Well Sunday started out rather chilly with temps in the upper 30's but plenty of sunshine. It soon warmed up to the low 40's by the time we headed out to Cornerstone for church around 9:30. We have been sleeping in due to the late nights of watching our now hometown baseball team, the Rays win a close 7th game and are now in the World Series against the L.A. Dodgers. We were hoping the Braves would get in and make it an east coast teams series but when I went to bed last night(sun) the Braves were up 3-2 in the middle of the game. The boxscore this morning showed the Dodgers came back with the 7th game win and will now play the Rays.
We heard an awesome message on the importance of prayer and how to pray from Pastor B. We had a great crowd with many new faces as well. Afterwards we made a quick stop at Food Lion was some items then headed home to change clothes and meet Jake and Katelyn and baby Skylar at their new property next door to the old trout farm we use fish at for years off of the BRP called Air Bellows Gap. Katelyn mom Karin and Frank joined us as well for a picnic of dogs on the grill along with leftover goodies from the party last night as well as Nancy made a delicious tater salad. It was such a beautiful afternoon as the temps reached into the low 60's with bright sunshine and blue skies.
We ate along side the small beautiful trout stream which is the headwaters for the Little River that runs down through Sparta and into the New River. There is a huge spring on their property which eventually will become their source of drinking water. This 22 acre spread is about half flat and level with the other portions a mixture of inclines but nothing too steep. At the back of the property there is an old family cemetery with a few headstones of the folks who settled this area back in the early 1800's. Most of the back area on the other side of the stream is covered with white pines which can be sold for tipping which is the process used in making garlands which is a big holiday business. On the upper areas that are cleared the view of the mountains in the distance are just breath taking. They are down in a valley and a huge waterfalls is off in the distance as well that also brings water into their stream.
We all walked to the perimeter as well as the total property for a couple hours enjoying the warm sunshine. Baby Skylar never made a peep as she was strapped in the carrier on Frank's chest. She loves the outdoors. She eventually napped for a few but was quite content being outside. Across the area from the spring there is some awesome huge white pine trees which is a great source of timber for building their house. It's separated by a road that runs up and into the main section of the acreage. There is an old house on the property not seen from the road that can be used as a work garage or storage but will need some work to bring it up to standards and possible use. Well what a gem this place is in the mountains and such a beautiful setting. We were there until 5'ish before heading back to our place. We were both whupped both from all the hiking and being out in the cool crisp air which had warmed up to the low 60's.
Well I saw on the TV the Bucs were playing the Packers so despite my obvious displeasure of some of the pro sports folks voicing their politician garbage, I did watch the home town team destroy the Packers which is a first in what seems forever. Now that we have old man Tom Brady for QB, who shredded the Pack with his passing game. We were both still satisfied after the late lunch so we picked a little at some caramel popcorn from the party last night which held me the rest of the evening, LATER
A few pics of the beautiful property we walked over for a couple hours. Most of these pic were taken from the top of the higher areas of the property looking out towards the BRP. Nancy took one pic of the small stream but didn't take any where we picnic which is flat and level alongside the trout stream.
