Watauga Lake, Tennessee

                    Thursday 4/17/2014

After 2 days of cold, cloudy, and rainy weather, the sun came out so we decided to do some exploring. Wilkesboro, "Where the mountains begin", is about 9 miles to the north of Moravian Falls where our new back yard was.  Wilkesboro, with a population of 3,413, sits on the south border of the Yadkin River. On the other side of the river sits North Wilkesboro which has 4,245 people. This is the town we came to when we needed groceries or any other store. Wilkesboro hosts the annual MerleFest, every spring which is the largest folk and bluegrass music festival in the United States.

Has your part of the country started to enjoy the flowering trees yet? It is one thing I use to love about spring in Iowa.

We drove through Wilkesboro, and took Hwy. 421 west.

We started a climb from 1000 feet to 3100 feet.

We passed under the Blue Ridge Parkway, and continued west.

Once up to this altitude we saw fields and fields of Christmas tree farms.

We have a friend, Drew, back in Iowa who had a Christmas tree farm. Drew, this seems to be the place for Christmas trees, if you want to live further south and farm evergreens again!

After driving 36 miles from Wilkesboro, and up to 3333 feet we arrived in the town of Boone, "Heart of the high country".

Boone is a town that is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It has a population of 17,186. and has the highest elevation of any town it's size (over 10,000 population) east of the Mississippi River. In 2012 it was listed as one of the 10 best places to retire. It has winters, more like the coastal southern New England winters, and cooler summers, unlike other areas of North Carolina.

We continued west of Boone on Hwy. 421,

until we crossed over into Tennessee.

If you have followed our blog at all, you know, Joe and I like to visit lakes in the United States. We came to the Little Milligan boat ramp in the Cherokee National Forest.

The National Forest owns 70% of the land around Watauga Lake.

Looking east on the reservoir lake. It was a good place for lunch.

It is a beautiful lake with mountain views, but the water clarity does not compare to Northern Michigan lakes.

Then Joe spotted this sign, and said he would not live on a lake that had this kind of issue!

We continued east along the southern borders of the lake to the C.R. "Doodle" White overlook.

From the overlook, the road went down with a 7% grade.

We made another stop at Watauga Point.

Looking to the north side and toward the west.

Looking further west.

Driving further west on Hwy 421, we went past the Lakeshore Marina.

Our last stop was at the Rat Branch Boat Ramp of the Cherokee National Forest, with a view of the dam.

There is a nice fishing pier at this boat ramp.

Close up of the Watauga Dam. At this point, we had driven 75 mile, and 2 1/2 hour from Moravian Fall Campground. It was time to head back toward Boone.

One reason the drive took so long was because there were a couple road construction area's along Hwy 421. We had to sit for a while because traffic was reduced to one lane.

Back in North Carolina.

Can't help myself with the flowering trees and bushes. We were gardeners before we left Iowa!

I love homes on hills too.

Six more miles to Boone, and 36 more miles to Wilkesboro.

Once east of Boone on Hwy 421, we get more Christmas tree farm views.

Just another 2000 feet drop at a 8% grade to Wilksboro, and then south to Moravian Falls to be home again. It was a beautiful drive in the high county of North Carolina.