Chris' Genty

Chris' Genty

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Across four states - heading east

After a few days in New Orleans, I travelled through Louisiana (LA), Mississippi (MS), Alabama (AL) and Georgia (GA) to North Carolina (NC). Mostly on interstates and in large forests travel was pretty easy and uneventful. I stayed at Wal-Marts and Lowe's along the interstates. The traffic was low, only around Atlanta traffic was very heavy.


Between Birmingham (AL) and Atlanta (GA) my odometer reached the first 100'000 miles.

In Georgia, 50 miles north of Atlanta, the ride changed. After a few hundred miles with more less no hills at all, the area started to get a little "hilly" to finally reach the Natahala National Forest. While the road still was mostly 4 lanes into the hills, at Andrews it went two lanes and one of a sudden I was in a small gorge with nothing but whitewater tourism, the Natahala Gorge. The windy road was about 25 miles and eventually turned into a 4 lane road and even an interstate again in the Great Smokey Mountains area, my goal for the moment.

In Whittier I found a Passport America campground (Fort Wilderness Campground and RV Park), which was difficult to find, almost impossible to reach (one 150° turn right outside of the park) and lousy inside. The internal roads are 7-8 ft wide and in bad condition. The utilities work though including my satellite. Since I am installed now, I will not change any more and stay for three nights But this campground cannot be recommended to anyone with a rig larger than 30 feet and if one needs the showers and restrooms - stay away they are dirty.

Location:
35.44198N    83.33224W    1968 ft