Cross Country Road Trip - May 28

We are very pleased to be able to report that we are now in Asheville, NC, after having made a successful 4 1/2 hr/250mi drive over significant passes without any engine trouble!:) (knock knock) Asheville it at the base of the Blue ridge mountains and home of the Biltmore Estate, Vanderbilt's massive 'summer home' which is supposed to be the largest home in the US. But it costs $45 each to tour it, so we'll watch the moving instead and move on.

To catch up ... we had the RV at Mick the Mechanic in Charleston for two days. He replaced both fuel pumps, cleaned out the fuel tank, and checked for codes. He never found a "smoking gun" per se, but hoped that one of the fuel pumps were bad, or intermittant. So far, so good.

But the 7 days (3 were planned) in

Charleston gave us a good opportunity to see the city, including touring the historic homes and buildings and waterfront. Charleston was also having record hot weather, which we got to enjoy:( , of temps near 100. We visited Patriots Point and saw the USS Yorktown Carrier, and Clagamore Submarine, the Fort Moultrie which played a significant role in the civil war along with Fort Sumpter across the bay.

We visited Drayton Hall, the oldest preserved plantation building in the country, built in 1765. We remember that homes of that era followed the four B's rule...big, bold boxy and bilateral. We visited Summerville's historic homes, and visited two RV dealers to look at new trailers. In the midst of all that we had some excellent seafood, sampled several home town breakfast/lunch places, and enjoyed the pools and bike trails at the campground.

So, while the RV trouble was a bummer (especially the "paying for it" part), we got to see sights and parts of Charleston we never would have otherwise.

We have abandoned the original plan of visiting Great Smoky Mountain and Mammoth Caves National Parks because our reservations ran out. We are planning on visiting the Amish country of Shipshewanna, IN and will tour at least two RV mfg in Elhart, IN in a few days, which is our next destination.