New River Tubing

Oh no, more company!  For entertainment, I decided a float down the river was in order.  Hubby could not find our large sturdy rafts, or our stash of water shoes.  He did come up with two inner tubes and borrowed two more from a friend.

Our son drove us to the end of Cox Road and let us out.  He was to pick us up at the dock in the neighborhood in an hour and a half.  We stumbled down a steep embankment to the river.  Dick scratched his arm on some briars but was only bleeding a little.  It has been a very long time since I've sat inside an inner tube.  After getting nice and snug I heard a little hissing sound.  My tube had a small hole.  Oh-oh.  And there went my son driving off.  Okay, I'll just keep my finger over it and hope for the best.

The New River is the oldest river in North America and one of the few that flow north.  It isn't very deep and the water is crystal clear.  We have floated down it many times without incident.  It was one of the hottest days of the season, 95 degrees, and there hadn't been any rain for a while.  We had waited until after 4 PM to head out.

That day the river was quite shallow and we kept getting stuck on logs and rocks.  My little butt hit countless rocks and sand mounds.  My tube held up, but hubby managed to get a hole in his and had to stop several times to blow it up again.  It took us two hours to get two miles down the river and we had another two to go.  I decided to stop at Zaloo's, a kayak and tube outfitters shop, and beg for a telephone.  Although they were closed, it was almost 7:00, one of the fellows let me use his cell phone. I couldn't get hold of our ride, he was still sitting at the rendezvous spot, but managed to call a friend who drove down to let him know where we were.

Finally, at 7:15 the ride from hell was over!  We woke up the next morning with sore necks from holding our heads up while squished in the tube and sore backs and butts from getting beat up  by the rocks.  I am on my way to the hardware store to see if I can replace the borrowed tube.

Our tubes before

 And after

 An easy to spot rock

Watauga Lake, Tennessee

Company is coming!  What are we going to do while they are here?  Hubby noticed an ad for boat rentals on Watauga Lake, located in Tennessee, an hour and 30 minutes away.

Watauga Lake is a man-made lake and is used as a reservoir.  Sixteen miles long and 265 feet deep in areas, it is the third cleanest lake in the country.  I was excited to see this wonder.  It was a perfect day, temps in the 70's and blue skies.  We packed a lunch and donned our swim suits.  The ride was long and windy with lots of scenery and little civilization.

Once there, it only took a few minutes to get our safety instructions for our pontoon boat: life jackets are under the seat and if you go further than 6 miles, you will lose radio contact.  Okay. The boat was easy to handle and fit all 7 of us comfortably.  I had planned two hours for our trip, but we ended up staying for four.  The lake was a greenish blue color and crystal clear, with no fishy smell to it.  It was surrounded by mountains and green trees.  There were very few homes to be seen.

On the way back home hubby said, "Maybe we should buy a boat".  No, I don't think so.  But I will be going back to Wautauga Lake again as we had the most relaxing time floating along and admiring the mountains.

Old Salem Trip

The quilt guild was planning a trip to Old Salem, located in Winston-Salem to visit MESDA (Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts) and tour the town.  A bus was hired and there was to be a quilt turning.  I thought, what the heck, maybe I will learn something new about quilting and I don't have to drive.

We met bright and early and rode the hour and a half to Old Salem.  Our first stop was the museum and we were hustled into a large room with several table pushed together covered with quilts.  We each donned a pair of white gloves.  The museum curator proceeded to talk about each quilt.  They were all hand made and dated from the early 1700's to late 1800's.  Since they were made with store bought fabric and still in good shape, it was determined that they came from wealthy households and were used  for wall hangings or decorations.  Here is a sample of what we saw:

The middle of this one is done in honeycombs, all pieced by hand!

Look at the applique

My favorite.  Done in jewel colored velvets.

After is was over, I thought to myself, when are they going to show us the quilt turning?  And I realized we had already seen it.  After each quilt was displayed, it was folded and put away and the next one was underneath.  Hence, quilt turning.  Duh.

We took a tour of the museum and saw lots of old furniture, pictures, samplers, and quilts.  We wandered over to Mayberry's Restaurant where we waited in line for 20 minutes to order a sandwich, and then waited some more for it to be made.  Downstairs was Winkler's Bakery, established in 1807.  I purchased a sugar cake and Moravian sugar cookies, and a recipe booklet so I can make them at home.

The Moravian Church was open for tours and we wandered around admiring the wooden floors and pews, the stained glass windows.

The town of Old Salem is a living history town that recreates life during 1766 to 1840.  Folks dress in period clothes, stores sell historical replicas of objects used by the Moravians who settled there in 1766. The buildings have been restored and the sidewalks are made of bricks.

What a fun day we had.