Sunset on Bell Mountain

We headed south this morning bound for Hiawassee, Georgia, where we met Raina, Stephen & Livi at Aunt Brenda's for dinner. 

The Georgia Mountain Fair campground is located on Lake Chatuge in Hiawassee, and it's packed full on this summer weekend.

After dinner, Jamie & I drove up to Bell Mountain, a gorgeous mountaintop site overlooking Lake Chatuge.  We arrived just moments before sunset and captured some breathtaking colors.  We were hoping to catch a glimpse of comet Neowise, but a dark cloud toward the northwest obstructed our view.  Nevertheless, the view of the lake, the mountains and the sunset made it worth our effort.

1) Sunset over Lake Chatuge

2) Sunset over Lake Chatuge

3) Sunset over Lake Chatuge

4) Dusk ~ Lake Chatuge

5) Long Exposure -  over Lake Chatuge

6)Sunset glow over the mountains

7) Sunset glow over the mountains

8) Sunset glow over the mountains

Which photograph is your favorite from this series?

Ramblin'

Jamie got a jumpstart on us this morning taking his truck to the local dealership for a new fuel filter.  Brands make a difference!

We picked him up and headed over to the Bleckley Exhibition Coal Mine.  We'd heard it is well-worth the price of admission, but as luck would have it, the exhibit is closed because it's not possible to social distance inside the mine.  We checked out the museum instead.  Then, we traveled on down the road.

We found lunch in Hinton, a neat little town on the New River, and home to an interesting looking railroad museum. We got to look in the window; the lady who runs it is 92 years old and has decided not to open it right now.  Can't blame her.

A few miles further along the river, we wound up at Sandstone Falls.  Definitely worth the drive.  We accessed lovely views of the Falls from a boardwalk.  Fortunately, I had brought my necessary gear along on this trip: camera, remote shutter release, tripod, and ND6 filter.  I just love creating this silky water look!

From Sandstone, we reversed our route to travel to Pipestem Resort State Park.  We jumped on the aerial tram and descended to river level on the Bluestone River.  Talk about a deep drop!  It was a long way down.

What a pleasant final day in West Virginia!  We've thoroughly enjoyed mentally unwinding on these winding mountain roads.  Tomorrow we pack up and head south.  Hiawassee is calling us.

A Day at the Greenbrier

Our visit to the Greenbrier Hotel in White Sulphur Springs began with temperature checks to be sure we weren't carrying the virus onto the property.  We made our way to the Golf Club for panoramic views of the course and lunch at Sam Sneads.

From there we entered the hotel and found our point of contact in the Trellis Lobby. We let our lunch settle while we awaited our tour guide for the underground bunker.

The Greenbrier Hotel served as a cover for the top-secret Congressional Fallout Shelter from the 60's until 1992 when journalist Ted Gup published an article that revealed the bunker's true purpose, forcing the government to abandon it.  Supposedly, the property lease was terminated and the Greenbrier, which was owned by the C&O Railroad, scrambled to assume operational costs for the space.  Nowadays, the space is supposedly leased by CSX IP for data storage.  Still looks pretty top-secret to me and the fact that we couldn't carry our purse or our phones because of the security risks suggests the data they're securing is, well, pretty secretive.  Wonder if any of that data has my name on it?

The Greenbrier is a lovely resort; we saw quite a few folks enjoying their stay on the tennis courts and the golf course.  We didn't venture downstairs to the casino. Decided to hang on to our coins.

On our return trip to the campground, we stopped by Babcock State Park in hopes of photographing a waterfall and grist mill.  Again, lack of rain meant very little water flow, so the grist mill wasn't in operation.  Despite having left my tripod in the camper (ugh!), I found a rock on which to rest my camera,  and I got lucky with a couple of waterfall shots.

Glade Creek Grist Mill at Babcock State Park

This was also the perfect setting to photograph ourselves.  Brother John did a pretty good job operating my camera for this picture of Jamie and me.

Exercisin'

We ended our Tuesday with a ride into town for dinner at Fayetteville's Pies and Pints.  With the cooler weather and lower humidity, we sprawled on a grassy hill under some trees to await our table.  Outdoor dining only. And socially distanced. 

The pizza was differently delicious, but the flatbread with goat cheese and reduced balsamic vinegar is what we'll remember.  This appetizer was served looking like a scoop of vanilla ice cream drizzled with hot fudge sauce with drizzled pizza crust slices.  This, too, was yummy.  We continue to be in awe of how the weather here is suitable for outdoor dining and adventures; we would've been miserable doing this at home in our southwest Georgia climate. 

Stuffed, we headed across the New River Gorge Bridge to the visitor's center for an after-dinner hike down to the observation deck just in time to catch the fading sunset.  Judge for yourself if the view was worth the steps down and back up.  I kicked myself the whole way because I only had my cell phone camera with me, but I upgraded my phone a while back just for such oversights. 

1) Sunset fades behind the New River Gorge Bridge

So, what do you think? Worth 178 steps down and then back up? 

Being back in the camper, we are reminded why we have enjoyed the SolAire so much and we are realizing we have missed her regular adventures far more than we realized.  I think we both sleep better in our little cocoon of a bedroom here with the white noise of the A/C drowning out all the exterior sounds. Ahhh. 

We actually slept in a little later than usual and awoke refreshed on Wednesday morning.  That's what we came for, right?  Jamie sizzled up some bacon on the camp stove and flipped a stack of pancakes for the four of us before we loaded up in the truck - John's truck! - to venture about in the area. 

We found the single lane paved road that winds its way down the gorge by the base of the bridge and then down river just a bit, crossing the railroad tracks and a lower bridge to cross the river and climb out of the gorge.  I don't need to understand the science behind bridge building to know what an awesome sight and incredible engineering feat it is to span a river nearly 800 feet above water level to connect two mountaintops.  I just had to stop frequently to take photographs of multiple views of this man-made wonder.  Fortunately, my travel mates don't seem to mind.

2) Purple wildflowers blooming near the bridge

3) View of the bridge from the railroad tracks

4) view of the bridge from the lower bridge

5) view of the bridge from near the center of the lower bridge

5) arch of the bridge

6) really close to the bridge!

7) view of the ironworks holding up the bridge

8) looking up under the bridge -- you mean we drove over that?

Our next stop for the day was Hawks Nest State Park. We arrived on Wednesday near noon to find that Wednesdays are reserved for servicing the tram that takes visitors down the mountain to the river.  Oh well. I'm not much for swinging cable cars anyway.  Instead, we believed the sign that read "100 steps to spectacular views." 

These steps made last night's steps look like a walk in the park.  Dilapidated (that's a nice word for rotten, isn't it?) railroad ties and steep grades of rough & rocky asphalt led to a rocky outcropping overlooking the river and a train trestle.  We definitely got our sweat on for the day with this midday hike.  The view was pretty.  Not spectacular, but pretty.  No regrets. 

9) view of the bridge in the distance taken from Hawks Nest State Park

10) Watching the train round the bend

11) trestle spanning the river

We continued south along the road we were on and discovered a nearly dry waterfall, Cathedral Falls.  With a full pool, this must be a pretty roadside waterfall, but not today.  I attempted some photographs here, but I wasn't pleased with the final product, so here you'll see a dud! A shady picnic table here was all it took for our crew to unload the cooler & have lunch.

12) Cathedral Falls - much too dry to be attractive

Further south we accessed Kanawha Falls which stretches across the river.  An "antique" power house suggests years of use harnessing the water for electricity.  A shady beach area provided adequate cover for me to read my camera settings and take a few slow exposures to capture the silky water flowing over the rocks. Yes!

13) Kanawha Falls power plant 

14) Kanawha Falls

15) Kanawha Falls

16) Kanawha Falls

Having gotten a bit accustomed to late afternoon naps during COVID closure, some of us were growing weary, so we headed for camp to rest a bit, edit photos, and prepare supper. 

I'll stop here for today.  We've had great day exploring the New River Gorge area.

Now that you've made it to the end of this blog post, which is your favorite photo? They are numbered 1-16. Let me know!

And Away We Go!

The clock marked 2:40 PM on this July Monday afternoon as the Solaire and her running mate turned left onto U.S. 19 headed north, seeking cooler air, lower humidity, a change of scenery, a bit of R&R, and a long-overdue adventure.  By the time we reached I-75, we realized we had already traveled further from home than we had been since COVID-19 unleashed its wrath on southwest Georgia.

We were in no hurry, so we moseyed through the woods to connect to I-20 on our journey northward, enjoying the views of luscious green woodland and healthy crops of the sparsely populated farming communities of east central Georgia.  With a sideways glance, our most observant lead driver noticed a shady gravel parking area belonging to the Harlem Baptist Church, just perfect for our picnic supper of homemade chicken salad.

Picnicking in Harlem

Under the shade a few pecan trees, we set out our lawn chairs, fixed our plates, stretched our legs, and chatted about our plans for the rest of the week.  Much to our dismay, the Chevy diesel did not want to start when we were ready to move on down the road.  YouTube to the rescue! And some ingenuity on Jamie's part to figure out the problem and get 'er running.  One would think that just having had a tune-up at the auto shop in preparation for this trip would have prevented such a disturbing occurrence.  Nope! May have caused it.

Near midnight we pulled into an empty Cracker Barrel parking lot in Mooresville, NC, opened the windows on the Solaire, turned on a battery-powered fan, and crawled into our bed for a good night's sleep.  At 7:00 A.M. we were one of two parties to be seated for breakfast.  This is social distancing restaurant-style.  My first dine-in experience since before mid-March!  

All's quiet at midnight at Cracker Barrel

Dining in at Cracker Barrel

And shortly thereafter, we were on the road again, with no particular plan, just a destination in mind. A fuel stop - truck stops only this trip, we've promised ourselves - at the Mt. Airy exit begged us to linger longer, so we found an empty public parking area next to the Post Office on Main Street that would accommodate the two rigs, thanks to an inquiring phone call to City Hall.  

A leisurely stroll along the Mayberry themed street brought happy memories of Andy, Barney, Opie and the rest.  We trekked in the opposite direction along Main Street to visit the Sheriff's office with jail cells and Wally's Service Station, where we took a few stand-and-pose photos of ourselves, declaring we would blog this trip, despite not having posted last year's adventure (yet!), and we purchased our traditional souvenirs: Christmas tree ornaments for Mary and Becky and a decal or magnet for Jamie to add to his outdoor refrigerator.

Stroll along Main Street - sporting some COVID barriers.

Antique trucks: the Darlins' and Wally's Wrecker

Jamie checking out Andy & Barney's radio equipment. Imagine that!

From Mt. Airy, we continued northward, passing through the Walker Mountain Tunnel, and eventually climbing to the top of a ridge overlooking Bluefield, West Virginia.  The air was cooler (than home) and breezy on this sunshiny day.  For nearly an hour, we & one additional car were the only visitors to the East River Mountain Scenic Overlook.  Again, perfect social distancing!  The covered picnic patio made an ideal spot for lunch.

Then the Chevy diesel decided to misbehave again.  Fortunately, Jamie knew just the trick to get 'er going again.  At the base of the ridge we lucked up: a bustling Chevrolet dealership.  I'm not being sassy - ten cars must have come in while we were there and the service bays were lined up; it was bustling. That's a good thing.  The mechanic on duty wasn't much more helpful than YouTube, but he did put Jamie's mind at ease about the problem.  Guess it's just one we'll have to deal with for the duration of this trip. We'll see!

By mid-afternoon we had found our destination for the day: Rifrafter's Campground in Fayetteville, West Virginia.  As I sit here typing out this first blog post of our week, I feel refreshed by the gentle breeze, the cooler temperature, and the shade of the forest we are in.  No sweat: not even during the backing in, leveling, setting up camp phase.  

We have plans to roam about the countryside over the next few days, but our most important plan is to enjoy some much-needed rest and relaxation away from the stress of home and work.  (If only we could really get away for a few days; we've both been answering calls and emails today, and we both have scheduled work-related Zoom meetings this week. Hmmm.)  Nevertheless, we will enjoy every minute we have to travel, and be thankful for our jobs, too.

Perhaps I'll update the blog again tomorrow or the day after, or sometime after that. Maybe.