Thursday, October 4, 2018
Today we found ourselves in Shelby visiting the International Linemans Museum. Established in 2006, the museum is dedicated to preserving the history of line work and the electrical utility industry...
 |
| the museum is housed on the second floor |
 |
| Ron was a member of Local 17 |
The museum was extremely well done. It was a great walk down memory lane for Ron.
Saturday, October 6
Today is Forest Festival Day; a day to celebrate our forests and forest heritage. Along with crafters, demonstrations and exhibits, a lumberjack/lumberjill competition is held. Some of the events include log roll, ax throw, pole fell, crosscut saw among others...
 |
| ambulance on hand. what could possibly go wrong with axes and chainsaws?? |
 |
| waiting in line for lunch |
 |
| Rachel getting ready for the cross cut competition against the German contingent |
 |
| the German contingent, a husband and wife team |
 |
| District Ranger, Dave Casey, receiving a gift of a magnolia tree from the head of the German Contingent |
It was an unusually hot today; a good time was had by all.
Thursday, October 18
Tonight we attended the Volunteer Appreciation Dinner which was held at the Discovery Center at the Cradle of Forestry. The Cradle of Forestry is where the first school of forestry was located. There are a couple hundred volunteers who regularly work in the Forest. Volunteers perform trail maintenance (there are over 380 miles of trails in our part of the forest), work in the Ranger Station/Visitor Center, work at the Cradle of Forest, Muskies Unlimited (a fishing group), campground hosts and others. All in all, volunteers put in enough hours to hire 25 full-time employees.
Prior to dinner, we attended the dress rehearsal for The Legend of Tommy Hodges. A mystery over time becomes a legend and the legend grows in the telling...it was Halloween night in 1906 in the Blue Ridge Mountains when one of the students at the Biltmore School of Forestry disappeared. Characters are based on student diaries that families donated to the US Forest Service for the Cradle of Forestry. Students recorded their experiences in these diaries between 1903 and 1907...
 |
| Tommy Hodges (aka Devon) in the white shirt |
 |
| some of the spectators joined in for the round dance |
The weather was perfect! A grand time was had by all!!
Friday, October 19,
One of the guys had extra hot dogs (thanks Aaron) leftover from a family reunion, so,we had a cook out. Ron grilled the hot dogs and I provided cole slaw and baked beans. All who work/volunteer here were invited. We held it at the work center. The weather was perfect, sunny and 60's. Lunch was spread over two hours, people could come when it was convenient for them...
Wednesday, October 24
After an unseasonably warm summer which lasted through September and most of October, at long last it is beginning to feel like Autumn. We've had such warm days and warm nights that very few leaves are changing color. The majority of the leaves are falling (even at higher elevations) without changing color.
Our season here on the Pisgah is rapidly coming to a close. We will leave here on Friday, October 26.
From Alberto to Florence to Michael, it's been a fun, sometimes sad and at times, challenging season.
Some of our favorite sights this month in the forest include...
 |
| sunrise. picture taken from our dining window |
 |
| wild turkey |
 |
| late morning sun shining through the forest |
 |
| autumn sky. photo taken at Devil's Courthouse, Blue Ridge Parkway |
The cooler days and evenings have brought with it some color changes...
 |
| morning sun on Headwaters Road |
 |
| view of Looking Glass Rock from Headwaters Road |
 |
| this guy came to say good bye to us today. he stunned himself when he flew into our dining room window. he caught his talon in the seal of the window |
 |
| I extricated him from the window and held him for about ten minutes. he didn't fly away... |
 |
| we placed him in a safe place, and after another ten minutes or so, he flew away |
We just can't seem to escape the hurricanes and tropical storms. As we're packing up, we're keeping an eye on Willa. We expect to have rain most of the way to Kansas (a quick stop on the way to Texas).
Leaving is always bittersweet. We have truly enjoyed our time here on the Pisgah and will miss our friends. We are looking forward to being with friends at home in Texas and look forward to being with our Pisgah friends in the Spring.
Til next time,
Dawn & Ron
