People Of The Earth

Today was mostly a travel day, laundry and settle in at a new site.  Origin destination - Galax (pronounced "Gay-lax" as I was uncerimoniously advised by a local).  This is the home of the south end of the New River State Rail Trail.  It is NOT however the home of a decent campground.  The choices being Cool Breeze RV Campground, (so named because of the fact it is a bunch of hookups in an empty field), and Old Crank's RV Park which I didn't bother to check out for obvious reasons.

After a bit of scouring the interned, we found a promising alternative in a small town about 15 miles to the north.  It turned out to be very nice as RV parks go, so here we are in Fries (pronounced "Freeze") Virginia.  This is a tiny place of maybe several hundred at the end of the road from .....?   Classic Applacian community.

We took a short bike ride down the New River Trail which runs through town.  It was quite pretty and a promising preview of tomorrow's run.  But little did we know of the treat in store for evening entertainment.

We were advised by the campground manager that every Thursday evening in the spring and summer, there is a public jam session held at the local theater.  So we trundled off to the "theater" not knowing whether is was a music or jello wrestling venue.

Now anyone that knows me also knows that my sense of humor was inherited from MomMom and can be somewhat caustic at times.  The rest of the evening would easily have suplied enough material for a good-sized disertation lampooning the "merits of country living".

But I resist because after 3 hours, I found the experience ironically uplifting.  (And Jessica - quit snickering.)

Picture an early 1900's very small town theater.  Unfinished wooden floor, fold-down unpadded wooden seats for about 100, occupied by about 50.  A stage of sorts, but a bare floor area about 30' X 30' in front of the stage (perhaps originally for an "orchestra" supporting whatever might have been happening on the stage in days long ago).

Seated in a circle in this area are 15-20 musicians, aged from mid-teens to mid-100's I think.  Instruments ranging from guitars to fiddles, to dulcimers and banjos, a base fiddle and a couple of things that I didn't recognize. The demographics change as members move in and out of the session.

The only characters more interesting than the jammers, are the audience.  These are people of the earth.  No pretense of glamor here.  Country folk, modestly dressed, mostly older, (older than me anyway), and as with the players, obviously locals.  This is not meant to be a show, this is a social event.

"Hi.  Where YOU-ALL from?"

Music comes from the circle by some mysterious process.  There is no conductor, unless you count the lady with the base fiddle, who also happens to have the strongest voice.  Bluegrass, gospel and mountain music I would call it.  Certainly not professionals but everyone seems to be playing the same tune.

Leaned over and turned around conversations  with us about our origins, what brings us here, do we like the music?  All very friendly but I still feel like an observer of an ant farm.

Several ladies emerge from the audience and begin dancing at the fringes of the circle.  One in particular looked to be in her 70's but spry by any standard.  Wearing a tee shirt entitled "First Chic".  They're doing what I am told is flat-footin', a singles dance (apparently for women only), independent of the movement of others except in the beat.  Mostly rapid foot work with the upper body almost stationary.

Music changes from fast bluegrass to a slightly slower tempo, and the dance step changes to a type of line dance I seen at some of the western dance bars we used to go to.  OH SHIT! I'm in trouble now.

Sure enough, a couple of tunes later, Valerie has blossumed into the Polish Hillbilly.  (Scott - Eat your heart out.)  Fortunately there are NO other men on the floor and even she would not subject me to that embarassment.

A short mid-evening break and then the traditional Cake Circle.  A form of musical chairs where squares of paper are placed in a circle around the music circle.  A number is written on the underside of each square.   Everybody who wants to play (and one who doesn't) ponys up two bucks for the priviledge of dancing around the circle of squares until the music stops.  You plop your foot on an available paper square and wait for the  guy in the torn jeans and tee-shirt to call out a number.  If your square has that number, you get a cake baked by one of the ladies in the aforementioned audience.

Three cakes, so three chances.  Glad I didn't win 'cause Val said I'd have to share it with everyone.

The evening progressed on with more music and occassional conversation until at nine o'clock the entire audience spontaniously stands, forms a people circle around the music circle, holds hands and sings Amazing Grace.

I am moved by the whole experience.  The simplicity of the venue, the music and even the folks attending is quite refreshing.  You are what you are with no need to be something you aren't.  This event is obviously part of the fabric of this small community and hopefully won't disappear for a long time.

Good Night from Fries ("Freeze") Virginia.  Home of plain folk.

Halfway There

It turns out they call this place the "Highlands" for a reason.  It IS high and it is also VERY windy.  Pretty much all through the night, the winds were howling.  (Also all of the electronics were beeping battery low warnings because I forgot to turn the charging circuit on.)

As dawn broke and I opened an eyelid it was obvious it was going to be a nice day.  And if you believe that "dawn broke" thing, I've got a wooded estate for sale in Tennessee.  (See blog from 12 May)

Today's goals were (1) the Pinnacals which as you can guess by the name, are even higher and more windy than the campground, and (2) Cabin Creek Falls which are way down low in the valley.  How does one dress for a strenuous hike on a sunny but nippy morning, to the 40 mph wind-swept heights, then back down the mountain to the protected valley floor in mid-afternoon sun?

There better be a pot of GOLD up there.

The hikes were fairly short, but strenuous, first up 600 ft then down then further down 500 ft then back up again.  Maybe about 1,000 foot net elevation change. Both hikes were (as I am sure you are tired of hearing) exceptionally beautiful as the pics will confirm.

Make that TWO pots of gold!

I'm SURE there must be.

If I get my feet wet, I'm geting ANOTHER
pair of shoes.

OK, no gold, but a Hellava view.I

And a pretty damn good waterfall.

And besides, the company is great.

I'm guessing we're about halfway through this trip, but it only feels like we've been out a few days. For a no-plan trip, it's gone smoothly and we've seen a lot of the mid-south. As we talk to other travelers, (yes I do speak to people I don't know), we get suggestions on other sights to see and trails to walk and ride. So even though we're on the return leg, each day is still something new.

In Search Of The Perfect Bike Trail

For starters, I've become aware others besides our children (heavens knows why) may be occassionally accessing this site.  Referring to Valerie as "Mom" is fine for our kids, but it always seemed a little too folksy to refer to your wife as Mom.  Don't know why, just is.  So the convention wil now be Val (which is still only 3 letters for me to type).

To begin today's post, I must backtrack to yesterday's road to Damascus.  I did mention the absence of IED's, but failed to mention an even more horrific terrorist device - the ICBM (Indiginious Carved Bear Manufacturer).  As we rounded a blind corner, said device exploded in our view ab I was forced to stop.

You have to understand that for some 45 years I've successfully ignored the subtle hints I've received every time we passed one of these incidious places.  For some incomprehensible reason, this time I actually turned around and went back.  Perhaps it was the sight of the "artist", (same guy who was playing the banjo in yesterday's blog), ripping away with a chain saw on a standing log turning a piece of nature into a piece of .... art. 

You can judge the results yourselves when we get back.(OK - It's cute in a trashy sort of way.  And its not a pink flamingo.)

On to the point of the narrative.

But Wait  -  I have to tell you a bit more about the start of the morning at the grist mill/hotel.  --------------

(I just expunged several paragraphs of what I wrote last night..It was just too snarky even for me.  Bottom line is that this hotel staff while very courteous and eager to help, just started a month ago and are trying to learn the hotel business "on-the-job" with no teacher..  The are doomed because this Friday, approximately 20,000 hiker/biker people are due in this town of one hotel and 816 full-time residents.  If they haven't figured out which keys go to which rooms by then its going to get VERY interesting, )

OK, NOW about our ride!  Seventeen miles of georgeous scenery along a classic mountain stream.  All downhill (except the short up-slope to the Taylor Valley Cafe for their world famous chocolate cake).  Pointless to try to descibe, so here are a bunch of pictures.

Sheep Or Rocks?  (Family joke)

I may be lost, but I'm diggin it.

We are ending the day camped at Gaylor Highlands State Park an hour east of Damascus.  Looking to do some hiking tomorrow.

Good Night From Western Virginia.

North Bound

Today is Monday and we just finished the drive to Damascus.  (No roadside bombs or camels, it's the one in Virginia.)  This is the home of the Virginia Creeper Rail Trail which is 34 miles of trail through the deepest of banjo country.

       Right-Click and Open In New Tab For Ambiance


From town, its about a 17 mile uphill run to Green Cove.  HOWEVER, we've hired a shuttle driver to haul us to the top of the grade which makes it a 17 mile downhill run.  (An I'm old enough to not even be embarrassed to reveal that fact.)

Decided to do the first hotel stop of the trip since there were no showers at the Cades Cove Campground.  The aptly named Old Mill Restaurant, Bar and Inn is in an old  converted (sorta) grist mill.  Picturesque on the local stream.

We were in the parking lot this evening straightening out the Funmobile when a somewhat shaggy lookin dude emerges from a utility van to engage us (me cause you mom disappeared) in a conversation of the merits of a conversion van like the Funmobile vs his unconverted Chevy van that he sleeps in the back of.

Turns out he's an escapee from Chigago-land who opted for the isolation of the Tennessee Appalacians over a more palatial retirement in Lombard.  Nice enough dude but probably a single guy..  I remind your Mom that she should be thankful that  I didn't go seedy yet.  Then she reminds me that Nora could take care of that issue.

So Tomorrow at the crack of  ..... noon?  we're off for our ride.  Depending on the status of my butt, I may have another post tomorrow.

No Pics

Good Night From Damascus.

Off To the Smokies - the Mountain kind, not the funny smellin' weed kind.

We were in the Smokey Mountains last fall but it was so crowded with TOURISTS looking for leaf color, we bailed out for Dolly World in Pigeon Ford.  (Just kidding about the Dolly World part.)  So we decided that we were close so we'd give it another try.  Selected Cades Cove because of its isolated location and the opportunity to do a 12 mile bike loop through the Valley.

On The Road To Cades Cove

Guess What.   The leaf lookers must have just got caught in an endless loop because they were still there going round and round.  Fortunately the campground was empty so we set up and decided to drive the loop that evening as a test run.  Good thing we did, because to bike it would have been a death-defying act.

We Purchased A Retirement Home
(Can you say "Hatfields"

Never-the-less, it was a nice evening drive and there were a LOT of deer out in the pasture lands.  You might thing nobody in Tennessee had ever seen a deer before.  It took almost two hours to get around the 11-mile loop.










However, we DID get to see a bear.  He/She was
only a couple of hundred yards from the campground so we probably could have save ourselves the drive if we had just waited back at the site.






We decided biking it in the morning would be NUTS, so we move on tomorrow.

Good Night From the Smokies.

So Why Would Anyone Go To Chattanooga For Vacation

A valid question.  I suppose most people would say "what the hey?", I can't even spell the place, so why go there?  The answer for us is that we've spent almost all of our vacations over the past 40 years focused on the BIG National Park destinations, Disney, family reunions, etc.  To be sure we like to explore nooks and crannys along the way, but getting there was the "objective".

Real retirement (no laughing please) means a vacation doesn't need an objective.  You leave on the spur of the moment, go in whatever direction you're inclined to, and return ... maybe.  This trip is all about that. 

Chattanooga wasn't even on the last minute itinerary.  We looked at the weather map a couple of days into the journey, figured we had never been there except on the way to/from Florida, so what the heck.

So this is day 4 in Chat and we haven't been dissappointed.  The Chicamagua bike ride was a gem and yesterday's hike up the canyon to the falls was really nice.  Since I finaly got around to replacing the lost cable for transferring pics from Mom's camers, below are some shots from the past few days.

If you sit one one place long enough nature
will enfold you into her arms.

I don't care how many small pieces you cut it
into, you CAN'T take it home.

The Water Moccasin From "5-Snake Day"

Same  ---  With Cannons

Chicamagua Battlefield

WAY Up High

 Today we were going to ride a natue park in the area, but changed our minds this morning for no good reason.  Instead we took another hike at Cloudland Canyon and it was truely spectacular.

Good Trekking Poles

Not Glacier spectacular or Zion or Yosemite.  But the Cloudland Canyon from the West Rim Trail was as picturesque as you could ever ask for.  A subdued grandeur with rock bluffs with layres of spring green trees.  Purple rhodedendrum in full bloom scattered through the landscape and other equally beautiful, unidentifiable flowers as well.  (And no snakes.)

Happy Mothers Day Boquet

It's late afternoon and we're sitting out the scattered thunderstorms back at the campground.  Mom's reading a book big enough to be the Encyclopedia Britannica condensed to one volume.  And I scored a success in fixing the inverter that has been OOC for most of the trip.  (On/Off button thing.)



The plan for tomorrow .... I haven't the foggiest idea.

Gotta go.  Time for me to make Thursday night eggs.  (Except I think it's Saturday.)  Like I said, no plan.

Yep - We're Still Alive

I was advised by VD that some people thought we had run away from home, (like that mother who dropped her kids off at school and disappeared for 10 years).  But ALAS, no, I was just being lazy again.

When last heard from on Monday, we were in Southern Illinois exploring the Cypress swanps on foot since rain was forecasted.  (I could'a swore that I did a post on Tuesday but I don't see it.)  Anyway, on Tuesday (7 May) we biked another section of the Cypress swamp which was pretty nice.  VD almost ran over two possums and it was a 5-snake day, one of which appeared to be a Cotton Mouth Water Moccasin.  (I Love biking with Mom.)

Another was this bizarre looking snake layin stretched out straight as a stick across the trail but with his body bunched up in little skrunches.  At first I thought he'd just been run over by the entireTour De France, but when I poked him he morphed into a normal snake and slithered away.

Since VD had enought snakes, we finished up and headed to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation area for an overnight.  Pretty, but nothing to hold us there.  (They got the ugliest cows you've ever seen.)

Wednesday's plan was to bike a really promising looking trail starting in Big (ha-ha) Sandy TN.  about 70 miles to the south.  Pulled into town but couldn't find the trailhead parking.  So stopped into city hall and asked, "can you tell me where to park for the bike trail?"  Respones being "What bike trail??"  Long story short, "They was thinkin bout it sometime back, but never did nuttin."   So much for the renowned accuracy of Google Maps.

Did I Say "Happily"?

Didn't look like much else was going on in central Tenneessee so we beat feet for Chattanooga.  Picked out Cloudland Canyon State Park which is just south of Chattanooga (actually in Georgia).  Got in a little late, but in time for me to happily do my share of the domestic chores.

It was now Wednesday night and we decided to grab a campsite for 4 nights to get through the weekend crunch.  There were several interesting options to keep us busy.  (The actual site of the Chattanooga Choo-Choo was NOT one of them.)



Picture Thousands Charging Across This Field



To make up for the lost ride Wednesday, we picked two rides for Thursday.  The first was through what passes for an Arboretum here abouts.  A necie ride, but not Mortons.  (But they did accept Morton's membership card.)

The second was an 8-mile ride through Chicamagua Battlefield Military Park.  Even if you are not into Civil War history, it was incredibly thought provoking to walk the ground where over 100,000 soldiers duked it out over a pretty small plot of countryside.  10,000 dead in just 2 days.  Haunting to say the least.

Since our butts needed a rest by now, Friday's activity would be to go see Heron Falls here in the State Park.  Two options for the route.  1 - drive to the top of the canyon and walk down 600 stairs, look at the falls, and then wakl back up 600 stairs to the Funmobile.  We chose option 2 and drove to the bottom of the canyon and hiked a few miles back up to the falls.  (I hate stairs.)

A really good hike following a cascading stream all of the way.  Got to try out the hiking poles Blaine and Kevin gave us for Xmas.  Mixed reviews I think.  Excellent for rock-hopping across streams and good for steep up-slopes.  They're a bit of a nusiance on the flats though.  Net-net, probably worth the hassle for rough terrain.

OK - now I'm all caught up.  Tomorrow, we plan a hike aroundthe rim of the canyon and then take the rest of the day for some down-time to rearrange the contents of the Funmobile.  It gets pretty out of control pretty fast.

Tomorrow is another wonderful day.

Good Night From Cloudland.

A Tromp In The Swamp

We have found that in the Funmobile, when you roll one eyelid back in the morning, and the weather is dreary, the response is frequently to simply roll over and go back to sleep.  Today was just such a day .... and brunch was just wonderful.

To avoid biking in the rain, we decided that walking in the rain would be much more pleasant.  And what could be better than walking in the rain, except maybe walking in the rain in a swamp.  So off we went.

Now you might think that such an activity would be pretty boring.  (And you would be right as there are no alligators or Burmese pythons in Illinois swanps.)  But a swamp can be very scenic, and the feeling of solitude, (since nobody is around because its pretty boring), can be quite relaxing.  And where else could you see the Illinois Champion Cherry Bark Oak tree.  (It WAS pretty big.) 

Also a whole lot of Cypress trees.  I expected to see Johnny Weismuller come waterskiing through the trees at any moment.  (Hope readers {if there are any} are old enough that I don't have to explain my stupid jokes.) 

[{(( I think I use brackets too much))}]

As a side note - Sorry about the quality of the photos.  I can only transfer from my cell to the blog site since I left cable behind.  (But I do have every other possible cable in here somewhere.)

Finally for the day, I got an email from where I worked, (they haven't taken me off the corporate mail list yet), notifying everyone of a major organizational change.  The last time I was gone for a while, they changed the nameplate on my office.  This time, among other things, they reassigned my job.  Guess I'll REALLY have to retire now.

OK Val, you can stop clapping.

Brad

I'm Retired For Real - Honest - Off To ......... (someplace)

Ok, nobody believed me last year, so why should you believe me this time?  Well, because I  went into my office on a Saturday a few weeks back after being away from work for the week and my office door nameplate had been replaced with "Dianna XXXXX".


Either they thought I'd had a sex change operation while I was out, or the "end is nigh".  Anyway, I'm now a cubicle rat.  The view is nowhere near as god, but reading Dilbert is decidedly more relevant.

I'm actually OK with that because now nobody calls me complaining about their computer except of course Valerie, the human atom smasher.  She doesn't pay as well, but the fringes are better.

It also means that we can just jump in the Funmobile and wizz off to wherever strikes our fancy whenever we want, (as we just did this morning).

Which brings us to our current trip.  We have no plan, other than to get tucked in behind this weather front and follow it south, then eastwards to wherever it's reasonably warm and not raining.  So tonight we're at Ferne Clyffe State Park, (they don't spell too good down here), a few miles south of Marion Illinois.



WATERFALL (Duh)



And it's rainy and cool.  So much for the non-plan.  Although, the local "periodic waterfall" is in full glory.  Not exactly Yosemite, but very nice none-the-less.  (Notice VD in full winter regalia.)

The overall plan (below) was just decided upon last night at about 10 pm.



THE PLAN

 Tomorrow, weather cooperating, is a biking day.  Tunnel Hill State Trail is a few miles to the east.  Forty-five miles one way so probably won't do it all tomorrow.

Who knows what tomorrow brings....

Anyway, for anyone who's following, (and especially for Jim) I can absolutely say that retirement has been a really good thing now that we're REALLY retired.

Hopefully we will actually have something interesting for future posts.

Good night to all from Ferne Gully Clyffes.

BD & VD

Total Slacker

Somewhere back when we started this blog I committed to recording the process of "retirement".  I also disclaimed any responsibility for being consistent, accurate, timely, etc.  I'm here today to report that l am holding true to that commitment, (the lack of responsibility part).  Since the last post almost a year ago, much has happened.  An abbreviated, sequential summary follows:

Summer 2012 Trip

•    "Ok- everybody load up, we're off to Portland via Paulina Lake Fish Camp."
•    "DOMINIC!   Quit poking your sister or this trip is over"
•    "Awesome  dinosaur bones"
•    "DOMINIC!  Quit cuttin' the rubarb with that Samari sword"
•    "Now all you guys get to fly back to Chicago while we have a quiet drive"
•    "So, is North Dakota REALLY as wide as Texas?"

Fall 2012 Trip

•    "Yes Love, we're headed to Delaware to visit my relatives you've never met. (I haven't either.)
•    "Awesome cavalry sword"
•    "Off to Tybee"
•    "A quilt shop in Gatlinburg Tn???"

Winter 2012/13  -  "UGH.  Chicago winters $!&&*#%

Spring 2013   -   "She had a really good life." RIP Mom Mom