Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2019 i Country Extra

WHILE OUT ON A SHOPPING ADVENTURE with her grandma, my daughter collected a few leaves. She carried her treasures home, tucking them away in the middle of a store catalog. Later, she proudly showed them to me—four leaves with the slightest hint of change on the edges. This was the start of a new favorite pastime. The cover of this issue is a nod to all those little collectors who find keepsakes of the season in leaf piles at home and around the school playground. Some will glue them onto stark white sheets of paper as an art project, while others may slide them into a book to be discovered years later, sparking a little nostalgia for fall. Here at Country we like to think of ourselves as leaf keepers,…

MY PASSION IS photographing the night sky, specifically the Milky Way. That is why my husband, Mike, and I traveled to Davis Mountains State Park in Texas, where there is no light pollution. Being in a dark-sky location with a blanket of stars shining overhead is surreal. To millions of Americans, the Milky Way is invisible where they live. I was setting up my camera that evening and saw a group of Boy Scouts hiking up the mountain with headlamps. As I began to shoot the Milky Way, I noticed that the top of the mountain was illuminated by the Scouts’ headlamps. The beautiful picture at right reminds me of how precious our children are and how important it is to spend time with them outdoors. It was truly a…

MY DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, EVAN, and I chatted excitedly about the adventure that lay ahead. These two Florida gals were in search of fall color in northeast Alabama. Starting in Montgomery, we drove country back roads toward Cheaha State Park and its stunning views from the summit of Cheaha Mountain. At the park, we hiked Bald Rock Trail, which wound through the forest and emerged upon a magnificent view of the valley floor below. Calm winds and warm afternoon sunshine brought the scene alive with hints of orange, gold and red. We continued our journey northeast toward DeSoto State Park and Little River Canyon National Preserve near Fort Payne. The road meandered through small-town America, bordered by rolling hills dotted with old barns, farmhouses, horses and cattle. In the preserve we hiked…

Before you go, know the rules and regulations for where you can and cannot fly. The laws are constantly changing and are not easy to find online. Make sure you know exactly what the drone’s controls will do before you start pushing buttons or levers so it doesn’t end up as rubble at your feet. Initially it’s a good idea to keep the drone close by so that you can see it clearly. No matter how far it flies, the law states it should always stay within sight. Keep your distance from people and their houses as much as possible. Fly around them or at least 350 feet above. The legal maximum limit for a drone is 400 feet.…

BEFORE HELLS CANYON SCENIC BYWAY existed even as an idea, I made several painful, frustrating attempts over the years to follow some of its most primitive segments. The journey never went well, and I often returned home in a vehicle prematurely aged by battles with the rocky, rough track. I always carried two spare tires, and sometimes I needed them both and regretted not having a third. The wonders of Oregon’s Hells Canyon, the deepest river gorge in North America, were tantalizingly close and yet so far away. Then, in 1992, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest finished paving the 45 miles of primitive track linking the Wallowa Valley with the paved Highway 86 in Baker County. The loop was soon designated the Hells Canyon Scenic Byway by the Forest Service. The…

YOU MAY NOT THINK of Oklahoma as a place of natural splendor—especially not one with blazing fall colors. Yet the Sooner State has plenty of beautiful scenery. For the best fall leaf-peeping, grab the car keys and head to the Talimena Scenic Byway. The route is located in the large, dense Ouachita National Forest (pronounced WASH-i-tah), which crosses the state line between Oklahoma and Arkansas. Named after the towns on each end of the drive, the 54-mile byway stretches from Talihina, Oklahoma, to Mena, Arkansas. Curving roads on the mountain ridge follow some of the highest peaks in the area, including Rich Mountain and Winding Stair Mountain. If you can resist stopping to marvel at the many vistas and attractions along the way, the route takes 11/2 to two hours…

What is it? A 62-mile one-way route that follows a treacherous path taken by Mormon pioneers on their way to a new settlement in 1879. If you have a high-clearance vehicle with four-wheel drive, Hole-in-the-Rock Road is the place for off-roading adventures. Why drive it? History and the views. When the settlers reached a thin crack in the canyon rim, they camped and worked all winter to widen the opening so 250 people, over 1,000 animals and 83 wagons could pass. The actual Hole in the Rock is at mile 55. Best Stop Devil’s Garden, about 12 miles down the road, is popular for its oddly shaped rocks. Good to Know The road gets worse as you go, so four-wheel drive is a must. And bring plenty of water! Getting…

REST EASY Book the lakefront cabin at Swan Hill Bed & Breakfast and start the day with a meal made using fresh local ingredients. swanhillbedand breakfast.com LOCAL EATS Look for the windmill in the town of Ravalli. There you’ll find the best doughnuts around at the Windmill Village Bakery. 406-745-2270 FEATHERED FRIENDS Grab your binoculars and be on the lookout for great blue herons, double-crested cormorants and about 200 other bird species at Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge. fws.gov/bisonrange ROAD SNACKS Open on Fridays from May to October, the Polson Farmers Market is the place to find local produce, art, baked goods, jams, jellies and more. polsonfarmersmarket.com GUIDED ADVENTURES Let someone else do the driving so you can focus on the views along Red Sleep Mountain Drive. Montana Adventure Shuttle leads…

1. HONOR GUARD Our 3-year-old daughter, Avinly, has spent most of her life living in Europe as a U.S. Air Force kid. I took this photo of her on her first Veterans Day in America. CRYSTAL KUPPER Eastampton, New Jersey 2. TRUE COLORS Growing up in upstate New York, I always loved hiking through the woods on a nice autumn day. The bark of a fallen birch tree was the perfect backdrop for this charismatic maple leaf. JASON BADEN Charlotte, North Carolina 3. PASTORAL PALETTE Fall color skillfully paints the rolling hills of Hawkins County, one of the oldest counties in the state of Tennessee. RANDY BALL Rogersville, Tennessee 4. PADDLIN’ BY I spotted these men slowly canoeing on Union Meadows Pond in Sanbornville, New Hampshire. The slightly overcast skies…

OUR FALL FORMAL was coming up, and two of my college friends were asked to help decorate the hall for the night. On the day of the event, the girls were looking for bright fall leaves to use in large bouquets, so we jumped in my car to search for autumn colors at a nearby park. We climbed the steep hillside and discovered bushes with long branches filled with red, yellow and green leaves. I cut the best stems, and the girls gathered the beautiful leaves in their arms. Soon we filled the trunk of my car and returned to school. We decorated the hall with bright pillars of leaves and had it ready for the formal event later that evening. One of the first to arrive was a dean…

Nov. 2 SOUTH CAROLINA PECAN FESTIVAL Chalk it up at the sidewalk art competition, check out the antique tractors or enter your pecan masterpiece in the cook-off during the South Carolina Pecan Festival in downtown Florence. florencedowntown.com NOV. 17 Carve out a few hours on TAKE A HIKE DAY to explore the natural world around you. americanhiking.org “In fall, I am surrounded by multitudes of gold, red and orange leaves. I especially like it when a little wind blows and some of the leaves swirl around as they float down to the ground. Autumn’s glory—from the colors of the leaves to the fresh mountain air—puts a warm feeling in my heart.”Candy Thompson Kingwood, West Virginia Field EDITOR Nov . 28 Thanksgiving Here’s a cooking tip from our friends  at…

VIEW MAINE’S highest mountain, raft down a mighty river or explore the state’s prettiest inland park as you travel the 89-mile Katahdin Woods & Waters Scenic Byway. You can access the route near its middle from either of the towns of Sherman or Millinocket, so you’ll need to backtrack a bit in order to travel the entire route, but it’s worth it. We entered near Sherman and made our way north, as that entails the least amount of backtracking. Every bend in the road opened to another camera-worthy wilderness view of warm reds, yellows and oranges. The mighty Mount Katahdin—Maine’s tallest peak at 5,268 feet and the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail—popped in and out of view. There aren’t many amenities along this northern stretch of the byway, but…

MAJESTIC VIEWS. HISTORIC SITES. Hiking trails, swimming and fishing. Old Mine Road on the New Jersey side of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area beckons you. The 1,000-foot-deep Delaware Water Gap is the key passageway through the Appalachian Mountain range between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Each year about 5 million visitors enjoy the Gap’s 70,000-acre national recreation area, the largest in the eastern United States. The 104-mile Old Mine Road connects incredible fall scenery and recreation that includes hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail and boating, picnicking or viewing waterfalls along the Delaware River. Begin your journey at the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center at the southern end of River Road (which soon becomes Old Mine Road going north). Drive north to Millbrook Village, a re-created farm community from…

LOCAL EATS Farm-sourced produce and naturally raised beef and bison are on the menu at Terminal Gravity Brewing in Enterprise. terminalgravity brewing.com SWEET SPOT Satisfy your sugar cravings or get a fresh cup of coffee or tea at Arrowhead Chocolates, a family-owned shop in Joseph. The chocolate is made right in the store. arrowheadchocolates.com FOLLOW THE PACK Mules get the recognition they deserve for carrying loads out west during Hells Canyon Mule Days. Held the weekend after Labor Day in Enterprise, the event promises a Dutch oven cook-off, a parade and more. hellscanyonmuledays.com RIDE THE RAPIDS Climb aboard a jet boat and explore the south end of the Snake River, where Hells Canyon is the deepest. Hells Canyon Adventures leads a variety of rides. hellscanyon adventures.com THEN AND NOW Hike…

REST EASY Spend the night in luxury at Brown Bear Cabin in Talihina, complete with a hot tub, a pool table and a full kitchen, just 10 minutes from Talimena Scenic Byway’s west end. brownbearcabin.com Stay atop Rich Mountain, Arkansas’ second-highest peak, at Queen Wilhelmina State Park Lodge, and relax on one of the inviting porches with panoramic views, or hike the nearby trails. arkansasstateparks.com LOCAL EATS Step back in time to experience an old-fashioned home-style breakfast or lunch at the Skyline Cafe in Mena. 618 Mena St. Mena, Arkansas TRAIL TREKKING Bring your hiking boots, bicycle, ATV or horse to view the spectacular fall foliage from the trails in Talimena State Park, Oklahoma’s entrance to the Talimena Scenic Byway. travelok.com/talimena SCENIC DETOUR Drive about an hour south of the…

LOCAL EATS Magnolias Street Food serves up sandwiches, tacos and other dishes made with seasonal ingredients. Look for the turquoise school bus parked at Anasazi State Park Museum in Boulder. magnoliasstreetfood.com REST EASY Just off Highway 12, Boulder Mountain Lodge is a convenient place to stay and replenish your energy after exploring Red Rock Country. Plus, an 11-acre bird sanctuary surrounds the lodge. boulder-utah.com CATCH OF THE DAY Anglers, Boulder Mountain has hundreds of lakes, ponds and streams teeming with trout just waiting to take the bait. takemefishing.org/utah SADDLE UP Hell’s Backbone Ranch and Trail leads visitors on horseback rides (ranging from about 1½ hours to a five-day package) through Dixie National Forest and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. bouldermountain trails.com STARGAZING Spot the Milky Way as it twinkles in the…

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THEY SAY THE APPLE doesn’t fall far from the tree. But what about acorns? I loved visiting Grandma Regina on her farm in central Wisconsin. The drive there whisked me farther and farther away from city life and my stressful job. On the highway, I told stories of my childhood vacations to my electronic-era sons, and to them it was as if we were traveling to another planet. Soon, Grandma and I sat together at her kitchen table, as we had so many times before, talking of relatives and their foibles. The kids went for a walk, so it was just Grandma and I. While we talked, we watched birds flutter outside at the feeder, which was secured to a large flat board attached directly outside her oversized kitchen window.…

REST EASY From campsites to cottages, Shin Pond Village is a peaceful overnight retreat on the northern end of the scenic byway. shinpond.com LOCAL EATS Just miles from the south entrance of Baxter State Park in the New England Outdoor Center, take advantage of River Driver’s Restaurant for casual lakeside dining with views of Mount Katahdin. neoc.com RIDE THE RAPIDS Experience the thrill of mild or wild whitewater rafting on the Penobscot River. Penobscot Adventures has tours for all activity levels. penobscotadventures.com VIEW FROM ABOVE Let Katahdin Air give you a bird’s-eye view of the beautiful fall foliage and terrain on one of its daily 30-minute or one-hour scenic plane rides. There’s also a three-hour flight and dinner combo. katahdinair.com RELIVE HISTORY Maine’s logging industry comes alive at the Patten…

REST EASY Jam to jazz Thursday through Sunday and sleep late at charming Deer Head Inn on the Pennsylvania side of the Gap, northwest of the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center. deerheadinn.com TRAIL TREKKING Coppermine Trail, a moderate to difficult 2-mile, one-way trail through the forest along streams and cascades, is part of more than 100 miles of hiking trails in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. nps.gov/dewa LOCAL EATS Stop at the rustic Walpack Inn, established in 1949, to indulge in a lovely meal served with its famous brown bread and set against the stunning views of Walpack Valley. thewalpackinn.com HANDMADE BEAUTY Browse through the handmade items created by local and national artists in the gallery and retail shop at the Peters Valley School of Craft. Or sign up…

Follow Highway 86 to the northeast at Pine Creek for an optional side trip to the Snake River at the bottom of Hells Canyon. Carved by the waters of the Snake River, the canyon is deeper than Arizona’s Grand Canyon. The road into the canyon and then downstream along the Idaho side of the river is paved to the Hells Canyon Creek Visitor Center. You’ll see stunning views of the river winding through stupendous cliffs. This 48-mile round-trip diversion adds two to three hours to the trip.…

THE FALL COLOR was some of the most intense we’d ever seen, and it was in a place few people consider for leaf peeping. It wasn’t that the variety of colors was so spectacular, for the leaves were all the same vibrant gold; it was the setting. We were traveling through the desert on the Colorado Plateau in southern Utah. Our five days without a stoplight, along the 124-mile stretch of state Highway 12 known as the Journey Through Time Scenic Byway, began the last week of October, outside the small community of Escalante. If you are an intrepid explorer, willing to hike and get your feet wet—and if you can negotiate slick rock and sandy washes—countless hidden patches of autumn are waiting for you. However, if you find easy…

RED SLEEP MOUNTAIN DRIVE in the National Bison Range winds past some amazing vistas in Big Sky Country. As the 19-mile, one-way gravel road climbs and descends Red Sleep Mountain, every mile reveals a panoramic view. I often need three or four hours to complete the loop as I like to stop the car and shut off the engine to listen to the melodic songs of the colorful lazuli bunting or the western meadowlark, Montana’s state bird. A series of switchbacks in the road near its 4,885-foot high point lead to several short hiking trails. At this lofty altitude, Douglas firs and ponderosa pines replace native grasses. It’s a good place to glimpse a rambling black bear, whitetail deer or bighorn sheep. National Bison Range, located between the Bitterroot and…

Folks say that roots run deep on family ground, and nowhere is that truth more evident than in the Tennessee mountains where we live. Even the road signs bear the last names of the families who have lived on this ground for the past 200 years. But our journey here and family story is a far cry from theirs. My husband, David, and I purchased land here right after we got married. We are several generations removed from farming in our respective families, but the pull to return was strong. This little acreage and old house gave life to our farming dreams. We founded Free Reign Farm and learned to raise goats, plant gardens and make goat’s milk soap. We loved the life and began to dream of sharing the…

In each issue we hide two needles (black or white). If you find them, enter online at country-magazine.com by clicking the Contests link at the top of the page. We’ll draw winners from all the correct entries. Winners receive a one-year subscription to Country. In the September issue, we hid the needles on pages 9 and 42. No purchase necessary to enter to win. Purchase will not improve your chances of winning. Sweepstakes is open to legal residents age 18 years or older of the U.S., its territories and possessions. Sweepstakes begins on Oct. 23, 2019, and ends on Dec. 17, 2019. For official rules, visit country-magazine.com. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Sweepstakes sponsored by RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC.…