Animals and stuff you see, On the AT

When we first started this Odyssey, we knew nothing about backpacking long distance. We are camper type folk, and have been all our lives.  But this was something very different.
Out first attempt we parked the car at Ellijay, GA and hired a lady to drive us to the trail head. On the way up on the logging road, A bear darted across in front of us. That did not thrill Sherry.
That night at the first camp sight Sherry heard a noise. I located it and said come look, it is a bear.
On NO! She says.  But we made it thru the night without incident. We have seen Deer (Buck and Doe), bear, horses (wild and tame), Turkey and plenty of snakes.
Once in the Shenandoah's, Sherry was leading on a very narrow trail and met a huge buck (8 or 10) points. What to do, she asks? Keep walking, she did and about 15 ft away he makes a beautiful leap using all fours into bushes and brush I could not have walked thru.

(This ribbon snake (ground snake) came thru our camp site once chasing a toad. I yelled at it and he stopped like this, on the fire wood, and I told him is dinner was gone).
I am so proud of Sherry, she can take snakes if she sees them at a distance first. Like all of us having one come up on you, or you it, without warning gives you a start. She has moved them off the trail with her stick, even stepped over one early in the morning when it was moving slow.


Cows a plenty. the trail goes thru many pastures, they are either grazing on public lands or have sold a right-a-way to the Appalachian Trail Conference.
I did catch this toad hiding in plain sight

Well we knew there were moose here!

We never ran into a moose on the trail, but saw a lot of droppings. At Katahdin we saw a couple moose eating grass off the bottom of a lake, Then can hold their breath a long time.
We met Mountain goats in Tennessee or Virginia.
A magnificent sight to see is an Eagle soaring beneath you, as you look down from a mountain top or ledge. 
There is a beautiful valley in Virginia called God’s Thumb print. If the Vanderbilt's had not built the Biltmore house in Asheville, that was the second choice to build.
Thanks for going along the trail, we appreciate it.
Sons are up, I will be on the computer less. Gets crowded. LOL.
Nite Shipslog
PS:
The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge..
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I saw the prettiest ford convertible this morning, it was a 1951. Above is a 1949.

Saw this 1951 beauty in Buchanan, MI.

Heroes are important (sorry, I am thinking of the past)

My first heroes were my brothers. They left home when I was 3 to fight and win World War II. Of course I stayed home to protect Shirl, Kat, mom & Dad.  You never know what evil lurks, when your brothers are gone.

That never changed, but I added some Heroes as years passed. Willie  sang a song, “My heroes Have Always Been Cowboys”, I added cowboys to the list in about 1946. Roy Rogers was okay, but I liked Gene Autry and Rex Allen. 

(Dad’s favorite place in the world, in the pulpit)

I admired my dad. He was an amazing man. Not only was he a great pastor and preacher, but manual labor never bothered him and seemed to invigorate him. There was work to be done at every church he pastored. My dad’s philosophy was, ‘you don’t waste God’s money, or God’s people’s money’.

Before I was 6, I watched him mix mortar and serve as helper for men who were laying block, building an addition to the church. Now that I know more about building, I know my dad was doing the work of two men, acting as a helper for four masons. A helper sets up scaffolding, mixes mortar and keeps each mason ‘loaded’, no matter how high the scaffold. He also carries all the block up to the masons.

In Burlington, the church needed a well. Dad and some other volunteers hand dug a new well. When they hit rock, dad used dynamite to loosen it. He allowed no one in the hole except him. He hand drilled the charge hole and set the charge. He lit the fuse and they used the windlass to bring him up. I learned later, dad was a certified expert with dynamite.

In Albemarle, I watched him, nearly alone, dig a basement under the parsonage. There he used dynamite also, and never cracked the plaster in the house. Dad knew dynamite all right. Back then you  could buy dynamite at the hardware store.

He continued to work when it was called for, up until his retirement. All those churches could have paid someone to do that work, but dad had his ways. Sweat was one word he was not afraid of. He always said it was like washing your body from the inside out.

I heard him speaking about a good friend once who was always impeccably dressed, he told my mama, “I bet his sweat is so rare, one drop would cure TB.”

Yes, it was not until late in life that I realized, MY DADDY WAS MY #1 HERO. He was called, “BF”, Frank, Doc, Reverend and Brother.  He loved his church flock as much as any shepherd. He laughingly called himself, “Benjamin Franklin Thomas Edison Roosevelt Darnell.”  He honestly had many of their characteristics.  He never forgot he started as a Peanut Farmer in Georgia, then a cotton Mill worker in Lowell, NC.

(He visited us in Biloxi Mississippi, that is our trailer He is holding Jack Jr., who at the time his youngest Grand son looking on is the oldest Grandson, Howard)

Dad, I have now lived longer than you, but you put more quality in a week, than I, in a life time. I miss you.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

One thing you can give and still keep...is your word. (That sums up my dad, he loved a hat also)

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These cars were built the year dad was born.

1903 Electric Columbia

1903 Ford

The plan is coming together

Our sons, Jack & Mark, should be overnighting in Connecticut tonight after spending some time with their friend Joe.

(Sherry’s boys, last Mother’s day!)

I am excited that Mark will hike with us old men on the trail.  Jack will stay here with his Mom.  We have some extract plans if anything untoward should happen. Jack will be able to help his mom negotiate the rough logging trail to get back to us.

It would be good if we could average 10 miles a day hiking. But that will not be the first day tough. The first day will be about 5-6 miles because we will start late.  It is over a hundred miles to the trail head from Bangor, so it will be a short day on the trail.

Will had some scheduling conflicts, but Fred and Gordon will be flying in on the 4th and if they feel like it, we will hike on the 5th.  If not we will wait until the 6th to let them recoup from the flight. The flight isn’t that long, but the total time is near 12 hours, with layovers and the time you must be at the airport anymore before a flight. And these old men may need the rest! LOL

Either way the adventure is in sight. I just hope I am up for the mountains we will encounter. I think there are about 8 peaks to climb, some very steep. But they say the views are fantastic.

We are hoping for a few nights around a campfire, with some good stories of life in Africa and also adventures other places. Fred also spent a lot of time in Guyana, wen I say that I cannot help but remember the infamous Jim Jones.

Sherry just got a call from Mark. They are on Broadway in NYC!!!! Trying to avoid tolls. LOL That is a southern thing, we hate tolls down south, but like it or not we have some and are getting more. There is one going up near our little town of Belmont. Folks have fought it tooth and nail, but she's a commin’.

The boys seem happy with their trip, we are too. Sometimes you just have to enjoy the moment, so we are.

Thanks for coming this way.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

You lie the loudest when you lie to yourself.

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The 1955 Thunderbird, THE Ford in it’s day.

And that car or Rte 66 fame the Corvette.

This is the 1955 VETTE

Rivers of the Appalachian Trail

On a trail approximately 2200 miles you are going to cross many roads and rivers. You never actually cross a ‘BUSY’ road or highway. All dangerous crossings have bridges or they us existing bridges. Naturally you cross a few Interstates, either under of over.
The trail crosses hundreds of city, county, logging and fire-cut roads.
Rivers are the same The trail crosses some very famous rivers.one of the prettiest is the Nantahala River. I am prejudiced here because this is the only river I have ever rafted.  But it is a beautiful river and it is crossed at a nice restaurant and a back country outfitters. There is also a small motel (pretty run down) for a shower and a good nights sleep before continuing on into the woods.
Hikers always stop and watch the kayakers and rafters in the white water. We had a nice meal and I traded packs here.
Then the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, and on to Roan Mountain and climb another 6,000+’ mountain.
Not far from here you pass the Audie Murphy monument. Audie was the most decorated soldier in WWII, After becoming an actor his plane crashed very near the trail. They used the trail to remove his body from the mountains.
A hiker crosses a lot of creeks, many must be forded. Of course you do not cross many creeks in the Shenandoah's because you are on the tops of the mtns and most nights have a state park where a hiker can take a shower and clean up. Going down Near Beauna Vista, you cross the James river. The AT crosses the Shenandoah River at Harper’s Ferry.
Then at Clark’s Ferry Bridge above Harrisburg, with US22, you cross the mighty Susquehanna River. the largest river on the trail.
Entering NJ (I think) you cross the Delaware, and head for Bear Mt. in NY for the next river the Hudson, using Bear Mtn Bridge.

(This is the Bear Mtn Bridge. the Zoo and museum is just to the left  of this picture right at the bridge.)
Before you touch the Housatonic River in Connecticut, but still in NY, you come to the only RR stop on the trail. “The AT Train Stop”. A hiker can go into the city South or north to a city to get supplies or rest.
You cross the Connecticut River going into New Hampshire at Dartmouth University. The hiker crosses the Androscoggin at Gorham, NH then many creeks before coming to the BIGGIE. The Kennebec River in Maine. Here the ATC furnishes a canoe Ferry because the crossing has taken some lives.
There are still some creeks and rivers to cross but they will be forded.
The sights are great. Many places you would say there is nothing like this anywhere. But it is all just part of nature God had provided.
Thanks for reading this….
Nite Shipslog
PS:


The best vitamin for making friends...... B1.
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Only because I like it. 1921 Chevrolet Convertible.

More notes of The Appalachian Trail

There is a lure to ‘The Trail’. One that causes folks who hike, the trail to want to help those who come behind them.

(Sherry outside a shelter in the Smokies. There they have chain link on the front to keep the bear out. they are in the process of removing it.)

Hundreds of hikers volunteer to clean, repair and tend to the 2176 miles of trail. We met a man in the Smokies who was living in a tent for the summer as a Trail Maintenance Supervisor. He had a Masters in Business. Sherry had been hearing something I could not hear. He was working around a shelter where we had stopped to overnight. He told her she was hearing the coyote. 

I have mentioned that those who cannot work, become ‘trail angels’ and assist hikers.  Each lean-to or shelter, has a journal. Hikers passing thru leave their thoughts, philosophies, notes on conditions of the trail, the closest water and any tidbits they like. Some who are artists  have drawn some great pictures in the journals.  Journals are very interesting. The only negative, mean statement I ever read in one was in upper Pennsylvania, I remember it well:

“God bless us all and our countries, EXCEPT THE USA, who deserves no blessings at all”. signed by: The flying Frenchman.

As you can imagine there were a few entries about this and it spread thru out the trail very quickly.  Of course I added my disdain to his comment.

(Sherry reading a shelter journal at the Watauga Lake Shelter)

There are some special places you remember, One was ‘Mountain Mamas’ Café and Hostel. Located at the North end of the Smokies. She had a ‘trail famous’ cheeseburger and it was GOOD. she has closed down.

There is Mull’s Motel in Hiawassee, GA. Not the best motel around but some great folk. WE forgot our hiking sticks and they held them for us. I needed some white gas for my stove but didn’t want to buy a gallon, the owner filled my stove and my extra tank and would accept nothing.

There are some beautiful and neat spots. In Virginia, the trail goes thru Grayson Highlands. The neat thing here is besides the normal wild life, they have wild Shetland ponies.

When the trail goes close to a NJ Deli a hiker cannot wait to get a breakfast sandwich (NY/NJ). Everything fresh, the bun fresh baked right there. When you leave you must take a home-made cinnamon bun for later. Bakeries are also a treat. One is within 50’ of where the trail crosses a road.

We met ‘Uncle Walt’, a slow but plodding hiker. Knowing he would not make it for his Cinnamon roll, we were there on time and bought 6 day old buns. I stuffed them in the edge of our pack. Going down the trail we met ‘Uncle Walt’, he knew he would not make Worthington Bakery on US206, before it closed, he looked ‘down’, but when Sherry pulled some rolls out, he brightened up. Don’t you  just love doing a good deed?

Thanks for coming this way to read….

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.

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I had one of these, one tough truck! 1968 Ford Pick/up

On the Appalachian Trail, What do they call you?

Just the audacity of saying you are going to walk over 2,000 miles, calls for a Trail Name. We met a cute young girl called ‘Pig Pen’, Another girl who wore Croc’s, her name was ‘Boats’ (referring to the size of the shoes). ‘Papa Smurf’ who looked just like him. A ‘Fast Hiker’ and ‘Midnight Train’. There was also a ‘Freight Train’. We met ‘Fiber-One’ in Gorham. I also talked to a SOBO (South Bounder) with a cute Beagle pup for company. I asked his name, “Just John” & ‘Billy’.

We have good friends we met on the trail many years ago, “Chilly Willie” and “Just Ray”. Someone from Texas seems to quickly adjust to ‘Cowboy’. We met a fine young man, whose mother, a teacher, had raised him on poetry. He called himself, “Miles to Go”(before I sleep). Sherry will never forget ‘Tin Man’ and ‘Godiva’. We met them in church at Damascus. Later they passed us on the trail and Sherry was suffering TERRIBLY with her heels. ‘Tin Man’ gave her some 800mg Vitamin I.(Ibuprophen). There was ‘In Tents’ and ‘Choo Choo’. Granny and Professor.

I do not know the number of people we have met from other countries who travel here just to hike the internationally known, ‘American Footpath’. But the one we both remember was a young girl who hiked the trail at high speed, ‘Penguin’ from South Africa. LATER, after she finished the trail, we were climbing Blood Mountain and here she comes. ‘Hey,Just showing my friend some highlights.” FULL OF ENERGY.

Trail names:‘Chuck Norris’ and ‘Tiger’, they have hiked all over the world.

Sir Richard from England, Mooseburger from Germany and couples from Australia and New Zealand. Several Canadians, “Just John is one. The ‘Flying Dutchman’ and the ‘Flying Frenchman’ raced on a thru hike. I didn’t hear if they finished or who won.

We are ‘The Overland Hermits’, but for the 100 mile hike, I am gonna be ‘ODD’ (Old Deaf Dude).

The worst name was ‘California Girl’, assigned by his buddies(referring to how he spoke), and it stuck.

I know at least one family on here has hikers, One of my sweethearts down in Opp, Jean.  Her Son is a hiker and kayaker.

Thanks for coming this way.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

A birth certificate shows you were born.
A death certificate shows you have died.
A photo album shows you have lived.

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Our Motor Home fore runners:

Appalachian Trail, a plus

It is nice if one decides to hike the trail and spend 6-8 month of their life in the woods, to know they are also gonna see or be close to some interesting things.

The head water spring of the Chattahoochee River, is a water source for hikers. I actually stopped the whole river with my hands for about 30 seconds. (These headwaters meant a lot to me because that is one of the poems Mrs. Grill required me read and learn in the 7th grade was Sidney Lanier’s ‘The Song of the Chattahoochee’:

Out of the hills of Habersham and thru the Valleys of Hall,

She hurries amain to reach the plain, runs the rapids and leaps the falls. …. etc.)

You cross Blood Mountain and just after that the trail actually goes thru a business breezeway. (Now, appropriately an outfitter)  Also good folk.

You walk right across Fontana Dam, the trail goes thru the Smokies (over Rocky Top)  80 miles I think. Over Clingmon’s dome and thru New Found Gap.

In Virginia the trail goes down thru Damascus. Known as the Trail’s friendliest town. Every year they host Trail Days, a festival.

The trail goes the full length of the Shenandoah's, overlooking the beautiful Valley of the same name.

You go close to Camp David, walk beside the fence that houses the sick and recovering animals from the Washington Zoo. It is strange walking in the Appalachian Mountains, in the middle of the woods, to see a Giraffe, Hippo and a Rhino.

Near Camp David you pass an FBI k-9 training camp.(All this in the woods mind you).

You cross the Originally marked Mason Dixon line. Oh yeah, you go thru Harper’s Ferry and get a chance to learn some interesting American History.

In Pennsylvania you  walk by an old abandoned Coal mine and see how rough the miners had it just getting the coal down to the road. You also get to see an Iron furnace.

You  go by a country Club on Bear MT. NY (I remember this place very well, Sherry was cold and wanted a hot cup of coffee. We went in, the bar tender with his nose up in the air, sold us an 8oz Styrofoam  cup of coffee for $5.) Yeah, true.

But the trail continues thru a neat outside zoo-museum. Then via bridge, across the Hudson River. Just after crossing the Hudson in a couple miles the trail goes thru a Catholic Monastery. There is/was a hostel here and the monks will feed the hiker.

My greatest education on the trail was learning that NY has some of the best bakeries in the world. Those folk can bake some bread and pastries.

Enough, thanks for coming this way. I hope you are gaining some insight of the Appalachian trail.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

If you want your dreams to come true, you mustn't oversleep.

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Another Hudson Hornet, 1951

We have a decorative front yard

We get e-mail ads like everyone else, but we don’t need lawn mowers, or tricks to clean gutters.

Sure, things are different for us butI will not complain. We can’t have as much stuff as Lucy’s neighbors, but we get by.  hahaha

(We have these decorations and don’t even have to tend them!)

We are enjoying Bangor. This is a nice city.  Friendly folk, but confusing to drive in. I think that is true about most new towns. But angled streets caused by steep hills and in some cases 5 point intersections, make it hard to get around.

This is the home of Steven King, a very famous author, in case you do not read. For the first few days we have searched out thrift stores to find hiking stuff. We have been very lucky so far. I needed to find some nylon pants for Mark. I think I now have a couple extra pair. Shirts are a different story, a little harder to find.

For the hiking neophyte, a standard statement about hiking clothes is ‘Cotton is Rotten’. Meaning it will stay wet once wet, where the synthetics will wick and dry out.  I know I have hiking on the brain now, and will have until we hit the trail.

Most hikers pack a pack for 2-5 days on the trail. Hiking the AT from Springer Mt., GA, to Mt. Katahadin in Maine, is not much different. A hiker will hike until he is short on supplies, and he will usually cross a road with a town within a few miles. Some hike in, others hitchhike.  Many times driver will pull over and ask if they can give you a ride. When folks are familiar with hikers, they are very generous..

When we are not hiking and we are near the trail we look for folks to help.  We like to learn their trail names, where they are from and when they expect to reach Katahdin, etc.

Every few weeks, most hikers will take what they call a zero day, no miles. They will get a motel or hostel, for a hot bath, shop, stock up and just sit around and shoot the breeze with the locals and fellow hikers. It is a culture all it’s own.

You really do meet some good folk.

Thanks for coming this way.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

A sharp tongue can cut your own throat.

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Hudson Hornet, ain’t it a beauty, She was fast in the early 1950’s.        ($12,500, price now)

If you read my good friend ‘Louis’ ….   ayphoto.blogspot.com/2012/08/actor-steve-mcqueens-hudson-hornet.html   

who lives in sight of the Golden Gate, he just featured Steve McQueen’s Hudson Hornet on his blog. Just before reading his blog, Sherry and I stopped and took a picture of this one, a couple miles from here.

What did you really want to do?

Most everyone knows I have walked many trails in this journey called life. I have friends I consider close, but they may not consider me close. I can only think from my point of view.

My attention span is not very long. In my youth I jumped quick, when I saw a goal I THOUGHT I wanted. Most of them, actually worked out, but after I got a taste, it wasn’t always what my appetite desired. LOL.

Everyone who knows me, knows I have a love affair with Sherry that spans over 57 years. That girl has followed me and my dreams, always believing in me.

It is funny (not haha), I would be doing well at some occupation and woops, I would announce to her, I think I will quit and start all over at the bottom of some other pursuit.

Maybe God does look after fools. Because when it is all said and done, I look back there just now, and she is in a comfortable bed, reading. (I can see our entire home from where I sit) She now lives in a 38’ motorhome. You know what that means? That means that in 57 years we have advanced 12 feet. I married that girl and moved her into a 26’ trailer. That was our teen-age love nest.

(Two of my favorite shots)

Yep, she now lives in a 38.5’ ‘Love nest’. This is a modern mobile home. We love it. But getting here? We accomplished it by not having what our peers had. I actually moved my family into a remodeled chicken house. Another time, I moved them into a house with no inside plumbing (in the 1960’s).

(Sherry comes from TOUGH stock, Deserted by her husband, Sherry’s grandmother raised her mother along with 7 brothers and sisters in this tobacco barn in eastern NC.)

We bought our first house for $3500. That was when I was going to be a civil engineer. That didn’t last long before I decided I wanted to be a sailor, and we moved back into a 42x8 housetrailer.

Finally, SHE asked one day, ‘if we bought a lot, could you build us a house?’ The magic words, my answer, “yes!” (not knowing what I was saying).

(This I call my wild and wonderful girl, don’t she would be like  the little girl ‘skinning the cat’ on Sandie’s blog, she looks sorta adventurous, don’t you think?)

Then I decided to be a builder. Sherry was working and with her help, we built our first real home. On that house I mixed every batch of mortar, laid every block and brick. Made the trusses for the split level home and I had never mixed mortar, laid masonry, or built trusses, in my life. By reading a book, I laid two fire places and a giant chimney, and everything passed city/state inspections.

Finally in my 40’s, THIS IS IT!, I studied and earned my General contractors license, and I could finally be proud, I was giving that girl what I had promised, when I married her in her teens, ‘A mansion on a hill’.

(This is back when we were just out of our teens, and didn’t have the proverbial pot, no smart remarks, yes I had hair!)

Next, she always wanted to live back in the town where she was born. So we built her dream a house on Main street, in the town where she grew up.  We loved the home. It had everything you could want including a heated indoor pool. (Plus a built-in two story playhouse with a fire station for the grand kids.)

I am installing Canadian Cedar in the pool area. I cannot find a shot of the completed house, but this is it being built.

The completed pool. I loved the cedar. The door to the left entered into the dining /kitchen area. My office was to the left looking from this end of the pool.This shot would have ‘about’ been taken from our bed room.

This is my bragging post. My Sister Shirl once told me, “I have never envied you, but I do with this house.” LOL,  She B sweet.

Sherry is a HS grad. That lady has always worked by my side, or on a job.  Without her, none of this would have been possible. She wanted to go on to school and become a nurse. She would have made a good one. But she deferred to me & my goals. Yes, I am bragging. I am a HS drop out. Our holdings are not vast, but  God has blessed us. We could live in one of several homes, but I am just as happy to be able to sit here and type and look back and see my love in bed.

Together we have published 6 books. Looking back, she has said NO twice, that was when I wanted to sail around the world, and second, she says she doesn’t want to proof read my next novel. Hearing NO only twice in 57 years, must be a record, and it proves……. I MARRIED AN ANGEL.

I usually apologize for going so long, but thanks for coming to the log to read.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

If you do not have the courage to start, you have already finished.

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This is what Sherry and I dated in, 1948 Chevy Convertible. I wish I hadn’t wrecked it. Remember the half moons on the headlights? They were cool.

There was a short lived radio program in the early 1950’s

(Before I start, I must apologize to my sweetheart Dar. I was a smart aleck about the truss. Saying that to a lady who skinned all the logs to a log cabin and helped build the whole beautiful thing, Love you girl, you are one smart chickie!)

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Now I can think, I think. Oh yeah, the Radio program………

It was called “If by a stroke of fate”. As a kid, my dad told me Shirl needed a room to herself. My sister was now a teenager. We lived in a two bed room house. Dad located a home-made 8’x8’ Masonite trailer and apologized, but that was my bedroom. Of course that did not upset me. Me & my dog Ace loved that little trailer.

I had my own radio. It had no knobs on it and the stations were adjusted by taking my finger  moving he variable capacitor. The radio had no case. But every night Ace and I would listen to the radio. I loved the programs. On Sunday night I got to hear “Matt Dillon” as he kept the streets of Dodge City clean.  There was a program of jokes, called ‘Can you top this?’ Supposedly, listeners would send in jokes and the ones that got the loudest laughs won. I sent in a couple but mine were never used.

The most interesting program to me was entitled, “If by a stroke of fate….”. One program went like this: “If by a stroke of fate, John Wilkes Booth had only wounded Abraham Lincoln.” then they went on to say what would have happened in their opinion.  I remember another, “If by a stoke of fate the first Confederate submarine had been successful..”

No one else seems to have heard these programs except a 13 yr old boy in a trailer with his dog. But since then I have played that ‘Stroke of Fate’ program over in my mind many times.

If by a stroke of fate I had not quit school…

If by a stroke of fate, Sherry had moved away before I move into Belmont…

If by a stroke of fate my dad had been president instead of a Holiness Preacher…..

What if by a stroke of fate, I had been born blind…

If by a stroke of fate I had been seriously, permanently injured when I wrecked my first car….

Fact is, all that stuff is useless, that program was useless, except for a story, because you cannot change the past, nor accurately predict what WOULD HAVE BEEN!

‘What if?’ and ‘I told you so!’, are two of the most useless statements that exist in this world. But we humans still try to change the past.

I have a friend who is want to say, “It is what it is!”

I have come to realize, that is absolutely true.  I laugh at Dr. Branham’s last statement to me when we left him in Cleveland , Tennessee:

“REMEMBER SON, NO MATTER WHERE YOU FIND YOURSELF IN LIFE…. THERE YOU ARE!”

Thanks for reading this junk.

Niter Shipslog

PS:

A three-year-old boy was examining his testicles
while taking a bath.
"Mom" he asked, "are these my brains?"
"Not yet," she replied.

(Thanks Shirl)

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Say what?  A 1929 Alpha Romeo?  Yelp!

Three head lights (Tucker must have noticed)

I never paid any attention

(My girl on the trail in Georgia, our map reader, says she is skipping this hike)

What do you think of when you hear Benedict Arnold? Traitor, turn coat or a different way to serve an egg?

On our trip over we stopped at a neat little quiet rest area on the Kennebec River. We know the Kennebec mainly because it is the only river (way up stream from here) that AT hikers must be ferried across by a volunteer in a canoe. The Kennebec is a dangerous river because the depth changes very swiftly and in the past hikers have lost their packs and some their lives.

I like to read plaques, this is one telling about General Arnold, a well respected member of George Washington’s Colonial Army. Interesting reading, now I guess I will try to find out more about Benedict.

I didn’t take a picture of the other picnic table, there was a man there having his lunch. It looked like he might be a local worker, taking a break. What a relaxing place for it.

I would imagine many great meals are taken from this river.

Looking back on this trip to Bangor, the road was great. I had to squeeze thru some areas of ‘road and bridge work’ but all in all the trip was VERY GOOD.

(Sherry in the NH Whites, in 2009)

The scenery was wonderful and very little traffic on the two lane road. I love that kind of drive. You can only find that up here in the North East or west of the Mississippi to the Rockies. Makes driving this rig a breeze.

Well off to a couple thrift stores to see if I can find a good metal cup and pot.

Thanks for reading this stuff.

Nite Shipslog

PS:

Heard from Frances (Fred’s lovely wife & one of my girl friends) Fred & Gordon have their tickets to Bangor. Things are looking good.

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What was popular when you were a teenage? This ‘32 is much more elaborate, but it is the type of ‘Hot Rod’ I remember in the mid ‘50’s.