No need to gild the lily – Western North Carolina

Greetings from Charlottesville - we’re home!  For the last few days of the Southeast “Shakedown” Trip, we enjoyed staying in our friend Mary Stuart’s family home in Cashiers. The sunset views were spectacular and the company even better.

Hendersonville-based sister Anne and brother-in-law Joel scooped up our friend, Malini, at the Asheville airport and brought her over for a mirthful lunch by Lake Toxaway and hikes to Rainbow and Whitewater Falls. There’s nothing quite like the delight of introducing loved ones to each other, especially when family traits become part of the patter. 

We realized that we’d already enjoyed the finale and punted a final camping night in a Virginia State Park enroute home, wanting to conclude the trip with the glories of western North Carolina and the wonderful time spent there. When we got home, Paul immediately went out to check his herb and vegetable garden (watered by the adorable boys who live up the street, their first paid gig), and I wound the grandfather clock. Home is good. We met folks who’d been enjoying nomad life for 9 years; yet we are sure we will want to come back after the upcoming year-long trip. We will set up a new home from which long, looping trips will be taken. 

Now for a wrap up, with some reflections on both the region we explored and the mode of travel we were burnishing for the long-haul. We’ve already remarked on the habit in the southeast of holding onto memories (and stuff). There’s pride in heritage and loyalty to home. There are many places where junk is turned into art, and even one place where sharecropper shacks have been collected into an eccentric, appealing lodging option for blues travelers. Often, strangers would initiate conversations, quickly detect that we are not locals, chat briefly about what they know of Virginia and DC, and tell us how much they love where they live – the smaller scale and slower pace; and community, clearly supported by churches and inspired by many, many Christian radio stations. 

As for what we learned on the “Shakedown Cruise” for the longer trip ahead? For starters, that for many the term is not familiar!  We were not at sea. Newly built Navy vessels are taken out for a short cruise to test out the systems and processes, so we borrowed the term. For those interested in van life, here are a few takeaways.

• Only a few adjustments are needed in what we carry. For example, next time we will bring:

  • an extra set of sheets (because there can be poison ivy exposure between laundromats ;); 
  • a couple more small loop bands for strength exercises; 
  • a whetstone; 
  • and more string lights to brighten our campsites.

• Shifting things around in the van becomes second-nature. The bikes must come off the back (not tilted out). The cooler is a slidable footstool. Cushions must come off the seats to access storage and the toilet. The “garage” shell game is constant. 

• Similarly, there are power tradeoffs. No hot water when using the microwave (NBD).

• Alternating between town and country works well, and we look forward to longer stays in wilderness and looser itineraries. 
• The winning combination: nature and history with friends and family. The bonus: interesting conversations with strangers.
• There are gazillions of cool, amazing nooks and crannies; we must accept skipping some for next time (even if it never comes).
• Breakfast picnics are a wonderful feature of van life, whether by remote Native American mounds or a river in an urban park. Evangeline may be small but our “living room” is large.
• The days are a blur, kind of like summers in childhood. Good thing we are keeping this journal.
• We’ve got this. It’s good.

Thanks for following along. We will start a new travelogue series here come August when we leave the Outer Banks and head west and north.