While I was enjoying Mount Airy, I was also watching the rain. It had been following me since I was at Brookville Lake State park, or Mounds state recreation Area (same place), in Indiana a week or so ago. I had a day and a half without rain and then four more days with. I couldn’t seem to get away from it, and once again I needed a plan. You see I don’t particularly like long range plans, they scare me, so I make them as I go. Don’t have to worry as much that way. I knew that I had plans for the last two weeks of June to stay at my friends Blake and Jody’s house in Waynesville, NC to stay with the animals, while they went out of town. That gave me about two weeks or so to keep traveling until then. One of my issues was I had stayed at two more hotels than I had anticipated because of the storms and that figured in to the equation. I didn’t want to go too far from their place, especially North to only come back South, heading East and West put me back in the storms. What to do?
Blake and Jody are dear friends, so I called to see if there was room at the Inn. I had stayed at their place in the beginning of my adventure for a few days and that’s when we had talked about watching Palmer the dog and the cats of the house, Chicken and Stick. I explained where I was and my issue, Jody told me they had some friends there but to head down anyway and it would be fine. They would be going camping with their friends for a couple days and I could practice watching the cats and dog. So I decided to take them up on their gracious offer and headed south to the Western North Carolina mountains. It was a nice drive from Mount Airy, it’s about a three hour drive down the 77 to the 40 south.
It’s always to see Blake and Jody. Blake and I go way back, I actually stayed at his place in La Jolla, CA. back in 1978. That was a fun month! Blake was also my roommate at the 59th street house, until he ran off and got married. Jody and Blake’s house is really cool and on the side of a mountain. I was there back in October of 2023 and saw it when the leaves were falling and now it’s totally covered my the many different types of trees there. It’s beautiful there, very quiet and it comes with bears.
They are great hosts and they showed me some of their favorite places just a short drive away. Many times Jody would make a picnic lunch and we would go on adventures, places like Big Creek a really cool place and getting there was adventure in it self. A crazy ride in Blakes Toyota Hi Ace camper van. You see the drivers side is on the right, it’s a interesting seating arrangement sitting on what is normally the drivers side and being a passenger on the left side with nothing to hold on too! One trip took us along a “trail”, as it was hardly a road. It was a single lane gravel road sharing with cars going the the other way. It of course was filled with hairpin curves and sharp corners with no railings. Remember in the direction we were going the driver would be on the side without railings, and not to mention a steering wheel to hold on to. Never realized how much I was missing my steering wheel at that point, on the other hand I wouldn’t have been driving on this crazy( but beautiful) trail. Every tight right turn had me looking down the side of a mountain with no rails! Blake teased me about having white knuckles, but I agreed. We found a small Baptist church in the middle of no where with a small local cemetery. We stopped and had lunch. We started out back home , but on the highway, thankfully.
I had a great time hanging with my friends but I knew I had to hit the road again and head to Boston to she my daughter Catherine. It was one on the reasons for this trip and the most important. It was time. We had so many adventures together and will always cherish them.
