EAST COAST USA (DAY EIGHTEEN)

I woke this morning to some very powerful wind gusts and a sky that looked very dark and foreboding. I had a nice chat with a fellow camper who explained that this weather patern was the norm in these parts and usually the cloud and mist would burn off by mid day.
I was packed and back up on the Blue Ridge Parkway by mid morning and although it remained very gusty all day the sun did come out as promised and the temperatures up at the 4000 ft. elevation were very comfortable.
The Ridge is a gorgeous winding road built by depression era labor as President Roosevelt tried to jump start the economy by creating jobs for thousands of able bodied men across America. They built the stone walls, bridges and tunnels that are still in use today. The parkway stretches from South Carolina 469 miles along the ridge of the Appalachian Mountains up into Virginia. All along it's length there are dozens of scenic outlooks that are a photographer's dream come true. There are no gas stations along it's length and no tolls. Her are a few more shots of the valleys below.

Shortly after noon I rounded a bend and there beside the road was an old mill that was obviously of some historic significance so I stopped to check it out. It turns out that this very mill had been built back in 1910 by Edwin and Mintoria Mabry who operated it until 1936 grinding corn for flour, cutting wood and making carriages. The park ranger I spoke with gave me all kinds of information about life during that time her at the mill.

Below is the flue that they built to divert and transport water from a nearby stream to provide the water to turn the water wheel that in turn drove the mill stone and saw mill inside the small building.

Here is what their modest log home looked like and where they would spin the wool that was then woven using a loom into fabric for their clothing.

Here are a couple of shots taken outside their home.

Edwin Mabry had one huge challenge to get enough water supply to turn the water wheel faster. Some water wheels turned the mill stone much faster and they would actually burn the flour from the friction. To guard against that the operator had to keep and eye on the temperature by using his nose to smell the flour as it was being ground. This is where the expression, "keep your nose to the grindstone" came from.

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Here is a shot inside the building next to the water wheel. It is their sawmill. The drive belt could be changed over to turn the big saw blade you see in the foreground.

These are a few of the old mill stones. Edwin would order them from the quarry. They would come already cut in rounds with the centre hole cut too. He would be responsible for chiseling the grooves to his own standards.

By mid afternoon I noticed that I was getting low on fuel so I had to come off the mountain soon and look for a gas station. I found this little "no brand" station and noticed a couple of other bikes loaded to the rafters with bags, also filling up on gas. I pulled behind them and noticed they were both from Ontario. We started to talk naturally and we discovered that we were both headed north so I decided to tag along. The nearest KOA camp ground was another couple of hours drive so when we pulled into camp it was almost 7:00 pm. We decided to share a camp site so I was really hoping these two guys were going to be fun to hang out with. We hit it off from the start and I could see us all becoming good friends. Both these guys were retired and Ken (the big guy) lives in Windsor, ON while Brian lives about an hour from me. We had the best time ever just sitting there in the lantern light telling stories all night as we got to know each other.