June - the first half

First of all, let us apologize for our lack of timely updates. So much has happened in June that we had little time to do blogging. When we had a few extra minutes, our campground seemed to have internet access problems. That is the biggest complaint of all the volunteers here at the Cradle of Forestry (COF)

Anyway, we are still enjoying our life in the Pisgah National Forest in western North Carolina. Moderate daytime temperatures, cool evenings and frequent afternoon rain showers are the norm in these mountains.  After a quiet Memorial Day weekend, we drove to nearby DuPont State Forest and hiked to three different waterfalls. The 3 mile hike was not too bad except for the uphill part. We probably couldn’t have done it two months ago.

 

 

 

A few days later we picked up our almost 10 year old granddaughter, Olivia (Melanie’s oldest). She stayed with us for 9 days and we and she had a great time together. Here is a list of some of our activities; 4 water fall visits, trips to Brevard and Asheville, and visits to US Forest Service Wildlife Center and Western NC Nature Center.

 

 

 

 

 

All those activities happened on our off days, On our work days, Olivia joined us at the COF and helped us and other volunteers do our jobs. She even helped two US Forest Service interns get ready for their presentations.

 

 

 

 

 

Olivia’s last day with us was the Saturday when the COF celebrated National Get Outdoors Day. Vendors and organizations came to COF for the day to show

 

 

 

 

 

visitors how much fun the outdoors could be. We got to try archery, rappelling, and canoeing. We learned the difference between “good” and “bad” campsites just to name a few activities. That afternoon ended Olivia’s visit and all three of us were unhappy about that. Even our dog, Sassy, was depressed.

The following week Jim drove to Durham, NC to play golf with his three brothers for a few days. He said that he wished he played better golf, but he had a great time playing cribbage in the evening. While he was gone Lydia continued working at the Cradle and getting things ready for the Thursday arrival of Lisa Ann, Nick, and Katie (from Texas), Lisa, Jimmy, and Ian (from Senoia, GA) and (the return of) Olivia. Needless to say, we had a very full campsite for a few days!  Lisa Ann & Co. camped in Han’s converted van at a nearby campsite. The Roberts slept in

 

 

 

 

 

a tent next to our TT. Ian slept in the car on a blowup mattress. Olivia slept on our sofa. On Friday, Jimmy and Ian went trout fishing at the nearby Fish Hatchery.  In spite of the overnight rain and morning fog, the rest of us did a 3 mile hike to see two different waterfalls. The hike was a bit more than anyone expected but the water falls were spectacular and the fact that we were all together made it very special.

On Saturday evening we attended the COF Firefly Twilight Tour. We listened to lots of information about fireflies from US Forest

 

 

 

 

 

Service staffers, then we moved to a nearby meadow to search for fireflies. As darkness arrived, the fireflies began showing up. Kids were running around trying to catch them in their bug jars. The highlight of the evening was Olivia’s capture of a rare predator firefly. A COF staffer called everyone over to see it amid ooh’s and yuck’s as it ate two other fireflies.

Everyone left Sunday afternoon and it was real quiet around the TT and our campsite again. Lydia (and all the furry kids) took a nap while Jim watched the US Open golf tournament.

More about what we’ve done in June in the next installment.

 

‘Til next time ….