Sunday, September 04, 2011

Dwayne and Sherry arrived at the hotel around 7:45 and we made the introductions all around. So happy we were going to be able to spend the day with them. Soon we were all heading north on 29 to find Walton’s Mountain. I have always been in love with this wonderful TV series and in the 1970s while the show was on the air I gathered clues to the exact location in Virginia. Then we took a road trip and low and behold we found the mountain and the childhood home of Earl Hamner which is what the show was based on. His mother still lived there – there was no museum or gift shops just a very proud mother who served lemonade and cookies to strangers. Today the school has been turned into a museum and the house is open for tours. The Baptist church they attended is still serving the small community. After a couple of hours we visited Ike Godsey’s General Store less than a mile down the road and ate lunch under the shade trees in the yard.

Next stop would be 120 miles over mountain roads to The Home Place for a wonderful family style dinner. We climbed to the top of mountains through twists and turns and raced down the other side into the hollers. We spent 2 or 3 hours playing in the most beautiful corner of God’s garden. Off to the left I spotted a deer munching on the tall grasses; a hawk sat on the wires watching for his lunch in the field below and we had to slow down to allow the flock of wild turkey to cross the road. After eating our fill we wondered out to the bikes; said our goodbyes to Dwayne and Sherry and headed the 60 miles back to Lynchburg.