Friday 27 March

YeeeeeHaa! Today was spent in Floyd county, just South of Blacksburg. Floyd is reputedly known for it's 'alternative' (hippie/eccentric) community. Much has been done to maintain Floyd as a small traditional town and no influence of large chain stores could be seen as in other areas.

The team started off the day with Peter Ozolin, an architect who specializes in green architecture. We visited the Floyd hotel, a 14 roomed boutique hotel, where each room has been decorated by different artists of the area to a specific theme e.g. Writers room, Malawi room etc.

Next we visited the Wall Residences, an office block that is designed to be almost self sustaining. As such the building has 48 voltaic cells to provide electricity (estimated to contribute about 50% of the buildings power requirements) and 2 solar geysers. It also has a 8 8 000 gallon (32 000litre) tank underneath the building to capture water for the office's use. Other interesting features were skylights to provide lights to the offices, movement sensored lighting and recycling areas.

The rest of the morning was spent wondering around Floyd, looking at art, ceramics and other knickknacks. The girls managed to find a massive fabric store and spent much of their time in the old school house looking at fabric. Lunch was enjoyed at a Mexican restaurant in town with Ernie Bentley and Les Myers.

The team then proceeded up the Blueridge parkway to visit the Mabry mill (one of the most photographed mills in the world). By this stage the mist had enveloped us and it was rather eerie up on the mountain. Nancy's Candy Company provided a bit of comfort with their lovely confectionary such as pumpkin fudge, and peanut butter & cayenne pepper chocolate truffles. Anna & Norah also managed to do some Christmas shopping on top of the mountain at a Christmas shop.

Next it was wine tasting time, at the Chatteaux Morrisette. They took us on a tour of the winery, before the wine tasting, which was rounded off with a delicious dinner at the Chateaux's Restaurant. All the hosts joined us for this part of the day and it was fun having time to chat to everybody over good wine and food.

The evening was perfectly rounded off with a jamboree of Blue grass music back in Floyd. Different bands are given the opportunity to play at the old country store every Friday night, and during summer it becomes a real street party! The team had a chance to show off their skill (or their lack of it) by flat foot dancing. Some lessons were given by a range of people from 5 year olds through to 80 year olds who were only too happy to show us the steps. We loved it but don't expect us to introduce the Floyd 2-step in South Africa anytime soon!

Tomorrow we leave Blacksburg and our new friends here and we travel to Staunton to meet up with our new hosts. We look forward to the next set of adventures.