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Covered Wagon Travel: Uwharrie at the Speed of Rice

Published October 11, 2011

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

This week mule Polly and I travel through the Uwharrie Mountains at the speed of rice. That’s right. My faithful travel partner (we’ve traveled together from Canada to Mexico and hauled Special Forces troops under tarps, but that’s another story…) hit the road armed with little more than an old covered wagon and a bag of long grain.

Long Rider Bernie Harberts' mule Polly resting before a covered wagon ramble through the Uwharrie Mountains, North Carolina — Polly: mule, friend, rice hauler

Yep, rice.

Rice prepared for travel by Long Rider Bernie Harberts on a covered wagon ramble through the Uwharrie Mountains, North Carolina — Rice. The darker colored rice in the background has been roasted in olive oil. Makes it so you can eat it without cooking (old Japanese voyager’s trick I learned in Tasmania). The rice in the spoon is lighter-colored because it hasn’t been prepared in any way. This is the kind of rice I’ll be traveling with.

You see, with fall falling, it’s time to turn off the computer and cell phone and step out into, well, autumn. I mean really. Cold weather and long nights are on the way. We’ll be web surfing tropical getaways and cut rate tickets soon enough, right? Better to make our getaway now, armed with (instead of social media commitments) rice.

You see, if a fellow hits the road with his trusty mule and a few pounds of rice, his hunger will soon lead him to gardens. Gardens filled with late tomatoes and early greens. And here, among the ordered rows ending in now-fading seed packets, are the kind of folks that I enjoy visiting. People who know it’s more important to capture a falling yellow walnut leaf on the brain’s soft drive instead of your camera’s hard drive. Folks that have more ways of putting away green tomatoes than you have virtual friends.

Farm plot in the Uwharrie Mountains, North Carolina visited by Long Rider Bernie Harberts on a covered wagon ramble with mule Polly — Uwharrie farm plot

And I want you to join me.

That’s right. For the next week or so, we’ll be traveling the central Carolina back roads: you, me and mule Polly. Our transport? An 80-plus year old covered wagon. Our goal: just to see what sort of produce we can rustle up to complement that bag of rice we’re carrying.

So, ready to hit the trail? Good. Climb in. Hold fast. Let’s go. And if you want to catch me on the real road, you might find Polly and me at the Eldorado Outpost sometime this weekend. Look for us parked behind the cricket cage.

Now turn off your computer and go do some autumn rambling of your own.

Mule Polly resting before Long Rider Bernie Harberts' covered wagon ramble through the Uwharrie Mountains, North Carolina — Shhhh…. Polly doesn’t have internet. She doesn’t know we’re hitting the road yet. I’ll get her up as soon as she’s finished her snooze. Something about letting a sleeping mule lie….

Country roads outside Lovejoy, North Carolina in the Uwharrie Mountains — The country we’re going to visit (outside Lovejoy, NC)

Kaye Parsons, 2011-10-17

Bernie! How did I miss you??? Dan and I went on an overnight trip on the motorcycle (spent Saturday night at my sister Dew’s house in Hickory) and returned home late on Sunday. My daughter, Sydney, passed you this morning on the south side of the bridge! I left home this morning at 5:15, and I did NOT see you! I am not a morning person and am probably not very observant. I have a Statistics (ugh) exam tomorrow afternoon, sooooo maybe we can hunt you up? I’d love to visit with you, what say?? Kaye

Deborah Slagle, 2011-10-20

Hi Bernie and Polly! I hope you make it to the Outpost by Saturday morning — I think we may ‘ramble’ our way down there from Morrisville to see you! (I may call ahead and ask them if you are there first — as it’s a 2-hr drive each way for us.) Loved following you through Tasmania thanks to Bob Skelding (and his Boys) blog! Maybe you will share your rice secret with me? Stay dry and warm! Deborah

Bernie, 2011-10-23

Hi Kaye, Dan and Deborah, sorry I missed you all out there in the Uwharries. Polly and I must’ve had the “Mule Wagon Invisibility Shield” turned on. Seriously, we stuck to the roads back of beyond. Made the run from Immer to Pumpkin Center, NC almost detection free. I guess most folks were inside glued to their internet instead of out picking persimmons, late tomatoes and early collards. Still, more rambles are planned so hopefully we’ll catch up. Deborah, you asked about the secret rice recipe. Here are the parts: bag of rice, cast iron skillet, camp fire. Mule and whiskey optional. Actually, you’re just parching the rice kernels in the skillet until they pop like faulty popcorn. Yes, a more detailed recipe to be unveiled the next time Polly and I find ourselves around a fire with Mahatma (the rice, not the guru). Cheers from mule wagon! Bernie

Jan, 2011-12-25

Hi Bernie, fantastic — I’m looking around for Christmas to see what the people I met on my travels are doing. What a fantastic idea, but it is a bit far away from Switzerland. Wishing you a nice Christmas and a Happy New Year… all the best with all your ideas. Cheers, Jan from Bern — the one you met in the north of Tasmania last January!

Roger Haldenby, 2011-12-29

Bernie, check your email for a mutual “catch up.” I’ve moved to Vietnam. Hope to hear from you. Happy New Year! Chuc Mung Nam Moi!! Roger

More about mule rambles here in North Carolina.

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