Cullowhee January 22, 2019

Today is Bob's 75th (!!!!!) birthday.  He wanted it to be low key and thought one of our mini road trips would be a fun way to spend it.  I opened the atlas and put my finger on a spot...Cullowhee, NC.  Google showed there were a few places of interest there, and it was only about  70 miles away.  We headed out on Rt 28 and picked up Rt 107 which brought us through Cashiers and on into Cullowhee.

Several of the SC upstate lakes can be seen in the far distance from this scenic turnoff on Rt 28.

 Here we are at Judaculla Rock on Caney Fork Road outside Cullowhee

Judaculla was the Cherokee slant eyed God of the Hunt.  Archeologists believe this site was in use about 3000 years ago.  Many people believe it to be a paranormal hot spot. 

The soapstone rock contains about 150 petroglyphs.

Above is a sketching of the rock carvings which date back 1500 years until 300 years ago when Europeans settled here.

After leaving Judaculla Rock, we went into Sylva. We were fortunate to find a down home restaurant called Bogart's where we had a delicious lunch.  On our way back, we stopped at East La Porte River Access Park.   Here the Tuckasegee River and Caney Fork Creek converge.

The park is in a lovely mountain setting and nicely set up for fishing, swimming and picnicking, albeit on warmer days.

Just north of Cashiers is Glenville Lake.  This made man reservoir was formed in 1941 as part of the war effort to provide more electricity to Alcoa in order to increase aluminum production.  The town of Glenville lies at the lake's bottom, sharing a fate like several other towns around Lake Hartwell and Lake Keowee in South Carolina.

 The lake at 3494 feet is at the highest elevation of any lake east of the Mississippi and is noted for its 26 miles of shoreline.

Ice coated rocks on a winter's day are a common sight at this height.  We made our way back home to continue a birthday celebration, but we both were so full from lunch that the dinner we were planning on having was postponed.

 

 

 



 

 

 





Hrabovsky Get Together January 17 2019

Joe and Bev decided to escape the winter doldrums in Michigan and rented a condo on Kiawah Island for two weeks.  They were able to swing this way and spend a few hours at The Bobaries' new home. We had delicious appetizers and a pork tenderloin dinner and lots of adult beverages.

Bobby is holding a ceramic wine decanter of Joseph Stalin with a name badge that reads "Uncle Joe".  Valerie was kind enough to re-gift it to Joe as a namesake keepsake.

Evidently, Bev really likes Uncle Joe

 And with that, Joe thinks it's time for coffee before heading to their hotel!

 



First Outing of 2019 - Sautee Nacoochee GA

The Bobaries had told us about their visit to the Old Sautee General Store in Sautee, GA.  It sounded like a good place to restart our mini  road excursions, so we set out on Thursday, January 10th.  The Sautee Nacoochee Valley is just southeast of Helen, a little over an hour away, and the roadway was quite scenic. 



  The general store has been in operation since 1872.  At one time, it functioned as a post office as well as general meeting place.

In the front of the store are all sorts of antiques, none of which are for sale.

Nor are the wooden Indians.  The back rooms of the store contained various foodstuffs, handcrafts and clothing.

A road east of the store brought us to this historic site.

This slave quarter held approximately 21 slaves who belonged to EP Williams, a prominent businessman who moved from North Carolina around 1822 after acquiring property in the land lottery made possible by the Treaty of 1819 with the Cherokee.  Slaves in this area (ironically named White County) worked mostly in foundries, mills, or mines and not plantations as those further south did.    There is a lot more to see and learn in this part of Georgia, and we plan on returning another time.  

 

November - December 2018

After the road dust settled, Bob decided to make more dust.  He ordered a sand/gravel mix to put along our driveway and also make a parking area next to the garage.

 This is what 20 tons of gravel look like.  At 2,000 pounds per ton, that's 400,000 pounds of gravel.

Our neighbor took pity on Bob, and spread out the stone with his front end loader.  Thank goodness for big boys with big toys! 

We dog sat for Valerie's dog one day.  Honey just loves sharing Bob with Roscoe.  I'm not sure if Roscoe feels the same way.

It was a low key Thanksgiving, spent at Bobby and Valerie's, but dinner was delicious and the after dinner cocktail was a real treat...an ounce each of vanilla vodka, crème de menthe, Kahlua and cream.

December 9, we had a sprinkling of snow.  Made it a perfect setting for writing out Christmas cards.

We didn't have a Christmas tree, but we got to enjoy the beautiful one at Bobby and Valerie's. 

They did a fantastic job of decorating for the first Christmas in their new home.  And soon another year was over. 

 

 

Road Home Oct 31 - Nov 2 2018

Wednesday night's stay was at a campground in Ft Ashby, WVA.  Bob said it looked good on the website, but it evidently had seen better days; it was quite run down.  But, it was just a place to stop for the night, and the stream nearby was very pretty.

 

The next night we stayed at Fancy Gap again.  From there we took Rte 221 through Boone, past Grandfather Mountain, and on to US 11 and home.

As you can see (or not), travel conditions through the mountains were not the best, compounded by the fact that we probably shouldn't have been on this part of the road with the travel trailer.  Bob was barely able to navigate the tight turns because of the rocks extending close to the road on my side.  But our guardian angels didn't desert us, and we made it safely home by 4:30 Friday afternoon. passenger tehe factas

 



New Jersey Oct 26 - 31 2018

Ah, our beloved Mahlon Dickerson Reservation.

We made 304 miles in about 6 hours...our best time this trip, but it was just about all interstate travel.  Just as we were nearing the park, we heard a nor'easter was due to hit that night/next day.  It was quite stormy during the night, but thankfully the worst was further south of us.

 

Our dance card was full the five days we were there: Friday evening, Adele asked us over for pizza.  Cousin Carol and her daughter Annie came, too.  Saturday we had a nice family get-together with cousins Joe, Barbara, Nelson, Matt,  Michael and Adele at Carol's house.  Sunday evening we met cousins on my father's side for dinner at Big Jim's in North Haledon.  Monday Michael and Adele treated Carol, Nelson, and me to dinner at Lake Hopatcong; Bob was feeling sick, so he stayed at the trailer with Roscoe.  Tuesday we went to the cemetery and then visited our friends Plish and John in Bloomfield.  That night, we were again at Adele's where her son, daughter-in-law and their little boy came to see us.  Wednesday, we sadly packed up and again hit the road home.  Not many pictures this time; just about every one was camera shy (not to mention I forgot my camera, too.  Sorry Plish and John).

Joe and Carol

Michael thought he'd look good in Joe's hat.  He was right.

My "Konecny Kousins" round the table from the left: Brian, John, Amanda, Sherri, Morgan, Alexa, Madalyn, Adam (hat),  Ray, Alina,  Kelly, Dean, Judi, and Anne.  Judi's mother, (also an Anne) passed away just the month before. 

And, John, my father's nephew, here with one of his twin daughters, Amanda, sadly passed away December 31.  I am so glad we had a chance to see him.

Here I am with the stepping stones Morgan (12), Alexa (9), Madalyn, (8), and Alina, (5)  

At the Windlass Restaurant on Lake Hopatcong

Wow...check out this beef entrée Michael selected!

Adele, Kim, and Wade at Adele's Tuesday evening 

Wade the Tiger treating us to his tricks, along with daddy Dave, grand dad Michael, and Bob

 

 

 



October 24 and 25, 2018

After we left Fancy Gap, we went into Hillsville, where had arranged to get a new RV tire at B and B Tires.  One great thing about a small community is how quickly and pleasantly you can get things done. We were on our way within a half hour of getting there.  Too bad we didn't know which way to go!  Before the tunnel on I-77, there was a sign for our turn-off to Rte 219, or so we thought.  It led us to a rock quarry, a hard hat area, no less.

 

Think we're lost...

Gate guard told us not only were we on wrong road, but also wrong state! We had to get back to I-77 to get to  Rte 219 in WVA .  Yeah, thru that tunnel in that mountain ahead,

 

Back on track, we continued on 219 passing thru Hillsboro, the birthplace of Pearl S Buck, and taking a few breaks, one of which was at a little park.







The roadside rest was donated by The Beckett Family.  After nine hours on the road, we arrived at the night's campground Bob had chosen:

Five hundred miles after leaving our home town of  Seneca, we arrived at Seneca Shadows, along the Seneca Trail (Rte 219 also known as The Great Indian Warpath) famous for....

Seneca Rock!  

But, no time for rock climbing...we had yet another day of travel and hassling with the tires before getting to our next night's stay at Gallitzin State Park in Pennsylvania.

At noon, we stopped in Cumberland, Maryland, to try to get the RV tires rotated.  Because of the axle problem, the tires were wearing unevenly.  We couldn't get the work done there, so we continued down the road, finally finding a garage in Everett, PA, which was able to take us in...into this bay where we sat for about a half hour before the mechanic could get to us.

If you've ever seen the movie Twister, you'll remember the scene where they try to take shelter in a barn that has sickles and saws hanging from every rafter.  That was the feeling I had while sitting in this truck bay.  It didn't help that Halloween was only a few days away.

 

So, getting there and finding the actual campground (Crooked Run) in the 6249 acre state park which surrounds Glendale Lake was another all day effort.  We pulled in at dusk and couldn't wait to hit the sack.  Tomorrow, with luck, we would be in New Jersey.

 

 

 





 

 

 

 





Catching up on 2018 - Trip to NJ Oct 23,

Been three months since I updated the blog for no good reason I can give.  So, time to get caught up.  As you may recall, on our last couple of outings, we had trouble with blowouts on the RV tires.  Bob was fairly convinced he had fixed the axle which was causing the problem, so he felt we could go ahead with our plans to travel to NJ with the RV.  He said we would take our time getting there (3 nights on the road); keep speed under 65; avoid interstates as much as possible, and frequently stop to check the tires and rotate them if need be.  So, on Tuesday, October 23, we headed out.  Our first stop was to be at the campground in  Fancy Gap, VA, where we stayed before.  We took back roads most of the way, but had to go on I-77 for a short distance.  About 20 miles from our exit, we had a blow out.  It was on the passenger side, but it was still hairy for Bob to change it on the shoulder.  After he put on the spare, we stopped at the  Visitor Center and someone at the desk helped Bob locate a tire dealer in Hillsville that could get us a new tire the next morning.  I questioned whether we should turn around and head home, but Bob said we thought it would be ok to forge ahead.

What's that warning about how objects look in side mirrors?  I'm sure Bob wishes he looked this thin.  This was taken after he had fallen off the bucket he was using while changing the tire and he rolled down the slight incline.  Good thing he has a great sense of humor.  What I couldn't believe was how few drivers pulled over to the other lane as a courtesy.  The truck and trailer shook as the vehicles sped by.

On the road out from Fancy Gap Campgrounds, located off the Blue Ridge Parkway at an elevation of 2925.  It was 36 degrees when we left at 7 the next morning.