Travels

There are 243 posts filed in Travels (this is page 17 of 25).

Carolina Beach

I can’t let the night go by without telling about our beach trip, so here goes.

We arrived Wednesday afternoon, leaving home right after my meeting was done. It rained on us from Raleigh to Carolina Beach, so rather than checking in immediately we drove further south in an effort to visit the aquarium. Big mistake! More than half of the vacationers in the area were at the aquarium. We drove around jam-packed parking lots before throwing in the towel and heading back to our condo.
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Fay to the rescue?

Western North Carolina is so dry now. During last week’s vacation, we stirred up huge clouds of dust as we drove up gravel-covered mountain roads. We failed to find any critters on Chimney Rock’s Nature Adventure trail. In fact, the only critters we saw during the whole trip was perhaps two deer, one bat, and one hummingbird. Nature up there is hurting right now.

That’s why I’m glad to see Tropical Storm Fay on a course that will take it over our mountains, especially since the winds that accompany it should be weak enough not to cause much damage.

Home again

We are back again after three days at Carolina Beach. Our beach house was great except for two things: the blinds in the master bedroom leaked like a sieve and there was no Internet access.

I’ll post a more complete update over the weekend. For now its time to get my book and relax.

Home tonight

We got back this evening for an overnight stay in Raleigh before heading to the coast. Our timing put us into RTP right before 5PM, meaning we ran smack into rush-hour traffic. Gazing at the sea of brake-lights heading east, I thanked my lucky stars once again for my bicycle commute!

We stopped by Linville Caverns on the way home. The caverns didn’t disappoint, being sufficiently dark, damp, and stalagtite-y to keep us entertained. I expected there to be bigger rooms here and there but that’s not the way caves work. Still, it was a fun diversion.
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Chimney Rock

We had a great day today at Chimney Rock, the pseudo-state park here with a wonderful, chimney-like, er, rock. We started our tour of the park with the Hickory Nut Falls trail, winding our away around the mountain to reach the waterfall. Since Western North Carolina (WNC) has been suffering from a drought, the waterfall wasn’t much more than a trickle. One unimpressed visitor called it “some guy pouring a bucket over the top.” The water did reach the ground, however, and provided a nice backdrop as we snacked on trail mix and watched idiot park visitors attempt to scale the sheer cliffs near the falls.
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Whoa, that ain’t no mountain laurel!

Perusing this headline at WRAL made me think of a funny incidence on our arrival here Friday. Kelly went into the local grocery store to pick up some food. When she got back into the car, the smell of marijuana followed her. And it wasn’t just a whiff, it was very strong. Kelly of course doesn’t partake but it didn’t stop me from kidding her about it!

Driving back towards I-40 with the windows down, we were smelling it just as strongly, though there wasn’t anyone around, nor could we see any smoke from possible law enforcement burns.

It was really odd. The moonshine culture is alive and well here, so I’m sure the forests are full of it. Even so, I didn’t expect to be greeted by it when we arrived!

Greetings from 2,756 feet

We’re on Gateway Mountain now, just outside of Old Fort, NC on the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Old Fort is exit 73 off of I-40, about 220 miles from Raleigh pavement-wise. We’re in a house overlooking the gorgeous mountains. Its surrounded by woods and up a quite-steep one-lane road.

I’d tell you how quiet it is here but the truth is the cicadas made a big racket last night. We must be surrounded by them. Even so, I think we’ll try sleeping with the windows open, because country noises can be soothing, too.
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Weather (and gas pump) avoidance

It should top out above 100 degrees today. That heat and my cold didn’t keep me from biking today, though. I’m proud to say I’ve kept two-wheeling in whenever I can.

We’re looking to duck out of the heat this weekend, though, when we stay at a Black Mountain cabin for a few days. We then will return home before heading out to Carolina Beach for another few days. One of these places, I suspect, will be cooler than the other.

On a related, biking-to-work note. Today’s N&O told of people trying to live near where they work. Imagine that: people not driving all over creation to get to their jobs! What a concept! I had to chuckle when I read that and thank my lucky stars that we’re living downtown and I’m working downtown. My guess is we’re saving about $300 each month on gas.