Our November, So Far: New Motorcycles, New Purpose and Hiking

 Well, November sure has started out with a bang! We've been busy the past couple of weeks, and it's been awesome.😃

New Motorcycles

Our son, Henry, has been talking about getting a motorcycle for months now, and instead of trying to discourage him (it wouldn't have worked, if we'd tried), we decided to join him! So now we're all signed up to take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation's riding course at our local Harley Davidson in December. 

Bill and I bought matching bikes, so we're ready to learn! We each got a Honda Rebel 1100 DCT. His is a gunmetal gray, and mine is a deep burgundy, and they're beautiful! Henry's bike won't get here from the Kawasaki place for another month or two, so he's anxiously awaiting his 2024 Kawasaki Ninja 650 KRT. He's working hard saving money up for it in the meantime.

The Emerald Outback

The day after we bought our bikes, we decided to go hiking on the Emerald Outback Trails in Beech Mountain, NC. There's an old, closed down theme park up there called "The Land of Oz." It's a Wizard of Oz-themed park that was open from 1970-1980. These days, they open once a year in the autumn for a festival. Unfortunately, we missed it this year, but we took advantage of the beautiful weather and headed out on the trails nearby.

Lots to do in Beech Mountain

Fred's General Mercantile was a neat store full of all kinds of goodies and had a delicious smell of bacon wafting up from the deli downstairs.

After a visit to the mercantile, we hit the trails for a four-mile hike. We took the Emerald Outback Outer Loop to Oz Road. The "Emerald" Outback was a perfect name for this area, due to all of the lovely green present all along the trails.

We had a gorgeous view of the surrounding mountains.

New Purpose

After taking early retirement this summer from teaching, I've been searching for something worthwhile to do with my time. I began volunteering for Carolina Caring at their thrift shop, the Hospice Resale Shop. 

Carolina Caring provides hospice, palliative and primary care to seriously ill patients in Western NC. The resale shop assists in raising funds for support of the organization. After volunteering there for a few months, I've been hired as a part-time store associate. 

I spent several days last week in training and worked my first paid shift at the store last Thursday.

Interestingly enough, after lots of prayer this summer for God to show me a new purpose, I saw this button at the register one day while shopping in the Hospice Resale Shop. I took it as a sign and joined as a volunteer.

The other new purpose I've found in the past few months is writing. I love it! I started a blog called bluebirdfit! I also created an author page on Amazon, where I've been writing and publishing journals, such as the Healthy Habits Journal. It was my first book and was published last week!

My goal in both of my new purposes is to help others. I just want to make a difference for good in other people's lives. I miss that part of teaching, so I searched and found it in other ways.

Moses H. Cone Memorial Park

Last weekend, Bill and I took a trip to Blowing Rock, NC, to hike at Moses H. Cone Memorial Park. We challenged ourselves to hike the longest distance we've done so far- 14 miles! What an absolutely lovely day!

view of Cone Manor from Bass Lake

the old carriage house on the estate

our perfect picnic spot

I love the silhouettes of the trees and the shadows they make without their leaves.

on top of Rich Mountain

the Cone Manor

This sweet deer came out of the woods and crossed the trail behind us.

Bass Lake

There is just something so special about late autumn. Most of the trees have lost their brightly-colored leaves, and they are content, falling asleep for winter. The sun shines differently, and everything just seems golden. It's a perfect time for Thanksgiving, and that's what I feel - so very thankful.

Thank you for joining our journey! Until next time... 💙

Celebrating Our 1st Year of Marriage: What an Adventure!

 

What a year we've had! It's been a wonderful first year of marriage- full of love and adventure.

A couple of weeks ago, Bill and I headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary. We booked a room at the Pisgah Inn on the Parkway in Canton, NC, and we were looking forward to a few days of hiking and sight-seeing and relaxing at the inn in the evenings.

Day 1

On our way to the inn the first day, we stopped to hike the Strawberry Gap Trail near Gerton, NC. We hiked about 5.5 miles round trip to walk along the Blue Ridge Pastures at 3,780 feet above sea level. 

We saw horseback riders and fellow hikers at the top, along with a lone house high up on the next hill. It was beautiful with the fall colors and sunshine.

Pretty soon, we were on our way up the Blue Ridge Parkway heading to check into our room at the inn. The Parkway was gorgeous all three days we were there, and I couldn't stop taking pictures of the pretty trees!

We stayed in the Chinquapin building on the ground floor with a private balcony overlooking the mountains behind the inn. 

After we got checked into our room and relaxed for a while, we headed to the dining room for our dinner reservation at 5:30. The food and the view were amazing!

Bill enjoyed his chicken Alfredo, and I devoured this tasty chicken potpie!

We couldn't NOT eat dessert while we were there! We had hot apple pie and chocolate silk pie with strawberries and ice cream.

The windows of the dining room are nestled into the mountain side.

Our room balcony was on the bottom at the very end.

After dinner, we returned to our room to sit on the balcony and enjoy the sun setting over the mountains.

Day 2

The next morning, we ate breakfast in the dining room while we watched a glorious sunrise to celebrate our wedding anniversary. One year ago, on October 22, 2022, we were married. 

After a yummy breakfast of pancakes and eggs, we were ready to head out on the road to start our journey to our day's hiking destination, which was a couple hours away.

The early morning views from the Parkway were breathtaking.

Along the way, we decided to stop at the Devils Courthouse overlook and take a quick hike up to the top. We'd seen it from the road in our many travels through the years, but had never stopped. Today, we were so glad we did!

The hike was about a mile round-trip. There was a stone outlook at the top with neat markers showcasing the surrounding mountains. 

It was very windy and cold, and completely worth the impromptu trek up the mountain. 

On top of Devils Courthouse (5462 ft above sea level)

After our quick side trip to Devils Courthouse, we hopped back on the road to our hiking destination for the day- Panthertown Valley Trail in Glenville, NC. We saw lots of pretty sights along the way, including an old church, a still blue lake, and a bright red barn.

Beautiful fall colors surrounded Lake Glenville.

Viewpoint on the Salt Rock Overlook near the beginning of the Panthertown Valley Trail

We hiked a 6 mile loop on Panthertown Valley Trail to Mac's Gap Trail. It wasn't a difficult hike because there wasn't a great deal of elevation change. We did get to see a lovely waterfall called Schoolhouse Falls and a pretty overlook named Tranquility Point on top of Little Green Mountain.

Schoolhouse Falls

Tranquility Point on Little Green Mountain (4095 ft above sea level)

Fun on Tranquility Point

Leaving Tranquility Point

Back in the woods

Lucky for us, we didn't step on this guy. He was "hiding" by being very still, but he left his tail in the trail!

He was a young timber rattlesnake and had a couple of rattles, but here his tail is tilted toward the camera, so it looked smaller. I wasn't going to ask him to pose, though!

He was truly a beauty! After a few moments, he moved very slowly into the bushes and out of the trail.

After a full day of hiking and exploring, we made it back to the hotel for our early dinner reservations. We had large Southwestern style salads with grilled chicken, and we split a giant slice of chocolate cake with ice cream. 

Our bellies and hearts were full. It was a perfectly wonderful day of celebration and adventure!

Day 3

On our last morning at the Pisgah Inn, we awoke to another fabulous sunrise! Mist blanketed the surrounding valleys, and it was a beautiful sight.

We went to the dining room for our last meal there- a tasty breakfast of eggs, toast and coffee for us today.

We took a break from packing to take one final view from our balcony.

Bags packed and car loaded, we closed our door to room 104 at the Pisgah Inn for the last time. Then we headed out for our day of adventure on the road.

For today's journey, we decided to hike up to two fire towers in the Nantahala National Forest. They were stationed on two mountain tops- Wesser Bald and Wayah Bald.

Both towers were located near Franklin, NC. The road leading to the first tower ran parallel to Otter Creek, so we were treated to some pretty fall views along the water as we rode up to the trail head.

The Wesser Bald Fire Tower is located on the Appalachian Trail. The trail head had a beautiful view, if you could look past the tall power lines!

An old forestry road led up to Wesser Bald. We actually hiked back down this road to complete a 2.3 mile loop.

The leaves were a brilliant display of color.

Gentiana decora, commonly called Appalachian or showy gentian, is a flowering plant that blooms in the fall in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.

The Wesser Bald Fire Tower was originally built in 1936 by the Civilian Conservation Corps as a live-in lookout. The live-in cab was destroyed by arson in 1979 and was replaced in the early 1990s with the current observation deck.

View from the top of the tower- The Wesser Bald Fire Tower is 30 feet tall, stands 4,616 ft above sea level and offers 360 degree views of the Nantahala National Forest and Fontana Lake.

view from the old forestry road that we took on our way down Wesser Bald

Next, we drove several miles away to our next fire tower hike up Wayah Bald Road.

Along the way, we found a cool historic site of the first ranger station built in the Nantahala National Forest.

Wilson Lick was built in 1916 in a small clearing along Wayah Bald Road.

We found the old outhouse in the woods down a trail behind the house.

This was on the information kiosk in front of the house.

After exploring the old ranger station, we continued the three mile drive up the mountain until we reached the parking lot near the Wayah Bald Fire Tower. 

A short paved trail to the tower runs along the Appalachian Trail. The tower stands over 53 feet tall, sits at 5,335 feet above sea level and was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935.

The tower offers a great view of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, Tennessee and both North and South Carolinas.

The tower originally had a room up top with several windows and places for the rangers to stay overnight. The upper level was removed in 1947 due to hairline cracks that were developing.

In 1983, the Forest Service reconstructed the upper portion of the tower into a covered viewing platform. The goal was to replicate the original design and to preserve the history of the structure.

After touring the tower and surrounding grounds, we hit the road for the three hour drive home. It had been a weekend full of adventure, celebrating a year of memories together and creating new memories to reflect upon in the years to come.

Thanks for joining our journey! Until next time... 💙