Blue Ridge Blast

Blue Ridge Lodge and RV Park, Blue Ridge GA – May 17-20, 2016

No matter how far in advance we know the date we plan to leave, we’re scrambling at the last minute to get ready. And, there are always little projects, jobs, that pop up that you hadn’t planned on. We don’t know how other travelers seem to have their act together as they calmly prepare to travel. For us, it’s always frantic.

However, our mode, once on the road, is to slow down and take it easy. There is absolutely no sense in busting our butts trying to make mega miles every day when we don’t have to. Which is why we took two days to get to Blue Ridge, GA. It’s a 430 mile trip, and we don’t like doing more than 200 miles a day. In fact, we prefer closer to 150. But the folks we’re going to visit, Jim and Shelley, are leaving on Sunday, and we want to spend a couple of days with them so we’re going to stretch the miles a little bit.

Because of cheaper fuel prices, more RV’ers are on the road, campgrounds are more in demand and overnight stays are getting more expensive. Our research is already finding that rates are running $40 and $45 a night.

We always like to have an idea of where we will stop for the night with an alternate, or backup plan. Generally Walmart is the backup plan. But since the temperatures are uncomfortably warm, we will need to run the air conditioner, which means we need an electric hookup, or we’ll have to run the generator.

Just before we got to Dublin we came upon something you never want to see.

It was a pretty bad accident. They shut down a section of the hiway and rerouted traffic to bypass the scene.

EJ found a small little known campground in Dublin, Georgia that caters mostly to construction workers. She called to see if they had a space for us. The owner said they had 2 empty spots but they had just had 3 1/2” of rain in the last hour. It was wet, but we shouldn’t get stuck! They accept Passport America which means we can stay for half price. That saves us $20 right there, so we decide to check it out. Our backup plan was a Walmart about 30 miles on down the road.

We snagged the No. 1 spot where we are posed to depart ASAP if necessary. As you can see it was a pretty small RV Park. If I remember correctly, it had 15 sites with full hookups.

In Blue Ridge, there are 2 RV Parks, Mineral Springs RV Park and Blue Ridge Lodge and RV Park. Mineral Springs is the cheaper of the 2 at $35 per night for full hookups and 30 amps. But the moment they find out you are in a motorhome the price gets jacked up by $10 a night because they require you to use a 50 amp connection. No amount of cojoling can convince them you can use 30 amps just fine. Nope, they have it their head that you will burn up their electric connection if you hook up to it. That’s 300 bucks a month. That’s twice what we use in our 1400 square foot house during the hottest months of summer.

Blue Ridge RV Park is slightly more expensive at $40 but they only charge $5 for 50 amps. Again, no negotiation was accepted. Mineral Springs RV Park is located in a depression that gets very muddy when it rains. Blue Ridge Lodge and RV Park is high on a ridge and you actually have a view. So at $45 a night at both places, it was a no brainer.

We spent two a half days with Jim and Shelley. Jim is a bourbon afficianado and I’m kinda partial to it myself. So we had to sample a few varieties during our stay. Of course we made a visit to downtown Blue Ridge where after a brief shopping foray, Jim and I retired to the local pub to sample a few brews while the girls continued shopping. They call it a Husband Daycare Center.

While we were there, another couple came in and we watched them while she played with her smart phone and he played kissy face with his parrot.

On Friday, I watched Jim ignite a brief but spectactular inferno that singed the hairs off of his forearm. He had converted a portable fire pit from wood burning to propane. Some serious design modifications are in order after that quick although glorious fireball.

Later that day, we went exploring and found a local brewery.

I thought the name was rather appropriate given my normal disposition. We enjoyed talking to the owners who started brewing beer as a hobby. They are now doing their “last” building expansion as they are needing some more room for supplies. They say they are not interested in growing the business because it would then seem like more of a job and less like a hobby. This way they can hang out and drink beer with their buddies.

We also found out that Georgia has some strange rules when it comes to breweries. They can’t sell their beers to consumers. So instead, they sell “tours” where you can sample the beers. The tour consists of pointing at the brew tanks and saying that’s where the beer is brewed. But hey, where else can you drink beer all afternoon for the price of a $10 tour.

Even EJ and Shelley had a few sips. Wait a minute, I don’t see any mugs.

All too soon it was time to leave Blue Ridge and let Jim and Shelley pack up for their trip back to Florida. Our next destination is Tallulah Gorge State Park in Tallulah Falls, Georgia.