Up to the Mountains, Down on the Farm

A spur-of-the-moment trip was made to the Blue Ridge Mountains to visit my son.  On the way up I stopped to snap some pictures of Mother Nature, she was smiling as you can see.

Below: Highway 64 is winding and cliffs  come within inches of the road along the Ocoee River route.  Scrape marks on some of these rock walls are evidence of tractor trailers that didn’t make it around the curves without damage.

There are many signs like this one on Hwy. 64.

If you love nature, this route is for you.

The Cherokee word Ocoee means: Apricot Place.

If you’re brave enough, white water rafting is available in the summer months. The Ocoee River was chosen for the whitewater canoe and kayak event of the 1996 Olympics. The two photos below were not taken by me, there are many on the Internet if you would like to view more of this beautiful river.

However, I did stop and take a good number of photos …

I took the photos below photos along with the featured image at Chilhowee Recreation Area. Mountain bike trails, beach, R.V. hook-ups, camp sites and more. Here is the link for Chilhowee Park. The word Chilhowee possibly means Fire Deer from what I could find.

Many people in this neck of the woods agree with the second amendment: “A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”  I think this business near Copper Hill, Tn.  points that out rather well.

Below, McCaysville, Georgia.

Almost there…

Above: A view to the left of his driveway. Below: A storage building.

Chris and I had discussed building a bar but sometimes things don’t go as planned.  He bought a 12×12 building from his uncle, the only problem was that it had to be moved. Fortunately a friend had a house jack but even so it took a full day to load it onto a trailer. The second day Chris had to drive the building down a dirt road. A group of friends and family were on hand to help with unloading and leveling. It ending up falling during an attempt to level -thank goodness no one was hurt. The building was undamaged, his uncle constructed it and the fall proved the little house was well built, not even a pane of glass broke.

Inheritance comes with a lot hard work.  There is much more to be done, and with winter coming it will be Spring before it begins again. Chris is having to organize barns and buildings filled with the stuff his father gathered through the years.  An old stove, metal table and other items were loaded up yesterday so that this building could be placed.

 

I couldn’t help with the work outside but I did rise early and make pancakes. Later on I made bacon, egg and grilled cheese sandwiches for the crew

…and took lots  of pictures of critters.

Chris calls the rooster above his attack chicken, but he seemed friendly enough to me     🙂

First picture above is a chick that can barely be seen because it blends in with the ground and leaves. In the last photo, two Silver Laced Wyandottes.  I thought they were  Cochin, but after my son read the blog he corrected me, thank you Chris!      😉

Some chickens are allowed to roam free and others are penned. The one up in this tree was chased by my dog Bella. She had a blast running after chickens, but I distracted her with a Frisbee-which is almost as much fun as chasing birds into near cardiac arrest.

 

Not only does she run after the Frisbee but brings it back and looks at me as if she is saying:  Throw it again!

Until next time…XO