Gypsy Trip to Cheraw, SC, Sugarloaf Mountain and more

Judy and I have always loved what we call Gypsy trips.

We take off and don't know exactly where we'll end up.

Last Friday was one of our favorites.  We started off by

heading toward Cheraw, SC, one hour away, where we

were definitely having lunch.

While giving our appetites a while to "mature", we visited Cheraw's
Riverside Park, where we saw some of the prettiest fall colors we had seen.

A view of the Pee Dee River.  Riverboats once came upriver
as far as Cheraw in the 1800's.

We did stroll down by the river and will walk the other trails on
a future trip. But now it was lunchtime.

We lunched at The River's Edge, perhaps Cheraw's finest eatery.
It was established and is run by Mennonite families and offers
a wide variety of sumptuous foods.  The service and food were
excellent.  Everything about the place says "Welcome."

Warm thoughts like this were all around.

Homemade quilts added to the homey decor.

No, we didn't buy it.

 After lunch, we stopped in at the town library where

we swapped some books at their free shelf.  We found

Judy a 15 pound pumpkin at a local stand -- there will

be more pumpkin bread in the works.  We found several

books, videos, and miscellaneous items at a thrift store.

 Heading south, we pulled into Cheraw State Park,

where we had been once before, but in springtime.

The park's Lake Juniper was beautiful and clear this fall day.

The boardwalk that borders the lake and leads to the spillway
makes a lovely walk, with lots to see.

We thought the colors were exceptionally good considering
it is now late November.

Lily pads dotted the shallow waters.

The shoreside shrubs were a wonderful palette of fall colors.

Judy dubbed these "Tombstones."  I like that.
They are actually "knees," a specialized root of water-loving
cypress trees.

At first we thought the cypress trees were dying, but the ranger
said this is their dormant season.  Unlike most conifers, they are
not evergreen, and lose all their needles in the fall.  And their
"Cones" are not cone-shaped; they're round.  When these cones
fall, they must be in water at least three months in order to germinate!

This is the bark of the cypress, which reminded us of cedar. Actually,
cypress is closely related to California's giant redwoods, and can
live 600 years or more.

This is the bridge at the spillway where the boardwalk ends.
There is a campground on the other side of the lake.

Documentation that we were actually there.

This pine tree extends a friendly arm for Judy.

From Cheraw, we headed south on U.S. 1 through Patrick

and another 5 or 6 miles to Sand Hills State Forest. We were

here to investigate a geologic phenomenon known as

Sugarloaf Mountain.

It can only conceivably called a mountain because it is a full
100 feet higher than ALL other terrain, in all directions, as far
as the eye can see.  Hmm.

I wondered why this "mountain" had not eroded away as all the
neighboring terrain had done over the eons.

Use of the stairs will protect the mountain from erosion at the
hands-  er, feet - of humans. We abided by the rules.

This large sample of what we know as Indian Paint Rock is a
clue to the mountains survival.

As we approached the mountain, the size of this HUGE sample
of Indian Paint Rock made me wonder still more.

These are the stairs that lead up 100 feet to the pinnacle,
and a surprising view.  Hi, Ken!

Hi, Judy!

This closeup of Indian Paint Rock reveals the array of colorings,
due to the variety of mineral in its makeup.

There is definitely a presence of iron, which when oxidized yields
the rusty red. Silicon, the building block of many rocks is also present.
Later when I looked up Indian Paint Rock, I learned it is sometimes
called Ironstone, and in some regions of the county is called Indian
Paint Pot or Hematite Geodes. The chemical makeup of all of these
varies greatly.

While fascinated with the rocks, I couldn't ignore the beautiful leaves.

A view to the north.  We were only 60 miles from Pinehurst.
I thought some of those longleaf pines looked familiar!

This is the observation area at the top. Rather rocky and seemingly barren.

This marker indicates the geologic significance of the site.

We wondered just how far we really could see.

I believe this heavily loaded tree is a shortleaf pine.

The mountaintop was not barren after all.  This wiregrass appeared
to be surviving quite well.  It was the only clump at the top, which
made me wonder if someone had planted it.  On the other hand, I
wonder what would grow there if not trampled and hampered by
feet like mine.

One more glimpse to the northeast, toward Patrick and Cheraw,
where we had come from.

And one more use of the handy self-timer.
It's hard to find a stable place for the camera sometimes, but
at least I don't need a selfie stick.

Time to start down.  And you DON'T want to ROLL down!

We stopped again for this novelty shot. I wonder who could
crawl through this hole.  It's smaller than it looks.

As I cautiously worked my way up this Indian Paint Rock boulder,
I thought about how easily our grandkids (AND kids) could do it.

I loved how this oak branch was resting its weight on the rock.
Cooperation in nature.  It reminded my of Old Man Poplar on
the Sandhills Farm Life Nature Trail.

It's really an ideal rock for climbing. It was that slippery pinestraw
that gave me second thoughts.  But all went well.

As we exited the Sugarloaf Recreation Area, I snapped this
nearby lake.  We only saw one vehicle in the hour we were there.

Heading home in a roundabout way, we went through

Chesterfield, SC, where neither of us had been before.

It's a town of fine historic houses. And one great 

thrift shop.  Who just happened to be having a bag

sale on clothes and another on books! It took us a 

while to unload the car when we got home.

It was a great day and affirmed for us yet again

that you don't have to go on a cruise or even a long

weekend to have a great little getaway!

The Cabooses Keep Calling Us Back

Judy and I recently headed to Grassy Creek Cabooses

for a couple of days touring part of western Virginia that

we've grown to know and love. Here's a potpourri tour

of our escapades.

We got a clear view of Pilot Mountain as we headed north.
We hope to have a day trip here sometime this fall.

 A roadside stand at Cana, north of Mount Airy, boasted some
gigantic pumpkins.  We didn't buy one since we don't own a forklift.

Judy did find a couple of items among their produce, but the
cashiers made us a little nervous.

Our host at the Cabooses referred us to this new local place just
off I-77 at Fancy Gap.  The food was really good and they were
really busy on a Tuesday night.

My kind of decor.

Interesting light fixtures.

Interesting bathroom mirror, too.

We were back to the cabooses by dusk to watch the sunset.

This is a view of nearby Buffalo Mountain, which I hiked to
the top of several years ago.  It boasts an ecosystem unique
in all of Virginia.

Our host, Donnie Yow, added this depot building several years ago.
For those who might not care for the cabooses or for whom access
might be a challenge, the depot is a great alternative.

The water tower adds old-time atmosphere.

Don't ask.

Donnie's wife Carol sewed these curtains for the cabooses and depot.

Donnie was very proud of this fine addition to his depot's living room.

This is our caboose.  We have stayed in all three on prior visits.
They are much roomier on the inside than you can imagine. They
all have queen-size beds, bathroom, jacuzzi, microwave and fridge.
One caboose has a kitchenette.  All have front and rear decks for
enjoying the view.

Breakfast the next morning was at the Lakeview Restaurant where
Highway 52 intersects the Blue Ridge Parkway.   We've enjoyed many
fine meals there over the years.

Then we were off to find local mountain apples.  At Levering's
Orchard on Orchard Gap Road, we found just what we wanted
and had a nice talk with the proprietor. We got a half bushel each
of Golden Delicious and Muttsu, a Japanese hybrid sometimes
sold as Crispins.

Market conditions and expenses are tough on the old orchards.
We hope this one can stay around for future generations.

We headed 20 miles north on the Parkway to visit the historic
Mayberry Trading Post. We've been there several times. The
woman in there gave us some interesting history of the store.

We had planned to do a token hike on the New River Trail.  On
previous trips we had biked all of the 60+ mile trip, breaking it
into manageable sections.  Since we knew it would be a short
hike, we revisited Chestnut Creek, near the town of Galax.

There wasn't much early fall color, but some spectacular exceptions
were scattered through the woods and along roadsides.

This Virginia Creeper provides the color.

This unknown shrub produced a pleasant lemony fragrance when
handled or rubbed.

Chestnut Falls was our destination and turnaround point.
The whole hike was about 3 miles, and well worth it.

As on the rest of the New River Trail, old railroad bridges, tunnels,
and trestles have now been converted for horses, bikers, and hikers.

This birch bark was curled up like scrolls.

This boulder is adjacent to the falls.

These are not the largest falls, but some of the beautiful.

The craggy rocks separate the creek's flow into two crashing streams.

Isn't that beautiful?

Judy may look likes she's meditating, but she's waiting for me to
return from my death-defying descent to the falls for photos. She's
staring at a pine tree heavily laden with cones.

Here's a relaxing video for your enjoyment.

Here's another red-berried shrub, not yet identified.

Here's yet another with red berries covered by a green husk.

When ripe, the green husks curls back, revealing the red berries.

This phenomenon was interest to me, since most berries just change colors.

After finishing that refreshing hike (temperature in the low 70's),
we continued away from Galax to the old mill town of Fries
(pronounced freeze). This is the longest bridge that spans the New River.

A view to the north, which oddly, is the direction the New River flows.
It is the second oldest river in the world, geologically.  Only the Nile
is older -- and it also flows north.

Fries doesn't have much going on economically these days. Once
trainloads of mountain goods thundered along local rails.  The
trail brings visitors, but not much for the economy.

This dam on the New River provided cheap power for the area's
largest factory, long closed.

For nostalgia's sake, we rode a few more miles on back roads
to the little community of Ivanhoe.  All the small towns along
the path of the railroad were very quaint.

Ivanhoe, like many other regional towns, was home to an
iron-smelting furnace.

Judy and I have biked over this trestle before. Trains used to
rumble over this same route.

There are still remnants of the old furnace structures.

We returned to Galax for an early supper.  Trip Advisor clued
me in to a local favorite, Creekside Cafe.  Two things made it
a good choice for us: it was favored by locals and it offered
vegetable plates, which Judy was ready for.  I got a shrimp plate
and we both thought our meals were great.

This local grocery was right beside our restaurant and was still
open, so we decided to see if Judy could find some mountain
cabbage.  We loved the slogan "Shopping the way it used to be,"
but Judy wondered if the other sign meant they were running
low on food.

Well, this answers that question.  Their bins were overflowing
with produce of all description.  She even found something new
to us: yellow-eyed peas! Can't wait to try those.  She got every
non-perishable item she could think of.  It was great!

Talk about 3-D art. Leaving Galax we saw that someone had used
actual violins to spell out "L-O-V-E." Maybe I could make something
out of old piano keys. There sure are a lot of pianos nobody plays.

From Galax to Hillsville, then back toward Fancy Gap, I pulled
over to snap this photo of the Sidna Allen house.  The Allen clan
made national headlines in 1912 when a convicted Floyd Allen
opened fire in the courthouse.  Other guns appeared and a bloodbath
followed. The judge, sheriff, and prosecutor, and two others died.
Judy and I have hiked to Devil's Den, a secluded rock cave where
Floyd Allen hid during his flight from re-capture.  This story remained
a national headline until another tragic event superseded it: the
sinking of The Titanic.
Hillsville Courthouse Tragedy 1912
Another informative article is
Floyd Allen -- Wikipedia

We took back roads to the cabooses and saw this mother and child.
Parkway animals are used to seeing people.

On our last morning, I set the clock to get up at 6:30 so I could
see another sunrise.  I was not disappointed.

There were many highlights to our trip, and this was a great
one to send us homeward.

Aside from all these  adventures, we sought out

thrift shops, books, and bargains wherever we could

We got several good books at library sales in Galax

and Lexington. We found some great stuff at Miller's

Market on Highway 58. We'll surely go there again.

And maybe it won't be too long before we head north once more.