Carolina on My Mind –Lake Norman State Park, Troutman, NC 6/6

Well who had bets on us taking the ski lift? You were right. We had a great time riding Virginia’s only chair lift down to the tunnel and wandering around looking up at the chasm and just soaking in the magic of the place. We’ve decided this state park is our second favorite, after Montauk. The park employed quite a few young men, about 18 or 19 yrs old, who worked the chair lift. We spent quite a long time talking with one of these Southern gentlemen and exchanging stories about each of our hometowns. (See today’s pic) He is a real sweet local boy. His daddy is a coal miner and the family also used to grow tobacco to supplement their income. We didn’t head out for North Carolina until almost noon! When we finally reached Asheville mid-afternoon we were thinking about taking a tour of the Biltmore Mansion. We went to the Visitor’s Center, saw a short film and then realized the tickets were $70 a piece. Call me cheap, but that’s the equivalent of about 6 nights camping! Fuhgetaboutit. Suddenly it didn’t seem that interesting to view rich people’s stuff. (Does this mean I’m cheap?) Instead, we decided to stroll thru downtown Asheville and had a delish lunch at an outdoor café listening to some great street musicians. We both thought this was a much better use of our dollars. Originally we were going to camp at Lake James SP, but because there was no swimming and we were really hot we thought we’d drive a bit longer and camp at Lake Norman. By the time we got here, it was about 6 and quite muggy. We hopped on our bikes and did the usual tour of the park. It’s a rather large state park and things are spread out. By the time we biked to the swimming beach we discovered that it had already closed. So, we decided to go back to the campsite and hike the lake access trail for an unauthorized swim. Well, as soon as we started on our quest the skies opened up and a huge drenching thunderstorm engulfed us. So, back to the van it was for a quick sketchy meal waiting for the storm to pass. Why am I seeing a heated game of skip-bo or scrabble in our future? Tomorrow we head to my niece’s house. I’m really looking forward to getting reacquainted with my grand-nephews!

Filling in the Gaps –Natural Tunnel State Park, Stone Gap, VA 6/5

True to our word, we packed up early and headed out toward the Appalachia Mountains. It had rained while we were sleeping last night so the drive through the eastern part of Kentucky and over the mountains was particularly beautiful. Everything is lush and brilliant green. One of the things we have been having fun doing the past three days in Kentucky is looking for, and trying to capture on camera, the quilt patterns on the barns. It’s so charming and quaint to see all the brightly painted quilt squares. We continued to entertain ourselves by periodically stopping, jumping out of the car and snapping the pic. Once we reached the Appalachian Mountains we stopped at the first grocery store to load up on provisions. Mmm – groceries are a little different in this neck of the woods. We usually buy a quart of milk, several yogurts for breakfast, chicken, turkey or perhaps a steak for barbequing and fresh fruit and veggies. That usually lasts us for a couple of days. This store was predominantly stocked with canned and frozen goods, sliced processed cheese, and the meat choices were pork bellies or other fine choices of swine. The veggies were basically iceberg lettuce. There was also a large display of gallon sized frying oil. An older gentleman in front of us in the check-out line had only two cases of moon pies and ABC ginger ale in his cart. I feel so sorry for these folks that the main grocery store in town (and it was a big’un) had such poor choices. We really do take for granted our fresh fruit, veggies and lean meats. Needless to say we walked out with a small bag of items. In preparing for this trip I discovered a Coalfield Miners Folk Festival in Grundy, VA for today. I was so excited that we would be able to experience first hand a real mountain community gathering. When we reached Grundy we couldn’t find anything about it so started asking around. After several attempts from different people, we finally realized the festival was outside of Grundy in a place called Poplar Gap. We began a long, long climb up a ridge, passed small houses, trailers and shanties clinging to the edge of the mountain, with the gap in the mountain no wider than a single lane road. All these towns are called “gaps” for a reason! We traveled through several of these small gaps and hollers. It was so interesting to see how entire communities and generations have eeked out an existence all around mining coal. Ned was particularly fascinated with the geology of the area and pointing out all the exposed seams of coal in the mountain. Of course, the farther we went up and down, the more doubtful it seemed we would ever find the festival. Ned thought for sure this was one of my usual hair-brained ideas. Finally, we spotted a handmade sign tacked to a post, directing us to the place. (What, me worried??). We were warmly greeted by some gentlemen and given a program of the activities at the festival. Ned was delighted to see that at 2:15 there was a talk to be given by a geologist on the history of coal in this region. We attended the talk with about a dozen other people and found it to be informative and entertaining. It turned out that the speaker also just wrote a book about Natural Tunnel State Park where we were camping tonight. How fortuitous! After the talk we enjoyed walking around the grounds, (which were on a flattened hilltop which turned out to be a restored strip mining site), listening to “pickers” (bluegrass musicians), seeing basket making demonstrations, etc. (See today’s pic). I especially enjoyed talking with the guy who had a booth about the Scots-Irish genealogy of the area. The conversation started out something like this: Him: “Are you short?” Me: “What?, Well, I don’t think I’m thaaat short.” Him: “You look short.” Well, his accent was so thick that I couldn’t figure out what he was saying. After awhile I figured out that he thought I was a descendent of the “Short” family in that area. Pretty funny. We also enjoyed the local fare. Ned had a fried green tomato sandwich and I had soup beans, which consisted of a plate of beans, collard greens, hominy and a hoe cake. We had such a great time at the festival. Everyone was very welcoming and absolutely fascinated that we came from the Gold Mining area of California. We finally moseyed on through the Appalachia Mountains to Stone Gap, where we are camped tonight. It’s an amazing park whose main feature is an 850 ft. natural tunnel surrounded by 400 ft. cliffs. An active railroad actually goes through this tunnel. Ned and I decided to hop on our bikes and ride to it. The trail was so steep we had to walk our bikes down to the visitor center. Once at the visitor center there is a chair lift (much like at a ski lift) that takes you to the tunnel. Well, it was well after closing hours so we decided, what the heck let’s just hoof it. We were rewarded with the most amazing site of the tunnel nestled in a hardwood forest, next to a stream, and looking up at these huge cliffs. Unfortunately we forgot the camera! We had a really, long and hard climb back to the top and then an equally hard climb – walking our bikes – back to the campground. I was exhausted when we got back. Tomorrow we swear we’ll go down and capture it on film, the question is will we walk it or take the lift?

A Little Kentucky Flavor –Ft. Boonsboro State Park, Kentucky 6/4

Today was quite a day. I might get a little long-winded on this one, so pour yourself a cup of coffee and sit a spell. We weren’t sad to have an early start from Nolin State Park. We were never really sure what was up, but everybody kept staring at us. It was a relatively small campground, perhaps 24 sites, and between the California plates and the Winniemobile, we’re used to people coming on over and chatting it up with us. We were camped in the middle of the campground and people just sat in their chairs, facing toward us, and stared. It felt rather like we were in a fish bowl. As we left the park, driving through backroads and hills, we were absolutely charmed by the folks sitting on their porches waving to us as we drove by – and this was at 8 in the morning! It was quite touching and totally changed our opinion of Kentucky hospitality. The interesting thing about driving this particular stretch of road was the juxtaposition of neat and tidy Amish farms situated next to hillbilly ramshackle anything goes places. Once a year Kentucky has something called the “4 Day 400 Mile Sale.” Yep, for 400 miles (mainly on Rte. 68) it’s one big yard sale. The problem is that with some of the places you pass by, you can never tell if it’s a yard sale or the people are just living like this. Neds says it looks like something exploded all over their yard. (To make my point, one of the people in the campground this morning brought their refrigerator – yes the big one – with them. It wasn’t plugged in or anything, we think they may have put ice blocks in it to use it as a jumbo size ice chest.) Our first destination was Abraham Lincoln’s birthplace. As a National Historic Site it was quite small, but done well. We enjoyed the visitor’s center and walking the grounds, but the cabin was under construction and we couldn’t view it. The next stop was Lincoln’s boyhood home, Knob Creek Farm. It was very low-key, and not really much to see, but we enjoyed taking a stroll and enjoying the peacefulness of the country property. For me, the best part was when we walked down to the creek (or crik as they say in this here parts) to see where Abraham Lincoln was saved from drowning by being pulled out by his childhood friend. When we got there and viewed the tiny little trickle of water Ned said, “Aw, the least they could have done was make it a good stream so we didn’t think our President was a weenie. Kinda makes the guy look like a wimp to almost drown in 2 inches of water.” (Viewing these sites is one thing, doing it with Ned is a whole other ball game!) Feeling rather Lincoln saturated at this point, we thought it a good time to maybe hit the Bourbon Trail. We had a beautiful drive through the country to Maker’s Mark Distillery. Knowing that we didn’t want to take a long tour or taste bourbon on an empty stomach we had a nice lunch at the little café on the grounds. (Ned highly recommends the bourbon bbq pulled pork sandwich). The tour was fantastic!! Our guide, Herb, was truly a Southern gentleman who was equally knowledgeable and delightful. We not only saw the entire bourbon making process, but also got to see the bottles being hand dipped in the red wax and stamped. And of course, the bourbon tasting after was divine. (Today’s pic Ned doing a little sampling). As if we hadn’t already done enough in one day, we decided to visit Shaker Village. We got there with only about an hour to spare before closing time so were able to just walk in and roam about on our own. It was enough…So, I bet you’re thinking our day was just about ready to wind down. Well this is where things really got interesting. Our final stop for the night was Fort Boonesboro State Park. We could have taken the highway up to Lexington and then followed the major roads to the park, but oh no – not us! After viewing the map we decided to just take a “short –cut” though a couple of unmarked backroads. We saw on the map that we could even catch the “free ferry” over the river. (In case you’re not aware, Kentucky has these free ferries you can catch over the rivers. They are a one-man operation that is guided by cables between the two shores and can fit one, maybe two cars. We’re not sure why this operation is cheaper than bridges, but we’re only from California and don’t know much). With me driving and Ned navigating (a deadly combination on both accounts) we started our short-cut. It’s a little frustrating because many of the roads around here don’t tell you the name of the road nor what the next town is. Anyway, at some point Ned said, “If we get to Sulphur Well we’ve gone the wrong way” right about the time I drove past a road marked Sulphur Well. “Mmmm – let’s just take this road and cut on over to the road we want to be on.” Seemed like a good idea until the orange line down the road disappeared and the houses turned to trailers and the trailers looked like “something exploded on their lawn.” Up and over the ridge and thru hollers we went, driving by tiny Pentacostal churches. The road kept getting narrower and narrower until finally we were in front of a road barricade that said, “Road Ends 500 ft.” I stopped the car, we looked at each other and just started laughing. At about this time, a guy in a beat up red pick-up truck, with a big black dog hanging out in the back, drove towards us on the road. He pulled up next to us, Ned got out, and we both said rather sheepishly, “We’re lost.” He asked us where we were headed and when we told him Ft. Boonsboro State Park, he took off his hat, scratched his head, let out a big sigh and said, “ You ever see the movie called Wrong Turn?” No, we said. “Well, rent it. Cuz you’re in it. It’s about getting lost in West Virginia.” Oh, did I mention he had a hand gun sitting right next to him on the seat?! Well, turns out he was the sweetest guy. He probably thinks a girl driving a van with California plates lost in the backroads of Kentucky ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but he basically told us to turn around and go the more conventional route. And for the record, he said that if the road wasn’t washed out we might have made it work, then mumbled something about the locks not working and the government being no damned good. And then again, you never know the hours of the ferry guy…After about a good hour or so, we FINALLY made it to the campground. So, let me tell you about THIS place. We thought we would be staying at a quaint Daniel Boone Fort campground. Instead we pulled into a campground that is about the size of 3 football fields and has 160 campsites. Every single one of them has a fifth wheel parked in it. Poor Winnie looks so pathetic parked in the middle of them, like something they coughed up. We got on our bikes to check things out, rode past the sewage plant, miniature golf course, the pool with the condemned water slide and in the middle of the campground, where the asphalt basketball courts are located there was music blaring and at least 25 girls tap dancing!! Seriously. When I asked about it someone corrected me and said they were clogging, not tap dancing – whatever. 25 girls with taps on their shoes sounded like tap dancing to me! We decided that after today we deserved a dinner out. The closest restaurant is about 5 miles from here situated on the banks of the Kentucky River. We settled for the catfish dinner, not the frog legs (yes, really) and decided that we earned the margaritas and cold beer today. It’s days like today why I have traveling in my bones. You can’t make this stuff up and it’s why I love America!

Jefferson Davis and Ranger Joel –Nolin Lake State Park, Kentucky 6/3

It’s Ned here again. We woke to a beautiful view of Energy Lake in the morning sun. Our first outing was to find out more about this Land Between the Lakes area. We learned at the Visitor Center the history of this unique and fertile area, formerly known as “Between the Rivers” (before the Cumberland & Kentucky Rivers were dammed to become lakes.) The group of settlers there got displaced 3 times by the federal government (first by the Tennessee Valley Authority when the Kentucky River was dammed, second when the Cumberland River was dammed, and finally when the Federal Recreation Area was formed.) Needless to say, there are still lots of locals who are resentful of having been driven off their land. We learned that Golden Pond, where the visitor center was located, was formerly considered the moonshine whiskey capital of the U.S.! The weird thing is that the area is now completely uninhabited and undeveloped, so that, although quite beautiful, something feels not quite right about how this land became a “nature preserve”. Our next stop was at the Jefferson Davis Memorial, with its 315 tall obelisk, highly reminiscent of the Washington Memorial in D.C. We opted not take the elevator trip to the top, but only tour the small museum about the man who had been President of the Confederacy during the Civil War. We left feeling fairly creeped out by the vigorous enthusiasm of all the Confederate die-hards touring the museum, including the Confederate flags adorning their cars in the parking lot. Our next stop was a special side-trip Debi had arranged to sample the wares at Chaney’s Dairy Barn, a family owned dairy business that was named one of the Top Scoop Shops by Good Morning America. We both had Chocolate Brownie, but felt it was fairly icy, and lacked the creaminess of our number-one-rated Farr’s Ice Cream we had at Bryce Canyon. We juggled our plan again and decided to check out Mammoth Cave National Park. Debi was a good sport and agreed to the Mammoth Passage Tour, even though she can sometimes suffer from bouts of claustrophobia. A thunderstorm moved in as we waited for our tour, which definitely added to the drama of the moment. Our guide, Ranger Joel, was a very enthusiastic, although extremely serious fellow .(See today’s after-tour pic of him with Debi.) Debi survived the hour long tour, although not without a few very uncomfortable moments. One of which was when Ranger Joel locked us into the cave, and the other was when he turned off the lights in the cave to make a point about how early explorers viewed the cave only by torchlight. I really enjoyed seeing the huge subterranean caverns, although I wished I’d been smart like Debi and remembered to wear a long sleeve shirt! The contrast between the muggy 90 degree temperature outside the cave, and the dry, drafty mid-50’s inside was astonishing. On the way to our campground at Nolin Lake State Park, we were treated to a fun, tiny ferry ride across the Green River. The lush green woods along this road were breathtaking.

With a Spring in Our Step –Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky 6/2

Last night seemed like we were taking part in a National Geographic show. Lying in bed we could see the fireflies dancing about while hearing the rushing sound of the Current River in the background. The insects were buzzing and periodically a screech howl would hoot. The owl kept coming closer and closer until the eerie sounds of a coyote, which was very nearby, made such a racket the hoot owl was chased away. Before we left the park this morning we decided to do a hike to the spring at the headwaters of the Current River. We hiked through some pretty woods, but must have missed the trail somewhere because we never did find it. We had a lot of territory to cover today so we decided to push on. Our main outing of the day was to explore the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The two most impressive stops of the day were Alley Mill and Blue Spring. The mill is a three story red building right next to the turquoise waters of Alley Spring. Much of the original equipment, a turbine instead of a water wheel, and rollers rather than grinding stones, is still operational. When the mill is fully staffed they fire it up twice a day for a couple of minutes. Apparently it’s quite noisy. Much to Ned’s disappointment, they were two staff members short today so he didn’t get to see it in motion. The other amazing stop was Blue Spring. Driving down a dirt road and then a short hike was this jewel. It’s Missouri’s deepest spring at 310 feet and produces 87 million gallons of water daily – wow! True to its name, it’s a beautiful brilliant blue. We had the butterflies, damselflies, surrounding cliffs and blue spring all to ourselves. It was a tough decision which of these two places would make the pic of the day. We settled on Alley Mill simply because of the great color contrast. (All the pics are on my facebook page). We eventually headed east, very briefly driving thru Illinois into Kentucky. It was quite a thrill to drive the bridge over the Mighty Mississippi and then over the Ohio River. We’ve crossed the Mississippi on past trips, but I can’t help but be impressed each time with this massive river and see all the barges. We were originally going to camp at a State Park on the Mississippi, but decided instead to go a little further and camp at “Land Between the Lakes”, the lakes being Kentucky and Barkley. We are camped in a National Forest Area right on the lake. We also have the campground pretty much to ourselves. From our campsite this evening, we munched on chips, salsa and margaritas while watching a gorgeous sunset over the lake. The lake water seems quite warm and perhaps will take an early morning swim before setting out. I’m also looking forward to checking out the Visitor’s Center and learning more about the history of this Land Between the Lakes.

Little House on the Prairie in the Ozarks!…Montauk State Park, MO 6/1

We were enjoying hanging around the campsite so much this morning we didn’t leave until about 11:30. It felt simply wonderful eating papaya while overlooking Table Rock Lake. From there we took a very meandering drive through Mark Twain National Forest just roaming around the countryside of the Ozarks. Eventually we came into Mansfield, the home of Laura Ingalls Wilder in her later years. In fact, this is the place where she wrote most of her Little House on the Prairie Books. We spent several hours here taking a tour of her home, museum and the Rock House. We were amazed at the simple beauty of the home, particularly the Arts & Crafts style living room, library and music room. I really appreciated the craftsmanship of Laura’s husband, Almanzo. He created a gravity fed cistern water system that was funneled through their wood stove, thus giving them hot water. He made several pieces of their furniture and many personal items for Laura. What a guy! The natural light throughout the house seemed particularly advanced for a house built in 1913. Their property was situated on a peaceful wooded knoll. It’s easy to see how Laura got the inspiration to write here. (Today’s pic is Ned standing next to the back of the house). We continued our drive through the Ozark Mountains finally pulling into Montauk State Park after 6. Wow!! This is one of the most beautiful State Parks we have seen. It definitely makes the top 5 list of all our travels. It’s predominantly a fisherman’s paradise, complete with fish hatchery. We picked out a great campsite backed up to the Current River and then hopped on our bikes to explore the park. There’s a rustic lodge, several cabins, an old mill and the Current River running through-out. It was unbelievable beautiful, especially in the dusk to watch the fly fisherman in their waders casting in the turquoise water as the mist rose up above the river. We had fun feeding the fish at the hatchery and biking around all the beautiful parts of the park and enjoying the endless scenery of the river. We grilled up some bratwurst at the campsite, but ate so late that we had to wear our headlamps to see what we were eating. It was still quite warm at 10:30 so we decided to wade into the river, which turned out to be bone aching cold. Boy, did we get cooled off quickly. I can’t quite describe how magical it was, standing ankle deep in the river, looking up at the stars as the fireflies put on a light show for us. We were joined by a very large turtle, several trout and an opossum that wandered by in the moonless night.

A Taste of Branson…Table Rock State Park, MO 5/31

When we woke up this morning there was a very slight drizzle. At first Ned thought there were just a lot of fish biting in the lake. Less than 30 minutes later it stopped, but it was so hot and humid you really couldn’t tell the difference between rain and just plain muggy. We said our goodbyes to Teri and Terrie, and promised to meet up again somewhere next year for another camping trip. We drove through the Ozarks and into Southern Missouri taking backroads and scenic routes. The hardwoods were really thick and lush, so unlike the forest of the Sierras! When we eventually arrived in Branson, MO it was a little bit of a shock. We were so used to the solitude of 3 days at Lake Wedington that the tourist attractions of Branson felt over the top. Just for kicks we drove through downtown but really didn’t see anything that struck our fancy. By anything, I mean country shows, go-karts,, bunge jumping, or helicopter, railroad, boat or duck rides. We did settle on trying out Andy’s Frozen Custard. Meh. It was on par with your standard soft-serve, not even on par with Farr or Blue Bell’s league. I thought the picture would give you a taste of the area. When we pulled into Table Rock State Park earlier today, we got the usual person wandering over asking questions about the Winniemoblie and wanting to take a look inside. He was a sweet grandpa from Missouri. We asked him for recommendations on what was a “must see” and he suggested the Ralph Foster Museum at College of the Ozarks. So, after meandering thru Historic Branson to catch the dancing water and fire show, we decided to mosey on over to the College. By this time it was close to 90 deg. and humid as hell. It felt great to be inside an air-conditioned building. The museum had everything from the original car of the TV show “The Beverley Hillbillies” to an extensive gun collection from the last 400 years. There was also quite a bit of Country Music memorabilia specifically related to the Ozarks. We enjoyed the museum a lot and would recommend it to anyone passing thru. (Did you know that Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was an alumni of this college?) We got settled into the campsite in the early evening but were still too hot to do anything. Once the sun was near setting, about 7:30 we hopped on our bikes and pedaled along this really nice bike path that took us along the lakeshore from the marina to the dam. By the time we got back to our site, we decided to put on our swim suits and go for an evening swim. The water felt great! We floated around for awhile and when the fireflies began to come out we decided it was time to head back! It was a skootch disconcerting to have a skunk wander onto the bike path, but he eventually headed home. Currently, it’s 10ish at night and the temp is a very muggy 88 degrees. I’m sure going to appreciate the fan that Ned rigged to blow air across our bed tonight.