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Published: August 27th 2012
Williamsburg, 2009
Most recent photo of Dosia and Greta, along with rest of Carlson clan, us, and my folks.We were really looking forward to this trip!! John's Aunt Dosia was in North Carolina for the summer and we hadn't seen her since she 2009. Dosia has been spending summers at the Abernathy Laurels in Newton, NC working at the UCC retirement center and we had seen her there a number of years ago. But this summer she and Greta would both be there and we looked forward to the chance to just spend a little time with two very dear and special people.
We waited at home for a delivery of replacement windows and they came in a day early. So we got underway on Thursday about noon and decided to take two days and drive through the Smoky Mountains. Roads were good and traffic was light. Then we got off the interstate near Cleveland, TN and followed the river into the mountains. It was getting dusk, so we decided to find a spot for the night. There were no Walmarts or any other vestiges of civilization, so when I spotted a sign for a National Forest campground, I took it. Should have checked some books: it was 7 miles up a ridge line to a campsite on
Dosia and Greta leaving Fredericksburg
Dosia and Greta visited us in 2007 in Fredericksburg. Here they are, getting into their car, ready to head to their next adventure. top of the mountain. The road was narrow, twisting, and steep drops on the side with no guardrails in many places. I was too busy driving to take pictures, but if you want to see video of the drive (sort of), go watch the Robin Williams movie
RV and watch the scene where he takes a "short cut" over the mountain. Short of ending up in the water, that was sort of the road.
We finally found the campground and after un-hooking the car, drove into the best available spot. HA! There were only a handful of campers so we had our choice of a number of great sites. Cats were NOT allowed out as the signs all warned of bears. We had a level spot with electric (but no need for A/C up here) and a good bathhouse right across the road. We had a quick dinner, took showers, and to bed early. Quiet and peaceful on the mountain (and no, no bears heard or seen).
Next day we decided to NOT tow the car down the mountain and add to the braking problems. Once off the mountain and back on the mountain road, we hooked up
Visiting Dosia in NC in 2002
OMG!! 10 years ago, when we were back in Japan, we made a trip to the US on business and had a chance to stop in NC and see Aunt Dosia then. She still looks as good today, as does Greta. and proceeded towards Newton. The road follows the Ochee River, site of the white water canoeing for the 1996 Olympics. Beautiful scenery, pretty good road, but slow. We finally got to Ashville and back on the interstate then a bit later got to the campground we were staying in in Hickory, NC. It was a GREAT campground with large sites, full hookups, and very peaceful. The owners were very helpful and the owner's daughter, a hairdresser, even gave Trish a haircut for a very reasonable price! Great service. We called Dosia and said we were in and then, after getting showers, headed over to see them.
(Now, here's were I am upset with myself...in all our trips to see Dosia and Greta, I continually forgot to bring my camera!! So the pix I've attached are from earlier visits. Dosia got some pictures on our last day but I haven't gotten those photos yet.)
Dosia and Greta had a lovely garden apartment and had prepared a great dinner of beef, baked potatoes and veggies. We sat and ate and talked of family, past visits, future plans, and then made plans for Saturday. All were tired, so we left and went back to the campsite, planning to come over the next day. Saturday we talked more, toured the facilities (greatly changed since we were last there), and then stopped to get Dosia's cell phone fixed. Dosia was tired and so was Greta, so we left and gave them a break. We did a little shopping and then went back for dinner.
Sunday was church in the morning for Dosia. Greta opted to stay home as she was tired and we took the opportunity to sleep in, have a big breakfast and relax. We visited with some campers nearby and chatted before heading back to spend the rest of the day with "the girls". I also prepared a slide show of photos to show them our new house, pictures of the kids (and grandson), and other things I thought would interest them.
Lots of pictures and talk later, we went out for dinner with a friend of theirs, Lou, whom we had met on an earlier visit. We went to the Boxcar Cafe, a spot grandson Drew would have loved. They had trains everywhere. Oh, and the food was very good. It was a delightful end to a wonderful visit and we got back to the garden apartment and said our goodbyes. Next visit with them will (hopefully) be next May, if Aunt Dosia is able to get up to WV and officiate at daughter Kim's wedding. That would make both our kids she had officiated for and that would be a real great way to always remember her.
We left the campground early the next morning, heading to Florida for a week with Josh, Jen and Drew. Then we hoped to head to the Gulf coast for some camping on the ocean. More to come.
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Steve
non-member comment
Lovely area
i did a couple of 100 mile mountain bike races that used the white water rafting center as the start finish. We always stayed the night before in Blue Ridge, GA. The race used trails and back roads that took us into Georgia and back. BTW, it is spelled Ocoee.