Summer at Lake Hickory RV Resort
Anything would be hard to compare to my cross county trip early in July, but my stay at Lake Hickory RV resort in the summer of 2008 as a full-timer was and continues to be a memorable experience. I arrived at Lake Hickory RV Resort after driving 3500 miles cross country with Nathan on July 10, 2008. The plan was to live at LHRV Resort until our house in Oregon sold, and my wife, Holly could join me back in Hickory. The whole adventure began in May with a job interview with Draka Communications in Claremont, NC that resulted in a job offer. My start date was mid-July, and I needed to move our 30 foot travel trailer to North Carolina, as well as find temporary housing. The obvious solution was to drive cross country and to stay at LHRV Resort which was only a few miles from Draka.
I arrived late in the day on July 11th and got my rig settled on a temporary lake view site. I quickly got to know my neighbors Arnold and Jason who invited me over to socialize with their friends and other LHRV resort residents in the evenings. I shared some homemade wine and venison sausage with my neighbors and they shared some moonshine with me. I knew right away that I would fit in.
My days at work became very full with orientation and many pressing business activities. Staying at the RV resort was a welcome break from the busy day-to-day routine. I did some fishing, catching panfish, bass, yellow perch, shad, stripers, and even catfish as big as 10 pounds. Fridays became a ritual of hitting the gym after work, going to Hickory Live, and having dinner and a couple of cold beers at the Hickory Tap Room. Usually there was a group of people hanging out at the resort when I came home.
I enjoyed the friendly atmosphere at the RV resort, and I eventually got a nice, long term spot. Being part of the LHRV resort I found that most of the residents owned golf carts, sometimes elaborately customized. I decided that this would be a nice addition to my RV Resort lifestyle. I purchased a nice used golf cart from Bowman’s golf carts, and also had an invitation to a biker poker run and fundraiser at The Wizard, a local biker bar. I drove down to The Wizard with my new golf cart in the bed of my pickup. It took me a while to find the place since new roads had been built and new traffic patterns had developed since I left 6 years ago.
It was a wonderful day and I arrived in the late afternoon as all the motorcycles were finishing the poker run and the band was playing. I had a couple of beers and some food, and then figured I had better get the golf cart out of the bed of my pickup before dark. Some handy ramps that I picked up from Northern Tool and Equipment made this an easy task. I rested up a bit and then headed back to the Wizard where I was told and excellent band would be playing that night.
I was not disappointed with Tater, the band that was playing there that night. They played a fusion of classic rock, country, and bluegrass. I guess “speedgrass”, a term coined by the band, could describe their musical style. The band played and I got to meet each member and have a conversation between sets. I told them that they would probably be a big hit at the Oregon Jamboree where my wife spent last weekend with a close friend. I picked up a CD that I got autographed by all the band members. Apparently, they have quite a local following. I can see why. It was quite a night.
The rest of the summer was weekends of landscaping, deck improvements, trailer repairs, and socializing with friends. I reserved the clubhouse at the resort for Ashley’s 21st birthday. I went out to Oregon at the end of August to visit, bring the dogs, and to take the trip with Holly and Ashley cross country. Due to a dog show in Portland that weekend, all of the in-fight dog spots were taken on our original flight, so I had to re-book an earlier flight. We had to wake up at 2AM to catch the flight, but the early departure from Portland allowed us to reach North Carolina at a reasonable hour. Sadie and Lillie were little angels during the long flight, hardly making a peep even with Lillie battling air sickness. Our connecting flight out of Dallas was delayed slightly allowing us a little time to get a little snack and walk around. Sadie and Lillie were very popular at the airport since people rarely fly with pets. We finally arrived at Charlotte and made a traffic-free drive to Conover and had dinner with Holly’s mother before retiring in our camper.
During the week I coordinated with June, the social director at the RV resort and booked a DJ and Karaoke for the big party on Saturday. Holly and I connected with friends and went out to dinner at some of our old favorite restaurants. The big party was a big hit with lots of relatives, friends, and RV resort members. I made some of my famous venison burgers with the help of my neighbor Joey. Before Holly returned to Oregon we had a wonderful dinner at DaVinci’s restaurant where we met our old friend Anthony. We spent a good part of the night catching up on old time before packing up a desert that we brought back home to Ashley and Carol, my mother in-law. Holly went back to Oregon the next day, and I stayed in Hickory with Sadie and Lillie.
The Wizard Bikes at the Wizard
Joey With Girls Tater
My Campsite with Retaining Wall The Puppies
Hangin’ with the Pups at Joey’s My Site with the Cart.
A Big Snake