I have spent the first half a century growing up on the Texas Gulf Coast. This is where I was born, went to school, kissed my first girl, married the woman I still live with, started four kids on the road of life, buried grandparents and parents and friends. It's where my family and friends live. I would say it's where my roots are attached to this earth...but it wouldn't be so.
My roots keep pulling me home to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. That's where my ancestors called home when this country was young. That's where my heart and soul found a connection the first time I drove the Blue Ridge Parkway. It's the peaks of northwestern North Carolina that now call me. That is the place I plan to finish growing up in the second half century of my life.
When I returned to Texas and started studying the area I fell in love with the area and the story of Valle Crucis, NC. I came across the website for the Mast General Store and Grandfather Mountain
which eventually led me to take the family to visit in 2003. We returned in 2004 and again in 2006. My hopes right now are to make it a permanent move sometime around 2010.
Maybe I'll learn something in this half...You are welcome to ride along on the journey.
