Mountain view

It was nice and cool this morning so we got out for a drive to find a location on the New River when the north and south forks meet before merging and traveling north to West Virginia. My hubby was sure I was on the wrong road when the pavement ended and I drove over five miles on dirt and gravel. We found the location. The river flooded tremendously last September during Hurricane Helene so we saw signs of new work on roads and bridges. We also saw a wooden kitchen chair and other debris still hanging in a tree along the road. It was at least 30 feet above where the river is now.

We then continued on the dirt road for a few more miles to get back to the main road. We drove into Virginia and then back into North Carolina several times. How do people know which state they are in? We found a little country store where we got a sandwich and cold drink to go but we also were able to pick blueberries from their orchard. I got enough to make a cobbler or pie when I get home.

We were so close to a favorite state park in Virginia that I decided that we had to go there for a picnic with our sandwiches. The park has a herd of ponies that are “wild” so we walked up the hill to see if they were roaming. No sign of them. I could tell for sure that I had not done any mountain walking in a long while. The 2 mile round trip was not a stroll on flat land.

This photo is the view on the way to the picnic area at the bottom of this hill. Tables in a grove of pink and white rhododendron. You can see the blue of the Blue Ridge Mountains here.