The Old Mill

For three years now, I’ve wanted to go to the old mill at the farm, but it was always the wrong season. You can only go in the winter, because the path is too over grown in the spring, summer, and fall, and last time they went during the spring, Abigail picked up a copper head. So…it’s safest to say the winter is the time to do it. We went on an awesome short hike through the woods to the creek. Branches kept hitting us in the head, and Colin wasn’t too impressed with the branches, but we made it! Abigail and Brent have this awesome baby carrier for him… I think we are going to get a doggy one, because AJ was super tired out by the time we got back. The mill is from the late 1700s, and probably went out of commission in the 1830s. Some of the maps show the mill and some of them don’t, so there is some conflicting data as the size, purpose, and age of the mill. The ruins are really neat though! I enjoy being around ruins, because it makes you think about the past so much, and how awesome it is something could survive for hundreds of years! We got some awesome pictures while we were there…we only had seven digital cameras!! :-) We looked for the wheel, but couldn’t find it, although it has been seen before. >We think the hole was filled up, and we couldn’t differentiate between the wheel and the rest of the rocks. We followed the creek down to the old dam, which was also very neat!

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-AJ

Bling Bling!

When we managed to slide our way to the falls, a breathtaking scene was found. 20 foot icicles descended from the cavern walls while a mountainous mound of ice and snow had replaced the loud waterfall. The scene was very quiet, as we were used to hearing the gushing of water. The pond was sturdy enough to walk on, so we got a close look at the waterfall. Several families had come, and some ice climbers. One family was allowing their kids to knock the icicles down, so we got away from them fast. After taking hundreds of pictures, we were getting cold and headed back. We hope these pictures do the waterfall justice, as the falls were amazing!

Forced Sledders

Due to the ice, on several steep parts of the trail we had to slide on our butts. We learned to watch a few hikers in front of us as to the more slick parts. On the way back to the car from the falls, Krusty managed to slide into a hiker we didn’t know! One couple near us was funny in that one of them fell every few feet and was covered in snow while the other was perfectly steady on the ice!

Snow Hike!

Given our move to a more winter friendly climate, we decided the time was right to go check out the Cascades, a 100 foot waterfall in Giles County. After a few weeks of frigid temperatures, we were sure they were frozen over. Angela and I had visited the falls three years ago in the winter and were excited about going again. We enlisted Sam, Elise, and Krusty (Menchville alum!) and headed out 460. AJ had to sit this one out, as it was a long hike. We found the trail and plunged into a snow filled wood. Fresh flakes were falling as we quickly found a layer of ice hidden by the fresh snow.

Mmmm……Homeplace!

There is nothing quite like the Homeplace to get you excited about eating! I mean…I’ll be excited for a whole week about going…and its quite a trip. It’s an hour drive there on back roads and usually another hour wait after you get there. But, then you get the food, and you are like…heck yes! The Wyse’s came to Virginia Tech to visit Jennifer and because Aunt Derrita was visiting. Emily came up from Ferrum with her friend Latisha, and we all went to the Homeplace! The wait was a little longer than usual, but this time there was this amazing old couple who entertained us!! They sang gospel songs and old country, and we made requests the whole time. It was their ministry, and I thought it was super sweet. As we were waiting, Jen, James, and Jay (ha! It would be the three J’s) began reading the confederate books they were selling. These books were crazy! The covers were confederate flags, and all of the books were written with deep southern sympathies. The most outrageous one described why black people were lazy and ignorant in general. I couldn’t believe it! If the books hadn’t been 30 dollars, we would have bought one just so people could believe it!! After the wait, we enjoyed an amazing home cooked meal of fried chicken, roast beef, mash potatoes, veggies, cobbler, and coffee. It was soooo good! 

War Memorial

We thought this was a good picture of the marble War Memorial. Only West Point and Navy have more medal of honor winners!