Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Moonshine Creek

Labor Day weekend I went to Moonshine Creek Campground in Balsam, NC for a little relaxation. Thought I'd share a few photos and tell you about some new stuff I got to try out.



















This campground is west of Asheville off I-74. For me, it's fairly close to home - about an hour drive. As I've posted in another thread, I'm still having issues with my Suburban while towing, but I was able to get over the mountain without exceeding 3500 rpm this time. My airbags failed (lost air) on the way up, but we arrived OK otherwise.



Our space was really cool. We were along the creek on a site that paralleled the access road. So neighbors were to the front, and to the back, not to the side.







Even though every spot was filled, it was a very relaxing, peaceful place. We just spent time sitting by the creek, going for walks and playing with the dog.
Highly recommended!

I got to use several items I had purchased recently.

First up is the Coleman camp kitchen and the Coleman grill/stove. This outdoor kitchen setup folds up into the tabletop - it ends up as a little suitcase. All aluminum. Is very solid and holds the camp stove very well. Nice to have a big spot for all the stuff when cooking. The grill/stove works as well as you'd expect for a gas stove from Coleman - that is perfectly. Lots of heat. Non-stick grill surface that fits in the camper's kitchen sink for cleaning. Coupled with the FRP gas bottle, no worries about running out a 1 lb bottle prepping dinner. I also like the flexibility to set up outdoor kitchen anywhere I want, instead of being tied to a propane disconnect on the camper.




Beans 'n brats!




Large Tiki Citronella Lantern. Got these at Lowes for cheap. Kept the bugs at bay. Burns for 8 hours on liquid fuel. The shafts are screwed together, so it all fits into a small cardboard box for storage. Made of all metal.




Pico chair. These chairs fold into a package the size of a laptop computer. Very sturdy. Comfortable as the back and seat are a mesh material. Stays cool when it's hot outside. Sat in for many hours without feeling pinched anywhere. Kinda pricey though, but you could store a lot of them in a small space.




Exterior TV bracket. My camper came with this factory installed. I researched it and found that it's sourced from Jensen to go with their TV's. Look for Jensen MAF010. About $20. They are standard though - VESA 75 & 100mm and 40lbs. So that would fit just about any TV up to 32". It was cool to watch Clemson/Auburn and NASCAR on Sunday under the canopy. Unfortunately, I can't say anything good about the Jensen LCD tv. It's basically an obsolete hunk of junk. I broke the antenna lead taking it out of the bracket inside the camper, so I either have to get it fixed or replace it.




Speaking of canopy, I got to try out my LED lights. They worked perfectly. You can change colors, faded/flash, adjust brightness, etc. I got a lot of positive comments and people coming up to inquire about them. The big thing, I thought, was that under colored light - red, blue, green and yellow, had no attraction for bugs. Set it to white and look out - bug central.




The Camco propane campfire is just awesome. I did get to use it on my last trip, but this time had it on a 20# gas bottle, so I was able to burn at full tilt without worrying about running out of gas.




Generic Amazon zero gravity chair. Really comfortable and solidly built (heavy) for $40!
I got a good nap in it there by the creek.




Camco water filter. Got these in a 2 pack. Probably have this hooked up wrong - see others with the filter at the end of the hose with a small piece of hose attached to the camper. But they were cheap and worked really well - no taste in the water.




I highly recommend taking a dog camping. They love to pee on every single bush, shrub or post. Tires are fair game too. Mr. Bonz here must hold about 10 gallons, he is just amazing. Unfortunately for him, Moonshine Creek was devoid of rabbits.

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