Thursday, October 23, 2014

2014 Fall foliage This is the weekend

This is THE weekend for all the leaf watchers and parkway drivers in Virginia. We had plenty of rain this year, so I'm guessing that is why this is shaping up to be a very colorful event. Not only is this the best weekend for the colors, the weather in Virginia is forecast to be absolutely perfect. All of this combined, I would venture to guess the Blue Ridge Parkway will be pretty crowded. If you want to avoid some of the crowds and and just take a lazy ride and still see some beautiful country, there are several alternatives. One of which is through some back roads of Franklin County. I ride up through this way occasionally just because the country is so pretty. From the Roanoke area, if you drive south on 220 and south of the Parkway entrance there you will travel through the small town of Boones Mill. There is not a lot there, but it is a very neat little town. If you continue south just a few miles and follow these directions you can make a nice day drive out of this loop...

From Boones Mill on Rt 220 (about 20 minutes South of Roanoke):
  • Turn west onto Rt. 739 (Bethlehem Road) on the north side of the Shell Station. As you travel along Rt 739, Cahas Mountain is on the right. Near Fairmont Baptist Church Rt. 739 turns right, but you should stay on Bethlehem Rd., which is now Rt. 643.
  • At Callaway Road (Rt 641) turn right. The Blue Ridge Mountains can be seen in the background as you drive to Callaway.
  • At the A & A Market in Callaway, stay on Callaway Rd, which now is Rt. 602.
  • At 0.2 miles, turn left onto Rt. 642 (Foothills Rd.) at the Piedmont Presbyterian Church.
  • Follow Foothills Road until it intersects with Five Mile Mountain Rd. (Rt.748)
  • Turn right onto Five Mile Mountain Rd. (Rt. 748). The Blue Ridge Mountains can be seen in the background.
  • At Rt. 640 (Turner’s Creek Rd.), you have the option of (1) turning left and traveling to Ferrum or (2) staying on Five Mile Mountain Road (now Rt. 640), which will take you into Floyd County.
  1. At Ferrum you can visit the Blue Ridge Institute and/or Ferrum College, both of which are located on Rt. 40 to the left of the intersection of Turner’s Creek Rd. and Rt. 40. Note, at the Phoebe Needles Center, Turner’s Creek Road changes to Rt. 748. From Ferrum, take Rt. 40 east to Rocky Mount and Rt. 220 north back to Boones Mill to complete the loop or take a ride on Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, The Crooked Road, on Rt. 40 west.
  2. You can pick up the Blue Ridge Parkway off Rt. 640, approximately 1.5 miles from the Floyd/Franklin county line. Left (south) on the Parkway goes to Maybry’s Mill and points south, and right goes back to Roanoke.
I copied these directions right off http://www.dof.virginia.gov/fall/  website. They give several other alternative routes in other areas of Virgina as well. Happy leaf watching!!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Franklin County moonshine submarine pot



As most everyone knows Franklin County Virginia is well known as being the moonshine capital of the world. Even today, if you spend enough time around most any creek or small river in Franklin County, you are apt to run up on an old still site. This is a picture of just that...an old abandoned submarine style pot that was used to ferment the mash. All things considered, this thing was still in pretty good shape and it's no telling how long it's been setting there, however this was about all that remained. It did not appear to be "busted up" however, just abandoned. I reckon this was one that they got away with for a while. It would sure be neat to know the stories behind it.

Friday, April 11, 2014



Ambrosia Maple Bowl

As of late I have been getting back into wood turning a bit. This is a small ambrosia maple bowl I recently turned. I was pretty happy how this turned out. Hopefully there will be more to follow at https://www.facebook.com/snowcreekcrafts