Category Archives: North Carolina

Happy trails!

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at home on the St. Lucie River

We are home again, and it feels so good to be here. We’re looking forward to a long, beautiful Florida winter in one place, with no suitcases to pack and unpack, pack and unpack, pack and unpack.

We don’t use our elevator much, but there are a few times when it comes in extremely handy, like when you have a broken leg (Marcus 2017) or a carload of luggage, crates, tote bags, and a very heavy cooler to get up to the second and third floors (the day we got home). No sweat! We put the first load of stuff into the elevator and pushed the button. Nothing happened. After several failed attempts to get it operational–and after a long day driving–Marcus eventually had to lug everything upstairs himself. Add to to-do list: call elevator repair guy.

We spent several hours digging in to our first phase of unpacking. Lots of sweat! The AC chugged and wheezed, but only managed to push out air just slightly cooler than the ambient air. “It will catch up,” Marcus assured me. Exhausted, I showered and went to bed. I was very much looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. The AC still wasn’t performing up to snuff, and I don’t sleep well in a room over 70°F. It was a fitful night. The next day, Marcus waffled over whether we should pay the premium for a weekend service call. “Do it!” I told him. “It’s either that or pay twice as much for me to stay in a hotel this weekend.” Add to to-do list: call AC repair guy.

I was looking forward to driving my Cute Little Blue Car again, to catch up on some long-delayed errands. The garage door opened easily, but wouldn’t close again. After considerable jostling with the door, the sensor, and the remotes, Marcus got it to cooperate…until the next time we tried to close it. Add to to-do list: call garage door repair guy.

Apparently our house missed us these past six weeks. I suppose, now that it’s in its teen years, it’s getting sullen and irritable when we’re away for too long. Makes me a wee bit thoughtful about planning any more extended trips. *pause* Okay, I’m over it. I’m thinking about Ireland next spring…three months traveling the whole island, north and south. What do you think?

Giant’s Causeway, Northern Ireland

So, I need to get busy reading for the trip. Any good Irish literature you’d like to recommend? Send me an email.

And so, my friends, happy trails to you until we meet again–wherever the spinning compass may take us. Thanks for coming on this adventure. It was good to have you along.

Best~ Cindy

GSMNP

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Smoky Mountains

Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. What? More so than Yellowstone or Yosemite? This surprised me until I considered its proximity to the population-dense East Coast. Its 800 square miles straddle the North Carolina/Tennessee state line, and the popular Blue Ridge Parkway connects it to the Shenandoah National Park. The park is extremely popular during peak foliage season, which is now–except that this is a dud year for foliage in this part of the US. Ah, well, there certainly are no guarantees.

absolutely perfect creek on the Alum Cave Trail

But not so, according to the woman from Pennsylvania whom I talked to in the park. She was quite upset that there wasn’t much color to capture in her camera. “My friends in Pennsylvania assured me this is peak season for foliage in the Smoky Mountains,” she lamented. “And there’s really nothing to see.” She regretted making the nine-hour drive when it was obviously not Peak Week. “But this is peak foliage week,” I told her. “It’s just not a peak foliage year.” She looked at me dubiously, and I wondered how she could live in Pennsylvania and not understand the relationship between a year’s weather and its fall foliage color. It’s not like the leaves don’t turn in PA.

below the arch

Despite the lack of color, we enjoyed seeing the Smokies–our first time. According to Wikipedia, the mountain range gets its name from organic compounds that are released from the conifers in the dense forests that cover 95% of the park. These chemicals have a high vapor pressure and naturally create smoky-looking vapors when released into the air.

through the eye and out the top of the arch

We hiked part of the Alum Cave Trail in the park. The first milestone was the arch naturally carved from the rock by wind and water. It’s 1.4 miles off Newfound Gap Road (US 441), the main thoroughfare that crosses the park from Cherokee, NC, to Gatlinburg, TN.

chubby little bird

Another mile along the trail was the Alum Cave Bluffs, with inspiring views of the mountains below us. There actually is no Alum Cave; the trail gets its name from the protective ledges that project from the bluff walls. The trail continues to Mount Le Conte, the second highest peak in the park. We opted out of the remaining 3.2 miles of strenuous, uphill scrambling and returned to the trailhead. Wise choice, as the sun was already starting to set.

victory cairns created by hikers who successfully return to the beginning of the trail

On our way out of the park, we were rewarded by an appearance of a park resident we were beginning to think was purely myth. Elk were reintroduced to the park in 2001, but despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find the herd. Three elk were grazing nonchalantly in a meadow next to the Visitor Center. They even performed a little rutting pas de deux for us. A planned performance for the tourists? I wonder….

 

“They’re paying me $1.50 an hour for this gig. What are you getting?”

Deep Creek

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Tom Branch Falls

The Deep Creek loop, just inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Bryson City, North Carolina, is a great hike that takes you past three small waterfalls. Each fall is not remarkable in terms of height, but is pretty in its own way.

hellbender salamander

These hellbender salamanders, known locally as “snot otters,” are found throughout western North Carolina. This one is approximately 15 inches in length, but they can grow to about 30 inches. They have a frilly skin that ruffles as they move through the water, earning them the additional nickname “lasagna lizards.”

Indian Creek Falls

 

undercut

Love these undercut banks along the trail! There’s a lot going on here, a veritable forest in microcosm. Looks like the perfect home for woods fairies!

Juney Whank Falls–you gotta love the name!

 

fill ‘er up!

 

The rain held off (barely) while we hiked, but started up when we sat down for a picnic lunch afterward. Fortunately Marcus brought a tent with him. Roughing it in the Smoky Mountains!

A walk in the clouds

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the AT

Had to hike a (wee) bit of the Appalachian Trail, just to say I did. It was a captivating weather day as the clouds drifted in and out around us at 5500+ feet above sea level on the North Carolina/Tennessee line.

clouds drifting in

 

the view, in a clear moment

 

with our friend, host, guide, driver, and all-around nice guy, Marc

 

the Parkway

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Banner day on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Perfect weather after days of rain from the fringes of Hurricane Michael.

Construction of the Blue Ridge Parkway was started in 1935 in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration as a project of the Public Works Administration. The majority of it was completed by 1966, but the final piece–the viaduct around Grandfather Mountain in western North Carolina–was not opened to traffic until 1987. Part of our National Park system, it is America’s longest linear park and connects Shenandoah National Park in Virginia on the north end to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina on the south end–469 miles along the backbone of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

You know how I love my superlatives! We summited Mount Mitchell–a grueling 5-minute hike from the parking lot. ;o) Gorgeous views from the top.

blue ridges

 

Mid-October and the leaves are just starting to turn–quite late here. Word is that this fall won’t be very colorful. The temps have been in the 80s until recently, and now it’s too late for most of the leaves to turn. Green leaves are starting to fall.

Crabtree Falls–a rewarding two-hour hike from the parking lot

Southernese

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courtesy of Spreadshirt

As antiquated as I once considered it, I now have to admit that it’s refreshing to hear people address us by “Sir” and “Ma’am.” In this day and age, when there is far too little respect and far too few kind words shared between people, it’s heartwarming to hear someone say those two little words.

I find respect contagious. I “Sir” and “Ma’am” them right back–and mean it. We could use more civility in our lives.

2018 Family & Friends Fall Road Trip

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detours on I-95 as a result of Hurricane Florence

We left Stuart on September 21st on a rare (for us) road trip. Since we began our extended travel in 2013, we have always flown to our destination, rented a car, driven the most comprehensive route I could comfortably squeeze into two to three months, returned the car, and flown home. And that’s what we intended to do this time, but then Marcus got the itchin’ for a road trip–from start to finish in our own car. Having grown up seeing the USA from the back of a (Chevrolet) station wagon, I was down. I love nothing more than to pack a car to the gills, stash a cooler full of goodies, and hit the road.

This trip is also different in that we’ll be doing much less sightseeing than usual. This trip is dedicated to visiting some family and friends that we haven’t visited or seen in far too long. The first leg of it, from Stuart to Rockville, Maryland, to visit Marcus’s sister Sheri and family, involved driving through North Carolina only eight days after Hurricane Florence whipped through. Although most of I-95 was in great shape (primarily due to speedy recovery efforts on the part of NCDOT, is my guess), there were still a few detours to negotiate.

The parts of I-95 we did travel had lost quite a few trees and billboards (no loss there!), but the saddest thing we witnessed was the number of dead wildlife along the shoulders. Of course there are always deer, raccoons, and possums who wander across the highway at night, but we saw many more than usual, including a wild pig–something I’d never seen. Made me realize how many animals must have been displaced from their homes due to flooding and had nowhere to go but to seek higher ground–on the interstate.

Best wishes to the state of North Carolina for a full recovery, and our condolences for your losses.