ThePewterPalace Our Love Affair with Avions

EDITORS NOTE: Somewhere along the way of life this draft blog post got lost, so better late than never I have finished it and now am posting it over 3+ years later!  Hope in some way the information, links and photos help you to plan your trip through the Shenandoah Mountain area-it’s definitely worth the trip!

This post covers Part 2 of our 3 week epic trip in our 1987 Avion, 32 foot travel trailer we call “The Pewter Palace”. Our trip began May 28 and ended June 20th of 2021. We covered a total of over 3450 miles including 2 National Parks, 21 overnights at private, state and national campgrounds, and miles and miles of amazing scenery from lush glade glens to craggy mountaintops along the venerable Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway before descending into the Smoky Mountain National Park.

If you have not read Part 1, here is your link

SECTION 1- Start of the Blue Ridge Parkway

After we departed our camp stay at Loft Mountain, we headed south. At the terminus of the Skyline Drive, it is a direct link roadway to the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP). It is not as formal or ceremonial of an entry as the Skyline Drive and other aspects of the BRP become very evident with differences of the two. The Skyline Drive is pristine, lacks any sign of residential or commercial life and very limited if any access roads off the drive except for NPS visitor centers and rest areas. The BRP traverses over mountains, through centuries old farmlands and past residential streets. There are some local route/county route arteries that feed to local towns, villages and glens. The dotted line below from the Virginia border and goes into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is essentially the route we took.

TIME TO SWITCH MAPS! but be aware, the map for the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) was not as good as the Skyline map. You will need to do some of your own planning, use of GPS and note taking to be sure you know how far things are away, sites you want to see that may be off the BRP a little bit and how to get to them.

We realized at 40 MPH and all the stops at overlooks we wanted to do that doing a trek from Loft Mountain in VA (covered in PT1) to Bandit’s Roost-Army Corps of Engineers Campground in NC was NOT going to be feasible in one day. It would have been a long, long day and getting off the road and into the campsite at night, not a good thing. We were not even sure if the gate would be tended to let us in- probably not as it turns out!

SO…we quickly and on the fly (when we had cell signal) booked a ONE NIGHT at Rocky Knob NPS Campground. We had planned to stop at the historic and picturesque Mabry Mill (see photo I took below) anyway so that was very close by to Rocky Knob. Once again, we found that these older NPS campground sites leave a lot to be desired. The crescent curve layout in Rocky Knop campground is NOT user friendly for rigs over 26 feet in our opinion although the online info will tell you otherwise. The curve does not take into account that “trailers do not bend”! Probably a 5th wheel could do it as long as not more than 30 feet. At Rocky Knob we tried in vain to get into 2 different sites. No Way. The camp host was so friendly and congenial and tried his best to help us out. Finally when we said we were going to have to leave and try to find something else (this at 5 PM) the Park Ranger assigned to the campground came to our rescue. He allowed us to use the alternate camp host site which was empty. We had to swear on a Bible that we would not hook up or use the dump and so into this site we went with NO problems at all. Thank goodness for his willingness to do this. Do not rely on this method, it was extreme and not something they normally do–I think he sensed my frazzle and it was late in the day and no other campgrounds nearby.

Below is the view from our picture window at Rocky Knob NPS Campground. You probably cannot see them but there are cows grazing on the hillside pasture across the street (which is the Blue Ridge Parkway itself!)

On our way south we traveled to Bandits Roost ACOE (Army Corps of Engineers) campground for 1 night. This is in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir. It is a little off the BRP onto RT 412 northbound, but there is good gasoline access there as well as other shopping needs. This is a huge recreation area with many parks, and hiking trails on it. We booked site 76, a pull thru for the 1 night we were going to be there. The site was FHU and had a nice high top type narrow cement table right near the BBQ which was great for setting out dishes, foods, utensils for grilling. We never use the campground BBQs we just put our portable Weber gas grill on top of the grill rack.

Our site #76 was nearer to the campground entrance which is gated and closely monitored, and also thru our back trees was the garbage dump off area and dump stations- so when we arrived shortly after everyone had checked out there was a slight smell from all that. Happily it dissipated very quickly, so not a big issue. However, it also was nearly the furthest walk to the beach area. If you go, our recommendation is Site # 70 or one of the sites on the peninsula at the beach area. The Beach is SPECTACULAR! Soft sand, beautiful clear water, deep enough to swim. With my NPS Senior All Access Pass our cost was something around $15 for the night (2021) with FHU! Cannot beat that!! We spend hours at the beach. Bath houses are good, gravel roads, some steep site roads so check site map carefully or call to get real scoop on sites before booking.

We pulled a U-ey and stopped in. It was a fortuitous visit! Bobby the owner was there, he admitted he knew nothing about Avions. He allowed us to preen over her, take photos and we agreed to help him advertise it through our social media outlets to Avion owners and seekers. He also was awesome in replacing one of our Anderson levelers that had cracked and had the other Anderson Stabilizer blocks in stock so we purchased them. Bobby became a fast friend, as a fellow Mason he and Kevin posed for this picture. (PS, our advertising worked and Bob sold this Avion to a Texan couple who knew us from the FB groups!)

ON TO SMOKEMOUNT NPS CAMPGROUND AND INTO THE SMOKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK ITSELF!

Our travels took us further south on the BRP through the southern portion of the Shenandoah National Park and into the Smoky Mountain National Park. Did you know this is THE MOST HEAVILY VISITED of ALL the National Parks?!! Mainly due to its quick proximity to many major cities along the east coast. If you ever get the chance, please experience it for yourself.

Here is a slide show of some of our travels in this leg of the journey-cause we know pictures say a 1000 words!

While in the Smoky NP we stayed for 4 nights at Smokemont NPS Campground. It is very near Cherokee, NC and a beautiful but steep/windy road over the mountains day ride into Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Again, with Senior Pass its 1/2 price but NO hookups. See their website for specifics about generator use. They do have water and dump station available. Their bath houses are very decent, but no showers. We were in site #40 in Loop D- a pull thru, but large boulders on either side of pull thru made for tricky maneuvering to get our 60 feet of truck/RV thru the arched bend. There is a newer section (Loop F) that has larger, easier sites to get into and we will book one of those in future stays for sure. Just southeast of the campground is a very large NP visitor center (leave the RV at campground as parking is difficult) that if you time it just right, you can see a huge herd of elk come out around dusk for feeding. It is a major spectacle and be ready for big crowds but worth it if you can catch it right!

Here is a slideshow of the Smokemont Campground.

While staying here we visited Pigeon Forge two days, Cherokee one day visiting the Museum of the Cherokee Indian and also attended an evening performance of “Unto These Hills” a historical outdoor drama. There is a lot to see and do within an hour-2 hr drive in all directions besides the gobsmack scenery of the mountains. We did not get to Clingman’s Dome which is a top attraction, or Dollywood.

ON TO A LITTLE BIT OF BAVARIA IN THE USA!

Travels continued south into Georgia to Helen, Georgia known as the little Bavaria of the US (at least eastern seaboard anyway). We LOVE all things German & Bavarian and so this mountainside town had been on our bucket list for years. Helen would be the southernmost point on our 3-week trip.

We stay nearby at Unicoi State Park as there are no campgrounds within walking distance into Helen and Unicoi is where most campers stay. It is a large park. The campground is very decent with water and electric andn FHU sites, dump station, small camp store, boat rentals, etc. The swimming area and beach are very nice but really not walkable to from the campground- so plan to unhitch and drive there for swimming and sunbathing. We made the mistake of thinking the beach was behind the camp store and reservation buildings- but no its not, but the lawn is lush and nice to walk down to the shoreline or launch a canoe there.

We were in site 26 with FHU and stayed 2 nights. We backed up to forest and had deer and tons of peepers serenading us as dusk drew on and thru the night. Here is a photo of our campsite. We had a nice bath house with showers just across the gravel drive from us.

TIP! they have a weird way of having every lane be a one way so you do get a fair amount of traffic by the campsites especially if you are on the main road in- we advise not picking a site there due to this. Every car/rig entering the campground must go by you! Also, many sites, including ours, had trees very close to the RV pad so we recommend viewing some video tours of the sites and photos to find some that work for you, slideouts on other rigs could pose some real issues on many of the narrow sites. The campground website does a pretty good job of describing the sites and showing photos of them.

As mentioned, Helen GA was our turn around point to head back up towards home in NY in a liesurely manner- we had another week to go!

As soon as we cleared the national park by heading northwest, we took Interstate 81 most of the way north. This is a freeway and beautiful in its own right though we had loved no semi-trucks on the Skyline and BRP for two weeks.

We overnighted at Claytor Lake State Park in Dublin, VA. Site D13, a pull thru with W/E on the end of a loop so we had some nice space. There is a dump station. D loop is for larger/longer rigs. A nice campground, beautiful lake and swimming area but closed before we got there and foul weather in the AM so we never got to enjoy them. Not a whole lot else at the campground itself but we did find a Walmart nearby for some needed supplies. The camp host was very nice and came to warn us the evening of our stay of high wind and bad weather coming in.

Our next stop north was Shenandoah River State Park Campground, Bentonville, VA.. WOW!!! This is a GOLD STANDARD of what ALL campgrounds should be! We stayed here 2 nights, Site #14 W/E, back in site. They have super night bath houses, separate shower rooms for each person from outdoor, lockable doors, laundry facilities and an outside sink area if needed. The hill leading up from the main road is steep, then its downhill to the campground road to the left with a very steep downhill right hand grade into the campground itself. SIGNAGE INSIDE THE PARK IS NOT GREAT SO BE ALERT- ESPECIALLY IF COMING IN AFTER DUSK! Further down the main road (not walkable to) is a lovely small visitor center with natural history exhibits, a beautiful outside deck overlooking the mountain range and forests, then at the bottom is the large area with boat access points to the Shenandoah River…(cue the song John Denver!!) swimming areas- be careful the current is mighty swift, picnic pavilion areas and tables galore. In the campground they have buddy sites where if you are traveling with another family in an RV you can share a center space with picnic tables, etc. easily. All sites are super private. We had a narrow path in the back of ours that led to a gravel path/road (no vehicles but bikes are fine) that leads to the riverfront area- about 2.5 miles. We loved this campground!

TIP: Just note that there dump station has a slightly uphill pitch and so be sure you are completely emptying your waste tanks- we thought we had but did not, which resulted in an overflow of our grey tank after our net camping adventure (since our sensor never work we did not know!).

Here is our slideshow of this fabulous campground and park. Close to Front Royal VA and to get onto the Skyline Drive at its north entrance- which we did again! ( with Senior NPS lifetime pass entrance to the SD is free!)

Continuing on RT 81 North we crossed into PA and boondocked at our favorite Cabela’s in Hamburg, PA. We chose to do a more inland route to avoid the chaos around eastern PA/NJ and NYC.

Our 3 weeks was coming to an end but we just were not ready to get back to the daily grind and stop our longest RV trip to date. It was Friday, June 17th so we opted to do a last minute booking on the fly and found a 2-night stay at a Military FAM Camp in NY enroute on our final leg of the trip. You must have the right credentials to stay at FAM camps, view our post about this for more information.

The campground is called West Point FMWR Round Pond Outdoor Recreation Area. We had site # C9 which essentially was in a big round gravel parking yard with RV sites spoked off of it. Good thing was we had a LOT of laundry from our trip so we took advantage of the laundry building 75 feet away. This place was the exact opposite of Shenandoah River SP. You would think as it is a military campground that the maintenance and facilities would be up to snuff….NOT! This place has had no maintenance done to it for decades, many of the buildings were closed, the beach had more goose poop than grains of sand, the swimming area is so shallow and half filled with swamp weed and other marsh grasses– plus a rude employee came by at 4 pm in a golf cart to bark at all of us that the beach was closing at 4:30 and we would need to leave. 4:30 in the summer??

TIP: if you do want to stay here, be aware, the road up to the campground is a 23% grade, essentially only wide enough for one rig but it is a two way road– thank goodness no one was coming down as we were going up. They do have mirrors on most switchback corners but wow it was super dangerous! We do not plan to recommend or ever stay here again.

The ONLY redeeming feature of staying here is that the Military Museum at West Point Academy is outstanding and a must see for anyone who loves American History. There are renowned artifacts here you normally only see in history books or PBS/History Channel shows. It is very well curated and large with actual uniforms, artifacts from soldiers, wars, government and more. A must see!!!

Happy Travels! Let us know your tips if you have taken this route!