RV Trip – Way Back – 24 Days – Small Camper Conclusion

Where to go next? Using our beloved Harvest Host App we found the next winery “Jewel of the Blue Ridge Vineyard & Muscadine Nursery”.

Marcus loves to push boundaries…. we didn’t realize how off the beaten path this amazing winery was….. and Marcus felt the gas will be enough….we drove, and drove and drove to the most spectacular view…..

When we arrived we had our own VIP covered Deck where we could enjoy our yoga, reading and working. This winery sold experiences and we booked a Muscadine wine lecturer lesson with a legend and owner for the next day. In the morning we went first for a walk around the mountain and then we got educated….. we never will forget how we learned to smell wine the right way ( 3 times and count to 10 between…), How to do cheers (don’t clink the classes….)

After we felt really sophisticated we left to find the next gas station…..the fuel gage went down rapidly ….. lucky 0 miles on the gage didn’t mean no gas…. but we were definitely relieved when we made it finally …. I think there was less than 0.3 Gal left.

The next destination was a new addition to Harvest Host called “Boondockers Welcome” which mostly RV owners offer to stay at their private property for free. We met the most lovely couple who explained where we could stay for the night.

Next destination was an RV park as we wanted to have a nicer shower and if possible washing. We ended up at the nicest RV camp so far with the most wonderful toilettes and showers.

Unfortunately – at night – walking back from the shower Marcus mistakenly confound a snake for a stick….. Marcus managed to take a picture of the snake and we were able to ask neighbors what kind of snake it was… a Copperhead poisoned snake…. he called the “Poison Control Centers” hotline and they advised to go to the nearest emergency hospital and in the meantime they alert the hospital that we were on the way….

We didn’t feel to pack up our camper so we took an Uber which was a bit of an adventure to do in this remote area…. Arriving at the hospital Marcus could have been half dead…still we had to go through the metal detector and got checked thoroughly that we don’t carry guns…. After that he was handled as top priority…. however he was told hopefully they don’t have to give “snake antidote” as this would cost $10,000….. a new experience for us to be told how much a treatment could cost….. lucky he was bitten by an adult snake and often it can be a dry bite an not much poison will be injected which ended up to be the case for Marcus. We had to stay for observation for 4 hours and then were allowed to go back home with a swollen foot.

The next day we went to Lake Gaston for a Sunfish camp. We had an incredible time. Scott the owner is an excellent sunfish sailor and teacher. We also had all wind conditions. I was doing the sunfish for the second time in my life…. the first day it was rather windy for my beginners taste. My heart was racing, but Scott was there with a power boat to assist me if I would get in trouble and calming talked me through how to handle my sunfish.

Second day was was even more windy, but thanks to the calm teacher I made it! The biggest challenge for me…. on the windy days I seem to end up with the sunfish with the short tiller and I had such a hard time to stay on course. The 3rd day we had less wind which I really enjoyed and started to get more and more the hang of it. On the 4th and final day it was so windy, but this time I had the sunfish with the longer tiller. Still I had a hard time to keep the tiller under control. I just felt I didn’t have enough strength. Marcus stayed back to take some Drone videos and pictures and despite the better tiller, I wanted to jump off the sunfish and go back on land….. I stalled the boat because I got scared and did chicken jibs. However before I could put my thoughts into action, I begun to be more comfortable. In the end Marcus suggested we do a race ….. I finally managed to position the tiller so I was able to control it beautifully and guess what… nobody could catch me anymore…. I was flying

Scott let us stay in his driveway with our camper for which we were so grateful as no Harvest Host or even RV parks were near by. Thanks to him we had great internet to do our work and enjoyed dinner in a wonderful Lake side Restaurant and BBQ at his home.

Next we were off to Castle Glen Estates Winery – they had an amazing Estate and lovely wine. We did a wine tasting and enjoyed their view in their backyard. We got to meet an incredible Harvest Host couple who stayed there too. They were 79 (she) and 81 (him). They met a year ago and started dating…. This inspiring story proves one is never too old for falling in love…. The best she was the experienced camper. She drove the RV and had it before she met her boyfriend and he had no experience camping or with campers!

On a side note she backed the camper below at it’s location in front of ours…. awesome lady!

Then we went off to Skydive Carolina where Marcus made 6 wonderful jumps. We could park for free and they even had facilities we could use. I did my workouts, yoga and self care with Luna.

We ended the day with a delicous BBQ

The next day we went off to visit our beautiful god child Lucas and his family we lived with in New York before we moved onto our boat. We had a fantastic BBQ in their nearby Park and enjoyed our precious time together.

We found on Harvest Host a brewery just 15 minutes from our friends where we could stay for the night.

Next we were off to catch up with our gorgeous skydiving friends Loreta and Raymond. We had an incredible catching up and will never forget their hospitality and the amazing food they prepared for us! We felt so spoiled. One cool side note, Raymond has an awesome Sprinter van on which he is working on to model into a camper. Luna was impressed and we too!

Conclusion

I’m very proud that we made out of Lemon’s (Cancelled Annapolis to Bermuda race) Margarita’s (Camper trip to Nashville) and had a trip of a lifetime. For Marcus it was great as his consulting job really started after we got back and I’m so grateful for everything he did for us….driving, breakfast, tea, organizing were to stay….and much more! For me it was a super busy time with work, I worked to make up most nights and of course while Marcus was driving and doing everything else.

Marcus and I both love the camping live style – we have done a few camping trips before….however our pick up camper is a 1/3 of the size than the smallest camper we ever used before…in the beginning it was so hard. Lucky we were able to move some things around, figure out how to have showers in our limited space and set up our offices – one had to work in the car and one in the camper so we could do our conference calls and not disturb each other.

Next…. we have to buy some folding chairs and work on some shading solutions and on top Marcus has a “little’ fixing list…..

The best….

……on the day we arrived back….. our boat felt like the most luxury hotel…..so big, so comfortable….., so warm…., so inviting…., so much beautiful space…. there are not enough words to describe how wonderful our boat felt….