PINEOLA, NC. Our time here while camped at the Pineola (pronounced pine-OH-la) Campground has been very chore-oriented combined with efforts to view the 2024 Olympics without cable TV hookups.  Someone recommended viewing YouTube via a "hotstick" from Amazon, but even then we generally get only recordings and not live coverage.  

We did find out that we have national access to the YMCA with our membership from St Augustine.  We have only done water aerobics, since nothing like Silver Sneakers is available here.  We have been there twice so far and already feel sore from that.  A couple of old coots we are.

On Friday July 26st we had dinner at the Rohrbaugh's home in Newland.  They are old friends from their days living in St Augustine.  

On Saturday July 27th we went shopping in Boone where I ordered an AT&T hot spot, since our Verizon one is not that great, regardless of all the hype about their coverage.  We may be finding out that the AT&T one is not that great either. We also shopped at the Publix in Boone, including getting our Rx refills.  That is the only Publix anywhere near here.  

On Tuesday July 30th, we had a plumber install a new kitchen sink fixture trio of faucet, nozzle, and sprayer.  I was able to order from Amazon a set identical to the one that came with the motorhome.  The old set was 11 years old and starting to leak.  The setup looked simple to me, but Betty fretted that I was in no condition to crawl under the sink and lie on a wooden ridge while working the old set off, then install the new set.  Turned out the plumber really had to earn his keep getting it done, and I was glad that I did not try it. 

On Thursday August 1st we drove up to Boone once again to pick up the new AT&T hot spot.  It is hopefully better than the Verizon one, but nothing like what we have at home.  We also picked up another Rx at Publix pharmacy.  Before leaving Boone we stopped off at the Mystery Hill Natural Gravitational Anomaly.  There are other such places around the world, with several in the US.  The three points of the Bermuda Triangle have this anomaly, which could explain why flight compasses go nuts in that triangle of space.

I was very skeptical about this place.  I had seen similar places shown on TV and wondered if it was simply optical illusions, so I brought a level app on my phone that I knew worked.  Even the guide of our tour through this place was a skeptic a first and brought a level from home, which he left on the stone slab below to demonstrate that it was indeed level.

Note Level on Stone Below Us

As we switch positions on this stone, it appears that our height difference changes considerably.  People who are not as different in height as Betty and I are notice it more.

Note the Difference When We Switch Places

This Couple Were Not As Different in Their Heights

Now They Switch Places

Then you enter their strange building.  The tour guide warned us to hold onto the railings, since many visitors get very disoriented in there.

As You Enter the Main Room

This Floor Slants Down to the Right, But Things Roll Uphill

The camera is tilted below to show how it feels to walk up the room.  The swing above is swung far more to the side than it would ordinarily be. 

Everything Is Accentuated

If you stand with your back to the wall at the low end, it feels like hurricane winds are pinning you against it.  

As You Attempt to Walk Away from That Wall

The photo below shows what it feels like to move away.

It Takes A Surprising Amount of Effort

Betty Demonstrates the Pull

Our guide demonstrated the anomaly by pouring water at the low end of the pipe below to show that it flows uphill.  There is also a rail that inclines uphill to show a ball rolling uphill.

Here Betty and another guest give a demonstration.  

After we left that room, we went into rooms on the way out of the anomaly area. 

Below is a demonstration of the Bernoulli effect of air blown straight up on a ball.  

        

The following really are merely optical illusions.

Mirror Used to Make It Look Like Betty Is Floating

While This Rotates, If You Cover One Eye
It Appears to Rotate in the Opposite Direction

Water Appears to Flow From Faucet Suspended in Air

Other illusions were impossible to photograph.   

The next room was a favorite for Betty.  It was for blowing bubbles.  Click on link:  Betty Blowing Bubbles

There was another exhibit for blowing bubbles that Betty struggled with.

Click on link:  Sometimes Bubbles and Betty Do Not Mix

So I took over for a while.  

Click on link: Steven Gives It a Try

We left the unique building for the main tourist attraction area, which included a small eatery.  I was so disoriented by this point that I wanted a drink of soda or something.  We got soft pretzels and a diet soda.  I noticed that, like so many tourist stops in this part of North Carolina, there is a very large display of "vintage" soft drinks for sale, most of which neither of us had ever heard of.

One of Many Displays of Old Soda Brands

Even the Window Sill Had Sodas Lined Up

After a rest (and a while seated) I was able to drive again.  It really was a disorienting experience.

 Pineola Campground, Near Newland, NC.  On Monday, July 22nd, we left Swannanoa and arrived here at Pineola Campground.  Pineola is the town where this campground and the Down By the River Campground are located, even though the mailing address is Newland, since Newland is where the nearest post office is located.  When the latter campground is available on August 18th, we shall relocate there until Sep 30th when we shall return home in St Augustine.

Yesterday we did shopping at the Publix in Boone in a downpour.  A big switch from the dry hot days we had experienced so far.  It did cool things off quite a bit, leaving us with a nice cool dry day today.  We went for a walk around the campground here earlier this afternoon, then the Rohrbaughs came by to visit us here at the motorhome.  They left around 4:30 pm to go home for dinner, then off to Wednesday night service at church.

Endless Queen Ann's Lace in Property Next to Campground

Betty Captured Closeup of One of the Flowers

Covered Picnic Area with Our Grill Set Up

On our walk we followed the path provided which led to a tree house.  We need to find out who owns it, who built it, who lives there, etc.  Pretty nice tree house, but not really in a tree.  Only among the trees on stilts.

View from the Path

Ground Level Porch

Upper Level Porch

Betty Took This Photo of Me Setting Up the Grill Table

Betty also took the following photo of a moth lying on the ground beside our motorhome.  It was still alive but unable to fly.  Not much could be done to help it, but Betty wanted to save its image anyway.

Now to get the blog caught up.  On July 11th we left Mt Airy, NC to head for Mama Gertie's Hideaway Campground in Swannanoa, NC to be near the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.  I don't know if they expected me to drive down that hill to leave, as convenient as that would be, but I decided to back out, then drive around the hill.

Extra Shady Campsite at Mama Gertie's

Betty Noticed a Bird's Nest Up One Tree

Betty Examining Bird Nest

A few days before the Michael Card concert and classes were to start, we were called to see if we wanted a room at the Cove.  Betty had put us on their waiting list and a room had opened up.  We took it, and stayed there for the concert Sunday night and the classes that followed Monday afternoon through Friday noon.  It is a good thing the time there did not last any longer, since with tons of food everywhere for free, including dessert after breakfast, lunch, and dinner; it tends to be a glorified gluttony.  I gained 8 1/2 pounds and Betty is not telling how much she gained.  Spoiled all our progress on Weight Watchers.

I picked up a screw in the left front tire of the Jeep somewhere at the Cove, called AAA who sent someone unfamiliar with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, who complained that he had trouble removing the wheel.  Finally, once he had replaced it with the spare, his air pump would not work to bring it up to the correct inflation.  Thus the Jeep was towed to the nearest place with an air pump.  Once that was done, I still needed to have the damaged tire fixed.  They are so busy at the nearest AAA service center in Asheville that they had me drop off the wheel for them to fix when they could.  Two days later they said it was ready.  On the way back to the Cove on I-40 the left front wheel wobbled like crazy; they had NOT rebalanced the wheel.  I called and was told to come by 8 am Saturday and they would try to work me in.  I finally found another place that honored AAA in Asheville who rebalanced the wheel for free within 15 minutes.  Hallelujah!

Glad to report that the concert by Michael Card and classes at the Cove went very well.  It is his last year of doing this, since he is feeling his age.  As he noted, we are called grownups because we groan as we get up.

From Our Seat at the Concert

Michael at the Piano

Michael and Us at Book Signing

The grounds at the Cove are outstanding and extremely well maintained.  There are wildlife sightings, the following caught by Betty.

Mother Deer and Fawn

The main building, which includes the auditorium, cafeteria, and bookstore is even beautiful from its back porch on the upper level.

Back Porch of Main Building

Panorama from Far Corner of Back Porch

View Down Stairway Behind Back Porch

Below is the scene of our gluttonous splendor.

Wide Angle View of Cafeteria

A few days after completing our battle to have our front left wheel put in good order, we departed for Pineola.  I think this brings us up to date.

Mt Airy, NC.  Yesterday we drove up to the Blueridge Parkway to join Chuck and Marti Eagle at the Blue Ridge Music Center.  A volunteer bluegrass band meets here weekdays to perform some of their favorite pieces.  We were not expecting much, since volunteer bands we have heard in the past were nothing to write about.  These people were an exception.  

I had always associated bluegrass music with someone sawing away on a fiddle like he or she was trying to start a fire, along with ignorant nasal wailing.  Though one is open to his own view of these performers, we thought they were quite professional.  Hard to believe they perform so often for free.  Apparently they are such good friends that they love just to get together, play, tell jokes, and laugh.

They perform in a covered but open area at the Music Center, where there also is a bluegrass museum.  A very nice place, unlike many others we have seen elsewhere along the Parkway.  We were glad for the rain that arrived mid-performance, since it was very hot outside and also glad for the cover overhead.

Click on the following links to view and hear some examples.

Bluegrass Band

More Bluegrass Band

In the following link, you will see closeups of the performers.  In the process of using my phone to take the video, I somehow slipped into selfie mode which I quickly got out of.  I tried to remove the few frames of that, but nothing worked.

Band with Closeups

After lunch we said goodbye to the Eagles, but not before asking the park ranger to photograph the four of us.

Park Ranger

At this point we finally got around to seeing the museum.  Betty took the following photos of exhibits there.

We had heard that there was an amphitheater where weekend concerts are performed, so we walked over to where is was to have a look.  Betty took the following of me crossing over the bridge leading to the amphitheater.

Just like everything else at this park, the amphitheater is very professional and well kept.  I shot the following panorama.  At this distance it is hard to see all the professional lighting and sound equipment.

On the way home we stopped off at the Mud Duck Pottery Shop just down the street from our campground.  Betty was especially enthusiastic because of her past experience of doing this same kind of wheel work long ago. She took a few shots of the interior of this modest but well equipped shop. 

Tomorrow we take the final steps to prepare for our departure for Swannanoa, NC on Friday.  Hard to believe we actually are going to be leaving the area.  We arrived here June 1st.

Mt Airy, NC. On Saturday we drove up to Fancy Gap, VA to join Chuck and Marti Eagle, along with new friends Wade and Sue Totzke who live in the same neighborhood.  This neighborhood is what sponsored a July 4th celebration over the weekend.  It is a rather small tight-knit group where virtually everyone has a golf cart for getting around the neighborhood for picking up mail, local events, etc.  They earlier had had a golf cart parade where each cart was decorated for the Fourth and judged for which were the best.  We did not get the chance to photo the winners but did see a few.  The Eagles had a Navy theme on theirs.

Gathering at the Food Tent

Food Selection

My Plate

Chuck and Marti Eagle

Steven Jenkins and Sue Totzke

Sue and Wade Totzke

There was a local group of volunteer musicians who provided music, and the community provided food.  A few energetic joined the musicians in the gazebo to dance. 

Today we are doing laundry to free up time to drive back up to Fancy Gap tomorrow.  We shall visit the local bluegrass musicians, along with the Eagles and Totzkes. 

Mt Airy, NC.  Happy Fourth to all!  

We are headed into our last few days in Mt Airy.  This Sunday will be our last worship at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church here.  On Saturday we drive up to Fancy Gap to celebrate a special Fourth with the Eagles and other friends, with special food and music.  Then on the following Tuesday we return there for a special music celebration with the area bluegrass musicians.  On the 12th we leave for a campground in Swannanoa, NC, a short drive from the Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove.  This will be the last year for Michael Card's special musical and biblical celebration, this time covering all the gospels.

Yesterday we drove to Pilot Mountain State Park near Pinnacle, NC.  The mountain has two pinnacles, one larger than the other.  It was still too hot and humid to be out (in my opinion), but we persevered to have a short walk and hike to the top of the smaller pinnacle.  The top of the larger pinnacle is a bird sanctuary for ravens, so no one is allowed up there.  By the way, Andy Griffith simply reversed the title to arrive at "Mount Pilot" for the county capital in the Andy Griffith Show.  There is actually a nearby town named Pilot Mountain.

First we stopped at the Visitors Center to get some literature and advice on best sites to see.

Visitors Center with Pilot Mountain in Background

First we hiked to the picnic area with the lunch we had packed.  We found a covered area that looked fairly sheltered from the sun.  Actually, eating a large lunch before hiking up a mountain trail is not advisable.

Betty Took This Photo of Me at the Picnic Table

As we hiked up the trail to the top of the smaller pinnacle of the mountain, the scenery was pretty clear except for the usual haze in the distance due to the heat and humidity.

View from Along the Trail

Betty Took This Shot from the Trail

Another Shot by Betty

Betty at the Top of Little Pinnacle

Nearing the top of Little Pinnacle

View of Big Pinnacle from atop Little Pinnacle

We had considered visiting another landmark, but it was too hot and humid.  So we headed to the Publix we had visited on the way back from Old Salem.  I had two more prescriptions to pick up.  While there, we also did some grocery shopping, since there is nothing like a Publix.