Rutledge RV Park, Asheville, NC: 2

Wednesday, 2 October - A 6 hour drive I-75s to I-40 east to Asheville. Once you get to Asheville take I-26 south for a couple miles to the exit. The campground is just a couple miles off the exit We used maps app with the campground address. Made the reservation by directly calling the Rutledge Lake RV Park. We paid 35.00 a night which included a military discount. The campground is on the smaller side with sites pretty close together. It has a laid back feel with a lot of the campers being retirees. They have full hookups to include cable with about 30 channels with standard fire ring. All the sites are all gravel and quite level. However the whole campground is on slight bank sloped down toward the small lake with the sites placed perpendicular to the slope. There is a general store with basic supplies but Walmart is only a couple miles away. Almost all the sites are back-in. We had #62 which was against the road making backing it a pain. I had several other campers out there guiding me on best way to get it parked. The stressful part of camping. After hours there is a small gate at the entrance that can be opened with provided key card. Very quiet at night while we were there. No issues with bringing our own firewood. The bathhouse was very clean and there was coin operated laundry. In the summer there is a heated outdoor pool and a pretty basic playground. Not much to do at the campground. You can tell their business comes from being close to Biltmore Manor

Thursday, 3 October - We went to Biltmore Manor and toured the mansion and gardens for nearly 5 hours. A bit pricey at $80.00 a person but was actually worth it. A lot of walking but the weather was perfect. Below are a few of the pictures that we took. There were many other rooms (250) built by Mr. George Vanderbilt. The mansion is 135,000 square feet covering 4 floors and 1 subfloor. Keep in mind it was built in 1895 and he sought out the latest inventions of the time...amazing construction. The grounds originally consisted of 125,000 acres. Most of it is now National Forest. Currently grounds cover 8,000 acres. It is the largest privately owned home in the US and included in the group of the 2nd largest privately owned houses in the world.

Formal Banquet Hall...can you imagine eating here!

An amazing 4 story stone spiral staircase

Mr. Vanderbilt's bedroom

Sitting room

Indoor bowling alley

Parlor Room

Indoor swimming pool that had to be drained, cleaned and filled with each use

Formal gardens, best time to visit would be spring to see all the blooms

Friday, 4 October - We took a drive west on the Blue Ridge Parkway into the Pisgah National Forest which was originally owned by the Vanderbilt's but was sold by Edith shortly after George Vanderbilt's passing. At about 35 miles we found a great easy hike to one of the best waterfalls we have ever seen. It was the Lower Falls at the Graveyard Fields pull-off. We were about 4,300 feet elevation so the air was nice and cool. The hike was about a mile round trip. There was an upper falls but it was a bit farther and we did not pack for a longer hike.

Saturday, 5 October - Spent the morning around the campground. While in the general store I noticed on a wall map that there were some points of interest east of Asheville on the Blue Ridge Parkway. An hour later we managed to find the highest point east of the Mississippi, Mt. Mitchell at 6,684 feet elevation. The drive up the mountain was awesome. Tunnels and winding road with numerous overlooks. At the top there is actually a state park with a primitive campground. Above 6,600 feet the vegetation is much different than a typical national forest. Well worth the drive above the clouds.