Day 1 (End) - Sunday, April 30, 2023
Upon ending the last post, I went online looking for a campsite where I would be able to put up my car tent, unload my car, and reorganize to get everything back in there. I located a great campsite on HipCamp (that's a place where people (usually with farms or acreage have created campsites on their properties for rent). It was in Pisgah Forest with an electricity pole and next to a stream. Perfect! I paid for 2 nights.
Once that was done, I took a nice, long, hot bath. I didn't have any bubble bath, so I used shampoo. LOL! Hey...whatever works, right? It was a very nice hotel and I'm grateful I had the points to "pay" for it. The weather was perfect, although a little breezy (more on that later). It had a nice little gazebo next to the dog area.
Gazebo - Best Western Asheville Tunnel Road
That night, Bali had just awoken from a nap and was in her bed intently staring at the floor. There was a little caterpillar there. I carefully put James the caterpillar outside so he could become a butterfly. Fly free, James! It was a very peaceful night, room was very clean and bed was very comfortable.
Day 2 - Monday, May 1, 2023
Happy May Day! I remember on a trip back in 2014 when I visited my sister. We took a trolley through Annapolis, MD and there were people that had put flowers on their door for May Day. I thought it was wonderful that people still did that! Tell me, do you?
The day started out really good! We left the hotel and I had 4 hours of doing nothing before my campsite was open. Bali and I visited several parks in Asheville, NC.
The first was Azalea Road Dog Park. We weren't very impressed and didn't stay there long. There were many dogs on the large dog side, but none on the small dog side. That was fine as Bali likes to play alone, but there was no water (it was okay, I carry water), and most importantly, people had been there and not picked up after their dogs. Grrr!!! ðŸ˜
Bali's "not so happy" stance
It was beautiful though...
The next stop was a park with a dog park within it. The park was French Broad River and it was beautiful! Lots of trails to walk on, restrooms, grills and patio pavilions with lots of benches around the trails. I'm not sure how far we walked, but my Apple watch said I reached my daily fitness goal. LOL! Absolutely beautiful park.
The dog park area we did not enter. We just walked by it. Again, lots of dogs on the large dog side, but none on the small side.
The park is alongside the French Broad River and there is a long walking/running trail that goes alongside it. Lots of people out on a Monday; do people even work anymore? LOL!
The next stop was at West End Paw Park that I learned about by reading this article.
A man and his daughter opened up a coffee shop and installed a dog park behind it for the neighborhood. Great little park! Open 24 hours and they had gliders and even a heat lamp for the winter. There's a big red fire truck and beautiful murals on the coffee shop building. They recently also opened up a grill that looked pretty busy. I would have patronized, but I wasn't hungry. Next time!
Our next stop was the campsite. We got there and it was just as described - beautiful! I got Bali's crate and camp bed out and set her up.
It was chilly and windy, but I as yet had no idea what was to come. I pulled out my car tent and proceeded to put it up. It's fairly easy to do. You hook it up over the rear of the tailgate and lift the tailgate. Then you attach the cords with the hook to the wheels of the back tires and stake down the tent. Pretty easy, right? Usually, yeah; however, there were 50 MPH winds. I worked at it for over 2 hours. I would get it on there and a gust of wind would come and blow it off the back of the car. Almost lost the tent once before I had it staked down. Sadly, I had no choice but to leave. No fund reimbursement, so there's that. *Sad* Yes, I was very frustrated, but knew I just needed to relax, breathe and figure out a new plan. These days, I use my HP to guide me in my plans because mine usually don't turn out very well on their own.
I left and drove back to Asheville in commute traffic. NOTE: No worries...we were completely at a stop when I snapped this pic.
I pulled over when I got to Asheville to find the cheapest motel I could. I found one and got it for 2 nights. I needed to rest. An extra $200+ out of my budget that I wasn't planning on, but that's just how life happens, right?
It is the perfect motel for what I need to do. I backed right up to the door and only have a couple feet between moving things out to the motel door.
The bed was actually very comfortable and I slept good.
Day 3 (Start) - Tuesday, May 2, 2023
Bali woke me up at 7AM so I got up and walked her over to the little dog park they have at the motel. She had a good run and enjoyed herself.
I saw a little cotton-tail bunny scamper off and some birds as well. It is a beautiful, crisp morning. It's currently 48 degrees and there is still a wind advisory.
I emptied out the car and Bali is happy I pulled her crate in. She likes her bed, but prefers her crate.
Since my coffee cup is empty, I guess that's a clue that I need to get to work here. I'm going to spend the day sorting through everything and getting it organized back into Red Rover (yes, that's what I named my car - LOL).
"Staying positive doesn't mean you have to be happy all the time. It means that even on hard days you know that there are better ones coming." ~Anonymous
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photos of Asheville & Bali
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer! My pleasure!
ReplyDelete