We arrived in Asheville, North Carolina late in the day. We have previously been to Asheville so we did not plan on exploring and we had one common thought in mind - let's get back to Durham. Asheville is a city with about 85,000 people and is on the western side of the state of North Carolina and a stepping off point for a lot of people driving the Blue Ridge Parkway (which we did last year) in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Asheville itself is quite a popular city for week-end visits and has a very lively art and local brewery scene. There is also the famous Biltmore House and Gardens which are open to the public but at $US185.00 for two adults to visit and go on a self guided tour during the day we again gave it a miss. Too expensive for us! Cam tells us it is well worth a visit but we will be happy to agree with him and check it out on line. We woke to drizzly rain and very low cloud so it wasn't hard to leave Asheville behind. The distance from Asheville to Durham is around 225 miles so about our normal day's travel distance. We headed off around 9 am and stopped enroute for lunch at a chain restaurant and then continued on. It was great to eventually see "Durham" on the overhead signs as we approached the city. It was good to be back and pull off what seemed like a never ending I-40 East! We had travelled this same highway from Alburquerque to Durham (side tracking off to Hot Springs which was additional) some 2000 miles so it was great to leave it behind. The highway is at least four lane the full distance and it is possible to drive the full distance without going through a town. Every exit is clearly marked showing what lodging is available, if there is gas (petrol) and what fast food options there are. The speed limit varies between 65 mph and 80 mph and as generally drivers mainly stay within the limit. We only saw two or three police vehicles, no accidents and no one pulled up by the police or sheriff as we travelled this highway. We now have two weeks left in the US and we will spend this time in Durham staying with Cam. We have to winterise the caravan which basically means preparing your caravan to be left over winter in low temperatures. North Carolina does not get particularly cold in the winter with only occasional snow falls yet it is standard practice to winterise all RV's (and incidentally swimming pools). Last year we had our caravan winterised by the local RV company but this year Peter plans to do this himself - a worthwhile $US150 saving. It basically requires all the water lines to be flushed, the tanks totally emptied and cleaned, the hot water system emptied and antifreeze flushed through the lines, tanks and toilet. Fortunately U-tube is helpful and there are on line guides. Once winterised and cleaned it will be ready for storage for the next eight months. This year we will leave it here at Cam's home but this requires a good cover because of the leaf and branch droppings as the area is heavily forested. But first there are other tasks to be completed. Peter promised Cam he would assist with some internal renovations in his house. This has involved drywalling (which is the American term for gib board) the downstairs bedroom as two walls were cinder block, replastering and removing a painted stencil of a zebra off one wall. Once prepared, it has been a matter of sealing and repainting the ceiling, walls and window frames. While in the mood, the downstairs bathroom soon became the talking point. This has now been stripped, new drywall put in, plastered and painted. We are now waiting on the tradesmen to tile the wet areas and the floating wooden floor in the bedroom and upstairs entry will be installed on our last day. Nothing like down to the last minute, but it was the first available date. We are aiming for no hiccups as Cam is now in Europe so it needs to be finished before we head to the airport! The balance of the new cabinetry in the bathroom will need to be installed after the tiling has been completed on Cam's return. Certainly not a bad effort and will be a great job completed. Peter and Cam have enjoyed working together once Cam has been home from work and over the week-end. As for Peter, let's say he will sleep well when we are on the plane. So our visit to the US this year has come to an end. On our road trip this year we travelled some 9500 miles (15,288 kilometres). We have visited the following National Parks: 1. Glacier National Park, Montana 2. Badlands National Park, South Dakota 3. Mt Rushmore National Monument, South Dakota 4. Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota 5. Devils Tower, Wyoming 6. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 7. Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming 8. Zion National Park, Utah 9. Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah 10. Capitol Reef National Park, Utah 11. Canyonlands National Park, Utah 12. Arches National Park, Utah 13. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado 14. Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas 15. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North Carolina We have driven through 1. North Carolina 2. Virginia 3. West Virginia 4. Ohio 5. Indiana 6. Michigan 7. Illinois 8. Wisconsin 9. Minnesota 10. North Dakota 11. Montana 12. Wyoming 13. South Dakota 14. Idaho 13. Utah 14. Colorado 15. New Mexico 16. Texas 17. Oklahoma 18. Arkansas 19. Tennessee Our road trip was for 71 days. We had only two prior accommodation bookings - one at Glacier National Park and and the other at Yellowstone National Park and ended up changing that one as we were a few days earlier than expected. Over the course of 71 days we had one night in a hotel, 4 nights in a cabin, 42 nights in camping grounds and 24 nights at a variety of freedom camp sites. We do not plan a detailed itinerary but prefer to have the flexibility to plan as we go and take in the unexpected. We always have a start and finish point and date with an idea of where we want to go in the time frame. This year I called it "the year of the national parks". We have mainly visited the national parks this year with many smaller towns along the way. We have loved this. The only major cities we have visited have been Chicago, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City and Nashville. We have not seen the coast and considering we live by the coast this seems quite strange. Would we recommend this road trip to others - yes definitely, have the freedom to change your itinerary as you go along, and take your time. We could have easily had another few weeks and not added any more stops along the way. We had to keep moving to complete the loop we had chosen. Except for the last two weeks of travel we have travelled during school holidays so camping grounds have been busy and so have the parks. To avoid this means travelling in spring and early summer or during late summer and into autumn. Either way there is the possibility of a really cold snap and wintry conditions which we wanted to avoid, especially in the north. We made time today to enjoy lunch out at one of the many local cafes - this time a very popular German bakery and cafe which we hadn't been to previously. It was so good to sit, relax and enjoy great food. So we have just one more day in Durham, a city we have come to enjoy not just because our son lives here. Durham is in the Research Triangle which includes Durham, Raleigh and Chapel Hill and there is a population of over two million altogether. It is busy - there are four and six lane highways in all directions and even after a number of visits I still rely on the GPS in the car to find my way around. We often still walk around the wrong side of the car to get in to drive and it is still not normal to drive on the right hand side of the road but we are used to it. We have a trip to the transfer station tomorrow to empty the trailer (it is not open on Sunday as this is the Bible belt) then we will be heading to Raleigh International Airport for that long flight home - well really three flights. We choose to fly Qantas so this year we go Raleigh to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Sydney and then Sydney to Auckland. It is some 27 hours with layovers so getting off that last flight is always great. Fortunately Raleigh International Airport is just twenty minutes from Cam's home. We hope you have enjoyed following along with us as we have travelled the roads of the mighty USA this year. If we can help you plan, or answer any questions, we are happy to do so. What are we looking forward to? Seeing our family of course, hopefully getting some sleep during our flights, sleeping in our own bed, and driving on the "right" side of the car and the road!