Today we packed up and headed west. First, we loaded up our picnic basket with provisions and then drove to our first stop: McGalliard Falls in Valdese, NC. There we had a great picnic! I helped mom set out a blanket.
Setting up!
And then we laid out a bunch of food.
Food!
Then we checked out the waterfall. There was a grist mill at the park and I learned that the water came down a chute to turn a giant water wheel. This turned a big stone inside the very old building that ground grains, like wheat and corn, into flour and meal.
McGalliard Falls
We saw a historical marker on our way in, so we checked it out on the way out. It turns out that Valdese was settled by 427 people from the French Alps. They were Waldenses, a Christian sect that started in the Middle Ages (1170). They believed in (1) a literal interpretation of the Bible, (2) genuine poverty, and (3) preaching. The Roman Catholic church eventually considered them heretics and were punished by the Inquisition. Later, they became part of the Protestant reformation.
the church at the historical marker
From Valdese, we drove to South Mountain State Park to hike to the Chestnut Knob Overlook. The start of the trail was quite steep. Mom was only a little ahead of us but many feet higher in elevation.
Mom
The overlook was very cool. We climbed onto an outcropping of rocks and you could see the whole valley. (I think I can see the yellow of our house in Concord!)
view from Chestnut Knob Overlook
Look! I am the Lorax!
Lorax pose
I had a great day. I hiked 4.2 miles in South Mountain State Park (a personal best in terms of length). The elevation was 2,291 feet.
My cousin sent me a visitor — Flat Stanley! Stanley followed me around for about a week and I agreed to take pictures of myself with Stanley. So this post is all about Flat Stanley!
Flat Stanley
We began the week by hopping in the car to go shopping for groceries and gardening stuff.
Then we typically go home and cook our food. Dad likes to make several meals at once and then we eat them all week.
cooking
I have a cool bunk bed with a star canopy and a nightlight. This is me playing in my room.
my room
On Sunday, we went to church. Stanley went with us.
church
church
Monday through Friday I go to a STEM (Science-Technology-Engineering-Mathematics) magnet elementary school.
my school
On the weekends, we like to go places. This time we went to Hanging Rock State Park. The goal was to visit a few places and then scout out a path to Moore’s Wall to see if we could come back do some rock climbing. (Directions at the end.)
First, we took a short hike. During the Revolutionary War, this part of North Carolina was considered the “western frontier”. Some settlers, called Tories, were sympathetic to the King of England while others, called the Whigs, wanted independence.
Along the hike, there was a small waterfall. Stanley liked it.
The Tories would raid the Whig settlers and then hide. Below is a cave where a bunch of Tories were found after a Whig settler saw their campfire.
Next, we moved to another trail so we could find Moore’s Wall. This is a popular rock climbing place but today we were just checking it out.
at the base of rock face
Stanley wanted to walk about a little, too.
To get to Hanging Rock, first get to Winston-Salem and take US-52 north towards Mount Airy for about 13 miles. Take exit 122 (Moore-RJR Rd) and go east (a left turn). Fortunately, there are signs to Hanging Rock from here. But basically, you take a left on NC 66 and a right Moore’s Spring Rd. The trail and Moore’s Wall are on this side of the park while the main entrance is farther down Moore’s Spring Rd. For directions to the main entrance click here.
The Tory’s Den hike and Moore’s Wall are located here in the park.
The locals just say, let’s go hike “Laurel Creek”. Technically, this is the Big Laurel Creek in the Rich-Laurel wildlife area that is part of the Pisgah Game Lands.
We start here and hike south. It is a very gentle trail that descends slowly. In the summer, the whole trail is a dense green path but we are here in February which reveals some interesting little streams. This is one you’ll see right away.
stream
Continuing on, I found a log with some interesting fungus. Pretty cool, eh?
the fungus among us!
Here’s a picture of me and my Dad with the Big Laurel Creek in the background.
Joseph, Ron, and Big Laurel Creek
On the way back, we noticed that someone stuck two train cars up on the hill! How crazy is that?
No pictures today but thanks to Maria and her parents (our neighbors) I got to play for hours in a local county park today! Frank Liske Park is about six miles southwest of Concord and has a variety of things to do: a pond for fishing and paddleboats, soccer fields, a long nature trail, and several playgrounds. Thanks Antoni and Jessie!
We went about 40 miles south of Concord today to go find some pumpkins and a corn maze. Unfortunately, I can’t recommend it so I won’t give you directions — t was not worth the drive. Instead let me share with you a lesson I recently learned.
Daddy! Daddy! [finger pointing to socket
It is just a coincidence that an electrical socket is the perfect fit for two keys. I immediately told dad that I would never do that again. [Coincidentally, Joseph's dad did that when he was a kid as well. Although his dad actually started a fire. -- Eds.]
No hiking this weekend — instead Mommy and Daddy spent Saturday cleaning the house and cooking. We also pulled out all of the Halloween stuff! We will finish decorating the house this afternoon but first we went for a nice walk on the greenway (just our usual short loop). But I’m very excited about putting up Halloween decorations. We have a skeleton that is AWESOME!
Saturday I went to Stone Mountain State Park, just north of Elkin, NC and south of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Mom, Dad, and I had a picnic lunch and then did two hikes. We started on the upper Stone Mountain loop trail head. We hiked about 3 miles up to the top of Stone Mountain and back. Then we drove to the lower S.M. trail head and hiked towards the Hutchinson Homestead. We weren’t quite sure we were going the right way so we ended up doubling back a couple of times and never actually made it. Definitely a cool destination and relatively close to Concord, so I’m sure we’ll be going back.
–Joseph
Mommy
Details:
about 90 miles from downtown (2 hours)
NC73 West, Davidson-Concord Hwy, I-77 north;
Exit 83 to US-21 Bypass North (10 miles)
Turn left on Traphill Rd (2.5 miles)
Turn right on John P Frank Pkwy (couple of miles)
This summer I was lucky because my dad had to go to Greece for work. He took me and mommy and we had a great vacation! Among the many things I saw, the coolest was the acropolis in Athens.
partheon
This is me on top of the acropolis.
on top of the acropolis
Here’s another view of on old building on top of the acropolis.
another temple on acropolis
They even have ruins in the subway station!
And one last touristy thing to show you. This is the changing of the guards. (This is also where lots of people protest — which was a little scary for us because it almost prevented us from catching our flight home.)
Instead let me share with you a lesson I recently learned.
![[Picture of Joseph unpacking Halloween decorations]](http://joseph.ronsass.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/DSC_0008.jpg "Decorating with Joseph")
![[Jennie (almost) on top of Stone Mountain]](http://joseph.ronsass.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/dsc_0611.jpg "jennie_stone_mtn")
