Haywood County Fair, North Carolina!! Yee Haa!!!

I enjoy a good fair and or festival but let me tell you about one Sondra and I attended this week end.

 Total cost to get in to the Haywood County Fair, North Carolina $2.00 per person and that included paking cost! WOOO!!! HOOO!!!



 It had everything a larger fair would have, and trust me when I say this. I grew up in Erie County, New York and that is a grand Fair!!

 Do not get me wrong, todays had many things a large fair has.

 We seen livestock, projects from the 4-H groups, we seen a little boy who had such a grin when he looked face to face with a cow and we even seen a young farm girl shaving the hair off the balls of a show bull.




 Preparation is the key for any animal in a ribbon contest. I seen the farmers, wipe the cows behind, clean his nose with his hankie, trim any unwanted hairs from the appearance which included the shaving of the bulls balls.












Along with all the animal fun we had, we managed to take in the display building which hosted many categories like cooking, farming, creativity, photography and horticulture.

As you can see there was a lot of stuff to view but only so many will make the photo cut. 




I will use photos more than words this time and ask if you prefer me writing or just photo blogging?

 We seen this barn on the way to the fair and we had to stop and give it kudos!!!















Enjoy the photos and please as always feel free to comment on anything you would like to.











 Have a great day!!!

 

The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina / Linville Caverns

 The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. 

The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southernmost portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania.

To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range.








The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for their bluish color when seen from a distance.





Trees put the "blue" in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.

Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: the Shenandoah National Park, in the northern section, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in the southern section.

The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile (755 km) long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crest lines with the Appalachian Trail.

　
Although the term "Blue Ridge" is sometimes applied exclusively to the eastern edge or front range of the Appalachian Mountains, the geological definition of the Blue Ridge province extends westward to the Ridge and Valley area, encompassing the Great Smoky Mountains, the Great Balsams, the Roans, the Brushy Mountains (a "spur" of the Blue Ridge) and other mountain ranges.


　
The Blue Ridge extends as far north into Pennsylvania as South Mountain.

While South Mountain dwindles to mere hills between Gettysburg and Harrisburg, the band of ancient rocks that forms the core of the Blue Ridge continues northeast through the New Jersey and Hudson River highlands, eventually reaching The Berkshires of Massachusetts and the Green Mountains of Vermont.

The Blue Ridge contains the highest mountains in eastern North America south of Baffin Island. About 125 peaks exceed 5,000 feet (1,500 m) in elevation. 




The highest peak in the Blue Ridge (and in the entire Appalachian chain) is Mt. Mitchell in North Carolina at 6,684 feet (2,037 m).

There are 39 peaks in North Carolina and Tennessee higher than 6,000 feet (1,800 m); by comparison, only New Hampshire's Mt. Washington rises above 6,000 feet (1,800 m) in the northern portion of the Appalachian chain.

In many places along the parkway, there are metamorphic rocks (gneiss) with folded bands of light-and dark-colored minerals, which sometimes look like the folds and swirls in a marble cake.  What an amazing day you will have should you decide to view these grand mountains.


　

The Linville Caverns

Linville Caverns are privately owned active limestone caverns located in northern McDowell County, North Carolina, just south of the village of Linville Falls, on U.S. Highway 221.

Deep inside of Humpback Mountain lie the Linville Caverns, North Carolina’s only caverns. These caverns were first explored by the white man over 100 years ago.

It is said that in 1822 a fisherman noticed trout swimming in and out of the mountain and he began looking for a way to see where they were going.  While visiting the caverns you can experience the awe this fisherman felt upon viewing the inside of his discovery.

The caverns are open to the public year round for guided tours. Linville Caverns have been open for tours since the late 1930s and remain the only show caverns in North Carolina.






Half hour guided tours escort visitors through the caverns with information about cavern history, resident creatures, and the formations viewed along the walls and ceilings of the cavern.   

Formed in a deposit of Shady Dolomite at the base of Humpback Mountain, Linville Caverns offer an environment for the public to explore the subterranean world of the Blue Ridge Mountains.


Visitors hear the lore surrounding the caverns, including the tale of the Civil War deserters who used the caverns as a hideout, as well as the geology of the stalactites, stalagmites, and other formations found on the tour route.

In the fall and winter months, cavern visitors may be able to view the caverns' most popular residents, the Eastern Pipistrelle and Little Brown bats. These insect-eating creatures hibernate in the caverns from late fall until early spring.

Linville caverns remain active as mineral deposits continue to form the stalactites and stalagmites. The water, produced by this mountain, with it’s carbon dioxide created the caverns by dissolving limestone and dolomite thus creating natural passageways into the mountain. 

During the winter and early spring you may get to view an Eastern Pipistrelle Bat, which hibernates here, hanging from the ceiling, but be sure you don’t disturb it because this would be fatal to the bat.

For More Information Call: Toll free 1(800)419-0540 Local (828)756-4171
Open: November-March 9:00-4:30 April, May, Sept., Oct. 9:00-5:00 June 1 - Labor Day 9:00-6:00 Dec., Jan., Feb. Weekends Only Visit the Linville Caverns web site at www.linvillecaverns.com



Sometimes when you travel and see things that you never saw before, you are amazed. Today it was not where I went or what I saw that made it so much fun.  As always, my wife Sondra accompanied me and we had an awesome time. 

I do not always tell the world what a wonderful lady or best friend I have so I want to take a minute to tell everyone who reads this, when you travel and it is with your spouse and or best friend, be sure to let them know how much fun things are with them and how it would just be a regular trip without them.

Make him or her feel good and always take the extra minute to hold his or her hand, assuring him or her that the bond you had many years ago is still there and your heart is still very much in love with them. I enjoy every day with my wife and I will cherish each and every adventure we take on.   I hope everyone gets to see this beautiful place but if you don't, a walk in a park, or a walk around the block means just as much when you are holding the person you love the most.

Have a great day and a better tomorrow!!

Where in the heck is Easley, SC?? Right next to Greenville, S.C.

Most people would ask this question if I said we were in Easley, South Carolina. 

What was first named Rockville in 1791 became Pickensville the next year and, later, Easley in the late 1800s. During its short history, Pickensville played a major role in the development of upstate South Carolina.


In 1792 it held the distinction of being the district seat for Washington District, which was composed of Greenville and Pendleton counties. In 1798 the Washington District was divided into the Greenville and Pendleton districts, with Pickensville maintaining its place as the district seat for Pendleton. Pendleton District was composed of what would later be known as Pickens, Anderson, and Oconee counties.


When a new courthouse was built in Pendleton for the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas, the importance of Pickensville began to wane. The ultimate demise came when the railroad located through Easley, a scant 2 miles (3 km) away. The state granted a charter for Easley in January 1874. The next year (1875), the US Post Office Department renamed the Pickensville Post Office, which had opened in 1795, to the Easley Post Office.



Pickensville and Pickens County were named after General Andrew Pickens of Revolutionary War fame. Easley's namesake was General William King Easley who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War. General Easley was an attorney for the Atlanta and Charlotte Railroad Company, which owned the railroad that passed through Easley. Robert Elliot Holcombe, who became the first mayor of Easley, financed and built the first depot in town.



We are actually in Greenville SC not Easley, although my cousin AJ Appenhiemer and his family (his wife Heather, daughters Bentley and Regan) live in Easley.  So let me first say that we had an awesome time visiting one of my favorite cousin and family.  As always you will all be missed until we connect again.

Greenville South Carolina, is a beautiful city filled with tasty restaurants, a modern art  district and much more.
I want to tell you about an area known as "FALLS PARK ON THE REEDY".  Falls Park On The Reedy is a beautiful 26-acre city park located in the middle of downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The focal point of Falls Park is the $4.5 million Liberty Bridge, a pedestrian suspension bridge that spans the Reedy River and overlooks the Reedy River waterfalls. Landscape architect Andrea Mains of Washington, DC designed Falls Park to feature a collection of garden rooms to display seasonal color and artistic garden design.

Specialty gardens, including the Falls Cottage Garden and the Governor’s School Woods, blend ornamental and native plants to make Falls Park a true downtown attraction. Once a hunting ground for the Cherokee Indians, the Reedy River in downtown Greenville, SC saw its first white settlers in 1773 when Richard Pearis purchased 10 square miles along the river from three Cherokee chiefs, and later operated a gristmill at the Upper Falls of the Reedy.

In 1852, Furman University bought the land, and three textile mills and a cotton warehouse operated there in the early 1900s.


In 1967, the Carolina Foothills Garden Club reclaimed 26 acres along the river and over the next 40 years worked with the City of Greenville, individuals, corporations, and state and federal agencies to further develop the park, clean up the river and restore the historic Falls Cottage. In this video, Greenville Mayor Knox White talks about how the development of Falls Park On The Reedy has contributed to the revitalization of the City of Greenville and how it has become one of Greenville’s primary attractions. 

With just a week in the area and knowing our cousin was around we did not spend a lot of time exploring. 


What we will tell you is that Greenville is a wonderful city with a lot to offer.  Oh did we mention that diesel is only 3.43 per gallon.  Almost want to redirect your travel just to grab a tank full.  With that said, we are off to Ashville NC for our next adventure.  This time we will be there for a month and will have some great things to share. 

FYI, all photos of the falls were taken by my camera.  Although they do have a professional look. 

I want to end this with a quick note that even though we continue to have fun doing what we love, there is always things going on where we came from.  One of my jobs was to assist coaching of HS wrestling.  I met many wonderful kids and now many have grown to be wonderful parents and husbands.  One in particular is a young man by the name of Jacob Baxter. 

Jacob Baxter was a awesome at every sports he did in HS.  Wrestling, baseball you get the idea.  He graduated went on to college and married a wonderful woman who together they have three children, the youngest only six weeks old.  Sadly Jacob was walking the side of the low falls in Rochester NY when he fell into the Genesee river and after two days missing his body was found. 

He was 27.  It hurts me because he had so much going for him and his family, a ministry in his future as well as the ability to teach more children most anything possible.  I was devastated to hear that he had gone missing in the murky waters that rushed so hard divers decided to wait a few days.  By the grace of God or prayer or positive energy his body came up miles down the river and authorities recovered his body. 


Jacob Baxter will be missed by many and many will shed tears this week at his burial.  One thing will be on everyone's mind after that day, what will his wife with three young children do.  I was a in a family that was fatherless, my dad died in 1965, my mom took care of 5 children and with help from our aunts, uncles and grandparents we were able to recover enough to be productive citizens. 

So if you read this, please say a prayer for a young man who was called to God at such a young age.  Think a thought for those three children who are without a father, and most of all send a positive energy in the direction of his wife Christina Baxter.     

RIP Jacob Baxter 1986 - 2014