Many families are choosing to stay closer to home this vacation season. With gasoline costs rising, one-tank trips are becoming a more attractive alternative for summer travelers.
One way to enjoy the warm weather months is a bike ride along the Virginia Creeper Trail, a retired railway corridor of the Virginia-Carolina Railroad that stretches from Abingdon to the North Carolina state line near Whitetop.

There are many sites to enjoy along the Virginia Creeper Trail from Whitetop to Damascus.
Bikers can visit Green Cove Station, a restored 19th century railroad depot that currently serves as a U.S. Forest Service visitor center and trailhead for the Virginia Creeper Trail.
Creek Junction offers a good spot for fishing. Waterfalls are picturesque. 

As my eyes adjusted to the predawn light, my heart skipped a beat when I spied the trap. The steel door had slammed shut and a monstrous, hairy, white creature was cowering in the corner. I had done it. I had trapped the beast. From deep within me a primordial roar erupted. In a single moment I was transported back to my ancient roots when I was the prehistoric hunter and trapper. All of nature feared me.

I’ve had it. I mean it. This is it, the last straw. For nearly eight years now, I have put up with our current administration. No, I haven’t been happy, but like most of my fellow citizens, I have tolerated it. Well it’s over now; it’s time to act. 

Piney and She were re-learning Spanish as they were spending some time in Tampa and there Spanish was the real second language.  It was comparatively easy for the two people as She had studied high school Spanish, and Piney had “contact” learning for a bit of Spanish.

Friday’s thunder showers cleared and cooled the air, the sunshine returning in time for the kickoff of Smyth County’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life at Marion Senior High School. 

WDBJ ran a report a few nights back about a guy in Roanoke selling these three-wheeled truck things that get something like 70 miles to the gallon. For about $6,000 you can buy this contraption that promises a top cruising speed of 45 mph, has an AM/FM radio and a heater. 

Slumped in the waiting room chair, I dreaded the receptionist calling my name. Actually, I was hoping and praying she would not call my name, that somehow I had the wrong day or the wrong place, that the whole thing was a bad dream. I was there for a root canal. A root canal is a dental procedure used to salvage what remains of dead or dying teeth, or to extract information. Concerning discomfort, it falls somewhere between a beheading and having a hot needle poked in your eye.

Piney and She Who Must Be Obeyed had as usual gotten homesick this summer for Rural Retreat, Marion, Bland and Wytheville.

He was born Feb. 17, 1925 to Samuel and Sarah Cahill who named him Guy Spraker Cahill. He was tall and built big. He was extremely strong despite having battled diabetes most of his life. He was, in many ways, the quintessential Appalachian boy, yet in other ways he was a veritable Renaissance man. Most importantly, he was my father. Due to my grandmother’s health problems, Dad spent most of his formative years in the home of his Aunt Pearl and Uncle Charles DeBusk.