Comfort Inn & Suites Blue Ridge

... and I have almost learnt to trust that the more random it is, the more I can trust it!
Travis also.. lives in a trailer- some may judge but it brought back brilliant memories for me of our caravaning trips as kids, where you could transform a table and seating area into a bed for two (BRILLIANT!). Anyway, the one he lives in here is HUGE, with 3 double bedrooms and one even en suite - Who'd have thunk?!



Anyway ...

... is higher than that of moist clothing left out, the clothing will absorb humidity to match consistency. Dustin cooked breakfast (eggs, sweet potato pancakes, peanut butter and clifbars) and we were on our way. It would be a waste of words to try and describe the beauty of the in-between. It was the Appalachian trail. Yes it was gorgeous. It was always gorgeous, no matter which part we saw. Everything was great. I do not think we felt alien at all there. It was ...

... would lead.

After about an hour of hacking and climbing my way through Nature's takeover, I ran out of trail. I'm sure it continued somewhere, but it was virtually impassable, and I was running out of daylight. So, rather than get my sorry butt lost on my first day, I headed back to camp to rest and give the waterfall a search tomorrow.

Unfortunately, sleep was difficult. Though I didn't hear any "bear-like" noises, I had a tough time getting any rest in what amounted to a ...

... uploads/1/iZRmbC-4YsQ
But, on with the expedition!

I left Presswood Mountain and descended Forest Road (FR) 185, linking up with the continuation of FR 77 heading East toward Hwy 30, the paved connection between the Hiwasse River and Hwy 64. I was desperately in need of a dip in a stream, and the closest one that I KNEW I could find was the Hiwassee River.

Nature is full of pleasant surprises
So, off I ...

... You may remember the Ocoee as being the
whitewater rafting site of the 1996 Olympics... and if you're a bit
older, you'll remember it from the movie Deliverance -- insert theme music here).
I spent four days and three nights in the forest in search of those
little backroads that would take me to some of Mother Nature's best
kept secrets. Because I only allowed myself such a short time to
explore over 22,000 acres of recreation area and national ...

... an original griss mill to chain saw art making. We sampled hand pressed cider and perfectly fried catfish with the best sweet potato fries and hush puppies ever!! Sweet tea rounded off the local treats. And...fresh made ice cream with local peaches!! Good grief do we eat well !! or at least a lot!!

The music tonight was Jim and Jesse and The Virginia Mountain Boys as the main show with Georgia Mountain Fair ...

... we all rented a pontoon boat and went for a 4 hour tour of Lake Blue Ridge. Louise and I made up some great lunch and munch items and we headed out. Sass found us a quiet and totally private cove where we stopped for lunch. The weather was absolutely perfect. Andy and I jumped in and swam till we were out of breath. The water was a tiny chilly for Louise and Sass but to us it was heaven! We fell in love with Lake ...

... all enjoyed some of Louise's smoked salmon, salad and the killer Kobe beef. May 6th. S & L came by the campground at around 10:00 AM, after they had dropped one of their cars off about 6 miles down the river (so we could get back to the campground after kayaking down the river). We launched and took off for our 2+ hour ride. Unfortunately for Sass, the kayak he had rented possessed a large keel on the bottom and this feature kept getting ...

... desert, she is preparing mochi (pronounced moe-chee), a Japanese rice concoction that looks pretty tasty. Gotta go, dinners on. Dec. 12 Louise and Sass ("L&S") came by to pick us up this morning for a tour of the area. We drove around and checked out the houses in a few of the local areas. Lots of sweet looking log homes some of which had totally insane ...

... own thing. The Roanoke area continues to disappoint us with their overlooks - N & W Railroad 106.9 and Upper goose Creek 89.4 were real let downs and we had better views from the road. We stopped at Fallling Water Cascades 83.1 and took the 1.6 mile loop trail. I filmed a lot of this. It was steep but worth it with all the rhododendrons on the trail. I guess I'll never get tired of running water and forestry things. John is patient with me. Onion Mountain ...