Huntsville, TN

Wednesday, May 1

Good-bye North Carolina! Today, we packed up our campsite at Mama Gertie’s in Swannanoa, NC (a suburb of Asheville) and drove to Huntsville, Tennessee to visit Andi’s work friends at Brimstone Recreation. Before we left town, we dropped off our rental car at the Asheville airport and we also stopped at Whole Foods for a few groceries.

Anyone who’s driven through the Mid-West knows it’s as flat as a pancake, so the Appalachia Mountains continue to amaze this born-and-raised Nebraska Girl. I had a death-grip on the door handle as Andi followed the winding interstate through the mountains on our three-hour drive to Huntsville.

Along the way, Andi saw a sign for the Great Smoky Mountain Knife Factory and said, “I wish I could stop there.” “Well, why don’t you?” I responded. That’s the beauty of traveling in the RV — if you see something interesting, let’s go! We have the flexibility to do just that.

So, Andi pulled into the parking lot and spent 30 minutes inside the world’s largest knife factory while the kids and I stayed in the RV. He returned with a new cutting board, two of our knives sharpened to perfection, and a smile on his face. Andi said the store was awesome! I’m not sure I would have shared his enthusiasm, but I’m glad he was able to stop and visit.

Huntsville, TN made our list of travel destinations as we RV from Florida to Wisconsin because Andi’s work friend Erika lives here. Huntsville is where Andi worked with Erika to host several off-road events, and we thought it would be fun to come and ride Rzrs. Erika and Shawn have three kids about Tory and Aden’s ages.

The first thing we did when we got to Huntsville was stop at Flonnie’s for ice cream. Andi said he remembered eating at this drive-up diner many times during his work events. Tory got an ice cream cone and Andi and Aden each ordered milkshakes. We sat outside at the picnic table and enjoyed our treats after being cooped up driving in the RV all afternoon.

After ice cream, Andi drove the RV to Brimstone to pick up our new electric bikes! One of our biggest struggles on the road is not having a tow-behind vehicle to explore the various towns we visit. That means, every time we go somewhere, we either have to walk or unhook the RV from our campsite and then re-hook it up at night when we return. It’s not a lot of work to do so, but it surely would be easier to have another way to get around town. Also, driving and parking the RV in bigger cities is a challenge, so Andi thought electric bikes would be a good solution.

Andi shipped the bikes to Erika last week and paid one of her mechanics to put them together for us so they’d be ready to go when we arrived in Huntsville. I can only imagine how much time it would have taken Andi to put together two bikes on his own, plus we don’t have a lot of tools with us in the RV anyway.

We spent the rest of the evening hanging around Brimstone, testing out the new bikes and installing a bike rack on the RV. It was close to 9:00pm by the time we pulled into Brimstone’s campground for the night.

Mark, Erika’s dad, kindly sent over a fire ring and some wood for a campfire that night, but our kids were fast asleep the minute we were set up. We had a big day ahead of us tomorrow riding the Brimstone off-road trails. Time for bed!

Thursday, May 2

The four of us were up early to eat breakfast and complete school for the day. Today, we planned to ride Polaris Rzrs with Erika, Shawn, and their three kiddos at Brimstone Recreation. It meant a lot to Andi and I that they made arrangements in their busy schedules to spend the day with us.

We met in the Brimstone parking lot to pick up our Rzrs, suited up with helmets, and hit the trails. The little boys — Eli, Liam and Aden — all wanted to ride together, so they hopped in the back of Erika and Shawn’s Rzr and Tory and Kiersten rode with Andi and I.

The nine of us rode Rzrs for 45 miles total, stopping at a scenic overlook along the way and at a small waterfall for a picnic lunch. The kids had a blast playing in the creek together. I think they would have been happy doing that all day! Tory and Kiersten built a working dam with rocks from the creek — they were so proud of it.

After a full day of riding side x sides, our family headed back to the RV to shower. Then, Erika and Shawn swung by and picked us all up for dinner at RaeZack’s in nearby Helenwood, TN. Erika’s dad, Mark, and her uncle Greg also joined us for dinner. The kids had a blast hanging out with friends all day, and so did we. After traveling in Costa Rica for two months before our RV trip and not seeing another familiar face, it was really fun to spend time with Erika and her family.

We planned to have a campfire with them that night, but it started pouring rain the minute we got back to camp. Probably as well anyway, Erika’s kids had school the next day and Tory and Aden were getting cranky. We said good-bye to our friends in Huntsville and thanked them for hosting us. Tomorrow, we’ll continue on our journey to Kentucky.