I've looked at some maps recently and discovered that many of the roads near the farm that were mere numbers on a simple map are now named roads! I bet, if I ever travel there again, that they finally paved those roads too. I'm partially surprised by this, partially sad, and the other half of me is pretty much unmoved. My life is here now, after all, but you know, there is always a little something of you left behind in a house or in a piece of land. The farm is no exception. And changes have hit it, much like changes do in old places that belong and stay in memories.

So, the mountain range, as far as I can see fit on maps, is named Clinch Mountain. It's a section of the Appalachian Mountains, from what I've read, on the Tennessee side. It's also a mountain area that runs through Virginia. Tennessee and Virginia basically do a little "swing your partner" and "heel to toe" anyway in that area, so it's not to be a surprise that there are a lot of wild stories out there of what side the mountain is on and so forth. When you have huge mountains, steep angles, and a lot of rural farmers...well, there could be a lot of ta-do's if they want, or they could keep it simple and just be neighbors! I'm sure hoping a lot of folks are just being neighbors. We've got enough drama in the world right now!

Anyway, Clinch Mountain. We're on the rugged side though, sadly. The road near the farm, from what I can tell, is probably called Clinch Mountain Road. (Original, no?) On the Tennesse side, that is. Cross over into Virginia and it's still a number, number 629.

Now, if you grab a map to see, which is always fun, I'll lead you to the farm.

Find a map somewhere, Mapquest is good, and go to Gate City, VA. Find it, and then come back. Don't worry, I'll wait here.  Ok, now, once you found Gate City, VA, trail your little finger there along the road 23/421. Take that West along the map.  Now, don't go too far. If you went up towards Clinchport there, you've gone too far. Get reaaaaaal close up to the map now, and pause on 23/421 just at the curve where it does a quick north there at the railroad track section that goes north, south, and east, west. That's where 629 is, it cuts off of 23/421 and goes west.

Follow 629 west as it turns into Clinch Mountain Road. Somewhere between where you cross into Tennessee and somewhere before Wake Forest Road (I believe..these are new names to me..) and somewhere after Virginia Road, is where the farm would sit. If you're heading west on it, as I lead you, the farm would be on the left side of the road there abouts.

Now, if you notice, Hancock County and Hawkins County lines up there in that area real nice? The line is the top of the mountains. One side, the side of the farm, is on Hancock's side. The other side was the other side of the mountain, Hawkins County. Real easy to figure out on land, but on a map? It looks dorky. Trust me, that mountain is huge, and it has brought awe to me, and made me feel so, so small each and every time I've looked at it in person.

Now, if you pan back a bit on the map (if you're using mapquest), there's a road, number 70. That's the road that goes to Kyles Ford (North on 70), where I mentioned turning left to head into Sneedville. Now, the map on MapQuest doesn't show it, but there's a river there. It runs in the middle of Kyles Ford Road and Horton Ford Road.

There's a lot of roads that aren't show on MapQuest, because I recall going to that river a few times from the farm through a simple turn off and a few turns. So I guess people are lazy and can't go check it out  Or they're really, really scared of the locals? Ha! That's funny. There are a couple of nuns there, some families, and a lot of farmers. Not one of them would harm anyone, either. They'd feed ya, but harm ya? No!

So, there you have it. The farm's area. Oh, if you take 70 south, it'll eventually twist and turn you around and down the other side of the mountain and lead you into Rogersville area. That's a nice area. I've always heard more about Rogersville than Sneedville. Honestly, both are nice towns, but I actually enjoyed Sneedville. Small, older, charming. It wasn't a bad place at all and it was comfortable. Even the small grocery store there was nice.

Ah well, changes have come to the area. I'm sure the towns are both even bigger than ever.

Changes come and go, but at least I still have my memories!