OUR EAST COAST ADVENTURE--Friday, May 6

Time to take off on the 3rd Leg of our 3-year quest to find a geocache in every state. That meant a trip to the east coast to find caches in 10 states. We flew to Charlotte, North Carolina and rented a car. We proceeded to travel through 14 states racking up 3500+ miles on our way up to Maine and back down to the Carolinas in 12 days. We saw a lot of beautiful scenery and historic sites and had lots of fun completing our quest. Hope you can wade through these photos (we actually took more than 1000!) so we can share our fabulous trip.

First stop, the airport in Memphis. Seeing the flooded Mississippi River was quite a shock. We ate pulled pork sandwiches for lunch.

Dad was entertained by the fork dispenser.

Fun spot in the airport.

After several delays we arrived in Charlotte about an hour late and took off for Lake Lure, stopping at Bojangles for dinner at 9:00pm...just as they were closing.

Saturday, May 7

Here's the private cabin we stayed in our first night at the Salzburg Guest House Bed and Breakfast at Lake Lure in North Carolina.

The main house.

This is where we ate a scrumptious breakfast including, fruit, pastries, juice, lighter-than-air yogurt, and a delight called Strammer Max (toast topped with Black Forest ham, Swiss cheese and a fried egg) and apple strudel.

This is Lake Lure, a man-made lake in the shape of a cross. The moive Dirty Dancing was filmed here at a Boy Scout camp.

Lake Lure.

We drove through Hickory Nut Gorge.

To see Chimney Rock...a 315 foot monolith.

This is where parts (at least the last 17 minutes) of Last of the Mohicans was filmed.

We climbed to the top for great views...part of Lake Lure.

Lots of steep stairs.

Flag on top.

Looking down into Hickory Nut Gorge.

From Vista Viewpoint.

Looking back up.

Mountain Laurel, I think.

Back in town for an ice cream cone...can you see Chimney Rock in the background?

Enjoying Moose Tracks.

Good old chocolate. Our first day of vacation was one of our favorites, probably because the weather was so perfect...blue sky and sunshine after so much cold and wet and gray in Utah.

We spent the rest of the day on the Blue Ridge Parkway. This is one of America's most scenic drives. It goes through North Carolina and Virginia, 469 miles. There are no towns or gas stations or anything on the road, just lots of scenery and a speed limit of 45mph. Evidently it's very crowded in the fall when the leaves are changing.

A quilt callled "Snake Eyes" in the Folk Craft Center just off the Parkway.

More quilts and lamps.

Items made from natural materials.

We hiked to Linville Falls.

Stream.

Big drop.

Lots of lovely blossoms.

Sunday, May 8

We stayed in Mt. Airy the little town that became Mayberry of The Andy Griffith Show. Here's a nice statue of Andy and Opie. Andy Griffith actually grew up in Mt. Airy.

Posters in a store...don't you love Barney Fife?

Here's the Snappy Lunch and Floyd's barber shop.

A mock-up of Wally's gas station where Gomer Pile worked.

Taxi.

Courthouse and jail where sheriff Andy worked.

Ah, pansies.

We added another "Henge" to our collection. We've been to Stone in England and Car in Nebraska, and now...Foam in Virginia. :)

Here it is!!

Crazy, huh?

We hadn't planned this stop at all...didn't even know about it...just saw this sign as we were driving down the road. Serendipity!

On to West Virginia's battlefield at Harper's Ferry.

Civil War site.

The Old Slave Block in Sharpsburg was used for 65 years to auction off black slaves. It has been a famous landmark here for over 150 years. There is a cache under the metal pole behind it.

What is my bid for this slave?...2 bits...I got him!

Interesting flag in the stone...this was a virtual cache.

Across the river from Harper's Ferry is Antietam, Maryland...more battlefields and history.

Monument to Civil War soldiers erected in the cemetery.

Cemetery.

Monument on the Antietam battlefield...site of the bloodiest one-day battle in American history. 23,000 were killed or wounded.

Big boom.