Summer of 19 - #12 - Moving, Smoky Mountains, Grumpy Bear Campground

Friday August 23rd, 2019
I didn't sleep well last night.  It rained most of the night, but I don't think that's why I couldn't sleep as usually it doesn't bother me.  I quite like the sound of the rain bouncing off the motorhome roof.
Anyway, we decided not to do much today.  Bryan went out to stock up on some food items that we were low on.  We are due to leave Hendersonville on Monday, and head to Bryson City.  There is not a Walmart readily available there, and so we wanted to get as much as possible.  We will be there for a month and will drive to the nearest Walmart at least once I would think but hopefully not for about 10 days.

Saturday & Sunday August 24th & 25th, 2019
We got caught up on laundry and everyday stuff.  Booked some more campgrounds for our trip back toward Jacksonville and watched the Little League World Series.  We love to watch the little kids play baseball, and it was even better as a team from New Orleans, Louisiana ended up winning the whole thing.

Monday August 26th, 2019
Before we left Jaymar RV Park this morning I took some pictures of our surroundings.  This is a mobile home park that has some long term RV sites as well.  It is very well maintained. No children are allowed to live here but can visit.  Yesterday there was a child playing at the top of the hill and he looked a little lonely. I kind of missed having children playing around.

See Bryan in the mirror, unhooking the utilities

As we headed out, this was the view down the road in the picture above.  What an awesome view it was and steps from where we were.

On the road we had more amazing scenery.

Wildflowers on the right

Lots of up and down hills!!

Curves in the road and beautiful views!!

Great Smoky Mountains, here we come.

We arrived at Grumpy Bear Campground.  We weren't totally sure what to expect as it is a small campground with gravel sites, but the reviews were generally good.

The pictures below are taken from inside Lily. Our site isn't directly on the river but we are very close.

From our side window

Bryan went up to the office, which is on the porch of the owners residence.  I took this picture of him chatting to them.

We got set up as we will be here for a month.

We got a satellite signal and internet and everything seemed to be working well.  That's a huge relief when you're going to be somewhere for a month.  Unfortunately our antenna only gave us two channels and no CBS, which is the local channel we watch the most.  We will see if we can find a way around that.

Tuesday August 27th, 2019
We were staying in today as we will be here for a month, we are in no rush to go exploring.   I have already started working out what we want to see and I'm sure there will be more to add to the list.

The clouds mist was  hanging over the mountains this morning.  Bryan went and took some pictures.

The picture below shows the bathhouse.  There are individual bathrooms here with a shower, sink & toilet in separate small rooms.  They are very clean and it is nice to have spacious separate areas to get ready in the mornings for those that need them.  They do have tent sites here as well and these would be very nice for those people.

The camper in front of us left and opened up that view. :)

We saw Canadian Geese on the river. 

We went for a short stroll along the river. All of the following pictures were taken from within the campground.  I saw these mushroom shaped fungi.

The Tuckasegee River.

On the opposite bank is a viewpoint where you can stop and have a picnic or just wander down to the river bank.

The bridge in the background is the road into Bryson City which is quite close to us.

Looking toward Bryson City

Heron on the opposite bank

Geese resting on the rocks

This is the road we entered the campground from.  It is very narrow and doesn't get much traffic.  You can see the railway line elevated on the bank on the left hand side.  The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad runs along here on their Steam Train Tuckaseegee River Excursion.  Unfortunately this excursion won't be running while we are here and starts again the week after we leave.  It would have been awesome to see it running behind the campground.  There are still excursions going to the Nantahala Gorge though, which runs in the opposite direction from Bryson City.

Lily is on the other side of the trees on the right.

See the railway line at the top

The green vine coverage you can see in the picture below is Kudzu.  It is an invasive plant that was introduced to the United States from Japan in 1876.  The climate and environment in the SouthEast enables it to grow virtually unchecked.  In 1953, it was removed from a list of suggested cover plants, and in 1970 was listed as a weed. It actually fascinates me, and I quite like the interesting shapes it forms.  I'm sure if I lived here though, it would become a pain.

Here's a picture of the campground taken from the tent camping area.  Lily is at the far end on the left.

There she is, at the very end with Tilly(car) in front of her.

Our babies, I think they like it here.  What a view!!!

We noticed some fishermen on the river in front of us.  Not sure if they caught anything.

Well, that was a nice little stroll and what views.  We're going to enjoy it here, although we've been told it gets crowded at the weekends.  I'm not surprised.