October, 2005

October started with the continuation of the escapees fall escapade. We enjoyed it a lot, and learned a lot. Here is a picture of our rig sandwiched in between a couple others (ours is the white one with the red Saturn by it). There were about 800 rigs at the rally at the DuQuoin fairgrounds, and it was a great facility for a gathering of this size. The attendance for the event was less than expected due high fuel prices and a couple of hurricanes.

After the escapade ended we stayed at the fairgrounds and spent four busy days attending red cross training classes in order to become Red Cross disaster volunteers - part of an escapees group known as the DOVEs - for Disaster Operations Volunteer Escapees. Our plan is to see if our services are needed in November, after our visit to North Carolina (more on that later).

After leaving DuQuoin, IL, we began the trek to Brevard, North Carolina to spend time with Mary Jane's daughter and her family. We traveled South and our first stop was in far western Kentucky in an area known as the Land Between the Lakes - or the LBL. This area is about 170,000 acres under management of the USDA Forest Service and is simply a beautiful area. There are several developed campgrounds, and camping in undeveloped areas is allowed - an annual permit is required. We'd like to spend some more time here on another trip.

After leaving the LBL we made a pretty quick dash across Tennessee with overnight stops in Lebanon and Heiskell. The Heiskell stop was our first visit to an Escapees club park - Raccoon Valley. Very nice! We then completed our dash to North Carolina where we perched on a mountain at the Black Forest campground for a month. This is a pretty place - and very hilly. The area to park the rig is flat and level, but the transition to the road is a bit severe - read that as dragging the vehicle hitch on the way into and out of the lot. The campground is about 10 miles from Mary Jane's daughters home, and staying there gives us easy access to the 'kids' house and the grandchildren but we can still have and give some privacy. Our original plan was to park our rig and live at their house, and I think this is working out much better. I'm a firm believer in the old saying that visitors and fish stink in three days! Here is a picture of our rig perched on the mountain.

While in the Brevard area we were able to do some day trips to some very lovely areas. Since our campground was about a hundred yards from the South Carolina border we made a couple trips to South Carolina - and very much enjoyed the two nearby SC state parks - Caesars Head SP and Table Rock SP. While out rambling we discovered a taste treat that you can make - boiled peanuts. There are numerous sites which sell raw peanuts online, and we just loved driving through the mountains munching on these. They are available at many roadside stands and even gas stations.