This morning we intended to set out to explore Stone Mountain State Park, about 30 miles north of Wilkesboro. We thought we were following the website directions to take Rte 16, but after 30+ miles, we never saw any signs for it. Rechecking the map, it appeared we needed to turn off onto Rte 18, so we doubled back a bit, picked up the Blue Ridge Parkway which intersects Rte 18, heading back towards N. Wilkesboro (original home of Lowe's Home Improvement stores) . The scenery was gorgeous. A lot of the farms in the area are Christmas tree farms. The roads are double and triple "s" curves winding through the mountains, but still no sign of the state park. So, we headed back to the campground, stopping at the earthen dam, the beach at Berry Mountain park, and back to our RV where Bob discovered a leak in the water tank. After a quick lunch, he headed back into town to find a hardware store to get a piece to fix it. He had already started a campfire, so I stayed at the unit with Charlie Dog to make sure the fire didn't spread. His repair didn't completely work, so he will need to try to find another piece tomorrow. Meantime, we both felt tired, despite having an excellent night's sleep in the cooler air. Tomorrow we will go into Boone, like the bear over the mountain, to see what we can see, and later also try again to locate Stone Mountain.
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| The New River along Rte 16 |
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| Joe's Trading Post (unfortunately closed) not to be confused with Trader Joe's |
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| A Christmas tree farm on the hillside | | | | |
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| A stretch of the Blue Ridge Parkway...the dense summer foliage made scenic overlook viewing impossible, even at the 3324 ft crest elevation. |
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| Road over the W Kerr Scott Dam |
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| View of reservoir from the dam looking west | | | |
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| View of river east of the dam | | |
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| Below the dam |
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| Swimming area at Berry Mountain, across from our campsite. |
