Taps RV Park
The only times we like to make reservations are holidays and when we really HAVE to be some where. I seem to forget though that popular places, especially being limited by cell service, are something I need to keep in mind. After finding more poor cell service where we wanted to stay, we scrambled calling about 20 places to find another campground. We struck out everywhere until our last call. It was his last spot and he was holding it for us. What luck!
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| Site #B3 at Taps RV Park in Ashville, NC |
We also don't normally care for the tighter spots and higher prices that private RV parks generally have. We both agree that Taps is an exception. It's a very small mom and pop place. The sites have a little more spacing and the park is nicely landscaped. The manager, Bill, was a very nice guy and very helpful all around. It was $37 for FHU compared to $50 at some of the other parks. We really hate to pay over $25 but we know that the prices out east are typically more than the west.
We also really loved that this park was just a few miles from downtown Ashville and only minutes to the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a National Parkway is known for its scenic beauty. The parkway is America's longest park running for 469 miles through Virginia and North Carolina linking the Shenandoah National Park to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It runs mostly along the spine of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are part of the Appalachian.
It was a pretty drive with several pull-outs.
We're headed up to the highest peak in North Carolina.
A short, but steep walk up.
Very nice observation tower.
Up at the top of the tower is this nice state of NC with the geo-marker in the spot where we're standing now. See it in the upper left of the state?
Thought the view this direction was pretty funny.
Cool, another high point!
The grave of Elisha Mitchell. Pretty cool final resting place up at the top.
A little disappointing. You can barely make out the falls! You can see them in the picture below to the left of the dirt looking area.
Steve was happy to get to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. It's one of his favorite back in California. I guess they opened one up here not too long ago. It's actually an amazing company. They recycle just about everything, they have solar, grow some of there own food that they serve, they give beer making leftovers (mash) to nearby farms that supply their meat. They even offer in-house daycare for their employees and the employee's family members. They have their own doctors and dentists all covered by the company. Very impressive.
Next up some great waterfall hikes and a wooden dragon.
Gorgeous pictures! We're like you, we don't like to make many reservations either. But on the east coast, it's kind of necessary. We have spent a ton of time researching and trying to find affordable places along our route. Since we're east until October, we've made more reservations than ever. Oh, well. :) Enjoying your hikes!
ReplyDeleteYes, we now have almost all our reservations through Aug and then we start heading west (but don't have any of those). Maybe we'll cross along the way. You guys have had a nice amount of variety in your travels these past months!
DeleteGlad you found a nice park after all those calls!!! Cool pics!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, the next two posts has some great hikes! We got lucky with that RV park!
DeleteI didn't realize the peaks in the Smokey Mountains were quite that high. Glad you found some interesting hikes. It is getting tougher to find RV Parks without reservations. It seems that more and more people are taking to this life. Even boondockers are commenting on how crowded their favorite spots are becoming. We have taken to making more reservation than ever. We prefer winging it, but summer is crazy.
ReplyDeleteSierra Nevada sounds like the place to work. I was pleased when we heard Deschutes gives their mash to a farm that then provides the beef for their restaurant. Too bad we didn't care for their beer. They are building a brewery in the east, as well.
We've finally had a few nice hikes! Loving that. We have reservations for most of our next stops through Aug in Maine. There are still some NF FCFS sites out there that actually get cell and don't get crowded. We've been using these for our in-betweeners. Just not enough of them!
DeleteSierra Nevada seems to truly care for their employees and the enviroment, more companies should take note.
ReplyDeleteAgree. It is an great company.
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