Out of Gas

The entire southeast region of the country is low on gasoline, thanks to Hurricane Ike a few weeks ago. North Carolina was especially hit hard on the gas supply -- something to do with the routing of the pipelines from the refineries in east Texas and Louisianna.

We haven’t seen anything like this since the early 1970’s when the gas shortage caused long lines at the pump. Locally in Brevard, 15 miles away down the mountain, the police were out to direct traffic and prevent people from cutting in ahead of people in line.

Needless to say, we haven’t gone anywhere in order to conserve. It has been rather pleasant up here on the mountain, but we had to go down this morning in order to get groceries. Only two gas stations in Brevard had gas and we had no trouble getting a half tank to top off.

The newscasters tell us this gas shortage may go on for a while. We are prepared to hang out here on the mountain for another week or more.

The Healing Forest

People have known for thousands of years that plants from the forest can be used to treat injuries and cure diseases. Knowledge of the healing properties of herbs, bark, twigs and flowers has been handed down through the generations.

There are many ways to prepare plants for use as medicine. Some used in early America are as follows:

Infusion: Prepared by pouring boiling water over fresh or dried herbs and allowed to steep, then drunk as tea or used as a wash. For example, an infusion of wild cherry bark was used by the Cherokees for the treatment of “yellow”.

Poultice: A mixture of bread, milk and herbs was applied to cuts, bites and wounds.

Plaster: Herbs were ground and mixed into a paste, then aapplied to the chest or back to relieve pain or a cold.

Decoction: Fresh or dried herbs, bark or twigs were boiled in water to extract medicine. For example, the Cherokees treated a child’s stomach ailment by bathing the child in water in which the barks of sassafras, flowering dogwood, service and black gum trees had been steeped.

Storing these medicines in early America was done with oil, tinctures or salves. Oil was usually olive oil and the preparation was done like sun tea. Tincture was done with alcohol, like rum, or pure alcohol in which the herbs were allowed to steep for weeks. Salves were made by frying herbs in lard or butter, then removing the herbs and storing the greasy substance in crocks.

The trick is to know which herbs for which purpose; we don't know. We have excellent doctors.

The photo in this posting is what we see every day from our motor home. We never tire of it.

Gas Guzzling

This view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina was taken by Dot and Gentre from their room at the Pisgah Inn (milepost 405). We have seen many such views, simply beautiful, but this week things are different. THERE IS NO GAS TO GO SEE THESE VIEWS.

We just came from a Brevard shopping trip, which we combined with a nice lunch at the “Square Root” but we could find no gas. We both had a pint of Harp lager, so we didn’t get all upset about it.

We understand this is happening all over North Carolina because of Hurricane Ike which hit the offshore platforms and refineries in Texas. Other areas if the nation are similarly afflicted.

So we are sticking close to the motor home at The Cradle of Forestry until this crisis blows over. It may take weeks, but fortunately we have enough gas to tide us over.

What's a Board Foot?

Because my Dad and Grandpa Fischer from Austria were carpenters, I often heard the expression, “board foot.” Years ago, lumber used in building houses was bought by the board foot.

The number, 12, is key. A foot measure is 12 linear inches. A board foot is 12 cubic inches. For example, a board 1”x 12” and 1” thick is one board foot.

A regular 2”x 4” stud, used in building a house, is eight feet (96”) long and contains 768 cubic inches or 64 board feet (768/12).

A board foot is equal in volume to a square foot of lumber 1" thick.
A square foot of lumber/flooring, etc. would be 12" x 12" (or similar dimensions totaling 144 square inches), but could be of any thickness.
If you know the thickness, you could calculate the board footage from the square footage. Flooring may be sold by the square foot, since that is the measurement you are likely to take when you are calculating the size of the area to be covered, so it's a convenient unit of measure for floor coverings.
Visit the lumber calculator at www.woodweb.com/Resources/RSCalculators.html

1st Forest School Founder

The volunteers at the Cradle of Forestry are given a book about the founder of the first school of Forestry in America and it happens to be an autobiography. The following is a precis of the book with footnotes which I wrote as time allowed:

Carl Alwin Schenck, PhD
Founder, Biltmore Forest School

Carl Alwin Schenck, “unquestionably one of the most individualistic, distinctive and colorful personalities that has thus far appeared on the leadership scene of American Forestry,”[1] was born in Darmstadt, Germany[2] on March 25,1868,[3] “the sickliest of five boys.”[4] During his adolescence, Schenck chose a career in forestry and his family encouraged it, thinking it would improve his lung condition.[5]

At age 18, he was graduated from the Darmstadt Institute of Technology. In the spring of 1887, he began attending forestry school at the University of Tübingen,[6] but a near drowning incident cut that short. His next move in 1888 was forestry school at the University of Giessen, where one of his physics teachers was Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen, discoverer of the X-ray.[7] He also studied law at Giessen and “barely” passed the state exam.[8] Early in 1895, at age 26, Schenck obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of Giessen.[9]

Not long thereafter, while vacationing with his uncle on the French Riviera, Schenck received a cable from George W. Vanderbilt, reading, “Are you willing to come to America and to take charge of my forestry interests in western North Carolina?”[10]

Schenck arrived in New York on April 5, 1895[11] and took a train to the Bilmore.[12] In due time he met Mr. Vanderbilt[13] at dinner in his temporary residence while Biltmore House was under construction and “not for a moment was forestry discussed.”[14] Such discussion was saved for the business meeting at 10 a.m. the next day.[15]

“Vanderbilt was most kind,” Schenck wrote. “My annual salary was to be $2,500. I would be provided with two saddle horses and their feed. I would have the fine old country place theretofore occupied by Baron d’Allinge. I would be allowed a leave of absence for three months in 1896 and thereafter two months every second year in order that I might complete my military duties as a lieutenant in the German army.”[16]

With George Vanderbilt’s permission, the Biltmore Forest School, the first such in America, was opened in the fall of 1898.[17] There were daily lectures from 9:30 to 11:30, followed by trips to the field in the afternoon.[18]

Dr. Schenck wrote: “When the school was founded, I voluntarily promised Vanderbilt that, since my salary was paid for by him, I would turn over to him half of any surplus receipts that I might obtain from the school or any other work done by me outside the estate. The latter work contemplated expert advice in forestry, expert services at courts of law, or services as an agent of forestry with the federal Division of Forestry...”[19

When he left Biltmore at age 41, Dr. Schenk summarized his accomplishments during his 14-year employment:
· “established the first school of forestry in America.
· “established in Biltmore Forest the first private forestry in America.
· “protected the 100,000 acres of Pisgah Forest and grew it in value.
· “proved that forestry and lumbering are inseperable.
· “wrote a number of books on forestry, including textbooks.[20]
· “secured for North Carolina laws favorable to forestry.”[21]

Dr. Schenk took the Biltmore Forest School with him to Darmstadt where he immediately obtained an assistant professor position at Darmstadt Tech.[22] He continued to operate the Biltmore Forest School until the fall of 1913 when Dr. Schenck returned to the German army to serve on the eastern front.[23]

In 14 years, 300 of Dr. Schenck’s students completed the course work of the Biltmore Forest School and more than half went into forestry work. “His contribution to the fledgling profession of forestry was undeniable,” wrote Steven Anderson, president of the Forest History Society.[24]

After WWI he continued traveling the USA and Europe until he was forced to return home again in 1939 with the onslaught of WWII. He resumed his work and travels in the 1940's and was appointed by the U.S. military government as chief forester of the new American state of Hessen. He died on May 17 1955 at age 87. He is regarded as one of the foremost pioneers of forestry in the USA and Europe.[25]

The information for this biosketch was excerpted mainly from Dr. Schenck’s autobiography, entitled “The Cradle of Forestry in America” (1998:Forest History Society, Durham NC).

FOOTNOTES
[1] p. vii, Joseph Illick, SUNY @ Syracuse
[2] p. 2
[3] p. 3, & UNC @ Asheville, Schenck Award Bio
[4] p. 2
[5] p. 3
[6] p. 2
[7] p. 3
[8] p. 4
[9] p. 16
[10] p. 17
[11] p.18
[12] p. 23
[13] p.31
[14] p.32
[15] p.33
[16] p.33
[17] p. 77
[18] p. 78
[19] p. 78
[20] p. 175
[21] p. 176, selected Schenck bibliogrpahy is on p. 211.
[22] p. 178
[23] p. v
[24] p. ii
[25] UNC @ Asheville, Schenck Award Bio

Railroading Reduced

In Bryson City NC there is a model railroad musem which we got to visit because the entrance fee is included in the price of our train ticket. The photos here show a model RR setup which is the largest we have ever seen. Nothing like this would ever fit in one’s house.

In addition to the operating trains shown in the photos, there were displays over every kind of American locomotive known. It was a veery impressive display

Take the Train

Today was train day -- that is The Great Smokey Mountain Railway train. It leaves Bryson City NC daily at 10:30 a.m. and slowly makes its way across Lake Fontana (shown in the top photo) and up the Nantahala River Gorge where lots of folks get off and raft back down the Nantahala River which advertises Class 2 and 3 rapids, but they looked more like Class 1 and 2 to me (bottom photo). The train arrives back in Bryson City about 3 p.m.

Lois enjoyed the day as you can plainly see (middle photo).

Gentre made the arrangements. He is so good at that sort of thing. He chose the right thing out of four options -- open car where you might press on benches against some of the fattest asses alive, closed passenger car where one can sit two-by-two more comfortably, club car and dining car. Gentre chose the club car for us and we each had a table and comfortable seating. Included in the price were non-alcoholic drinks, danish, fruit, cheeses, crackers and small pretzels. Way to go, Gentre!

Powering the train was a diesel locomotive. It was slow because the tracks had speed restrictions. We didn’t mind that at all. We were there for a fun ride, not to break any records.

For lunch we stopped at the Nantahala Outdoor Center where one can rent kayaks or white-water rafts. They gave us one hour to purchase a sandwich and chips and overemphasized that we would be left behind if we were not back on the train by two o’clock. We didn’t mind because there is always someone in the crowd who doesn’t get it.

For more on white water in this area see: http://www.noc.com/
For more on the train stuff: http://www.gsmr.com/

Making MOVIES

I often thought that one of the neatest jobs in the world would be location scout for the movies. All one has to do is travel around and find good photogenic places to film a movie.

Chimney Rock and the gorge bearing the same name has been the location for movies. For example, the great scenery here stole the show in the 1992 remake of James Fenimore Cooper’s “The Last of the Mohicans.” This has been enjoying a rerun recently on the cable movie channels.

Down in the valley, “Dirty Dancing,” filmed in the l980’s, we believe, starring Patrick Swazey, was done in the resort building shown here in the photo on the shore of Lake Lure.

This certainly is a beautiful part of the world.

Cool Chimney Rock

This was one of Dot and Gentre’s targets for their trip and they mentioned Georgia had put them on to this place. HOWEVER, it is prominently mentioned and advertised in the AAA guide. We might have eventually visited here, as it is about 50 miles away. What a breathtaking bunch of scenery!

Until May of 2007, Chimney Rock was privately owned by the Morse family for more than four generations. The State of North Carolina bought it and it is now known as Chimney Rock State Park. They wouldn’t recognize my federal Senior Pass. Darn!

This terrain was formed by the rocky Broad River. We crossed the river at the entrance (1,040’ alt) and drove to the parking lot (2,280’ -260’). The 260’ is the height of the elevator which took us through the rock to the Sky Lounge. There is a tunnel through the rock which is at least as long. All this work was done years ago with dynamite and hand tools.

The Chimney Rock itself is 315’ high and stands at 2,280’ overlooking a beautiful valley. Simply breathtaking!

Another feature of the park is Hickory Nut Falls which is 404’ high, and claimed to be higher than Niagara Falls. Niagara must be the gold standard because a lot of falls around here and north Georgia are compared to Niagara in some way or other.

We couldn’t see the the falls from Chimney Rock. To see the falls, Dot and Gentre took the two-mile hike there and back, which they seemed to enjoy. I enjoyed the afternoon nap.

For more about this awesome piece of landscape: http://www.chimneyrockpark.com/

Canvassing Connemara

While Dot and Gentre were visiting us here in Western North Carolina, they had selected some places to visit and we were glad they did, because we wanted to visit these places as well. One of these was CONNEMARA in Flat Rock NC -- just south of Hendersonville about 35 miles from The Cradle of Forestry.

This was the last home of Carl Sandburg -- poet, minstrel, lecturer, biographer (Lincoln) and Pulitzer Prize-winning author. Sandburg was born in Galesburg IL, worked for the Chicago Sun Times and received many honorary degrees for his literary work. The irony was he only finished eight grades of formal education.

Carl was 67 years old when he purchased Connemara for $45,000 in 1945. Twenty-two years later, his wife, Lillian, sold it to the National Park Service for $200,000 -- a pre-arranged transaction. To many of us, Carl Sandburg remains an inspiration to many, especially those of us who like to write.

Carl had emassed a collection of 14,000 books for reference. The place was like a time capsule, as if the Sandburg family had just gone out for a stroll before we got there.

It was Lillian who discovered this mountain farm which had everything the family needed or wanted for their champion goat herd and seclusion for Carl’s writing. Carl would do all-nighters most of the time, sleep until lunch, correspond in the afternoon and make dinner the highlight social hour of the day. It was here, between the ages of 67 and 89, that he produced his best work, including the last four of the six-volume Lincoln biography.

The place was built by Christopher Memminger, treasurer of the Confederate States of America, in 1838 -- ironic for the most comprehensive biographer of Abraham Lincoln, the leader of the other side in the American Civil War. Connemara was the name given to this place by the second owner, Ellison Smyth, a textile tycoon, to celebrate his Irish ancestry. Carl and Lillian were the third owners.

Needless to say, we thoroughly enjoyed this visit.

Welcome Dot & Gentre

Welcome to the Cradle of Forestry, Dot and Gentre. They walked in the front doors of the Discovery Center on Tuesday afternoon, 16 Sep, after driving up from Charleston SC . The next three days would be with Lois and me and we had been looking forward to this as Dot and Gentre are fun to spend time with.

They brought a special drink with them, called Sweet Tea Vodka, mixed with lemonade and vodka. After that, none of us felt that we needed dinner. Apparently the special vodka is produced and only available in Charleston. The res the world is not ready for it yet.

On Wednesday, Dot and Gentre got the full tour of the Cradle of Forestry, including the movie. That evening we all went to dinner at the Hob Nob in Brevard. We were celebrating having some family around.

One Who Made It Possible

The person who created the Biltmore House in Asheville NC and who bought the mountains which became Pisgah Forest was George Vanderbilt. This bio-sketch was taken from Wikipedia.

George Washington Vanderbilt II (November 14, 1862 – March 6, 1914) was a member of the prominent United States Vanderbilt family, which had amassed a huge fortune through steamboats, railroads, and various business enterprises.

The fourth son and youngest child of William Henry Vanderbilt (1821 - 1885) and his wife Maria Louisa Kissam, George II was named after his father's younger brother, George Washington Vanderbilt, third son of the family founders, Cornelius Vanderbilt (1794 - 1877) and Sophia Johnson. As the youngest in William's family, George II was said to be his father's favorite and his constant companion. Relatives described him as slender, dark-haired, and pale-complected. Shy and introverted, his interests ran to philosophy, books, and the histories of the paintings in William's large art gallery. In addition to frequent visits to Paris, France, where several Vanderbilts kept a home, George traveled extensively, becoming fluent in eight foreign languages.

George W. Vanderbilt II had inherited $1 million from his grandfather and another million on his 21st birthday from his father. Upon his father's death, he inherited $5 million more, as well as the income from a $5 million trust fund. He ran the family farm at New Dorp on Staten Island, New York where he had been born, then lived with his mother in Manhattan until his own townhouse at 9 West 53rd Street was completed in 1887. In 1888, when he was twenty-six, George visited Western North Carolina with his mother, enjoyed the area, and decided to build a country home there, which became Biltmore House.

On Christmas Eve 1895, Biltmore House opened its doors for its first family celebration. At Biltmore, George led the life of a country gentleman. Having a great interest in horticulture, he oversaw experiments in scientific farming, animal bloodline breeding, and silviculture. His goal was to run Biltmore as a self-sustaining estate.

On June 1, 1898, George W. Vanderbilt married Edith Stuyvesant Dresser (1873 – 1958) at the American Cathredal in Paris, France. They had one daughter, Cornelia Stuyvesant Vanderbilt (1900 - 1976). In 1912 George and Edith booked passage on the Titanic but changed their plans before departure, due to what newspapers of the day labeled "a premonition of Mrs. Vanderbilt's sister, Susan Dresser", or in some cases, a premonition from George Vanderbilt's mother (who was deceased, making it difficult for her to have a premonition). It was too late to stop Mr. Vanderbilt's valet, Fred Wheeler, from boarding the ship; he was lost, along with the Vanderbilt's luggage, when the Titanic collided with an iceberg and sank on April 15, 1912.

Unfortunately, George spent more than his annual income on the Biltmore and its upkeep and began withdrawing money from capital. In addition, bad investments helped to deplete his once great fortune. Some of the chateau's rooms were never completed. He lived on the property until 1914 when he died of a heart attack in Washington, D.C. after an operation for appendectomy. He was interred in the Vanderbilt family mausoleum at the Moravian Cemetery in New Dorp on Staten Island, New York.

After his death, George's widow sold approximately 86,000 acres (350 km2) of the property to the United States Forest Service at $5 an acre, fulfilling her husband's wishes to create the core of Pisgah National Forest. She sold additional land as finances demanded; today, about 8,000 acres (32 km2) remain 12,500 acres (51 km2) remained. William Cecil is the present owner and is credited with preserving the estate which remains open to the public.

One-Cow Grader

We are used to seeing large earth-moving equipment building roads as we travel around the country. The photo shows what was available circa 1900 for building mountain roads.

The road grader, shown here, was pulled by one horse, or one mule, or one ox, or even one cow. It looks like a John Deer from the colors, but Lois and I examined it carefully and found no identifying marks anywhere on the equipment, The basic design on this little grader is essentially the same on the big diesel graders used today.

Unlike modern scrapers, this machine could not move a lot of dirt because they were powered by a single animal and the work was slow. Constructing mountain roads was hard work, so roads followed contours where the work was the easiest, not the straightest. It was always easier to go around a hill than go through it. You can tell when you are on an old road if it twists and turns around hills.

Many of the hiking trails here at the Cradle of Forestry are old roads of 100 years ago.

Log Loader

This steam-powered log loader was purchased by the Forest Service for the Cradle of Forestry exhibit at the same time as the locomotive. This powerful machine could haul large, heavy logs up hill or down as far as the steel cable could reach. We got right next to the machine. Awesome!

At the end of the cable was a set of tongs which lumber jacks would pound into the log with a heavy maul. The log loader would act like a giant fishing pole and reel in the logs to itself where it would be pulled up and set on a log rack ontop of a flat-bed railroad car. This log loader could handle over 1,000 logs in one day’s work.

This log loader could do more than that. It could lift empty log cars off the tracks until they were needed. It could lift and move large timbers to build a railroad trestle. It could lift and load entire buildings onto log cars when it was necessary to move the logging camp.

Logging Locomotive

We examined this 1915 Climax, gear-driven, logging locomotive manufactured by the Climax Corp. in Cory, PA. Lumber companies soon figured out that that mules and oxen were ineffecient.

This particular locomotive was not used in Pisgah Forest but worked most of its life in The Great Smokey Mountains before they became a national park. This engine had enough horse power to haul seven fully loaded railroad cars full of logs to the Champion Mill Yards in Canton, NC.

This locomotive hauled logs until 1952. Later, the Forest Service bought it for the Cradle of Forestry for $1,300. In 1981 they wanted to restore this locomotive which cost a whopping $68,000 for a new water tank, cab, boiler jacket, new head lamp, reworking the cylinders and the wheels.

We get a lot of questions from boys about this engine. They are awed by the locomotive.

“How did they get it here?” the boys ask.

The answer is, “A low-boy 18-wheeler, driven slowly and carefully down an old logging trail to its present location on the Forest Festival Trail.

Portable Sawmill

Did you ever think about how trees in the forest become boards to build houses? We saw today how they did it 80 years ago. Lois is standing at the right of the photo.

This is a typical “portable” sawmill operated in the Pisgah Forest in the 1920’s. It was typically set up in a draw, downhill from the timber to be cut so that oxen and mules could haul fallen trees to the mill site. However, sawmills like this, powered by a diesel engine were used here up until the 1940’s.

Portability is a relative term. Here it means three or four days to move from one site to another and set up again. The steam engine was relatively easy because a team of mules could pull it. The circular saw blades and sliding racks holding the logs could be dismantled and hauled on wagons. The roof was probably the most troublesome, because it had to be torn down and rebuilt at the new site.

What this means is four days without production because the sawmill was key to making money back then. It was easier to transport cut lumber out of these mountains than logs. Two or three men could run a sawmill, but it took dozens of men to cut the trees down and get them to the sawmill.

Sawmills like this aren’t used any more. Today they have huge, sophisticated machines to cut trees and turn them into regular logs for transport to a permanent, centrally-located sawmill.

Biltmore Campus Trail

This is a mile or so paved trail which takes you past many sites from 110 years ago. Push a button and a voice talks to you about what it was like. The trail includes the school house and Dr. Schenck’s office and many other sites:

1. Commissary(not shown) -- built in 1902 at a cost of $200, it was a country convenience store for day-to-day items needed in the home. Clothing could be purchased from a catalogue here. It was the post office for the forestry students. It was also the social and sports community center.

One product got my attention -- Dr. Morse's Indian Root Pills -- a "favorite for over 50 years" taking care of "constipation and biliousness."

2. King House (see photo) -- built in 1882 entirely of hardwood, not a reconstruction, this was the home of forest rangers and their families until the late 1960’s.

3. Black Forest Lodge (see photo) -- 14 of these were built of hardwood post and beam construction with wooden pegs and strategically located throughout Pisgah Forest to house Forest Rangers and in some cases their assistants. Forest Rangers were paid $50 per month and assistants half that much. Their job was to conserve the forest, fight fires and to prevent theft of timber. You see, the locals here lived off the land and took whatever they needed, including trees, without asking. Vanderbilt asked Schenck to find a way to protect his resources.

4. Blacksmith Shop (not shown) -- Blacksmiths were once as indispensible as the food, medicine and clothing which the mountain people depended upon. There were two horses in the feed lot next to the shop which paid me no mind. After repeated calls, I got one of them to look at me but that was about it. I’ve lost my horse communications skills.

5. Hell Hole (not shown) -- This was strictly a student cabin and had no architectural significance. The name of the cabin was given to it by the students. Other examples are “Gnat Hollow,” “Little Bohemia,” “The Ark” and “Rest for the Wicked.” The students studied, slept and played cards in the cabins. They usually ate their meals at the houses of locals.

6. Wash Place (not shown) -- Near a creek, this site had a large iron caldren where clothes were scrubbed with “Octagon” lye soap and boiled clean, then rinsed in the creek. If you couldn’t afford “Octagon,” then you made your own lye soap from ashes and animal fat. This was a busy place one day a week -- usually Mondays.

Biltmore School of Forestry

That’s what this place is all about -- a one-room school house, Dr. Carl Alwin Schenck and his forestry curriculum which he created as George Vanderbilt’s chief forester on the 125,000 acre Biltmore estate. Schenk succeeded Gifford Pinchot who was the first Biltmore forester and later first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service under President Teddy Roosevelt.

The school house building you see here is located on the original site but is a reconstruction of the one built in 1891 to educate children living in the area. This building housed the Biltmore School of Forestry from about 1898 until Dr. Schenck took it on the road in 1909. The last class was graduated in 1913 and that was the end of of the first forestry school in America.

Inside were benches and tables for learning. Classes were held in the mornings. Field work was in the woods in the afternoons and book study was expected in the lodgings at night. It was not an easy life for the students. Dr. Schenck believed in hard work, sink or swim.

The school house was a church on Sundays. Dr. Schenck was the minister. He purchased a pedal-organ from Montgomery Ward’s Catalog for $28.43 “to improve the singing on Sunday.”

The cost to attend the Biltmore School in 1906 was $1,100 which included tuition ($300), room and board ($350) and laundry, books and supplies ($150). Travel to and from school cost an average of $300. In addition each student was expected to have his own horse and be responsible for the feed and care for that horse.

The third photo shows Dr. Schenck’s office which was used to write textbooks and grade papers. There was a secretary who was there every day, banging on a primitive typewriter.

Dr. Schenck was an interesting person, educated in Darmstadt and University of Tuebingen (Forestry). His salary was $2,500 per year and he was paid nothing extra to run the school, except maybe for the tuition which he split with Mr. Vanderbilt. After the school closed, Schenck returned to Germany where he remained for the rest of his life. In 1914, Vanderbilt sold the Pisgah Forest to the U.S. Government for 2.5 times what he paid for it and it became the Pisgah National Forest.

Braving Brevard

On our first day off after our first full day of work in years, we had shopping to do. We went down the mountain 14 miles to Brevard NC which is the county seat of Transylvania County (Trans for across and sylva for woods in Latin). They have everything there we need and if they don’t have it, we don’t need it.

About halfway down the mountain, there is Looking Glass Falls, one of 15 in the immediate area. The photo shows George in front of Looking Glass Falls, “the most photographed falls in the county,” according to the “falls” brochure. The brochure also says there are 250 waterfalls in Transylvania County. For more, check out www.visitwaterfalls.com

We needed supplies for the motor home. Hurricane Hanna and Hurricane Ike are expected to make landfall on Saturday and we can at least anticipate fringe rain. We were told to fill up our water tank because the electricity goes out in storms. No electricity means no water. If that happens, we’ll use our gasoline-powered generator for lights and appliances.

The other photo on this posting is of Poppies in Brevard where we had lunch and did our grocery shopping. It is very “up market,” as the Brits put it, and it reminded us of “Whole Foods” which is in some major U.S. markets. Lois and I split a cobb salad unlike one we have ever had, with scallops and shrimp in it.

Our First Work Day

Lois and I worked 8.5 hours today in the “Forest Bounty Cafe” -- part of the discovery center here. We were the only workers in the cafe and we took in a whopping $43. The closest place to get something to eat is seven miles away and the next closest is 14 miles away.

The cafe operation is different from any we have ever been familiar with. Everything sold is individually wrapped and zapped in a microwave. The key is individual hygiene to be on the right side of the health department.

The foods all have dates on them. The chips are free of transfats. Fruit cups are available. Ice cream is a favorite. Needless to say this is not the height of the season.

As you can see from the photos, cleanliness is next to godliness. Chlorox is the favorite product to put into spray bottles to keep the tables and equipment clean.

We met and visited with a couple from Sacramento CA; they were visiting their son in Greenville SC and take day trips during the day.

The most remarkable visit was with Nels Glesne (92), a retired Forester, who is working on a new trail nearby as a volunteer. Nels grew up in Decorah IA and was graduated from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and then received his Forester degree from Iowa State in Ames IA. He plays tennis 3X weekly and is #2 in singles nationally in his age bracket. He defends his rating next week and we look forward to seeing him in two weeks to find out how he did.

Pisgah Inn

We drove seven miles up 2,000’ to the Pisgah Inn today to have lunch and generally check the place out because we have heard so much about it since we arrived here. The Pisgah Inn is located at milepost 408 on the Blue Ridge Parkway (Milepost 0 is at Front Royal VA). Asheville NC is only 30 miles from here.

All this land, as far as the eye can see, used to belong to the Vanderbilts of the Biltmore. The photo, taken at 5,000 feet altitude, shows a beautiful haze over the mountain ranges.

The other photo is a stained glass version of the Pisgah Inn logo which hangs in the vestibule of the restaurant.

The brochure asks that you “discover our little piece of paradise, high above the heat, the hustle and bustle and the trappings of civilization.”

“We promise you an unforgettable and relaxing experience.”

Lois and I will most likely visit this place often in the next eight weeks. However, we wondered about the name -- Pisgah. It comes from the Bible when Moses was directed to view the Promised Land [Deuteronomy 4:49 "under the slopes of Pisgah" and Numbers 23:14 "to the top of Pisgah."]

First Day

We toured the facility today, watched the movie and got a briefing on our first work day's duties from Jack Merrell. Along with that briefing we received a heavy dose of the center's policy on the care and feeding of visitors. It is very visitor friendly. Only when the visitor has an attitude are we to call for help to get a situation resolved. We felt very good about the proper way to handle visitors.

The other volunteers here are mostly retired teachers. That makes sense because Barb Merrell is a retired teacher. All of them are well educated and have very good people skills. We feel good about the people we are working with.

There are 25 couples here working in the Cradle of Forestry. All of them have an RV of some sort and their experience varies. Everyone is in a good mood and very pleasant and respectful.

This evening we had a campfire and most of them showed up. The socializing lasted about an hour and a half. It was very well done and we both felt we got to know our coworkers better.
One of the group made blackberry cobbler and shared it with us all.

Tomorrow we will get out of the immediate compound and explore the area.

Cradle of Forestry

We are rocking in the cradle. Cradle of Forestry is a national historic site operated by the U.S. Forest Service. We don’t have to work until Thursday so we have two days to study and get ready. We are deep in the Pisgah National Forest, halfway up Mount Pisgah (5,721’), the same mountain Lance Armstrong practiced his biking skills in preparation for the Tour de France (post cancer surgery). We are happy to be here.

We were met at the gate and the forest service guy knew who we were. He called our boss, Barb Merrell, and she came to meet us with a 3-inch ring binder full of stuff to read and learn for our job. She is really organized, having been a teacher for 30 years. Our work schedule is charted out to the 2nd of November. We only work three 8-hour days a weekand we can do whatever the rest of the time.

Our site is fantastic and free. We look out the windows of our RV at mountain laurel. The hookups and other amentities are wonderful, including a beautiful staff building (see photo above) with laundry, showers, game room and kitchen. As I blog, five couples are playing either Mexican Train Dominos or a game of cards.

Brevard NC is thee closest town and that is 14 miles down the mountain. Asheville is 40 miles to the north and we expect to spend lots of time there.

Look for future blog entries to keep in touch with what we are doing. We expect to be all over these mountains.