Welcome to Carol's Cascades - My Little Piece of Paradise!

Hello, Friends. Several of you have expressed interest in knowing more about my little mountain home with its bold creek, woods, and wildflowers. Here, finally, is your long-awaited post.

A Transplanted Hawkeye Becoming a Tarheel?

No, I'm not talking about school mascots. I attended Washington University in St. Louis, not University of Iowa or UNC! Iowa's nickname is The Hawkeye State, and its inhabitants are referred to as "Hawkeyes", similar to the way North Carolinians are sometimes referred to as "Tarheels"

In 1995, I came to Western North Carolina on vacation to visit a friend. I was awestruck by the beauty and grandeur of the Smoky Mountains, especially the thundering waterfalls. Everything was so green.

Something spoke to my soul, and my soul spoke to my heart, saying, "this is home, you gotta move here."

My son was a senior in high school at the time, and we began making plans to relocate from south Florida where we were living. When Colyn graduated in 1996, we moved to Franklin, where our friends lived.

I was an occupational therapist and had a job lined up in a nursing home right there in Franklin. I was excited about my new job because the traffic and my commute would be nothing compared to what I endured daily in Florida.

Oh NO! A Monkey Wrench in My Carefully Laid Plans!

When I arrived in Franklin and contacted my employer, I was informed that the position I had accepted had been given to the person who had declined to accept it!

Fortunately, the company had several other contracts to provide rehabilitation services to several other nursing homes in Western North Carolina, including Waynesville, Brevard, Weaverville, and Hendersonville, to name a few. The closest one, which I opted to accept, was in Waynesville, which was a 45 mile commute each way through mountainous terrain.

I commuted from Franklin to Waynesville every day for a year and a half, then finally decided it was time to move closer to work and have less mountain driving. I did not want to live in town, and finally found a house for rent on an acre of woods. Great! Just what I was looking for...only problem was, it was in Candler, which was a 45-minute drive the other way from my job.

I'm Sick and Tired of All This Driving!

I I tolerated this commute for another year and a half before deciding that I really didn't want to spend so much of my life behind the wheel of my car driving to and from work, and began looking for a home near Waynesville. I still didn't want to live in town, but couldn't find what I was looking for in Waynesville.

I told my Realtor that I wanted a house on about an acre of woods, and it had to have a creek. After being taken to see several properties that had what I considered to be a poor excuse for a creek, I was getting very frustrated and discouraged.

Then one day I was looking through a real estate magazine and discovered the magic word! The reason I wasn't finding my perfect home was because I didn't know the terminology... I had to tell the Realtor that I wanted a bold creek.

The ad that led to this realization was a picture of the creek of my dreams. I told my Realtor that I didn't care what the house was like, but that I had to have a bold creek! Like magic, I had finally found it.It was located on the west side of Maggie Valley, about 15 miles from Smoky Mountain National Park and the Cherokee reservation.

I made an appointment to see the property in the ad, and put a contract on it that same day. I knew that I would eventually find the right place, and that I would know it when I saw it. It just took me longer to find it than I had expected.

Welcome to Carol's Cascades!

When I moved into my house, I discovered that the post for the for sale sign was a 4x4 with a cross arm to hold the sign. I immediately named my place Carol's Cascades and had a sign made to fit that post. It stood proudly on the bank facing my driveway for 19 years, announcing to all who entered that they had reached Carol's Cascades.

My house is not very big, just a two bedroom, two bath cabin with 1288 square feet. But it's just right for George, Leia, and me. Even when we're snowed in, we're cozy and warm by the wood stove.

This picture of my front porch, which extends the full lengh of the front of the house, was taken in early spring. You can see how heavily wooded my land is, and that the new leaves are not completely developed yet. It is difficult to get a picture of the house from the road once the trees are fully leafed out.

I normally have flowers in each section between the upright supports of the porch, but this picture was taken early in the spring. Due to the altitude (4800 feet), it is best not to plant any tender vegetation until after Mother's Day becuse there is still danger of frost until the middle of May.

One of my hobbies is gardening. I love flowers, and enjoy planting my whiskey barrels each spring. Well, what would you expect me to plant them in? There are still moonshiners in them thar hills!

See why they call them the Smoky Mountains?

After nearly 20 years, I have sadly made the decision that it's time for a new chapter in my life and listed my beloved home for sale. Several of you have suffered through listening to me complain about painting, having repairmen in and out of the house, and spiffing it up so it would show well. Thanks for putting up with me!

The road to my house is a very narrow, bumpy, rutted gravel road. It has a drop off with no guard rail on one side and rock wall on the other. When meeting a car coming up the mountain when I'm going down, it's necessary for one party to pull over and stop to allow the other to pass, because there isn't room for two cars to pass each other. While my creek is fabulous and my house is nice, I expected that the road would make it difficult to sell the property. But I was mistaken!

Friday the Thirteenth Was My Lucky Day!

The photographer did a fantastic job on Monday, the listing was online on Wed., I showed the house for the first time on Thursday, and signed the contract on Friday the 13th!

I have moved into a very nice two bedroom apartment in Waynesville, which is about ten miles from Maggie Valley. While I will miss my cozy mountain home, I will not miss being snowed in during the winter or all the responsibilities that go with home ownership. Stay tuned for my next post, "Farewell to Carol's Cascades" coming soon to a computer screen near you!