North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains

We are about halfway through our trip and have made the turnaround and a sweet visit with our friends in Hillsborough. Peter teaches word working at the Waldorf school and Deborah and their daughter Sonja teach horseback riding and other equestrian activities on their farm outside of Hillsborough. 
    We got to explore the Triangle region of N.C. which is the area of Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill.  Lots of history here between actions during the civil war and the history of tobacco.  Although tobacco has a more than tainted image today - it was fascinating to learn about the important role it played as an economic force in early  American history.

Deborah and Peter's family including son Liam, daughters

Sara & Sonja and Sara's husband Wayne

Their sweet dogs -  Bonita y Guapo

Peter's shop and classroom at Waldorf school -  very cool!

foot operated lathe that Peter and class built

Deborah's horse - Charlie

Drying tobacco the old fashioned way

Bennett Homestead - where largest surrender of Confederate soldiers

 ending the American Civil War…occurred

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bennett_Place



Getting; some o' that good ol' North Carolina 'Cue

 

 

When we left Hillsborough we headed west across N.C. to the Smoky Mountains and spent a couple of nights camping in the truck and took some beautiful drives and hikes into the Park on the Bryson City side and then over the Newfound Gap Rd. from North Carolina to Tennessee.  Spectacular scenery and Fall Colors.  Getting our camping fix and cooking meals on our Biolite stove was fun - but we are happy to have a week in our condo outside of Gatlinburg, TN for a week before we head to Nashville. We have really been enjoying this area and exploring eastern Tennessee and the Smokys even though the area of Gatlinburg and Sevierville is like a giant carnival - probably precipitated by Dollywood.   We had a great drive to Cumberland Gap National Historical Park and just enjoy the drives and small towns in the area.



Camping on the way to the Smoky's

Roughin' it without the trailer - but cozy in our truck "bed"

Fall Colors in Great Smoky Mountain N.P.

 

Clingman Dome Lookout at 6600' (on top of ol' Smoky.....)

Smoky Mountain View of Fall colors

About 2 hours drive from Sevierville, TN is the

Cumberland Gap National Historic Park

Gateway to the north for early pioneers

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cumberland_Gap

The view of Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee from

the Pinnacle hike at the Park

Our condo at the foothills of  Smoky Mtn, N.P.

Sunday we are on our way to Nashville - we will update you then.

Don and Carol

Heading East.......

Hello All ~
Writing you all from Hillsborough, N.C.   but I don't want to get ahead of myself - so I want to back up to our time in Kansas and our trail out East.
We spent several days with my dear family in Kinsley, Kansas ~  my cousin Sally and her husband Al along with their son Mark and his family.  We explored some of the small towns in the area along with some of the historical landmarks including Fort Hays and Fort Larned.
We also watched the Lunar Eclipse from Sally and Al's front porch as it rose directly out front!
Sally and Al have had a farm for over 40 years and it was so great to get back to rural roots.
This is also where we left our trailer for the next month while we headed east and the good part is ~ it means we get to go back and visit again when we pick it up!

sunset from the front porch

The Homestead

 

 

Al and Sally and Mark - whipping up Pot Roast for Dinner!  Yumm

 

Sally and Carol visiting a sod house in Edwards County

 

We saw this crop everywhere in Kansas - it is milo or maize ~ a feed grain

 

 

We had a great time visiting historic Fort Larned!

 

The blacksmith shop

The commisary

 

People have been carving their names in the stone buildings for a hundred years

 

Kinsley is the Midway point !

 

Sally is quite an artist and painted this mural on the Kinsley museum

 

 Sally and Al's son Mark is the fourth generation attorney at the office in Kinsley



From Kinsley we went to Lawrence, Kansas to have dinner with Sally's 2 daughters - Josena and Anne and it was great to visit with them.  It was great to meet Anne's husband Steve and their son Sam.   Lawrence is a vibrant university town (K.U. Jayhawks) and Annie gave us the grand tour.

Annie with Sam and Steve

From Kansas we wandered the back roads across Missouri and enjoyed the scenery - though this was the first of 2 or 3 days off inclement weather and we intended on camping in the truck we ended up staying in a couple of nights in motels.  The scenery across Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky was stunning. It is something to see the progression from the Kansas plains to the Kentucky Blueridge mountains.

We spent a couple of days driving through Kentucky which included some great  bbq in Louisville, a distillery tour on the "Bourbon Trail" out side the capital city of Frankfort, and visiting historic Bardstown.

Kentucky

 

 

Fishtrap Lake near Pikeville, KY

 

The power and beauty of Kudzu

 

 

Old village of Bardstown, KY

 

Tasting room at Woodford Reserven in Versaille, KY

 

 

Well  ~ as usual I have gotten carried away  - but I hope this at least gives a touch of some of the scenery and variety of this part of the USA.  We are really enjoying just driving the back roads.

 

Fair thee well and we will stay in touch!

 

Don and Carol