Rocky Knob and The Road to Nowhere...Summer Travels #5

Who are those people? It is amazing how fast time passes. I remember standing, waiting for this picture to be taken. All of you who say, "One day we are going to..." how about you go ahead and do what it takes to make it happen. I remember climbing down rocks at the river holding my 4 year old's hand while riding the infant in a carrier on my back. Now, every time we make that same descent down those rocks I wonder how in the world I ever did that. I am so grateful I did.

Change the channel...I'll now get back to the intended topic. If you have been reading about our summer travels you can see we put in lots of miles on the bikes. We visited four places just for that purpose. We have been to Bryson City, NC many, many times. As a matter of fact, that picture up top was made about 10 miles from there. Anyway, one of the town's promoted "things to do" is the Road to Nowhere. In the 30's and 40's hundreds of people were forced to surrender their land to the government for creation of Fontana Lake and for the development of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. When the lake was created, it buried their communities and roads. In exchange for the land, the government promised the county they would build a road that replaced the now buried HWY 288 that connected the area to Fontana (over 30 miles away). The government completed 6 miles of the road and then it stopped construction. It never resumed. They still offer river ferries on weekends to the former community members to visit the graves of their ancestors. The lake destroyed  their community, but a concession was made that all cemeteries had to remain untouched. In 2010 the government finally decided to give Swain Co. 52 million dollars since they never intended on completing the road. How sad for the community of people who lived there, worked the land, and raised their families on that land. While I enjoy visiting our national parks, I seldom take the time to read or understand the hardship it caused others for them to be created. The storyteller at Cades Cove told us many stories about this as well. So sad. 

We had never traveled the Road to Nowhere so as we were leaving town Johnny asked some man for directions, and we headed that way. 

The boys biked while Johnny and I walked.

 The road ends at this tunnel.

This is the only picture I didn't have to delete from inside the tunnel. Unfortunately, it is littered with trash on the walls. Actually, I love good graffiti, but most of the stuff in here was not from artists. Just pure filth. I am so thankful it was dark and my boys couldn't see the walls except when the camera flashed.

At the end of tunnel it turns to a trail system. From what we understand from a hiker, it it over 50 miles of trails.

We didn't walk too long on the trails because we were unsure if bikes were allowed. There were no signs prohibiting it, but there were no tire marks on the trails. They would have been excellent biking trails (they were wide).

So, there it is, the Road to Nowhere. A community forgotten and drowned. All in the name of conservation and preservation right? Umm, no....it is called electricity production and money. The lake feeds TVA's dam and the Park feeds the tourism industry.

Another fun place we visited was Rocky Knob Park. It is right outside of Boone, NC. It has a mountain bike trail system, a pump track, and a top notch play ground for active children! We liked this place so much we spent two days here playing.

The playground is almost entirely constructed of wood and rope obstacles. The boys and I had several competitions. Jackson always won, John was 2nd, and me...well you know. I did try hard but I just can't hold on for dear life to one thing and jump to another. Do you now how much strength that takes? Please, someone in North MS build a playground like this instead of all that plastic mess. It actually builds strength, teaches perseverance/discipline, and requires lots of critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork.

 A pump track with a great view!

 The boys practiced their air skills!

 And, guess who won that contest?

 Um...This guy!

John Gannon and I will probably be unable to bike with this guy by the time he is a preteen. If he can do this now...I am sure our nerves will be shot just watching him when he is older.

We will stick to our small amount of air.

And of course, I had to do a few wheelies. I am not sure why it is so important to the boys that I do everything they do. On occasion I flat out refuse (if it involves falling into water from heights). But for the most part, I try. They love trying to teach me things. I am currently receiving daily lessons from Jackson on how to improve my arm strength. This has included attempting the Ninja Line we have at home at least 3 times daily and hanging from a gate trying to do pull ups.

 And as usually, the photographer is unable to capture my moment of air!

There were several competitions of who could climb the almost straight up hill the fastest. It is so steep, you have to sit to come down it.

 John dominated this competition.

 I was just proud to make it to the top!

 For those of you I have passed on the boys clothes to in the past, if you ever wonder why I no longer do that... Well, the majority of their clothes these days go to the trash after each season. Wonder why?

Jackson befriended this guy and they played for hours.

 The wildlife expert.

You see that animal fact book he was reading in the last post as well...they are his favorite! In the meantime, Jackson discovered some type of pea variety plant. He said if we were needing to survive, he found our food!

You know when we travel we never have any plans where we are going. We usually just strike out and go until we find somewhere we want to stop. We also get lots of good information from the people we meet. While here, we met several families. Jackson's friend's father told us about the #1 rated mountain bike trails in North Carolina. They are also ranked 12th in the nation. So, we backtracked about 30 miles and traveled to Warrior Creek Campground in Wilkesboro, NC, to explore these trails. Johnny enjoyed the trails, they were too intense for the boys and I. We all enjoyed swimming, riding bikes within the campground, and relaxing at the huge camp site. All the sites at this place were massive! Somehow, my socially awkward, homeschooled children managed to make friends at this place as well :)

My next post will be education related. While we were at Rocky Knob I was reminded of a very valuable lesson about the way children learn. It is a lesson I hope I never forget!

Live a Meaningful Life!