Blue ridge Parkway and Floyd, VA

If you have been finding some of my posts that are published and are a mess, Blogger and I are having issues. Hopefully, I can quit hitting enter when I shouldn't.

We had a change in plans making our drive of 50 miles in 3 hours. The pollen has been very high after all of the rain. I woke up and realized I needed to get some medical help as we left Fries. Galax had an urgent care that fixed me up with a shot in the hip of steroids. We headed on to the CVS Pharmacy in Hillsville for the prescription. The drive to Daddy Rabbit's Campground was on narrow winding roads. The Blue Ridge Parkway campground hadn't opened yet.

The tourist season doesn't start until Memorial weekend. We were the only people in the campground that had  no internet. We are finding that Sprint's 1% less coverage than Verizon has been in most of the places we have been visiting. We do get a certain amount of roaming on our plan. Even when we go over that amount, the amount of roaming we use isn't as expensive as the extra $100 we are saving with Sprint.

Blue Ridge Parkway, Rocky Knob Trail

We woke to heavy rain but got ready to hit the Blue Ridge Parkway and do some hiking. We chose the Rock Knob Trail which was 3 miles. We thought a short loop was a good plan with the sprinkles and potential for the return of the heavy rain.

The clouds in the valleys were eerie at times.

Mabry's Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Mabry Mill was originally constructed in 1905 and was in operation by 1908 and was used by many in the region who brought their corn to be ground.

The mill had a lack of water power, earning it a reputation as a "slow mill," but because of this, the mill would not grind too fast or scorch the corn, which resulted in the Mabry's mill being known for producing some of the finest tasting corn meal in the region.

Ed would eventually construct a sawmill and woodworking shop alongside the grist mill, and a number of the tools he used in the shop were powered by the waterwheel. He would also go on to build a nearby blacksmith shop.

The mill still stands as a unique symbol of the region's heritage and has attracted visitors from around the world.



Used to haul logs



Kettle to make soap

Floyd, VA

The Floyd Country Store is renowned as a place to experience authentic Appalachian music, and is home to a group of musicians, flatfoot dancers, and cloggers who are carrying on the tradition of their families who’d pass the time playing music and dancing together. Everywhere they could these folks would gather with their friends and families from their front porch to the neighbor’s kitchen. In the 1980’s Folks in Floyd took to coming out to the General Store and began the Friday Night Jamboree tradition that continues today.

Over the years the store has played a central role in the Floyd community, as a supplier of all kinds of merchandise, and as a community meeting place where folks would gather round the wood stove to exchange stories and the local gossip. In the early 1980’s, when it was known as Cockerham’s General Store, it took on another role. Two of the store’s former owners were in a local bluegrass band that gathered at the store most every Friday night for a practice session. People passing by would knock on the doors, asking to be let inside so they could better hear the music.



My picture of the musicians was blurred but picture people singing and playing while we shared a slice of apple pie.

Pretty soon, the band got tired of being interrupted every few minutes to let someone else in the store, and so they just left the doors open. As the crowds grew, other musicians came to join the fun. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Rock Castle Gorge Trail

The camp host had suggested this hike on CCC Camp Lane and gave us good directions. It turned out that this trail was the lower section of part of the trail we had done on the previous day but in the valley.

  We had hiked the upper trail the previous day and walked the lower section with a climbing hill for 5.5 miles round trip. I like the downhill on the way home. We did each find a tick on our long sleeved shirts even with Off on us. That just gives me the willies.

The Magnolia Trees were blossoming.

Old homestead chimney along Rock Creek Trail

Austin House beside Rock Castle Creek.



We have run across several of these black snakes (some people call them rat snakes) since we were in Mississippi. This time we got a picture. Yuk!

You have to love a place called Tuggle's Gap

Swallowtail butterflies were flying all around us as we walked. 

Floyd and the Blue Ridge Parkway were both treats for us. We weren't far from the city of Roanoke but felt a million miles away.

Back on the Road!!!

I let my manager at the hospital know that it was time for us to leave and she put me into inactive status. I can return in 6 months and still have a job. What a great job to be able to work 4 shifts a month and have the bonus of plenty of time off. I guess I wasn't ready for total retirement yet.

During the two hour drive to Catalina State Park, Mike noticed one of the trailer hubs was hotter than the others. He made an appointment to have it looked at before we leave Tucson on Monday. It is nice to have someone that pays attention to such things. He treats the trailer similar to a helicopter pilot and his chopper with his walk arounds before and during our trips.

This noisy cardinal caught our attention on our early morning hike to Romero Pools.

He and his friends were warming themselves in the sun.

This hike turned out more difficult than in the past. It has plenty of elevation gain with lots of obstacles. But even with a  7 am start and temps of 47 degrees, it heated up to a record heat wave (92 deg)  20 degrees hotter than usual.

Much of the climb, we were in the shade as the sun was rising. But once we started down to the pools, it was just hot.

We used our hats to pour the water over our heads to cool down but were once again dry in a mile.

We have visited this park several times but were happy to get in on another stay due to cancellations. We didn't have much planned since we weren't sure when we would be leaving Mesa. 

The brittlebush was out in full bloom and bees busy at work.

Each morning, we were up early for a bike ride or hike up the Canyon Trail which runs along the creek. This was a new trail for us. I had my gloves on the first couple of miles due to a morning temp of 47 degrees. Once the sun was over the mountains, we started removing things for the walk back down.

At night it was interesting looking for scorpions with our black light. This makes me rethink the whole sitting outside in my flip flops reading in the evenings as the sun goes down...

Bushwacking cactus to Sunrise Arch

Why would anyone bushwack through cactus? We started our hike just off Bush Highway by the Salt River, excited that we were going to see one of the Goldfield Mountains secrets. These mountains have many natural arches. Most hikers do not know this nor have they been to any of them because there are no trails throughout most of these mountains. There are a few faint jeep roads around the lower elevations but the majority of hiking would be off trail.

Wild horse family in the river

We changed our water shoes into our hiking boots after crossing the river.

Good thing Mike carries his handy pliers to remove the chollas as we weaved between the cactus. There were plenty of opportunities to remove the buggers from our body parts.

Another wild horse.

There is controversy over the management of the growing wild horse population in AZ.

There is some steep scrambling the last 1/4 of a mile reaching the arch.

The arch goes through an outcropping of rock with a rock cliff directly behind it is difficult to pick out from afar.

The actual arch is about 25 feet high and 30 plus feet across and has a saguaro growing on top of it. It is called the Sunrise Arch because at one point in the morning the sun from the east shines through the arch. At all other times it simply blends into to rocky backdrop.

The arch is beautiful with varied colored rock walls and the views of Saguaro Lake and the Salt River are spectacular

Time for a snack and rest.

Happy Thanksgiving with Matt and Megan