MerleFest 2008

MerleFest is an "Americana" music festival held on the grounds of Wilkesboro Community College in Wilkesboro, NC. It is a totally family friendly festival with great venues and performers representing a wide variety of musical styles. It ain't all "traditional" and it features groups "on the way up." It does feature old stand byes such as Ralph Stanley, Sam Bush and Bela Fleck. The best part is entering the back pack inspection area and watching the members of the local Baptist churches (especially trained in sniffing out liquor - I often wonder where they get their training) go through suspect back packs - it is a "no booze" venue.

My faves this year were Bearfoot, the Lovell Sisters, the Avett Brothers, the Carolina Chocolate Drops and of course Doc Watson. I hadn't heard Donna the Buffalo in previous years so it was fun to listen to a jam band for a while.

North Carolina at Last!

I-40 East does a bit of a northeast and then southeast stretch across Tennessee from Memphis to Nashville to Knoxville. The pay off is a lovely drive through the Smokey Mts. and a descent into North Carolina. Asheville is the first major town and I elected to set up my tent near a semi swamp. Water fowl had just hatched and provided a bit of amusement at a rather dreary spot.

The next stop was Morgantown as I made my left turn north to head up toward Wilkesboro. I knew one of the former Superintendents of the North Carolina School for the Deaf back in the 60's and had heard wonderful things about the institution. It is gorgeous. Enrollment is way down and it might be a starving but attractive dinosaur.

Up the road is Lenoir, NC - an attractive little town trying to capture the energy of folks moving into the lovely area. The HogWaller Outfitters is an interesting shop featuring a wide range of merchandise and a hot local shop for middle school age boys interested in skateboarding. Tons of options at the HogWaller and I wish them well.

The Lure of Opryland

By now I have shared my darker side in the pursuit of what our country is really all about - odd juxtapositions in housing/zoning, beautiful but now "discovered" places that quickly become too expensive for the original families to remain as the trust fund babies and newly enriched folks move in, kitsch that defies explanation (I guess that might be a defining characteristic).

A real treasure trove which seems to encompass all of the above is Opryland. This is the short version of the name of the Gaylord Hotel complex which has the new "Grand Ole Opry" and the Opryland Museum on the grounds.

The gift store is full of pictures (Emmylou Harris, the Everly Brothers and Minnie Pearl to name a few), mugs, jackets and pictures for sale. Folks seem to come from all over to visit this mini- shrine in Nashville, TN.

Even the KOA honors Dolly Parton with a drive named after her.

I guess this is another of the "defining" monuments in America. It is darned impressive in it's own way.

I-40 passes Okemah, Oklahoma

I have always wanted to stop in Okemah, OK. It is the home of Woody Guthrie, Jimmy Lafave, an annual music festivial (WoodyFest) and is the basis for Kevin Bowe and his band's name - the Okemah Prophets. Sadly it is a pretty run down drab town. The best I could find was this small park with a statue and a mural. That being said.....maybe Woody would think it was an appropriately "working man" kind of monument....

Life after Chaco

Following my two month stint at Chaco we spent a day in Albuquerque and I proceeded to drive east on I-40 to join family and friends at MerleFest (which will have it's own posting). The square in "Old Town" Albuquerque was alive as they we celebrating Founder's Day weekend. Bands were playing, people dancing and some were celebrating their marriages.

I never miss an opportunity for kitsch as the tourist trinket shops were alive and well for the season. A personal favorite is the "Deerslayer Boomerang made by folks from the Cherokee Tribe" - hard for me to imagine anything more out of place in the Southwest but...there you are : ) an eBay review indicates

• Two common example of junk boomerangs are the ubiquitous Bullseye/Rothco traditional-shaped, natural-color plywood boomerang with red painted tips but little or no wing shaping, and the traditional-shaped blue and red Cherokee/Niagara Falls/Ninja/Deerslayer/Florida (or other state name) boomerang: They absolutely will not return, unless you throw them straight up.

something for every taste and interest....

Camping on a few days off

The mission was to head up to Muley Point to camp and then to hike to Moon House.

As you can see - snow made it pretty much a no go so plan 'B' was to head to Blanding to the Edge of the Cedars museum where we were able to see some pretty amazing Chacoan artifacts. The sash and wooden plates were beautiful. We headed over to Hovenweep to tour and camp - again hit by snow showers.
Finally ended up in Durango...a bit too hip for me and way too crowded.

Off the Beaten Track

We were fortunate to be escorted off the beaten track to see petroglyphs, observation points as well as sites which are the precursors of the Great Houses of Chaco.

South Mesa Trail

We headed up the South Mesa Trail in a counterclockwise fashion. This is an easy passage out the South Gap and then up the backside of the mesa. Once atop the mesa at Tsin Kletzin you have an wonderful view of the canyon...to the north is Pueblo Alto to the west is Pinasco Blanco and on the canyon floor is Pubelo Bonito and Chetro Ketl. Chaco is all about sight lines, lunar, solar and directional alignments.
The hike down affords great view of Casa Rinconada.
One of the great things about Chaco is accessibility...one of the not so great things is accessibility.
People do get a bit creative as with the circle within the circle shown here.