ramble on

I was just about to go somewhere, but I would much prefer a ramble. Because when you're going nowhere in particular, well, you are quite sure to get there.
--Winnie the Pooh to Piglet

This fern-covered section of the Appalachian Trail in Unicoi County is a great place for a summer ramble.


Directions: From I-26 take the Erwin Main Street Exit (#36), at the end of the ramp turn east toward town and you will immediately arrive at a stop light. Turn right onto Rt. 107 and drive 1/2 mile, turn left at stop light onto Rock Creek Road (Rt. 395) -- continue on for 6.6 miles to TN/NC line (called Indian Grave Gap). The AT crosses at the top of this mountain gap, so if you find yourself heading downhill, you've gone too far. Park at Indian Grave Gap and head south on the AT a mile or so.

(Thanks to Kaitlyn for the quote!)

Gatsby

He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four or five times in life. It faced--or seemed to face--the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor. It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) author, The Great Gatsby

My neighbors' 14 1/2 year old dog, Gatsby.