Asheville drivers would not let Kevin make lane changes for emergency vehicles. They even annoyingly honked to indicate the Smitanic should give way. On one occasion Kevin prepared to make a lane change well in advance of an emergency vehicle on the right shoulder. The Smitanic had its left blinker on, as the Captain of the vessel checked mirrors and camera to ensure a clear lane. The Smitanic was guided slowly across the lane markers. As the captain continued to monitor the safe maneuver he observed a black BMW accelerate in an effort to out run the Smitanic’s announced drift into the left lane. The Smittanic was now half in each lane. The Captain made a judgement call to abort the maneuver as the Smitanic was now giving way to the emergency vehicle and allowing the Black BMW to ride half in the left lane and half on the left shoulder. The Smitanic announced its return to the right lane and was guided smoothy back. The Black BMW darted on by and kept on going at high speed.
Just about the same time there was a near collision as another RV motor home driver who did not look in his/her cameras before making a lane change. This forced the passing car to quickly take the shoulder to avoid the RV! That would have been a disaster. Traffic was heavy all the way to Brevard where some construction in town made the narrow town streets even harder to navigate.
Outside the town the winding climb up the mountain began. The climb consisted of a narrow two lane road with no shoulders and blind 25 mph curves, some that were up steep grades others down the other side. The Captain realized there was no way to safely maintain the posted speeds that would rapidly change from 55 to 45 to 25 and back to 55 mph. He made the decision to shift down to 3rd gear in an effort to respond to the rapid grade changes and sharp curves. This allowed for the vessel to make way safely in all situations at a speed that would never get over 35 mph. This provided also plenty of time to react to the traffic coming at the vessel from the opposite direction.
Finally the entrance sign to mountain falls RV Resort was spotted on the left. Kevin guided the coach into the check in lane, put the parking brake on and both travelers gave a mutual sigh.
Check in was easy while Kevin unhooked the toad. The escort to the site also pointed out all the hookups as well as provided a router box for WiFi.
Mountain Falls http://mountain-falls.com/ is a community for folks who want to purchase a site for their RV’s. The sites are allowed additional structures for outdoor kitchens and fire pits. Some of the sites allow the structures to have bedrooms and large screened in porches. The owners can stay most of the year accept the months of Dec thru March as the resort is closed.
The reserved site had an amazing view with a fire pit and chairs to enjoy.
The timing for the stay was perfect as there was a free dinner and drinks at the clubhouse that night. The party was hosted by a custom coach RV manufacturer. They had three of their Prevost custom coaches on display and available to tour. They ranged in price from $1,600,000 for the 2014 used one that had 70,000 miles on it. The other two were new and each had a price tag above $2,500,000. The party was well attended as expected. Folks were friendly but Kevin & Theresa were exhausted from the days drive, so did not stay long. It was a early night, in hopes for good weather for pickleball in the AM.
Foggy Mtn
Raindrops were heard, just as Theresa was getting up. The showers were short lived, but the pickleball courts were wet and needed 1.5 hours to dry out. Theresa made 3 trips up to the courts to check to see if people were playing. Finally by 10:30 folks were playing on 2 of the 4 courts. Yeah! It was after noon before Kevin & Theresa finally gave into the body aches and returned to the coach after non stop playing.
The rain returned later and it was a whiteout as the site was engulfed in a cloud. The tired players relaxed for the evening.
The last day at mtn falls included 3 hours of non-stop pickleball, several walks with grandpa and more rain. During the walks Kevin and Theresa viewed some of the lots that were for sale, some with structures some without any improvements. There was a large price difference depending on what side of the ridge the lot was. One side had unobstructed views for miles, the other side had views of higher mountains. One of the sites next to the Smitanic had no structures and was priced just over $300,000. A site on the opposite side of the ridge had a very nice structure and was priced at over $800,000. Most of the lots had Custom Built Prevosts parked on the site. There were also several with an Allegro Bus(same as the Smitanic) in the drive. Other advertised sites, without views, were more ‘reasonably’ priced at $100-200K.
During the days 3 hours of pickleball, several ‘locals’ were consulted as the best route to the next destination of Chattanooga, TN. The unanimous suggestion was to backtrack towards Asheville and take I 40 thru Knoxville. Kevin did manage to get the drone out to get a flyover video of the site. It was another early evening as Kevin rested in preparation for the curvy decent in the morning.
It took several maneuvers to jockey the RV around the numerous construction obstacles in the exit path of the campsite. Theresa followed the Smitanic and had to ask several times for which way to turn for the exit as it was not clear and the resort was massive! The hook up of the toad was done outside the gate. Then the days fun began.
See the video
Off to a KOA north of Chattanooga. It was nice with pool and even a dog park. The assigned site had the Smitanic parked next to a twin Tiffin Allegro Bus. An appointment at bay diesel for yearly service was made for Friday. It was yet another early night as Kevin was worn-out after the over 250 miles that tested his skills were traveled for the day.
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