1st Trip- Whippoorwill Vineyards, Heart of Dixie Train Museum & Chatahoochee National Forest

As ill prepared RV newbies, we decided to take on a 1300 mile round trip as our first run. Of course we did. I guess we weren’t totally ill prepared- I did have a small camper 30 years ago I towed across country, but it’s been a while. I do tow utility trailers semi regularly, so I’m not a total newbie to this stuff… but it is our first trip with Tess since we brought her home, and our first time with a fairly large camper.

 

 

But we were traveling down to the Gulf Coast to see family, and I know I have tools, space and additional talent if we have a problem- plus another large truck there that come and pick up Tess if we had a mechanical breakdown. So we loaded up the 1996 Suburban and headed south…

 

 

We had very wisely signed up for Harvest Hosts before leaving (which we highly recommend) and spent our first night at the very charming Whippoorwill Vineyards, in Notasulga, Alabama . The wine was great, the owner was fantastic and our door faced the vineyard- and we had it all to ourselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

After arriving without incident and spending some much needed time with family, we headed back north and stayed at another Harvest Host- this time we were in Calera, Alabama at the Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum where we spent the night nestled among vintage trains and cars- including some shiny aluminum Pullman passenger cars, so we fit right in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoy the slower pace of travel and didn’t go very far the next day- up to the Chatahoochee National Forest area. We stayed two nights at a Hipcamp farm (no longer in business) and the the park itself, and then another Harvest Host night night at the Sideways Brewery, just south of Asheville in Etowah, North Carolina, then back home.