"Bill's Excellent Adventure!"

7/22/08

Well. A lot has transpired over the last few weeks. Upon leaving NC 6/26/08, I camped at Stone Mountain State Park in NC. My oldest son, Will, and his girlfriend, Laura, backpacked there for several days until the incessant storms drove them to a motel and further into the Blue Ridge mountains to do some touristy stuff. It was good to see them for one last time before I hit the road north for possibly two years. I cried like a father only can knowing it will be a long time before I see either of my sons. After a few minutes I refocused on the trip ahead.

Next stop was Bluestone Lake State Park in WV. I spent about a week here, just relaxing and getting into my routine again. Took a couple of trips into Princeton, about 20 miles distant, to see what if anything I remember about my ancestral home. I did find the old hotel downtown that my grandfather, William I, lived in for the last few years of his life. The hotel is now a dilapidated structure as is most of the old downtown district. I think I drove past the old country store he ran in later years before going to the hotel. Grandma lived out in a holler by herself while grandpa had a bedroom in the front of the store. I think my grandma was a little nutso by this time and a hypochondriac. I can still sense the old wooden floors and the cacophony of smells of the store. My brother and I, with grandpa fully knowing what we were doing, would “steal” candy from the large glass jars on the counter. My other favorite memory was when my brother, Jay, and I went for a ride with grandpa out to Bluestone. My brother would reach out the window and grab the antenna and short out the signal. Grandpa would be fiddling with the radio trying to get his favorite station back! I think I was probably under ten at this time. I also remember Jay having a seizure while we waited for the elevator to go down to the lobby. That was fun! I think it was the first one he had had with me by myself. We were waiting for the elevator and he just stopped and stared out the window, then he fell to the floor and had a grand-mal seizure.

Cindy was kind enough to give me Jim’s phone number while I was in Princeton. I hooked up with he and Sandy for a couple of hours then took my leave. It was good to see Jim again, as he moved to Beckley while I was out in New Mexico last year. He seems very contented living back home with his family around him. It appears to have been the right choice for them. The home they have is a very nice place and Sandy was the kindest hostess one could have. Jim and Sandy, you certainly helped me make my transition back to the road. It was a wonderful gift. Best to both of you!

Next stop was an unplanned stop to the New River Gorge area. I stayed at an out of the way state park for a couple of days and went to the visitor’s center to view the largest single arch bridge in the world. It is something like 3030 ft across. Took a few pictures and had to deal with still more rainstorms. Factoid: Did you know that the New River and the Nile are the only two rivers in the world that run north!

Next stop for the night was outside Hunnington, WV at another state park called Beech Fork. Spent only one night there but had the treat of a doe grazing right in my campsite. Took a few pictures. She came back a couple of times and was always eyeing for any threatening moves.

Continued on my journey into Ohio taking scenic routes along the Ohio River for a while. There is a lot of coal moving by rail out in this part of the country. Finally made it to the Dayton area where I spent a lot all my growing up years. I left this area after Charle and I got married and moved to NC for graduate school. I camped for about three days I think, at John Bryant State Park up by Yellow Springs, where Antioc College is located. Drove into Dayton the next day and took the tour of all the old homes I had lived in Dayton and Xenia. (see slide show for details.) The next day I spent about five hours at the Air Force Museum. Got tired of walking. The place is huge with three huge hanger type buildings housing the aircraft and other exhibits. I really wanted to see the XB-70 they used to have outside the museum. They moved it and other experimental craftto two other hangers on Wright Field. It’s a day long trip by reservation and bus and I opted not to take it for time reasons.

The third day I tracked down my old high school buddy, Greg and his wife Marilyn. Stopped by and enjoyed the reunion for about three hours. They have both retired now and are preparing to sell their home and move to Albuquerque. Their son is in marketing and spends a good deal of time in Asia and sounds like they may have a daughter-in-law coming on line. An avid hunter and fisherman, Marilyn paid for a hunting trip for Greg to get a new trophy…a buffalo…a four thousand dollar buffalo! Apparently, they bring in a buffalo to eastern Colorado and he goes out with a guide to hunt the beast down. He nailed it at about 300 yards I think Greg told me.

Next stop was a run into and across Indiana. I stopped for 8 days at a pleasant state park called, “Shades” South of Crawfordsville off I-74 in western IN probably 30 miles of so from Illinois. Nothing much exciting here, but they do have some nice hiking trails. My routine was one of hiking about 5 miles one day, take the next day to rest up and do it all again!

Weekends were crowded but mid week was peaceful with virtually nobody back in the campground loop I stayed. Cell service was non-existent as was internet wireless. I read about three novels while here.

I moved on July 21st to Turkey Run State Park, about 12 miles down the road from Shades. I wanted electricity and cell signals and while it’s costing me about twice what I paid at Shades, it’s worth it. I’ll be here until the 25th when I get my check. This is a huge campground. Some 238 sites, all of the electric, with most sites back in amongst the woods. I’m against some woods with my shell exposed to the sun most of the day to help recharge my deep cycle battery. We had a horrific thunderstorm last night that about near took my tarp off the back! It hit hard about 12:30 or so last night, with gusts of wind probably running 60-70 miles an hour. The tarp, much to my surprise, managed to stay fairly well anchored. The rushing winds turned it into a sail and lifted one of my poles out of postion, thrashing the pole around. I was concerned that it might become a missle and either dent the truck body or break a window. However, in my creative genius, I used metal clamps to anchor the tarp to the poles and metal clips to anchor the guidelines to the pole. The lifting motion managed to pull a steak out the ground for each pole and one side collapsed while the other one hung tough. My biggest concern was that the seal of the tarp pulled tight against the shell top would loosen and I would have to close the back window as rain would flood into the truck bed around the hinge on the window. As it turned out the tension along the roof line held and I was able to leave the tailgate open all night. I was fortunate, for the truck was facing the wind, so the truck took the brunt of the wind force. I heard something go “thump” in the night. I peered out with my flashlight and noticed a big walnut tree branch landed not more than ten feet from the truck. The “thump” I heard was probably walnuts or part of the branch hitting the top of the shell. I was concerned I would have some damage due to the velocity of the storm, but the shell seems to be intact, with the solar panel not damaged.

Well, it’s been misting for a few minutes so I think I’d better “batten down the hatches” before another storm hits this afternoon!