THE BEST WINERY WE HAVE EVER BEEN TO

Wednesday, September 17 continued – After our hike, we decided to stop at “one of the smallest churches in the country.” What a cute and unique house of worship. Yes, they do have services, although there are only four pews. It sure would be a nice place for a small wedding.

This picture brought back memories for Paul. He said his mom had it hanging in their house the entire time he lived there.

 

Our last stop of the day was West Wind Farm Winery. Located about three miles down the road from our campground, this is another one of those “must stop” places if you are ever in the area.

We spent an hour with the owners and winemaker, what a lovely couple.

 

They grew up in this area and know a good wine, let me tell you! This is the nicest winery we ever visited and we enjoyed ALL the wines.

We left with only one bottle, but purchased several gifts for family. Never too late to start Christmas shopping. I'm telling you, we could have easily purchased several cases of all their wonderful wine… $$$$. We predicate that this wine may win the Weaver’s Annual Wine Tasting Party held next summer.

We've got more hiking to do and additional sights to see, so stop back and check out what we're up to!

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL

Wednesday, September 17 – Ever since our daughter attended Virginia Tech ( 2003-2007), Paul wanted to hike the Appalachian Trail. We would pass access points several times while driving SR-460 from I-77 to the school. Well, today we are going to make that happen!

The Appalachian Trail is a public footpath that follows more than 2,100 miles of Appalachian Mountain ridgelines between Maine and Georgia. It was constructed in the 1920's and 1930's by volunteer hiking clubs. One-fourth of the trail lies in Virginia, where we are now camped. The trail runs roughly parallel to, but many miles removed from, the Blue Ridge Parkway. This section, in Virginia, is an area of mature forest and wilderness with high summits, as impressive as any region south of New England.

It was a bit overcast this morning.

We drove about a dozen miles north on I-77 to right outside Bland, VA. We then exited on the scenic Route 52 and drove a few miles to the trail head. It is located at the highest point on the Big Walker Mountain National Scenic Byway in the beautiful mountains of western Virginia. You are definitely off the beaten path and able to enjoy views where “Only the Birds See More.”

We stopped in the Big Walker Store for a cup of coffee and some delicious cranberry bread for breakfast. We chose not to climb the tower for $6 each.....we are cheap-scapes. By-the-way, the temperature at the top of the mountain was 56 degrees on this chilly Wednesday morning.

 

We also saw a very interesting sign. Now we know who Wytheville is named for.

  

We followed the path behind the store past the old green truck and found the trail to Monster Rock.

We hiked past the Rock along the trail for over an hour before heading back.

There is a trail there somewhere.

This is our first hike since Paul's A-Fib incident so we wanted to take it easy and work into longer hikes. Paul did check his pulse several times (He is never aware of the A-Fib situation.) and found his pulse was beating on a nice rhythm although a little faster now that we were hiking at 3500 feet up and down hills.(Yeah we know Pam and John, 3500' is nothing compared to your 10K foot hikes in Glacier NP.....slow but sure. :-)).

We really enjoyed this hike. The hike is on the ridge which made the hiking on big rocks a small challenge sometimes.

We didn’t see much of the sky during the hike.

Paul did his best to hold up the boulder with two hands so Marsha could hike under it.

If he was feeling 100%, he could probably hold it up like Marsha.

The leaves have just started to change color. We both agree that this would be a gorgeous place to hike come October.

We did more sightseeing today, but we will tell you all about that tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN…WYTHEVILLE, VA

Tuesday, September 16 – We pulled up the jacks and pulled out of the driveway at 7:00 am this morning. We jumped on Interstate 77 South bound heading out of Ohio. Our Ford 350 did a great job with the mountains of West Virginia. We sure love the exhaust brake holding us back as we go down those mountains. We passed up the familiar exit to Virginia Tech, where I youngest daughter spent four wonderful years. We soon pulled into Fort Chiswell RV Park in Wytheville, VA.

We are in Site 63, a FHU site. The sites are a little close together for our liking and for the price. They are gravel with gravel streets. They sure pack this place at night. What a money pit!

Looking right

Looking left

After unhooking and getting set-up, we headed to the Visitor's Center in Wytheville. Wytheville is a nice little, historic town. We drove around to look at some of the historic homes and buildings. There is a very nice walking/riding tour of the area. Maps available at the visitor's center.

Clarence Trinkle House now Barnett Funeral Home

Miller House, 1916

Wytheville is located on one of the primary routes used by settlers as they made their way West. The County Courthouse is an imposing Classical Revival building located in the center of town.

We strolled down the brick sidewalk of Church Street where numerous churches line the street among many historic homes.

Saint Paul United Methodist Church, 1838

Wytheville Baptist Church, 1883

Above the “World Famous” Skeeter Hotdog Restaurant (We'll sample their dogs in the next couple of days.) is the birthplace of Edith Bolling Wilson. She became the wife of President Woodrow Wilson in 1915.

Of course, we had to stop and see the”big pencil.” The giant #2 pencil hangs on the front of the Wytheville Office Supply store downtown. And, you must go inside the store to see the giant pair of scissors.

 

We were both exhausted! We forgot how tiring this traveling lifestyle is. We're chilling out this evening to rest up for additional sightseeing and some hiking the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!