This morning we woke up in the clouds. A thick mist surrounded us and I’m not sure if it was that or the fact we had internet which was to blame for our late start. We finally got away from camp at 10am and as we got off the mountains the day cleared.

We headed off the Blueridge parkway today to go to a town in Galax, Virginia. There is a rail trail here we want to ride.

We stopped at the visitor centre in Galax and they suggested staying in the town of Fries (pronounced freeze). We stayed at a very expensive but very nice rv park and had full hookup, wifi and it was right on the cycle path.

Big black clouds loomed in the distance but we chanced it and hopped on our bikes, only having ridden them once before .

It was great being back on the bikes and it was a pretty trail alongside the river. The rail trail goes for 57 miles, but we rode just over an hour and then headed back.

It was really warm and humid but I’m actually starting to like it. I think Texas has conditioned us well.

I spent the afternoon doing a little video for Dad, thankful we had wifi. So hopefully you guys can show it to him.

This blog didn’t upload yesterday so is a day behind.

The Crabtree falls walk started right from our campsite, so we did this first thing. It was a 1.5 hour loop walk which took us down to a cascading waterfall.

On the way up we scrambled up a steep cliff. All trails did say it was strenuous so we didn’t doubt it too much. Then when it seemed clear it was not a path, we stopped and checked the AllTrails map I had downloaded. Sure enough, we had taken a wrong turn.

We scrambled back down and found the right path which had steps. But we’ve learned if they say it’s a strenuous walk, it’s more likely moderate for our fitness level.

It was a lovely walk and took us just over an hour.

Our next stop was the Linville falls. When we arrived at the carpark it was full. I almost told Mike to drive on out, fearing a repeat of Clingmans Dome hoards. But Mike insisted we do it and I was glad we did.

It was a short walk to the first waterfall lookout and this was where most of the people were. But there were many other walks to other overlooks and we did all of them. It was a nice walk and stunning views.

We came off the route to fuel and stock up as there are no shops if the Blueridge parkway itself. We stopped in the very busy town of Boone and headed for the Walmart.

I had rolled my ankle when we were in Texas, and now I’m suffering some plantar fasciitis so i wanted to buy a golf ball to roll it out. But they didn’t sell single balls, so I got a baseball instead and it works ok.

We passed the cyclists we had met the previous evening and stopped to chat like we were old friends. They are cycling to the rugby World Cup in Paris and helping deliver the official match whistle.

We stopped the night at another national park campground. A man opposite us plated his banjo and sang folky songs so that was cool. A couple we met the night before came over and chatted with us and have invited us to visit them in Florida.

We also met a couple of other YouTubers, which was cool. People are just so friendly and approachable.

This time we found a spot out in the open as in not under trees, and our solar kept our power from going flat.

Blueridge parkway day 2

We were up early again and away from camp by 8.30. First stop, climb a mountain!

It was a steady uphill climb up mt Pisgah for about 40 minutes, but it was a stunning view from the top. 360 degree views over the Blueridge mountains. We could see as far as the great smoky mountains where we were a few days ago.

After the walk we continued along the Blueridge parkway. The skies were a brilliant blue and the views were even more stunning than yesterday.

We met a couple from Florida who are camping for free at the overlooks. Apparently it’s not allowed but nobody has hassled them. I asked if they felt safe and he said he felt really safe with his handgun in the door! So that might be an option for us. Not the gun, but camping for free with incredible views

The highlight was seeing a bear run across the road in front of us, but it was too fast to film.

We also climbed to the top of Mt Mitchell which is the highest point east of the Mississippi River. But it was only a 300 ft uphill walk.

We didn’t get to our camp until after 6pm and when we got there, another surprise awaited us. Up in the tree was a big owl. I’d never seen one in the wild before and it was very exciting. I managed to get some nice shots of it.

We are in another nice national park camp, still no electricity or showers though. But our battery didn’t run flat last night so Mikes changes seem to have worked.

We met a couple of South African guys who are cycle touring. The have cycled all the way from Argentina and are cycling to New York, then to Ireland and working their way down to France. What an adventure!

We had a simple feed of bacon and scrambled eggs in a tortilla wrap. We are absolutely exhausted.

We had a more leisurely start to the day knowing we had less than 2 hours drive to the great smoky mountains.

As we crossed into North Carolina we put on James Taylor’s Carolina in my mind to put us in the mood.

We stopped at the visitor centre at Bryson City, a quaint town on the edge of the Smokies. The lady there recommended a campground nearby and a hike with 3 waterfalls on it.

As it was Sunday afternoon it was very busy and we were lucky to get the last spot in the campground. It’s only $15 for the night with our discount card. It’s a nice spot only slightly ruined by our neighbours noisy generator.

We went for our walk, following the river, then up a steep hill to the Juney Whank waterfall. An Amish family we’re there all dressed in their Sunday best. They had travelled 700kms as their mother was having surgery in Atlanta. So they were doing a bit of sightseeing beforehand.

Lots of people were tubing down the river. I would loved to have given it a go, but the thought of carrying the tube up a steep incline didn’t really appeal. Plus it looked a bit scary. One guy was walking back down with his tube and an ice pack on his head.

We visited the two other waterfalls then I had a swim. The water was freezing having come straight off the blue ridge mountain, but I braved it and was glad I did. It was nice to cool off from the heat and humidity.

Back at camp we sat and listened to the noisy generator for a bit. After about an hour they came back to their camp and turned it off and it was such a relief.

Tomorrow we shall explore the smokies some more before picking up the blue ridge parkway and following it to Virginia. I feel like I’m in a John Denver song.

There are about 1500 bears in the great smoky mountains. That’s 2 bears per square mile. So we might get up early in the morning with the hope of seeing one.

We set the alarm for 5.30am to get an early start for our hike. We drove 30 mins down a gravel road and parked at a small parking spot at the trail head. But there was no sign to say we were in the right place, or even if there was a trail here. And we were the only ones there.

I felt a bit nervous in the middle of nowhere but Mike said they don’t put signposts in national forests.

The path was well formed, but at the first sign of getting lost or seeing a bear this early in the morning, I was heading back to the car!

But, thankfully it was a good track all the way and a wonderful walk alongside the river. Mike only walked into one spider web.

After about an hours walking we came to a neat waterfall that you could walk around behind it. I was tempted to have a swim but didn’t.

We hadn’t seen anyone on our walk which we thought was strange on a sat morning, but when we were almost back at the car, streams of people started walking in, looked like a hiking group with their poles.

It was 9.30 by the the time we got back to the car. It had been sitting in the sun for a couple of hours and it was already hot and humid.

When we’d arrived we were the only ones, now there were cars parked along the narrow road. Mike tried to reverse out and went over a steep bit and the bike rack wedged in the gravel. It was just as well otherwise he would have hit a parked car as he’d misjudged it. I’d offered to get out and guide him but he said I didn’t need me to.

He managed to drive back up to the parking space. I decided guide him and told him he would have to reverse out the same way he went in and turn around up the road somewhere. I asked a couple who had just arrived if there was somewhere to turn around and they said about half a mile up the road.

I went back to tell Mike only to see him trying to turn the van around in the tiny carpark. He was about the crash the bikes into a wall so I shouted for him to stop. Thankfully he heard me. I don’t think he has gotten used to the extra length with the bikes on.

I guided him out the way we went in, found a place to turn around and finally we were on our way.

There were a few other waterfalls and walks we wanted to do, but it absolutely bucketed down with rain, so we kept on driving.

It was another long day driving today, and we lost an hour going east. There seemed to be nowhere to stop and camp without heading way off our route. Then about 6pm we saw a sign to the national forest and found a full, but very nice campground by a lake where I had a swim.

We are now about 2 hours drive from the great smoky mountains, where we plan to stay a few days and drive the blue ridge parkway to Virginia.

Today we woke to a beautiful calm morning on the lake. I’m feeling so much happier now the weather is cooler.

We’d planned another long driving day of about 6 hours. We stopped about 2pm and did a little bush walk to a natural bridge and some caves. We also found the ranger station and Mike was able to get an America the beautiful pass which gives us access to all the national parks and forests and also discounts on campgrounds.

It usually costs $80 per year but because mike is a senior he got it as a one off fee forever. And it covers 6 people in the car. So already on our first night camping we saved $18.

We are loving being back in the road again and loving the modifications we’ve made to our van. Having a swivel table in the centre of our lounge is the best thing followed closely by the table covering our toilet. Also we now have solar on the roof to enable us to go off grid for longer. You’ll see all our changes in an upcoming video.

Tomorrow we’re going for a hike in the Bankhead forest to the Sougahoagdee falls.

We had a great nights sleep in the Davy Crockett nation forest. It was our first night in the van leaving the air conditioning going all night.

We’d planned to get away early to get a few cool hours of driving, but by the time we got lost finding our way out, and going to the dump station, it was 7.45am.

I’ve bought a fancy fan that I can put ice cubes in and if you hold it close to your body it works really well. But only lasts about 15 mins before you have to replace the ice.

We drove through 3 states today. Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas.

It was a long days drive, too hot to stop for long. We had a severe downfall of rain when we arrived in Arkansas. It was a bit scary driving in it with thunder cracking overhead, but it lasted about 10 minutes before we were out the other side of the storm.

We are in a lovely spot in the Lake Chicot State park in Arkansas, camped overlooking the lake. It’s much cooler too after the rain and a nice breeze blowing off the lake. Mike got a $10 discount for being a senior so it’s costing us $29 for full hookup ( including sewer) and a fantastic view.

And we had a nice nights sleep without the air conditioning running.

Today we are heading for Bankhead national forest which is about 6 hours drive.

We said goodbye to our little fur family and left our housesit at 8am.

It was thankfully cooler today but still about 35 degrees with 93 percent humidity. But it was overcast and that stopped it getting too hot. It was still really hot, just not too hot.

We stopped at Buccees, a famous service station chain in Texas. We’d already filled up, but we’d heard about their brisket sandwiches so thought we’d give them a try.

This Buccees was jam packed, so we grabbed our pre made sandwiches wrapped in foil and got out of there. On the way I also grabbed some Beaver nuggets which was also a thing to try.

Back in our van we tried our service station sandwiches, not expecting much. It’s not your typical cold sandwich on bread though. It’s actually a broiche burger bun and it’s warm.

Mike had the pulled pork and it was really nice, smoky and moist. I had the brisket and it also was surprisingly yummy. You’ll have to wait for our video to hear about the beaver nuggets.

We only drove 3 hours today and stopped at Davy Crockett national forest. It was a lovely spot to camp, but it was so hot and humid, we plugged our rear air conditioner in and slept for the afternoon.

Around 6pm we ventured out again, this time on our bikes. We rode through the forest and found a lovely swimming spot. A large family group were there, swimming and kayaking, not worried by the water snakes and alligators.

I decided I’d go for a swim in my clothes, but it was like stepping into a warm bath. They told me the water temperature was 33 degrees. I think it was warmer.

I decided it wasn’t worth it for a warm bath as I’d no doubt be left feeling stickier. So we cycled back to our van and had a salad wrap for dinner.

I’ve made a mistake with how long we have to get to Connecticut. I though we had 6 weeks but forgot they’d extended our housesit and we only actually have 4 weeks. And it’s about 4000 kms away! So we’re going to cut some of the places I’d planned to go, and do a few long driving days. Think next time we’ll give housesitting a miss as it’s quite restrictive.

Today, Mike decided he was going to bake bread. He mixed up the dough, got the yeast ready. Meanwhile I noticed it was getting hotter and hotter inside. The dog sat beside me, panting hot air onto my leg. After about an hour, I decided I should check if the air conditioner was still working.

I wandered outside and saw one of my Texas nightmares. The air conditioner had stopped. I ran inside to tell Mike. He checked the fuses and all were okay. We considered this an emergency as the dog is old and relies on the cooling. So we rang Jane in France.

“We’ve got a slight problem,’ Mike said. “The air conditioning has stopped.”

“That’s not a slight problem,” Jane replied. “It’s a catastrophe!”

She gave us the number of the air-conditioning guy and he said he was booked solid, but he could come first thing in the morning.

Thankfully the house is all double glazed and it was still reasonably cool inside. We closed all the blinds just in case, and limited our time opening and closing the front door.

You may think we’re being paranoid, but the temperatures have been a consistent 40 plus and because of the humidity they say it feels like 48 degrees. And I believe that. I mean, we were cycling in 40 degree heat last year, and it was nowhere near as hot as it is here.

Meanwhile the dog continued to pant hot air into the room, and Mike’s bread dough sat on the side, untouched. I refused to let him put the oven on to bake it.

I tried to have a cold shower before bed to lower my body temperature, but the water was tepid, and didn’t feel the least bit cold. We had fans blasting in the bedrooms overnight, and it wasn’t too bad, no worse than a hot night in Hamilton.

This morning the house temperature was 30 degrees, comfortable enough for us, but the dog was a bit sluggish. We waited for the air conditioning man to arrive. I would have thought first thing for tradesmen in this heat would have been 7am. When he still hadn’t arrived at 9.30am, we rang him.

He told us he was booked solid for the day, but he’d try and make it tonight.

F**K THAT, we both said, knowing that by this afternoon it would be very hot.

So Mike started troubleshooting. We’d noticed there was no power to the thermostat, so we double checked the fuses. Mike flicked the AC fuse off, then on again. Nope, still not working.

Mike did some more research into the thermostat. It turns out it runs on AAA batteries and they might have gone flat. But surely that wouldn’t affect the functioning of the air-conditioner? Would it?

We scrambled around looking for AAA batteries, but couldn’t find any.

“The head torches!” I announced. “Maybe they have AAA batteries”

I knew exactly where my head torch was as we’d used it yesterday when Mike was doing some electrics in the van. I raced outside to the van, grabbed the head torch, flung it open and breathed a sigh of relief. They were AAA.

Now to see if they work. Mike removed the old batteries and put the new ones in, and voila! Air-conditioning working again! 

The dog is no long panting all over my leg.

How something so complex can rely on two AAA batteries is beyond us.