Devil's Courthouse

On Monday, July 30, we went to Devil’s Courthouse. This is a rock formation off the Blue Ridge Parkway. We took Heidi with us and our friends also took their dog. We figured it was time to include the puppies in our outing.

The drive to this particular spot was just as beautiful as every other drive we’ve taken. North Carolina is a beautiful state. We are in constant awe!

We parked the cars in the lot and took the pups for the half-mile hike up to the lookout. This was a fairly steep walk, which we tried to capture in these pictures. Photos just never do it justice though. This is Larry & Barb in the early part of the trail, where it was still paved.

The last part of the trail was gravel. This is Julian and Larry with Panda in the lead. She’s a 9-year-old Boxer who loves to hike.

When we got to the top, we shot this photo back down to the parking lot. Our cars are the two farthest to the left side. Can you make them out? It’s a LONG way down there!
We were told that on a clear day you can see three or four states from this vantage point. Well, it wasn’t a clear day. The fog kept coming and going the whole time we were there. It was so pretty up there, in spite of the fog. Here’s proof that Heidi and Donna made it up to the top, too. Honestly, Heidi is a huge wimp when it comes to walking, so we were pleasantly surprised that she made it up and back without a problem. She actually seemed to enjoy it. After we got back down to the parking lot, the fog had rolled in even worse at the top. We were sorry we hadn’t taken a picture of it when we arrived, it was much clearer then. So we kept snapping pics until the fog wasn’t so bad anymore. Here’s Devil’s Courthouse from the parking lot. You can make out some other hikers up at the top.

From there we drove the Parkway a mile or two until we came to a picnic area. We had packed hot dogs and all the trimmings for a nice picnic lunch. Larry did a great job cooking the “dogs” while Barb managed to spoil the (other) dogs with treats. We had a really good time even with the fog coming and going.

Then it was time to head home and just put our feet up. It was quite a hike and we were all a bit tired. But it was definitely another wonderful day in North Carolina.

Successful Fishing!

So last Friday, our friends from home and Julian & I went to Cherokee (again) to see if we couldn't get lucky fishing on the reservation. We bought our one-day licenses & worms and found a great spot on the ponds just outside the KOA campground.

Not long after we arrived, we saw the hatchery truck dumping fish into our pond. We certainly hoped that this was a good sign. Lots of fish in the pond must mean that we'll catch them, right?

Barbara and I took the chairs and found a nice, shady spot on the bank. Certainly you didn't think we'd stand, did you?


It wasn't too long till Larry had a bite. He even hooked that bad boy - or so we thought. We did see it - as it escaped his hook just before he got it onto the bank. No really, we did see it. I'd guess it was about 6 or 7 inches long. But tricky enough to get off his line before it was too late.


Julian was the winner, though. After we had lunch, he reeled in the one and only fish of the day. But that counts. One fish is better than none. One is better than being skunked. One is better than we'd done there last week... or last year for that matter. Wanna see the big honkin' prize-winner? Look closely!


You may want to click on this photo and see it in it's larger format. The big bad fish is hard to see in this reduced picture.

Julian says he's been catching fish in the creek behind our coach. He even kept one, hoping for more and enough for a meal. But when they stopped biting, he nursed the one back to health and released him back into the creek. I know he's been catching them. I believe him! He just hasn't been taking his camera so that he can prove it to everyone.

Day Trip to Cades Cove

Since the last posting, we've been doing some of the more mundane things of life. We went out to dinner one evening. We did laundry. We cleaned house. We took our walks and just generally enjoyed our place in the world.

And then on Monday afternoon, our neighbors from Leesburg arrived. They will be here for two weeks and it will be fun having them around to do stuff with. They got their motor coach shortly after we did and this will be their longest trip out in it so far.

We’ve had lots of rain this week and have had to dodge the storms to do anything. Yesterday turned out to be no exception.

We took off with our friends at about 10am. We drove through Cherokee and the Smoky Mountains into Tennessee and had lunch at Gatlinburg.

From there we drove west to take a tour of Cades Cove. This is a beautiful area that has been somewhat preserved since the 1800s. It was very interesting to see how the people lived in that era. I’ve always said I would not have made a good pioneer and seeing these homes and buildings surely reinforced that.

Our first stop was at the John Oliver Place. As you can see, we had a bit of a hike to get up to the house.

The house itself was just one room with the big fireplace on one end. There were steps to the second floor, but they were pretty steep, so I didn’t go up. The guide book says that’s where the sons of the household slept. Everyone else on the main floor.

This is the back of the house, with Julian and our friend, Larry, to the right. Looks like they had some heated debate going on.

We passed by three different churches, two Baptist and one Methodist. As time was getting short, we didn’t stop at any of them. We did stop next at the Cable Mill and Visitor Center. This is a shot of the house there, which was built in 1879 and enlarged over time.

This is the grist mill, which still works.

Here’s the Cantilever Barn.

They had a demonstration near the barn of different toys the kids played with back then. It was like sitting in grandma’s house! They had the button on the string, only they used small wooden disks cut from branches and with two holes in them. People were amazed by these things and yet I remember them so well from when we were kids.

This is the smokehouse. It still smelled smoky in there.

Here’s proof we were really there. This is in front of the house, which was little more than three rooms and an upstairs.


From there we headed back out of the “park”. It’s a long, slow drive on a one-way, narrow road. And people kept stopping in the road to take pictures of the deer. But we managed to be almost out by the time the rain started to pour down on us.

We drove back home by a different route, which seemed to go faster than the way we had come over that morning. It rained on us the whole way home and then for a couple hours more. Poor Heidi, who hates water of any kind, had a hard time of it. And her dinner was late, to boot!

So far today we have sunshine and nice weather. We’re a bit tired of the rain, so we hope this weather will hold up for a few days.

Until next time, happy trails to you all!

First Stop: Creekwood Farm, North Carolina

In spite of it taking me a week to get this first entry, we did arrive here in the Smoky Mountains of North Carolina on Monday, July 16, after spending last Sunday night in a quaint little RV park in Canadys, SC. Arriving here at Creekwood Farm RV Park was a little like coming home. We were both very excited and happy to get here. Here’s a look at our “home” after we got fully set up and settled in.

We’ve been walking about 2 ¼ miles most days since being here. We’ve been to the casino in Cherokee – with no luck. We’ve been enjoying the weather here. After the high-90’s of Florida, the mid- to low-80’s here feels fabulous. We’ve had rain most days, but that’s been kind of nice, too. And Tuesday evening we had cocktails on the creek.

It was reminiscent of last summer, but our friends aren’t here this summer. So we invited the ducks.

On Thursday, we went onto the Cherokee Reservation to do some fishing. We’d heard good things about the fishing there, but weren’t able to prove any of it. But we have proof we tried!


Julian’s been fishing on our creek here at the campground and has had some success. Nothing big enough to keep, yet, but there’s always tomorrow.

While on the reservation we found Mingo Falls. I should have taken a picture of the steps we had to climb to get up there! It was a long way up, to say the least. But the trip was worth it. The waterfall was very cool.
Saturday was waterfall day. We drove south into Transylvania County in search of a few falls to enjoy. We got our fill by the end of the day and got more exercise than we’d bargained on in the process. Here are the five that we stopped at, starting with Sliding Rock Falls. Anyone could get into the water and slide down into the pool at the bottom. It looked like it would be fun on a really hot day.

Next was Looking Glass Falls. I don’t know why it’s called that, but it was nice.

The next one we stopped at was called Connestee Falls. Unfortunately the viewing was from the top and we were not in the mood for what looked like a very long walk down (and then back up) for a better viewing. So this is as good a photo as we got.

Heading down the road and into DuPont State Forest, we got to see two more. The first was Hooker Falls. In spite of signs posted to the contrary, some teen-ager was jumping over the edge into the lake below. He was just plain crazy!

From there we had the hike of the day. We probably wouldn’t have done it if we had known ahead of time. The guide books said “hike upstream about 1000’ on level ground.” Well, there wasn’t anything level about it – all up hill. But in the end, it was worth it. Triple Falls was the prettiest of those we’d seen all day.

Those are the highlights of our first week of this three month adventure. We’re having a great time. We hope you are enjoying your days as much.

Where in the World?

Where in the world are the Coles? Well, we are at home, packing up the coach for our three-month adventure. But tomorrow morning we will be taking off. We'll drive about 350 miles and spend one night in South Carolina. From there, we'll make our way to Maggie Valley, North Carolina. After we get settled in there, I'll be posting more pictures and stories. So check in from time to time to see just where in the world ARE the Coles?

Nothin' Could Be Fine-ahhhh!

Or maybe the title should be “By the sea, by the sea, by the beautiful sea”. I couldn’t decide. But either way, our week by the sea in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, was definitely fine!

We stayed at Ocean Lakes Family Campground. This complex was amazing. They boast 3400 sites, but my calculations allowed for about 900 RV sites. The rest were permanent homes. They ranged from older trailers with a porch added on to beautiful two story houses on stilts – and everything in between. The older places in no way detracted from the beauty of this community.

There were small lakes throughout and many had fountains which just added to the beauty.


Here’s a look at a few of the RV sites, with some homes and the recreation center in the background.

The RV sites were all pull-through, some with concrete pads. We were not happy with the first site they assigned to us. Since they seemed to be abundant, we asked to upgrade to one with a pad. We were VERY glad we did as we moved to the first site by the beach. Here’s the view from our couch.
And the view standing at our front door.

This was our view every morning while we had coffee in bed. Heidi loved it too!

There seems to always be wind at the beach. That means good kite-flying. And every day we’d see several. This one caught our eye.

Yes, it was one kite and the fellow flying it had great control. He had it doing loops and we really enjoyed watching it.

We walked the beach a couple of times, and even took Heidi with us. She loved it.

And that’s as close to the water as she would actually get! When a wave would come in, she would scamper away from it. She was pretty funny to watch.

This is one shot of the beach.

On our last full day at Ocean Lakes, Julian tried his hand at fishing from the beach.

He had great form, but unfortunately the fish didn’t care. He caught nothing but fresh air and some sun. I guess that’s not all bad.

We did other stuff while in the area. We went on the gambling boat one day. We went into Georgetown where we planned to take a boat trip, but it didn’t work out. So we walked through the old town area and really had a great time.

On Monday night we went to see “Legends in Concert”. We saw Rod Stewart, Roy Orbison, Bobby Darin, The Blues Brothers, Tina Turner and, of course, Elvis. All were very good at what they did and we had a super time. We’d see it again – and may do that the next time we go. The performers change so we could see a totally different lineup.

We had originally planned on only 5 nights there, but after seeing how cool it was, we added 2 more. It was well worth it. They had all kinds of amenities, including a general store, 2 pools, golf cart rentals, a small restaurant and so much more. We will definitely return to the same campground. We’ve got maps and can request one of these super sites right off the beach. And there are tons of things in Myrtle Beach that we didn’t do.

And food!! Oh, my! We ate great and look forward to trying some of the other restaurants that the area has to offer. But first we must diet and lose what we gained this week.

In the end, nothin’ could be fine-ah! We had a great time in Carolina.

Branson for Christmas

Why would anyone leave the warmth of Florida in December? For the Christmas shows in Branson, MO, of course. This was an organized tour put together by the Good Sam Club. The package included our RV site, seven shows, three tours and all but one dinner. It was an opportunity we simply couldn’t pass up.

We left home on November 30, and drove as far as Ozark, AL. We had planned to stop in the panhandle of Florida, but with the time change in our favor and good timing we decided to just keep going. That night, the cold front came through. We only had a little rain and the temps got cooler, but it wasn’t too bad. Yet.

The next day took us as far as Tupelo, MS, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. We talked about seeing the house, but in the end decided it was just a house and we really didn’t care to go on a tour. So we leisurely packed up the coach and headed on down the road.

Our next stop was in Tunica, MS. Yes, you guessed it, we wanted a little gambling time. We stayed at the Hollywood Casino’s RV Park which was really very nice. And the price was right: free! We stayed 2 nights and it was nice to be stationary for a little while. We played at three different casinos and had fun, but little good luck. And did I mention it was COLD! We were wearing our sweatshirts and coats by now. We drove around to the casinos even though they were all in walking distance for us. Just too cold and windy!

From Tunica, we went to Morrilton, AR. We were in a little RV park that was right on the Arkansas River. It wasn’t much at this time of year, but we could see that it would be beautiful in the summer. Just one night there and then back on the road again.

On Tuesday, December 5, we drove the last 150 miles into Branson. But not before we had a flat tire fixed. What a pain in the butt! That cost us a couple hours, but we still got to America’s Best Campground by a little after 4pm.

After our welcome dinner we had a Christmas party which included a gift exchange. We did one of those where you can steal any previously unwrapped gift. The John Deer pocket knife had several owners, as did the Santa Shelf-Sitter and a Branson T-shirt. Our good stuff got stolen and we wound up with a very nice umbrella and a cute little Christmas ornament.

Wednesday morning was a shopping trip that Julian and I opted out of. We had plenty of ways to spend money, and we didn’t seem to need this one. We kinda felt like we needed to get our feet on the ground anyway. We did a little grocery shopping and so on.

At 3:45 we left the campground on 2 buses for the Dixie Stampede. We had seen this show in Orlando a couple years ago, but enjoyed it just as much. It was a nice start to the trip.

After that show, we drove about 45 minutes to see the Port of Lights in Kimberling City. This was well worth the drive! It is set up in a marina area of a park. Many businesses pay for a small area in which to place their display. I took several pictures, but without a tripod, they didn’t come out very well. This one is the best of the bunch and can give you a small idea of what it was like.

There were such beautiful displays. There was a tunnel of holly wreaths, angels, Santas, snowmen and women, a fisherman whose fish was actually out in the water. I only wish I could have captured more of it.

Thursday morning was open as far as the package was concerned. So we had pre-booked tickets to see Yakov Smirnov on our own. What a great show that was! He is such a funny guy and very patriotic. We enjoyed his show tremendously. And during the intermission we were fortunate enough to be among the few who got his autograph on a photo taken when we entered the theater. (They are big on that in Branson.) And then he was gracious enough to allow me to get this great photo of Julian with him.

Then it was back to the campground for a quick lunch before leaving with the group for the Dutton Family show. One of the sons came onto our bus when we arrived to welcome us to the show and then escort us to our seats. The members of this family do it all. They were in the shops, they were ushers, they were everywhere and looked like they enjoyed every second of every thing that they were doing. And wow! Could they play and sing! Here’s the whole family.

They even got the grandkids involved. And they played those violins pretty well.

When we were all back on the bus, one of the sons came out again to make sure we enjoyed the show and that all the DVDs were delivered of the show we had just seen. Talk about service! They were great people.

From there we all went to dinner at the Grand Palace Hotel. The food was really good and there was live entertainment there as well. And then it was on to “Broadway’s Spirit of Christmas” show. This was another terrific variety show which included the Osmonds. Yes, four of the older brothers performed during about half of the show. I didn’t get any photos of them, and I can’t explain why. They were great as was the entire show.

Whew, three shows in one day! It was too much. Great entertainment, but too many places to be in one short day.

Friday morning, the group went to the College of the Ozarks. We passed on this trip, too. Julian read the brochure and pretty much figured it wasn’t our kind of trip. Staying home turned out to be a very good thing as some of the plumbing froze overnight. Yes, it was about 12° when we got out of bed that morning. Brrrrr! But with the help of the sun and a hair dryer Julian got the pipes cleared out and working fine. He bought a drop light to keep in that bay for the remaining nights that were also below freezing.

The afternoon show was The Brashler Music Show. This was yet another family of talented performers. They have one of the longest running shows in Branson. They do a pure gospel show every Thursday, but we saw their Christmas show. Wonderful songs that we hadn’t heard as often, if at all, during other performances.

And get a load of their dachshund, Katie. She was on stage for most of the second portion of the show. At one point, she was left alone on the chair. She got up and took a drink out of the cup left close by the chair she was on. What a great little pup she was.

The son-in-law came out to the bus after the show. He told us that he and his wife (the woman in the picture) raise dachshunds. Katie was four and had been in the Christmas show since the start this season. During one of the early shows, she got up for a drink and discovered that the crowd loved it. She has been doing it every performance since. What a little show-stopper!

We were bused back to the campground for a quick dinner on our own. Then we went off to the Moon River Theater to see Andy Williams. Pulling up to the theater was a treat all by itself. The grounds were covered in trees and every tree was covered in white Christmas lights. At their base was a pale blue-green spotlight which made the whole picture just gorgeous – like a winter wonderland.

I thought we might be in for a long show when they brought Andy Williams on stage in a sleigh. Was he that old? We’d been told of suspicions of lip-syncing – could that be true? No way! He got out of that sleigh and looked and sounded great. He put on a terrific show and even danced a little on a couple of occasions. And though we weren’t up close to the stage, we could see nothing to make us think he wasn’t singing every word live. It was a great show – not to be missed. At the end he sang his "favorite Christmas song" – Moon River! It was great!

The next morning we were off again, this time to see the Lowe Family. Yet another very talented family. They all played all kinds of different instruments and could all sing, too. They put on another great show.

We had the afternoon off. This was a good thing. We’d been running like crazy and it was nice to relax a bit before the last show. But first we had a farewell dinner at the campground. The food was very good. After eating there was a prize give-away. One of the tour directors had been shopping in every location, show, etc. She had CDs and DVDs from the shows, jams and bread from the university tour, lots of great things. As luck would have it, Julian and I got a 2-disk set of Andy Williams from the 60s and 70s. We’ve already listened to it and have really enjoyed it.

Our last show was Shoji Tabuchi. We hadn’t heard of him, but he sure can play the violin. He’s got a pretty good singing voice too, but still has a heavy Japanese accent. He did “The Wabash Cannonball” better and faster than I think I’ve ever heard it done. Wow! His daughter performed as well. She does not have an accent and is also very talented, not to mention beautiful (as Julian pointed out). It was another great show.

Something about Branson in general: God and Country are alive and well in that town! Nearly every show we went to took a moment to ask all veterans to stand while their branch of the service was honored. I haven’t seen that many flags nor heard that many patriotic songs in a long time. We heard not one cuss word, nor any off-color jokes. Every single show made a point of keeping Christ in Christmas. It was uplifting, to say the least.

There was a continental breakfast for the group on Sunday morning. It was time to say good-bye and head on down the trail for most of us. Frankly, Julian and I were ready to find warmer locations! We got a fairly early start and made it to Lake Village, in south-east Arkansas, by late afternoon. It was a nice park, and the weather was already getting warmer!

Then we decided to change course slightly and go to Biloxi, MS, for one night. Yeah, we love to gamble. But it’s also where Julian had spent his first year in the service and it’s always fun to visit. We came into town on US-90, right on the coastline. Wow! What a difference Hurricane Katrina had made. It was very sad. We had been through Biloxi in July, 2005, and enjoyed the Treasure Bay casino. It was a huge boat shaped structure out in the water. It is one of the few casinos that has been rebuilt today, so that’s where we decided to play and have dinner. It is still under construction/renovation. They had a long enclosed walkway from the parking area into the casino with lots of photos of the original Treasure Bay… and how it looked after Katrina. This huge structure had literally been ripped in two. The larger portion was shoved quite a distance from its original location. The smaller section was washed up on shore. Now, there is nothing at all. I’m serious – nothing!

That is only one example. There were other structures that we remembered being on the beach side of the road that were also completely gone. Any of the piers that had stood were now only pylons sticking out of the water. Hotels we had even stayed at on other visits were nothing but foundations. And the homes were the saddest. Parts of buildings were ripped away. Gaping holes showed in the sides of apartments. These people were truly hit hard. In spite of having an enormous amount of work still to do, it was obvious that the human spirit has made huge strides in allowing the residents of this area to return to a new normalcy.

From there we drove to DeFuniak Springs, in the panhandle of Florida. We spent two nights there and soaked up the warmth. We drove to the coast and had lunch in Destin. We were very impressed with how blue the water was and the beautiful white sandy beaches. This picture was taken just outside the restaurant where we had lunch.

On the 14th, we drove the last 350 miles home. It was a GREAT trip -- in spite of the cold weather. We had a super time.

Merry Christmas to all!