Dale and Lisa's Travels: Merry Christmas from The Biltmore

We arrived at Hominy Valley RV Park on Wednesay, October 30th. This park is the smallest we've ever been in with just six gravel sites. However, it was 50 amp full hookups and we thought it was just fine for our purposes. It was reported to have cable, but due to a recent upgrade to the system which now requires all users to have a cable box we weren't able to use it. We would definitely stay here again if in the area, especially at a Passport America rate of $15/night. It was only 5 or 6 miles straight up the side of the mountain to the Blue Ridge Parkway and had a view of Mt. Pisgah, the highest peak in the area at 5721 feet.

Hominy Valley RV Park with Mt. Pisgah in the background partially shrouded in clouds

In our last post we mentioned we might tour the Biltmore on Saturday, November 2nd. Well, after checking in at their welcome center on Thursday we found out that virtually all of the Christmas decorations were already in place. The only major addition to the Christmas display, which was to start Saturday, that wasn't in place yet was the main Christmas tree in the Banquet Hall. That would be happening on Friday so that by the end of the day most of the tree would be decorated and one could see it. So we elected to go in on Friday and miss the Christmas season opening day crowds on Saturday where they expected 7000 visitors. We left the campground and got to the Biltmore about 9:50 AM. The lineup to get in was steadily, but slowly moving toward the parking area. About 10:00 we were nearly to the parking area when the line of traffic stopped moving. Dale then noticed large horses wearing jingling bells pulling a large flatbed cart draped with Christmas ribbons. On the cart was the main Christmas tree. They had stopped traffic until the Christmas tree procession was clear of the area. Dale told Lisa, "That's the official tree. If you want pictures of this you better jump out of the car and run to catch up". Anyone who knows Lisa and picture opportunities will not be surprised to know that she was out of the Jeep in a flash and sprinting to catch up to the procession. Luckily we were only a few cars back of where they had held up traffic. Evidently this is a big deal in these parts as there was a very large throng following the horse drawn cart. Everyone was glad for the perfect weather which allowed the use of the horses. In inclement weather they simply tow the trailer with a truck. Dale finally parked and found a seat on the next shuttle bus from the parking area to the front of the Biltmore house. Moments after taking his seat he was informed that due to the large crowd near the entrance watching the Christmas tree enter the house there would be no shuttle buses leaving the parking lot for about 20 minutes until the crowd dissipated enough to allow them to get through. So now it was Dale's turn to get some exercise and hoof it ten minutes to the house. There were no fewer than 500 people and local media crowded around the entrance to the house blocking the driveway across the front. Some of the Biltmore family was even in attendance. Thanks to cellphones Dale was able to locate Lisa. We decided it was fruitless to attempt entering the house any time soon, so we toured the grounds outside. What an impressive place and that's just from the outside. Some time after 11:00 the crowd at the entrance had become reasonable so we ventured in. It is unfathomable to imagine one person having enough resources to build something like the Biltmore. You really have to see it to believe it. We got the audio tour add-on and considered it well worth the extra $10. An unexpected bonus this day only was that they were allowing pictures in the main banquet hall only, of the tree decorating process. Normally, we were told, they are very strict about no pictures or video inside the house. After the house tour we visited the gardens and then the winery. This last stop, at the winery, was also fun. Our sample pourer was Joel and he made the whole tasting experience great. He suggested we try all 22 wines, so who were we to argue? There were several that we liked, but Lisa limited Dale to three bottles. Lisa also chose to buy two wine glasses like the ones they were doing the sample pours in. In fact, as Dale types this he is verifying that one of the glasses works as intended. On Saturday, we drove about 25 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway near Asheville. We drove as far south as the Pisgah Inn, the highest inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway at 5000 feet. It had closed down for the season just the day before, but looked like a nice place to stay with beautiful views and good hiking opportunities. While on the Blue Ridge we experienced pockets of heavy activity and later learned the commotion was the 34th annual Shut-In Ridge Trail Race. The event attracts 225 competitors from all over the country to do battle on an 18 mile dirt trail through the woods which climbs 3000 feet over the course of the run. The various beehives of activity were points along the course where the trail comes out of the woods and supporters/spectators can actually cheer on the runners.

The road to the main house on the grounds of The Biltmore Estate

Another picture on the road to the main house

The 35 foot tall Frazier fir for the banquet hall

The tree approaching the main house on the far left of the picture

The tree in front of the house

Going in the front entrance

The crowd giddy with excitement as Christmas kicks off at The Biltmore

Just an example of the ornate work present throughout the house

Santa and Mrs, Claus

Lisa on the south terrace

Dale across one of the ponds of the italian garden

Tree decorations waiting patiently

Da tree

Dale listening to his audio tour

Lisa was there at the right time to get a branch off the tree

View from an exterior porch showing Mt. Pisgah near our campsite (highest peak on left side)

Same exterior porch

Tree decoration complete

Cool Jeep in front of The Biltmore

In the conservatory

Cedric the family St. Bernard and Cornelia Vanderbilt

Our sample pourer Joel

On the way out

On the way up to the Blue Ridge Parkway from our campground

A closer view of Mt. Pisgah

Pisgah Inn

View from porch of Pisgah Inn

One of the spectator spots for the Shut-In Ridge Trail race

One of the views from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Blue Ridge Parkway

On Sunday, November 3rd, we drove to Gaffney, SC to have Freightliner check the reason for three occurrences of a 'check engine' light. The light went out some period of time after each occurrence, so Dale wasn't too concerned, but better to get it checked out. Gaffney is where the motorhome chassis are built along with several other heavy duty commercial chassis. It is also the hub of their Custom Chassis service operations. While in Gaffney Dale was able to get into the two day Camp Freightliner class as there was a no show in the otherwise full class. Camp Freightliner teaches students all about their Freightliner chassis so that they can be even more scared about the complexity of the machine on which they ride. Actually, it's a very informative class intended to do just the opposite and Dale was mesmerized by every minute of it. The instructor, Mike Cody, is a knowledgeable, outstanding presenter who should really consider moonlighting as a standup comedian. Although very valuable, Dale found the class extremely humbling as he now knows how much he doesn't know. Also while in Gaffney, Freightliner replaced our fan control module as it appears it was always running in high speed and not dropping into the normal low speed condition. The fan is noticeably quieter, but more importantly we're hoping to create a smaller dust storm when on unpaved surfaces and, perhaps, pick up a little fuel economy as the engine isn't working as hard to turn the mechanically driven fan. That was the good news. The bad news was that Freighliner could not find a cause for the check engine codes and recommended that we take the coach to a Cummins dealer as it appeared the fault was in their 'stuff'. So Wednesday morning we headed out to Spartanburg, SC to visit the Cummins Atlantic service center. To make a long story short, they reprogrammed our engine control module (AKA engine computer) to be less sensitive to certain conditions which could trigger an unnecessary check engine light. Hopefully, this will eliminate any future false check engine lights. We were very happy with the Cummins service center as they got us in and out in a matter of a few hours without a prior appointment. Hats off to Cummins Atlantic Spartanburg!
Wednesday, November 6th, we spent the night in a Summerville, SC Walmart just off of I-26. We arrived after dark, but found our way to the far end of the parking lot and found a nice spot out of the way amongst a few other semi's. As we left on Thursday morning another motorhome nestled into our spot moments after we vacated.
We drove to the Charleston area on Thursday, November 7th, and tried for a spot at Lake Aire RV Park without a reservation, but all they had was water and electric sites. We needed to dump so we went to nearby Oak Plantation campground and got a 50 amp full hookup site with cable TV. Oak Plantation was more expensive($45/night) than Lake Aire ($25/night), but a much better campground with paved interior roads and cement pads for the camper. Lake Aire was inhabited by several rundown units and had very poor dirt roads leading to and in the park. We'll return to Oak Plantation when we go back to Charleston in the future. We drove into Charleston on Friday morning and got there in time to catch an ill-fated two hour mini-bus tour. Our driver/guide was very energetic and informative for about the first hour. However, at about that halfway point of the tour people on the streets started to look at our tour bus and some of them pointed toward the bottom of it. We had started to get whiffs of an unpleasant odor. As the tour went on the smell got stronger and we could now see smoke rising outside the bus whenever we were at a near standstill, attracting even more outside attention. There was supposed to be a stop at Battery Park, so the driver intended to evaluate the situation at the stop. Two of the more elderly female passengers started to get very concerned and convinced the driver to abort the tour and head straight back to the Charleston Visitor Center where the tour originated. The bus was gradually having more trouble moving so it became apparent the transmission was giving up the ghost. Eventually the elderly ladies elected to get off the bus and hail a cab back to the visitor center. About a quarter mile later the rest of us decided we'd breathed enough smoke and had the driver stop to let us off. That was all she wrote. The bus spilled it's trans fluid on the ground and wasn't moving another inch. We were a mile and a half from the visitor center. The good news was that we were near the truly historic walking tour section of town. So we elected to walk back and enjoy the area on the way. Dale became the new tour guide because he had his trusty iPhone 5. He pointed the way and the six of us started walking. After about five blocks one of the couples says "Hey there's our hotel across the water. That's odd." Ruh-Roh! A quick check of the iPhone showed that, indeed, Dale had lead his followers in exactly the wrong direction. Confucius say: High technology in the wrong hands is off little value. We retraced our steps and met our tour guide on the phone to home base. He now had a police car assisting the movement of traffic around the dead bus. He confirmed the direction we were now headed in was indeed correct. There are many horse drawn carriages in the area. At one point, one of the horses relieved himself. The riders and local bystanders laughed. Lisa walked over and informed the driver and his guests, "Yeah, our tour bus did the same thing about 15 minutes ago only with transmission fluid. At least your tour can still continue." We ended up strolling around the historic district and having lunch down on the water. After that we walked back to the visitor center where they refunded our money for the tour. We explored a little more in the Jeep and then drove to the Magnolia Cemetery where the remains of the three ill-fated crews of the Confederate submarine the Hunley are buried. It was an interesting stop with the large (and we mean large) gnarly live oaks reaching their Spanish moss covered limbs over the 150 year old grave markers. A great scene for a late night Ghost tour. We finished up the day with a trip to Sullivan's Island where Edgar Allan Poe was stationed at Fort Moultrie in the early nineteenth century. We found the local lighthouse which was one of the least picturesque we've ever seen. The good news is that led us to the beach just after sunset for a beautiful sky. It was also low tide, so we walked way out on the hard packed sand. We ate at Poe's Tavern, a cool local tavern with excellent wait staff, beer, burgers and quesadillas.

End of the ill-fated bus tour

Statue of George Washington in Washington Park

Now this is a cobblestone street

Restaurant where we ate lunch in Charleston with a German cruise ship in the background

Waterfront Park

Dolphin off Waterfront Park

Waterfront Park

Live oak in Magnolia Cemetery

Hunley crew burial site

Arthur Ravenal Jr Bridge over the Cooper River as seen from Magnolia Cemetery

Murray Blvd

Battery Park

Ready, aim…...

Approaching Ravenal bridge heading toward Sullivan's Island

Sunset sky at beach on Sullivan's Island

Saturday, November 9th, we drove to Brunswick, GA to visit Dale's cousin, Theresa Morgan and her friend, Jim. Theresa was married to Bob (brother of Dick and Don who we visited in Virginia in late September). Bob was killed in a car accident in 2006. Theresa was also in the car and was critically injured, but lives today as a walking miracle. It was great to see her and catch up on what brought her to Brunswick. Jim treated us all to a very nice dinner at the Millstone Steak House in Brunswick. Excellent, melt in your mouth catfish fish and chips. Yum!!

Street leading to Jim & Theresa's house

Jim, Theresa & Dale

Camping in Jim's yard

Jim's Harley trike

On Sunday, the 10th, we arrived in Florida and set up camp at Williston Crossings RV Resort in Williston, Florida. Although the grounds aren't pretty yet because it's still under development this is one of the nicer campgrounds we've been in, with paved roads and large cement pads and patios, and 50 amp full hookups with cable TV. They have a very nice clubhouse and other amenities with activities to suit. We'll be here until Sunday, November 17th, on a $99 per week introductory special. Can't beat that for such a nice park. As we pulled into the park we were greeted by our new friends, Joe and Sue, whom we met at the Hoots gathering in Sevierville in mid-September. Joe and Sue are also new full-timers about our age who took to the road in August of this year. They mentioned they were going to be here when we spoke in Sevierville, so we decided to come and surprise them. As we were settling into our site the campground host told Lisa to "Watch out for that spider." He was about 2 inches in diameter. After Lisa got her camera and took a picture the host took care of it. Sunday evening we travelled up to Gainesville to take one of our daughter Kelly's best friends, Danielle, and her boyfriend, Alex, out to dinner. It was nice to get together with Danielle who we see as another daughter. The excitement for Monday was going to Bingo at the Williston Crossings clubhouse. Actually Joe and Dale just went for the grilled chicken sandwich before the Bingo excitement while Sue and Lisa stayed and actually played Bingo. Are we getting old??