Blkwgn_wyfee
Adventurist
After MUCH prodding from Blk_Wgn, Here’s an ARV 2015 Trip Report
Day 1
9/24/15
Travel Day
Today was a long day, we left the house around 4 am, and after a couple flights, and a layover, we finally landed about 4 pm in a drizzly Raleigh North Carolina. This state is absolutely stunning! It’s greener here in 200 square feet than anything we’ve seen in So Cal.
We headed to the Enterprise office to pick up our car, what was supposed to be an all wheel drive Subaru we had been excited to drive. Unfortunately, all they had left was a two-wheel drive Nissan, and we figured, why not save on gas? (And hope that it’s not too difficult to get to camp.) We would later be grateful for this decision as we ended up putting almost 900 miles on the vehicle with all the exploring we ended up doing. After a stop at Wal-Mart for some last minute food supplies, we headed to the campsite.
The drive was scenic and stunning, even the highways were green. It took us about an hour to reach our home away from home, the Uwharrie Off Road Training Center. We knew we had a tent and sleeping bags waiting for us, but it was such a huge pleasant surprise to arrive, and be led to a whole set up campsite! Haggis and his wife proved southern hospitality is alive and well, even though they are not from the south, and even topped off the site with an awesome Camp Hollywood sign.
After hanging out and meeting a bunch of the east coasters, we decided to crash, and feel asleep to the sounds of rain on the tent roof. (Which is the BEST way to fall asleep, am I right?)
Day 2
9/25/2015
Morrow Mountain, Kron Homestead and Museum
After a restful night, we woke to more drizzle, which was fine by us! We were able to wander the site a bit and meet some new friendly faces. We were told that the gas station/ visitors center/ gift shop across the street had some awesome biscuits and gravy on the menu, so we eagerly headed over there for breakfast. It was actually SO good that we had breakfast here every day that we camped here.
As we did not have an off road vehicle to take the classes that were offered, we decided to go exploring.
We crossed the Yadkin River and headed to Morrow Mountain.
On the way, we passed several fields of cotton, which we had never seen up close, so we had to stop and examine these strange (to us) plants.
Morrow Mountain visitors center had a fantastic museum with the local plant and animal life.
While on Morrow Mountain, we visited the Kron Homestead, which was very interesting, and of course, green and beautiful. Francis Kron was the first Dr. and Horticulturalist to come to the area, and created a working homestead on Morrow Mountain. There was a MASSIVE infestation of Bees in one of the buildings, and as Cris is allergic, we had to be careful and stay away from about half the property. But that didn’t mean we didn’t get to see a bunch while we were there.
Though the Homestead was not a large one, we spent the majority of our time exploring here and found our selves drawn to keep going higher on the mountain.
We ended up at the highest point, the Morrow Mountain State Park, a beautiful park area, with 360-degree views. We were the only ones in the area, and to have this amazing area totally to our selves was a major treat.
We even saw some wildlife up close!
As we were starting to loose some daylight, we decided it would be wise to head back to camp, and the REAL fire- a novelty for us Southern Californians, since there had been a ban all summer on fires in our mountains. As we gathered by the huge bonfire, we were able to reflect on the awesome day and the great natured people we had met.
Day 1
9/24/15
Travel Day
Today was a long day, we left the house around 4 am, and after a couple flights, and a layover, we finally landed about 4 pm in a drizzly Raleigh North Carolina. This state is absolutely stunning! It’s greener here in 200 square feet than anything we’ve seen in So Cal.
We headed to the Enterprise office to pick up our car, what was supposed to be an all wheel drive Subaru we had been excited to drive. Unfortunately, all they had left was a two-wheel drive Nissan, and we figured, why not save on gas? (And hope that it’s not too difficult to get to camp.) We would later be grateful for this decision as we ended up putting almost 900 miles on the vehicle with all the exploring we ended up doing. After a stop at Wal-Mart for some last minute food supplies, we headed to the campsite.
The drive was scenic and stunning, even the highways were green. It took us about an hour to reach our home away from home, the Uwharrie Off Road Training Center. We knew we had a tent and sleeping bags waiting for us, but it was such a huge pleasant surprise to arrive, and be led to a whole set up campsite! Haggis and his wife proved southern hospitality is alive and well, even though they are not from the south, and even topped off the site with an awesome Camp Hollywood sign.
After hanging out and meeting a bunch of the east coasters, we decided to crash, and feel asleep to the sounds of rain on the tent roof. (Which is the BEST way to fall asleep, am I right?)
Day 2
9/25/2015
Morrow Mountain, Kron Homestead and Museum
After a restful night, we woke to more drizzle, which was fine by us! We were able to wander the site a bit and meet some new friendly faces. We were told that the gas station/ visitors center/ gift shop across the street had some awesome biscuits and gravy on the menu, so we eagerly headed over there for breakfast. It was actually SO good that we had breakfast here every day that we camped here.
As we did not have an off road vehicle to take the classes that were offered, we decided to go exploring.
We crossed the Yadkin River and headed to Morrow Mountain.
On the way, we passed several fields of cotton, which we had never seen up close, so we had to stop and examine these strange (to us) plants.
Morrow Mountain visitors center had a fantastic museum with the local plant and animal life.
While on Morrow Mountain, we visited the Kron Homestead, which was very interesting, and of course, green and beautiful. Francis Kron was the first Dr. and Horticulturalist to come to the area, and created a working homestead on Morrow Mountain. There was a MASSIVE infestation of Bees in one of the buildings, and as Cris is allergic, we had to be careful and stay away from about half the property. But that didn’t mean we didn’t get to see a bunch while we were there.
Though the Homestead was not a large one, we spent the majority of our time exploring here and found our selves drawn to keep going higher on the mountain.
We ended up at the highest point, the Morrow Mountain State Park, a beautiful park area, with 360-degree views. We were the only ones in the area, and to have this amazing area totally to our selves was a major treat.
We even saw some wildlife up close!
As we were starting to loose some daylight, we decided it would be wise to head back to camp, and the REAL fire- a novelty for us Southern Californians, since there had been a ban all summer on fires in our mountains. As we gathered by the huge bonfire, we were able to reflect on the awesome day and the great natured people we had met.
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I really like this picture. Great pictures and report. That is a well rounded list of destinations, shops, and attractions. How did you come up with the list? Were most of them recommended to you, or did you do some research somewhere?
