Inventory

The Automobile.














It's an RV to me!
2002, Subaru Outback Wagon Ltd.
Recently serviced by Mark Teetor at Riverside Motors, Poultney, Vermont.
70,000 Miles.
I wonder how she'll do...


The Kitchen.


















Cooler, pots, pans, plates.
Propane range with two stove-tops.
Just your basic stuffs.
Also some ketchup, mustard, salt and pepper packets I 'borrowed' from fast food restaurants.


The Pantry.


















Yeah, it's a paltry pantry.
Peanut Butter & Jelly on-tap, noodles, candy, and extra water.
I ate a whole loaf of bread all-by-myself over the first two weeks. Yeah, that can't be good...
There was also a hot-dog water incident that I'd rather not talk about...


The Bed.


















A bit tight, but she'll do.
On a side-note, that fluffy blue and pink blanket was mine and my brothers' baby blankets, now sewn together.
Yes, isn't that cute.
You can also see my closet and generator at right. That generator is awesome. When fully charged, it can jump-start my car, it's got accessory AC and DC outlets, and an air-compressor! Good investment for this trip. So far it's just kept my computer alive, but that's no small task!


The Library.














Short of WiFi, this is my entertainment center.
I've got the complete tragedies and comedies of Shakespeare, and a tree ID guide.
So far I've read:
King Lear, Romeo & Juliet, Timon of Athens, Troilus & Cressida
Oh yeah, and the Penguin's name is Columbus. He's one of Mr. Popper's.


The Campground.

My new Guitar, road atlas, and fresh apples.
Yes, those are Vermont apples.
I have no idea why they're still fresh, but I am very happy about it.
Next campground I may turn most of 'em to applesauce.
If the hotdog-water-mishap is resolved...

Road-Ready.

Tennessee & Kentucky

Obviously I've hit some sort of Bluegrass Kick, and in an effort to stick with it I decided to rearrange my travels to include Owensboro, Kentucky, home to the International Bluegrass Music Museum and Hall of Honor.

Travelin' was pretty, as usual...

Good ol' Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway!

And I finally hit lizard habitat. Awesome.




The Bluegrass Museum was wonderful, with old suits and guitars from the stars. I had my first sample of Sweet Tea from a bistro down the road, and was sent to Rosine, Kentucky, homeplace of Bill Monroe:

Enchanting. The same property they hold the Jerusalem Ridge Bluegrass Festival at. I received a tour from a very nice guide.

Apparently, this is the home where Bill Monroe lived until his teens, when his parents died and he moved in with his Unlce Pen. Yes, Uncle Pen is real. Which makes it an even better song, if that's possible! Bill was the youngest sibling by 10 years, definitely the 'baby' - his family wasn't so bad-off for his time, either, with a coal mine in the back yard and timber sales from the same . But, times get hard, and Bill's brother Charlie ended up selling most of the land to a grinch of a man, who owns most of that land to-date - along with most of the county. Bill has tried repeatedly to regain the land where he was born and raised, but every time he came to the owner with the money, the grinch would raise the price.

After visiting the old homeplace of the Father of Bluegrass, it's high time I head toward the coast. This time traveling south through Chattanooga toward Asheville, I hit an amazing ride, full of winding roads and white water rapids below. A much better option than traveling back through Pigeon Forge again - Outside the Smokies, that built-up sprawl was nothing to write home about, so I won't. Instead, enjoy some more pictures of my return to the Blue Mountains:

Tunnel through the Mountain

TVA: Snail Darter Killers.

Goodbye, Tennessee...

Sweet Virginia

A treat for the folks at home!

This past Friday, I followed the tip to the Floyd Country Store Friday Night Jamboree. No small ordeal. A band, a dance floor, a large seating space, and room enough to still sell ice cream, gifts, CDs, nick-knacks, and barrels-full of candy. Ahh, the Floyd General Store, in beautiful Floyd, Virginia. As you can tell from the video below, the dancers aren't shy! What you see is 'clogging' and 'flat-footing.' Apparently the difference is that flat-footers are too old to raise their knees... Half of the dancers had some sort of taps on their shoes. Very cool. Good for them.

Inside the General Store

But that's not the best part. Outside the general store, even more bands gather - well, not 'bands,' per-se, but musicians anyhow. I counted a maximum of 6 groups playing outside at one time. Young, old; punk, hippie, redneck; all come together with a single goal: to enjoy some good old fashioned bluegrass music.

Outside the General Store

I'll return here someday. In the meantime, another cool landmark in town is County Sales, a virtual warehouse of bluegrass music. But buyer beware, browsing will take a considerable amount of time - artists are organized by label! Very helpful staff will guide you in the right direction. Or just go to the website and order online!

Galax, Galax, Galax

Ahh, what a town. The people there are angels, open-armed and eager. No lack of mountain music to be made here! From Stringbean's Cafe (live jamming every Tuesday) to Barr's Fiddle Shop (live jamming every other customer), it's a fantastic place to catch some music or meet some musicians. And it's within a half hour drive from every other big event in the area - you could literally see music every night!

And how on Earth did I get here, I'm supposed to be in New Jersey? Well, good things happen when you drive Southwest to avoid Hurricane Hannah. I wouldn't change a thing. To hell with New Jersey. I owe y'all a new map

So, let's take a closer look:

Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway Music Center
That's a mouthful! I'd heard about this from the start, and thank goodness I went to check it out. Not only a museum, showcasing the best of Old Time Mountain Music, this venue actually hires musicians to play the same, every day from 10:30-4:00! With rocking chairs set out for interested visitors, this was a wonderful place to take a break - and to hear the haps on all the music in the surrounding area. These were the kind folk who sent me to Stringbeans in Galax, and Barr's Fiddle Shop to mend my cracking fiddle-face. I also received a two-minute dobro/dulcimer lesson from a friendly ranger inside, picked up Ralph Stanley & the Clinchmountain Sweethearts CD, and spent a good hour reading about The Hillbillies, the Carter Family, The Stanley Brothers and more. PLUS, they had an old Sears-Roebuck issued guitar on the wall that belonged to one of the Hillbillies. Good stuff, good stuff.

Stringbean's Cafe
I counted possibly 6 or
7 antique stores on Main Street, Galax; this one can be set apart by its delicious coffees (mmm, frozen mocha), pie-by-the-slice (mmm, apple), and the old time mountain music played from every corner on Tuesday nights. I'm not kidding, there was a separate group playing a separate song in three different corners of the store. It's a pretty big store. The harmonies of the group I observed were unmatched - some Father/Son mixture had something to do with that, I'm sure. Get up and dance if you want to, or sit down and play your hand at rummy with the old folks. What a great retirement - tea, cards, AND music all around! I wish I'd had my camera there on Tuesday...

George's "Cones & Coffee"
What a great guy, this George fellow, and what a great little shop. Delicious foods and bakery items (I settled on a scrumptious orange/cranberry muffin and cookies-and-cream flavored frozen coffee), and an antique store to boot! A great place to sip and read. And let's all wish George some "good luck!" on his Hallelujah diet! And no bananas, God help you if you pester George with a banana.
Being the oh-so-studious and attentive planner that I am, my reading of choice in this cafe was the City of Galax Comprehensive Plan. No light reading, to be sure... The city is currently undergoing some "revitalization" (I know how that is), and I hope to keep up as much as possible. You know it's a lovely town when you actually start to give-a-damn!

Barr's Fiddle Shop
How many times have you found yourself sitting in a music shop for 7 hours, and then come back the next day for more? This is the hub of town, as I see it, and the door is always swinging open. I met several awesome people here, not the least of which was one Stevie Barr, owner, banjo player, total angel. He grew up in the store, bought it from his father, and continues the tradition of bringing music and musical instruments to the residents and visitors of Galax. (Remind anyone of the Ralphs?) Stevie is "kind of a big deal," sort of like a local legend or idol. The sonofagun played before the Queen in Edinburgh! I love Edinburgh! And (tell me if I'm wrong, Steve), at 13, played with Earl Scruggs, played the inaugural ceremony for the new governor of Virginia, played all over Europe, etc. etc. He's also on the in-ter-net. Check out his band "No Speed Limit." These guys (and gals) gots skills.Stevie sold me a wonderful little beater guitar, and I'm getting pretty good at the G chord. That's right, watch out. Hopefully this will spur some song-writing in me - I've got a pretty good amount of fiddle-fodder to formulate. Plus I promised I'd post "Bluegrass Lullaby" when I learned it.

New River Campground
Now, not everything happens in Galax (except the Fiddler's convention - last weekend in August - 2009, I'm totally there). Some good stuff happens in Independence, VA; or was it Sparta, NC? For all my days gallivanting around Galax and surrounding towns, I spent the most comfortable nights at the New River Campground, right on the line of Virginia and North Carolina. Well, I registered in Virginia, but I slept in North Carolina. Only a few feet away from the New River ("Oldest River in America," whatever that means...)! It was gorgeous! The campground offers tubing, kayaking and canoing, which one day I will take advantage of! The lady behind the counter was the sweetest gem I've met on this trip, and the grounds were immaculate, secure, and restful. Even for a girl sleeping in her car! (yes, it rains in Galax).

The Blue Ridge Parkway

What a place! Vistas overlooking the ridge every ten minutes, windy roads and switchbacks - I wish I had a video camera attached to my car, y'all would get motion sick in a minute!

The campgrounds so far have been excellent, and decreasing in price as I go; The first stop in the Poconos, where I did not dally, cost some $30. The next from some friendly folk just outside the parkway, $22. Then I finally found the parkway. Now, the ride from Pennsylvania to Virginia was nice; and I finally saw just what 'Virginia Creeper' was...but nothing could compare to the Blue Ridge Parkway!

The campgrounds just off the Parkway have been modest and affordable... aside from some humongous bees and the constant threat of some ornery mother blackbear, it was fine.

I'll have to do an 'in-depth' look at the contents of my RV (read: subaru wagon) at the next campground.