Home in North Carolina

I arrived in North Carolina two days ago, at least as far as my memory recalls. It sure is hard to remember what day it is lately, but that’s a good thing to me.. So I am currently in the area of Franklin, N.C..  The mountains here are just as beautiful as Georgia but seem more plentiful because I am surrounded by beautiful vistas. The reason I am here is because this is the place that has one of the gem mines that I researched a while back while in Florida. It’s called Rose Creek.

The small campground I am staying in is called Rose Creek Campground which is right next door to the Rose Creek Gem mine (which I will get pictures of soon). I have been to the mine two times already and if I am not careful I might spend all of my money at that place..lol.. It is really small but a ton of clean dirty fun, as their motto says.. You don’t get to go into the mine because of liability issues, but the dirt is dug by an excavator and dumped into a two sided open faced storage shack called “The Tunnel”. You pay per bucket of dirt and you dig it yourself then bring it back to the panning flume where the water runs. Dump some dirt into the sifter that they provide and start sifting, searching and hoping.. Most of the pieces you find are very small, but some are quite nice. So far I have found about 10 Sapphires and Rubies, 1 Emerald (which are hard to get), Moonstones, 12 Garnets, Black Tourmaline, Moonstones, Quartz of all kinds and colors and a bit of what they call “Rockalite”, which is just a plain rock….. The price is quite cheap for hours of fun sifting. It’s also relaxing and the people that are panning with you are so friendly.. The owners of the mine, the Sterret Family are the nicest people you could ask for. The husband has taught me so much about rocks and gems already. He cuts natural stones into gems and things right in his shop and has given me a lot of tips on how to get started myself. The pieces he has for sale are so beautiful and way cheaper than anywhere I have ever seen them. I mean they are 500% cheaper than other stores. I bought some Aluminum Oxide powders from him last night so that I can start polishing my own stones with my little dremel tool. Great Fun!!!

here’s a picture of a praying mantis that sat next to me at the mine for a little while until the owners moved it back to the trees..

The campsite is nice and clean and a lot cheaper than the first. There is water there and electric, even though I didn’t pay the extra few dollars for it. I just plugin after dark to recharge my computers battery… There is one thing that is strange though and it applies to the old saying “be careful what you wish for”.. Bears have been on my mind for a week now and I had not seen any until 2 days ago. Well at least I think it’s a bear. I was in my tent at about 11p.m. the other night when I heard cracking branches coming from the treeline just behind me. There is a trash container right behind my tent so I figured it was an animal of sorts. I payed no mind to it until I heard a few very strong and loud breath’s and then a very deep growl or groan. It got my attention quickly. So I unzipped slowly, the inner flap of the tent window to take a peek. It was so dark that it was hard to see at all, but I saw the silhouette of what looked like a bear walking only a few feet from my tent, and I mean a few feet away. I froze and tried to focus, then I made a grunting sound at it and whatever it was trotted off.. Now last night the same thing happened, except my tent was moved to face another direction. about the same time of the night it came again. The same deep growls and slow advance through the heavy treeline. I started a series of short deep grunts and sniffing sounds toward what was the rear of my tent. (Yes I’m crazy that way if you didn’t know that yet.) It came closer, but this time I could not see. It growled a coupled more times then seemed still. I felt like it was out there close by so I grabbed the old hunting knife and prepared for possible battle…LOL.. I make myself laugh, but it’s true, I did. The problem is it probably wouldn’t be much of a fight if it was an attacking bear that was just looking for some late night cookies and milk… After sitting still for about 15 minutes I decided to try and sleep. All was fine and I awoke this morning having survived yet another self inflicted emotional attack. ” What the mind holds, only dreams can know”….. I payed for a couple more days at the site this morning and spoke to the owner. I asked if there were bear issues here and she said not that she knew of. She did say that there have been many reports of a large wild boar that comes from the woods where I am camped, “Go figure”.. Right away I thought of you Dave, and the legend of the Giant Monster Hogs of the North….. So tonight I am going to set up for a visual. I figure if I stay in my truck right near the trees, I can finally see what the hell it is and try to turn on the lights fast and get a picture. Maybe it’s one of those  Wood-Knockers or  a Baby Bigfoot. I don’t discount anything….. If I get any video footage and sell it for a million dollars, we will all be able to live at a resort of our own choosing…

Wish me Luck…..

Tomorrow night there is going to be what’s called a drumming circle at the camp. They are based on Indian drumming. In this case it is going to be Cherokee since they were the original inhabitants of this entire area… I’ll try to get some video of it…

The drive up here from Georgia was very scenic since I took the Appalachian Highway which runs through the mountain ranges such as the Great Smokies,  The Blue Ridge and of course the Appalachian mountains. here is a beautiful shot I got along the way which reminds me somehow, of the endless possibilities of things.. I have created a picture gallery for each of the states I have visited on the top of this page.. Enjoy and be good.

Steve.

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