We left Kentucky on June 1st and headed to North Carolina. We knew it would take us 2 days to drive to our destination so the first night we stayed at Old Cranks RV Park. Let me say, we will not stay there again. OMG this RV Park if that is what you want to call it was horrible. Curt looked at me when we pulled in and said, “Really this is it?” We just started laughing. We both were happy it was just for one night. When I called to see if they had a full hookup 50 amp space for a 42′ fifth wheel, the guy said,
“sure, just when you get there, just pick a spot and put your money in an envelope and stick it under the left door on the warehouse.” I asked to make sure there would be a spot open since we have been having a horrible time finding parks that have any open spots that we can afford. The cost of these parks are outrageous this year. Well, when we arrived…there was not a problem finding a spot. lol
We left Old Cranks the next morning and arrived at our next destination, Rutledge Lake RV Park in Fletcher, NC. This is a suburb of Asheville, NC. This park was huge and very nice as you can see from the pictures. We stayed here until June 15th.
On June 3rd, I called my cousin, Connie Parsons, to let her and Roy know we had arrived and where we were. Roy and Connie live in Waynesville which was around 45 minutes from where we were parked. So Friday afternoon, they came over. I cooked Fried Pork Ribs, Fried Portobello Mushrooms, Baked Mac & Cheese, Baked beans, Homemade Crescent Rolls and Homemade Apple Pie. The meal was a big hit. After we ate, we sat around the picnic table and planned out what we all were going to do while we were there. We were going to have a great time spending fun times with Roy and Connie.
Roy and Connie’s home is so awesome. It is so comfy, homey and full of love. We loved being there. Standing on the porch and looking out to all the beautiful trees on this mountain is breathtaking. Connie’s plants and flowers are beautiful. It is so quiet and peaceful there and we loved spending time there.
Connie is so talented. She made these awesome pillows for the front porch for the July 4th season. They are so pretty.
We went over to Roy and Connie’s the next evening and Roy cooked steaks on the grill and Connie made baked potatoes with all the fixins, French bread, salad and I took over the rest of the apple pie. It was all so yummy. After we cleaned up and got the dishes done, we sat down at the kitchen table and Curt and I taught them how to play Mexican Train Dominoes. It was so fun.
Well we found out Roy loves hotdogs just like Curt so another evening we went over and Roy and Curt cooked hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. My gosh, Connie had everything anyone would ever want to put on a hotdog. The guys were in heaven. I made deviled eggs and Connie made a strawberry pie. Curt said, that pie was the best he had ever eaten. Once again, out came the dominoes and we played Mexican train again. The kindness and love Roy and Connie extended to us was the best ever. We talked and laughed and had the best time.
Roy is a Property Manager so he oversees, several properties. This particular one, he wanted to show us because he helped build it and it is one of the many properties he takes care of. So we all got in our truck and Roy told Curt where to turn etc. When we arrived, Curt punched in the number so the gate would open. Connie had made cookies for the new owners which was very much appreciated. The new owners of this property are Wayne and Annie. Wayne owns several companies and Annie’s dad is the owner and founder of the Starvin Marvin restaurants. Well, Roy gave us all a tour. Wayne and Annie were thrilled for Roy to do the tour and share all the knowledge and history of this home. Now with that said, this home is not their permanent home as they live in Florida, but this is a home they enjoy coming to for a few weeks, off and on. I took highlighted pictures of this beautiful home to share with all of you. Wayne and Annie are the nicest people and so easy to talk to and when we met them, we just felt like we had been friends forever. We are so blessed to have met them. We now have some new friends and we will definitely go see them when we are in Florida. Thank you, Wayne and Annie for being so gracious to allow us to tour your beautiful home and letting me blog about it.
Left to right: Roy, Connie, Curt, Me, Annie and Wayne
Roy and another guy made this beautiful Pond, that have lots of Rainbow Trout. The pond water comes in off the mountains so it is very cold.
The building in the background is like a pavilion and then another building beside it which they call the barn.
This house is incredible and huge. 
This light is made up of Moose, Elk and Deer antlers. There is a button on the wall that lowers this huge horned chandelier so the lights can be replace. Easy peasy and so cool.
This staircase was brought in the house in one piece when the house was being built It was beautiful and looked like something out of the movie Gone With the Wind.
The people that sold this house to Wayne and Annie left all the furniture and pictures. The house was left as is when it was sold. So many unique pieces of furniture.
The kitchen was to die for and the refrigerator to the right looked like the wall. Pretty awesome!
Then there is the outdoor kitchen and pool. Very large outdoor kitchen. This would certainly be my happy place.
This mantel was handmade. Very unique and beautiful.
The Indian picture is painted with some kind of special paint because Annie said at night when all the lights are out it glows. It is absolutely beautiful.
I loved this. So many interesting things in this home.
Here is another picture that is painted with the same paint that illuminates at night.
Talk about a unique table, here it is. I loved this.
Annie said this is an original drum that was actually used by the Cherokee Indians. If you look to the right of the drum, there is a dark spot and that is where they beat on it the most. So so cool. Below the drum is another one that is also an original that the lamp is sitting on.
This is the bar. Incredible. The doors all have the antlers for handles. Then you have to walk through the wine room to get behind the bar. Notice all the cabinets have the antlers for handles. Then the round table is made like the bar. Oh my gosh it is gorgeous. The bedrooms and the bathrooms were huge and the walkin closets were amazing.
The four of us went to the Wheels of Time. This was such a cool museum. It was huge for sure. These are just a very few pictures I took. This place was 45,000 sq ft. The guys really loved it. The other thing that was awesome about this; they had several men that could tell you everything you wanted to know about everything in this building and every motorcycle in the building would start. In fact, all a person had to do was ask the guys to start one and they would. When they did, it was deafening in there.
I told Curt I wanted this rock. lol. It was huge.
This music box actually played. It was awesome.
Loved this light.
This Harley had it all. I am not sure you could get anything else on this bike.
Connie got all of us tickets for this outside drama. All I can say is, it made a funny memory. Needless to say, we won’t ever go again and we won’t recommend it. lol. Roy dropped us off at the door and then we had to walk quit aways to get to the line to get in. Once we got in, we had two flights of steep stairs to go down to get to our seats. Then we were sitting there and an employee came down and said we couldn’t sit there because the seats were not stable. Well, Connie was hot and said we purchased reserved seating with an isle. They took our tickets and then later came back and told us to move down. So we did and then another couple came and we were in their seats so once again, they took our tickets and took the other couples tickets and never came back. Well, to be honest….this play was horrible. The other couple left early and we should have. lol. When the agony of the play was over we had to climb 4 flights of steep stairs and then walk up a very steep incline to get to the car. Well, just imagine 4 older people doing this. Roy with a bum knee, Connie with 2 replaced knees, me with a knee replacement and poor Curt with a body full of metal. Needless to say we had to stop and rest. By the time we got to the car we were exhausted and later was laughing how horrible the play was. But we certainly made a memory.
This year has been so different due to the costs of all these RV parks. It has more than doubled in costs, plus trying to find one that is not full already. So we have had to pick and choose where we go and what we do. We have changed several times where we go due to this problem. Hopefully next year will be better.
Well……I will be making a separate blog about our trip to the Biltmore Mansion. You won’t want to miss it. Glad everyone is enjoying following us on our travels. We are enjoying sharing.
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