August 14, 2023 Well, this would have been the day we would be moving on to our next location, but the plans have changed. We’ll be here for another week and will enjoy the cooler weather for as long as we can. We had an easy morning and Bob cooked our special Sunday breakfast because we had to leave early to go to Chimney Rock yesterday. We got our E-bikes off the back of the bus and took a ride around the campground. This campground is WAY bigger than I thought it was. It is probably bigger than any other KOA campground we have been in. There are 3 lakes on the property, a river, many cabins, a tenting area, and of course the sites for RVs.
One of the lakes was full of water lilies. The water lilies were flowering with these beautiful pink flowers. I thought of you, Mary.
We took a slow ride around the entire park and enjoyed our bike ride. There is a river that runs through the campground. Lots of geese hang out in the river. Kids tube in the river.
We came across this giant orange mushroom, the size of a dinner plate, on our ride.
One of the premium campsites had these beautiful hydrangeas blooming on the bushes. Back in Madison, Bob planted hydrangeas and the guy at the garden center told us that the color of the hydrangea depends on the PH content in the soil. Ours were pink. This one was a gorgeous blue color.
This rig came in last night and Bob got a look inside the cargo trailer.
Inside the cargo trailer was a late 50s, early 60s Corvette which they parked on the upper level of the cargo trailer. Under the Corvette on the lower level was parked a Buick SUV that was now outside. On the upper storage level in front of the Corvette were bicycles and some other items. Bob estimated that the trailer weighed over 10,000 pounds. That’s one way to travel!
Back at the campsite, we locked up and covered the bikes because we were getting a little rain this afternoon. It rained for a short time and afterwards it was a pleasant 83 degrees with sunshine. We took it easy today–tried to catch our breath–and made some plans for the rest of the week. One of the workers in the campground came up to Bob while he was outside and said he saw our Green Bay license plate trim ring and asked if we were from Wisconsin. Bob told him “yes, Madison” and the worker said he is originally from Mt. Horeb, WI and his wife is from Sheboygan. They met at a Packer game. Small world, isn’t it? Go Packers!
After dinner, we watched a movie on our outdoor TV on a beautiful evening. We chose one of our DVDs–Last of the Mohicans. We love that movie! We learned that the movie was filmed in this area and we wanted to see what we could recognize. The beginning scene shows the Blue Ridge Mountains. The last 17 minutes of the film were filmed along Cliff Trail which was closed and renovated due to safety reasons in 2008, but now reopened and called the Skyline Trail which we saw. The fight scene took place at the top of Hickory Nut Falls that we hiked to on Sunday. In watching the movie, we were tuned in to watch for familiar places. The red arched bridge in the movie was filmed on the Biltmore Estate which we saw on our visit. The waterfall that they walk behind is Bridal Veil Falls, NC where they found shelter in a cave hidden behind a waterfall. The location is Cooper’s Cave at Glen Falls, NY where Bob and I have also visited. Near the end of the film where they are making a deal with the Huron Indian chief shows Hickory Nut Falls in the background off in the distance. It looks like the same picture I took from a distance. SO COOL! The final scenes of the film took place at Chimney Rock Park and Hickory Nut Gorge. We saw that on our hike. Chimney Rock State Park even has a written guide that points out all the filming locations in the park and has an annual Last of the Mohicans fan gathering in the park. That would be fun to see! We’ll have to make a point of visiting the Dupont State Recreation Area (which is the location of the other falls used in the film) when we return to this area. There are 3 falls there and you know how much I love waterfalls!