A STEP BACK IN TIME!

Friday, September 19 –  We made a journey back in time this morning by visiting the Virginia Tech campus. Our daughter, Carrie, graduated in 2008 and that was the last time we were in Blacksburg, VA, and on the Virginia Tech campus.

One of the entrance ways to campus.

Library

WOW! What a change a few years make. The campus, although large at the time, has grown considerably. It was a fun morning seeing familiar spots on campus and exploring new areas. We stopped at the new visitor's center to get a parking pass that allows visitors to park just about anywhere they can find a spot…not easy when one is driving a dually pickup truck...LOL.

Housing.

New Visitor Center/Admissions building.

New parking garage. Boy do they need this.

We've always thought that VT is one of the most beautiful campuses we've visited. The architecture is superbly done with Hokie (that's VT's nickname) Stone used on just about every building on campus. The campus is divided in two parts with the housing areas and sports facilities on the west side of the drill field and the educational building on the east side.

Drill field.

We started our visit on the west side remembering the fun we had attending VT football games. Of course the athletic facilities are growing. The stadium is still amazing. They were getting ready for Saturday’s game and ESPN was blasting their music over the PA system. Next door is the new field house under construction.

New field house.

We stopped at the War Memorial located at the North end of the drill field. A memorial to VT cadets killed in battle. VT has a large military cadet program. It was neat seeing all the kids hurrying across the drill field on their way to class.

On the east side of the drill field is the April 16 “We Remember” Memorial in memory of the tragedy on that date back in 2007 when 32 students lost their lives.

We then drove around the east side of the campus checking out the Engineering buildings where our daughter spent most of her time. I bet she would be amazed by so many new additions located here.

New Engineering building.

We stopped in downtown Blacksburg. Surprising how small this town is with a university of over 30,000 located here. There is a very modern shopping district just south of town on your way to Interstate 81. We did visit a couple campus bookstores but left with our wallets securely in our pockets!

The Hokie Bird takes on many different looks around town.

It was a fun morning venturing back in time. Saturday we move on down the road to our next adventure. Stop back and visit Columbia, SC with us.

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

KICK IT UP A NOTCH

Thursday, September 18 – Boy has it been foggy each morning. We like to get an early start each day, especially days when we want to do a hike. If we waited for the fog to burn off, we wouldn’t be leaving until about 9:30. This is what it looked like this morning at about 8:30.

 

We decided to increase our hiking mileage today. We hiked one part of the New River Trail. When we planned the hike we didn't realize it was a former railroad route (Rails to Trails) making it a very easy hike on a smooth graded surface. This trail is accessible for hikers, bikers, and horseback riding. The entire trail is over 50 miles long. It begins in Pulaski, VA, and follows the New River to Galax, VA.

We began our hike at the Shot Tower Historic State Park. Built in 1807, it stands 75 feet tall. Beneath the base, is a lower shaft dropping an additional 75 feet to the river level. Hot lead was dropped from the top of the tower 150 feet to a large kettle of water at the bottom. The long fall was thought necessary to properly mold the lead into a perfectly round sphere. According to research and tax records, it was the first factory to mass-produce shot on American soil.

 

Back to the hike.... We followed a path around the Shot Tower to some stairs leading down to the trail. We hiked from the Shot Tower to Austinville, a distance of 3.6 miles and back for a total hike of 7.2 miles. As stated earlier, this is considered an easy hike, although we haven't hiked that far for several months so we had enough by the time we were finished.

There were mile markers along the trail, so it was interesting to clock, time and distance. We were surprised it took us 20 minutes to travel a mile. Three miles per hour. We were a little deflated, thinking we sped along at about 4 miles per hour....and that was on a FLAT surface....JEESH!

 

There is one neat tunnel we passed through and an abundance of beautiful scenery.

How do those tree grow like that?

We were happy to have the trail almost exclusively to ourselves. We only saw one bike rider and one additional hiker the entire morning.

 

Where we turned around.

By noon we returned to our car and were headed back to the campground.

One more day, here in Wytheville, VA and we have an interesting side trip planned. So check back and see where we are headed.

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

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!