Monthly Archives: October 2009

Mountain Pumpkins

Halloween pumpkin

Halloween pumpkin decorates mountain stream near Asheville, North Carolina

After getting our RV problem resolved (to the tune of too many $$), we headed directly to Asheville, North Carolina, to travel the southern portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway that was closed two weeks ago due to rock slide concerns.

The sun shone brightly, temps rose to shirt-sleeve weather, and there was still enough color to bring a broad smile to our faces.

A different segment of the byway was closed. The detour led us down a narrow, winding mountain road popping with heartlifting color. As we creeped around a tight switchback, we caught sight of a tumbling creek with a bright addition smiling from its waters — a Jack O’Lantern!

A six-year-0ld girl and her dad had just finished placing it on its wet, rock throne. Someone places a pumpkin there every year, they told us.

Scenery here in North Carolina is full of delightful surprises.

Happy Halloween!

Leave a Comment

Filed under RV Travel, Southeast USA

An Unexpected Night in a Motel

The weather had become so lovely that we decided to head back south to Asheville and spend a few days exploring the southern end of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which we had missed last week. (Our original plan to start exploring the parkway from the terminus at Great Smoky Mountains National Park was cut short when that segment was closed for two days due to concern about landslides.)

Once again, our plans got changed, and instead of Asheville, we’re in Charlotte. When David pulled in the RV’s living room slide this morning, a “pop” resounded and hydraulic fluid soaked the ground below. Darn! Another mechanical issue to deal with.  (We were already scheduled to spend the morning getting the tow dolly’s brake lights fixed  — both of them had burnt out!)

Good Sam’s Extended Service Plan’s office was experiencing such high volume (it was a Monday morning), that we had to leave a message.  Instead of letting a sunny day slip by, we grabbed the cell phone and headed to Linville Falls on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Unfortunately, when we got the return call, we were out of range and the call got dropped. We weren’t able to call back until it was too late to contact RV service centers.

Just the same, we were happy we had spent the day at Linville Falls. The day was restorative and rich with fall color. To our delight, our dog, Sonya, was permitted on the trail. As usual, she attracted all sorts of interesting conversations with other hikers.

Armed with necessary information and procedures to make our calls the next day, we headed to Boone, NC’s Wal-Mart and dry camped in the parking lot. With all its lights, it’s like having a full moon shining through the windows – on all sides.

Now we’re in the vicinity of Charlotte (100 mile drive from Boone) cooling our heels in a motel room until we hear from the RV service center about the nature of our hydraulic problem – and how long it’s going to take to fix it. 

It seems weird to have a rain storm going on and not hear its unique patter on the RV’s fiberglass roof. The silver lining is that I get to soak in a bubble bath. A-a-ah!

PS – Not for the faint of heart

  • The carbon monoxide monitor blared in the middle of the night while we were parked at Wal-Mart.  What would YOU do?
  • When David removed the dolly from the RV at the service center, he noticed that the linchpin that secures the dolly platform to the tow arm was gone. Somewhere on our 100-mile drive today, it worked itself loose, but we arrived safe and sound, our car still in tow.  Some precious angels are watching over us!

Leave a Comment

Filed under RV Travel

Saturated to Exhaustion with Beauty and Wonder

In the last 10 days, we’ve explored Great Smoky National Park on sunny days, in the rain and even in the snow. We visited the informative and moving museum and Cherokee Indian Village on the Cherokee Reservation. And we explored much of the Blue Ridge Parkway – which turns 75 in 2010 – from south to north.  Along the way, we stopped at the Biltmore Estate to be wowed by its extravagance.  And on the parkway, we listened to blue grass music and watched traditional crafts being made.

We’ve seen so much and have so much to share with you.  But at the end of a day filled with exploring, hiking, driving and photographing, we find ourselves only with enough energy to make dinner and go to bed.

 We promise to make up for it with lots of photos and stories in the coming weeks.

Leave a Comment

Filed under RV Travel, Southeast USA

Inside RV Photos

You can now see photos of the inside of the Spirit of Sunrise.  Click here to see them on the the Our Team subpage Our On-the-road Home/Office.

Leave a Comment

Filed under RV Travel

RV Photos

For those of you who have been begging me for photos of the inside of Spirit of Sunrise, I’ve posted a few photos. Take a look at the Our Team subpage Our On The Road Home/Office.  More photos will be posted soon.

1 Comment

Filed under RV Travel

Berea College – Appalachian Handicrafts and Tuition-free Education

A Berea College student makes a round broom from broom corn, tied with sassafras reed.

A Berea College student makes a round broom from broom corn, tied with sassafras reed.

We visited Berea College to see the Appalachian handicrafts the students make and left captivated by its greater story.  Seized by the concept of equality, a young Kentucky-born seminary graduate in the 1800s had visions of creating a higher education institution for both men and women, and both whites and blacks. His family disowned him for his radical views. But he pursued and founded Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. 

A Kentucky legislator who was appalled by seeing black and white youth treat each other as friends succeeded in enacting a law in the mid-1800s prohibiting the education of both races at the same institution. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the law. Only when Kentucky rescinded the Day Law in the early 1950s did Berea College once again become integrated.  

 The college charges no tuition to any of its students, essentially granting each student a full 4-year tuition scholarship of $24,000 per year.  (Applicants must demonstrate academic promise and considerable financial need.)

All Berea students work 10 hours per week for the college, in tasks from customer service to creating traditional Appalachian handicrafts, like the young woman in the photo is doing.  We got to watch students make brooms and stools with woven seats.  (The craft shops are open to visitors.)

You can purchase handicrafts made by the students at the Log House Craft Gallery.  And do give yourself time to watch the college video at the visitor center. It’s a compelling story!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Harland Sanders Cafe – Where Kentucky Fried Chicken Began Its International Fame

Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

The astounding image of Chinese tourists standing in front of a statue of Colonel Sanders at the Great Wall of China for a photo is indelibly etched on my memory! Legendary Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken was as important as  – possibly more important than – the amazing, centuries-old  Great Wall of China, which astronauts can actually see while in orbit.

In light of the role of franchising in modern business practices, his success at franchising his chicken recipe in the 1940s is indeed worthy of acclaim. Before his franchises, he established the Harland Sanders Café and Court in Corbin, KY, where travelers could enjoy a hearty meal of Kentucky fried chicken and a night’s stay in his motel. 

When Interstate 75 bypassed Corbin, his business went belly up. Using a Social Security check, he started franchising his Kentucky fried chicken recipe, which grew into KFC’s acclaim around the world.

On a rainy day in Corbin, KY, we broke our “no franchise food on the road” rule and enjoyed a lunch of grilled chicken while exploring the memorabilia at the Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum. The exhibits include his innovative open kitchen and model motel room for patrons to inspect.

 And I got to have my photo taken with the Colonel.

Colonel Sanders and me at the Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

Colonel Sanders and me at the Harland Sanders Cafe & Museum

Leave a Comment

Filed under RV Travel, Southeast USA

Cumberland Falls – Water Above and All Around Us

Cumberland Falls near Corbin, KY

Cumberland Falls near Corbin, KY

Rain and more rain hit on our last day in Lexington, KY, and continued for days later.  By the time we got to the home of former Denver neighbors in Corbin, KY, we were perpetually damp and had mud stains up to mid-calf. I even bought a pair of calf-high rubber boots to navigate through the muck!

In the midst of endless rain, we adopted the attitude, “If you can’t beat it, join it,” piled into the car and, under menacing  clouds, headed to Cumberland Falls in Daniel Boone National Forest.  The sun  teased us with hints of sun glow but never came out – a frustration for David, the photographer. But the beauty of the Cumberland Falls’ roaring, tumbling waters brought a smile to my face.  Our timing was wrong to witness it, but under full moons, a phenomenon supposedly seen nowhere else in the world — a moonbow – is created by the mist of the falls under moonlight.  For us, it was enough to enjoy the sight without rain showering on us!

Leave a Comment

Filed under Southeast USA

Horse Farms Beautify Kentucky Landscape

The Manchester Horse Farm’s stately barn sits atop a knoll overlooking paddocks framed with white fences, in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Manchester Horse Farm’s stately barn sits atop a knoll overlooking paddocks framed with white fences, in Lexington, Kentucky.

Sleek horses graze in lush grass paddocks framed by white fences in the countryside surrounding Lexington, Kentucky. On a horse farm driving tour, I learned how to identify the types of horses. Stallions have their own paddock. Geldings (castrated males) typically are paired and keep each other company in a paddock. Pastures with lots of horses are populated with mares, who, like most females, would rather find ways to get along and socialize than fight. 

A weanling romps in a paddock on a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky.
A weanling romps in a paddock on a horse farm in Lexington, Kentucky.

The sight that captured my heart was a paddock with half a dozen little ones – what I learned are weanlings (horses age 6 to 12 months). At six months foals are weaned from their mothers and grouped together to help each other get through the trauma, usually until they’re yearlings.

Most of the horse farms have black fences. Treated with creosote, they require less upkeep and are more economical.  Proprietors willing to spend the extra money have the iconic white wood fences.

Leave a Comment

Filed under Southeast USA

Everything Equestrian – Kentucky Horse Park

A young lady rides an English Shire, a warhorse breed dating from the era of chivalry, during the Show of Breeds at Kentucky Horse Park

A young lady rides an English Shire, a warhorse breed dating from the era of chivalry, during the Show of Breeds at Kentucky Horse Park

Even in the rain, the Kentucky Horse Park is fascinating. Plan on spending a day! Every 30 to 60 minutes, there’s a scheduled activity to attend:  horse drawn tours, shop talk with the farrier (horse shoer), Parade of Breeds, Hall of Champions Show, and in June and July, a children’s favorite, the Mare and Foal Show. Plus the International Museum of the Horse features a chronology of man’s relationship with the horse. We spent a lot of informative and entertaining time there when it was pouring outside. When we explored the gallery’s exhibit of art featuring animals, we were tickled to discover a painting by Denver artist Susan Bell who has a gallery on South Pearl Street in our old neighborhood, Platt Park!

The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will be held in the United States for the first time when Kentucky Horse Park hosts it in 2010. Equestrians will compete from September 25 to October 10, 2010 in eight equestrian sports – show jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, vaulting, reining and para-equestrian. You can already get tickets. (Unfortunately, the neighboring Kentucky Horse Park Campground will not be available for public use. Reserve elsewhere now!)

Leave a Comment

Filed under Southeast USA