In January 2006, Sarah (then age 5) created a quilt with Shelly about hedgehogs for the science fair at Murfee Elementary School in Lubbock, Texas. Sarah was in Shay Troutman’s kindergarten class that year. This six minute video was originally recorded and created with Apple’s GarageBand software as an “enhanced podcast,” which is a media format that has since gone the way of the dinosaur. Fortunately, the website www.mov.to/m4a-mov supports free conversation of small .m4A audio files like this into standard MOV formatted videos, which can be uploaded and shared on YouTube.
This weekend I was looking through the contents of an old hard drive backup from 2011 and ran across this enhanced podcast, which I don’t think was ever shared here on our family learning blog or as a video on YouTube. I’m excited to be able to “digitally resurrect” this media file which Sarah and I co-created, especially to preserve and share her wonderful 5 year old voice!
This is a 15.5 minute video Shelly’s dad, Carl Ward, created about their family with a lot of archival photos. I found this today as I’ve been doing some updates to this website (our family learning blog) and found a “draft post” from 2019 which I’d never completed, “Saving Family Audio from 2010 on iPadio.” At some point I archived a variety of different family media files to Amazon S3, and found this video in a folder named “other” in our “archive bucket.”
In early June 2022, I had the privilege to journey with our daughters to the Grandfather Mountain State Park for the first time. We embarked on a three-day, two-night backpacking adventure and relished a wonderful experience. Although we ended up hiking more on the second day than planned, leading to some exhaustion, the overall trip was superb. In this post, I aim to reflect on our journey, the trails we trekked, and my overall impressions of both the Grandfather Mountain Biosphere Reserve and the Grandfather Mountain State Park.
We have been residing in North Carolina for a year, and I have previously enjoyed backpacking and camping. I aimed to provide our daughters, aged 19 and 22, with a memorable backpacking experience, while also allowing them to appreciate the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Appalachians of North Carolina. I had heard from friends that Grandfather Mountain was an outstanding place to hike and explore, and they were absolutely correct.
I recorded quite a few video clips during our trip, and I edited these together along with a few still images in a 12.5 minute video using iMovie for iOS.
Back in March, during Easter Weekend, my wife and I stayed at a vacation rental in Deep Gap, near Boone, and spent some time driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was then we discovered the Boone Fork Parking Area, which served as our launch point for this adventure. Our planned route to the Storytellers’ Rock campsite was a modest one-and-a-half-mile journey, ideally completed in about an hour. I made reservations online a couple of months in advance and planned to arrive on Sunday afternoon, which gave us plenty of time to hike into camp and set up.
Impressions of Storyteller’s Rock and the Nuwati Trail
The Nuwati Trail, leading to Storyteller’s Rock, isn’t particularly challenging, but it is rocky with many roots. It’s now essential to make camping reservations online and fill out a written camping form upon arrival, noting your plans and emergency contact information.
On the second day, we returned to the Nuwati Trail and connected with the Daniel Boone Trail, which follows the entire ridgeline up to the top of Grandfather Mountain. This challenging and rigorous hike offered spectacular views. If you plan to tackle the entire trail, ensure you are in excellent physical condition and prepared for a significant challenge.
Overall Impressions of Grandfather Mountain Biosphere Reserve and State Park
Grandfather Mountain Nature Preserve and State Park are breathtaking areas of North Carolina. As new Charlotte residents, it’s fantastic to be just a couple of hours from the mountains. The communities of Blowing Rock, Boone, Banner Elk, and Linville are conveniently close.
We plan to return later this summer, having chosen to join the Grandfather Mountain non-profit and truly take advantage of the summit’s hiking trails. The area reminds me of Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, which you can drive to the top of, but Grandfather Mountain offers a greater range of trail options. This spectacular area offered us a chance to introduce our girls to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina.
If you’re planning a trip, I recommend the mobile app ‘AllTrails,’ which proved invaluable on our journey, tracking our mileage and elevation changes, and allowing us to see precisely where we were on each trail.
To conclude, I’ll share a short video of a black bear we encountered at the Grandfather Mountain Preserve, which was one of the most incredible experiences we’ve ever had with a bear, either in a zoo or in nature.
Grandfather Mountain is indeed magical, and I am eagerly looking forward to our return. If you’re considering a trip to North Carolina, I highly recommend making Grandfather Mountain State Park a priority – it’s an adventure you won’t forget.
Rachel created this 2 minute video with a classmate for their 6th Grade History Day Project. Their topic was “The Oregon Trail.” She edited on her iPhone5.
Alexander did a great job running sound for the entire talent show tonight. His knowledge and skills about sound engineering continue to grow under the patient mentorship of Tom Bowles.
This short video, “Saving Bruce the Shark,” is a creative story told and created by Rachel yesterday using the iPad app, “ToonTastic.” Since we added a new iPad to our family collection, Rachel has inherited her own. Mom is encouraging her to use more apps for creative “making,” since her favorite computer activities continue to be WATCHING YouTube videos and playing Minecraft. Rachel is a creative storyteller and “maker!”
I am writing this a day late, but I still wanted to wish you all a happy halloween! This is a halloween special posted by my favorite youtuber, Stampylonghead. I hope you had a great holiday! 😉
OM goodness! I was surfing youtube ( suprise, suprise ) when I stumbled upon this AMAZING video! It was made in minecraft using note blocks, which if you play minecraft, you know how hard it would be to make something like this! I really like this song, and this song and the real song are almost IDENTACLE! Check this out. I guarentee you will be blown away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbDWhGOWKR0
I recently just discovered this new minecraft series by one of my favorite minecraft youtubers, Mr. Stampylonghead. It shows the basics of minecraft, and how to survive. If you recently just started playing minecraft, or want to, I strongly suggest Stampy’s series. 🙂
