Hi! This blog post is photo heavy...but totally worth it.
Neither Brady nor I had ever traveled to Asheville/Pisgah/Black Mountain areas in NC, so we decided to remedy that situation this past weekend by driving, camping and eating our way to-and-around the area. Moxtoberfest FOREVER! Y'all, it was a blast! Well, except the part where we both woke up sick after spending a night sipping beer around the campfire. Ugh. Ugh on the sickness but not the beer. That beer was damn good!
Just FYI, Tallulah Gorge in GA (on the way to NC via the backroads in the mountains) has some major tourist trap stuff. That place was filthy and it made me sad. Definitely not a stellar start to the trip...but it got better fast.
So, here's where we stayed after our original campground turned out to be waaaaaaay to cramped and crowded. It was just up the road from several cool hiking spots and about a 10 minute drive to the Blue Ridge Parkway. And it was so quiet. So quiet. We were 1 of 3 camping groups that stayed the first night and 1 of 6 the last night. Did I mention that we were right on a river too? We could hear it roar and see it cascade. Yep! Perfect place.
This campground is probably pretty hoppin' during the summer since the river is deep and there are several natural pools right alongside it. The park system built steps and a lip a long time ago, and now there are folks who come to float on tubes all day long. Well, not while we were there since the temperatures were in the 50's during the day and mid-30's at night. We did ponder a Polar Bear Plunge kind of situation for a few minutes but eventually decided against it...
Can you see our spot? Over to the right?
Brady and I keep a very simple campsite but it works for us. We've got our small tent, a bucket of goods for cooking (which we do right on the grate), a small bag of clothes for layering, 2 camp chairs and our sleeping bag/pads/liners. That's it! No fancy decor stuff for us. Hey, we lived out of the car for almost 3 months during the honeymoon so we've become adept at keeping it streamlined. Although the folks next to us had a super sweet tent with a porch and everything. We might have to invest in one of those for the spring/summer months aka mosquito/biteybug times.
Don't be jealous of my a) backdrop...
or b) campy (ha!) style. Yeah, when you don't get to take too much clothing you tend to look a bit 'mad dash' but I just roll with it...
There's still so much to tell you! About the mystery road, the mystery critter that visited in the middle of the night, the hiking, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, the trip to Asheville and more. But right now I'm hungry for some veggie soup to help fight off this cold...and I don't want to overwhelm you with a bunch more photos and stuff. So, for now, I'll leave this here but I'll be back with some funny stories and some spectacular mountain views soon...
Oh, and don't forget to enter the Moxtoberfest Giveaway...
