Trip Sayings: CORE

Winding Road? Ha!

Life Birds: Western Sandpiper

States: NY, PA, WV, VA, NC, SC, GA, AL, FL, MD

Picture LINK: TripPics

2017.10.11 … WED … 1: Naweedna … to … Asaph Run CG, Asaph PA Up: 6:38 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 58 Weather: Overcast & on/off misty rain

Did:

We’d originally arranged for Mikey to come over Tuesday, learn about his new bikes, drink a

bunch of beer, spend the night, and take the bikes to London Ontario bright & early

Wednesday morning with us following him down the driveway to commence our trip

southward. Ah, plans, they get messed up. There was the hitch problem that required

borrowing a vehicle with a hitch installed and then having the vehicle owner say “Was that

for Tuesday?” He had a trailer load of wood to unload before Mikey could have the vehicle

and that pushed us back a day.

Never fear, Mikey got up way before the butt-crack of dawn on Wednesday and pulled in

our driveway around 8:45a. Almost immediately, we put our Swagman rack on the vehicle,

went through the particular owner responsibilities for M’n’M’s new bikes, racked the bikes,

and made ‘em ready to roll. It was nearing lunch time but our refrigerator was empty … we’d

either consumed, disposed or stashed its contents in DALAS. We did have the ingredients

for a batch of Red River cooked cereal (thanks to Mare), so Janie whipped up a batch and

we settled in to talk a bit about life while eating. Next thing we knew, it was 11:30a and

time for Mikey to get back on the road for his 4 or 5 hour drive back to London. The

vehicle’s owner needed it that evening and Mikey was going to need a nap.

We watched Mikey go down the drive with Burnt Siena and Midnight Blue (names we gave

the old bikes but seldom used) and then started our final preparations for leaving

Naweedna. We were on the road by 12:30 and heading south to PA. We’ve been preparing

for some time now and it felt good to finally get underway. But first we needed to feed

DALAS. Hmmm, the filling station seems to be out of diesel … hope that isn’t an omen for

the trip. On to Dansville, where the big truck stop off I-390 had a special cash-price of

$3.03/gallon. Seems high and I don’t like truck stops with their big, fast-pumping nozzles

and grimy diesel-spills. Let’s go to the Kwik Fill across the way. Wow - $2.75/gal and much

cleaner. Yay!

We were soon back on I-390 down to I-86 and then to I-99 and into PA. We missed a

shortcut turn so had to go into Wellsboro PA and take US-6 out to get back to PA-287

which we took to Marsh Creek Road that parallels the Pine Creek Trail and takes us to

Asaph PA and Asaph Run Road and eventually to Asaph Run CG. And that’s where we are

happily parked at the moment … in the rain. The CG is empty except for us so WeTOOT

tonight … and probably tomorrow night as well. I’m celebrating with one of the Guinness

Stouts Tim O’Mara so graciously brought on his last visit. We sure have good former

students and current friend.

Saw:

Well, we saw a lot of rain and road spray. Somehow we did manage to see some birds

through the mist: Mature Bald Eagle (winging up the valley)

Crow

Kingfisher

Mourning Dove

Great Blue Heron

Mallard

Red Tail Hawk

Reflect:

Mikey’s visit was strange. It only lasted a couple hours and most of that involved

introducing him to his new bikes. Being the only children that we are, there is usually lots

and lots of conversation, but not this time. Weird. It was like a neighbor stopping in to

borrow some tools, only this neighbor lives 300+ miles away. We are out of cell range and

will be for the next few days so we won’t know how his trip ended. We certainly hope

everything went okay and there were no issues crossing the border with bikes that were

not on the vehicle just a few hours ago. Also, it will be a few days before I find out about

the NYY game 5 with the Indians. Ah, but we will be riding our new bikes tomorrow on our

favorite trail … weather permitting.

We normally don’t do Interstates, but coming down here is an exception. It’s much easier

and faster than taking smaller roads through regions with which we are familiar. But once

we exited the Interstate it became obvious why we prefer back roads. Suddenly we were

surrounded by culture. Farmers fields, homes, businesses, people, the things that make us

human. It was a welcome change. Each road system has its advantages/disadvantages and

we hope to use them so as to maximize the pleasure of the experience - hope & pleasure

being the operative words.

Ate:

Chili w/Rotel Tomatoes and some players to be named later … or not

Drive: End: Asaph Run CG

Arrive: 3:39

Temp (degrees): 59

Elev (ft): 1420

D (miles): 121

Mpg: 21.0

2017.10.12 … THU … 2: … Asaph Run CG, Asaph PA … Up: 5:57 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/58/62 Weather: Overcast misty rain

Did:

Our first real ride on the new bikes on one of our favorite trails. Yay! We awoke to a

misty rain which continued into the afternoon. Fortunately, it stopped toward the end of

the ride so our rain gear could dry out and be packed away. We started the day with a drive

to Darling Run TH and biked north to within sight of the end of the trail and then returned

to DALAS for a really good ham/tomato/onion (for me) sandwich. Yummy! Then we biked

south to Tiadaghton where we met up with a very friendly and interesting couple: Dean &

Michelle. They are a few years junior to us and not yet retired. They have a Sprinter RV

but it is larger than ours with a slide out. The RV is fairly new and when they picked it up in

Grand Rapids MI, they opted to do some camping and exploring up the Lake Michigan

shoreline. After walking to several lighthouses they had an idea: we need bikes. They went

to a bike shop and ended up buying a couple bikes and a rack for the van. They live in a

suburb of Allentown PA – Greenawalds, we think. Today was their first time on Pine Creek

and were having just a marvelous experience. Once we learned about their nascent biking we

entered into a long discussion about trails, gear and experiences. That was followed with

an exchange of email addresses so we can keep in touch and maybe cross paths again. It

was a joy to be with a couple so enthusiastic about biking and just getting serious enough to

think about gear and longer rides on other trails. We will sign ‘em up for Saturday AM so

they will know our plans.

When we returned to DALAS we were a bit surprised that the batteries had not been

charged. Apparently, solar panels actually need sun, which there was little of today. We

were planning to spend another night in Asaph Run CG with no hookups so the only option

was to drive for a while. The CG is only 5 miles from the trail head where we parked so we

need a longer drive. Hmmm, we have some guacamole but no chips. Let’s drive to PagOmar, a

produce/deli/ice cream parlor at the north end of the Pine Creek Trail. We can get chips

and maybe a tomato. We did that and also picked up some Empire Apples for good measure.

Back at Asaph CG with our batteries reading 12.7 volts we settled in with the guac and

chips for an evening respite. I washed mine down with a nice Full Sail Amber, introduced to

me by yet another former student and current good friend: JenM. Thanks!

Saw: Starling (the darlings)

Red Wing Blackbird

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Flicker

Goldfinch

Chickadee

Pileated Woodpecker

Wood Duck

Catbird

Cedar Waxwing

Blue Jay

Robin

Yellow Billed Cuckoo

Raven

Golden Crowned Kinglet

Swallow (a single of unknown type)

Reflect:

The bikes are great. We biked a few miles before discussing our experience and agreed

that they ride better. The best descriptive term we could come up with was smooth. They

are decidedly more rigid. With the old Cobias fully loaded, wiggling the handlebars while

riding produces a sort of queasy, jiggling sensation. I always assumed it was due to the

handlebar pack with the camera. Same pack & camera on the new bikes produced no jiggling.

I expect it has to do with what they call the boost in the axils. They are wider so the

spokes have a larger spread and make the wheel more laterally stable. The new frame is

also widened and more laterally rigid and all of that adds up to no jiggling when wiggled. My

stomach is an entirely different matter, however.

We are going to have David (Bike Zone guy) look at my rear derailleur, which isn’t shifting

as smoothly as it should. We will also have to investigate different stems; we need ‘em to be

angled up so we can ride a bit more upright to see things better. We were both pleasantly

surprised by the lack of numbness or pain in our backs, hands, arms & shoulders. Since we

were not used to the bikes, we expected some discomfort at first. So far, it hasn’t been a

problem … we hope that trend continues.

The bikes are lighter and more nimble than we remember the Cobias being and that

translates into faster. We had to force ourselves to SLOW DOWN. Still we averaged an

amazing 8.8 mph for the day. That’s really fast for us. Yep, we got ourselves some good

rides. Not that our old Cobias were bad; just that the technology has improved in the last

few years. We’re not likely to have gotten bigger, better, faster in the past 6 years; just

older!

We like biking in the rain … gentle rain, none of that downpour stuff. It keeps the traffic

down and seems to make the wildlife more relaxed. We practically ran over a Chipmunk and a

Squirrel stopped on the wood fence and casually watched us bike past within a couple feet

of his perch. I know it was a he because I was able to see his maleness. Yeah, biking in a

misty rain can be fun.

Ate:

Chicken Marsala w/Mushrooms on Brown Rice

Bike Data: Trail: Pine Creek Darling Run to north end then to Tiadaghton

ST: 9:00

ET: 3:45

TT: 6:45

BT: 3:31

D (miles): 30.73

Mx (mph): 11.0

Avg (mph): 8.8

Drive: End: Asaph Run CG

Arrive: 5:01

Temp (degrees): 54

Elev (ft): 1434

D (miles): 23

Mpg: 18.6

2017.10.13 … FRI … 3: … Asaph Run CG, Asaph PA to Little Pine SP, Waterville PA … Up: 6-09 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 58/51/56 Weather: Overcast

Did:

Friday the 13th … turned out okay for us and we hope the same for you. No rain today,

unless you count the little mist mid-afternoon, but the sky continued to be leaden which did

little to help our solar panels. Driving 60 miles and getting a campsite with hookup will get

us all charged up for sure.

So what did we do today? We drove from Asaph Run CG to the Blackwell TH where we

parked DALAS, had breakfast and headed on down the trail to Hebron Fields where we

turned around. Back to DALAS for lunch – another ham & tomato delight – before heading

north to Tiadaghton, where we turned around yesterday. Good ride on great bikes in

pleasant weather. Life is good here on the road/trail.

We’ve been surprised by the interest people are showing in DALAS. It wasn’t unusual back

when she was new but it has kind of tapered off as the years go by. However, we’ve been

out two complete days and had two couples yesterday and one couple today want to know

about our setup. Then there were Dean & Michelle who shared comments about their

Sprinter RV. The common theme is downsizing; they used to or currently have a behemoth

and are looking to go smaller now that the kids are grown. Our first comment is usually: “You

know how you have to pay more for notebooks and get less than a desktop computer? Well,

it’s the same with RVs. Smaller costs more; must be a miniaturization thing.”

We finished our ride around 3:30, racked the bikes and headed on down PA-414 to

Waterville PA and Little Pine SP. It’s Friday and unbeknownst to us, this is the park’s Fall

Festival Weekend. Thus, the place was pretty crowded. We drove around – killing my good

mileage – and settled on the best of the leavings. So here we sit, typing up our notes and

reliving the day. I’m enlivening the process with a Storm King Imperial Stout to honor

Downingtown PA where it’s brewed and where we have dined and drunk with former student

and current good friend JenO. Yum.

It was a good day, especially considering it was Friday the 13th.

Saw: Marsh Hawk

Turkey Vulture

Carolina Wren

Common Merganser (3 living and 2 dead by a hunter’s hand)

Bald Eagle Pair (at the Cedar Run nest site)

Eastern Towhee (formally Rufous Sided)

Northern Cardinal

Osprey (immature looking a bit confused)

Common Grackle

Eastern Phoebe

Reflect:

A second day of riding our X-Caliber 9s left us feeling even better about our acquisition.

We continue to be amazed at how efficient the riding is. These babies want to GO. We tried

to slow down but ended up averaging even more than yesterday (8.8 vs 9.0 MPH). And this is

the very best part of the trail where we go riding at what we call safari speed while

enjoying the scenery & wildlife. Try as we might, we’d look down at the cyclometer and see

that we are going 9 MPH. SLOW DOWN! We did and a few moments later … 9 MPH again.

Eventually, we just ignored the speed and rode at whatever felt comfortable … yep, 9 MPH.

We’ve been surprised at how comfortable the bikes have been. We took the Cobias on the

same inaugural ride when we first got them and suffered from shoulder, arm & hand

fatigue. On the X-Cals, we haven’t experienced much if any of that … yet. One reason may

be that we are trying to keep our Core Muscles tight while we ride. This makes our torsos

act like cantilevers, taking the pressure off our arms & hands and transferring it to our

butts & legs. We have to keep reminding ourselves to tighten our core until it becomes the

natural thing. Thus, we’ve developed a bit of a memory/stimulating device. When we think

of tightening, we shout CORE to remind each other to tighten up. So there we go down the

trial shouting CORE from time to time when no one else is in earshot we hope. It’s been

working pretty well and we hope eventually tightening our core will become the new normal

biking posture. It has for standing and walking so there is hope.

Hmmm, new bikes need new names. We’d named my old Cobia Midnight because it’s color

was Midnight Blue. Janie named hers Burnt Siena because it was a coppery color. The new

X-Calibers are Dnister Matte Black. I don’t know what Dnister means, but the base color

is a flat, matte black with shiny black highlights. So what do you call a black bike? Well,

I’m particularly fond of Ravens. I love their basso profundo CROOOOAKING and their

propensity to take afternoon soars like a human goes to the hammock – just for the hell of

it. Ravens are black; I like Ravens; my bike is black; I’m calling it RAVEN.

Janie’s bike is identical except for one slight difference: she has a bright orange bottle

holder. She thought maybe she’d call it Orangello as in Orange Jello but that fell into

disfavor because I can’t call my bike Lemongello (as in Lemon Jello). Now what? Well, horses

that have a colored patch on the foreheads are referred to as Blaze. Janie’s orange bottle-

holder is sort of the same, so she’s settled on BLAZE for her bike. Tomorrow we will be

riding Blaze & Raven up Pine Creek to today’s turnaround and return for a little extra if

there’s time. Onward, Blaze & Raven.

Ate:

Mac’n’Cheese’n’Tuna’n’Peas eat ‘em up yum

Bike Data: Trail: Pine Creek Trail – Blackwell-Hilborn Fields (AM) & Blackwell-Tiadaghton (PM)

ST: 9:50

ET: 3:50

TT: 6:00

BT: 3:56

D (miles): 33.08

Mx (mph): 12.6

Avg (mph): 9.0

Drive: End: Little Pine SP, Waterville PA

Arrive: 5:12

Temp (degrees): 57

Elev (ft): 710

D (miles): 61

Mpg: 22.5

2017.10.14 … SAT … 4: … Little Pine SP, Waterville PA … Up: 6:16 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 64/59/60 Weather: Overcast entire day but warmer & more humid

Did:

Our first objective of the day was to go to the Park Office and have Peggy reserve our site

for two more days /nights in exchange for $50. We paid $32 for last night because 1)

Friday is considered a weekend day and 2) there is a registration fee for the first day.

Sunday is not considered a weekend so we caught a break there. The grand total for three

days/nights is $82. It would have been only $30 if we’d stayed at Asaph Run CG. Ah, but

we would have had some long drives to get to trailheads on the southern sections of the

trail. Whatever, Mark, our financial guy, says it’s okay, spend more money.

One way to spend money is to go to stores and buy stuff, so off we drove to Woolrich PA,

home of Woolrich the clothing company. It is very much a company town and Woolrich has

endowed it with lots of nice perks. One of those is Woolrich Park which is much larger than

you’d expect in a town this size. As you might expect, the park is located next to the

Woolrich Store and they are all on … nope, not Woolrich Street … Park Street. The store

didn’t open until 10a so we had about an hour to fill. I filled it with a walk around the park

and discovered three, large picnic pavilions and three very nice baseball fields. It really is a

very nice park. When I got back from my walkabout, Janie had our granola ready so we

ambled around a bit more while enjoying our breakfast.

We didn’t score anything in the Woolrich Store except some postcards. Now what? Let’s

ride bikes. We drove back to Pine Creek and pulled into the Whitetail TH. From there we

biked north to Waterville PA, returned and biked south to Jersey Shore PA. The primary

goal, other than having a nice ride, was to fine-tune our cyclometer (bike computer)

calibration. Dave, the bike guy, has set our wheel circumference to 2300 mm and our

readings weren’t matching the trail mile-markers and mine didn’t match Janie’s. Worst of

all, we were coming up short. Can’t have that; we’re biking and not getting credit.

We have a hand-held Garmin GPS unit and 2 different GPS tracking apps that we tried on

various rides. The results were a little surprising. Raven & Blaze have the same tires and

both were set to 2300 mm wheel circumference, but Blaze was losing about 0.02 miles/mile

compared to the Garmin and both apps. Raven was essentially identical to the Garmin and

app readings until we accumulated over 10 miles. We upped Blaze’s circumference to 2310

mm and it matched Raven pretty well. After 23 miles, Raven had only lost 0.09 miles. I

think we’ll settle for that! Compulsive about accurate distance readings much? No, not us.

There were lots of people out on this nice, fall Saturday. The roads were crowded as was

the trail. There were bikers and hikers with kids & dogs and all with smiles on their faces –

even the dogs. These bike trails continue to get heavy use and that’s good because it

encourages development of more trails and better maintenance of existing ones.

Waterville PA was especially crowded because this weekend is their Fall Apple Festival.

There were vehicles parked in every available spot with official parker people guiding them

in. Once parked, the occupants ambled up to the open spaces between the buildings lining

the main drag and the bike trail. I always wondered what they used those open lots for.

Today we found out: lots of vendors offering food, produce & knick-knacks of the usual

sidewalk sale variety. Everyone seemed to be having a wonderful time. American at its

finest.

We returned to DALAS patiently waiting for us at the Whitetail TH. While I was stowing

the gear and getting the bikes ready to rack, an SUV pulling a mid-sized Prowler Camper

pulled up and asked how we like our Sprinter. Yet another couple asking about DALAS.

Although they didn’t say so, I expect they are looking to downsize. We discussed the

pro/cons of our two camping solutions and they agreed that it always boils down to some

sort of compromise. No one size fits all requirements.

We were running low on water so when we got back to Little Pine, we pulled into the pits to

tank up. When we leave Monday morning, we’ll take care of the other utilities and be on our

way to another trail somewhere down the road.

Saw:

Lots of vehicles & people. It was a fall Saturday and the trail heads were nearly full and the

trail was being heavily used by bikers and walkers, many with kids, dogs and/or strollers.

Not a lot of wildlife available but we did get a couple things: Pigeon (FOT-first of trip)

Bald Eagle (mature sitting in a tree above the creek)

Reflect:

We are having a great time. The bikes are great; the trail is great; we’re meeting up with

lots of nice people – but we never mention religion or politics; not a mumblin’ word. We like

to keep our casual meetings civil.

It was interesting walking through Woolrich Park this morning. The park is officially closed

for the season; all the picnic tables are stacked and things are ready for winter. The same

is true of the baseball fields. All three of the fields are impressively large and elaborate

for a town this size. Two of ‘em are hardball fields and the third is for softball. The

concessions are shuttered, the gates closed and locked, the equipment neatly parked in the

sheds. As I walked around I could hear the echoes of laughter and cheers from this

summer’s activity. It was eerie, almost like being in a ghost town … very Rod Serling like.

Yet another slice of American Pie served up to my active imagination. Yeah, we are having

a great time.

Ate:

Hunt’s canned spaghetti sauce with Barilla Pronto Spaghetti noodles and a blizzard coating

of grated Locatelli Romano

Bike Data: Trail: Pine Creek – Whitetail-Waterville & Whitetail-Jersey Shore

ST: 11:30

ET: 3:30

TT: 4:00

BT: 2:52

D (miles): 23.18

Mx (mph): 15.5

Avg (mph): 8.1

Drive: End: Little Pine SP, Waterville PA

Arrive: 4:25

Temp (degrees): 64

Elev (ft): 715

D (miles): 44

Mpg: 20.2

2017.10.15 … SUN … 5: … Little Pine SP, Waterville PA to … Up: 5:57 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 67/61/64 Weather: Partly Sunny – SUN - Humid

Did:

We drove the four miles down to the Waterville TH immediately after morning beverages,

prepared Raven & Blaze for the day’s ride and prepared ourselves with a hearty bowl of

granola. It was still early so I took some time to pump up the tires. I hadn’t checked ‘em

since we picked up the bikes, and Blaze’s rear tire was beginning to feel like a ripe Avocado.

No wonder; it only had 30 psi and the others topped out at around 35 psi. I put the Slime

Pump to ‘em and got all four up to 50 psi. We were now ready to hit the trail. Well, Raven &

Blaze had been difficult to hold back at 35 psi; now Raven wanted to fly and Blaze wanted

to gallop. We had to work to keep ‘em under 10 mph. SLOW DOWN! … and CORE!

Janie spotted a mature Bald Eagle just a few miles down the trail. It was unusual for it to

be on our side of the stream so we slowly coasted into a viewing position to check it … and

take some pics. It tolerated us for a while before taking wing … and dangling its breakfast

from the right talon. We were just about ready to bike on when Janie shouted “Bear”. Sure

enough, there was a young-ish Bear ambling along the opposite stream bank. It waded right

into the water, sat down and looked at us long enough for me to click a few shots before

it scrambled into the underbrush. This is the second time we’ve seen an Eagle and a Bear at

the same location. The other was a couple years ago on the Greenbrier Trail.

Oh man, these bikes are runners. We were zipping along even when going up gradient. Oh,

wait, we have a tailwind. But it was more like a tail breeze; it didn’t become a full-fledged

wind until afternoon when we were heading into it. So what caused this afternoon wind?

SUN. Yep, we saw the actual Sun for the first time on the trip. The wind was from the SW

and ushering in much more humid air that the Sun gladly warmed to a toasty 82o – we are

not prepared for this … and we are considering going south, maybe all the way to FL. Hmmm.

Thanks to Raven & Blaze’s exuberance, we finished the ride about an hour earlier than

expected. We spent much of the “free time” dealing with the flies & Lady Bugs that were

attracted to DALAS’ sunny & warm sides. The flies look like ordinary house flies but they

are way more insidious … they are ankle biters … and they hurt. The Lady Bugs are cute but

not welcome in DALAS. I expect you’ve tried to capture a Lady Bug and know their

hemispherical shape makes that all but impossible. Thus, we are forced to squish ‘em and

don’t enjoy it one bit. Squishing flies is an entirely different matter, however. Wish we had

2 guitar shaped fly swatters; they are the BEST.

We were back at Little Pine and plugged in before 4p … and fired up the A/C to lower

DALAS’ inside temp from 81o to a more dry and comfortable 75 o. Next it was time for a

shower. Ah, we are now feeling more civilized. Time for a snack … how about a Cheese Plate:

Manchego & Swiss ... followed by a celebratory Mendocino Imperial Stout. I’m feeling

pretty civilized but it may not last long.

Saw:

There were lots of Monarch Butterflies flitting along the trail. They were almost

exclusively feeding on some sort of Yellow Coneflower. Mikey is writing up a big proposal to

study Monarchs and what attracts them to their wintering site in Mexico (hint: it could be

the unique chemistry of the volcanic rocks in that area). Thus, we are especially attuned

to them but found it strange to see them feeding on these specific flowers. Whatever, we

wished them a safe and fulfilling journey to Mexico.

It was warm enough today to bring out the snakes. The first one we saw was a Garter

Snake. Unfortunately, I couldn’t warn Janie in time, and her choices were run over it or

turn sharply and fall on top of it. She chose the former. The snake is likely to die either

way, but the latter allows Janie to live bruise-free. There are a couple reasons we are not

completely at fault here. The snakes are crossing the trail perpendicular to the trail’s

length and that makes them very vulnerable to bike traffic. Also, they look a lot like the

many Sycamore twigs that litter the trail. At least that’s our rationalization for running

over the little devil. We did see another one and managed to avoid it. Then there was a

Water Snake that wriggled into the grass just as we passed.

Then there was the Monkey Statue. Someone had an old elevator in their side yard that

farmers use to move grain from ground level up to haymow or corn crib. At the top of the

elevator they had placed an elegant sculpture of a Monkey holding (and admiring) its baby.

And there was a real banana at its feet. Very strange, but then again this is the same place

that used to have a big, black Sasquatch cutout next to the trail. We prefer the Monkey. Bald Eagle (with its breakfast)

Bear (youngish one)

Immature Bald Eagle

Monkey Sculpture

Monarch Butterfly (the Monarchs, Mikey, the Monarchs … lots of ‘em)

Garter Snake

Water Snake

Reflect:

It was Sunday on the trail. Although the section of trail we did today is rather remote

from metropolitan areas, there are a few small villages and several cottages along the way.

Thus, there weren’t as many people as yesterday (mostly from Jersey Shore and other

nearby cities). However, when we passed through built-up areas like Jersey Mills, Cammal,

Slate Run & Cedar Run, we encountered several bikers and hikers. As usual, the people we

spoke with were happy as larks, just enjoying a very late-summer day out in Nature. Of

course trails attract a certain type of person but seems to be a magic spirit-lifting going

on as well. It seems cathartic.

One of the things we’ve been noticing about the trail and those using it is … lots of older

couples walking along holding hands. At least for some, the trail experience may be more

than cathartic. I know biking along and seeing Janie in my rear-view mirror makes me

realize how very lucky I am to have a life-partner who shares my pleasures. I also get a

little more than just a cathartic kick out of those experiences.

Today was our last day on the Pine Creek trail … for a while. I’m sure we will be back just

like we were last spring. That makes twice this year that we’ve bike the 60-some mile trail

forward and backwards. This trip we totaled 128 miles and Blaze & Raven now have

accumulated 140 total miles. If we do all the trails we hope, we’ll get 400-500 miles over

the duration of the trip - a good break-in for the new bikes … and us.

Ate:

Big Ol’ Salad w/whatever appropriate stuff we can find in the refrigerator

Bike Data: Trail: Pine Creek – Waterville to Cedar Run

ST: 8:30

ET: 3:00

TT: 6:30

BT: 4:47

D (miles): 40.72

Mx (mph): 11.4

Avg (mph): 8.4

Drive: End: Little Pine SP, Waterville PA

Arrive: 3:52

Temp (degrees): 75

Elev (ft): 708

D (miles): 8

Mpg: 16.5

2017.10.16 … MON … 6: … Little Pine SP, Waterville PA to Silver Canoe CG, Sagamore

PA… Up: 6:01 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/54/63 Weather: Overcast becoming Partly Sunny in PM

Did:

Well, what a difference a day makes. Yesterday it was hot & humid. Last night a short

burst of horizontal rain announced the arrival of much cooler & drier air. The rain took us

by surprise and caught us with our windows open. A mad rush to close up prevented anything

other than a little dampness, fortunately. Today, the morning dawned with yet another

overcast sky but there was some clearing later with sunshine peeking through puffy, white

clouds that dropped a misty rain every now and then. Then there was the wind. It was a

steady blow out of the north that helped some with mileage until we got into an

up/down/in/out section.

When I opened the driver’s door, there was a rain of another sort: Lady Bugs. They had all

gathered in the space between the door and the frame. There were hundreds of ‘em all

huddled together. I took a towel and wiped ‘em out only to hear them hitting the step. It

was like a steady rain pelting the roof. Amazing.

We did our utilities and headed down PA-44 toward Jersey Shore – feeling a little sad

about leaving Pine Creek behind. Our route took us through Bald Eagle SP so we pulled in

for breakfast by the lake. The only wildlife of note was a Meadowlark we flushed as we

were parking DALAS. Janie knit together a series of back roads leading us to the decidedly

not thriving village of Templeton PA. We were hoping to find accommodations at a private

CG that bordered a bike trail we were interested in investigating. Hmmm, there was no

office and nobody to be seen to ask about camping. The only person we saw was a guy

running around golf cart and he seemed to be trying to avoid us.

We decided to call and see if we could camp there but we only had one feeble bar and

couldn’t connect. Off to town or what passes for town. The village is dominated by a power

plant with a huge stack reaching to the level of the surrounding ridges. The only place

showing any life at all was the PO so we pulled in and Janie went in to see if anybody knew

anything about the CG. They didn’t but they suggested we go to The Spot, a pizza place up

the street, because they have free WiFi, not that that would be of much help.

At The Spot we found a nice, young woman let us use one of the two phones on the table

and Janie got to the “leave your name & number and I’ll return your call.” Fat lot of good

that will do, because I have no cell service for you to call me back and this phone number

won’t help bc I don’t know what it is and we’re not hanging out here to wait for your call. It

was 3p and we were now in need of accommodations for the night. We could do a forced

march of 3-4 hours to Confluence PA, our next destination, but we don’t like forced

marches that interfere with Happy Hour and may end in nighttime driving. We drove up and

out of the valley, found a cell tower and parked under it. A few minutes of searching

brought up the Silver Canoe CG just a half hour or so away. Janie called to see if they were

open and, if so, had a site for us. Yes to both questions and directions to the place later and

we were on our way. We arrived around 3:30p and found a very large office filled with

informative people who were willing to take our $19 in exchange for a tent site with

electric. The guy gave us detailed information about nearly every bike trail in the county

and some in the adjoining ones. We learned that in his youth he rode his bike a lot and had

been clocked at 70 mph going down a hill, at the bottom of which, a former girlfriend pulled

out in front of him and he burnt up his brakes avoiding a collision. I’ve omitted lots of

details that would make your eyes glaze over as ours did.

So it all worked out for the best. We got a nearly private campsite for a reasonable rate

– it’s $40/night for full hookup – and are sitting here writing up notes and planning

tomorrow’s adventures. We’re pretty certain the day will end in Confluence COE CG, which

is technically closed but you can occupy a site free because there is no electric, water or

dump. We’ll be counting on our Solar Panels to get us through two or three consecutive

days while we ride the GAP.

Here I sit watching the setting sun and typing away between sips of a Genesee Brew House

Helles Bock graciously provided by Guy Reynolds when he and Tim O’Mara visited this

summer - two more of our former students who have turned into lifetime friends. It really

doesn’t suck to be us.

Saw:

We saw vast swatches of PA countryside, several quaint villages and a bit too much traffic.

What we haven’t seen are Turkey. Usually, by this time on a trip we would have seen several

flocks but none this time. We have seen Mergansers but only three in one spot on Pine

Creek. Our theory is: it’s hunting season and they have all made themselves scarce. We

hadn’t even seen a Canada Goose until today. We’ve seen more Bald Eagles than any of

these usually common species. It all seems a little strange. We did see a Meadowlark which

is almost equally unusual. Meadowlark

Canada Goose

Reflect:

This is the second time we’ve tried to find bike trails in this part of PA. We’ve had trouble

finding trailheads that weren’t down ‘roads’ consisting of two muddy tracks. And when

we’ve found suitable trailheads, there are no accommodations within a reasonable distance.

What’s reasonable? We try not to drive farther between trail and CG than we actually bike

on the trail. That constraint would be broken many times over in this area. In addition, we’ve

read that PA is trying to develop a section of trail connecting Erie PA to Pittsburgh, where

the GAP starts and connects to the C&O to take you all the way to DC. If they do this, then

they will certainly be using some of the trails we’ve been seeking in this area. But will they

see that there are suitable trailheads and nearby accommodations? We certainly hope so,

but likely won’t be around to see it all come to fruition.

In the meantime, we’ll continue to check things out while focusing our attention on the

trails we know like the GAP, one of the best we’ve done.

Ate:

Beanie-Weenies w/some other stuff thrown in … we’ll be sure to turn off the gas detector

Drive: End: Silver Canoe CG, Sagamore PA

Arrive: 3:38

Temp (degrees): 55

Elev (ft): 1208

D (miles): 196

Mpg: 20.0

2017.10.17 … TUE … 7: … Silver Canoe CG, Sagamore PA to Outflow COE CG, Confluence

PA … Up: 5:24 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 57/36/48 Weather: Clear, Wall-to-Wall Sun

Did:

We went to bed early so we could get up early, take a quick shower and get down the road

to Confluence PA and the Great Allegheny Passage (GAP), another of our favorite trails. It

was cold last night; cold enough to put frost on the grass and picnic tables. It was barely

twilight when we got to the shower and a sliver of Moon and a Planet (Venus?) were visible

over the lake. It was 32o according to DALAS’ dashboard readout. Fortunately, the shower

building was heated and the showers had plenty of hot water. It was necessary to shower

up because Outflow COE CG is technically closed; you can use the sites but there are no

facilities available – whadda ya want for nothin’? We’ve already showered and done our

utilities and are counting on our solar panels to see us through.

The drive was a bit hectic due to morning rush and our anxiety to get to the trail early

enough to do some biking. Of course we opted for back roads which made the drive longer

but safer and more enjoyable. Eventually we arrived in Ohiopyle PA, waited for the train to

pass and headed up out of the valley and over Sugar Loaf before descending into

Confluence PA. We parked DALAS in #40 and by the time I got the bikes ready to ride

Janie had our late breakfast ready. It was kinda like a NASCAR pit stop; we were in the pit

at 10:21 and on the trail by 11:00.

It was just a perfect fall day, crisp & cool with wall-to-wall sunshine – and essentially no

wind. We headed toward Ohiopyle and points north. There were more people than expected;

good to see the populace out enjoying the day. Again, these bikes want to fly. We tried to

throttle back to no avail. We averaged 9 mph again. We’d done the same ride last spring and

it took us 7:30 hrs; today we did it today in 6:00 hrs. But that wasn’t all the bikes; there

were more things to stop and look at last spring. But still …

When we got back to DALAS, it was 95o inside. We’d kept her closed up and the full sun did

the rest. Now all our clothes and other stowed gear will radiate heat tonight when it gets

down into the 30s again. The sky will be clear so we are expecting a good chill. We’ll be

using the furnace to supplement the stored heat.

There are only three other campers; all big rigs. We spoke with our two closest neighbors

shortly after arriving. I was getting the bikes ready and one of the guys asked: “Goin’

fishin’?” Uhh, no, goin’ bikin’. He said they’d done the ten miles to Ohiopyle and back and

enjoyed it very much. Good; we’ll see your ten miles and tack on another ten for good

measure. They were all nice people and it is comforting to know we are not alone.

Okay, time to enjoy the rest of my Southern Tier 2X Stout and get ready for dinner.

Tomorrow we bike south toward Rockwood PA … maybe beyond … but not to infinity!

Saw:

Large stretches of the Youghiogheny River, surrounding terrain and 39 miles of the Great

Allegheny Passage. We also saw more people than wildlife; seems we are between seasons

for all but humans. Chipping Sparrow

Weaver Finch (House Sparrow)

Downy Woodpecker

Tufted Titmouse

White Breasted Nuthatch

Slate Colored Junco (or whatever they are calling ‘em now)

Rhododendron

Bouncing Bette

Reflect:

We are enjoying the biking so much we just keep pedaling along with big grins on our faces.

The weather made today’s outing especially gratifying. One of our fellow campers told us

this weather is supposed to hold for the better part of a week. Yay!

Tanks a lot. One morning while making my coffee I started to think about the water I was

using and where it came from, especially the tanks & containers that held it along the way.

It all began at Naweedna when we pumped it out of the ground and into our pressure tank.

Then we passed it through our filtration system and stored it in our RO tank. Just before

leaving, I poured some into our special little container and used my submersible pump to

get it into DALAS’ fresh-water tank. Today, I pumped it from that tank into my coffee

maker and let my brewed coffee drip into the coffee pot. Once done, I poured it into my

coffee cup and then into me. The next step was draining my tank into the port-a-potty

which will get dumped at a dump station and that is eventually pumped into a Honey Dipper

truck to be released somewhere back into the ground water system to start the process

over.

So we go from well to pressure tank to RO tank to special bucket to DALAS’ tank to

coffee maker to coffee pot to coffee cup to port-a-potty to dump station to a Honey

Dipper and back to the ground. Whew! And that’s just to make one pot of coffee. Tanks a

lot indeed!

Ate:

Thai Curry w/Tilapia & Mixed Vegetables on whole-grain Basmati Rice

Bike Data: Trail: GAP – Confluence to MP80

ST: 11:00

ET: 5:00

TT: 6:00

BT: 4:20

D (miles): 39.14

Mx (mph): 14.4

Avg (mph): 9.0

Drive: End: Outflow COE CG, Confluence PA

Arrive: 10:21

Temp (degrees): 44

Elev (ft): 1323

D (miles): 95

Mpg: 18.8 (mountains)

2017.10.18 … WED … 8: … Outflow COE CG, Confluence PA … Up: 5:42 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 52/42/47 Weather: Clear again

Did:

Brrrr … the furnace was set for 52o and came on around 5a. I turned the thermostat up and

stayed a-bed until it got a little warmer. The temperature sensor in the outside

compartment read 42o but when we started to ride, our cyclometer said 37o. Fortunately

there was no wind … and lots of great scenery to bike through. We were on the GAP around

8:30 and headed toward Rockwood PA. This section of the GAP follows the Casselman

River, the stream that joins the Youghiogheny at … Confluence PA. How convenient, eh? The

valley was shrouded in fog most of the morning but when it burned off, the SUN warmed

things up considerably … up to the mid 70s by afternoon. There were significant

temperature differences as the river and trail ducked in and out of ridge shadows. The

cool spots were lined with dark-green Hemlock; the sunnier sections were dominated by

Oak & Tulip Poplar.

There are four bridges that cross the Casselman along this section and all of ‘em afford

great views of a rapidly flowing river festooned with major rapids and encased in some of

the finest greenery PA has to offer. It’s literally like in a movie … maybe has been.

Rockwood PA has a trailhead, outhouse and information booth. Janie picked up a brochure

that showed the elevation changes between certain locations along the trail. Yesterday, we

rode from Confluence to Ohiopyle and the elevation change is about 100’ over that ten mile

section of trail. Today, the elevation change was 500’ in the nearly 20 miles between

Confluence & Rockwood. So that works out to around 10’/mi yesterday vs. 25’/mi today.

The difference helped us go slowly on the outbound leg and much faster on the return.

There were essentially no people on the trail in AM but lots in afternoon, many thru-bikers.

As we pulled into the CG, we were met by a burly, bearded man riding a bike with lots of

gear attached; none of it sophisticated stuff like we’d seen on many of the thru-bikers. He

wanted to know if there was a fee for camping. No, not for us this time of year and not for

bikers ever. The catch: no amenities, just a nice little campground. We got to talking and

learned he is a long-distance biker. How long? Well, he’s on his way home in Harrisburg PA

from … wait for it … Alaska. He said he’d done the GAP in 2011 on his way to Utah. Wow, a

real long-distance biker. We directed him to the picnic area just past the CG where there

is an open and heated restroom and plenty of space to set up camp. He opted for the picnic

shelter where he was sitting writing up notes like we are now. Impressive.

Saw:

Oh, we saw lots of great river vistas and about as close to climax forest are you are likely

to see in the east. And in the fine detail of those expansive views we saw: Sharp Shinned and Red Tail Hawks (being mobbed by Crows along river in CG)

Bald Eagle (mature perched in tree between trail & river)

Garter Snake (nearly ran over its tail but checked and nary a mark on it)

Forsythia (blooming in October)

Reflect:

Remember the problem we had with DALAS not starting … the issue that caused us to abort

our previous trip? Well I had something similar happen with my camera. It rides with us in

my handlebar pack and when I pulled it out to take a picture of the fog shrouded trail …

DEAD BATTERY. This has happened before and you’d think I’d learn. I have it programmed

to turn off after a few minutes but … always a but, right … when we pack it away, the

shutter release button sometimes gets pushed against something and keeps it on, resulting

in DEAD BATTERY. Okay, I have a second, fully-charged battery … in DALAS. Not much

help out here on the trail, however.

When we got back to camp, I swapped batteries and the little green light that is supposed

to flash on for a few seconds and go off never turned off. The display showed a fully

charged battery but nothing worked. I couldn’t take a picture, the flash wouldn’t popup,

nothing, it just sat there mocking me. Damn! I let it sit there smirking while I stowed the

bikes & gear … and tried to calm myself. A bit later I was settled enough to have another

attempt at getting it to work. I searched the manual to no avail. I pushed buttons, flipped

switches, and swapped lenses. Nothing worked. I’d already tried removing and re-installing

the battery a couple times - even tried the dead one. Still nothing worked. By this time I’d

popped the cap on a Mendocino Imperial Stout and was reveling in its glory.

One more time, I removed the battery and put it back in. Viola! The little green light

came on and then went off like it was supposed to and I could take pictures and do all the

things the camera is intended to do. What the …? Just like the problem we had with

DALAS. The fuse for the starter blew but we don’t know why. We replaced the fuse and

it’s worked perfectly ever since. The same with the camera, I don’t know why it didn’t

work at first and I certainly don’t know why it started working later. Suffice to say, I’m

very relieved that both unexplained phenomena worked and our life will go on as normal … or

what passes for normal for us. Hmmm, maybe it was the beer …

Ate:

Beef Stroganoff on Barilla Pronto Penne

Bike Data: Trail: GAP – Confluence to MP42

ST: 8:35

ET: 3:55

TT: 6:30

BT: 5:04

D (miles): 41.83

Mx (mph): 15.1

Avg (mph): 8.2

Drive: N/A

2017.10.19 … THU … 9: … Outflow COE CG, Confluence PA … Up: 6:12 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 55/43/48 Weather: Clear

Did:

Today’s plan: drive to Rockwood trailhead, park DALAS and bike south from there toward

Deal PA. We started executing the plan as soon as daylight and fog allowed. Janie made our

lunch and doled out the granola while I got the bikes ready. About the time I was being

called to breakfast, a guy drove up and stopped to ask about DALAS. He was a trail official

in charge of collecting data from the counters installed along the trail. He and his wife are

hoping to retire in a few years and want to do what we are doing in a vehicle like DALAS.

No sooner had he moved on than a through biker glided by and said: “That’s what I want.”

I replied, “breakfast?” To which he responded, “No, your van.” That’s two more in less

than fifteen minutes. DALAS is getting a lot of attention on this trip.

We noticed a somewhat less interesting guy sitting on the tailgate of his truck wearing VR

goggles. He was just staring straight ahead while holding some sort of device. It looked

weird, sort of spooky actually. Later we saw him doing the same thing at another trailhead.

Ah, the mystery was solved this time. While we were removing some excess clothing, I

noticed him take off his VR stuff, look up, and bring down his drone. I suppose the drone

was equipped with a video camera and he was using the goggles to see what the drone was

recording. Again, we avoided talking with him. Instead we chatted with the couple from

Arizona who had encountered a white cat on the trail that walked back and forth in front of

them until they stopped, then led them over to a bench on which someone had placed water

and snacks. When we went by, the cat-guide must have been on break because it ignored us,

or perhaps we looked well fed and watered!

The 1,908 foot-long Salisbury Viaduct is a just north of Meyersdale PA and an impressive

sight to behold. It carries the GAP over US-219 and the Casselman River, the valley we’d

been following all day yesterday and up to this point today. The viaduct is where the

Casselman veers off and heads west along the foot of Mt Davis, the highest point in PA.

The GAP switches over and follows Flaugherty Creek up to the highest point on the GAP

near Deal PA at 2,392’. We opted to turn around at MP25, just short of Deal – we’d been

there before and, trust me, it isn’t a Big Deal. Janie’s brochure indicated that the

elevation change between Rockwood and the high point was around 400’ over the 20 mile

distance. Simple math suggest that’s 20’/mile and we’d been going up all morning … but didn’t

really notice it.

Just past the Meyersdale Station we came across a youngish woman walking two small lap-

dogs. She was, like 40% of all Americans, obese and as obese people tend to do, wearing

extremely tight clothing – like hand-me-downs from a younger sibling. Her ample bosom

was, well, trying to escape her top and when she turned around, her overly tight and too

small pants revealed a rather cavernous butt crack. We’re guessing her name is Dawn.

Hmmm, that sounds kind of harsh. However, there is a significance difference between

being overweight and morbidly obese, especially for late-twenties, early-thirties person.

Overweight does not necessarily mean unhealthy. Some people are just built that way

genetically. This young woman’s bulk was seriously accentuated by her clothing choice. She

literally looked like she’d been squeezed into some spandex like an overstuffed sausage.

Janie saw her hike her pants up, but the “Butt Crack of Dawn” remained visible. I’ve dwelt

on this topic too long. Movin’ on …

There are benches all along the GAP. Some are sponsored by local business; others honor

those who worked to complete and maintain the GAP; and still others are memorials to loved

ones. We came across one today that falls in the category of What Were Your Parents

Thinking? Right there, neatly carved in the bench’s back were the words: In Memory of

Dick Stiffey. Need I say more?

Raven wants to FLY and BLAZE runs like wildfire. Our return ride was down gradient but

into a “stiffey” wind so we weren’t expecting much pedaling relief. We’d pedaled maybe

twenty yards and were amazed to find ourselves zooming along. We’d taken off like a

rocket and had to check our gearing because the pedaling was so easy. Wow! Again, the X-

Calibers have surprised us with their nimbleness – it certainly isn’t our aging bodies.

Saw:

Well, we saw a lot more of the Casselman River Valley, then switched over to the smaller

but equally lovely Flaugherty Creek Valley. We spent most of the day passing through

deciduous forest with some open agricultural-areas. We could hear Ravens croaking on the

ridges surround us; a good indication of the wildness of the area. The ride was really quite

picturesque and pleasant. Garter Snake (managed to miss both of ‘em)

Wooly Worms (lots of ‘em, some nearly all black, others nearly all orange)

Robins (finally a flock of immature birds flitting in and out of the trail)

Reflect:

We came across the AK guy we’d met up with yesterday. This time we asked him some

pointed questions starting with: “Are you one of those famous cross-country bikers?”

We’d read some books about long-distance bikers, maybe he was one of ‘em. His reply

suggested otherwise: “Not that I know of … maybe once … in the past.” We asked if he

had to bike the AlCan Highway on his way back from Anchorage. He thought a moment and

said he only biked a few miles of it. Mostly he biked (it was suggested that we write it

down) the Top Of The World Highway. He also biked the same roads we drove connecting

Prince Rupert BC to Jasper and then down the Ice Fields Highway, only in the other

direction. He then recounted the major parts of his journey that led him to the point where

we were standing. He is a most interesting and humble man who is living his dream at a pace

he can enjoy it. For example, he’d only covered a little over 30 miles when we met him

around 3:30p. He’s just taking it easy and enjoying the moments as they present

themselves. Impressive. We left him with a hearty “Happy Trails” and “You are an

inspiration.”

Ate:

Ham Steak w/Broccoli Salad all from the little grocery in Confluence PA

Bike Data: Trail: GAP: Rockwood to MP25 near Deal PA

ST: 9:30

ET: 3:30

TT: 6:00

BT: 4:06

D (miles): 37.95

Mx (mph): 13.0

Avg (mph): 9.2

Drive: End: Outflow COE CG #51, Confluence PA

Arrive: 5:01

Temp (degrees): 72

Elev (ft): 1339

D (miles): 38

Mpg: 19.0

2017.10.20 … FRI … 10: … Outflow COE CG, Confluence PA to Ohiopyle SP, Ohiopyle PA… Up: 6:52 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 54/44/50 Weather: Fog, clearing later … another beautiful fall day

Did:

We ran out of water last night; the first time that’s happened. We always travel with eight

full water bottles and I filled up our two tea kettles at the picnic restroom. No problem,

just an indication that we need a regular campsite to tend to our utilities … and ourselves

with a welcome shower. For that reason and a few more, Janie booked us a site at Ohiopyle

SP for tonight. Thoughtful girl. Our solar panels kept our batteries charged as they should

with wall-to-wall sunshine, albeit low-angle at this latitude and time of year.

So what did we do today? We took an encore bike ride on the GAP. It began with a drive

up and over Sugar Loaf and down into Ohiopyle where we parked DALAS in the large

trailhead. We had our granola and were on the trail by 9:30, heading north toward

Connellsville PA. We biked most of this section on the first day but wanted to check out

the far end and were pleasantly surprised by how nice it was … and is.

This is a popular section of trail but the morning was blessed with few other bike/hike

companions. That all changed in the afternoon. It’s to be expected on a nearly perfect fall

Friday in such an attractive location. We are pleased to see these people out recreating …

as long as they aren’t biking and texting like one couple we saw today.

We set a limit of 2p for the ride so we’d have time to complete our To-Do List at the SP.

We finished the ride and pulled into the trailhead at … 2:00 on the nose. How about that

for executing a plan? The discharge of the To-Do List wasn’t quite so efficient, however.

Janie had reserved #144 sight unseen and when we got there, we discovered it to had a

rather steep slope with no hope of finding even a remotely level space. We negotiated with

the lady at the entrance booth and settled on #41 which is kinda tilty but more serviceable.

We did our adult tasks: dump black & gray and take on fresh water. Then we hit the shower

… pretty nice showers; lots of hot water, not on one of those timer-buttons, a drain that

actually drains, and we had it all to our lonesome. All clean and back at DALAS, it was time

to break out clean clothes and flip the memory foam mattress, which is covered by a

“sheetcase” (like a pillowcase) handmade to fit by my talented wife. That will get us

another week or so and then … she’ll have to “wrestle the alligator”, remove the dirty

sheetcase and put on a clean one. Still easier than “making the bed” in Dalas in the

traditional way.

Okay, the sun has sunk below Kentuck Knob (yes, the Frank Lloyd Wright house is 1 mile

from the campground, and no, we’ve never visited it, nor have we visited Fallingwater, which

is within 10 miles of the campground; maybe we’ll do that when we are too old to bike). Right

now, I’m not too old to enjoy the remainder of my Founder’s Porter. Cheers …

Saw:

We flushed a flock of Turkey on our way over Sugar Loaf. Finally, we saw our first Turkey

of the trip. Later, up on Kentuck Knob, on our way to the CG, we saw two male Pheasants

right in the road. In our mind, Pheasants are normally associated with open terrain like

South Dakota, where they are the state bird. Kentuck Knob is not open terrain, so our

Turkey & Pheasant sighting was totally unexpected and thoroughly enjoyed. Turkey

Pheasant

Reflect:

The Encore Ride was very pleasant. As the miles ticked down, I started getting nostalgic, a

little sad even … but in a good way. We’ve now spent four days on the Pine Creek Trail and

another four days on the GAP. In those eight days we covered 277 miles and uncountable

smiles. Except for the first couple days, the weather has been exceptional – just about

perfect for biking … or any other outdoor activity for that matter (except skiing). The

weather map suggests the good weather will continue into the foreseeable future and it

seems like a waste to spend a day traveling to our next destination: the Greenbrier Trail.

But the future beckons and we will follow our muse to put in anther hundred or so miles on

another trail … and do the same on the New River Trail after that … we hope.

If we complete our hoped-for riding, we should tally around 500 miles on the new X-Cals.

But it isn’t about the miles nearly as much as the smiles. We expect to keep doing this sort

of thing as long as we enjoy the activity and our aging bodies allow us to continue. Barring

unpredictable issues, it should be another five to ten years. Ah, but after that … we’ll need

to find another source for our entertainment … maybe competitive drooling.

Ate:

Leftovers (Hangovers, as Dad used to call ‘em): Ham, Broccoli Salad, Beef Stroganoff,

anything else Janie can find in the refrigerator.

Bike Data: Trail: GAP: Ohiopyle to Sheepskin Trail

ST: 9:30

ET: 2:00

TT: 4:30

BT: 3:28

D (miles): 31.09

Mx (mph): 12.7

Avg (mph): 8.9

Drive: End: Ohiopyle SP, Ohiopyle PA #41

Arrive: 3:25

Temp (degrees): 67

Elev (ft): 1565

D (miles): 14

Mpg: 14.0

2017.10.21 … SAT … 11: … Ohiopyle SP, Ohiopyle PA to Seneca SF CG, Dunmore WV … Up: 5:32 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 64/45/54 Weather: Mostly Sunny with thin Cirrus

Did:

As the Sun rises slowly in the east, it is time to say Au Revoir to the GAP and move on to

another of our bike trails. Although it was Saturday, we decided to treat it as Sunday and

have our usual Sunday Brunch, which, on the road, consists of French Toast bathed in

Sugarbush Dark Amber Syrup and a side of Costco’s pre-fried Bacon. Yep, we can only do

that once a week … and we skipped last week so … splurge!

WV, baby! We crossed the border on a small road that the state didn’t see fit to annotate.

The roads made it clear that it was WV, however. We coasted down a mountain side and

found ourselves in Parsons,WV where we were intended to pick up WV-72. We were blasted

with warning signs as soon as we turned onto it: 15 miles of Narrow, Winding Road

No Through Trucks

No Truck Turn Around

True That! The road was 1.5 lanes wide at best and populated with skinny, one-lane

bridges. The surface varied from recently repaved to in bad need of work. And winding … it

was a continuous 15 miles of hairpins & switchbacks the likes of which we have never

experienced. Fortunately, we only met three vehicles and two motorcycles and those

encounters just happened to be in places that were not bounded by bare rock and guardrail

with no shoulder. But we made it unscathed but with some sweaty palms and dry mouths.

Janie has already Xed out the road on her map. We won’t be doing that again just to save

about 25 miles out of 167 total for the day.

We pulled into Seneca Rocks to gawk at their vertical grandeur and have a half-lunch of

Garlic Bologna & Tomato w/some extra Garlic. Back on the road and happily surprised that

the traffic was very tolerable all day – especially for a Saturday. Finally we were on WV-

28, a road we hold dear because it takes us through the village of Green Bank, home of the

National Radio Astronomy Observatory and takes us to Dunmore WV, the location of the

Seneca SF CG, which is where we are at this very moment.

WV-28 is a typical WV back road with lots of twists & turns & ups & downs. But after our

experience on WV-72, we now scoff at signs for Winding Road, Narrow Bridge & Bump.

Ha! You call that a bump? I can take this Winding Road at 50 mph and that Narrow Bridge

stuff, I’ll show you a Narrow Bridge. Okay, we all know God Punishes Fat Mouthed Remarks

(GPFMR) so I’m going to leave this topic right here.

Saw:

We saw four more Pheasants, all male, while leaving Ohiopyle SP. Just a bit farther down

the road, we scattered another flock of Turkey. Other than that it was a lot of Almost

Heaven West Virginia.

Reflect:

I forgot to mention in yesterday’s reflection about my shameful experience while biking

the GAP. The bedrock in most places is massive, coarse Sandstone that breaks off into

large, almost garage-size, boulders. These boulders dot the valley walls and some catch

shafts of sunlight that filter down through the trees. When they are thusly lit, they sort

of glow in the darkness of the understory. As I biked along, I periodically caught peripheral

glimpses of these large, bright spots … and wondered why anyone would dump a derelict

vehicle in such an otherwise pristine setting. Then I would recognize them for what they

were, sun-struck boulders.

Now that is a sad commentary on me and society. I’ve spent too much time in places

where there are more derelict vehicles than boulders. That’s on me. The fact that these

rusting hulks ‘decorate’ the countryside is on our society in general. I feel disgusted when I

fall into traps like that. The only way to avoid the issue is to spend more time in pristine

environments and less time in “civilized” areas.

Seneca SF CG is one of our favorite campgrounds. It is very small, ten sites total, but well

maintained and provides us with a short drive to a Greenbrier Trail parking area. The CG is

shoehorned into a narrow, N-S valley and populated with Hemlock and Rhododendron. The

rangers keep things neat and tidy even to the point of regularly blowing the leaves off the

sites. The price is reasonable at $17/night with a 10% Senior Discount. That brings it to

$15.30 for us. The first time we camped here, we didn’t have exact change so we rounded

up 10 cents to the nearest dollar. Next morning, we saw a ranger trying to decide if we were

awake or not. Janie went out, asking “What have we done wrong now?” And he said, “Nothing

wrong, you over paid and he gave her a dime. Next time, we were sure to write “Please Keep

the Dime” on the tiny envelope. Yep, we like this campground and use it whenever we’re in

the area.

Ate:

Sesame Chicken w/ a dollop of Peanut Butter & Mixed Vegetables on Brown Basmati Rice

Drive: End: Seneca SF CG #7, Dunmore WV

Arrive: 1:51

Temp (degrees): 72

Elev (ft): 2699

D (miles): 167

Mpg: 19.2 (WV, baby)

2017.10.22 … SUN … 12: … Seneca SF CG, Dunmore WV to Watoga SP, Seebert WV … Up: Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): Weather:

Did:

Loud talking, blaring radio, yapping dogs, obnoxious generator … all polluting the serene

elegance of Seneca SF CG … and next to us. Ugh! Earlier we’d walked up to site #8 because

we’d never looked at it before. Looked good; at the end of the spur, surrounded by Hemlock

& Rhododendron and most importantly, no noisy neighbors. We secured our stuff and moved

DALAS to #8 and settled in for a quiet, relaxing evening. Yay!

That was last night; what happened today? After our morning beverages, we packed up and

drove six miles to Clover Lick WV, which consists of five houses, two trailers and five

derelict vehicles along with several lawn tractors under tarps … and a trailhead big enough

to accommodate about four DALASes. Morning granola and we were on the Greenbrier

River Trail (GRT) by 8:30, heading toward the northern terminus in Cass WV.

Cass is a company town owned and operated by a long-defunct company dealing in wood

products. There are rows of cookie-cutter company houses and a big company store. Most

of the house are unoccupied and only of historic interest now and the company store is

home to all the necessary accouterments to go with the very popular Cass Scenic Railway

that climbs up the mountain to the Snowshoe Ski Resort. There are two steam locomotives

that push open-sided tourist cars up the mountain … and … they periodically toot their

steam whistle and the pleasant sound echoes throughout the valley. Janie went into the

store looking for a restroom, and came out with 10 postcards, $0.30 each. Quite a deal,

quite an assortment, quite a shock. I thought she found a restroom and might have fallen in.

We biked back to DALAS for lunch before heading south toward Sharp’s Tunnel, where we

normally turnaround because we usually get a late start and I don’t hold any fondness for

tunnels. This time we brought our bike lights and pedaled right on through … and were

rewarded with a nice display of Common Merganser, which we don’t see much on the GRT. In

fact, we ended up seeing about 18 of ‘em … more than the three we saw on Pine Creek.

Their presence indicates the river is viable with enough fish to support the ducks and the

Bald Eagle we caught a glimpse of.

We had some chores to do before nightfall so we turned around at MP62 around 1:30 and

were back to DALAS by 3:00. After gearing down, we drove to Marlinton WV to replenish

our bread supply at the IGA … we will not have access to another grocery before leaving

the GRT area. We also filled up DALAS for the same reason. Then we drove down to the

very twisty-turny road that takes us to Watoga SP where we contracted for site #5 for

two nights and possibly a third, depending on weather.

So here we sit, typing in our data and writing up our notes while seven deer walk through

our campsite in single file; totally unfazed by us. Good for them … and us. Time to sit back

and enjoy the rest of my Brooklyn Chocolate Stout … and some of Janie’s fine grub.

Tomorrow we’ll bike from the CG up to where we turned around today.

Saw:

We saw yet another scenic river valley, the Greenbrier River to be specific. We haven’t

been seeing much new-for-the-trip birds so I decided to list the ones we saw today even

though we’d seen representatives before. And here they are: White Breasted Nuthatch

Phoebe

Catbird

GBH

Cuckoo

Kingfisher

Junco

Blue Jay

Crow

Raven

Bald Eagle (nearly mature)

Flicker

Carolina Wren

Common Merganser

Mourning Dove

White Tail Deer (7 walking casually through our campsite)

Reflect:

We are now on our third bike trail. It started on the Pine Creek Trail, then there was the

Great Allegheny Passage Trail, now we’re doing the Greenbrier River Trail, and in a few

more days we hope to be biking the New River Trail. If you use their initials like locals do,

it’d be PCT, GAP, GRT & NRT, but only the GAP & GRT refer to themselves as that. So

what do all of these trails have in common? They all follow rivers or creeks. Trial & error

has proven we prefer our bike trails to be in river (or creek) valleys. That usually means

fewer roads and more scenery. It also means a greater likelihood of seeing Eagles or

Osprey and certainly ducks, Kingfisher and other aquatic birds like GBHs. We’ve even seen

Mink and River Otter. These waterways have a lot to offer the itinerate biker and we drink

it all in enthusiastically.

Ate:

Zatarain’s Dirty Rice with Black Beans & extra rice to dilute the salt

Bike Data: Trail: GRT: Clover Lick to Cass & Clover Lick to MP62

ST: 8:31

ET: 3:01

TT: 6:30

BT: 4:25

D (miles): 37.64

Mx (mph): 21.9

Avg (mph): 8.4

Drive: End: Watoga SP #5, Seebert WV

Arrive: 4:53

Temp (degrees): 65

Elev (ft): 2125

D (miles): 50

Mpg: 21.2

2017.10.23 … MON … 13: … Watoga SP, Seebert WV … Up: 6:15 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 62/54/58 Weather: RAIN

Did:

So there we were in the early morning twilight, eating our granola and preparing for the

day’s bike ride when two young Deer started running circles around DALAS. They were

behaving just like ours at home: run, run, run, stop, graze a little and repeat. Fun to

watch … and I do believe they are having fun as well.

The sky started to drip just as I was getting the bikes ready. Hey, don’t make no matter-

mind as long as the rain is peaceful, we got gear to keep us comfortable. We were off,

heading north toward Marlinton WV and beyond to MP62, where we turned around

yesterday. As we were approaching our turnaround point, we passed a nice little shelter and

decided it would be a good place for lunch. And it was. We got three First Of Trip birds

there (see below). The scenery was grand, the lunch was great and the serenity made us

want to spend the rest of the day there.

When we got back to Marlinton, we noticed the depot was open. This is a big deal because

about ten years ago the place burned. Now they’ve done a full restoration and it serves as a

shop where county artisans can offer their work for sale. They’ve done a great job with

the place; we only hope it is viable over the long haul. There wasn’t much we wanted or could

transport on our bikes, but Janie bought notecards decorated w/pressed flowers and a

local beeswax lip balm. Eat your heart out, Burt.

Marlinton has a nice, big park right on the trail where we stopped going and coming. We’ve

seen Bald Eagles along the river there but not today, unfortunately. On the first pass, we

used the restroom and on the second we pulled into the gazebo. It’s fairly large and right

next to the river. Today we used it to fully gear up for the steady rain that was falling. We

were already wearing our raincoats and pants but now it was time to put on our rain

booties. They are a little difficult to get on so having a shelter was a real benefit. The

booties look kinda silly but they keep our feet dry … and warm on those cold days.

The bikes continue to impress us. They seem able to handle all our riding situations

gracefully. Blaze & Raven are a treat to ride. Now if we can just keep our bodies in shape,

we’ll be adding to the 360 miles they’ve already accumulated.

Time to sign off for the day and devote my full attention to my Southern Tier 2X Stout.

Later, gator …

Saw:

Water, water everywhere - in the stream, falling from the sky, pooled on the trail,

dripping from the trees … and us. It was a great day, if you like this sort of thing and we

do. We got three FOTs and a couple of flowers that were showing their second bloom.

Apparently, if the plant is healthy enough, they flower in the fall for a second go at the

pollination thing. Seems to work for them. Black Vulture (FOT)

White Throated Sparrow (FOT)

Ruby Crowned Kinglet (FOT)

Yellow Moth Mullein (in fall bloom)

Daisy (also in fall bloom)

Reflect:

Biking in the rain – we like it. As long as it isn’t too heavy, there’s no thunder & lightning

and we have the gear to keep us comfortable. The morning misty rain was no challenge.

Later in the afternoon it got a bit more like a steady rain. Fortunately, it didn’t rain too

heavily and our rain gear kept us pretty comfortable. It was fun.

So why do we like biking in the rain? Because it is quiet with essentially no trail-traffic.

On overcast days like today, it is nearly perpetual twilight. Twilight is when wildlife tends

to be more available. They seem more secure and docile in the gloom of a rainy day. When

we stop, which we do frequently, we nearly always see or hear some sort of wildlife. There

were several good examples today.

Kingfishers tend to flush as soon as they see people. I don’t know why: I’m hoping nobody is

shooting at them on a regular basis. They are especially flighty when on the same side of

the steam as the trail. However, today we biked up to one perched about head-high right

next to the trail and s/he allowed us to bike up to within a few feet before taking off for

the opposite shore.

Crows are even more flighty and for good reason; most country people consider them pests

and frequently shoot at ‘em. They are among the brightest of animals and learn quickly to

not let humans get too close. However, today two of ‘em held their perches as we biked

under them. Good for them; good for us.

This behavior also extends to mammals. We biked by a Squirrel that just sat there, within

a leg’s length, while we biked by. I think he might have even winked at Janie. Little devil,

that one. Groundhogs are referred to as the country boy’s grizzly and are hunted as

vermin. Although not the sharpest knife in the drawer, Groundhogs have learned to flee

from humans. They will make a bee-line to their burrow even if it means running right past

you. Today, we biked up on one grazing beside the trail. It moved just enough to get a

better view of us but didn’t run or show any sign of alarm.

Yeah, we like rainy days as long as they don’t overwhelm our gear and threaten our lives.

Otherwise, let it rain, let it rain, let it rain … and we’ll go biking in the rain rather than

singing or dancing.

Ate:

Zatarain’s Tortilla Roll-Ups w/Cheese & Onion and fried in a skillet … one of my favorites

Bike Data: Trail: GRT: Watoga SP to MP62

ST: 8:45

ET: 3:30

TT: 6:45

BT: 4:20

D (miles): 36.92

Mx (mph): 21.9

Avg (mph): 8.4

Drive: N/A

2017.10.24 … TUE … 14: … Watoga SP, Seebert WV … Up: 7:02 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 66/52/57

Weather: Partly Cloudy/Sunny & Breezy

Did:

Two weeks on the road and we’re ready for more. But foist, we need to do some

housekeeping chores. It all began with a visit to the dump station – one container into

another. After that, it was tanking up with fresh water and filling the flush-water tank on

our port-a-potty. Then breakfast, gearing up and stopping at the entrance station to pay

another night’s rent before hitting the trail toward Droop Mountain Tunnel at MP31.

OMG, look at the river. Yesterday, we learned from a local that the river was about as low

as it gets. Today it’s a much different story. Yesterday’s rain continued quite heavily from

when we got back (we were lucky) until well after our bedtime. There were a few flashes of

lightning followed by thunder and more rain. A lot of that water found itself in the river and

today you’d have to call it the Big Muddy. It was latte brown and nearly bank-full.

Yesterday there were places where you could wade across. Today, trying to do so would

likely cost you your life.

The rain saturated a lot of standing deadwood that collapsed under the weight. Thus, we

found ourselves clearing trail as we biked along. This is an activity with which we have some

familiarity in that we do it constantly at Naweedna. Today there were only two trees that

were too big for me to move aside but luckily we could bike under the first and haul our

bikes over the second. Later in the day, we saw two SP pickups chugging slowing down the

trail and clearing away what we couldn’t.

We came across a retired couple, both chemists, from Arlington VA. They have a vacation

cabin just up the ridge from the GRT and were walking the trail birding and clearing debris

as they went. She’s an amateur geologist and avid birder with a Blackwater NW Refuge

(MD) hat and Swarovski 8.5x42 binoculars – cha-ching. He admitted to be the ‘spotter’ and

enjoying just being out. Really nice people, wish we could have spent more time with them.

They showed us the dried flower-heads of Wingstem, which has large yellow flowers and can

grow several feet tall. We had seem ‘em in their glory on previous rides on the GRT but

didn’t know what they were. Now we do, thanks to these nice people.

After our late start, we only made it to Droop Mountain Tunnel turnaround MP31. That

gives up almost 50 miles of the GRT, 100 miles for us out’n’backers. It’s been yet another

grand ride from which we have garnered great pleasure. We are so grateful for all those

who created and maintain these wonderful trails. We feel like we should do more and

maybe today we did our share by clearing trail.

The section of the GRT has the distinction of allowing us to look across the river and see

DALAS waiting patiently for our return. Although we can see DALAS, we have to bike four

miles to get there … or try to ford the raging river, which we wouldn’t consider even if it

were dry. We did get back in time to do a little housecleaning, more chores, and us-cleaning

with a nice hot shower in the warmest bathhouse we’ve experienced. Now, with added WiFi!

Now it’s time for a Victory (hey, JenO!) Storm King and some relaxation before Janie

whips up some more creative grub.

Saw:

A lotta watta in the usually babbling Greenbrier River. This was the most water we’ve seen

in the river; some of the back-water side-channels were even flowing – a first for us. I

found wondering what birds like Eagles, Kingfishers & GBHs do on days like this. They

certainly can’t see into the murky water. What about the fish? How do they handle these

situations? They all seem to know what to do and survive so I guess it’s all good. Other than

that, we only got one FOT and some interesting flowers. Yellow Rumped Warbler

Vine Honeysuckle (in fall bloom)

Wingstem (IDed by the lady Chemist we met on the trail)

Reflect:

And so we bid a fond farewell to another trail, our third in 14 days on the road. Eleven

of those fourteen days have been spend biking: 4 on Pine Creek, 4 on the GAP & 3 on the

GRT for a total of 385 (s)miles. Our three days on the GRT varied greatly weather-wise.

The first day was sunny and warm, late-summer like. The next day was what some would

call gloomy rain. And today was partly cloudy, brisk & breezy, almost like early winter.

We, being the odd human specimens we are, preferred the ‘gloomy rain’ day, but all three

were just grand.

We’ve now put in two weeks on the road and have nearly a month available for more

adventuring. Tomorrow we will head into VA on our way toward Galax and the New River

Trail where, weather permitting, we’ll spend three or four days biking. That pretty much

accounts for one week. What to do with the remaining three? Only time and the weather

will tell.

Ate:

Chicken Alfredo w/Gorgonzola & the usual Mixed Vegetables

(our 14th different meal on our 14th day … tomorrow we start over, maybe … Galax has a

Smokehouse BBQ place we’ve been known to frequent, frequently)

Bike Data: Trail: GRT: Watoga SP to Droop Mountain Tunnel MP31

ST: 10:00

ET: 4:00

TT: 6:00

BT: 4:06

D (miles): 32.50

Mx (mph): 15.6

Avg (mph): 7.9

Drive: N/A

2017.10.25 … WED … 15: … Watoga SP, Seebert WV to New River Trail RV Park, Fries

VA … “The Park That Exceeds Your Expectations”

Up: 6:55 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 59/39/48 Weather: Sunny AM, Steely Gray PM

Did:

We started the morning with maps and beverages. Google Maps showed us three ways to

get to Galax VA, all in less than four hours drive time. Hmmm, normally we vector over to

the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) and spend a night up there but … its damned cold even down

in the valley, there are no hookups and it’s kind of in the wrong direction. So far, this trip is

all about riding the trails on our new bikes. We decided to continue that priority for one

more trail and focus on touring afterwards. Thus, we picked Google’s fastest route and

headed for Galax VA today. It all began on US-219, not one of our favorite two-lane roads

but it took us to I-64 which, in turn connected with I-77 and that got us to within shouting

distance of our destination. It wasn’t our usual traveling style but it got the job done

quickly enough to allow some shopping in Galax … and a phone call to arrange for a campsite

at our favorite CG in the area.

Galax VA sits north edge of the Blue Ridge and is a quaint little mountain town with lots of

Bluegrass Roots. It also is the southern terminus of the New River Trail, which is why we

are here. The shopping spree began at, ugh, Walmart where we got some Broccoli Salad,

Mediterranean Salad, more bag’o’dinners to serve as bases for Janie’s concoctions, another

can of Baked Beans (can never have enough of them), backup batteries for our cyclometers,

and … another loaf of bread. Whew! Next, we filled DALAS up at the new Sheetz station

and while doing that, we noticed a sign on Aunt Bea’s BBQ saying they had a special on

Salmon Patties today … one of my favorite things. We went over to check it out. Seems like

the locals like ‘em too because they were SOLD OUT. Aunt Bea’s is a fast food place and

the BBQ didn’t look that appetizing. But we know where it does …

We drove up Main Street and found a parking space across from the Galax Smoke House.

In we go and order up as many Rib Tips as they would allow us to take – it isn’t normally a

carryout item. It turned out to be 1.25 lbs, so we added a pint of BBQ Beans and three

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Ha! We’re eatin’ Q tonight … and probably tomorrow night as well.

It won’t be as good as Terri’s – Janie saw on FB that she was grillin’ up another mess like

the one she made for us a while back. We’ll toast you with a Rib Tip, Terri.

Before leaving Galax, Janie gave Tom Guy a call. He runs the New River Trail RV Park over

in Fries VA (pronounced Freeze). No vacancy tonight but we can park next to the office

and plug into the outside outlet. We’ve done that a couple times before and it works just

fine for us. Tom said there were some people leaving tomorrow and he’ll see about getting

us set up with a regular site. This is one of the very best if not the best CG we’ve been in.

Tom’s slogan says it all: “The Park That Exceeds Your Expectations.” Here’s an example:

every new arrival gets a hearty greeting and a Pumpkin Spice Muffin delivered by Tom

himself. If that weren’t enough, Tom has spent the entire afternoon and into the evening

running up and down the drive trying to get something fixed on one of the camper’s vehicles.

Tom Guy is a very nice guy and it rubs off on his clientele. Everyone here is like family,

maybe better than some family.

So here we sit, typing up notes and watching Tom work. I’m halfway into my Southern Tier

Phin & Matt’s so I think I’ll say goodnight and finish off my beer … and get ready for some

Q’n’Fixin’s.

Saw:

More water … Tom said they had heavy rain Monday like we experienced in WV. The big

difference was the possible tornado that touched down ~3 miles up the road. As a

consequence, the New River is brown and full like the Greenbrier. The road to Fries

crosses over the New River on a bridge that isn’t very high – no river boats of consequence

in the area. As we drove across, we could see that the water was nearly up to the bottom

of the bridge - kind of neat and scary at the same time. Other than that, the other thing

of note today was our first sighting of a Mockingbird. Mockingbird

Black Vultures (lots more soaring around with their relatives, the Turkey)

Reflect:

Follow The Sun. We checked several weather reports both for where we were (WV) and

where we were going (VA). They were remarkably similar and showed today to be blustery

and cold - a much better day for driving than biking. The reports for the following few

days sealed the deal: sunny and warmer – great biking weather. Thus, we decided to Follow

The Sun and head to Galax VA and the New River Trail.

We had to make a critical decision. Was this primarily a bike trip or a touring trip?

Everything seemed to point toward it being a bike trip, at least in the first part. That

decision put us on busy US highways & Interstates, which we generally try to avoid.

Everything is a compromise of one sort or another and today we compromised in favor of

more biking in good weather. So far it seems to have been a good compromise.

We’ll have to make another decision when we leave Fries VA. Again, the choice will be

between biking and touring. This time we will probably pick touring. But where? Keep going

south, head to Coastal Carolina, what? We have a few days to figure it all out. But FOIST,

let’s ride bikes.

Ate:

Rib Tips, BBQ Beans & Broccoli Salad

Drive: End: New River RV Park, Fries VA

Arrive: 3:13

Temp (degrees): 46

Elev (ft): 2242

D (miles): 196

Mpg: 19.6 (Interstates, Mountains & Wind)

2017.10.26 … THU … 16: … New River RV Park, Fries VA … Up: 6:47 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 52/35/45 Weather: Sun & Clear Blue Sky all day

Did:

Let’s see, what did we do today? Oh yeah, we biked! This time it was the New River Trail

(NRT), which is just across the road from the CG. It was a cold start at 33o but there was

only a 1 mph wind. However, the ridges tend to channel the slight wind into the gaps

through which we were biking and 1 mph quickly became 5 or 10 mph – and always in our

face. It got up to 55o by early afternoon and around 75o in the sun. Otherwise, it was

another great fall day with wall-to-wall Sun. And tomorrow promises to be the same.

The first part of the ride follows the New River, one of the few that flow north, and not

at all new. In fact it is one of the oldest river valleys in the country, if not the world. The

river is clearly going down but still higher than we’ve ever seen it. We are in the Valley &

Ridge province, the rocks have been seriously abused and are sitting at high angles as a

result. There are riffles & rapids where the river cuts across particularly resistant strata.

Some of the bigger boulders have collected stacks of tree trunks washed down by the heavy

flow. Also on a boulder in the middle of the river was a very disgruntled-looking GBH:

water, water everywhere and not a fish to eat.

We came to Fries Junction about 5.5 miles down the river. This is where the Fries Spur

joins the main part of the NRT and also where Chestnut Creek joins the New River. We

took the section of trail that goes up Chestnut Creek to Galax VA where we did our

shopping yesterday. Galax Station is at the end of the trail and has some nice

appointments, the most impressive being the big, red Caboose, the decorated bass fiddle

and a wrought iron bench. The front and back of the bass was painted with images

germane to the town, mostly music and train themed. The bench has the town logo in its

back: a guitar pick outline with the words “Galax The Best Pick In Virginia” cut out inside.

The Caboose was just that, a Caboose, but interesting nonetheless.

We had lunch at a biker/horseman campground where we watched a family of Bluebirds

bugging in the pine trees. I had my binos on one high up in a tree when it dove down to

snatch a bug that was just a few feet above my head. It pulled up just before hitting me in

the face … or at least that’s what it looked like through the binos. It was quite an

interesting experience.

About halfway to Fries we stopped at a picnic table to adjust our clothing. Another couple

of our generation pulled in just as we were leaving. The man advised us that another couple

was coming up behind them. We assured him that we’d try not to collide with ‘em or

anything. We came across the second couple stopped in the trail and looking a little road-

weary. We pulled up to tell ‘em that their friends were just up ahead at a picnic table. Then

I leaned in and said, “They said you were a couple of slugs and don’t deserve to be on

the trail.” Fortunately, they laughed. The man pointed to our matching fluorescent yellow-

green windbreakers and asked if we were official trail people. I should have said: “Yeah,

you do something wrong?” But I just smiled and said that we are just day-bikers like

them. It was an interesting exchange. Janie said, “Thanks for the promotion, but that

sounds like work, so we’ll pass”, and so we did.

The CG was full last night and Tom had us park next to the office. When we got back this

evening, Tom had left a note on DALAS’ door saying we could move to #6 or #10. We

picked #6 because it is the most isolated. After being next to the office with lots of

traffic, both vehicular and people going to the bathrooms, we’re appreciating the privacy.

We took a shower after moving to #6 and then proceeded to go about our nightly routine:

typing notes and drinking beer. It’s another Southern Tier 2X Stout for me and I’m about

to close up shop to enjoy the rest of it. Cheers …

Saw:

We saw lots more water and beautiful river/creek valley. This is a beautiful section of trail;

so good in fact, we’ll be doing it twice if the weather cooperates. Other than that, we saw … GBH (sitting on a rock in the middle of the river looking disgruntled)

Veery (heard off in the woods)

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher (seen buggin’ in the trees)

Bluebirds (a bunch of ‘em)

Sassafras

Reflect:

I expect this is getting a bit repetitive but ... the bikes are great, the trails are wonderful,

the weather is nearly perfect and we are having a grand time. Our good fortune is almost

embarrassing. Ah, but we’ll gladly accept the gifts afforded us, and busy ourselves seeking

more good fortune in whatever form it takes. After every bike ride, we sit here with cheeks

made rosy by six hours of exposure and marvel at the sights we’ve seen and things we’ve

done. Just being in a natural setting is a soul-healing experience. Biking through miles of it

is even more rewarding. All of that is topped off by the very nice people we come across;

it’s like the cherry on a nice sundae. Yeah, life is good here on the road/trail. Wonder what

our future holds …

Ate:

More Q’n’Fixin’s

Bike Data: Trail: NRT: Fries to Galax

ST: 9:30

ET: 4:00

TT: 6:30

BT: 4:12

D (miles): 35.48

Mx (mph): 12.1

Avg (mph): 8.4

Drive: N/A

2017.10.27 … FRI … 17: … New River RV Park, Fries VA … Up: 6:22 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 6032/42 Weather: Sun but morning chill

Did:

It’s Friday and our 13th day of biking. Something’s gotta happen right? Well, it started off

by me discovering a dead Carolina Wren by DALAS’ rear tire. I don’t think it was any of our

doing. At home, they sometimes fly into the garage or barn and when I unknowingly close

the door, they end up starving to death. Something like that may have happened with

whoever camped in #6 last. We were encouraged to see and hear lots of living Carolina

Wrens on our ride today so the species will survive.

What else could go wrong on this 13th biking day? How about finding a dead Bat right in

the middle of the trail? It had a rusty-red, furry body and showed no sign of

maltreatment. It was just there in the trail waiting for us to discover it. Okay, that must

be the end of the bad luck, right? Nope, there was one more event to come. Read on and

you will find out what happened next.

It was all of 32o when we started out and a healthy coating of frost on the roofs in town.

Our cyclometers were likewise frosted over. I watched mine as we rode along and noted

that it didn’t completely melt off until 9:15. Today we were biking toward Foster Falls VA

where we took advantage of the large park for our lunch stop – and turnaround point. We

were again blessed with wall-to-wall sunshine that warmed things up to 70o by lunch time.

This part of the trail passes two dams: Byllesby (Hydro) and Buck (Flood Control), in that

order. Both had pooled large amounts of water, Byllesby the most. The two together had

stored so much runoff that downriver from Buck the river was pretty much as we remember

it in drier times. There is about a half-mile stretch where the bottom of the river is

exposed and it is very interesting to contemplate that the rest of the river bed looks like

that. Imagine you are a mouse navigating a rough cobblestone street and you’d have a good

idea of what it looks like.

There is a long, curving bridge over the river near Ivanhoe VA and that’s where we met up

with a couple from OH. They currently live around Ravenna OH, near Amish country. He is

retired from the ODOT and seems to have trucked around most of the state … and beyond.

For some reason, he mentioned that he was 65 years old on three occasions. I didn’t have

the heart to tell him that I wad ten when he was born. Nice people just driving around from

place to place and walking the trails.

There is a short tunnel a little before you arrive at Foster Falls VA. It is just long enough

that the light from either end doesn’t quite make it to the middle. Thus, there is a short

section of darkness and I swear the tunnel walls closed in on me as I biked through.

Before our second pass, I looked through the tunnel and it was a clear shot with equal

dimensions all the way through. But again, it felt like the walls were closing in. I immediately

thought about Halloween, a scant four days from today.

So here is the last 13th bike ride issue. Just after exiting the tunnel on our way back I

noticed Raven was behaving oddly. I looked down and saw the problem: FLAT Front Tire.

These being new bikes, I’d never changed a tire on ‘em so I was a little concerned. We were

15 miles from DALAS and it was getting kind of late. The front skewers are different

from the old bikes but, as luck would have it, they are actually easier to deal with. It also

turned out that getting the tire off and the inner tube out was easier than expected. I

pumped up the inner tube and had Janie test it with her sensitive cheek to find the leak.

There it was, just a tiny puncture. We’d marked the tire so we could match the leak with

the tread and possibly find the cause of the puncture. No sense patching the tube without

finding and removing the cause – otherwise you end up patching it again, and again, and

again … been there, done that, hope not to do it again.

We found no evidence of anything in the tire so I patched the tube and reinstalled it. Now

comes the hard part: pumping it up with our little hand pump. I could only get it up to

about 30 psi but that was sufficient to get us back to DALAS. Once back, I connected our

Slime Pump and checked all the tires. The other three have held their pressure (50 psi)

remarkably well. Tomorrow we’ll see if my patch job does as well.

Shortly after patching the tire, we came across the OH people again. We exchanged a

brief greeting and wished them well but begged off any extended conversation due to the

lateness of the day. Raven did very well with its damaged wing. These are great bikes and

we are putting them through their paces. We noted that the NRT surface was better than

we remember. In some places it is so smooth it’s almost like biking on pavement. Good trail,

great day – with a few Friday the 13th perturbations.

Saw:

Well, except for the flat tire, this was a surprisingly good ride; better than we recall from

previous rides on this section. We followed the New River all the way from Fries Junction

to Foster Falls with all its twists, turns, dams & rapids. That’s another thing about biking

trails that follow streams: the variety of sights & sounds … and … the wildlife that tend to

frequent waterways. We also got three FOTs … Hairy Woodpecker

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Pied Billed Grebe

Reflect:

Tomorrow’s weather doesn’t look good: we are on the eastern edge of a large cold-front

that extends all the way down to central TX. It’s predicted to pass through tomorrow and

generate some wind & rain as it goes by. If we bike before 8a, we would likely be rain free.

But it would still be dark and biking in the dark is just silly. After 8a, the probability of

precipitation increases 10% every hour until it tops out at 100% in the mid-afternoon.

Hmmm, we’ll just have to wait and see how tomorrow dawns.

The river cuts a resistant rock unit about halfway between the village of Fries and Fries

Junction on the trail. There are two especially large sections of the rock exposed in the

middle of the river. Thirty or so years ago, a Sycamore seed was stranded on each ‘island’

and, over the subsequent years, those seeds have produced two, maturing Sycamore trees.

The trees stand pretty much in the center of the rock islands and have the entire length

and breadth of the river in under their purview – a bit like Scylla & Charybdis.

Every time we bike this section of trail, I find myself contemplating those two

Sycamores. Although they are not sentient in the animal sense, I like to think of them as

seeing and witnessing all that has happened over the years: the floods, droughts, passing

flotsam & jetsam, the occasional Eagle that perch on their branches and scans the waters

below for a meal, the GBHs that do the same at the base of the trees. They’ve experienced

a lot since their little seeds sprouted … and I hope they last out the years and witness

more New River History.

Ate:

BBQ Beans – stand back … seek shelter … you’ve been warned

Bike Data: Trail: NRT: Fries to Foster Falls

ST: 8:45

ET: 4:45

TT: 8:00

BT: 5:03

D (miles): 45.01

Mx (mph): 14.0

Avg (mph): 8.8

Drive: N/A

2017.10.28 … SAT … 18: … New River RV Park, Fries VA … Up: 6:41 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 66/41/52 Weather: Overcast & Threatening

Did:

Good news: Raven’s patched wing is holding air. We’re good to go … but have to check the

weather report first. Hmmm, it looks surprisingly good or at least better than feared.

Guess we’ll give it a shot; our encore ride on the NRT. Wait. There’s a man running over

toward us. It’s Tom. He has a big rig coming in this afternoon and would like us to move to a

smaller site so they can use the BIG one we had last night. Hey, no problem; we’re nothing

if not mobile. Tom promised us another Pumpkin-Spice Muffin for our troubles. Deal. This

will be our third site in four days here at Tom’s NRT RV Park. We’re getting around.

It was much warmer this AM. The sky looked threatening but there was an occasional glint

of sunlight. As is our custom when rain threatens, we put on all our rain gear and hoped the

rain gods would leave us alone. Whatever, it is always easier to put on before the rain than

in the rain. Off we go, down the New River to Fries Junction and then up Chestnut Creek

toward Galax - a repeat of our first day. This is the prettiest section of the trail and

worthy of an encore.

When we got to Fries Junction, we met a couple who just happened to also be camping at

Tom’s. We recognized the woman whom we’d seen walking their dogs. They have a Kodiak

trailer similar to the one the Stells used to have. We learned they are from Beaufort SC

but have not yet tried Sgt White’s BBQ. We talked the good Sgt up and they invited us to

look them up next time we visit Beaufort; we can park DALAS in their driveway at 2

Country Club Lane. Yet another nice, friendly couple on the trail.

When we got to Chestnut Falls, we were surprised to find the little shelter and benches

unoccupied. This is a picturesque site and, consequently, well used. If I had a $1 for every

picture taken of the falls, well, I’d have to figure out what to do with my new-found riches.

We’d just settled in when a man walking his hound dog came up and started up a

conversation. He lives in a house just down the trail, up on the valley wall and normally

would be biking but couldn’t find the part to his hitch so he could mount his bike rack. He

went through all the good points of the trail and how businesses are starting to see the

value in providing accommodations for trail users. He offered up a suggestion for some good

eats up at the north end where there is a Mercantile with just about everything Uncle

John needs. He was wearing a ball cap with a picture of a bicycle and the words: “It’s Only

A Hill. Get Over It.” Yet another nice person met on the trail.

We didn’t go all the way to Galax, rather, we pulled into the Horseman CG where we had

lunch the first day. It was only 11:30 so we settled for a half lunch and saved the other

half for later. There were no Bluebirds today but we were joined by a Kingfisher, Song

Sparrow & GBH. Really a nice park, not as big as the one at Foster Falls, but bigger isn’t

always better, or so they tell me.

Amazingly, we found Chestnut Falls available on our return so we pulled in to have the other

half of our lunch. This time no one came in to talk to us so we got to enjoy the pretty

waterfall and surrounding scenery in solitude. We got back to Fries just as it started

misting; otherwise, it was a rain-free ride. Yay! We got another encore ride

And we did it all without Blazing Saddles or Jet Assist resulting from last night’s dinner.

I stowed our gear and racked & secured the bikes and then did our utilities in case

tomorrow morning is unpleasant. We’re ready to roll … to … dunno yet.

I’d just settled in to type up today’s notes and listen to the OSU-PSU game. I caught the

kickoff and PSU’s Barkley returning it for a TD. And that’s when the free WiFi crapped

out. I went down to report it to Tom and found him on a stool rebooting the router. Ah, but

that didn’t fix it so here I sit with nothing but an Oskar Blues Old Chub Scotch Ale to

soothe my nerves. I may not know what happened in the game until we get somewhere with

cell service tomorrow. I hope the Bucks win for Mikey’s sake.

Saw:

Still more pretty stream valleys and surrounding hillsides. This is yet another very nice

trail and we will continue to return as long as we can. So what did we see today? Not a lot

other than the scenery. Primrose (in fall bloom)

Reflect:

Today we did an encore ride on the fourth of our four favorite trails. The total mileage

for the trip: 494 miles. If we round off to 500, we’ve averaged 125 miles on each of the

trails. Other than a couple rainy days, the weather has been nearly perfect. There hasn’t

been as much wildlife as we’d like but what we encountered was a delight. Now it’s time to

focus more on touring than biking. There will be some biking but probably not as intensive.

Soooo...

Thank You:

The return ride today was a bit more emotional than previous trails because it is the last of

our Big Four. I found myself looking at things and thinking how thankful I am for all of it.

Thank you New River Trail; thank you New River & Chestnut Creek; thank you big ol’

trees; thank you ancient & deformed rocks; thank you Rhododendron & other woodland

plants; thank you wildlife; thank you nice people we met. All of these and more combined to

enrich our lives and nurture our souls. We are fortunate to be allowed to experience these

things.

Ate:

Pesto & Mixed Vegetables on Barilla Pronto Linguine (Thank you, Bawb, for introducing it to

us.

Bike Data: Trail: NRT: Fries to Horseman CG, near Galax

ST: 9:15

ET: 2:00

TT: 4:45

BT: 3:17

D (miles): 28.71

Mx (mph): 12.0

Avg (mph): 8.7

Drive: N/A

2017.10.29 … SUN … 19: … New River RV Park, Fries VA to Lake Powhatan NF CG,

Asheville NC … Up: 5:28 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/47/56 Weather: Rain, Overcast & Blustery

Did:

And we were off on the next part of our trip. We looked at maps, scanned weather reports

and decided our love of the Blue Ridge Parkway (BRP) outweighed all other alternatives. It’s

only about five miles outside of Galax so we were on it fairly quickly. Ah, Sunday on the

Parkway with Jane. It was glorious. The temperature hovered around the mid 30s with a

stiff N wind being particularly nasty in the gaps, one of which is appropriately named

Blowing Gap. We were driving on our own private road for most of the morning with only

two vehicles in the first 60 miles. Most of the morning was spent below the 3,300’ cloud

base so the views were pretty spectacular: a sea of trees mantling jagged mountains all

framed by a layer of gray-blue clouds.

It’s Sunday and time for our Sunday Brunch. Hmmm, we’re out of eggs and forgot to pick

up Eggbeaters at our last supply stop. Let’s just look for a good pullout and see if Janie can

come up with something. That’s when Jumping Off Rocks pullout presented itself. We’d

breakfast/lunched/snacked/gawked here before so it was a natural. So what did Janie

come up with? How about Boston Brown Bread toasted in a little butter and served up

with a side of Bacon? That woman of mine is ingenious.

While Janie wrestled the alligator, I amused myself with the scenery. There was a modern

mountain home perched on the tippy-top of the next knob and a sea of fall color in the

valley between us. As I gawked, I saw rusty-brown Oak leaves go whizzing by. What a thrill

for them. They were starting a journey that would include a drop of a few thousand feet

and a likely horizontal traverse of at least a half mile, probably more. The place is

appropriately named: Jumping Off Rocks.

The Sunday traffic started to pick up before we’d finished Brunch. Six vehicles pulled in

while we ate; most would just get out of their vehicles, walk to the overlook, take a few

pictures and drive off. Some also took a selfie to share with a few thousand of their

closest friends. Not one of them took the time to contemplate the scenery. It was just

click and go … they’ll look at it in the warmth of home I guess. Yeah, it’s a pet peeve of

mine. Deal with it.

Most of the traffic was associated with nearby Boone NC. Church was out, Sunday

breakfast over and they decided to go looking for fall color. Ha! The joke’s on them

because the fall color on ridges above 3,300’ were still encrusted in last night’s ice. And

the wind was whipping around small ice pellets and snowflakes, so it was more of a study in

black, white & gray rather than fall’s reddish-brown, golden yellow and brilliant red. No

problem, they took pictures of ice and snow and seemed to be having a good time doing it.

Our drive topped out at 5,680’ somewhere between the Mt Mitchell pullout and Craggy

Gardens. At that elevation, the blowing snow & ice got more serious and was accumulating

to a couple inches and everything was shrouded in ice fog. This is where we experienced

the lowest temperature of the day: 26o. It was kinda neat; an early winter experience. It

seems some of the locals were not so pleased with the experience; they were driving ten

miles slower than us and we go slow.

Traffic came to a halt about 15 miles from our destination. A few minutes later, here

comes a park ranger and a big fire-truck-like thing from which he extracted a large

chainsaw. Once the road was cleared, we could see the problem: a fairly big tree had fallen

into the road. Good thing no one was under it when it happened. We’d been passing

evidence of fairly recent tree-falls, maybe in the last month or so.

There was another slowdown about five miles beyond the downed tree. Apparently a branch

had fallen in the road but it was small enough for whoever discovered it to move. While we

were waiting in line, a guy on a big-wheel unicycle came up from the other direction. He

looked very comfortable on his uni and it was festooned with gear so we’re assuming he’s a

long-distance unicycler. So there ya go Jason; something to aspire to in your retirement.

The high today was all of 40o. We are now sitting in site #1 on the Big John Loop at

Powhatan NF CG, the same site we’ve used in the past. Little ice pellets are blowing around

and it is 39o in our outside compartment. The prediction is a low of 30o tonight, but I’m

expecting something in the upper 20s. We have an electric site ($17/night) and both space

heaters setup to keep us at a toasty 65-70o. All of our water is contained within the

vehicle so we should be okay. Oh, according to the weather map, this area is the coldest in

the eastern US. It’s probable referring to Mt Mitchell just a few miles north of us with its

6,000+ elevation. We’re a bit lower but still looking a lot like early winter. I wore fleece all

day, even in DALAS’ warm confines.

My Southern Tier Phin & Matt’s is beer-drawer temperature and tasting mighty fine.

Think I stop and sip it for a while.

Saw:

SNOW & ICE: once we topped 3,300’, we started seeing ice-encrusted trees on the ridge

tops above the BRP. There was more ice as we drove along the shoulder of Grandfather

Mountain but it got really interesting as we approached Mt Mitchell, the highest point in

the east. There was real blowing snow & grapple, enough to accumulate to 1-2”. As usual,

Craggy Gardens was enshrouded in a snow & ice fog. We driven this section many times and

have only seen Craggy Gardens once, and that was in January fergodsake. We certainly

couldn’t see it today; we could barely see the road.

Reflect:

We’ve driven the BRP many times but … recently it has been overrun with motorcycles.

Most of ‘em are kind and courteous but a few want to treat the winding road as their

personal track. The posted speed limit is 45 mph, but that doesn’t seem to apply to them.

I’d like it to say: Evolutionary Speed Limit 45 – Exceed It And You Will Be Removed

From The Gene Pool. It infuriates me so I’ll stop the tirade at this point. Well, I’ll stop

after this last addendum. Although we love the BRP, we’ve kind of given up on it because

of the traffic. However, today we made the calculation that the weather being such as it

was and the wind gusting strongly in the gaps … maybe the motorcyclists will stay down in

the warmer valleys. And they did; we only saw one the entire day. It was like driving our old

BRP again. Sure there were lots of Sunday leaf & ice peepers. But they were all moving

slow and enjoying the ambiance. Most of ‘em were actually driving slower than we do. They

kind of held us up this time. It was a good Sunday in the Park(way) with Jane.

Ate:

Spaghetti w/Romano Cheese on Pronto Linguini

Drive: End: Lake Powhatan NF CG, Asheville NC

Arrive: 2:29

Temp (degrees): 41

Elev (ft): 2258

D (miles): 198

Mpg: 21.0

2017.10.30 … MON … 20: … Lake Powhatan NF CG, Asheville NC to McKinney COE CG,

Acworth GA … Up: 6:12 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 66/33/42 Weather: SUN all day

Did:

Our one and only cell phone would not respond. It just lay there, dark and unresponsive. We

tried mouth-to-mouth but nothin’. Janie used her tablet (no phone chip) to search for a

nearby Verizon store. It seems we have to visit a Verizon at least once every trip. AT&T is

sounding better all the time. There were several Verizon stores in the Asheville NC area

and Janie picked one that was close to our CG … and next to an Ingles, which also had fuel.

It was a three-fer: Food, Phone, Fuel.

The Verizon store didn’t open until 9:30 but the Ingles did. We walked across the parking

lot to do some grocery shopping. Oh my, this is a big, new store to rival Wegmans best. We

did a little hunting & gathering and ended up with Cajun Roast Beef, Shredded Romano,

Broccoli Slaw & Gorgonzola Potato Salad, EggBeaters, Bread, Mixed Nuts, Smoked

Salmon in our little cart. I stowed our supplies while Janie took her phone into the repair

shop. The guy knew what the problem was right away; it seems common in these LG devices.

He did a soft reset and, viola; it was a working phone again. We thanked him and somehow

got into a brief discussion about religion before leaving. Hey, DALAS could use a feeding

and there’s an Ingles Fuel Station right there. With our Food, Phone & Fuel duties

complete, we were off toward Brevard NC.

To us, Brevard is associated with the Brevard Fault that sort of separates the Blue Ridge

from the Piedmont. This rather abrupt rock-type change results in falls & cataracts and is

referred to as the Fall Line. We had lunch in Gorges SP, which probably results from that

feature. Shortly after leaving the SP, we entered into SC, just crossing the western tip of

the state. Nearly all the rest of SC is in the Coastal Plain, which we caught glimpses of at

some scenic turnouts. After tomorrow, we will be in the Coastal Plain – and its ubiquitous

sand – until turning tail for home.

The Piedmont consists of very old rock that typically weathers to a Hematite-stained,

rusty-red color. When that rock turn into soil, you get the characteristic red clay of the

south – ah, yes, the Red Clay Ramblers. We passed several outcrops of these deeply-

weathered rocks and their associated soil. It’s part of the Piedmont Province and as we

head farther south will be buried beneath the on-lapped sands of the much younger

Coastal Plain. Geologic Provinces, don’t you just love ‘em?

We entered GA after crossing the Tugaloo River. It was a very pleasant drive all the way

to within about 50 miles of Atlanta. OMG, after that, it was traffic hell. Our purpose in

coming this way is the Silver Comet Trail that goes from Atlanta to the AL border where

it connects with the Chief Ladiga Trail. We’d done sections of these trails a couple times

and have learned that the section nearest to Atlanta is a no-no. They even have security

cameras along stretches of it and the scenery isn’t worth the risk. However, the part just

east of Rockmart GA and then west into AL is pretty nice. We’ve decided to focus our

attention on the AL side where there is a CG right on the trail. That will be tomorrow … and

why we subjected ourselves to the traffic hassles of this PM.

Our afternoon drive threaded between bedroom communities and their life-support

systems, i.e., shopping malls. There are several extant and more being constructed. New

malls need new road connections and that means Road Construction about every ten miles

or so. There are just too many people in this area and that leads to too much traffic and

hub-bub for us. We pushed through in an attempt to get to Agan’s Bakery in Cartersville

GA. Why? Because they have the best cookies we’ve found: Health Cookies. They are

basically large and luscious Oatmeal Cookies with some added healthful benefits. Don’t ask

what because we don’t know. What we do know is, since discovering them; we are willing to

go out of our way to get more.

The web info for Agan’s conflicted with their FB page – are they or are they not open on

Monday? Janie called ‘em up and, yes, they are open but … they don’t have any Health

Cookies. Recalculating … We bit the bullet and got on an Interstate to get to McKinney COE

CG in Acworth GA. And that’s where we are tonight. I’m working on another “gift” Guinness

and typing up these notes. It is a very pleasant 64o and the Sun is beginning to set behind

the ridge to our west. Ah …

Tomorrow we will see if Agan’s still does Health Cookies and whether the bike trail is

worth the hassle of getting here. If there are no cookies to be had, I’m thinkin’ the trail

isn’t enough to compensate for the stress.

Saw:

We are now in what is Exotic Terrain for us - lots of different trees and other plants and

increasingly different bird species. These are some of the main reasons we come to this

part of the country. We expect (hope) to be seeing a lot more FOT birds in the coming days

but for today, it was mostly trees & other plants. Kudzu

Live Oak

Magnolia

Palmetto

Loblolly Pine

Reflect:

We got in 200 miles of BRP yesterday and about 100 miles of very similar but not official

park-like roads today. Oh but if only all roads were like those. But they aren’t and people

have to make a living. That means towns & industry and that leads to congestion and what

amounts to ugliness in our eyes. It’s all in the perception of course. Those who populate

these metropolitan areas think of them as beautiful and useful. We are not in that group.

However, we avail ourselves of their services and products. All we have to do is take a

brief scan around DALAS and see all the manufactured goods that we use everyday …

things that make our traveling more comfortable, and in come cases, possible. If only these

goods and services could be done on, say, the Moon and leave all Earth free to be beautiful

in our sense. Basically, that’s the way it is. If we stay away from the big metropolitan

areas, we don’t see their effect. Unfortunately, as the satellite images of the US at night

show, there are many fewer natural areas than metropolitan areas. So be it. Maybe we

should have been born a century ago. Dunno. I do know that I’m glad I don’t have to deal

with the situation a century from now.

Ate:

Salmon w/Broccoli Slaw & Gorgonzola Potato Salad

Drive: End: McKinney COE CG #11, Ackworth GA

Arrive: 3:15

Temp (degrees): 64

Elev (ft): 934

D (miles): 216

Mpg: 20.2

2017.10.31 … TUE … 21: … McKinney COE CG, Ackworth GA to Chief Ladiga CG, Borden

Springs AL … Up: 6:09 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/46/52 Weather: Full Sun all day

Did:

It’s Halloween, the last day of October, and the end of our third week on the road. There’s

a thin layer of spooky-looking fog on the meadow but other than that, things are pretty

good. So how did the day unfold? Read on and find out.

We needed to dispose of our trash and the dumpster was at the dump station so we also

dumped our port-a-potty. We had water at our site and I’d filled up with water last night.

Chores done, we were off to find Borden Springs AL and the Chief Ladiga CG. But first,

Cartersville GA was right on our way and that just happens to be the home of Agan’s

Bakery and their best-in-all-the-world Health Cookies. We arrived at 8:30 to find the

bakery open but the meat market next door still shuttered until 9:30. While I guarded our

illegally-parked vehicle, Janie went to the bakery to score … a baker’s dozen cookies.

That’s twice as many as we’ve ever procured at one time … they are BIG (about four-inch

diameter and half-inch thick) and storage is a problem. Whatever, we’ll just eat ‘em up if we

have to … they will not go to waste … waist maybe, but not waste. So what makes these

cookies so ‘healthful’? It is more what they don’t have than what they do. They are

basically a large Oatmeal Cookie complete with cranberries and walnut chips. What they

don’t have is sugar. All the other cookies we get are too damned sweet – and that goes for

the other pastries as well. We did once get some real French pastry in a tiny Kansas town.

The lady was a military bride and opened a small bakeshop in what was her remodeled front

porch. Those pastries were delightfully not sweet … as are the Health Cookies.

After Cartersville GA, we headed to Rockmart GA where we filled up DALAS and then on

to Cedartown GA to pick up our connector to Borden Springs AL, which is basically just a

dot on the map with nothing to justify it other than the Chief Ladiga CG. We parked

DALAS by the pretty little creek and had our granola while getting the bikes ready to roll.

The CG is right on the Chief Ladiga Trail, so we made the connection and biked back toward

Cedartown GA. After seven miles we arrived at the GA/AL state line where there is a nice

arch-gateway and some picnic tables. The Chief Ladiga becomes the Silver Comet Trail

once you cross into GA and it goes all the way to Atlanta, some 60 miles away. That plus the

40 miles of the Chief Ladiga means you can get a century if you do both in one day. We

didn’t and never will. Who wants to go to downtown Atlanta on a bike or any other

conveyance? We know from experience that the section of trail we did today is the best of

the lot so that’s what we concentrated on.

Both trails are paved and that makes biking about 10-20% easier. Neither trail follows a

stream like our other trails. However, they do wind around between Piedmont knobs and

have some gentle but long grades. Some of them are up to a mile long and steep enough to

coast most of the distance. Our new bikes are so good that we didn’t realize we were going

up grade until we found ourselves coasting on the same section coming back. We stopped at

the state-line trail-junction for lunch. Janie pulled a fast one on me by fixing us a half-

lunch of Garlic Bologna and a half-lunch of Cajun Roast Beef. It was an aromatic & spicy

affair and very well received.

So here we sit in an unmarked site so I can’t give you a number. There are just picnic

tables, fire pits & garbage cans here and there to indicate the sites. We’re within 20

yards of a babbling stream and WeTOOT in the backwoods of Alabama … wait, here comes

a biker with a pull-behind. Hello, I’m Phil, she’s Janie … she introduced herself as KJ. She

has all her gear in the pull-behind … and an old-looking Dachshund mix. Both she & the dog

were very placid and friendly. If it works like two years ago, around dark an old man, er,

country gentleman, will drive up in an equally old pickup to collect our rent. With any luck

he’ll unlock the bathhouse and turn on the heat so we can take a shower in the morning.

Right now, I’m about to close the book on today and revel in the goodness of my Mendocino

Imperial Stout.

Saw:

We were biking near and sometimes through the Talladega NF with its mixed pine and

hardwoods. Nearly all the hardwoods were unknown to us. The trail was littered with tiny

acorns from an Oak we didn’t recognize. When we got back, we discovered that DALAS was

parked under one. I got out the tree book and IDed it as a Water Oak. Prove me wrong ;-)

We did recognize the Persimmon at our lunch stop. It had fruit both in the tree and on the

ground. The trail had some Mimosa-looking things sporadically along the edges. I tried to

look it up to no avail. Maybe it’s an escapee. Dunno. The most exotic plant we saw was

Cotton. We first passed a field that had been picked and chopped. Later we saw one with

the snowy-white cotton balls still attached. I long to see one of these Cotton fields in the

Moonlight.

As for FOT birds, here’s what we got: Brown Thrasher

Kestrel (odd to not see one long before)

GBH (looking for dinner at the creek by our campsite)

Cotton

Persimmon

Water Oak

Reflect:

We are definitely in the backwoods of AL. The campground is really very nice and seems a

little out of place. It has no facilities other than a bathhouse (currently locked) and large

areas of nicely mowed grass with picnic tables, fire ring & trash can. Oh yeah, there’s the

pretty creek flowing through. This is our fourth time in the CG and first time we have had a

neighbor. It’s all just a little weird but very convenient … and the only show in town as far as

accommodations on or even near the trail.

Today’s ride was nice but we wonder if it’s worth the hassle of dealing with the environs of

Atlanta to get here. I doubt we’ll do it again unless we find a better way of getting here …

more back roads and fewer over-crowded state highways and Interstates. I’ll have my

navigator work on it ;-)

Ate:

Thai Coconut Curry w/Tilapia & Peas on Whole Grain Brown Rice (and a Health Cookie for

bedtime snack)

Bike Data: Trail: Chief Ladiga & Silver Comet: CG to Silver Comet MP53.5; CG to Chief Ladiga MP10.5

ST: 11:00

ET: 4:30

TT: 5:30

BT: 4:12

D (miles): 38.36

Mx (mph): 13.7

Avg (mph): 9.1

Drive: End: Chief Ladiga CG, Borden Springs AL

Arrive: 10:07

Temp (degrees): 45

Elev (ft): 836

D (miles): 62

Mpg: 20.6

2017.11.01 … WED … 22: … Chief Ladiga CG, Borden Springs AL to Cotton Hill COE CG,

Ft Gaines GA … Up: 5:30 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 57/44/52 Weather: Mostly Sunny w/increasing Strata Cirrus

Did:

It’s the first day of November and we are starting our fourth week on the road … and still

giddy as school kids about it. Laissez Bon Temps Roller …

We got up way before dawn, had our morning beverages and hit the showers. AL is on

Central time and Sunday everything switches over to Daylight Savings or Standard, or is it

daylight squandering or substandard … who can keep track of these silly things? Whatever,

it’s too confusing for us to deal with; we just go by the sun and what we call DALAS

Standard Time (DST), which is what I’ll use for the rest of the trip. Goldanged gummet

messin’ with our time!

Drive South … Touring In AL: Janie put us on a series of county roads that were very

good: little traffic, 40 mph limit. About halfway along the route it was time for breakfast –

look, there’s a nice little church with a large, paved parking area. Hunh, it is just outside

Ranburne AL and advertises itself as the Bethlehem Campground United Methodist.

Campground sounds like us and the bellowing cows across the road made us feel right at

home. The county roads took us to a series of state routes that were better than expected

and those eventually disgorged us onto a pretty good four-lane, limited-access US highway.

All of ‘em took us along the eastern edge of AL with GA just across the river.

We did this drive two years ago and knew where the US highway led: Eufaula AL, a very

southern town with hints of New Orleans. As you enter town, the big four-lane road

narrows to a skinny four-lane lined with Live Oaks and huge, Old South mansions. Two rows

of Live Oaks line each lane of traffic, enclosing all who pass in a tunnel of graceful

branches. It reminds me of my drive through a similar Live Oak colonnade in Biloxi back in

the 60s. My eyes were huge; I’d never seen anything so beautiful … until today.

Somewhere along the drive we dropped off the Piedmont onto the Coastal Plain, which isn’t

really a plain because it’s old enough to be dissected by streams. But the SAND is a dead

giveaway like Mistletoe, Pecan trees, Cypress, Spanish Moss and … Boiled Peanuts. And …

mo’ Cotton – Cotton in the field ready to be picked; Cotton already picked and rolled into

big bales; Cotton in trucks heading to the gins. Cotton may no longer be king but it is

certainly a member of the royal family. Many of the homes show the characteristic

southern architecture and the Court Houses are just beautiful.

Here’s one for ya. Because she’s sensitive to such things, Janie noticed a sign advertising

a private campground that pointed down a dirt (sand) road. When she looked down the road

there was another, much bigger sign reading: Road Subject To Sudden Catastrophic

Collapse By Sink Hole Formation. How would you like to be the owner of that campground?

Needless to say, I kept a closer watch on the road ahead after that.

We pulled into Cotton Hill COE CG a little after 1:00 (DST), and registered for our

favorite site: #53. It’s our favorite because it is close to a back bay where water birds like

to hunt. The first time we camped here, we got to watch a Wood Stork work its way all

around the bay. Once abundant, Wood Storks are now becoming rare due to loss of habitat

(among other issues), so it was a thrill to be able to watch one doing its thing within a few

yards of our campsite. This year, we saw no wood stork, though we enjoyed the kingfisher,

great egret and great blue heron fishing there.

It was a glorious day and very Southern. Languid is the word that comes to mind; the kind

of weather that makes people move to lower latitudes. We are now sitting out at our picnic

table, typing notes and watching birds. There are almost no bugs, so it’s just about a

perfect situation. I’m knee-deep into a Full Sail Amber (thanks, again, JenM) and about

ready to watch the Strata Cirrus glow reddish as the sun sets slowly in the west. Cheerio

Cherrylips, Cheerio, as Dr Demento used to say.

Saw:

We’re in the SOUTH, baby. We’re in the land of Cotton and will be for another couple

days. We took a little walkabout in the CG to check out birds and trees. We are way more

familiar with the former and that makes the latter frustrating (but so was the former

originally; former/latter whatever, get on with it). This is especially true of the Oaks. Just

open a tree book to the Oaks and check out how many different leaf structures they have.

They are like chameleons, changing their leaf structure according to the environment.

Yesterday we zeroed in on Water Oak; today, we got a Laurel Oak. Then there are the

Pines … we’re pretty sure about Loblolly and Longleaf but some of the others … Here’s

today’s list of stuff: Killdeer

Osprey Nests

Great Egret

American Coot

Double Crested Cormorant

Horned Grebe

Blackburnian Warbler

Mistletoe

Pecan Tree

Bald Cypress (Pond Cypress)

Spanish Moss

Longleaf Pine

Laurel Oak

Reflect:

These exotic-to-us terrains are both fascinating and frustrating. It is great to be

immersed in a different habitat but humbling when you realize how little you know about

it. We are pretty excited about getting into the southern climes with the greater variety

of birds, especially water birds. But it is a little off-putting to be walking along the shore

and see a sign to Beware of Alligators. We haven’t seen any yet but we’ll be seeing plenty of

‘em a few days from now. Yep, Alligators are exotic, as are the Burmese Pythons that now

inhabit parts of FL. We won’t get that far south so it shouldn’t be an issue. However, there

is a bike trail we’ve seen that looks like a narrow path through a tropical jungle. We’ve

always looked at it and shuddered. Maybe we’ll get our nerve up and give it a go this time.

We’re in a bit of a holding pattern, waiting for the weekend to pass before venturing into

the Gulf area. We know places like Saint Joseph SP and Wakulla tend to fill up if the

weather is good. Hmmm, we haven’t had reliable enough cell connection to check on the

tropical storm situation. Hope we aren’t driving into one. Anyway, we’ll probably be in FL by

Sunday at the latest.

Ate:

Chili w/Rotel Tomatoes

Hike Data: Trail: Cotton Hill COE CG

ST: 2:30

ET: 4:15

TT: 1:45

D (miles): 2.23

Drive: End: Cotton Hill COE CG #53, Ft Gaines GA

Arrive: 1:17

Temp (degrees): 75

Elev (ft): 236

D (miles): 197

Mpg: 21.3

2017.11.02 … THU … 23: … Cotton Hill COE CG, Ft Gaines GA … Up: 6:44 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 65/60/64 Weather: Sun w/some clouds, more humid

Did:

We are in southern GA on the banks of a large, linear lake formed by a dam on the

Chattahoochee River … and there are several back bays with shallow areas preferred by

water birds. It’s warm and the best word to describe the weather is … mellow. Let’s go

looking for birds. And that’s what we did … after Sunday Brunch on Thursday.

We broke camp and drove six miles to Sandy Branch Picnic Area where Janie whipped up

another batch of French Toast slathered in Sugarbush Dark Maple Syrup with a side of

Bacon. I’m not worthy … but I won’t turn it down. The Picnic area is on the bank of a back

bay littered with Pied Billed Grebes. We saw an immature Bald Eagle snatch something

from the water and take it to the darkness of the trees to eat. Later a pair of mature BEs

briefly took a perch in a tree right next to DALAS. Once they saw us, they took off,

however. It was a great morning. What are we going to do with the rest of the day?

Hippo Bird Day 2 Us: We unleashed Blaze & Raven and took a slow ride around the CG …

twice. In that time, we managed to see 25 different bird species, 6 of ‘em First of Trip.

The two most noteworthy were Wood Storks and White Ibis. As I mentioned yesterday,

Wood Storks are becoming harder to find so today’s sighting was a real bonus. The biggest

concentration of birds was in the shallows at the mouth of Sandy Branch. We were biking

on what amounts to the floodplain of the creek and they keep it mowed so it looks a bit like

a golf course. The place where we found the Wood Storks & Ibis was opposite site #39,

which just happened to have a fairly open view of the embayment. We decided to move

there for tonight and have been favored with more good views of birds. And, as an added

bonus, there are no other campers in sight; WeTOOT, almost. Oh, in case you don’t recall,

WeTOOT stands for We (were) The Only Ones There. It was the best bird day we’ve

had so far … and there will be more to come as we progress southward toward the Gulf. Oh,

it got up to 80o today and supposed to be 90o tomorrow. And just a couple days ago we

were in ice and snow.

Done biking and birding, what next? Lunch! Janie whipped up a batch of Tuna Salad that we

enjoyed while watching the birds out in the shallows. Lunch is over; now what? How about

changing the sheets, pruning my beard, trimming my nails, taking a shower and putting on

clean clothes? Done. Now we are sitting at the picnic table, typing up notes … and I’m

greatly enjoying my Founders Porter from Grand Rapids MI. The sun is sinking behind the

tall trees and the evening chill is setting in. Time to go inside and finish my brewhaha …

Saw:

Birds … lots of birds. We are where the woods meets the water and the varied habitats

means lots of different birds. I decided to keep a day list and, as you see below, it was

noteworthy as were some of the individual sightings. Check ‘em out … Bald Eagle (2 mature, 2 immature)

Pied Billed Grebe

Double Crested Cormorant

Mockingbird

Great Blue Heron

Little Blue Heron (FOT: mature & white immature)

Great Egret

Crow

Red bellied Woodpecker

Phoebe

Carolina Wren

Turkey Vulture

Black Vulture

Kingfisher

Blue Jay

Yellow Bellied Sapsucker

Mourning Dove

Pileated Woodpecker

American Coot

Wood Stork (FOT: 6, mix of mature & immature)

Mallard

White Ibis (FOT: 12 or so, mix of mature & immature)

Common Gallinule (FOT) Janie insists on calling it by its former name Moorhen

Green Winged Teal (FOT)

Pine Warbler (FOT)

Alligator (smallish in the water)

Buckeye Butterfly

Zebra Longwing Butterfly

Tulip Tree Beauty Moth

Reflect:

We seem to be attracted to shallow-water embayments … and swamps … because they

usually produce the most wildlife. That was certainly the case here. The bike outing took us

to every water view the CG has to offer and, although many were populated by birds, they

were mostly concentrations of one species or another: Coot, Grebe, or Cormorant. The

backwater at the mouth of Sand Branch had a much wider variety of birds, so much so we

moved our campsite to that location. We usually go to St Joseph Peninsula SP, and may this

time as well. The peninsula is open Gulf waters on the west and back bay on the east. We

spend almost all of our time in the bay side because that’s where the birds are. We went to

St George SP once and found it to be all Gulf water and a bit boring for us. Our good

friends, the Stells, prefer the Gulf water because they surf fish. Many other friends and

family prefer the beach for its relaxation and beauty. I’m a skin cancer candidate … the

sunny beach is not for me.

Yep, we are backwater people and likely will continue to be. For example, we are sitting at

our picnic table watching ten Wood Storks gathering up an evening snack before roosting in

the trees for the night. The Great Egrets, Gallinules, GBHs, LBHs, Green Winged Teal,

and Turtles are our neighbors for the evening. But the White Ibis just took off for their

roosting place … and we are about to do the same. It is a most appropriate ending to the

day.

I just looked up and see, in the dusk, the bright, white Wood Storks and … about six White

Tail Deer. It brings joy to our hearts … we are simple people who enjoy simple pleasures.

And just now, the Hunter’s Moon popped up from the tree line. It’s nearly full and shining

brightly down on us and the deer in our ‘backyard’ … it just keeps getting better and

better.

Ate:

French Toast slathered in Sugarbush Dark Maple Syrup with a side of Bacon

Tuna Salad

Chicken Marsala on Rotini w/portabella mushrooms, canned, but surprisingly good!

Bike Data: Trail: Cotton Hill CG (2 laps)

ST: 11:20

ET: 2:10

TT: 2:50

BT: 1:13

D (miles): 7.40

Mx (mph): 15.6

Avg (mph): 6.0

Drive: End: Sandy Branch Picnic and back to Cotton Hill CG

Arrive: 11:06

Temp (degrees): 66

Elev (ft): 251

D (miles): 12

Mpg: 20.4

2017.11.03 … FRI … 24: … Cotton Hill COE CG, Ft Gaines GA to East Bank COE CG,

Chattahoochee GA … Up: 6:58 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 64/59/65 Weather: Sun all day

Did:

It was a bit of a slow morning. Fortunately, we didn’t have far to go and things worked out

just fine. On our way out, we drove through Fort Gaines GA and right past Rubo’s, which

Janie recognized by a sign near the CG. Rubo’s started out as a meat market/butchershop

and later expanded into a full-service grocery specializing in local and unique products.

We’ve been looking for some Brats or some such sausage item but it seems Ham is king

down here in the south. Well, that all changed with one pass through Rubo’s meat counter.

Janie picked up a package of their fresh-ground sausage with a simple, two-part label: the

price and HOT. Sounds good, put it in the basket. Janie instructed me to pick out another

package of my liking while she tracked down some mixed vegetables. Okay, here’s one

labeled Zummo’s Boudain Sausage from East Texas. In the basket it goes. I found Janie

standing in front of the mixed vegetables looking a bit confused. Hmmm, usually you have a

choice between big or small package; that’s it. Not here, there were a couple shelves of

packages with slightly different varieties and radically different sizes. We settled for a

smallish, normal one (no okra) and moved on to collect an Onion, some Bananas and a few

other things I can’t now recall. Nice little grocery with lots of interesting things … items

we’d never seen before.

Here are three items for the Things You Rarely See category:

#1: We’ve all seen a Car Wash and even a Truck Wash but have you ever seen a Pet Wash?

Well, we did. It was just across the street from Rubo’s with a big sign declaring it to be

Happy Pet Wash. Wonder of wonders. There certainly are a lot of dogs in this part of the

country. We’ve seen dozens every day; noticeably fewer cats, maybe one or two every few

days. This is certainly dog country, though the dogs don’t look like they’ve been to any Pet

Wash other than a romp in the swamp.

#2: Driving along country roads you expect to see roadkill. It is usually identified by

Vultures or Crows pecking at the carcass while dodging the traffic so they don’t become

what they are trying to eat – it happens. We’ve seen several roadkill Deer, Opossums,

Raccoon, Squirrel and the occasional Dog but we’ve never ever seen a roadkill Beaver – until

today.

#3: We took a walk around the CG starting out hugging the shoreline and scanning for birds

and other wildlife. There were several large rafts of Coots all cooing away and feeding in

the shallows. As we stood watching them and watching for Eagles seeking a target of

opportunity, we noticed a solitary Coot paddling directly for shore. You almost never see

Coots alone because there is safety in numbers when Eagles are about, so this act of

independence caught our attention. It was making a direct line for the shore just a few

yards from where we were standing and we could see it open its beak as though it were

going to make a call but no sound was emitted. It was more of a gasp and it did it

repeatedly. We watched it duck in under some rip-rap and we walked over to see what was

happening. We could see turbulence under the overhanging rock as though it were thrashing

about. We moved to get a better vantage point and saw it … lying there belly up with no

motion. It was dead. Why? Most likely it wasn’t a natural death. More likely it had

swallowed some jetsam and was either choking on it, dying of starvation or poisoned by

something it ate. Whatever, the wonder is that it chose to come to the shore to die. Kind

of a sad scene to witness.

Janie put us on a series of County and State roads that took us from GA to AL then to FL

and back to GA. That sort of thing happens when you are the pucker-point of three states

with a big lake separating them. The COE dammed the Apalachicola River forming Lake

Seminole on the shore of which we now sit. To get here, we had to go into FL to get to the

CG from which we can see both FL and AL just across the way. Worse, our devices can see

AL, FL and GA and keep switching from Eastern to Central time. Hey, does anybody really

know what time it is? Does anybody really care? Getting here, we passed through a lot of

southern farmland. The crops here are very different from what we are used to. No corn

or soybeans; rather we passed more Cotton fields and stands of Longleaf Pine destined to

be turned into paper products. In between those major plantings were pastures with cattle

and the rare but interesting little patches of Sorghum.

Eventually, we ended up in Chattahoochee GA East Bank COE CG where we found a nice

attendant who said, “Sure, there a still a few sites available.” Our preferred site was

already occupied so we settled for #31, which is just fine. There is a small marshy area

within a few yards of our pad and we’ve already scored two FOT birds: Little Green Heron

& Red Winged Blackbird (oddly not seen previously). Our only issue is lack of shade but

that’s the same problem with our preferred site. We have air conditioning and know how to

use it.

The sun is setting across the lake and casting shades of pink on the water and the white

belly of the Great Egret working the marshy area by our site. Ah, Nature.

Saw:

It was around 1:00 DALAS time and we were both a little tired. Hey, let’s just set up camp

and take a little lie-down. Ah, very refreshing, now we can take a little walkabout and see

what we can find … in the heat of the day. Although it wasn’t as productive as yesterday,

we did turn up six more First Of Trip birds. Palm Warbler (FOT)

House Finch (FOT)

Field Sparrow (FOT)

Red Winged Blackbird (oddly, FOT)

Little Green Heron (FOT & right at our campsite)

Spotted Sandpiper (FOT)

Mockingbird

Great Egret

Little Blue Heron

American Coot (large rafts of ‘em, one dead)

Double Crested Cormorant

Common Gallinule/Moorhen (right at our campsite)

Bald Eagle (2 mature, 1 immature)

Mourning Dove

Belted Kingfisher

Carolina Wren

Eastern Phoebe

Chickadee (Black Capped or Carolina ??)

Blue Jay

Gulf Fritillary

Zebra Longwing

Bats (working over the marsh by our campsite)

Reflect:

As we drove past a sea of Kudzu, the following scenario popped into my head:

Scene: Somewhere in the south around the middle of the 20th Century there were a couple

highway engineers puzzling over a slumping road cut. It hasn’t collapsed but they knew it

was just a matter of time. The headman sips his coffee while pondering the situation. The

flunky mutters about some fast-growing vine that they use in the Orient to hold back loose

soil. The comment catches the headman’s attention long enough to ask what it’s called and

where he heard about it. After a long pause, the guy says, “Cud-something and I read it in

Highway Beautiful or Southern Living … something like that.” The next day the headman

researched the topic, found a vendor and ordered up a batch. Three weeks later it arrives

and they go about planting in on the troubling road cut. A month later, they return to see

how it’s progressing. “Hey, where’s the town?”

Ate:

Granola w/Banana & Walnuts

Half Cajun Roast Beef Sandwich

Rubo’s “Stealth Sausage” with the simple label: HOT, and Broccoli Salad

Hike Data: Trail: East Bank COE CG

ST: 2:15

ET: 4:30

TT: 2:15 (0:52 walking time)

D (miles): 1.82

Drive: End: East Bank COE CG #31, Chattahoochee GA

Arrive: 12:21

Temp (degrees): 75

Elev (ft): 274

D (miles): 90

Mpg: 22.0

2017.11.04 … SAT … 25: … East Bank COE CG, Chattahoochee GA … Up: 7:09 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 66/61/66 Weather: Sun all day; 80o w/slight breeze

Did:

BALAS: Today we spent nearly the entire day Biking Around Looking At Stuff (birds,

butterflies, trees, etc.). The CG is smaller than Cotton Hill but it connects to a road that

goes to the dam and then back to the spillway and beyond to the Chattahoochee Municipal

Park. We biked it all and the CG three times. The lake is mostly populated with Cormorants,

Coots & Grebes but Janie spotted a few ‘different looking’ birds that, after straining our

eyes, proved to be Lesser Scaup. One thing we didn’t need to strain our eyes for was the

big Alligator hanging in the water and staring back at us.

We returned to DALAS for lunch and settled in a shady spot to see what we could see. We

got a very good view of a Palm Warbler and close inspection with the telescope revealed

two – only two – Redhead Ducks mixed in with a raft of Coots. Yay! That pretty much made

our day. Around 4p we set out again to do a circuit of the CG but there were people at the

places where we had sat and watched yesterday & today so we just kept biking until it was

shower time.

After our showers, Janie took up residence outside while I sat in the air conditioning and

typed up these notes. Okay, I’m drinking a Southern Tier 2X Stout and checking the OSU-

IA game ... it’s not going too well for the Buckeyes.

Saw:

A lot of lake and river and a lot of fisherpeople and others just out for a nice Saturday

outing. And we also got five FOTs …. Fish Crow (FOT, probably saw them at Cotton Hill as well)

Lesser Scaup (FOT)

Snowy Egret (FOT)

Redhead Duck (FOT)

Alligator (big one in the water looking at us)

Reflect:

After re-reading some of my drivel, it seems like I should explain how we eat. The half

sandwich thing is mostly for driving days when we are not doing anything physical. We’ll stop

and have a half and hope we can forget about the other half. It works about half the time.

At home and on the road, our dinners consist of two half-servings. We settle in with the

first half. Evaluate it and see if it needs any fine-tuning then eat it up, yum. After that, we

sit and talk a bit (or watch the news at home), sip some wine and get ready for the second

serving. The two servings is why we can have Broccoli Salad (first serving) and Potato Salad

(second) at the same meal. It tends to work pretty well for us. We eat a little less and

enjoy it a little more. There is a rule for our eating: we must spend as much time enjoying

a meal as Janie spent preparing it … maybe a little more.

Our traveling meals are prepared on a two-burner propane-stove (very much like a

Coleman). Janie is the master of the one-pot dinner and that’s what she usually serves up.

Once cooked, she scoops out a quarter for each of us. Now comes the magic. A few years

ago Charlene (of BAWB’n’Char) sent us a nifty little hunk of rounded metal that fits on top

of our stove burner. Just before our meal is ready to serve, Janie puts what I call the

heat-coaster on the burner, under the pot and lets it get hot. Then she turns off the fire,

doles out our first serving and lets the rest sit on the warm metal heat-coaster. It keeps it

nice and warm for the duration of our meal. We like it so much, we bought a second one –

just in case Janie ever makes a two pot meal. Thanks, Char, it was a grand idea … and gift.

Ate:

Granola w/Banana & Walnuts

Half Cajun Roast Beef Sandwich & end of Broccoli Salad

Big Ol’ Salad w/Tuna (for me), Chickpeas (for Janie)

Bike Data: Trail: East Bank COE CG to Dam to Chattahoochee Park

ST: 9:30 & 4:00

ET: 1:45 & 4:30

TT: 4:45

BT: 1:58

D (miles): 12.01

Mx (mph): 18.1

Avg (mph): 6.1

Drive: N/A

2017.11.05 … SUN … 26: … East Bank COE CG, Chattahoochee GA to St Joseph Peninsula

SP, Port St Joe FL … Up: 7:30 (DALAS Time) Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 67/61/68 Weather: Sun all day

Did:

Today was the Fall Back time change and if that weren’t confusing enough, we are right on

the CT/ET line … and crossed it a few times during the drive. At one point it was 8:00 in

FL, 9:00 in GA and 10:00 in DALAS (DALAS Standard Time). Some of our clocks &

devices automatically changed but the manual ones are still on Eastern Daylight Savings

(EDS) Time. And the automatic ones change depending on where the signal is coming from:

as Dalas turns, the time changes. Unless it gets too confusing, I’m going to keep using EDS

because our next trip will be after March when we Spring Forward again. For the rest of

this trip, we will be on DALAS Standard Time – if as our feeble brains can keep it straight.

We spent most of the day on County & State roads sort of swimming upstream in terms of

traffic. Apparently, lots of people spent their weekend at the Gulf beaches and were

heading home as we sought to replace ‘em. They seemed to be in a hurry, probably trying to

get home to catch the 1:00, 2:00 or 3:00 NFL game start – depending on where they live.

I’d think it would be a little confusing here on the border of two time zones. It certainly is

for us.

Let’s see, what crops did we pass today? That’s simple, it was almost entirely stands of

Longleaf Pine Pulp Wood with just a couple Cotton fields thrown in. We were fortunate to

be driving through on a Sunday, otherwise there would likely be lots of big Log Trucks

hauling recently cut and de-limbed carcasses of these otherwise majestic trees. Think

about it the next time you use a paper towel, piece of writing paper or … you know, those

little square sheets that come on a roll.

We had our breakfast in Blountstown FL at their small Azalea Pear Park/Playground. It

was 75o already at some time depending on our zone and if they remembered to Fall Back. A

bit farther down the road, we entered Wewahitchka FL, home of Lanier Tupelo Honey and

setting for Ulee’s Gold, the movie. On a previous trip, we sought out the Lanier house where

the movie was filmed (or is it recorded? No, it’s an old movie so it was likely film, not

digital).

Next it was Port St Joe, the town where we stopped to pick up some supplies at the now

well-known-by-us Piggly Wiggly. Not a bad store; it was loaded with after church people all

lined up at the deli where they were pickin’n’choosin’ from a variety of delicious-looking but

very fattening entrées. We were down to a half tank of diesel but the one station listing it

had tape over the pump. Hope that isn’t a sign of things to come.

Now for the reason we are here: St Joseph Peninsula SP. As we drove around the bay and

out the peninsula we noticed a sign proclaiming this to be the Park’s 50th Anniversary … and

a big celebration at Eagle Harbor, right in the middle of the park. That meant lots of

traffic and people to scare off the wildlife. Festivities ended at 4p and we are hoping the

birds come back out tomorrow. There were a few campsites available for us to pick from so

we did the thing I hate: drive around evaluating each possible site. It eats up fuel and

usually results in a less than perfect decision anyway. We settled on #81 and that is where

we sit, under Slash Pines, nestled in amongst stands of Cabbage & Saw Palmetto on a pad

of crushed-shell gravel … and all of 13’ above sea level. We’ve come a long way down from

the mile-high Blue Ridge.

After settling DALAS in her spot, we had half of a Garlic Bologna sandwich with a fig

chaser and prepared to bike away the rest of the afternoon. Oy, lots of people. Those

attending the 50th Celebration were enhanced by the weekend campers heading out and

their replacements coming in. Not a good day for birds or biking but we did it anyway. We

literally saw more Butterflies than birds; maybe tomorrow will be better.

Let’s see is my Troegs Troegenator Double Bock half empty or half full? Let’s call it half

full, so now it is time to wrap this up and pay a little closer attention to that last half …

Saw:

Seawater: we are on a peninsula with a N-S long-dimension and pointing across the bay to

Port St Joe, the town. The east side of the peninsula is back bay and to the west is the

Gulf … as far as you can see. The 50th Anniversary celebrating and it being Sunday meant

there were few birds to be seen. There were more Butterflies flitting about than birds

today. Maybe tomorrow, when the human activity settles down, we’ll be able to see more.

But for today, only one FOT: Loggerheaded Shrike (FOT)

Butterflies: Monarch, Gulf Fritillary, Buckeyes and others unIDed

Reflect:

We are back in the Forgotten Florida, that part of the Gulf Coast between Cedar Key FL

and Pensacola FL. It’s the only part of FL we visit any more; the rest is pretty much lost to

development and tourists. The last time we went to South Florida, we couldn’t even find a

parking place in the big lots at Shark Bay – the north side of the Everglades – on a

weekday. Things are a bit quieter here, or at least they used to be. We are immersed in

exotic-to-us terrain and thoroughly enjoy our brief stay in these coastal locations.

However, we wouldn’t want to live here. It just isn’t us.

It seems so strange to think back about the various habitats we’ve passed through. I’m

sitting here smack-dab in the middle of a forest of Palmetto leaves and Janie is in the back

watching birds & squirrels coming in to feast on the Palmetto berries. Now I flash back to

our previous trip to the ‘Daks where we were immersed in North Woods habitat with Paper

Birch & Hemlock. The diversity boggles my mind but I am eternally grateful that I can

experience it all. Tomorrow, when we get out among the barrier dunes, I’ll be reminded of

the Southwest with the scrubby vegetation eking out an existence in the sand. That’s yet

another environment I enjoy visiting but not necessarily living in. We seem to like Naweedna

so that’s where we’ll continue to make our permanent home. But getting away for a while

always makes it better when we get back.

Ate:

Granola w/Banana & Walnuts

Half Garlic Bologna &Tomato w/Fig chaser

Zummo’s Boudain Sausage & Piggly Wiggly Potato Salad

Bike Data: Trail: St Joseph Peninsula SP

ST: 3:20

ET: 5:00

TT: 1:40

BT: 1:06

D (miles): 7.30

Mx (mph): 11.8

Avg (mph): 6.6

Drive: End: St Joseph Peninsula SP #81, Port St Joe FL

Arrive: 1:37

Temp (degrees): 81

Elev (ft): 13

D (miles): 105

Mpg: 22.1

2017.11.06 … MON … 27: … St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St Joe FL … Up: 6:24 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 71/67/72 Weather: Sun all day

Did:

We started the day with … Granola and then geared up to bike around the SP all morning,

come back to DALAS for lunch and back out again for an afternoon ride. We decided to re-

up for another day and paid our rent before biking back to DALAS to get a much needed

shower … and beer (for me), hard cider (Janie). Thanks Jason. Our morning ride took us to

the SP entrance and the Maritime Hammock Nature Trail. We parked Blaze & Raven,

secured ‘em with a cable/lock and walked around the Hammock trail. There were lots of

information signs and we learned quite a bit from them. The Hammock trail pops out onto a

‘beach’ which on the bay side is just a little dingy sand lined with Palmetto and driftwood.

Nonetheless, it is pretty and very, very peaceful. There is a bench right on the ‘beach’ and

we were tempted to take a seat but … it was already occupied by Horseshoe Crab shells.

Back into the main part of the SP and over to the picnic & canoe/kayak launch area to

scan for birds. Ah-ha! Our first Brown Pelican and an immature BE and a mature BE and …

lots of Great Egrets & Great Blue Herons … and jumping Mullet. There is a 25-yard-

diameter section of packed sand where people drive their vehicles to off load their canoes

& kayaks. That area is literally alive with little Fiddler Crabs … and at least one Hermit

Crab. It was pretty amazing to watch ‘em scurry back to their burrows whenever we moved.

If we stood still, they came out and started picking whatever they eat from the sand. Cute

little bastards with a purpose in life: eat, grow, procreate, die. Sounds familiar.

We biked back to DALAS for lunch and a bit of rest before heading out again to do the

same circuit, only this time we stopped at the entrance station to re-up for another night.

It was much less hectic than yesterday and the attendant had time to talk to us. Not that

it helped much. We asked about the St Joseph Bay Buffer Preserve that we’d seen driving

in. She didn’t know much but was sure we could hike it if not bike it. She gave us a phone

number which was pretty useless because the cell connection here is spotty at best. We’ll

drive over and check it out tomorrow. Oh, did I mention the BBQ shack just before the

Preserve? Yep, we’ll be checking that out as well.

Okay, it’s darkening up outside and I’m knee-deep in my own darkness: Mendocino Imperial

Stout. Guess I’ll shut down and watch the wildlife do their evening feed … and finish my

beer.

Saw:

We got 27 bird species and 8 of ‘em were First Of Trip. Brown Pelican (FOT)

Royal Tern (FOT)

Sanderling (FOT)

Forster’s Tern (FOT)

Willet (FOT)

Semipalmated Plover (FOT)

Laughing Gull (FOT)

White Winged Dove (FOT)

Catbird

Mourning Dove

Red-bellied Woodpecker

GBH (several)

Great Egret (even more)

Snowy Egret (and more)

Bald Eagle (1 immature; 4 mature)

Mockingbird (too many to count)

Yellow Rumped Warbler

Belted Kingfisher (same one several times)

Loggerhead Shrike

Blue Jay

Starling

Phoebe

Towhee

Downy Woodpecker

Osprey (fishing)

Pied Billed Grebe

Palm Warbler

Reflect:

It is just so weird to be here in sunny FL on a peninsula surrounded by the Gulf and St

Joseph Bay. It is comfortably warm with just the slightest breeze. The sun shone on us all

day making it a little warm for northerners, but it was very pleasant in the shade. I sorted

through my gear while getting the bikes ready this morning. OMG, don’t need this knit cap

or these gloves, coats, rain/wind pants … don’t need any of that stuff we were wearing just

a week ago. How things have changed in such a short time. It is a quarter of six (DALAS

time), twilight is setting in and we are sitting here in our 75o home away from home with

the doors/windows open and feeling pretty good about life. We’re going to soak in this

comfort for as long as we can because we know full well we’ll be heading back north in a

week or so. In the meantime, Buffet on …

Ate:

Granola w/Banana & Walnuts

3/4 Garlic Bologna & Tomato Sandwich (should we have half or whole; compromise)

Salad w/Tuna (me) & Chickpeas (Janie) + Broccoli & Cauliflower & Carrots & Raisins &

Sunflower Seeds for the both of us.

Bike Data: Trail: St Joseph Peninsula SP

ST: 9:40 & 2:50

ET: 1:40 & 5:00

TT: 6:10

BT: 2:28

D (miles): 17.61

Mx (mph): 12.0

Avg (mph): 7.0

Drive: N/A

2017.11.07 … TUE … 28: … St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St Joe FL … Up: 7:39 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 72/66/73 Weather: Sun & Warmer

Did:

The Earth has rotated another 360o; my life has turned around 360o and I find myself

right where I was ... enjoying my charmed existence. This is the end of our fourth week

on the road and we are still ready for more … but maybe a little cooler; it’s been getting

kinda hot for us northerners. Today was another wall-to-wall sunshine day with the

mercury climbing to 85o with less breeze for cooling. Ah, but DALAS has A/C running as I

type. I’ve actually got goose bumps and it feels good.

Before I get into what we did today, I’d like to make a few comments about Tuna. We’d

been getting oure Tuna from Costco and it has been very good. However, Costco has not had

their Skipjack Tuna, so we were forced to get some inferior stuff, Bumble Bee I think. It

has the consistency of ground-fish and isn’t very good at all. Our last grocery stop offered

up Wild Planet Tuna … line caught in Central/North Pacific and processed in Viet Nam.

When I picked it off the shelf, I gave it a shake and you could feel the solid chunk banging

against the sides of the can. Okay, it cost thrice as much as the Bumble Bee but … in this

case, you get what you pay for. It was solid, flaky and had a very good flavor. If I can’t

have Costco, I’ll have Wild Planet.

Every time we’ve come to St Joseph Peninsula SP, we’ve seen signs for the St Joseph Bay

State Buffer Preserve. This time, Janie looked it up in a little booklet that explains the

sights on the Peninsula. Hey, they got “miles” of bike/hike/horse trails; let’s go check it

out. And that’s what we did this AM. We drove 13 miles to the VC, which was open, elegant

but unattended. Once we figured out the lay of the place, we had our Granola, geared up,

and headed for the trails. The first half mile was packed sand but we expected it to get

progressively worse the deeper we got; and it did. The low places were armored with 1”-2”

cobbles which was interesting to bike across. Do NOT flop on this stuff. About a half mile

in the trail softened and our tires just cut into the sand. We ended up walking soft

sections and biking some of the more packed but … it was hard work. There wasn’t a bit of

shade and, worst of all, there wasn’t anything to see. It looked like a reclaimed clear-cut.

Just not worth the effort. We took the shortest trails back to the VC and got the hell out

of the place. Now we know. Kudos to us for checking it out; we won’t be doing it again – not

even walking.

On our way to the Preserve, we passed two BBQ places: Peachy’s & The Sand Bucket. We

got to the latter first just as they were opening. Janie had read that they have Burnt

Ends off their Briskets but you have to get ‘em early or they’ll be all gone. We were early;

they were available; and we got 1.5 lb plus a tub of Deviled Egg Pasta Salad and two

bottles of their sauce: Carolina Mustard & Carolina Vinegar (things we find difficult to get

otherwise). After a pleasant conversation with the proprietor and his help, we headed on

down the road to Peachy’s. Hmmm, they only have Pulled Pork , which the young lady

offered to put on a Taco for us. Nope, not gonna do it. Good thing we stocked up at The

Sand Bucket.

Back to DALAS for lunch … hmmm, we’re gonna pig out tonight, how about a light lunch; it’s

too hot for our regular fare anyway. We split a can of corn and topped it off with some

Figs, Dates & Mixed Nuts. Now it was time for our farewell ride around the SP. This is

much better than the Preserve. The ride over, it was time to stow our gear and rack the

bikes … and head to the showers. Man, it was nice to soak in something other than our own

sweat. Back to DALAS’ A/C comfort – a pleasant 72o – to settle into our evening ritual.

I took a little time to replenish my beer tray – a cut down tub that slides nicely in under

the furnace – and inventoried my supply. Looks like I’m good for another twelve days or so.

After that, I’m at the mercy of what the local economy has to offer – usually not Porter or

Stout. Right now I’m enjoying my last Brooklyn Chocolate Stout so I think I’ll just wrap this

up and savor the remainder.

Saw:

Our very first stop this PM offered up an amazingly docile Ring Necked Duck, a First Of

Trip for us. It was close and just sat there on the water letting us ferret out every IDing

detail. We thanked it and move on to the tree where the Great Egret seems to always

perch. The road goes right under him/her and we are amazed that it doesn’t flush. I expect

if we stopped it would fly but if we just keep riding, it watches us go by. It’s been there

every time we biked through (at least twice each day). Today was a little different,

however. Although there was a Great Egret on the usual perch, it wasn’t the ‘owner’ it

seems. We heard a squawk and saw another GE come swooping in to chase the squatter off

and then fly back and assume his/her rightful perch. Nature is nothing if not interesting.

As we were biking toward the entrance, we saw a snake starting to cross the road. That

usually means death for the snake, so we pulled up and biked back to usher it off into the

weeds. Whoa, that’s a thick-bodied, short-tailed snake with a flat, triangular head. And it

has a white eye-stripe. Cottonmouth? I took a couple pictures and when we got to the

entrance booth, I went in and showed the picture to the Rangerette. She said, “What you

got there? Oh, it’s a Cottonmouth.” I thanked her for the confirmation and saving me the

trouble of looking it up later. That’s the second Cottonmouth we’ve seen and both have been

down here in the Deep South.

The last leg of our farewell ride took us past a lagoon where Snowy Egrets congregate. I

was looking at one perched in a tree near the road when I noticed a larger, darker bird

right under it. Wow, that’s an Osprey. The Egrets knew the Osprey was a fish-eater so

they weren’t threatened. The Osprey was’t threatened either. It just sat there and let me

take its picture. Later we saw it soaring around over the bay looking for an evening meal. Ring Necked Duck (FOT)

Cottonmouth

Reflect:

Farewell to St Joseph Peninsula SP. We’ve been coming here since 1986 and will likely be

back again. Over the years we observed more and more people also enjoying the SP. There

are way more bikers now, as well as kayakers. There are also more fisherpersons. This is

the first time we’ve seen so many just wading out into the shallows to fish away the day.

We don’t know if it’s related, but we saw many fewer birds on this visit than in the past.

There is pretty much the same variety but just fewer of most species. The exceptions

would be Catbirds (lots) and Mockingbirds (even more). I’m sure we didn’t see birds in the

usual locations because of the human activity. In the past, the jetty at the Eagle Bay boat

launch was covered with Terns, Gulls & Pelicans. This time, on six visits, there were only a

couple dreary-looking Gulls. However, there were lots of humans milling around, launching

boats, wading in the water or just walking the beach. And it could be weather and it could be

time of year, the two being somewhat related. We are here 1-2 weeks earlier than we were

in 2015.

In the past we were about the only bikers on the roads. This time just about every camper

had bikes and most of ‘em were out biking at one time or another. Even when there were

bikers in the past, we were usually the only ones out biking for hours at a time. Not so now.

We saw several couples multiple times during our outings. Things have changed a bit.

We managed to total about 30 miles in the SP in about 12 hours of biking. Not as much as

two years ago when we got 50 miles but we stayed a day longer in 2015. Whatever, it was

all good and our lives have been enriched for the experience.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Can Corn + Figs, Dates & Mixed Nuts (too hot for regular fare)

Burnt Ends w/Mustard Potato Salad

Bike Data: Trail: St Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve & St Joseph Peninsula SP

ST: 10:45 & 2:10

ET: 11:30 & 4:40

TT: 3:45

BT: 2:04

D (miles): 14.77

Mx (mph): 13.4

Avg (mph): 6.8

Drive: End: St Joseph Peninsula SP

Arrive: 1:15

Temp (degrees): 78

Elev (ft): 13

D (miles): 18.5

Mpg:

2017.11.08 … WED … 29: … St Joseph Peninsula SP, Port St Joe FL to Wakulla CO CG,

Newport FL… Up: 6:48 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 74/72/76 Weather: Mostly Sunny w/slight breeze, clouding up in evening

Did:

We drove out of St Joseph Peninsula SP on San Blas Highway & FL-30 for 43 miles at 35

mph, flat, no wind and got 25.6 mpg - gotta be a record. The first stop was Apalachicola

FL, the home of 13 Mile Seafood, our favorite place for Smoked Mullet & Salmon. It was

around 9 and 13 Mile Seafood didn’t open until 10 so we filled the time getting groceries

and fuel for DALAS. Why not spread a little discretionary capital around the village?

Piggly Wiggly was our first stop. We only needed Bread & Lunch Meat but … OMG, look at

the shelves of hot sauces. We’ve never seen so many different varieties. At least six feet

of shelves stacked five high … all with little bottles of this’n’that HOT sauce. Hey, look

there, a large jar of Big Daddy’s BBQ Sauce - gotta get some of that, because we did not

get to the Roswell, GA Big Daddy’s for ribs and we are not going to get to the Big Daddy’s in

Tallahassee, either. Wonder how Big Daddy’s sauce would be on canned roast beef? Okay,

focus … look, Tupelo Honey – gotta get some, right? Oh, yeah, we need some fixin’s for our

fish. Hmmm, not much to pick from. Wait, what’s that stuff behind the condensation-

covered cooler cover? Why that looks like Piggly Wiggly Cole Slaw. Now what was it we

came here for? Ah, Lunch Meat & Bread … look at those big, made-fresh-this-AM

biscuits. Those sure would be good with that honey. Excuse me, are those biscuits as good

as they look? The lady behind the counter said, “Sure are. I make ‘em myself just a few

minutes ago.” We’ll take two. “Y’all want sausage gravy on ‘em?” No ma’am, we’ll have those

with Tupelo honey. Now what are we here for? Bread! Got it: Arnold’s Health Nut, our

staple. Did someone say Lunch Meat? They got that same Cajun Roast Beef and also the

Garlic Bologna … but the Pesto Parmesan Ham sounds interesting. Well, guess we’re just

gonna have to try some of that. Okay, get us outta here – quick.

We were off to the Liberty Station for diesel … shortly afterwards our Check Engine light

came on. Connection? Dunno. We’re hoping it goes away like it did the last time. Otherwise,

we’ll be looking for a Mercedes dealer in Tallahassee. That’d be an excuse to pick up some

Big Daddy’s Dreamland Ribs. Although the Big Daddy ribs we got in Tuscaloosa on a

previous trip were the very best we’ve ever had, we sure don’t wanna be in Tallahassee.

It was way past time for breakfast so we pulled into Apalachicola’s Lafayette Park for our

Biscuits & Tupelo Honey. Damn, why did we only get two biscuits? We’ve done the very

same thing – without the biscuits & honey – a couple times before. It is a nice little park

situated in the historic section of town, which consists of about three blocks of old and

beautifully maintained homes.

After breakfast, we headed back to 13 Mile Seafood; it was 10:05 and they were open. We

walked in and went directly to the cooler where the Smoked Mullet are housed and there,

before our very eyes, right beside the Mullet there were big hunks of Smoked Salmon. We

bought the last two they had when we were here two years ago and they were the best

we’ve had outside of AK. Two Mullet & two Salmon and a container of Mullet Spread was

put in a bag for us to take to DALAS and squeeze into our tiny refrigerator. As we turned

to leave a young man said, “Would you like a homegrown lemon?” It looked like a grapefruit

to us and was way more lemon than we can use in a month, but we took it. It’s free, it’s

pretty and maybe we’ll find a use for it. Hint: we did!

Apalachicola is just as quaint as we remember. It has an Old South with a touch of French

Quarter feel. The main drag is jam-full with shops & eateries housed in historic buildings.

Water Street goes along the Apalachicola River and is dotted with working boats, mostly

Oyster but some Tuna and other deep-sea vessels. The county bills itself as the Oyster

Capital of The World … they have large shell middens to prove it and it is emblazoned on

the police cars. The town is a nice blend of working docks and tourist attractions. Most of

all, it is small, compact and continues to be just itself. We like that in a town.

The drive over to Wakulla FL was a bit more hectic than our morning start but very scenic.

We hugged the coast most of the way with the water just a few yards from our wheels. A

short jaunt inland took us to Newport and the Wakulla County CG, which is directly across

the road from St Mark’s NWR – our destination. It is just a small CG but obviously very

convenient for us. At first glance we noticed it was pretty full for a Wednesday. We pulled

into the office and learned that they expect to fill up starting tomorrow. Why? Two

reasons: 1) Tallahassee isn’t far away and 2) this is a long weekend for those businesses

that observe Veteran’s Day. We got an electric site for tonight but will have to move to a

Primitive Site tomorrow … one right by the too-busy road. Shouldn’t be a problem if we

spend the day in the NWR – the road traffic falls to nearly zero at night as we recall.

With a campsite secured, we went into St Mark’s and spent some time and money at the VC.

This is where they have the very best Tupelo Honey that we’ve found and we quickly

grabbed a pound and a half. They have a little boardwalk outside the VC and it offered up

a great view of a Red Shouldered Hawk and several Common Gallinules. (Janie: Moorhens!)

No ‘gators this time, however.

We drove on down the refuge road and pulled into the Headquarters Pool Picnic Area …

ready for lunch. Hmmm, what will we have? How about some Smoked Mullet Dip on Captain’s

Crackers from the Sand Bucket BBQ place? Okay, this is really good Mullet Dip - big

chunks and very tasty - but a little too heavy on the Mayo/Sour Cream for us to do the

whole container in one meal. It’ll just have to find a place in the refrigerator for a day or

two. A little homegrown free lemon might cut that oily taste.

We got out the telescope, surveyed the area and immediately discovered a Wigeon group –

our First Of Trip. There was also an Anhinga perched on a piling. Hmmm, didn’t think they

were this far north but it was certainly an Anhinga. After lunch, we continued down the

road to the lighthouse where we found several more FOT birds and an almost equal number

of interesting people. Many of them were there for the concentration of Monarch

butterflies that “pile up” on the Gulf Shore before heading across the great water. Walking

the trail is like being in a butterfly cloud. Some people are seasoned birders, others have

no idea what they are looking at but enjoy the experience nonetheless. We came across

the PA couple we’d first met in the VC and helped them with some bird IDing. They didn’t

know much and were very grateful for the information. At least that’s what they said. We

were helped by a volunteer who moved down here from MI. We’d met up with him before

and he remembered us. He IDed several birds that we were waffling about and told us

where to go to find more. Birders & Bikers … they form a most convivial community.

It was getting on, my beer addiction needed addressing and we still didn’t have a campsite

after tonight. Janie called the lady in charge of the County CG and she said we could have

a primitive site tomorrow and the next day … but it is right by the road. Hey, it’s gotta be

better than a Walmart parking lot. Sign us up.

It is now almost 7:00 DALAS time. I’m about halfway through my Full Sail Amber and it’s

time to be thinking about dinner. Chow for now.

Saw:

We saw several Bald Eagles on the drive today and one large nest in the top of a way-to-

small Cabbage Palmetto. Once in the NWR we saw a few more BEs and another large nest

with a mature bird perched nearby. We also tallied nine First Of Trip (FOT) birds in one,

short afternoon. Check out the list: Red Shouldered Hawk (FOT, surprisingly)

American Wigeon (FOT)

Boat Tailed Grackle (FOT)

Tri Colored Heron (FOT)

American Avocet (FOT)

Black Crowned Night Heron (FOT)

Glossy Ibis (FOT)

Greater Yellow Legs (FOT)

Reflect:

Finally, our first National Wildlife Refuge of the trip and it is just as productive as you

might expect. The place isn’t dripping with birds but there are a lot and, more importantly,

a wide variety. When you think about setting aside acreage for wildlife, you have to

consider that at one time it was all for wildlife. Slowly and inexorably their area has been

overrun with human ‘improvements’ like roads, canals, strip malls and housing developments.

Again, some of this is necessary but not all of it by any stretch. The wild or essentially wild

areas are now a discontinuous patchwork, a mere shadow of its former self. Sure, we use

the roads that get us to these locations and we use the ‘civilized’ groceries, fuel stations,

campgrounds and the like. Sure we use the wildlife drives that run through the refuges. We

are culpable and part of the problem. Judging from the increasing number of people we see

frequenting parks and refuges, you’d think governmental agencies would be working to

expand habitat rather than trying to shrink it in the name of resource exploitation.

Wildlife and scenery are resources as well. I’m not going to get on my soapbox … I

expect you know where this discussion would go should it continue.

At present, at our stage of life, we are just happy that Wildlife Refuges exist and we can

get to them. There is no way to describe the bliss we feel when looking out over a saltwater

marsh and seeing dead snags festooned with Egrets & Herons. Add the shore birds pecking

away on the mud flats and birds of prey soaring around looking for targets … it make our

spirit soar. Visiting these refuges seems to be necessary for our well being … a tonic for

our soul … it renews our biological link to the environment. We are animals, too, even if we

don’t like to admit it.

Ate:

Biscuits & Tupelo Honey

Smoked Mullet Spread on Captain’s Crackers

Burnt Ends w/Deviled Egg Pasta Salad

Drive: End: Wakulla CO CG, Wakulla FL

Arrive: 5:53

Temp (degrees): 75

Elev (ft): 42

D (miles): 142

Mpg: 22.4 (43 mi San Blas & FL-30 25.6 mpg, flat, no wind, 35 mph)

2017.11.09 … THU … 30: … Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL … Up: 7:17 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 68/66/72 Weather: Overcast; a little rain; wind & cooler

Did:

This report is going to be short because we got in late and had to put off our writing until

the next evening. Here are the highlights.

This was an exceptional bird day. We started by driving over to St Mark’s NWR and

parked at the VC where we had our breakfast and geared up to bike the refuge road. It

was the first overcast day we’ve had down here in the Deep South. The cause was a front

passing through that’s bringing sub-20s to Naweedna and 60s all the way down here. The

gloom and haze of the morning was perfect for wildlife and we sure got a lot of it. We

tallied 43 species and one of ‘em was a life bird.

We met up with lots of other bird enthusiasts and one Photo Guy who was driving from spot

to spot and clicking off hundreds of shots – he was at 800 for the day the last time we saw

him. I asked what he was shooting and he said: Nikon 7100 with Nikkor 200-500 f5.6

Zoom … and he was hand-holding it and getting ‘tack sharp’ images at 800 ISO. That’s the

same camera I’m using so the next question out of my jaw-dropped mouth was: “How many

tens of thousands of dollars is that lens?” He looked me right in the eye and responded:

“Only $1,400.” What? You can get a lens like that for that kind of money? I thought they

were all in the $10-20K range. Nope, Adorama or B&H have ‘em and they give you a free bag

to boot. That set my mind to wondering. These are very large & heavy lenses and not

suitable for lugging around while biking but … we could use it when we’re in DALAS and need

some good ID shots … and maybe even get some good images as well. Hmmmm …

Okay, that’s the jist of yesterday’s activity. Time to move on to today.

Saw:

We got 43 different species of birds on our bike ride through the refuge. There were only

two First Of Trip but one of ‘em was a Life Bird for us. We also saw some interesting

behavior. The refuge road ends at a lighthouse and that’s where we saw an Osprey sitting on

a partially exposed Oyster bar out in the bay. The unusual part: it was partially submerged

in salt water and acting like it wanted to bathe. The whole scene looked a little strange.

Right about then we saw a fairly large fin cutting through the water between us and the

Osprey. If I didn’t know better, I would have said Shark! It was just cruising along keeping

its fin emergent and every now and then the top of the head would break the surface to

blow. Yep, it was a Porpoise, obviously hunting something in the shallow water. After a bit of

cruising, there came a great deal of thrashing and the Porpoise did an abrupt flip. Just as

it did, three or four Mullet ejected themselves from the water in a valiant attempt to

escape the jaws of death. The water was literally boiling with Porpoise and Mullet.

After that show of fishing talent, we looked around for more Porpoises and we saw two

more fins coming along behind, following the leader. When one of them reached the spot

where the first one had flushed a school of Mullet, it performed the same acrobatic flip

and churned the water forcing the survivors to leap into the air like missiles shot out of a

silo. The third one didn’t seem to be a lucky … at least we didn’t see it score any fish.

House Wren (FOT)

Western Sandpiper (FOT & Life Bird)

Reflect:

Once again I want to sing the praises of Wild Life Refuges. Where else could be bike an

eight-mile road and see 43 different bird species… and Porpoises feeding on Mullet?

Places like this are little nuggets of bliss in a sea of blather & delay. It isn’t all about just

seeing and noting a bird and moving on to the next. This isn’t a zoo. It’s about seeing them

in their natural habitat, doing what they do to survive … and being able to watch that

behavior. Watching a Snowy Egret put its yellow foot down in the mud, jiggle it and watch

for something to show itself, that’s what it’s about for us. Watching a Gull with a fish that

is two or three times longer than its bill sitting there working it around and (very gradually)

getting it into its mouth and not completing the task until another Gull came along – that

brings joy to us. Setting up the scope and focusing on a splendid male Kestrel perched on a

snag, going to get Janie to show her and coming back to find the Kestrel perfectly replaced

by a Red Shouldered Hawk – that floats our boat. We are simple people that enjoy simple

pleasures. Wonder if a $1,400 lens would improve our experience? Probably record it for

future reference like these words in this document.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Half Pesto-Parmesan Ham & Tomato + Quarter Cajun Roast Beef & Tomato

Smoked Mullet & Piggly Wiggly Cole Slaw

Bike Data: Trail: St Mark’s NWR

ST: 9:45

ET: 3:30

TT: 5:45

BT: 2:26

D (miles): 15.94

Mx (mph): 15.4 (running from the rain)

Avg (mph): 6.5

Drive: End: Wakulla CO CG

Arrive: 6:27

Temp (degrees): 64

Elev (ft): 34

D (miles): 20

Mpg: 24.5

2017.11.10 … FRI … 31: … Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL … Up: 6:55 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 65/56/64 Weather: Overcast – Sunny & Cool later w/North Wind

Did:

The Engine Warning light has been weighing on my mind. Janie found some repair shops just

a hoot’n’holler from our CG so we opted to start our day at Callaway’s Auto & Truck Repair.

We arrived at 8:20 (their time) and they didn’t officially open until 8:30. This being FL, the

garage bay-doors were wide open and a gnarly man was sitting on a stool with his back to

me staring at a computer screen displaying auto parts. He completely ignored me even when

I scuffed my feet on the sandy floor. Occasionally, he would take a drag on a cigarette

that was already down to just a few tobacco strands. After a bit, he whirled around and

said: “Yes, sir, what can I do for ya?” He knew I was there all along. It turned out that

he was very pleasant, helpful and surprisingly well-spoken. Yeah, I know, I’m guilty of

profiling. He said he couldn’t do anything until the boss got there … it would be about ten

minutes. No problem, I went back to DALAS and rehearsed my speech about the problem.

The boss arrived and the gnarly man came over and asked for some specifics. I told him

and he went in to get the tablet-like device that’s used to connect to DALAS’ computer and

identify the problem. While he was hooking it up, he allowed that he considered himself an

“Auto Archaeologist’ because he’s been an auto mechanic for over 40 years and prefers to

work on old vehicles. DALAS isn’t one of those but his 40 years of experience let him

diagnose the problem right quick: Code P2202, O2/NOx Sensor. It may be a bad sensor,

maybe not. It’s supposed to sense the parameters and adjust the fuel mixture accordingly.

We’ve been getting some pretty good mileage so what the hey. He reset it but said it may

come back on. We agreed it would be okay to ignore it until we get home and have it checked

and replaced if necessary. Whew! That’s a load off my mind. So how much do we owe ya?

Gnarly Man: “Nothin’. Just have a safe trip.” Local places are great that way. They are

truly concerned about you and not just the bottom line. There is still some good in the

world.

Now let’s go ride bikes!

We’ve been to St Marks NWR several times and noticed the Tallahassee-St Mark’s Rail

Trail that goes from … you can figure it out. Janie has researched it in her Rails-to-Trail

info and we’ve talked to some people who know about it, but we’ve never attempted to ride

the trail. We recall thinking it looked like a tunnel through the jungle - scary. Besides, our

attention was on the refuge. This time, however, we were determined to give it a shot.

The trail map shows it starting near the FSU campus and heading south to St Mark’s, the

town. It’s a straight shot of 20 miles except for three gentle curves. It also follows roads

most of the way, one is heavily trafficked but the others aren’t offensive at all. The trail is

paved and lined with Live Oak, Pine & Palmetto; all draped in Spanish Moss. At one point,

the trail runs within a few yards of a sand road. We bet people living on the road wish it

was paved like the trail.

The weather was almost perfect. The day began overcast but that quickly gave way to clear

blue sky and a brisk north wind. It was cool, dry and pleasant. We parked DALAS at the

Wakulla Station Trail Head (nice park) and headed north toward Tallahassee, expecting to

turn around when it turned to busy suburbs. Guess what? It never did. The house density

increased but they were all older, cottage-like homes. The trail continued to be lined with

trees and pleasant all the way to the end. Amazing. Just beyond the end for us, signs and

overpasses for I10 and some US highways did not look pleasant.

After a half lunch back at DALAS, we headed south to St Mark’s, the village. This was a

decidedly more rural section of trail. It was the part we’d seen on previous trips and

thought looked like a tunnel through a jungle. Guess what? It was very nice … and there

were no Burmese Pythons … just one biggish Pine Snake stretched out across about half

the trail. It wouldn’t move when we tried to usher it off into the safety of the underbrush

and it wasn’t there when we returned so we assume (hope) it made it to where it was going

safely.

It is a pretty nice trail but it pales in comparison to yesterday’s ride in the Refuge.

However, we did get to stretch our legs a bit and gave Blaze & Raven a workout. We’re

spoiled and expected to see more birds, flowers, butterflies, whatever. However, the

experience was sufficient to induce us to call Lisa, the CG manager, and reup for another

night. That will keep us from having to scramble to find camping in places unknown on a long

weekend … and … we can spend another day in St Mark’s NWR. Hmmm, Janie just told me

it’s supposed to rain tonight and all day tomorrow. If so, we’ll be birding from our mobile

wildlife blind: DALAS. We’ve done that before. Just pull in with the slider door facing

whatever looks interesting, put out the awning and set up the scope. We’ll see what happens.

We had a bit of a surprise when we returned to the CG: a Scamp was parked in our site …

and Lisa, the manager, was not around. We talked to some people who promised to work it

out so we took a shower while waiting for a solution. Lisa arrived and apologized for

forgetting that the Collins’ had reserved our spot, and get this, they are from AK.

Eventually, we all settled on a “primitive” site that has a 110 outlet between Lisa’s trailer

and another camper and everything is just fine. Can’t run the AC, but don’t need to. We’re

very happy to be as far away from the adult parties going on over in the other side of the

CG. Our adult party is just finishing up a Troegs Troegenator Double Bock and it’s about

time to set up for another of Janie’s dining delights. See ya tomorrow …

Saw:

We saw very few birds, and none of note, along the rail-trail; lots of people and it will be

worse tomorrow with weekenders on the loose. We did see a largish snake working its way

across the warm-to-it blacktop. I took pictures and we identified it when we got back to

DALAS: Pine Snake, eastern version of the Bull Snake.

Reflect:

This is our southern-most point on the trip. We are immersed in Southern Pines, amazingly

stately Live Oaks and Palmettos that cast the most interesting shadows. We are soaking it

up as much as possible because in a day or two we will be back into more familiar hardwoods.

It will be a long time until we see many of these birds again so we are spending a lot of time

watching them and studying their behavior. We’ve had the pleasure of observing a mated

pair of Bald Eagles since we first arrived. They have a nest that is easily visible from the

refuge road and every time we pass there is at least one of them perched just above the

nest; frequently they are both there. We saw them again today at a different location …

perched side-by-side in the top of a tree. They are truly mated and dedicated to each

other … and defending their nest from would-be squatters like Great Horned Owls that

tend not to build their own nests. Nature is a grand spectacle and we don’t know when we

will get another chance to see it in an environment like this.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Half Pesto-Parmesan Ham & Tomato Sandwich

Sesame Chicken w/Peanut Butter on Brown Rice

Bike Data: Trail: Tallahassee-St Mark’s Trail

ST: 10:20

ET: 2:40

TT: 4:20

BT: 3:18

D (miles): 32.98

Mx (mph): 12.7

Avg (mph): 10.0

Drive: End: Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL

Arrive: 5:28

Temp (degrees): 68

Elev (ft): 44

D (miles): 43

Mpg: 21.2

2017.11.11 … SAT … 32: … Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL … Up: 6:55 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 59/50/58 Weather: Sun & Wind

Did:

Today was our farewell tour of St Mark’s NWR. We drove over to the VC, parked DALAS,

had breakfast and geared up for a day’s ride in the refuge. It was all of 50o with a stiff

North wind. The AM segment was pretty much southward so we had a good tailwind that

allowed us to ‘sail’ along scanning for wildlife. We saw most of the usual suspects plus three

FOTs (see below). For me, today’s ride was more about scenery than wildlife … the interplay

of plants and water … just trying to cement the images in my memory. The refuge is

starkly beautiful with lots of texture & color changes. It is difficult to photograph such a

terrain, at least for me. I’ve tried any number of times in the past with no success so I

settled for only one scenery shot today and, like the others, it isn’t very good.

Our return ride in the afternoon was into the wind and as uphill as it gets on the coast.

Most of the time, it was a headwind but occasionally there would be strong gusts hitting us

broadside. Because it was cold in the morning, we had to ride with all our packs just to have

storage for the clothing we shed as it warmed up in the PM. There was also a lot of

Saturday traffic. All of that added up to a dangerous situation when the broadside gusts

caught our packs and tended to push us into the traffic. We opted to get off the road and

ride the Florida State Trail that passes through the refuge. The section we rode ended

right at the VC where DALAS was waiting for us.

Janie was having a LOT of difficulty bucking the wind, and riding on the soft trail surface

added to her woes. When we got back to Dalas, Janie was inside making lunch wondering why

the hardest bike ride of this trip was in almost totally flat Florida after ~650 miles of leg-

strengthening miles. Just then, Bog rolled Blaze into her view and it became clear why she

had trouble biking: her front tire was F-L-A-T, flat. When mountain bike tires get low,

the side walls lose their rigidity, causing the bikes to wobble. Also, riding a flattening tire

is hard pedaling. We don’t know how long Janie’s tire was losing pressure but it was almost

totally flat when I tried to rack it.

No lunch for us until we get the tire patched. We stayed right there in the paved parking

lot to do the job. A search of the tire revealed Goat-Head Stickers so small we had to get

tweezers to remove them. Once the inner tube was removed, I pumped in a little air and

searched for the puncture. We found one little spot that wasn’t even leaking air, but

probably would – and did – under higher pressure. I patched it and put the bike back

together and the tools away … and had lunch at almost 4:00. We were ready.

After lunch, we headed back to the CG where we did our utilities and showered. We are

ready to write up our notes and maybe send off another Trip Log. I’m celebrating the end

of the FL part of the trip with a Mendocino Imperial Stout. Tomorrow we’ll be heading

northward toward the land of Polar Vortexes.

Saw:

The wind wasn’t any more of a friend for the wildlife that it was for us; most of them were

huddled in the lee of the marsh grass. That made them somewhat easier to spot and allowed

us better views of the Wood Storks. There seemed to be more birds of prey out today.

We had about ten Bald Eagle sightings, although they could have been the same ones seen

multiple times. Yet another good view of a male Kestrel. Although small, they are ever so

elegant. Falcons are special in our estimation. We finally got a glimpse of the Vermillion

Flycatcher everyone has been telling us about. It seems to come every year to one of the

same two spots. This year it was where we’d seen it two years ago. Their brilliant red

plumage makes them hard to miss even when a few tens of yards away.

The wind has been blowing out of the north for a couple days now and it seems to have

brought in more ducks and certainly more Monarch Butterflies. They spend a lot of time

feeding on Spanish Needle wildflowers before either moving along the coast or making the

hop over the Gulf to their special wintering spot in the mountains of Mexico. Mikey hopes to

figure out why they congregate in that special location; he thinks it has to do with the

unique chemical composition of some rocks there. We saw a fairly large 8-10 point Buck

when we started the ride and saw it or its twin at the end of the ride. Vermillion Flycatcher (FOT)

Bufflehead (FOT)

Oyster Catcher (FOT)

Reflect:

Heading North … Except for the flat tire, our farewell tour of St Mark’s was a success.

This is the end of our southern exposure; tomorrow we’ll start heading north. We’ve seen a

lot of this semi-semi-tropical environment that is so uncommon for us. I’m sitting here

looking out at Moss-draped Live Oaks & Southern Pines with an understory dominated by

Palmetto. We don’t have any of that at home. It can only reside in our memories … and the

occasional photo. All of this exotic foliage is rooted in a sea of sand. It is basically flat

with a few very dark, very bayou-looking, lazy streams. The Wakulla River is one of those

and it flows languidly just a few yards from our campsite. Yep, we are in the south but will

have to leave it all too soon. As I’ve said before, it’s a nice place for us to visit but we

don’t want to live here.

People sometimes ask us why we are so interested in birds. Honestly, it isn’t the birds per

se; it’s wildlife in general. We talk about and write about birds because that’s what we see

the most of. We see hundreds of birds for every mammal. For example, on the big 43

species bird day we saw two live Raccoons; that and maybe a squirrel or two accounts for

all the mammals seen. We’d love to see Florida Panthers, Black Bear, Bobcat, Fox, hell,

even a Deer or two, but we don’t. We see birds. They are colorful and easier to spot, so we

watch ‘em. So, you see, there’s nothing inherently special about birds other than they are

visible. We watch Butterflies and enjoy Wildflowers for the same reason. Trees, well that’s

another matter. We like trees but they are hard for us to identify. Oh yeah, don’t forget

the Reptiles. We tend to see more of them than mammals also, but don’t make me identify

Turtles. They drive me nuts(er).

Ate:

Granola/Raisins/Walnuts

Cheese & Tomato Sandwich

Beenie Weenies w/Onion

Bike Data: Trail: St Mark’s NWR Tour Road & 2 Trails

ST: 9:30

ET: 3:30

TT: 6:00

BT: 2:51

D (miles): 16.39

Mx (mph): 9.9

Avg (mph): 5.7

Drive: End: Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL

Arrive: 5:32

Temp (degrees): 64

Elev (ft): 17

D (miles): 6

Mpg: 21.0

2017.11.12 … SUN … 33: … Wakulla CO CG, Newport FL to GA Veterans Memorial SP,

Cordele GA … Up: 7:50 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 65/59/63 Weather: Overcast, thinning in PM

Did:

Drive North: We reluctantly bid farewell to FL and turned DALAS north on a quiet Sunday

morning. Janie pieced together a nice collection of US, State & County roads all of which

were lightly trafficked and pleasant (and safe) to drive as a consequence. The whole day

was pretty much into the same north wind we’d experienced the previous two days … and …

it was up gradient. I kept watching the elevation reading on our Garmin as it rose to 100’

then 200’ and finally topped out at 300’. Not exactly nosebleed territory but still

significant.

Our first stop was Monticello FL for breakfast in parking lot of a medical-complex that was

closed on Sunday. Then onward across the FL/GA border where we started seeing Cotton &

Pecans – and no other crop-like plantings other than a couple Peach orchards. While in St

Mark’s Refuge we spoke with a fellow birder from the Albany GA area who suggested some

places we should check out if we find ourselves nearby. Janie made sure we were nearby

and we ended up stopping at all of ‘em … and contributing to the GA economy a bit.

The first stop was Moultrie GA where we fed DALAS. Next we stopped to check out the SL

Sausage Shop & Gas Station outside of Cordele GA. We walked out with a couple hunks of

their special Smoked Sausage and a jar of Carolina-Style BBQ Sauce. We’ve developed a

fondness for the Carolina Vinegar BBQ Sauce we picked up at the Sand Bucket on St

Joseph Peninsula FL and hope to score some more like it.

Less than a quarter-mile north we pulled into Stripling’s General Store which was pretty

much like SL Sausage only with higher prices. They also had a filling station that was 10¢

more per gallon – within sight of the other place. In another attempt to satisfy our

perceived need for Carolina BBQ sauce, we asked the nice man wearing a Stripling’s General

Store butcher’s apron what his favorite Q sauce was. He led us to a jug of Jack Mixon’s

BBQ Sauce with vinegar as the first ingredient. Janie remembered reading a book about

BBQ written by Myron Mixon, and Mr. Nice Man said that was Jack’s daddy. Into the cart it

goes, then into Dalas it goes, eventually into our mouths it will go.

Now it’s time for Pecans. That destination took us to Vienna GA and the Ellis Bros Pecan

shop (no filling station). We were only remotely aware that there. We asked a young lady

helper if she knew the differences among the 4 or 5 different varieties of Pecans on the

table in front of us. Oh man, did she. She rattled off a litany of differences, generally

focusing on three main characteristics. Our take-away: small pecans have higher oil

content, which makes them sweeter. We settled for a 1 lb bag of mixed Pecans and 5 lbs of

Elliott Pecans, the smallest, oiliest, sweetest. We also picked up 1# of Walnuts from the

EXOTIC NUTS table – we were running low. Just for the hell of it, we got two itty-bitty

Pecan Pies for our evening snack. As we passed the ice cream station on the way out, it

occurred to us we hadn’t had lunch. Hell, I’d go for a scoop of Butter Pecan; Janie tried

the Pecan Pie. Mine was better.

Then we backtracked to Cordele GA and a little beyond to get to Georgia Veterans

Memorial SP where we paid as much as three nights in the Wakulla CO CG to have

essentially the same facilities, although the SP is significantly more sophisticated. So here

we sit doing our evening write-up routine. I’m savoring a Full Sail Amber while reflecting on

our recent experiences. We have Trip Log Part 3 ready to ship but need a good cell

connection to do so. Maybe sometime tomorrow we will stop in a little town and see if we can

get a good connection.

Saw:

We saw a lot of Piney Woods as we exited FL. Shortly after entering GA, we started seeing

larger and larger Cotton Fields punctuated with Pecan Groves, some past their prime but

many clearly current. In between we passed through small towns with central squares

surrounding Court Houses with shops lining the outside. Generally, one side of the town was

populated with stately manors all elegant and southern-looking. We even saw some large

tracts of land with labels proclaiming them to be Plantations. The other side of town was on

the wrong side of the tracks.

Reflect:

We are still in the Deep South but no longer in a coastal environment. We passed through

large stands of Slash Pine and I was reminded of my first experience in this region. It was

around 1955 and M&D & I were making a winter trip to Hollywood FL; my first real vacation.

Along the way we passed through similar stands of Pine. However, at that time they were

‘slashed’ with buckets catching the resin to be later processed into turpentine and similar

products. That industry has long faded away but the Slash Pines still bend to human’s

tasks, in this case, pulp wood.

Other memories were conjured up as we passed old, derelict dwellings. I remember being

mesmerized by these shacks sitting on chunks of stone – not cinder blocks back then – wide

open to the elements underneath. I wondered how they kept the floors warm in the winter.

Hey, we were passing through near Christmas time and it wasn’t the least bit cold. Duh!

Besides, the space under the shacks was home for the passel of hound dogs running around

… and maybe the chickens, too. These shacks seem to have been replaced by single- and

double-wides perched on cinder blocks. I suppose that’s progress but …

That experience in my 12th year was eye-opening for me. I got to see and experience

worlds I knew nothing about. Towns populated almost entirely by black people. Lancaster

OH, where I grew up, had maybe five black families; our high school had one black student.

We saw convicts, chained together, cutting weeds along the highway margins. Now that is

done with big tractors pulling double-or triple-gang rotary cutters. Times change; I change;

but the African Americans continue to inhabit the lesser parts of town and country. Yep,

quite the experience for a slowly maturing young boy who now travels the country and sees

things that remind him of his past.

Ate:

Granola/Raisins/Walnuts

Ellis Bros. Pecan: Butter Pecan Ice Cream (1 Scoop)

Smoked Salmon w/Mixed Vegetables … and Pecan Pie (Best I can remember, why didn’t we

get more?)

Drive: End: GA Veterans Memorial SP, Cordele GA

Arrive: 4:53

Temp (degrees): 63

Elev (ft): 262

D (miles): 188

Mpg: 22.2

2017.11.13 … MON … 34: … GA Veterans Memorial SP, Cordele GA to Petersburg COE

CG, Appling GA … Up: 6:30 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 66/53/60 Weather: Overcast a little Rain; Sunny later

Did:

We were up and on the road shortly after dawn. The objective was to get to a COE CG on

the GA/SC border. In so doing, we will pretty much cut a diagonal across GA. Our first stop

was Dexter GA where we had our breakfast in a small park just inside the city limits. The

navigation stuff showed a small lake with a road going all the way around it and we naturally

assumed Park Street would lead to it. Ha! The lake is ringed by houses with nary a spot to

park. We did see a GBH, however. We settled for a spot near a ball field. It served the

purpose well.

Onward to Sandersville GA where we pulled into a busy Walmart to feed DALAS and pick

up some groceries – especially side dishes to go with our sausages & fish … and coffee – I’m

running out. After that it was a series of County & State roads with US highways when

necessary. The drive varied from nicely bucolic to trashy. A secondary purpose of today’s

drive was to see if this part of GA is worth considering in the future. The answer is yes

and no. The nice parts were worth the effort but there were too many towns with too much

industry and too many trashy businesses & houses … and traffic. The upshot about the area:

Meh. Tomorrow we will do the same sort of evaluation in SC, but we aren’t expecting much.

Our last stop was Petersburg COE CG near Appling GA. The Core built a dam on the

Savanna River to create Strom Thurmond Lake – yes, that Strom Thurmond. The GA/SC

border runs down the middle of the lake so tonight we can sit in DALAS and look at SC. The

lake level seems a little low for some reason and the red clay/sand typical of GA is exposed

along the shore.

About half way through today’s journey, we started to see some topography in the form of

low hills. That’s a clue. Another clue was the road with the revealing name of Fall Line

Bypass. It looks like we are skirting the boundary between the Coastal Plain and Piedmont.

The mountains loom in our future.

Our early arrival allowed time for a bike ride. The Bartram Trail is a real mountain-bike

trail that runs through the park, so we thought we’d give it a shot. We’d asked the park

attendant which part they suggest and he quickly said, “Left” meaning go to the trail head

and take the left trail. We did as suggested. It was a single track, lined with pine needles

with a few ups/downs, lots of twists/turns, and many tree roots. Our bikes are made for

trails like this – and more/better/worse … but we are not. Blaze & Raven easily negotiated

the trail but we had to focus our attention on the few yards right in front of us. If we

looked away to see a bird or flower, we increased the risk of catching a big ol’ root at a bad

angle and going down. After a mile or so, we saw an informal path over to the CG road. We

took it and continued our ride around the various loops and park roads. Ah, much better for

us. We got to see & hear some birds and scenery other than the trail in front of us. We’re

just not cut out for real trail riding. We’ll let Jason and the boys do that while we

concentrate on Rail Trails & Wildlife Refuges.

After the ride, we hit the shower and settled in to write up our notes. I’m reveling in my

Southern Tier 2X Stout and, if you will allow, I’ll close now and finish it off while watching

the glow of the setting sun on Strom Thurmond Lake.

Saw:

We passed through several large Pulp-Wood stands of Slash/Longleaf/Loblolly Pine in

various stages of development. Some were stands of relatively mature trees that will soon

be harvested. Others were sections that had been harvested and replanted and now contain

head-high trees growing quickly in the GA sun. Between these are the recently harvested

sections that look like a battle field. After felling the trees, they lop off the branches and

bulldoze them into big piles which we presume will be burned. The naked tree trunks are

loaded onto log trucks and delivered to the processing plant. This being a weekday, we saw

many of these log trucks, fortunately going in the opposite direction.

We also passed some of the biggest Cotton Fields we’d seen yet. They, too, were in various

stages. The ones with the soon-to-be-picked cotton are beautiful. Large patches of white

that reminds us northerners of snow. Other fields had been picked and the cotton sits in

big bales waiting to be trucked to the gin. We passed through a few little towns with

disproportionately large cotton gins. After harvest, the stalks are baled and used for we

don’t know what. The empty field is then prepared for the next planting and the easily-

worked soil looks like manicured ground.

The other thing we saw a lot of is Pecan Groves. We started seeing them more frequently

yesterday and today there were even more. We passed through a town where the houses

had been built in an old Pecan plantation. There a couple men were out picking nuts up off

the ground as we drove by … as well as before and after, I suspect. Remember that Far

Side cartoon with the cows standing around smoking, wearing shades and looking cool when

one of them yells “Car” and they all resume being cows? Yeah, like that.

Our drive netted several Red Shouldered Hawks perched and scanning the terrain for a

meal. We also saw our first Red Tailed Hawk in a while. Our bike ride around the CG also

produced some birds, both seen & heard. Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Tailed Hawk

Ruby Crowned Kinglet

Chickadee

Cardinal

Downy

Loon

Wood Duck

Canada Goose

Grebe

Reflect:

Our return from FL was supposed to include checking out the Carolina Coast. However,

when Janie looked into it, she discovered some of the places we’d hoped to go are closed

due to hurricane damage and others are only partially open. If things are that bad, they

don’t need us snooping around. A few years ago we were on Cape Hatteras after a storm

had passed through and it was depressing to see household goods bulldozed into mountains

of trash to be trucked off to … who knows where. Nope, we don’t need to contribute to the

problem so we are opting to explore the inland area and save the coast for another time.

Ate:

Granola/Raisins/Walnuts

Half Cheese Sandwich

Salt Lick Mild Smoked Sausage w/Broccoli Salad & Cole Slaw

Bike Data: Trail: Petersburg COE CG Road & some of Bartram Trail

ST: 3:00

ET: 4:30

TT: 1:30

BT: 0:56

D (miles): 6.45

Mx (mph): 16.0

Avg (mph): 6.9

Drive::50 End: Petersburg COE CG, Appling GA

Arrive: 2:50

Temp (degrees): 58

Elev (ft): 415

D (miles): 192

Mpg: 21.8

2017.11.14 … TUE … 35: … Petersburg COE CG #38, Appling GA to Lake Powhatan NF

CG, Asheville NC … Up: 6:49 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 61/46/55 Weather: Moon = Clear; Overcast later then clearing

Did:

Mostly State Roads like SC-28 & SC-11 until near the SC/NC border where we were

shunted onto US-25 which turned into I-26 at the border. That took us to Asheville NC

and Lake Powhatan NF CG where we’d stayed on the way down. Along the way we had

breakfast near Abbeville SC at Parson’s Mtn Lake CG & Picnic Area in the Francis

Marion & Sumter NF. Onward to Clemson SC where Janie had read about a BBQ place

called Sardi’s Den. We arrived just as they were opening for the day … and before the

lunch crowd arrived. After puzzling over the menu options, we settled on a Rack of Baby

Back Ribs smothered in their Red BBQ Sauce, a pint of Baked Beans & a pint of their Gold

(Mustard) BBQ Sauce, which we’ll add to our growing stock of Carolina Mustard Sauces,

which are all but unattainable at home.

When the waitress delivered our order, OMG, the smell was heavenly. As is normally the

case, the meat came in a Styrofoam clamshell. I put my nosed near the clasp and used the

top as a bellows to pump the aromatic goodness out and into my waiting nostrils. If they are

half as good as they smell, well, we’ll be in hog heaven tonight.

After the Interstate experience, the traffic dwindled as we proceeded on ever smaller

back roads until we finally arrived at Lake Powhatan NF CG. Only the Big John Loop is

open this time of year and all the campers are concentrated there. The six electric sites

were occupied so we are now sitting happily in primitive site #12 with the sun setting over

the little rise in front of us. It will be cold tonight, down to freezing or a little below, so

we’ll have to burn some propane to keep our water pipes, and us, warm. The batteries are

fully charged so we should have no problem making it through the night.

As we proceed northward, it becomes increasing more difficult to find campsites that are

open. We will likely retrace our steps and seek those with which we are familiar – and know

are open this time of year. It’s feeling more and more like the end of the trip. We are back

in familiar terrain and not seeing much to hold our interest. What is holding my interest

right now is the nearly full bottle of Mendocino Imperial Stout. Seems like a good idea to

sip it gently while watching the sun set. Boger signing out …

Saw:

A lot of SC but only the Piedmont region: We’d hoped to scout the low country of SC’s

Coastal Plain but that wasn’t within easy reach. The scenery was mostly pleasant and most

of the driving was good. The biggest sighting of the day was the looming Blue Ridge. It was

impressive when it popped up on our horizon. We’ve gone from the Coastal Plain, through

the Piedmont and are now in the Blue Ridge. Next up: Valley & Ridge and Allegheny Plateau

… and Naweedna. I’m surprised the trees in northern SC and southern NC still have leaves

on ‘em. The ground is littered with those that have already fallen but the mountain slopes

are still showing a lot of green.

Reflect:

Risk/Reward: That is our traveling mantra. Is the reward worth the risk we take doing it?

Yesterday and today, the answer is NO. Too much traffic, not enough good scenery and

very little wildlife makes for high risk/low reward traveling. As of tonight, we’ve decided

this trip is over and we are heading for the barn. The farther north we go, the more

familiar it is and that is exacerbated by the need to retrace our steps to find open

campgrounds. Tomorrow we’ll spend the morning driving down the BRP toward Galax VA and

after that probably spend more time on Interstates than smaller roads. I always feel like

one of those deep divers who, when returning to the surface, have to pause at stages to

equilibrate their blood Nitrogen. In our case, we are decompressing from exotic terrain to,

well, the familiar and home. Thus, we say the trip is over and it’s time to head for the barn.

Three relatively short days or two long ones will get us there … and it will probably include a

fair amount of Interstate driving. The main reward of an Interstate is its efficiency in

terms of distance and time. The risks are small if they aren’t choked with traffic, which is

why we pick and choose our Interstates carefully. In this region I-77, I-68 & I-99 are

tolerable; I-81 is not.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Half Cajun Roast Beef Sandwich

Sardi’s Baby Back Ribs w/Cole Slaw & Baked Beans

Drive: End: Lake Powhatan NF CG #12, Asheville NC

Arrive: 3:03

Temp (degrees): 54

Elev (ft): 2361

D (miles): 199

Mpg: 21.1

2017.11.15 … WED … 36: … Lake Powhatan NF CG, Asheville NC to Camp Creek SP, Camp

Creek WV … Up: 6:57 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/44/50 Weather: Hazy most of the day

Did:

We pulled out of the CG fairly early and drove the couple miles to the BRP. OMG, the BRP

was almost as congested as the road leading to it. Why? It seems a lot of Asheville

commuters use it as a connector between local roads. I can’t blame them too much; I’d

probably do the same if I lived here. But still, the BRP is for tourists, not commuters, so I

putzed along below the 45 mph limit while the commuters lined up behind me. There are no

pullouts in the Asheville area because they don’t want people peeing or otherwise polluting

their watershed. Thus, I had no option other than drive along at what was a comfortable

speed and let them deal with it. We could see them peeling off at every road intersection

and that continued until there were none left. We had the road nearly to ourselves until

about 10:00.

The morning was hazy and cool with some fog in deep mountain-recesses. That and the

early hour kept sightseers off the road for a while. Nearly all traffic we encountered once

we were out of the influence of Asheville was mainly single-occupant vehicles also using the

BRP as a local connector but there were significantly fewer of them and they quickly faded

away as we motored on. We really can’t complain too much about the commuters because we

are using the BRP as a connector, too. Except in our case we are connecting two roads

that are 200 miles apart.

We encountered fog above 4,000’ but the cloud layer was relatively thin so when we got to

5,000’, we were above the clouds. The overlook at Craggy Gardens revealed a sea of white

below us. Who needs airplanes? It was pretty spectacular to look at the blanket of white

with little, dark islands where the peaks poked through. I tried to take some pictures but

they could never show the effect as well as reality. We stopped for breakfast at an un-

named pullout looking out over the misty valley below. We could hear a waterfall down over

the edge; it may have been Linville Falls, the next major stop on the BRP.

After our 200 miles of the BRP, we took the Galax exit and pulled into the Galax Smoke

House to load up on more Carolina Sauces … and more Rib Tips, if they got ‘em … and more

of their good Chocolate Chip Cookies. We walked out with a very heavy bag containing three

jars of different sauces, 1.5 lbs of Rib Tips and a half dozen cookies. We are pretty well

fixed for BBQ stuff.

It was time to do the day’s dirty work; put the shoes on as my Uncle Buck used to say. We

took US-58 out of Galax and picked up I-77 heading north. Yikes, 65 mph limit and later it

became 70. There were lots of trucks at first because I-77 links up with I-81 for about

ten miles before splitting off and going north again. After the split, the traffic was more

tolerable … but the speed limit was still too high for my liking and mileage.

Janie found Camp Creek SP, just off I-77 and back WV-19 into a rather deep in the Camp

Creek Valley. The CG is small so we were a bit concerned about availability. I called them

while Janie was in the Smoke House. Yes, they are open. Yes, they have sites available.

When we got to the SP we understood the lady’s assurance about getting a site. The place

was absolutely empty expect for a purple trailer, decorated with big, garish flowers, and

two purple plastic ADK chairs. So far we’ve seen no vehicle or signs of life at the trailer.

That means we are essentially TOOT.

We settled on #8 with electric for $25, took a shower and set up our electric heaters to

keep our clean bodies toasty through the night. The sun has already sunk behind the west

ridge that bounds the valley and we are typing up our notes in twilight. I’m celebrating

another safe driving day with a Victory Storm King Imperial Stout. It’s the last Stout in

my traveling collection. If we get home tomorrow, I’ll get another from my beer cellar. If

not, I’ll have to settle for one of my eight other choices in my beer tray. Such is life here

on the road.

Saw:

Juncos … we flushed several flocks of ‘em from the edges of the BRP. We also got a good

view of a Red Tail that appeared to be clutching its breakfast. Janie saw a small flock of

Turkey and we scared a Murder Of Crows from some roadkill. Other than that, the 200

miles of BRP offered up lots of overlooks into the valleys below, many outcroppings of very

old and seriously abused rocks, and lots of Rhododendron, Hemlock, Oak & Eastern White

Pine. The BRP always offers these majestic things but all too frequently it is also being

appreciated by a hoard of other sight-seers … and motorcycles. It was pretty cold today

so we only saw four motorcycles and they were of the quiet, BMW variety. There were also

two bicyclists pedaling up a steep slope. One was doing a lot better than the other and he

was doing way better than we would.

Reflect:

Risk/Reward: The BRP is very low risk and almost all reward drive. Being on the road early

means having to watch for deer, rock falls and down trees. We saw only one of those: a

yearly Buck that looked pretty confused. After typing that, I gave a big sigh remembering

bits and pieces of the drive. BIG rewards in that 200 miles.

Driving on I-77 was very different. Because it is a controlled access, divided highway,

there is fairly low risk involved. However, there is also very little reward. When the

traffic is heavy, I have to keep my attention focused on the highway and my fellow

travelers. It is sort of like biking a single-track trail. There may be some spectacular

scenery but I can’t look at it very often. Yep, pretty low risk and equally low reward, at

least for the driver.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Cheese & Nuts

Sardi’s Baby Back Ribs w/Cole Slaw Encore & Broccoli Salad Leftovers

Drive: End: Camp Creek SP #8, Camp Creek WV

Arrive: 4:03

Temp (degrees): 50

Elev (ft): 2067

D (miles): 275

Mpg: 21.2

2017.11.16 … THU … 37: … Camp Creek SP, Camp Creek WV to Black Moshannon SP,

Phillipsburg PA … Up: 6:57 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 63/45/57 Weather: Overcast & Bluster, a November Day

Did:

It seems we sleep in on the mornings we want to get an early start and get up too early

when it doesn’t matter. Such is life, eh? We opted to take US-19, the hypotenuse, up to I-

68 and it turned out to be a pretty good decision as it allowed us to circumvent the $2 toll.

US-19 is mostly a four-lane affair but not controlled access and periodic traffic lights. It

is called the Mountaineer Expressway and served us well during the morning drive … and was

the last ‘little’ road we’d see until the 12-mile drive to Black Moshannon SP near

Phillipsburg PA. Between the two we stopped only for biscuits, peeing & fuel. Here’s how it

unfolded.

Janie had seen Tudor’s Biscuit World in WV on a previous trip and wanted to see what it

had to offer. We found one in Fayette WV, pulled in and had to almost get into an argument

just to get plain biscuits. “You want jelly?” Nope. “You want butter?” Nope “How about

gravy?” Yech! No, thanks, Plain Jane wants Plain Biscuits; deal with it.

We took our biscuits down the road to the New River VC & Overlook to use as a medium

four our three kinds of Tupelo Honey. Before I get into that, let me comment about the

‘Overlook’ advertised on the several signs. The gorge is very, very deep with the New River

(same one we biked along previously) flowing swiftly below. One might assume the overlook

would afford a good view of the gorge & river. Nope. It was an overlook to see the World’s

Langest, Single-Span Arch Bridge. To hell with what it’s spanning. We must oogle the man-

make phenomenon and ignore the natural one. Humans, when will we ever get over

ourselves?

Back to the biscuits and honey: We quickly came to a conclusion about the three honeys.

The winner was Bee House in Bristol FL. Runner up was awarded to Full Moon in Monticello

FL. And bringing up the rear was Smiley’s of Wewahitchka FL. The evaluation of the

biscuits was even easier. Tudor’s came in dead last in our biscuit category. What’s first?

That would be Charzy’s delightfully scrumptious biscuits. Coming in a distant second is Bob

Evans and a bit lower would be fresh made Apalachicola Piggly Wiggly ones. A far distant

fourth: Janie’s Bisquick version (I like ‘em, but she factors in the fact(or) that she has to

make ‘em). And last … Tudor’s. We won’t be doing them again.

Let’s talk a bit about today’s weather. When I got out to unplug DALAS, it was painfully

obvious that we were experiencing a weather change. It rained last night and today the

wind was swirling mostly from the west … and it was biting. The sky was leaden like a mid-

November sky should be. The wind continued to pick up as the day wore on and became a bit

of a hazard when channeled through narrow gaps. We were mostly going north so it was

hitting DALAS broadside. Here are the descriptions that passed through my brain as we

drove along:

Sunglasses: Don’t need ‘em

Hat: Wear at your own risk ... but be prepared to chase it

Temp: Significantly cooler than this AM

Precipitation: Some of it stung the face

Season: Winter

We took I-79 to I-68, which hugs the PA/MD border on the MD side. Ah, but we get to

add another state to our list. I-68 connected to US-220, which becomes I-99 after about

30 miles of two-way traffic. Two-lane connectors between Interstates are dangerous

because people using them forget they are not Interstates. I-99 is our road home and

pretty familiar to us. But we still have to drive it and I’m getting a belly full of big roads.

It was getting late and we were getting tired so we decided to call it a day and head for the

nearest campground that’s still open. In this case it was Black Moshannon SP near

Phillipsburg PA. We’d stayed there once before and actually drove by it on the outward leg

of this trip. We got to the park office about two minutes before it closed. Most everyone

was leaving; it looked like a rats/sinking ship scenario. But one kind attendant-lady stayed

long enough to register us (and take our $28) and now, here we sit in #34, typing up the

day’s notes and enjoying a beer. This time both of us are having a brewhaha. Janie is

celebrating our last night on the road with our last Guinness Stout (not as good as Terri’s

but serviceable) while I’m doing my last Troegs Troegenator Double Bock. Ah … so much

better than the driving part of the day.

Saw:

Some Red Tails perched along the highway … while going by at 60 mph and not much else in

the wildlife realm. We saw too many big ol’ trucks and personal vehicles going too fast for

anybody’s good. Who cares what kind of mileage you get when you can go 80 mph on an

Interstate?

Reflect:

Around 5:00, we took the Port Matilda PA exit ramp off I-99 and pulled into their PO so

Janie could get stamps and mail stuff. Then it was up US-220 Alternate to Julian PA

where we found (barely) PA-3032 AKA Beaver Road. You can tell it was a small road by the

four-digit number. My speed limits went from 70 to 50 to 40 to 35 and finally 25. The last

two were the ones preferred by me … but not the vehicles following who seemed to be in a

big hurry to get to the next stop sign where I coasted in behind and gave ‘em the evil eye.

When I’m driving at speed on the Interstate, I feel like I’m hurtling through space … like

I’m in some sort of tube that’s propelling me at near warp speed, too fast to see anything

but road and traffic. Zooooom … the Interstate is a world all its own. And when you get

off, you time-warp back into the slower-paced, real world where people actually interact

with one another.

As soon as I exited the Interstate, I let out a big, involuntary sigh and started to relax.

Apparently I wasn’t aware of the stress I’d stored in my body during the day’s drive. The

more small roads I drove, the better and more comfortable I felt. Honestly, it was a

surprise. I had noticed my voice had gotten higher and thinner as the day progressed and

that usually results from anxiety. But it wasn’t that obvious until the stress of the big road

was removed. I’m definitely more comfortable on back roads even if they are narrow and

twisty. It’s what I’m used to … much more so than driving Interstates. But we’ve pulled the

plug on the trip and it’s time to go home. After where we’ve been and what we’ve seen, this

part of the country isn’t that rewarding, especially when it’s bone-chilling cold and windy.

One more short day and we’ll be pulling into Naweedna with the hope that it has once again

survived our neglect, with much-appreciated help from Amy and Chad. We know the

house will be cold but we can always use our electric heaters like we’re using tonight. At the

moment, they are keeping DALAS 30+ degrees above ambient. Small heaters/small space –

it seems to work.

Ate:

Tudor Biscuits & Tupelo Honey

Half Cajun Roast Beef & Onion Sandwich

Mac’n’Cheese’n’Tuna’n’Peas Oh My

Drive: End: Black Moshannon SP #34, Phillipsburg PA

Arrive: 5:04

Temp (degrees): 36

Elev (ft): 1903

D (miles): 381

Mpg: 20.8 (Interstate & Wind)

2017.11.17 … FRI … 38: … Black Moshannon SP, Phillipsburg PA to Naweedna … Up: 6:14 Temp (In/Out/Under Bed): 69/31/41 Weather: Overcast but clearing

Did:

Decision Made: Yesterday, we could have headed up I-79 to Erie PA to pick up I-86 to

home. The operative word there is “Erie”. A glance at the weather map showed a blue (30s)

dot centered on Erie and a front moving in. We’ve been through that area before … in a

veritable blizzard … and don’t need that to deal with. That left two other options: 1) take I-

99 to Jersey Shore PA and pick up our tried & true back roads home or 2) stay on I-99 all

the way to I-86 & I-390. Again, the weather told us what to do. We awoke to SNOW & ICE

covering the ground, our Windshield, our Bike Saddles and later, our road out to I-99. We

don’t want to chance having worse conditions at higher elevations in the Appalachian Plateau;

it’s option #2 for us.

We’ll be home today, so we need to get DALAS ready for storage. Thus, we did our utilities

and battened down the hatches for a pleasant last ride. Hepburnville PA provided a

relatively quiet spot for us to have breakfast; Dansville NY offered up fuel for DALAS;

Geneseo NY gave us access to our held mail; and Naweedna welcomed us home with open

arms with no serious damage to be found. We are home safe & sound after 38 days on the

road. Will we do it again? You bet. We’re already planning our spring excursion – probably to

the SW … maybe beyond.

We arrived early afternoon and spent the next three hours cleaning out DALAS and

getting comfortable in the house. Time for a well-deserved shower … and a beer: Mendocino

Imperial Stout. We settled in around the table on the porch and accessed the status of

the meadow. Wow! We got a real Welcome Home: a Fox and an 8-point Buck in the

meadow. A day later, six Turkey strutted across the drive. Two of ‘em seemed to be

fighting; they had each other’s beaks in a death grip trying to bring the other one down.

The other four strutted around with fanned tails watching the conflict with apparent

enthusiasm. Hey, this place is pretty nice; let’s camp here for a while.

Saw:

The best of the day was the section of I-99 between Williamsport PA and Corning NY.

There was light traffic with some very nice scenery. The only bad part was the stiff north

wind blowing in our face and dampening our mileage. As for wildlife, here are the high points: Couple soaring Bald Eagles

Several Red Tails

8-point Buck and Fox in meadow

6 Turkey

Reflect:

Home: It is good to be home. It is especially good to be home with no significant issues on

the road or at Naweedna. We are fortunate but it is not without some effort. We depend

on friends to look after our property while we gallivant around the country – and we are

sincerely grateful for their agreeing to do so. We make risk/reward assessments and

make choices to minimize risk while trying to maximize reward. We proactively attempt to

do our traveling with as little danger as reasonably possible and so far it has worked out

well. Let’s hope our good fortune continues.

Ate:

Granola/Banana/Walnuts

Half Cajun Roast Beef on Tudor’s Biscuit

Chicken Marsala with some extra stuff

Drive: End: Naweedna

Arrive: 1:09

Temp (degrees): 37

Elev (ft): 926

D (miles): 214

Mpg: 20.3 (stiff Wind)

Trip Totals: Days: 38 D (miles): 3,636 Cost: $1,961 (more for food than fuel)

Bike Totals: TT (hrs): 125 BT (hrs): 78 D (miles): 663