Back on the mountain for a couple of weeks.

Saturday, April 18 - Monday April 20

Clara left Thursday to go to the mountains near Banner Elk with some of her friends for a few days.

We had a special guest stay in our guest house this weekend, Jim Wann
( http://jimwann.com/events/item/king-mackerel-the-blues-are-running )with the Coastal Coharts.  They are performing their Show "King Mac and the Blues are Running" this weekend as a fundraiser for the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum.  Karen had called earlier to see if we would mind hosting one of the performers, and of course we were very pleased to do so.

Friday night, I took Jean and Maddie as my guest to the show (at the community college auditorium) seeing as Clara was out of town.  They do a great show.  This is probably the fourth or fifth time I've seen it and it's always a pleasure.

The Coastal Coharts at the Community College Audiotorium

Saturday morning I got up early and started my trip to the mountains.  Clara is to meet me on her way back from the "girls trip" in Raleigh Sunday afternoon.

I have some work I want done on the motor home, so I've made arrangements to drop the motor home off at Campers Inn in Mocksville Monday morning.  Taking advantage of this, I've decided to spend a couple of days at Jordan Lake State Park Campground near Raleigh.  This way the "kids" will get a chance to see our new-to-us motor home and I get to spend some quality time with Anna and Evan.

As I'm driving into Raleigh, I contact Slade and they agree to meet me at the campground.  They actually end up arriving at the same time I do, so they get to see the motor home and help me set it up - good experience for getting ready for our trip out West this summer.

After getting set up, we take off for a fun afternoon and we go to their athletic club for a good workout.  We pick up dinner and drive back out to the motor home to eat, have a campfire, and relax.

Anna and Evan spend the night with me, learning more about how they'll spend two weeks this summer.

Sunday morning - after breakfast in the motor home - the kids decide they need a donut (and I need some coffee) so we take off to Dunkin' Donuts.  Evan proceeded to eat THREE big donuts while there, for which I think we wishes he hadn't - he looks a little green.

Sunday afternoon we meet Clara at a shopping center on I-40, have a nice lunch and the girls take off shopping for jewelry to match her dress for Anna's 8th grade prom.  Wow, she is one beautiful young lady when all dressed up in her prom dress!

Sunday evening Clara and I go back out to the park and prepare for an early morning departure to head West.

Monday, April 20

After an uneventful drive to Mocksville, we drop off the motor home and drive on up to the mountain house.  It survived the winter nicely - only a couple of shingles blown off the roof.  According to our weather station, we had 80 mph winds in February (not as bad as 94 mph winds we have experienced in the past).

Tuesday, April 21

A quiet day after a rainy day yesterday.  The winds came through last night (54 mph) and cleared out all the rain, but it turned considerably cooler (42 degrees last night).  We had planned to work in the yard, but not when it's this cold.

Tonight we had dinner downtown with Kit, Bill and Judy.  Really nice to catch up and see friends again.

Wednesday April 22 - Wednesday, April 29

The wind kept blow through Thursday, finally blowing itself out, but not before hitting 64 mph.

Wednesday, we drove over to Asheville so Clara could go out with her past co-workers from Memorial Mission Hospital.  It's great to see friends who worked together 30 and 40 years ago still enjoying each others company.

While they enjoyed each others company, I enjoyed a hike on a trail near the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The weather has stayed cool all week.  It's like the cool weather is trying to seek us out and make us unhappy.  But we're not really unhappy because at least we can't do yard work like we had planned.  I did get the lawn mowed and put out some mole repellent.  It seems that we must have an ideal yard for moles because they really enjoy tunneling through my lawn.

We've been out with friends quite a bit.  It's very seldom that we go out to dinner with friends in Beaufort, but here we find ourselves really enjoying getting out.

Dinner at Will and Bonnie's home

Bill and Jan Bass came over from Asheville Sunday and spent the night.  Sunday afternoon we drove up to Blowing Rock, had lunch and enjoyed a nice drive on the parkway.

On Monday, we all drove over to Lake Lure to look at a really nice RV subdivision where there were several lots for sale.  I keep thinking that perhaps we should buy a lot and perhaps make it our mountain home using our new-to-us motor home, but somehow it always comes back to the fact that we have this beautiful home here in the mountains already, and we don't have to buy it.  So why give up a spacious home in the mountains for a smaller motor home.  Doesn't make sense, so I've dropped the idea.  Maybe we need to consider a motor home subdivision somewhere out West.

The Orchard at Altapass, Apple Mountain and our Mountain Home

This morning, I was outside while the roofer was working on replacing some shingles that had been replaced last year.  (It seems that every year we lose shingles in one particular spot on the roof, and last year when I had them replaced again, the contractor said "I guarantee that these will stay on.  I now own them".  Well, we lost two, and true to his word, he replaced them.)

Anyway, as I was in the front yard, I noticed that one of the boundary markers that I had installed that designates the property across the road as the Blue Ridge Parkway had blown off.  While replacing the sign, I thought about some of the history of our home and the adjoining properties.

Our mountain home is located on the Eastern Continental Divide at 3,200 feet above sea level.  We built the home in 2000-2001 when I was the Executive Director of the Mitchell County Chamber of Commerce and the Mitchell County Economic Development Commission.

When we initially purchased our lot in Apple Mountain Subdivision, the land across the road was a part of the Orchard at Altapass. The Orchard has an interesting history at http://www.altapassorchard.org.

The history from their web site:

In 1995 Katherine Trubey purchased 280 acres of unrestricted land straddling the Blue Ridge Parkway to preserve its historic beauty and prevent development that would destroy the views from the Parkway. Though the land was bought as a preservation project, the new owners recognized that they had much more than Blue Ridge Parkway views and heritage apples to preserve. "Kit" Trubey, together with Bill and Judy Carson, began a journey: to preserve the unique history and culture of Altapass, and to use The Orchard at Altapass location to showcase it.

In 2002 the natural and historical preservation projects associated with The Orchard, McKinney Gap, and Altapass were placed under the umbrella of the nonprofit Altapass Foundation, Inc. Then in 2004, the orchard and the general store were incorporated as a supporting nonprofit organization. Together, the Altapass Foundation, Inc. and Altapass Support, Inc. promote and support the many special projects of the Orchard. These projects attract an increasing number of visitors to the area each year and bring together locals, tourists, and vacation property owners.

The mission of the Altapass Foundation, Inc. is to preserve the history, heritage and culture of the Blue Ridge Mountains; protect the underlying orchard land with its apples, wetlands, butterflies, and other natural features; and educate the public about the Appalachian experience. We depend on contributions from Altapass Foundation members and donors to continue the many programs and projects aimed at preserving the land, the history, and the culture of Altapass. We invite you to support our mission by becoming a Member of the Altapass Foundation. Individual memberships start at just $30 per year.

Kit Truby has over the years placed most of the 280 acres she purchased into various conservation easement, most of which eventually was transferred to the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The Parkway bisects the Orchard and has one of the most spectacular views on the Parkway.

The Orchard from the Blue Ridge Parkway.  The "packing barn" is located just below our home.

Shortly after we finished our home, I took a new job as Executive Director of the Carteret County Economic Development Council.  Instead of selling our recently completed home, we decided to keep it.  We were moving to Beaufort and would be living in the home that Clara inherited from her father, so we had a place to live.  And we would have the Mountain Home for vacations and retirement.

So, now our Mountain Home property adjoins the Blue Ridge Parkway.  We cannot see the Parkway from our property unless we walk across the road in the winter when the leaves are off the trees. Then we can make out the packing house that adjoins the Parkway (which is now a country store and music venue) in its bright red exterior.

Over the years we have grown very close with Kit, her brother Bill Carson who runs the Orchard, and other members of their family.  We cherish their friendship and appreciate what they have done to help preserve the views and heritage of Western North Carolina.

Wednesday, April 29

Today, we decided to be tourist.  We drove over to the little community of Bakersville.  Bakersville is the county seat of Mitchell County, but only has a population of around 100.  It's downtown, which consists of a few buildings, consist primarily of arts and crafts businesses, most of which are closed at this time of year.  There was one open, and after spending a few minutes in it, we left and decided to take the back roads back to Spruce Pine.

We ended up on Hwy 80, which has to be one of the windingest roads in the area.  We hadn't been in this part of the area in a long time.  We recalled a short vacation we had many years ago when we lived in Asheville.  We rented a cabin near the community of Kona and enjoyed a nice weekend with Bill and Jan.

Kona is infamous for an event that occurred there in 1831 from which to ballad "Frankie and Johnnie" supposedly grew from.

There are several books written about Frankie and Charles Silver.  They were a young married couple in the early 1800's living near what is today Kona.  As the story goes, Charles Silver left his pregnant wife and child and went our carousing often, and upon his arrival at back at their cabin after an extended absence, Frankie, who had had enough of his waywardness, killed Charles.  In an attempt to cover up the murder, she chopped Charles into many pieces and tried to cover up the murder.  She was later convicted of the murder and supposedly became the first woman in North Carolina's history to be hanged.

All of Charlie's remains were unearthed over a period of time and buried as they were found, resulting in three graves that bear his name.  The graveyard now has a headstone with his name and three stones with "CS" on them that designate the three graves of Charles Silver.

Charles Silver's gravestone with the three stones commemorating his burial as his body parts were discovered

I don't know how the song commemorating the events of Charlie's death became "Frankie and Johnnie" rather the "Frankie and Charlie".  I guess Frankie and Johnnie sounds better.

This evening, we enjoyed a nice long sunset.

Enjoying a beautiful sunset with a beautiful lady

Friday, May 1

Our motor home is supposed to be ready to pick up today, but as is seemingly normal in the motor home service business, it isn't ready.

So we decide to wait until Saturday to leave and stop in Cary and see the kids.  Anna has a volley ball game, but Evan's soccer game is rained out.  At least we got to see Anna play.

The next weekend, we drove up to Mocksville to pick the motor home up and spent the weekend at Lake Jordan.  Then we got to see both soccer and volleyball.

The coach "coaching" and Evan cheering the team on.