A trip to Sunshine Mountain
Photos
October 22, 2014
We got up early this morning to set off to Durham to Clay's brother and sister-in-law's house to join them for a trip to their shared mountain home. They have owned this mountain property for close to 20 years now, I guess. We've never been. It's also exciting because we'll be there with them for Clay's 66th birthday.
Our first stop was at Krispy Kreme. The hot sign was on and we got a hot dozen. They had lots of advertising for the 30th anniversary of the Ghostbusters movie and their special marshmallow crème filled doughnuts, but they didn't have any of these doughnuts now. Maybe next time, but they won't offer them for long! Clay and I each ate 2 doughnuts on the way to Durham. They're best when they're hot!
We moved over to Warner's 4-wheel drive and had a trip to the bathroom and then set off again. We stopped in Greensboro at their State Farmers' Market for Vivian to buy some apples and use the restrooms. It was surprisingly windy and chilly!
We soon left the Interstate and the roads kept getting smaller and windier the higher we got. We knew we were close when we crossed the Blue Ridge Parkway. Near lunchtime, we arrived in West Jefferson. We stopped for lunch at the Havana Café, a tiny Cuban restaurant. It was very good. Clay and I both had the Cuban sandwich. Clay had a full-sized one and I had a half one with a side of rice and black beans. Delicious!
Warner went into the hardware store on an errand with Clay. Soon we were driving around looking at the many murals on our way to Ashe County Cheese. I love factories of any kind and I was fascinated by the loading of the cheese curds into tin forms to press them into wheels of cheddar. I also loved the store and got a long-sleeved t-shirt. We had bought a bag of curds from here at the State Fair earlier this week! So, we bought a big wedge of Parmesan in the store as well as juusto.
Just around the corner, we saw The Honey Hole of the Blue Ridge and I insisted we go in there too. They had an amazing selection of honeys in squirt bottles with little plastic spoons that you could try. They also had a lot of things handmade from beeswax. I picked a jar of New River Honey from Bare Bottom Farm of West Jefferson!
We finally headed back uphill and out of town for Sunshine Mountain and our home for the next 2 nights. We all got unpacked and got the utilities running then we headed out for a hike. We hiked straight uphill through a cow pasture. The property owners let a local farmer graze a small herd of cattle here in exchange for keeping the 60-acres worth of fence maintained, as I understand it. The cows are usually gone by November 1, so we were glad to get to see them. I believe I understood Warner to say there is a 600-foot elevation change on their acreage. So, we knew and could see that it was going to be an uphill walk. But! It was straight uphill! It was a strenuous hike up and back down. But even though it was windy, chilly and cloudy, the scenery was amazing and the cows were mostly friendly with some cute calves.
When we got back to the house, exhausted, we fixed snacks and drinks. We put cushions out on the front porch furniture. We sat out on the front porch and enjoyed our cheese purchases. I really loved the baked, warm juusto. Soon, the sun was setting and it was time to go in.
Vivian made and brought with her from Durham a chicken and rice casserole and that is what we had for dinner. She also brought along and made a salad from her neighbor's garden. It was good and hit the spot. Everyone was very tired. After dinner, Vivian wanted to see Clay's photos from the Mississippi River cruise and other trips, they looked at about half of them and then we all went to bed. Warner and Vivian have their own room upstairs. Clay and I chose the downstairs bedroom to borrow. It was closest to the bathroom, which is downstairs.
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