June 26th - Radford, VA, to Ashville, NC

​We held our traditional Sunday morning devotional service, led by Roger at the hotel. Most people were able to attend before going our separate ways. Roger's theme was about what we should teach our children (how much we and God love them) and how we should be humble in working out our differences. 

After the service people and stayed and talked for about another hour. It was as if no one wanted to leave! By the end of the day, we had already set the date for next year's 31st anniversary event. These events are a highlight of the year for Hank, who grew up pretty isolated from half of his siblings. 

We drove at greatly reduced speed through a heavy rainstorm, but eventually landed at our campsite at Lake Powhatan in the Pisgah National Forest. We learned that Pisgah was the first national forest east of the Mississippi River. The land was sold to the US government by Edith Vanderbilt in 1914. The ranger warned us that a mother bear and two small cubs have been frequenting the campsite along with papa bear, travelling solo. We'll certainly be keeping our dogs on a close leash during this visit.