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!

Places We Have Called Home In 2021

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1W9TVAzcRDw1ydJEmJZwEbd2XTtZohCeH&usp=sharing

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Temperature, Low 38 Degrees; High, 74 Degrees

Eng and Chang Bunker

What a delightful but cold morning we awoke to. I would have thought by now that we were done with such temperatures but alas that is not to be. No matter, we have Tiny Tim and a nice big blue comforter to keep us warm.

The view out our front door.

How about this, a home made tear drop trailer.

Time to go sightseeing. Today we wanted to visit the grave site of Chang and Eng Bunker and learn more about the two of them.

What I discovered is as follows: Chang (on the left) and Eng (on the right) were the original Siamese Twins. They were born in Thailand in 1811. On tour in the U.S. they performed four hours a day, six days a week. They did somersaults and backflips and showed an uncanny ability at chess. They soon grew weary of being continually stared at, even for money, and wanted no more than to settle down and lead a quiet, normal life.

They decided to settle down in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Canny and industrious businessmen they opened a store, bought 2000 acres and branched into farming and build a spacious house for themselves. The campground we are in was once part of their farm.

They married sisters and raised a total of 21 children. Chang had ten and Eng had eleven. It has been noted that the children fathered by each were usually born within days of each other. At first all four lived under the same roof. It is said that when in bed the two men slept in the middle, and each sister slept to the outside. However, the sisters soon began to quarrel and so two homes were eventually built, Chang and Eng spending equal time in each home. Today, over 1,500 of their descendants sill live in the vicinity of Mt. Airy.

On January 17, 1874 Eng awoke to find that Chang had died. Then I am going to die said Eng and within three hours he also had passed away. It was thought that Eng had literally died of fright realizing that he was now connected to a dead man.

An autopsy revealed that the two could never have been safely separated because of the blood loss that would have occurred during the operation.

The highway marker indicating the location of their gravesite.

The church behind which you will find their gravesite.

Their gravesite.

There is, of course, a lot more to be found regarding Chang and Eng and I encourage you to Google them and read more of their fascinating story.

That was in part our day on The Road of Retirement. We had a fascinating day of discovery and once again were able to learn a bit about this area and people who settled here. Our day did not end here and tomorrow I’ll share with you what we did during the latter part of the day. Till then, have a great evening.

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!

Sunday, April 18, 2021

Temperature, Low, 59 Degrees; High, 69 Degrees

Travel Day

Well Golly, Look Where We Are This Week

We missed it. The first time in a long time. And we’ll miss it again next week again due to travel plans. I’m talking about church. Tonight we’ll go back and watch the service.

We were up at 7 am since we wanted to be out by 9 am. We didn’t have much to do since a lot of the necessary prep was done yesterday. Therefore, we sat and enjoyed bagels, cheese omelets, and a cup of coffee. Tummies full we now turned our attention to getting ready to get on the road.

We started to roll at 9:04 am. Hey, we only missed our mark by 4 minutes and who cares anyway since we are retired. The trip was supposed to take three hours if all went well. You know, no traffic, not a lot of traffic lights, etc.

The first part of the trip took us through a number of different towns with all kinds of lights but little traffic. I was lucky this time, I never got caught by one of those quick changing lights.

Soon enough we were on Route 421 which is a four lane divided highway. The road, as you can see, is in great condition and traffic was nowhere to be found.

It quickly became apparent that we were no longer in the low country. We were now in hill country with lots of rolling hills. Nothing to worry about. I just left it on cruise control and Elvira did the rest. Oh, that thing sticking up on the top of the mountain?

Pilot Mountain has survived for millions of years while the elements have eroded surrounding peaks to rolling hills. Pilot mountain is capped by Big Pinnacle which rises 1,400 feet above the valley floor. Pilot Mountain became North Carolina’s 14th state park in 1968. There are trails that lead to the top or for the more ambitious there are sections of the rock face that one is allowed to climb. I think I’ll just take pictures from the bottom.

The last section of road leading to our new neighborhood was Route 52. It was the worse part of the whole trip. The tar strips rattled everything including one’s teeth. Thankfully, it was also the shortest stretch, no more than ten miles.

Soon enough we were off the highway and at the entrance to our new neighborhood.

The road leading to our new home.

Home sweet Home. We are in a pull through, hard packed gravel, reasonably level, with all utilities right where they need to be. Take a look at the roof, yup, we have DISH back. Yippee, we are back in the 21st century!

We are up on a hill with about six other sites and that is the rest of the campground below us. I feel like a king overlooking his kingdom! It was interesting, when we came in all the other sites were empty. Not anymore. They are all occupied as of now.

That was our day on The Road of Retirement. I’ve got the covers on the tow bar and the tires. The awnings are out over the door and living room window since we are expecting rain overnight into the morning. We’ve had a wonderful mid-day meal of sapaghetti and meatballs. Now, we are in our recliners enjoying Hallmark. Time now to just enjoy our new home and go find Andy and Barney and Gomer

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!

Saturday, April 17, 2021

Temperature Low 49 Degrees; High 71 Degrees

The $64,000 Question

Just Puttering Around

We awoke to another cool morning but with the sun shinning and the sky a deep, crystal blue. Ah, the promise of another great day. Since we had nowhere to go and nothing really to do we were in no rush to get moving. So we just sort of eased into the day.

OK, for those who like to ponder the deeper questions of life, I have one for you. The question of the day is: Why do bugs like to commit suicide on your windshield right in your line of sight? They never do it two inches higher or lower but right, smack in front of you. I know, I have too much time on my hands. Of course I do, I’m retired.

As for the rest of the day I spent it just putting around. I remembered this time to check tire pressure today. Yup, all good this time.

I cleaned the front cap of all those nasty bugs that messed it up on the way here.

I cleaned the windshield of all those nasty bugs that were blocking my line of sight. What’s the old saying: sometimes you’re the bug and sometimes you’re the windshield.

I went around and lubed all the slide seals. They need to stay pliable as the slides come in and out.

Ms. Barbara in the meantime made a delicious supper of boneless pork cutlets and mashed potatoes. A dessert of cheese cake bites finished it off.

That my friends was the sum total of our day on The Road of Retirement. Tomorrow we roll north to Mt. Airy. Meaning, tonight we pack. What little we actually took out. I didn’t dump the air bags this time since we were level enough. So, tomorrow I don’t have to fool with either leveling blocks or jacks. It’s slides in, disconnect water and electric and away we go. Sweet.

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!