Ken Loyd's Eclectic Blog: 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