Fall Road Trip back to the Florida Keys via North Carolina - Oct 23-30, 2021

Sugar Mountain - Banner Elk, Appalachian Mountains in NW North Carolina

Our semi-annual relocation between Minnesota and Florida began on October 23 with a 2 day drive to Sugar Mountain NC, with stops in Iowa City and London KY along the way. Unfortunately the ACC gave out again on our car about 100 miles south of Mpls. So the rest of the trip was without any cruise control.

We had rented a 2 BR condo in Sugar Mountain through VACASA. It turned out to be a gem. We arrived around 4 pm to find a beautifully appointed and cozy unit at 4950’ elevation with wonderful mountain views (with occasional times in the clouds). We ended up having the whole building to ourselves.

We booked a 3 night stay to give time to explore more in detail the area we briefly visited about 10 years ago. We planned to revisit Linville Falls, and Grandfather Mountain as well as drive portions of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We also planned out to check out Blowing Rock NC and spend time driving the mountain roads in search of fall colors. Well our timing was perfect for brilliant colors - the best we’ve seen in our many fall trips through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee, North and South Carolina and Georgia.

Our morning trip to Linville Falls was a cloudy, but the sun broke through just as we arrived. Lots of people there and the leaves were brilliant. We then spent the rest of the day driving mountain roads, including parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway and Blowing Rock Hwy US 221. Some great photo ops.

Day 2 started at nearby Grandfather Mountain with clear blue skies and light breezes. Perfect for a visit to the mile long bridge. From there we drove the Blowing Rock Hwy to Blowing Rock and a visit to the Blowing Rock Cliff. We returned to Sugar Mountain via the Blue Ridge Parkway. Being only halfway to our Florida Keys destination, we got an early start for the 2 days of driving ahead of us with an overnight stop in Brunswick GA.

Unfortunately upon arrival at our home in the Keys we were greeted with an entry covered in water and a ruined ceiling. Turns out the AC condensation line had plugged up and water backed up above and ran down unto ceiling below. A $6300 repair bill to fix it.