{"id":6946,"date":"2014-01-16T09:23:50","date_gmt":"2014-01-16T14:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/allandouglas.dougbittinger.com\/blog\/?p=6946"},"modified":"2025-04-21T01:56:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T05:56:40","slug":"ups-downs-mountain-living-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/ups-downs-mountain-living-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ups and Downs of Mountain Living part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Last time<\/a>\u00a0I covered some of the challenges people will face while setting up home in mountainous terrain.\u00a0 This time I want to look at some of the rewards and drawbacks of mountain living.<\/p>\n

Convenience<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Before we were married, Marie was a life-long resident of St. Louis, Missouri. \u00a0She grew up being able to walk to school, the library, and the neighborhood grocery store. \u00a0Many of her relatives and most of her friends lived right in her neighborhood. \u00a0When desired, her family could get in the car and drive a few minutes to find most anything their hearts desired. \u00a0The gratification of going out for something and coming back home with it that day was a way of life.<\/p>\n

During my youth, we lived mostly rural. \u00a0Often in a community that was little more than a handful of homes, a post office and a grain elevator. \u00a0A few times in a small town with a population of a few hundred, a bank, post office, maybe a couple of grocery stores (just to make it interesting) and a Woolworth’s. \u00a0Other times truly rural: out in the sticks. \u00a0We moved a lot, and we preferred a little elbow room.<\/p>\n

When Marie and I married, the wisest thing to do was for me to let go of my little rural rental house and move to the city to share a home with her. \u00a0For a few years I became accustomed to the convenience of being able to buy lumber and supplies as needed for my woodworking because several specialty stores were just a few minutes of driving away.<\/p>\n

How we came to embrace\u00a0mountain living is a story unto itself, but as we formulated that plan the biggest hurdle in Marie\u2019s mind was going to be giving up the convenience of having all the trappings of life so close at hand. \u00a0Her only real demand was that there would be a Wal-Mart within a reasonable distance \u2026 and that we have the fireplace she has always wanted.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Edwina Grocery<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our home place is on Piney Mountain and is within the community of Edwina. \u00a0The term \u2018community\u2019 is used loosely here. \u00a0Edwina boasts a country store: Edwina Grocery, and a small community center, which is a steel building with one large room, a kitchen and bathroom. \u00a0It is used as a meeting place by the High Oaks Coon Club, and the Edwina Ruritans. \u00a0It also serves as the local polling place at election time. \u00a0There is also a Tennessee Department of Forestry building, a rock quarry, a cabinet shop, a guy that does heating and cooling work and a truck stop\/convenience store out beside the interstate, and a Russian-American restaurant called Grill 73.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Grill 73, run by Valentina and Alex Ryzhkov<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Grill 73 is run by retired Romanian circus performers! And there is Farmer\u2019s Daughter Nursery and Produce, which is just what it sounds like: the enterprising child of a local farmer. These are all strung out along Route 73, known locally as Edwina Road. There are perhaps a couple hundred homes and several farms tucked into the hills and hollers of Edwina.<\/p>\n

From Piney Mountain, Newport can be reached by driving down the mountain roads to Route 73, a winding two-lane highway. Turn south to go to the interstate or turn north to go to Route 25\/70, which becomes Broadway, the main drag through Newport. The interstate is a greater distance, but faster. The state highways are shorter but slower speeds. Either way it takes about 15 minutes to get into town. Newport does have a Wal-Mart, but we don’t shop there much anymore.<\/p>\n

We have the best of both worlds here. For things we need quickly, Newport \u2013 population around 33,000 \u2013 is big enough to meet most of our normal needs. For some of the less common needs, Knoxville, Tennesse, is an hour away by interstate in one direction, Asheville, North Carolina, an hour in the other direction.\u00a0 Morristown, Pigeon Forge and Sevierville are in between and reached by state and county roads.<\/p>\n

For things we can wait on for a few days, there is the internet. These days we can order most anything we want and have it in hand in a few days.<\/p>\n

We may not be able to walk to the library, but the freedom, privacy, and clean, clear air we enjoy so much out here away from all the traffic, exhaust fumes, noise, and regulation of the city more than offset the inconvenience. Here, almost without exception, we can live as we please. We love the peace and quiet. The sunsets are fabulous, the views are breathtaking, and life itself is an adventure.<\/p>\n

In the past we would take an annual vacation just to get away for a while. Since moving here, we have felt no need to get away, in fact when we must travel we are eager to get back.<\/p>\n

Travel<\/h2>\n

There is a joke that goes around about how mountain folks must be sure to walk equal distances in each direction, or they end up with one leg shorter than the other. But it\u2019s actually not far from the truth. Where we travel a lot we tend to dig-in or build up pathways to level the surface, but just walking around my property means climbing, descending or traversing steep slopes.<\/p>\n

\"Side<\/a><\/p>\n

This is our \u201clawn\u201d the forested parts of the property are steeper. I spend a good bit of my time walking to and fro on our property. Even just fetching the mail means walking 120 feet down the hill from my front porch to the road (that\u2019s the easy part) then back up the 30-degree slope (that\u2019s the hard part) in whatever weather we are experiencing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The up side of this is that moving around the property to do my chores is a great workout. Think of the time and money I save by not needing to go to a gym!<\/p>\n

Driving the roadways here is also a matter of acclimation. When we first arrived I was used to roads that were, by and large, straight. Maybe a sweeping curve here and there, but nothing that would take me by surprise.<\/p>\n

When we began looking around this area for property, traveling even the main highways was a stressful task because they tend to be carved into mountain slopes, thus follow the contours of those mountains. Some are worse than others, but there aren\u2019t any I can think of that are straight. Then there are the back roads.<\/p>\n

Some of these are dirt roads and not wide enough to two vehicles to pass one another. Wide spots are placed where a recess in the mountain permits or a wide curve can be created. When two vehicles meet, one has to back up to the last wide spot and allow the other to pass. It is fortunate that mountain folk tend to be good-natured.<\/p>\n

Most back roads do not have guard rails. At first, the act of driving these narrow, winding ledges with precipitous drop-offs was no less than terrifying! On some, the turns are so sharp that even creeping along at 25 or 30 miles an hour made me carsick as we snaked through one tight, blind curve after another. But, after a while, one gets used to most anything. Now I no longer get sweaty palms driving these roads, in fact I rather enjoy it. Who needs a theme park: we have our own thrill rides!<\/p>\n

We are fortunate that Piney Mountain Road is not only paved but wide enough for two vehicles to pass by one another \u2026 unless you meet the school bus.<\/p>\n

Semi-trucks will not come up our road. At least not the 53-footers normally used by freight lines. I\u2019ve seen a shorty up here once or twice, but for the most part the biggest truck to travel our road is Big Brown from UPS. Therefore, when I order a piece of equipment or other large item that will come by truck, I have to take our pick-up truck and go meet the semi at the truck stop to transfer the crate into our truck for the final leg home. That too is another form of adventure.<\/p>\n

All proper mountain men need to have a pick-up truck, preferably four wheel drive. That is a rule here.<\/p>\n

Want more?\u00a0 Read part 3<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last time I covered some of the challenges people will face while setting up home in mountainous terrain.  This time I want to look at some of the rewards and drawbacks of mountain living. Convenience Before we were married, Marie was a life-long resident of St. Louis, Missouri.  She grew up being able to walk to … Continue reading “The Ups and Downs of Mountain Living part 2”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-6946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-mountain-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6946"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21184,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6946\/revisions\/21184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pineymountainfoster.org\/thoughts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}