Appalachian Tour

[ultralite]

Man these things are memory makers, what a trip!

Last Wednesday my son and I met Russ and his green Westy at the beginning of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had no schedule and no agenda. We only knew we wanted to make it to the High Country Bus Festival at some point.

So we take off around 11 in the morning just cruising. The cool air and those mountains(!) I couldn't get enough of it. We stopped at Waterknob Overlook and made our lunches out of the Westy. You know the drill, folks coming up to you to tell you about their's in the past. But it's great and I enjoy talking to these folks.

Later we made it to Mt Mitchell, the highest peak east of the Mississippi.

That evening we found campsites at Crabtree Campground on the Parkway. I've stayed here before with my son years ago. Nice and quiet, cool mountains temps. Here's our campsite for the night:

The next morning we got up and took off which is so easy to do in these things. We scouted other campgrounds because we'd like to make this trip again with other Westys. Eventually we made it to Grandfather Mountain:

Later in the day we got close to cellular coverage and got messages asking about rain. We had not experienced any and checked the forecast. There was none forecasted for High Country, so we headed there. That part of North Carolina, near the VA border is beautiful. We got to the festival and it was already nearly packed.

I know this isn't a Bus but a very cool Westfalia trailer.

Here's our awesome campsite next to the river. We met great folks. Had nice conversation. Slept to the sound of the river, ahhh.

The next morning we got up and thinking about our GA Dubs friends who were camping out back in Cherokee, NC. That was on the way home for us anyway. It was a "can't lose" situation. Stay at HCBF and have a great time or, go for another great drive and meet our GA VW friends. So we headed south again. Stopped for some great BBQ in Jefferson, NC and then on to Cherokee.

We got yet another great campsite next to a mountain stream.

The times you have and the people you meet in these things just can't be beat.
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Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[ultralite]

Russ, aka "Lost Orbit" took some video of our drive. Hopefully he can post it here. And he should have some pictures too.
_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[SGKent]

beautiful places, beautiful drive, beautiful buses.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[caffeinebean]

Wow! Awesome looking adventure. I cant wait till mine is done!

[richparker]

Thanks for sharing your adventure. Your buses are beautiful, I'm glad you had a safe journey.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[notchboy]

This is so sick right here. Jealous.

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[Vee Dub Nut]

Uggg your killing me... The wife (and I) would love to move back to GA. She's from there originally and I've grown to really love the area when we go back to visit family. I'd love to take our Westy up through the mountains there and go camping.
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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2006

67 Beetle (TBD)

74 Transporter (EJ25 Swapped) - Build Thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=...mp;start=0

See all my VW pics on Instagram @ vee_dub_nut

[danfromsyr]

I took a couple VWs down the Blue Ridge parkway last October (up actually) and it's a MUST DRIVE for classic VW campers.. such an great road and constant views.. out one window then the next.. I'd be there all the time if I could.

great pics and trip report.. truly jealous.
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[Randy in Maine]

Living the dream.

Nice post!!

[ping349n]

Great post and even better pictures! One day I'll be making that trip with all of the others to Cherokee

[babysnakes]

That's awesome. I love the BRP. Traveled it as a kid in the 70's. Drove it in a '72 bus in the mid 80's from mid N.Carolina then got off a logging road that brought us to Vesuvious Virginia. Your pics have me drooling. I love to see adventures like this.

[old DKP driver]

Awesome photo's and I think I mentioned before how much I love your
Westy

Beautiful area back there and here we are Trapped by fires out in Ca.

Chris
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V.W.owner since 1967

[2.ooohhh]

I was so jealous, following along with Russ on IG and I was stuck here in Nashville finally starting work on my bus. Looked like a great trip!

[russwiththebus]

I can only reiterate what Jonathan said. This was the kind of trip every bus owner should take, it's nice to hit the road with no agenda and take the time to look around and stop and enjoy the sights. This was my first time on the Blue Ridge Parkway and it was incredible! I can't wait to go back and do it again.

I did take a lot of video and I hope to edit it all down into something I can share. I have spent a couple of days going through my photos, here are some of the best from the trip.

The view from Mount Mitchell was incredible.

We also made it up to the highest elevation on the parkway.

Day 2, Grandfather Mountain.

Going over the Lynn Cove Viaduct. This section of the Parkway is a concrete bridge literally hanging off the side of the mountain.

Finally our destination, the High Country Bus Festival.

Even for Thursday, the campground was jam packed with buses and campers. The large area out in the field (known as "the city") was what you first encounter, and most of the spots with hookups are here. Needless to say there was not much room so we kept driving along the river to the more primitive spots, which also offered shade thanks to the tree cover. We got possibly the last two spots at the end and met some really nice neighbors.

Such nice views along the river too!

Now we could have easily stayed all weekend here and had a great time. The High Country Bus Festival is definitely one of the largest and funnest gathering of buses. But when we woke up the next morning, I think we were both itching to get back on the road. We packed up and headed out.

There's tunnels galore all up and down the Parkway.

It isn't often you can do two campouts in one trip, but we also wanted to see our friends from the Georgia Dubs campout back in Cherokee. We met up with Eric in his Splitty and cruised back down the Parkway for a little bit with him.

Along the way, we took a small detour to check out the Mile High Campground in Cherokee. The views from this campground were amazing and I just had to grab a pic of one lucky Airstream owner who had picked a site with a wonderful overlook. I will definitely be back here to camp at some point!

The Georgia Dubs crew know how to host a campout! We were welcomed warmly and thanks to a last-minute cancellation, we were able to grab a spot right along the creek. Camping by the water two nights in a row! I don't think it gets any better.

On Saturday, Jonathan had to pack up and head home. I stayed behind though, and I joined some of the Georgia Dubbers on a cruise to Gatlinburg, TN. So around lunchtime, we got ready and hit the road for another nice cruise through the Smokies. We stopped along the way at some overlooks for a few photos.

After a day in Gatlinburg, I headed home. Overall, I logged about 840 miles from this trip and enjoyed every minute. I can't wait to do it again, I know Jonathan can't either. Maybe next time we can get a larger group to join us and enjoy another Appalachian tour.

[justcruzin]

Wow, what an amazing trip. I would love to find some spots like you guy's found. Love the one's by the river.

Awesome photos too!!
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Kim
Sacramento, CA

1964 Split Window Bus
1966 Beetle Build Thread= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=472933
1969 Delivery Van= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=566282
1970 Westy Build Thread= http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=479538
1971 Squareback Build Thread = http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6652459#6652459
1970 Single Cab, Samson = http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8022609#8022609

[ultralite]

Dang Russ those are great pictures! I need to up my photo game. Thanks for posting these.

Another note on this type of travel, just to analyze it for a second. I'd always been inclined to go to one camp site and well, camp for the weekend in that one spot. I've road tripped before but that was way before kids. I guess I forgot how nice it is.

Then, we joined Jeff G (a member here) on his MLK weekend cruise and camp where we camped in a different spot each night. Since then, I've been itching to travel like that. And I can't think of a vehicle I'd rather do that type of travel in.

Russ and I also noted on the first day that it was taking some time to get out of "work mode". Though we covered a lot of miles, over 800, I felt like we had plenty of sitting around, hanging out time with new folks we met. I guess my point is its a totally different vibe than my other travel and a form that is very relaxing.

Speaking of the 800 miles, they were all trouble free for me with a Type 1 engine and I think for Russ too with his Type 4. So you noobs and lurkers out there that are a little intimidated about maintenance; dig in, get dirty, and get to know your rig. There is much fun to be had.
_________________
Godspeed

'76 Beetle (sold)
'69 Beetle (sold)
'72 BMW 2002 (RIP)
'69 Westy
'02 BMW wagon AWD w/stick shift(sold)
'67 Beetle (sold)

[Jeff Geisen]

Great job with the write ups and the photos. I wish I could have tagged along.

I was in Hot Springs, NC the weekend before your trip with the non bussin' members of my family. I did get in 600 plus miles on my fresh engine and all went well. there were buses in the campground all weekend heading to the HCBF. Met two couples in Adventure Wagens Monday that were heading to the festy as well.

I am planning to leave on my west coast trip August 30th. We will get together and swap some stories when I get back at the end of October.

I will let you two know when I fire up an Instagram account so you can look over my shoulder as I journey. I wish Russ could take my trip photos and Jonathan could caption them for me! Really good job brothers!
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I Corinthians 4: 1 thru 5

‘63 ragtop - ‘68 single cab

[russwiththebus]

Thanks everyone. I too enjoyed this style of nomadic camping, especially when you don't know where you'll end up next. We called Indian Creek while we were still at High Country to inquire about reservations but we were told they were full for the weekend. Didn't shake us, we figured we'd find another campground along the way or head down a forest service road and make camp in the national forest. As luck would have it though, we called back the next day and they had a cancellation so we were in.

Our Westies are perfectly suited for this type of travel too. It only took us a few minutes to set up/break down camp each day and we were back on the road.

And like Jonathan said, we did over 800 miles trouble-free. I am sure our engines loved the lower cruising speed on the Parkway vs. pushing it at interstate speeds. Definitely nice to put these vehicles to their proper use.

Jeff, I hope you have a great trip and safe travel. I'll be ready in January for our next MLK trip for sure!

[richparker]

And...the trip wasn't over, awesome! Stoked for you guys, I have a big event this weekend and I'm super excited about it. My iPhone pics won't be anywhere as nice as yours. Again, thanks for sharing.
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’71 Westy build
Adventure thread
’65 Deluxe Build
’63 Deluxe Build

[71whitewesty]

Great post on the trip. Sounds like you guys had a blast. I've never been to that part of the world. Thanks for the write up and pics.
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71 Westy 1600 DP, all stock Bus 1
1970's Snow Trac 1600 SP (sold 12/2016)
1968 Tucker sno cat, sold 2021
1969 Tucker Sno cat 542
2017 VW Alltrac
71 tin top stock 1600 DP (project but runs)
Twin 71 White Westy, Bus 2, that I pulled from a 15 year slumber in a dry eastern WA field in 2015.
1966 Sundial Camper "Boomer"