When we left Kentucky, we headed to Lenoir, North Carolina. Ronnie researched routes for days because we knew the trip was going to be a rough one. This drive was longer than any of the others that we had planned and looking back, I should have found a place for us to stop for one night instead of driving all the way through. Our goal was to get from one Thousand Trails park to another without having to pay for a stop somewhere. Bad move on my part . . . another thing we learned the hard way.
We left Kentucky at around 8:00 A.M. and arrived at the park in Lenoir around 7:00 P.M. that evening. Granted, we had a time change along the way, but it was a rough day. We traveled through some beautiful mountain country, and I discovered that driving an RV through the mountains is an adventure in itself. We found out that our new tire-monitoring system works at the same time we learned about hot tires/brakes coming down a 4% mountain grade. Have I mentioned before that it is all a learning experience?
When we arrived at the Green Mountain RV Resort, I was never so glad to see a place. We were sent to the back (top) part of the park where the big rigs are sent for pull-thru sites. It was a maze to get there, and they need to do some serious road-work on that section of the park, but the area was nice. It was like they cleared a circular area out of the side of the mountain and made a section of park. The spots were very small from side-to-side, meaning that we had very little “yard” area. Our spot wound up being where rain drained down, and we stayed muddy the entire time we were there, so we didn’t spend any outside time at our site.
Our biggest venture out of the park was to Blowing Rock, NC. We weren’t sure what to expect when we visited The Blowing Rock but were blown away (pun intended) with it. The views were amazing! It is definitely a place we would visit again if we were in the area. The cost was impressive too at only $7 each to enter the park. And I even scored a Blowing Rock Big Foot t-shirt (it cost way more than $7).
One day driving out of the park, we noticed a sign about a waterfall trail that was in the woods near where our RV site was located. We decided to check it out and found some great hiking trails on the mountain right there close to where we were staying. The trails were still damp from recent rains, so we had to be very careful as they were slippery in places. Ronnie & I hadn’t hiked before, so we were out there in our regular tennis shoes. By the time we got back to the RV, we had decided we need better equipment for our adventures. The next day, we went shopping and invested in hiking boots and walking sticks. Happy Fathers’ Day, Ronnie! lol
One of the things we enjoy is visiting wineries. We found a quaint little one named Twisted Vine Winery and had a fun time doing a wine tasting there. We were served by the son of the man who owned the winery, so we learned a lot of neat facts about it. We wound up buying too much wine and made a pact that in the future, we have to leave a winery with only one bottle. We’ll see how that works out.
The mountains were fun and we enjoyed our time there, but we were ready to head out when the time came. Here’s our rating of the Green Mountain RV Resort:
Overall: ***
Site: **
Personnel: *****
Amenities: **
Cost: ***** (TT park)
Plans to Return: ***
Comments: The sites were not very level and pretty tight on space. There weren’t many amenities, only a kids pool. No clubhouse or games, etc. The trails were nice, but the park offered no info on them regarding maps or length. The non-paved roads in the back of the park needed a lot of work. Will go again if we are in the area.
Next stop is Virginia. We have two weeks in the state while visiting two different RV parks.
**All photos in this post were taken with an iPhone X and are unedited.
Mountain Man (& Woman) When we left Kentucky, we headed to Lenoir, North Carolina. Ronnie researched routes for days because we knew the trip was going to be a rough one.
