TOUR AMERICA, 2021: MAYBERRY CAMPGROUND, MOUNT AIRY, NORTH CAROLINA

Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Temperature, Low 41 Degrees; High 54 Degrees

How Do You Know When It Is Cold?

Pilot Mountain State Park

How to you know when it is too cold to get out of your winter PJ’s? When you look out your window in the morning and the guy cutting the lawn is wearing a winter jacket, ski cap and heavy gloves! Then you just want to cry when you check the temperature back home and its in the 80’s. Oh what have we done.

Time now to get caught up on our field trip on Tuesday.

This is Pilot Mountain and you can’t miss it when you come to this area. We wanted to know more about it so took a field trip Tuesday afternoon to the state park.

We began our afternoon of discovery at the Visitor Center.

We first learned about the diverse environments that are part of the mountain and the area surrounding it.

I found this display so insightful. To me, looking at the mountain and the forest surrounding it, I just see a mountain and a forest. But now I know, it is so much more and such a diverse environment. Each environment intertwined and dependent on one another. Truthfully, I know that I’ll never look at a forest in the same way again.

So how did it become a State Park?

Time to visit the mountain.

Yes, there is a trail to the top and we saw a number of people hiking it to the summit. If we tried to do that we’d still be hiking up! Instead, we decided to take the easy way up, the paved road to the top.

The parking lot at the top of Little Pinnacle.

I did get some hiking in.

Well, I made it. Of course, I didn’t run up and down the trail like some others. But I was happy I got there, and of course back down.

The view from the top which was just fantastic. What are the lyrics from that one song – I can see for miles and miles and miles. They say that on a clear day such as we had you are looking at 3,000 plus acres of land.

That is Big Pinnacle and if you look close you can see the connecting trail to it. There is also a trail that leads to the top. Sorry, we didn’t attempt to do either. We know our limits.

Time to head back down. No, they are not kidding.

The road is a series of hairpin turns, switchbacks, and of course no shoulders. So, slow and steady is the way to go.

So, that was our trip to Pilot Mountain. It was an enjoyable trip which we both absolutely enjoyed. If you are ever in the vicinity of Mt. Airy, take an hour or two to enjoy the mountain for yourself.

So our day is coming to a close on The Road of Retirement. Today we’ve had winds of over 30 mph and a temperature that never got above 54 degrees. As for tonight, they say that we’ll be down in the low 30’s, maybe even the high 20’s. Not the weather we expected when we left Florida. Note to self, in the future don’t leave Florida until the middle of April or even later! Still in all we have a great life and enjoy every minute of it.

Thanks for taking the time to read our blog.  We always appreciate your company, your comments, and your suggestions. Keep safe, keep healthy, live to the fullest the days that God gives you.

These are the voyages of  Elvira and her two intrepid travelers.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have never been before.

See you on down the road!