We spent our last day driving the Blue
Ridge Parkway today. The morning began with a wonderful walk to the
summit of Waterrock Knob (mile marker 450 on the Parkway). Upon
completion of the walk the children received a certificate stating
they had reached the summit, at an elevation of 6292 feet – making
it the second highest of all the peaks on the Parkway, and one of the
highest in the eastern United States. Needless to say we did not
climb the entire height – merely a couple of km round trip from the
visitor centre to the peak – but the kids were fantastic.
After leaving the Parkway, we drove to
the Cherokee Indian Reservation in the far corner of North Carolina
to visit Oconaluftee Indian Villiage
http://www.aboutcherokee.com/oconaluftee.html
– an authentic replica of an 18
th century Indian
village. We watched people dancing, beading, making pottery, and
making weaponry, and wandered around the village learning about the
various shelters and their uses, and how/why/what the Indians traded
with other tribes and the British.
After lunch we drove for some time
through the Smoky Mountains, to end up just 30 mile over the border
into Tennessee for the night. We are staying in Ocoee, which was
apparently the 1996 Olympic Games site for white water rafting. We
shall give the water sports a miss tonight, and instead opt for
negotiating the campground showers.
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| At the summit |
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| Sophia's certificate - all the kids got one! |
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| Dancing |
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| Beading |
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| A drill |
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| Making weaponry |
