, but I was glad I wasn’t driving! My collage is pictures from the interstate section of our trip and one of the rest areas we stopped at. We were surprised to see the truck with Jesus is Lord on the back - no idea what he was transporting, there were no other markings on the sides. We were following him for a while, then we finally overtook, but then we stopped, and he got past us again!
It proved to be a wonderful camp ground. Jen told us it was a fairly recent state park, and when I looked it up on our return, discovered that while the park was established in 2009 with a primitive campground, the new RV campground only opened last year, a little later than planned, probably due to Covid complications. The sites were spacious, set in a large wooded area, and they had left a few trees screening one pitch from another. The pitches were flat, and concrete, with a separate gravel area edged with woood, for the picnic table and fire ring. This proved to be especially nice after we’d had several lots of rain later in our stay, so we weren’t stepping out onto muddy grass. The bathrooms were practically up to hotel type standards, spacious, spotless, well lit, and roomy shower stalls with decent shower heads! The best camping bathrooms we’ve ever come across! It’ll be interesting to see how they stand the test of time. Of course, being an RV campground, the tents being in a different area, they don’t see as much wear and rear as mixed campgrounds. We got set up, and had a cup of tea with some coffee cake that Jen had made and brought with her, then we fixed dinner - I’d planned something fairly quick and easy.