Cheoah and Other Cherokee Names

I feel kind of at home with all of these Cherokee names on things. Cheoah, Oconoluftee, Nantahala, Tsali, and so on reminds me of the Western Cherokee names we see in Oklahoma such as Nowatta, Muskogee, Tahlequah, Sallisaw and Broken Arrow. It is so nice that we name all of these towns and wilderness areas with Cherokee names and give them casinos and bingo parlors to reconcile for giving them small pox, lying to them, kicking them out of their lands and relegating them to small reservations and such.

We had a great time in Eastern North Carolina and the Smoky Mountains, but we had to move on. I think that we have to have constant change of scenery or we get bored. We are spoiled and we can't afford to linger or we might figure out how sick of each other we are. We went on a nice hike in the Deep Creek area of the Smokys where we met two men on the path that insisted we drive through the Cade's Cove area as it had some neat historic buildings, so we did that a couple of days later. If I want to see this kind of history in buildings all I have to do is drive out to Tuna's house. Hell, the resident is even missing a tooth to lend to authenticity. It was a nice bike ride though and I have included a picture of one of the houses in case you guys want to see how my brother lives in Elkins. Sorry for the roast there fish, I can't help myself.

My wife is already sawing lumber in the back of the r.v. and she just hit the hay 10 minutes ago. I do love the woman, but I have to refrain from boxing her in the back of the noggin on some nights when I wake up for no reason from a glorious dream only to hear the Homelite gettin' after it next to me. Actually the David Bradley comes to mind, that was the monstrous chainsaw that Huber had that if I remember right had an engine big enough to power a Harley on it. I am sure that my prime time flatulence is no dream for Kim either. We have headed up the Blue Ridge Parkway to go see Merlefest, which is a music festival in honor of Merle Watson the late son of Doc Watson who is now about 80 years old and still flatpickin' the heck out of a guitar. I am going to try and get you caught up with some rapid fire updates now that we have reception.

Pictures

1. Whore frost (Kim's phrase not mine) on the trees at Clingman's Dome in the Smokys. Kim took the picture, which I think is one of the best (rookie luck)

2. Cheoah River rapid

3. Deep Creek

4. Tuna's House

5. Kayaker on the Cheoah