Walking on Grandfather Mountain
Today we end our drive on the parkway. But first we do our usual busy morning, cleaning and repairing at the campground, I even cut Ben’s hair this time. Our first walk is next to the Lin cove viaduc on Grandfather Mountain. Our second walk, on the same Mountain, is on the Tanawha trail up Rough Ridge. The hike is beautiful and the view up there is fantastic. We’re lucky enough that the rain starts just when we get back to the car. We then do a really short stop at Moses H Cone craft center, the guys close at 5, and it’s 4.56pm… The house is a nice sight nonetheless, it was the property of Mr Cone, who made his fortune in denim. We say goodbye to the Blue ridge parkway and head off to the tiny town of Valle Crucis. It’s well worth the windy detour to see the original Mast General Store, opened in 1883. There’s still old furniture and they continue to sell many of the same products as they did more than a century ago. We opened the old Coca-Cola ice chest to get some sodas we’ve never heard of before. And it’s already time to find a Walmart for the night. The winner is an hour drive East, we go all the way down the Appalachians, ears pop, but the fog in the trees makes for a really nice drive.
