Saturday, Oct. 2. Blacksburg, VA. Gillie's (and Christine's Backyard).

We’ve been talking about how we want to check out some caves sometime on the tour, so when we saw the sign for Nellie’s Cave Park on the way into Blacksburg, VA, we naturally stopped to check it out. As it turned out, Nellie’s Cave was nowhere to be found, and these completely unreadable plaques located around the park ensure that its story remains a mystery.

Anita Bevins, a complete jewel of a music promoter, contacted us about an impromptu backyard concert before our official Blacksburg show at Gillie’s with the Black Twigs. Several area artists were having open studios around town from 10-5, and after that they all gathered in the backyard of ceramic artist Christine Kosiba to hear us play. They were a pleasure to have as an audience, and they made us apple cobbler.

Bryan tests the tire swing

Gillie’s is a beautiful restaurant at the center of Blacksburg.

Gary and I played for the dinner crowd and got to play some with the Black Twigs.

The Black Twigs closed out the night. Doing a show with those guys was a joy.

We all went to have a drink after the show. Mike from the Twigs told us all about how he moved to Blacksburg for the old time music years ago. He also told us about weekly square dances in Floyd, Virginia, that sometimes have as many as 500 dancers (of all ages).

We stayed at Anita’s very cool house outside of Newport. It was very dark when we arrived. In fact, Gary's GPS told us to turn into an empty bank, and we struggled to find the place. At one point, we pulled into a dark driveway. We drove past a Christmas tree farm and ended up outside a house with a bunch of trailers outside, about six pickup trucks, and a huge cageful of huge, barking dogs. (It was about 1:30 in the morning at this point.) We decided that probably wasn't Anita's place and backed down the drive. When we did find Anita's place, it turned out to be a unique old house with a wood stove, white pine-paneled walls, lots of windows and neat old furniture. When we woke up this morning we got to see the view of forested hills.

Now we’re on our way to Boone, North Carolina, driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gary found this wooly bear.