Memory Jar

The busy season is winding down here in the beautiful Blue Ridge High Country of North Carolina. With a full wedding season behind me it’s time to shape up, catch up, savor and get ready for the next year.
My crafty/nostalgic side gets to come out during winter. I finally had time to implement an awesome idea that I found on Pinterest recently…the memory jar.
You make a jar of memories and milestones for each year (this one is small since it’s almost 2012) and then sit down and read them as a family on new years.
What a wonderful way to remember and start fresh! When you grow up you realize that traditions don’t make themselves, you have to shape what you remember and carry on.

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Looks like Summer in Blowing Rock!!!

It always takes a little longer than you think for summer to arrive up here in the NC High Country but the pay off is pretty amazing. Took this picture from the deck of Canyons last Sunday.

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Building a High Country Clubhouse out of Pallets

As if 1 recycled cabin in the NC Mountains wasn’t enough, My husband decided to use some extras and make a little club house for our 2 year old (and himself).
Took about 10 dollars some donated pallets from the nice folks at Village Hardware in Blowing Rock and 2 hours of labor to complete but the hours of entertainment and extra porch space are priceless!
We don’t have much of a yard so making un-usable space useable is a great idea (of which I can take no credit for…or the execution for that matter)



Trillium - Found a patch of these down by the club house too for an added bonus!!!
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NC Mountain Living…As Good as it Gets!

If a picture is worth a thousand words…………

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How to get rid of skunk smell in your home and on your pets…

Living in the Boone/Blowing Rock area of the North Carolina Mountains you’re exposed to an abundance of wildlife but…it was a first for us when Floyd the dog ran into the house excitedly proceeding to rub his burnt rubber, onion, garlic stir fry smelling snout all over our carpet. It was 10 at night so our reaction time was on the slow side but even though the dog was only inside a mere 20 seconds…lets just say things got real.
As I sit here right now 3 days later and probably 70% stench free. Counting my blessings that it’s warm enough to air out the house a little, I’m hopeful for a full recovery within the week.
There is a lot of great advice for this very problem if you google it so I won’t bore you with lame details but here’s a crash course on what worked for us.
-Windows open, candles, any smelly good stuff in general, coffee grinds sitting out, dryer sheets in every drawer, cabinets etc.
-Take anything you can that you think might possibly smell outside on the porch for a few days.
-Baking soda and oxy clean sprinkled on the carpet (left for 30 minutes) and then vacuuming.
Steam Cleaning too but we haven’t done that yet.
-Wipe down all surfaces in and out. Dish soap is a good solvent since the skunk scent is oil based.
-Shower a lot so people don’t run from you.
-Run on the treadmill next to a really big guy so that everyone that walks by thinks it’s him that smells (it gets into your pores).
The Dog
No scent (you find it in the hunting section of Walmart) works wonders and they make detergent, soap, shampoo, conditioner and spray. Coat your life in it.
-I’ve heard tomato juice for a bath but we saw a Myth Buster’s episode where they debunked that so what we started with was a baking soda, peroxide, dish soap bath. Don’t get that on his face though, you’ll have to find something more mild that won’t hurt his eyes.
-Wipe his face area with a dryer sheet a few times a day too.
-Thinking about giving him a hair cut.
-Also someone mentioned a Coca-Cola bath so I have that to try tomorrow.
Hope this helps if you ever find yourself in the situation!

Rough Ridge Trail - A good one for the kiddies...

Rough Ridge Trail is has a really great hike to view ratio. It only takes about 10 minutes to get to the big vista and it's a big one folks. It goes way up from where these pictures were taken and connects to the Tanawha trail as well. The round trip is 2 miles but you don't have to do all of it to get a big pay off!

You can access the trail right off of the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's before the Linn Cove Viaduct if you're traveling from Blowing Rock to Linville. Great family hike... if my 2 year old can hike it, anyone can!!!

Making the best of a rough winter in Blowing Rock…

This winter in the NC High Country was not as bad as last the year before but 2010/2011 came in a close second.
Items Needed for Survival:
A sense of humor!!!
Chains for tires and the ability to put them on
Non-Electric Heat
Snow pants and waterproof gloves
Yak Trax
Booze
Internet at the house so that you don’t feel so isolated
Gym Membership
Camera
Ray’s Weather
Sled
A Hobby
4WD







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Don't Miss it - Boone and Blowing Rock are "Showing Their Colors"

Finally, Fall has arrived in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. Around here, it seems to be everyone's favorite time of year, including mine. We've been waiting patiently for this much-needed reprieve from the unusually hot and dry summer we’ve had in these parts. The leaves are just starting to turn, the days are warm, and the nights are down right chilly. The cool temperatures seem to wash away the summer haze and now several more layers of distant mountains appear in our views. I appreciate the beauty of the land here at any season, but there's no question that this is the High Country's "last fling," and you just don't want to miss it if you can help it. Excitement is in the air with this turning of the season. Travelers from near and far seem to descend on these mountains at peak summer levels to catch a glimpse of our brief but glorious "leaf season." There's also the 30th Annual Woolly Worm Festival this weekend in Banner Elk. Another big event is the Carolina in the Fall music festival in North Wilkesboro hosted by the Kruger Brothers, an amazing Bluegrass band from Switzerland who actually moved here a few years ago. Take a listen. Or, you can pick a pumpkin, take home some local apples, and find other Fall goodies at the Watauga County Farmers Market.


There is no better way to drink in the rainbow-colored landscape than to take a drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This incredible stretch of road, begun in 1938 and completed over 50 years later, is one of America's most scenic drives. The 45 mph speed limit throughout guarantees a pace that's perfect for viewing the scenery and the abundant wildlife.


It's hard for me to pick a favorite section but if you can spend a day, (or a weekend) I wouldn't want to miss the drive just to our North. From Blowing Rock, its probably a leisurely two hour drive up through Ashe and Alleghany Counties to to the Virginia line. In that stretch you'll see Cumberland Knob, where construction for the Blue Ridge Parkway began, Doughton Park with its 7000 acres to explore, the Churches of the Frescoes in Glendale Springs, and Thistle Meadow Winery near Laurel Springs. (not necessarily in that order!) I love this section as it has a great mix of both mountain and pastoral views, plus it's much less traveled than the section that heads South from here. One last thing to keep your eyes out for if you travel through Ashe County is Omni Highland Cattle Farm which backs right up to the eastern side of the Parkway. These beautiful (at least I think they are) animals can be seen grazing peacefully. Although the farm isn't open for tours, you might pull off and sneak a picture or two!


Now if you head South from Blowing Rock, you can spend a day or even a whole weekend exploring the short distance between here and Linville. Just a few minutes down the road, Moses Cone Memorial Park has fantastic hikes and trails, plus the stately mansion Flat Top Manor which now houses a rotating craft exhibit sponsored by the highly touted Southern Highland Craft Guild. No trip to the High Country is complete without a trip to Grandfather Mountain and the realized dreams of the legendary environmentalist, photographer, and naturalist Hugh Morton who passed away just last year. Too much can be written about the Mountain and the Man so a future blog is in order. Finally, the area in and around Linville , including the unique Linville Caverns, and famous Linville Falls. Although the area itself has gotten a bit touristy (folks flock for a reason), the Linville Gorge Wilderness Area, sometimes called the "Grand Canyon of the East," offers some of the most remote backcountry hiking and camping in the Southeast.


There is certainly no shortage of great Fall activities spanning the entire High Country area. Now I'm scratching my head trying to figure out what I'm gonna do. My only advice is to not try and do it all, but to see what you can and savor the moment. Winter will be upon us before you know it. "And the seasons.....they go round and round.

Mount Mitchell...Highest Point East of the Mississippi.

So when you live in a vacation destination such as Blowing Rock where people come to "get away from it all" where do you go to "get away from it all"? Well, the answer to that question this year was about 30 minutes outside of Burnsville, NC for my family. When I asked my Mom, "why Burnsville", she candidly replied..."well, none of us have ever been there before". Well, I guess that was good enough for me and the other 14 or so members of my extended family, all of who trekked from the far reaches of North Carolina and Virginia to the off the beaten path "cabin" that was big enough to house our rambunctious clan for a whole week.
My husband and I woke up with a burst of motivation one morning and decided to load up and drive the hour to Mt. Mitchell state park. Living in North Carolina and coming to various nooks and crannies of the mountains all my life, I just assumed that I had been there at some point. Turns out I hadn't, nor had my husband who grew up in nearby Morganton. We ended up having a wonderful day trip pretending to be tourists an hour and a half from home. We stopped at all of the overlooks on the parkway and took pictures of trees and butterflies. We set the camera to a timer so that we could have a pictures with both of us. We even bought the touristy blackberry jam at the little concession stand at the top of the mountain. It was a wonderful sunny day with the temperature at least 7 degrees cooler than when we set out at the base of the mountain.
The views were exceptional from all angles. The only downfall was that the observation deck at the top is currently closed for construction as it has been since March of 07'. Right now it's about 60% complete so it shouldn't be too much longer but I doubt they'll have it open before next spring. The good news is that you don't have to fight the crowds. The bad news is that, while you can drive up and have nice views from the main parking area and wilderness trails, you're not going to experience that huge unobstructed panoramic vista from the tip top.
All in all, definitely a worthwhile day trip even without the pinnacle. It's a pretty wild feeling to be up there, knowing that you're higher up than anyone on the eastern half of the United States. Getting there is a bit out of the way but the drive up is half the fun. Just don't pick a day where it's going to be cloudy or stormy . If you do you'll end up like the rest of my family when they decided to make the trip a day after we did!

Blowing Rock Hiking Trails - Glen Burney Falls

If you're in the Blowing Rock area and want a great half day moderate hike with a big pay off at the end, the Glen Burney trail is a great choice. Having lived in Blowing Rock for a few years, I knew about the trail but had never made the hike until recently. Depending on what kind of shape you're in, the trail is moderate to a little more than moderate. For me, hiking 3 weeks after I had a baby, the trail was a bit much on the way back up, but I made it! The trail starts out fairly level, but the last third of it you're definitely hiking straight down towards the falls. The trail is 1.2 miles down to the Glen Burney Falls and then another .4 miles to the Glen Marie Falls. You end up descending about 800 feet below the town of Blowing Rock. There are several great places to have a picnic lunch and sit for a while to break up the trip.
The view really is breathtaking at the bottom but the thing that I like about this trail is that it's interesting the whole way not just at the end. There's a lot of history in this ancient trail that was used by the Indians as a hunting trail and then later for turn of the century loggers. The town of Blowing Rock restored the trail in 1989 making it the only remaining portion preserved in usable condition. The hike takes around 2 hours round trip and is definitely a worthwhile trek.
If you're hungry after the trip, you're in luck because you're only a stones throw away from some great Blowing Rock restaurants. Check out Sonny's Grill if you're in the mood for a great hot dog or hamburger. You won't feel under dressed in your scrubby hiking clothes.
In peak season there is never any parking at the trail head but it is just as easy to park close by downtown. For directions click here.
As far as what's happening in the Boone and Blowing Rock real estate markets, we've had a great summer and early fall. Much of the market has held up fairly well across the board, slower of course than in year's past. The under 300K range for homes is still quite strong, and there's a ton of inventory, making it a great time to buy. In the past month or so, prices have started to soften. I'm hopeful now that the election is behind us, the current issues with the credit market will become the focus again, and the economy will make a turn-around. Let's all think positive!
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