Marion, NC: Mountain Stream RV Park

Mountain Stream RV Park outside of Marion NC calls itself the "Prettiest Little Park This Side of Heaven" and I think they may right. This is one of the nicest campgrounds we've stayed at so far. Most of the sites, including ours are tucked into the bend of a, well, a mountain stream. Big surprise, huh?

What is a surprise is is how nicely the owners have merged the sites and the stream. The back of our RV is literally 10 feet from the stream; just beautiful. And the sound of the stream is so soothing; really looking forward to sleeping with the bedroom windows open tonight so I can let that stream lull me to sleep.

The campground owners, Becky & Ron have owned the place for the last 5 years and have made a number of much needed improvements. Their first year was a tough one; they were visited by 3 major hurricanes with massive amounts of rain that destroyed half of the sites along the stream. Rebuilding the sites was an opportunity to make the park even better by integrating site and stream. Nicely done.

What a day. MLA and I left Virginia this am and it seemed one thing after another went wrong. First the kids called to let us know the garbage disposal is still not working. We just had a new on installed last fall as we were preparing to sell the house and it started leaking last weekend. Scott & his girlfriend's dad found the leak, ordered the part but when they went to install the part on Thursday the whole unit quit working. So we talked Scott through his options and then got underway.

The roads out of the Virginia mountains did not agree with the Google & Mapquest directions. Several times we found ourselves on the wrong road (or thought we were) and had to turn around. No easy task for a 38 foot RV with a 4 foot motorcycle lift plus a 3 foot tow bar and then another 16 feet of Honda CRV. Let'a see: 38 plus 4 plus 3, divide by 12 to convert feet to inches plus carry the remainder. OMG - it's longer than a football field or at least it feels that way. Oh, and you can't use reverse; no backing up unless you disconnect the toad.

Then we needed air in one of the RV tires which should not have been a big deal but it was for some reason. First the compressor I bought cannot handle the 120 psi required for the RV's tires. Fine. I'll stop at a gas station. Of course none of the regular gas stations have a compressor that reaches the tire in need of air OR their compressor does not have enough 'umph' t0 get to 120 psi. Fine. I'll go to a truck stop; the stock market is up today so I can top off the diesel while I get air. Found a truck stop (finally) called Homer's. Must have been Homer Simpson.

Pull in, negotiate the loan necessary for filling up with fuel, pump the diesel and pay. I ask the guy at the counter "where's your air station to pump up a tire" and he tells me they don't have one, have to go to the repair shop around back. Pick my way through the potholes and the 18 wheelers parked everywhere to the shop in the back and the guy tells me "his hose won't reach". I know he just doesn't want to help so I tell him " it sounds like a personal problem" and drive off.

Decided to just head to the campground and I'll scout the stations this week so I can get air when I leave next week. No problem.

Pull off of RT-40 at the appropriate exit and get lucky; Maybe the day is improving! There's a WalMart and a grocery store right there. Quickly get the ice and groceries we need. Then I put them away while MLA runs to get us some take out to eat for dinner. Just as she's about to order the power goes out. Not only in the restaurant but everywhere, including the signals controlling traffic out of the parking lot. The parking lot quickly clogs up and starts looking like the DC beltway during rush hour.

Finally escape through a back entrance, make our 'last' turn onto the designated road. GPS says you will arrive in 7 miles. First thing we see is a huge warning sign that says something to the effect of "Warning, Twisting mountain road ahead starting in 4 miles. Trucks/Large Vehicles should avoid".

Talk about narrow, twisting roads with drop-offs on one side and solid rock cliffs shooting up on the other. White knuckle time; MLA's talking to the dog telling Dobbie she didn't pick this campground and she can't be to blame if we leave half the RV hanging from one of these rock walls. I love her confidence in me; of course my yelling at the oncoming cars to 'get on their side' is probably not helping to build confidence.

What a day. What a day.

All that being said, once we finally arrived and set up camp you can see it's beautiful here. Unloaded the motorcycle so we can take advantage of these "great for motorcycles, not for the RV" roads around here. We want to see the Biltmore House and I want to take MLA gem mining. Plus there are lots of things to see around Asheville and the Parkway.

Until next time -- See Ya!