Come spend the day in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina, driving the secret backroads where the REAL scenery is. The Quilt Trails Road Rally will take you places you would never go otherwise and you will be glad when you see how spectacular the scenery is. The painted quilt blocks you will be looking for are colorful and all have a great story behind them. You can buy a Tour Guide for 9 different trails at the Quilt Trails Gift Shop at the Burnsville Chamber of Commerce which tells you the stories behind the blocks, or just buy a driving map that shows all 9 trails without the stories. The Road Rally starts at Mountain Heritage High School, just west of Burnsville on Highway 19e at 8:30 in the morning. You will be given a set of maps, a list of blocks to find and other goodies. You will have until 5pm to find your 12 blocks. The rally takes you all over Yancey and Mitchell counties. There will be 6 prizes awarded - first, second and third place for two different itineraries. Rally ends in front of the Nu Wray Inn on the square in Burnsville at 5pm. You will turn in your list, go eat supper, then return to learn the winners. There's even a concert that night at the Town Center in Burnsville.

YOU MUST PRE-REGISTER ONLINE AT www. quilttrailswnc.org. Cost of Rally is $35 and the Rally is limited to 35 cars. You can pile as many people as you want in your car!

Come the day before, spend the night at the historic Nu Wray Inn - recently reopened as a B&B, and get a taste of fall in the mountains.