H x 4

Happy Harvest Time

Happy Halloween

Autumn greetings from

Louise and Duane

Three Buildings

At the Thousand Trails park where we're staying, there are three important buildings.  The first, just inside the gate guardhouse, is the office.  

Here the park personnel have their offices--on the right.  Here is where people check in, pick up mail and packages, and find information about Thousand Trails, about this park, and about area points of interest.

The left part of the building is this spacious meeting room.

More tomorrow.

Louise and Duane

Nice View

Yesterday we started our week's stay at Forest Lake RV Park outside Advance, NC.

The park is an older one, but quite nicely maintained.

We were happy to find our lot extra wide on three sides.  Our neighbors on the right are rather close, and block Duane's view on that side.

Otherwise, our views are quite nice.  From the doors

from my chair looking forward,

out the side window,

and out the back.

 We'd hoped to ride the bike around this area, but the beautiful warm weather of yesterday gave way to gray and cool dampness--perfect for a trip to the grocery in the am.  After lunch, Duane played pickleball in Lexington (about 10 miles away) and I quilted my latest project.

Next up--more projects, apparently.

Louise and Duane

PS  Yesterday I stated that the New River flowed through most of Virginia and part of North Carolina.  The New River actually flows north through part of NC, all the way through western Virginia, and through West Virginia where it joins the Kanawha as part of the Ohio River watershed.

Smooth Sailing

Undaunted by mid morning fog, we  fearlessly took to the road for a short hop (109 miles) south on

I 77.

We crossed the New River, oblivious to its claim to fame.  

Actually the New River is an American Heritage River.  Running through most of Virginia and part of North Carolina, it is the oldest river in North America, the oldest in America, and the second oldest in the world--after the Nile.  It is estimated to be 10-360 million years old.

Who knew?!

20 minutes down the road and poof!  the fog disappeared.

About half of our trip took us from Wytheville, VA to the North Carolina line.

The rest of the ride was beautiful--sunny blue sky, autumn color, and enough curves and hills to keep us entertained,

with a couple of vista views to put icing on the cake.

Just inside the state line we left I77 for I74/US 52, skirted around Winston-Salem,

and crossed the Yadkin River.

and took US 64 to our new home for a week.

We found that our site is very nice--extra large and backed up to the pond.

We also found the weather very nice.  We put on summer clothes and opened the house to the cooling breeze.

Busy At Home

On our last day in Virginia, Duane and I both worked on Christmas projects.  Duane did some more preliminary work on the grandkids' tree ornament design.  He usually has one or two designs in mind and makes a rough carving of each one before he makes up his mind.

My current project is a couch throw for Stacy and Ruth Ann.  They picked the fabric and the design. My present is the assembly and finished product.  I also decide what design to use to quilt it.  

They picked medium gray with white fir trees for one side,

and a black with a 2 inch border of the gray for the other side.  I finished the assembly today and am ready to pin and quilt.  

When we were finished with our projects for the day,  we packed up for moving day tomorrow.

Tomorrow, a different state.

Louise and Duane

Creativity

People who live in small spaces tend to be rather creative with their activities.  

Without a workbench, any old picnic table will do for some wood cutting.

An ironing board makes a dandy table extension for measuring large pieces of fabric. 

Playing with food is always fun.  These poor little red potatoes seemed to be a bit dismayed when they learned about their fate.

One more day here in Virginia.

Louise and Duane

Weirdness

Kudzu sculptures

Cattle circles

Pink leaves

No ride today.

Louise and Duane

Good, Bad, Ugly

Our bike trip of the day explored the perimeter roads east of Wytheville,  (western VA).

The roads--US 11, VA 8, US 221, and US 52, turned out to be a mixed bag.  The best parts (circled) were on US 11 just south of Pulaski

and US 52 just before the junction with I 77.  Here the roads were curvy, hilly and colorful enough to satisfy us seasoned mountain riders.

The rest of the roads led through well-maintained cities and towns 

some forests,

and a few prosperous farms, with patches of color here and there, but mostly straight roads.

Fortunately, the ugliness was confined to a few power lines, lots of traffic,

and three trucks obstructing our view, impeding our progress, and spewing smelly exhaust. 

Not the best of rides, but not the worst either.

Activity tomorrow depends on the weather.

Louise and Duane