Fishing again!

We had a fantastic time in Marble, NC.  First off, I should say we did not drag coming out this morning, although we went very slowly and Jan watched me carefully every inch of the way.  More campgrounds need to take these kind of things seriously because a steep incline or a road that is full of holes or drains, low branches and need to be trimmed foliage are all items that will cause someone to come back or not.  Please be sure to give them your feedback in a firm yet polite way, but do it.  Too many times we'll complain among ourselves and the campground will never know what their problems are.  It is just as important to give positive feedback so they know their efforts are appreciated.

But on to the fishing.  We drove from our campground about 20 miles to the Upper Nantahala River.  It is a small clear stream with great accessibility and all public, so for a change fishing access is easy and plentiful.  We saw quite a few other fishermen enjoying the river and the fine weather.  This river is classified as Delayed Harvest, so right now you call only use a lure with one hook, no bait, etc, and you can only catch and release, just perfect for what we had in mind.  Also the water levels are controlled by a dam as this is called tailwater, so is very consistent.  We fished on 2 different days and were successful on both, always a terrific thing.

A shot of the beautiful river

The first day, we caught one fish apiece, and spent a glorious 3 hours, fishing several different spots, really getting our sealegs back.  After all it had been last fall since we had fished.  Reacquainting ourselves with our gear, waders, tying on new leaders, tippet, and wading again took a bit of time, but it came back quickly.

One of our first day fish

Our new Rod Vault really made it easy to pick up from one spot and move somewhere else, no longer did we have to hang the rods out the window, or break them down, just slip them in the vault, and move to the next spot, pull them out and fish.  I wish I could say it was entirely worth waiting 10 months for.

Jan fishing

One of Jan's successes

We went back the second day and did even better, Jan got 2, and got another one.

What a beautiful spot, huh?

Yay, got one

One of mine

All in all we spent a very enjoyable couple days in the Murphy area, had a great lunch at Rib Country, highly recommended by the way.  You can relax, we forgot to take pictures of our BBQ:-)

And after getting out of the campground in Marble, Valley River, we drove the coach up to Mt Airy, NC to the Mayberry Campground.  It is large, quite nice, friendly people with some large pull throughs and convenient to the interstate.  We are here only 2 nights, and did a quick overview of Mt Airy which is the home of Andy Griffith, so there are lots of Andy Griffith Show memorabilia in town.  Andy's cop cars are everywhere giving tours, Floyd's barber shop, etc.  

After looking around in town we had a very enjoyable surprise visit with a former neighbor couple and friends of our's, Larry and Teresa.  They own a beautiful lot in a motor coach resort nearby, and we took a chance and dropped in on them.  They actually weren't there when we arrived but showed up shortly, and we spent a great time catching up and telling stories for a few hours.  It is wonderful when paths cross with great friends!

Rolling, rolling, rolling!

Wow!  What a time we had in Atlanta.   It started off with a terrific visit from our son Jason and his girlfriend, Joanne.  It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed meeting Joanne.  We were busy and shared a lot of laughs over their short time here.

Then, of course we had to see the dentist, yes we still come to Atlanta for that.  Maybe some of you feel like we do about dentists, once you find one you like, it is VERY hard to switch and find a new one.  We have been going to this dentist for 20 years, and plan to continue for the time being.  A couple other Dr appointments and we can now call it a year.

We met friends, Brett and Sandra for a great visit that included dinner, drinks, dessert, and an awesome quick visit to a sensational house they are in the process of buying.  They have an exciting time ahead of them.  We sure enjoyed seeing them and do each time we come through Atlanta.

We also enjoyed a couple days of pouring rain.  Sounds funny, but sometimes rainy days are welcome, and especially since we had so very few all winter long in Florida.  It's nice to cozy up, watch a few movies and listen to the sounds of the rain on the roof.  I also think it knocked some of the pollen out of the air:-)

Then we finished our time in Atlanta by going over to our friends, John and Diane's beautiful lake house for a few days.  They are long time friends and we always enjoy their company.  

The view off their porch

Diane, moi, and John enjoying some philosophy:)

We even got in a boat ride, and of course, a stop along the way for a beer.

A nice day

Managed to get into a very hotly contested Cornhole tournament, which I am sad to report Jan and I lost the tie breaking game by 1 point.

Hot competition

And a lot of fun and discussion into the wee hours...

Good times!

We got back to the coach to see how Bert survived 2 nights alone, and other than a couple presents on the floor and being very relieved we returned, and writing this 2 days later, he is almost recovered.

So after our whirlwind time in Atlanta, we have now moved up to Marble, NC to actually begin our travels.  We are at a new RV resort, called Valley River.  It is still partly under construction, and has a beautiful clubhouse, a bath house and pool under construction, a whole new area of sites being worked on, very friendly managers, and unfortunately an entrance that was not built for a 45' motorhome, as we drug our rear end getting in and will most definitely drag our way out.  It is truly a shame with as much thought and work that has gone into this, and going to be beautiful resort that they missed such an obvious and important feature.  Will we come back?  Hard to say.

The clubhouse

Another subject.  As I have mentioned, Jan and I have taken up fly fishing, again for me and new for Jan.  We have really been enjoying it.  A company named Denver Outfitters makes and sells a fly rod and reel holder for your vehicle, essentially they bought out another company and with growing pains are building this rod holder, called a Rod Vault.  During a promotion, and after seeing quite a few in use out west, we ordered ours in June of 2017, also paid in full.  We just had it delivered, FINALLY, after delay after delay, to our campground here in NC.  It came broken down into a couple pieces, as it has to be, as it is 10' long, so some assembly is required.

Putting it together

After a bit of adjusting to get it on the truck just right we are happy to say it is all mounted and ready for use.

Our new Rod Vault

Now I will try to be straightforward and unbiased in my comments.  We were truly frustrated by the 10 month delay in receiving this product.  When we saw the package when we arrived, we were saddened to see how awful the packaging was, the one end of the holder was completely exposed!  But, nothing was damaged.  One end almost fell off as 2 of the 3 rivets holding it on fell out, but luckily rivets are one of the items I carry all the time so that was easily fixed.  We were very impressed at how solid and rugged the Rod Vault is, very nice quality.  Instructions to assembling it are poor, but it really isn't difficult, but all in all, Jan and I spent a couple hours getting it right.  This company is now advertising a 30 day delivery schedule which will have to be observed before believed, at least for us, but it is a very cool product which allows you to transport up to 3 completely assembled and ready to go fly rods up to 10' long.  It will allow us to get on the water in mere moments, and does seem to have the quality and heft to last a very long time.  We will be able to better assess it after a full season of fishing.

So after mounting our new toy, and settling in to our site, Jan and I sat down for a "on the road again" drink.  So cheers everybody!