Since our East Coast RV trip was taking us from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to Newport Rhode Island, we had a few overnight stops along the way. We decided to use our Harvest Host Membership for a few of those stops.
Our first Harvest Host experience was at the Appalachian Distillery in Ripley, West Virginia. Here’s a review of our stay and experience.
Our RV and Tow Vehicle
To put things into perspective about our experience, I think it’s helpful to know what type of RV we are traveling in. We made this trip in our 2014 Newmar Mountain Aire with a golf cart on our Hydralift Platform and towing a 2019 Chevy Equinox with a Stay-N-Play installed using a Blue Ox Tow bar.
Without the Hydralift and SUV in tow, our Big Rig is 44 feet long, 8.5 feet wide and 12’10” high. We have a 450 Cummins diesel engine on a Freightliner tag axle chassis. Our RV weighs approximately 47,000 pounds loaded.
What Trip Planner Did We Use?
We selected RV Trip Wizard to help us plan our routes. It is a paid subscription membership and it is our first trip using it. We’ll write a detailed review of our experience with it later, but so far for $40 per year it seems worth it!
What RV GPS Are We Using?
We are currently using the Garmin 770 GPS. We’ve found that it sometimes sends us down difficult routes that are not the safest place for our size RV. While some of the routes are passable, that doesn’t mean the are the easiest to maneuver with our size rig towing an SUV. We will do a detailed post showing some of the routes our Garmin took us in the future.
The Route Through West Virginia I-77 and 64 Is A Rough Ride
As this picture shows, the roads are not in good shape in this part of Pennsylvania. The photos were taken in August 2020. Plan on securing all items well in your RV.
Easy Access
The route took us up I-77 to exit 132 where you climb a slight incline to the turn-off. Once you reach the exit from I-77, it’s just 2 turns off of the highway and less than a mile. The access to Appalachian Distillery was easy with no low bridges or extreme grades to deal with.
The Parking Site
We were directed to a level, gravel site, and were able to open our slides and run our generator. The staff at both places were very friendly and helpful. The BBQ chef was named Bones and even helped us the next morning when our tow vehicle needed a jump start!
Appalachian Distillery
The Harvest Host is the Appalachian Distillery, a moonshine distillery with a great reputation and lots of visitors. During normal times, there are tastings but when we visited tastings were suspended due to COVID-19. There are lots of great souvenirs to buy including sampler kits of outstanding moonshine!
Great Restaurant Next Door- The Fairplain Yacht Club
We were surprised to find a great barbeque restaurant right next door on the property named the Fairview Yacht Club. The funny part is that there is no water anywhere near this place but the theme and the food is great!
Would We Recommend This Harvest Host Location?
Yes, we highly recommend the Appalachian Distillery for a great stop during an RV trip through the Appalachian Mountains of West Virginia!
Join Harvest Host Now and Get a Discount!
Here’s a link to join Harvest Host and get a 15% discount. The annual membership for Harvest Hosts is only $67.15 with the discount we’re able to offer our readers.