Barn Charm Tuesday - Floyd Co Barn

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Floyd County, along the Blue Ridge Parkway

To see barns from all over, visit

Monday Murals - Blue Ridge Parkway

If you look inside this bus you will see:

(click on photo to enlarge) Along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Floyd Co

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this little mural.

This bus that is built into a building of somesort is where we met Mrs. Hodges. This sits next to the old Kelley School House. We were over here investigating when Mrs. Hodges drove by and yelled out her window at us "They aren't open yet" so we walked over to her truck and started asking her questions about it. Evidently this place belongs to a man named Pate and he makes bbq and sells it out of the bus. I guess in the past he did this that is and is now in the process of fixing things up to re-open. The Parkway thugs have been trying to buy Pate's property too but Pate won't sell out. Good for him! (According to our new friend Mrs. Hodges).

I tried to find more info on this interesting place and couldn't find a thing. Maybe when he opens for business I'll know more.

Linking with Monday Murals

Friday Fences - Blue Ridge Parkway

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Floyd Co

Another thing the Hodges told us about the parkway was how the government came in and tore out all the natural split rail fencing and replaced it all with barbed wire. They complained of deer getting caught in it and don't particularly care for the barbed wire.

"Wal, I been livin' on this hyar mountain well nigh onto eighty yars, and I
been wonderin' what this mountain was fer. Now I know it's fer to put a
road on it."
—Mountaineer

Another interesting Parkway link HERE

Linking with Friday Fences

Well hey now, I decided to finally play along with Nancy and her Random 5...so here we go:

1) Got the boys room cleaned up spotless yesterday and moved Christian's room down to the basement for a little more privacy (the boys all helped out) and that is why I was absent in bloggy land.

2) Today I am going to work on the storage side of the basement. Why does that always become such a wreck? Going to finish my coffee first.

3) Excited that football season is starting and we go pick up the boys' gear in the morning.

4) Thinking of going to a baseball game tomorrow night, our little local Red Sox are playing.

5) Started reading Where The Heart Is. Loving it, had me hooked on the first page. Just finished Nora Roberts' Midnight Bayou. It was pretty good with a little ghosty plot. If anyone would like to read it, I'd be happy to send it to you! Just let me know!

Rurality Wednesday Blog Hop - Kelley School

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The Kelley School is right by the Hodges' farm from yesterday's post. In fact, it was here that we met Mrs. Hodges while we were poking around. She was headed to Burnt Chimney to feed/water some of her horses that she had to move over there, because of the Parkway. As beautiful as the Parkway is to tourists, the people who live on the Parkway do not feel the same way. The Government has been trying to get the Hodges off the Parkway and keep putting restrictions on their land to run them out. I didn't know this about the Parkway. Makes me like it a little less.

Here's a description from Waymarking about the school (which by the way was unlocked so we ventured around inside. I have to admit, it was a teency bit creepy in there!)

The Kelley Schoolhouse, located just off the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 149.1, is a great example of early education in this mountain area.

In 1877, the Locust Grove trustees bought land for a school from the Kelley family for $15 and built a one-room school. The school had no running water or electricity and did not get an outhouse until 1917.

Due to growing enrollment, a two-room schoolhouse was built on the lot, and it is this structure that now stands just out of sight along the Parkway. The school was still in operation when the Parkway was built. It closed in 1939 when the school system was consolidated.

The building became Pate's Grocery Store when Virgie Pate bought the property at auction. The Pates added electricity and living quarters. They sold the store in 1972 and it operated as Ye Old Country Store until the building was sold to the Parkway in 1984.

DIRECTIONS: From Virginia Highway 681/640, take the Blue Ridge Parkway South about two miles to milepost 149. Continue 0.1 mile to an unmarked crossroad, which is Kelley School Road. Turn right (toward the northwest) and go 250 feet to the building on the right, at the corner of Kelley School Road and Stuart Road.

Historic photos of the building and students can be viewed at the website listed below. A history of the school is contained in "Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway", published in 1997 by Logue & Blouin, which is avaiable at stores and visitor centers along the Parkway.
Address:
Kelly School Rd at Stuart Rd
Floyd, VA United States
24091
WEBSITE

I also found some interesting reading about land acquisition along the Parkway RIGHT HERE and in CHAPTER 3 you can read about the people who lived along the Parkway. There's more interesting chapters there as well.

I also found this, THE KELLEY SCHOOL. It's long and in PDF form, but if you have time and love history like I do, you might want to read through that as well!

Linking up with Madge for Rurality Wednesday

Barn Charm Tuesday - Mountain Crest Farm

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On a recent trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway we met Mr. and Mrs. Hodges of Floyd County. They own Mountain Crest Farm and raise thoroughbreds. They invited us inside the barn to see the horses!

Such a nice, nice couple!

Linking with
And now something totally irrelevant to this post... Do you still use Google as your search engine? I think I might start using Bing. Google search seems to have gone downhill lately. I was googling the Hodges' farm and Kroger came up in the search. Kroger? Just curious if you've noticed Google search not being as great as it once was.

Random Smiles - Pittsburgh

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Somewhere downtown Pittsburgh.

Friday Fences - Shaver Family Cemetery

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This little, old cemetery sits right along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Franklin County.

Found this tiny bit of info on it in an EBook "Guide to the Blue Ridge Parkway"...might have to buy the actual book...it tells a bit about the history/significance of what is or what was along the Parkway, with mile markers.

"The family cemetery of the Rev. Daniel H Shaver (1860-1949) and his wives, Coredellia Wimmer (1861-1912) and Patra Mills (1878-1970), is located on the west side of the Parkway. Children and other family members are buried here as well."

Sadly I saw two infant graves belonging to the same parents :(

Linking with Friday Fences

Signs, Signs - Dogtown

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While in Floyd County, we stopped here at Dogtown Roadhouse and ordered up a couple of beers, Braden and Dalton had Root Beer in bottles, and sat outside to listen to music. We got hungry and then ordered up their Wood-Fired Pizza. We had "The Sink" and we all agreed, it was delicious!

Floyd is along the Crooked Road(Virginia's Heritage Music Trail)so music is pretty big there in Floyd! There were a few bands that played while we sat there and people brought their lawn chairs and coolers to sit in the grass and enjoy the show! And....the event is FREE! For more on Floyd, visit HERE!

Linking up with Signs, Signs
This little poster was in the door of Dogtown and I really found the dog to be creepy with the human hands and feet lol

And here's a sampling of some of the music/dancing we saw!

WW & Rurality Blog Hop - Main Street

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Floyd County


All the stories I'll ever need are right here on Main Street.
Robert Cormier

Wordless Wednesday

Barn Charm Tuesday - Blue Ridge Parkway

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On Sunday we packed the cooler and jumped on the Blue Ridge Parkway and headed south. No plans really, just decided to stop here and there and have lunch somewhere along the way. We pulled into Cahas Mountain Overlook to check out the view. I just knew we had been there before and could remember having a picnic and I remembered a barn being there but you couldn't see it now because of all the overgrowth. I looked and looked for it and couldn't see it anywhere. I decided I must have been mistaken and we got back in the car and started to leave when Nick says "There's the barn" and it was just barely visible through a small break in the trees. I KNEW I was right! ;)

The original post of this barn from 2010 is RIGHT HERE.

Looks much different doesn't it?!

Linking with Barn Charm!


I'll share more on our Sunday drive through-out the week. It turned into a fun day!

Monday Murals - On/Off Switch

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Somewhere downtown Roanoke, Dalton tries to shut off the power ;)

Linking with Monday Murals

SkyWatch Friday Fences - Buchanan Carnival

4th of July at the Buchanan Carnival (click on photo to enlarge)

Our skies have looked this ALL SUMMER. What the heck? There's been so much rain, and with it, a lot of flooding. Another rainy weekend in store (I soooooo need a roadtrip) so I picked up a couple of movies to watch. Yesterday we watched Safe Haven. Oh my gosh, I loved it. Ash and Christian had already seen it at the theaters with their boyfriend and girlfriend...Ash drug her boyfriend to it and Christian was drug to it by his girlfriend lol. But it really was more than a chick flick and had a great twist at the end. You definitely need your tissues though, it is based off a Nicholas Sparks novel after all! And for today I have Trouble With The Curve. It's a baseball movie with Clint Eastwood. I figured the boys will like this one, and me too!

Now, something controversial about the Buchanan Fair. A group wants the organizers of the fair to stop praying at the beginning of each night at the carnival. You can read more HERE. I'm so tired of these groups coming forward and taking our rights from us. If you don't like the prayer, then don't come to the carnival, or come a little later. It's really quite simple.

Anyways, I'm linking up with Friday Fences and SkyWatch Friday this week...now go have a great weekend and stay high and dry!

Signs, Signs - James & Priscilla

Back in June, our town sponsors an event called Troutville Trail Days. Trail Days is an annual celebration of the Appalachian Trail. While there, we met this super nice couple, James and Priscilla. They are "thru-hikers" which is a hiker or backpacker who has completed or is attempting to walk the entire Appalachian Trail in one uninterrupted journey. Completing the entire estimated 2,180 miles of the Appalachian Trail in one trip is a mammoth undertaking. Each year, thousands of hikers attempt a thru-hike; only about one in four make it all the way.

They were so friendly and ready to answer every question we threw at them about their journey. I asked if I could take their picture for my blog and they kindly obliged and gave us their card so we could follow their journey! You can follow them too by clicking here.

Taken from the website: “Going into our second year we were unsure what to expect in terms of hiker participation, but we quickly realized the hiker community was pouring in,” raved Sybille Nelson, T4T President. “Our community was prepared with free services, support, and hospitality for which everyone was truly grateful.”

Many hikers arrived early in the week and decided to stay to enjoy all the weekend had to offer including medical support, gear repair, and retail vendors. We kicked off with dinner on Friday night which was provided by The Church of the Brethren in partnership with The Baptist Church of Troutville and St. Mark's Methodist Church. Dinner was a huge success and hikers boasted about it all weekend. The kids at the Church of the Brethren made encouraging cards for the hikers and ALL of them were freely taken from the table and adored! As the hikers arrived and settled in, many utilized the free showers and laundry that were offered at the Troutville Fire Department and Rescue Squad. This is a fantastic service available to thru-hikers and one of the most appreciated."

Good luck James and Priscilla! It was nice meeting you!

Linking with Signs, Signs

Wordless Wednesday

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Parking lot at Mama D's, Roanoke Road, Daleville

Linking with Wordless Wednesday

Monday Murals - The Austrian Room

This is the Austrian Room inside of the Cathedral of Learning, which I showed you HERE.

From Wikipedia:
The Nationality Rooms are a collection of 29 classrooms in the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning depicting and donated by the ethnic groups that helped build the city of Pittsburgh. The rooms are designated as a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation historical landmark and are located on the 1st and 3rd floors of the Cathedral of Learning, itself a national historic landmark, on the University of Pittsburgh's main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Although of museum caliber, twenty-seven of the 29 rooms are in almost constant use as functional classrooms and utilized daily by University of Pittsburgh faculty and students, while the other two (the Early American and Syrian-Lebanon) are display rooms which can be explored only via guided tour. The Nationality Rooms also serve in a vigorous program of intercultural involvement and exchange in which the original organizing committees for the individual rooms remain as participants and includes a program of annual student scholarship to facilitate study abroad. In addition, the Nationality Rooms inspire lectures, seminars, concerts exhibitions, and social events which focus on the various heritages and traditions of the nations represented. The various national, traditional, and religious holidays of the nations represented are celebrated on campus and the rooms are appropriately decorated to reflect these occasions. The Nationality Rooms are available daily for public tours as long as the particular room is not being utilized for a class or other university function.

Of all the rooms, which they all were pretty amazing, this was my FAVORITE!

You can read more HERE.

Linking up with Monday Murals.

Oh...we went and saw The Lone Ranger on Saturday night. Loved it!

Buchanan Carnival

(click on photo to enlarge) The view from the top of the Super Shot. My favorite ride. Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Rurality Blog Hop - Hot Springs

Hot Springs, Bath County, Va

Today we were supposed to go to the Salem Fair. Been looking forward to it. Forecast today: 80% HEAVY RAIN...Forecast tonight: 80% HEAVY RAIN...just like yesterday...RAIN...I am so over the rain. Every time we have plans, ohhh surprise, it's raining. Tomorrow's plans:
Buchanan Parade and Carnival. Tomorrow's forecast: 50% chance of thunderstorms...of course...sorry to be such a Debbie Downer...the rain, after days of rain, does that to me...I could not live where there is more rain than sunshine, which seems like here lately, blah!

Linking with

The Cathedral of Learning - Pittsburgh

This is about the end of my tour of Pittsburgh. There is one more I want to show you on Monday for Monday Murals, which is taken from one of the Nationality Rooms inside of here.

The Cathedral of Learning was built from 1926-1934. It is the centerpiece of The University of Pittsburgh's main campus.

There are 42 floors. Guests can only go up to the 36th floor to get a nice view, which we did!

And I have to double up today to show you how amazing the inside is:

Wow right?!

July Theme Day - Facade

Downtown Pittsburgh....I liked that little red Russian-esque dome. Tried to find a name for the building but couldn't. If anyone knows, please fill me in!

To see more facades from all over the world, visit City Daily Photo

UPDATE! Thanks to the nice folks at

Visit Pittsburgh and Virginia blogger RevRunner I have learned that the red domed building is the Keenan Building located at 643 Liberty Avenue.
Found a little more information on the building:

"The 18 story Keennan Building was built in 1907 for Col. Thomas J. Keenan, owner and publisher of the Penny Press, later the Pittsburgh Press. The penthouse with its onion domes was personal apartment of Col. Keenan. When the building was completed in 1907, it was the tallest building in the city. Today it is mostly HUD low income housing and renamed Mid_Town Tower. From some reports I've read, it is a pretty grim place to live today with many of the social ills that the city has to offer, drugs, petty crime, prostitution... not to mention insect infestations in some of the apartments. All this just a few blocks from the swanky Duquesne Club, you gotta love the contrast. Still it is a cool building to look at (despite some 1960's "modernization") with its neo-classical beaux arts ornamentation. Col. Keenan's Penthouse is no longer in use."

which I found HERE