Edisto Beach, SC

I left Mark's house and drove down into South Carolina, and cruised along the Grand Strand that sprawls along the coast and features the beach/golf hi-rise mecca of Myrtle Beach. As a rolled along and saw all of the monsterous mini-golf and go-cart activity parks, the shopping malls, the "plantations" with their fancy gated entrances and manicured grounds, I knew then that this is a place that is not my style. When the sprawl ended and the longleaf pines gave way to live-oaks and palmetto trees, the state began to have more appeal. I ended up at a nice little state park north of Charleston, not too far from the airport. Unfortunately phone and internet were very poor there, so it wouldn't do for Nancy and her job. I picked her up, and the next day we moved down to the coast, to Edisto Beach State Park. This place is great - right on a beautiful stretch of sand beach, not as spacious and private as many parks, but everyone is super nice and so happy to be there, which really makes a difference. We immediately decided to stay the week, got camp set up, and went to the beach.

Good to have Nancy back at camp:


Miles of gorgeous sand beach littered with beautiful shells:


Dolphins swim just off-shore:


Sunlight filtered through a live-oak hanging with spanish moss:


Folks don't use their cars much here. Many have golf carts, but most walk or ride bicycles. Its very flat here, so cycling is easy, and there's a grocery store just across from the campground entrance, so even trips to resupply can be done by bike. Then there is a nice network of trails for hiking and biking, and the beach, when the tide is out and exposes hard, flat sand, is a fun place to ride.

Toby catches a ride:


Riding on the beach:


Riding on the trails:


Nancy inspects the "Spanish Mount":

This is a 20 foot deep, 1/2 acre across pile of accumulated oyster shells! Some 4000 years ago indigenous americans began to pile their shells here, and the mount became so large that is was used by explorers as a landmark. Archeaologists have found pottery and bones of fish and animals in the pile, but it is mostly just oyster shells.



This friendly little sanderling ran up to me and pecked away at some mushrooms growing in the sand by my feet. The bird seemed unafraid and stayed within a foot or two of my feet while I crouched down with the camera to snap a few photos:


One afternoon we took a drive into Charleston. We really liked the feel of this city. The older section of town had such beautiful architecture, lovely private homes with walled gardens, and a really fun covered marketplace teeming with vendors selling their creations, including sweet-grass woven baskets, jewelry, pottery, and benne-seed cookies. We worked up an appetite walking and then had dinner at Hyman's Seafood on Meeting Street. We're glad that we took the time to check out Charleston. Here are a couple of photos of the city:



And I'll leave you with this - me and my birthday present of a full-face helmet so that when I get all armored up to do serious downhill trails, my noggin will have adequate protection!

North Carolina, revisited

I headed south into North Carolina, putting in a six hour drive to reach Jones Lake State Park, southeast of Fayetteville, northwest of Wilmington. A small park of only 20 sites, no two alike in shape or size. I found one that could handle the whale's formidible bulk and settled in for the night. There was no electricity available at this park, so it would be a good test for my new two-battery configuration. I cooked over a wood fire and stayed out until it died down and it got cold. It got so cold that I turned the furnace on inside. All was well until I awoke at 3:30 in the morning and perceived that the blower fan was spinning noticable slower. So I got up and switched to the backup battery, and it made it through the night. The lesson learned is that the furnace is a battery hog, and it's not a good idea to camp off-the-grid in cold weather. The next day I ran the generator and charged up the dead battery, and then as the daytime temperature climbed into the 60's Toby and I went for a nice long hike:


The trail took us through sandy forests of longleaf pine, amongst giant rhodedendron-like trees, live-oaks with spanish moss, and along Jone's Lake:



I made contact with a friend from back at Madrigal Audio Labs, Mark Moore, who relocated to Wilmington almost a year ago. I had hoped to be able to drive down and have dinner, but Mark and his wife Valerie suggested that I bring the truck and trailer down and park overnight in their driveway. After explaining that my camper is shockingly large, and discussing the route through the city to his house, we agreed that I could come in. It was no problem, and Gigantor and the Whale fit in the driveway with feet to spare:


While Mark and I caught up, and Mark showed my how is entire garage and half of the rooms in the house are full of audio gear, Valerie prepared a delicous meal, and her daughter Mary joined us for dinner. The next morning Valerie was back in the kitchen making blueberry pancakes, so they sent me off to South Carolina with a full belly!

Southward Bound

It felt great to get back on the road - it made the trip feel like it was really still going on. We have to be flexible, and we have to keep Network-IT healthy and strong, but we also want to finish what we've started, and see the rest of this enormous country! Nancy will stay home another week, flying down to meet me in South Carolina on Sunday.

So I put in a couple of 250 mile days, stopping first in Glasgow, Delaware, at a nice little State Park called Lums Pond. It was like driving back in time, as most of the trees still had their leaves, and some of the maples were in full color. There was a nice trail around the pond so we had a nice walk, the dogs and I. At one point I became aware of a building noise. It sounded like a distant crowd, or a large machine. We kept walking and gradually out of the din I was able to perceive individual chirps - it was a large flock of migrating grackles, gathering for their flight south. We walked right below them, saw them flitting from branch to branch. Then, suddenly, as if somehow every bird was responding to the same cue, they went silent and took flight! As they wheeled away in a group, perhaps 10,000 of them, silence returned to the wood, and it was immediately evident just how loud thousands of little chirps, combined, can be.

The next drive took me through the eastern bit of Maryland, across Chesapeake Bay at Annapolis, and skirting Washington D.C. to the east, ending up just south of Richmond, Virginia. Pocahontas State Park is great: big, private campsites, lots of trees, nice gravel camp picnic areas (as opposed to the sand, dirt and grass at most campgrounds). I camped at site #88, the deepest into the park, and no other campers are within sight. The dogs can be free in camp, which is so nice for all of us. But the trails are really what made my visit here memorable. Not only is there a huge network of multi-use trails, but there are two separate mountain-bike specific trail networks, 20 miles worth. These trails were built by mountain bikers for mountain bikers, and it shows. Awesome flow from turn to turn, some nice banked corners, a couple of little jumps, log piles, and log rides. Mostly it was just sweet, flowing singletrack. Most of the trail was very smooth, very few roots, and even fewer rocks. The rocky sections were labeled "expert": when they grow up they hope to move to Connecticut and become real rock gardens! I went for two rides during the day that I was there, and I loved it.

Here is our camp at Pocahontas:


Here I ride one of the few skinny logs:


And here is Toby while out on our hike:



South again today, into North Carolina.

A Break in the Trip

The month of October was spent at home base, and it was a beautiful time of year to be home. Perfect weather for bike riding, and fall fishing at its peak meant lots of recreating for me, while Nancy took care of her business. Hey, one of us has got to be productive! We wouldn't be leaving until a new engineer had been hired and had started for a couple of weeks.

Many days found me and Dan E out hammering the trails at Cockaponset, Middlesex or Miller's Pond. Here is Dan negotiating a log at Miller's:


And here he is rolling down some steep ledges:


I also got in some rides with Gene, Austin (the Goat), Larry and Ben. We plied the technicalities at Miller's and took to the twists and turns at Tyler Mill. Austin earned our respect and disgust with his amazing log riding skills!

One weekend Nancy and I joined Drew and Karen at the Glastonbury Apple Festival, where Karen enjoyed a succulent lobster roll


and Drew tore into a smoked turkey leg:


Nancy's birthday brought Derik out of hiding, along with Brittany, Mike, Lillian and Scott. Unfortunately Kristen was too busy being a nurse and couldn't join us.


Nancy tests her new bike basket for fit on Kinsey:


Jeff and I got out fishing a couple of times. The first time the wind came up and we spent the day pounding through the chop, soaked to the skin and getting caked with salt. Jeff had the magic fly and with it caught a few schoolie striped bass, but I came up with nothing. The next time out we had excellent weather, and found The Sluiceway at the end of Plum Island to be loaded with bluefish smashing bait on the surface. It was non-stop action: bent rods, screaming reels, shredded leaders, mauled flies and snapping jaws - typical bluefish style - awesome fun. Here are the two biggest fish: 11 pounds each of angry muscle-propelled teeth:




Another weekend found Nancy and I headed up to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for a Waterman/Shirley reunion, and to see the Head of the Charles regatta. Here we all are lined up on a bridge over the Charles while the boats skimmed underneath us. From left to right we are: Marilyn, Greta, Bodie, Todd, Alyssa, John, George, Bill, Julie, Nancy, Charles, Alistair, Dakota and Laurel, plus Flora and Rhona down in front:


Here are a few of the 8-man boats pulling up river:


Thanks to Alyssa and Bill for hosting the throng, and for cooking a delicious sit-down dinner for seventeen hungry mouths. It was great fun.

Our Hallowe'en carvings for this year:


When Nancy's new engineer started last Monday I got to work getting ready to head back out on the road. Gigantor's got six new tires, and the Whale has a second battery plus a 1/2/both switch. But when I pulled the wheels to check the bearings I was horrified to find that three of the four grease seals had blown, and the escaped grease made a nasty mess of the brakes. Apparently I went too many miles without changing these seals. So I had to buy four new brake assemblies and install them. Here's what it looks like when a grease seal fails inside a drum brake:


Finally, by staying into November we were happy to be able to attend Theonne's 40th birthday party! It was a surprise party, and here is the birthday girl seconds after opening the door and seeing the crowd:


Gene did a great job putting together the party, provided enough food to feed us all for a week, and he also had put together a great photo presentation of Theonne's life so far. It was a great event, and we're so glad we were able to be there.



So now I am back on the road, heading south with Gigantor and the Whale. Nancy will fly down to join me this coming weekend, and then we'll spend a few weeks exploring the south-east before scooting back to spend Christmas with the family.

The Berkshires

Although within a day's drive from home, I made one more stop, in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts. Just two hours from home, this is a beautiful area, and close enough for Nancy to drive up to rejoin me, and for our friends the Lawrences to come up for bike riding and camping.

The weather was horrific Thursday night, so Nancy delayed her arrival until Friday, but it was great to have her back, and the dogs, particularly Kinsey, were also ecstatic. The next morning Gene and Austin hooked up their camper trailer and drove up to camp in the site next to ours. After setting up and wolfing down some lunch, us guys loaded our bikes into Gigantor and drove over to nearby Jiminy Peak for some downhill mountain biking. Here is the truck loaded with bikes:


Jiminy Peak runs two chairlifts during the summer season for sightseeing, access to their alpine slide and mountain coaster, and for mountain biking. Here are we three riding up for our first of many runs:


The recent wind and rain brought down a lot of leaves, so the trails were slippery. It made for some exciting, adrenaline filled riding! Here is Austin traversing a steep section:


And here is Gene skidding down the trail:


Later in the afternoon we ended one of our runs to find Nancy, Theonne, Athena, Toby, Kinsey and Fluke waiting for us! Gene went to ride the mountain coaster with Athena while Austin and I went back for another trail ride. Here we are at the bottom - muddy and happy:


A hearty dinner cooked over the wood fire was just what we needed after a day on the mountain:


The next morning we had a great big campfire breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and english muffins. Then we took a drive up to the summit of nearby Mount Greylock. At 3491 feet, it's the hightest peak in Massachusetts, and offers a commanding view of much of the state, plus some of New York and Vermont. Here are the three girls with the three little white dogs:


And the whole lot of us:


It was a great weekend, full of fun and camaraderie. We were glad to find an opportunity to get our two campers out for a weekend, and that everyone was able to come up and have a good time.

Now we're back home for a while, probably all of the month of October.

Adirondacks

I left the park in Michigan and drove just a few miles south to Port Huron where I crossed into Ontario.

It seemed to me that there was a lot less scrutiny by the border guard once it was established that I would be driving straight through and back into the US in the same day. So I cruised along, past Hamilton, and to Niagara Falls. I couldn't see the falls from the road (been there, done that), but did see some mightily impressive hydroelectric dams. At the US border I had to wait while the man in front of me attracted a whole gaggle of guards, who escorted him away somewhere and then one of them drove his car to park it! (Probably some kind of terrorist spy) I had an easier time, waiting only as long as it took they guy to check the trailer for illegal immigrants! I must have been within the limit, as he sent me on my merry way.

I stopped for the night at a Passport America participant camp so that I could pay 50%, and it worked out well. As it is off season, mid-week, and rainy, there's nobody at these places. I had my choice of spots, and could let the dogs run free. The next morning I was quick to leave, having never unhooked the truck or put down stabilizer jacks, and plus I was eager to move along and get to the:

Adirondacks:

I pulled off the New York State Thruway and headed north into z hills. As I climbed I watched the colors improve, and although where I stopped is still southern Adirondacks, the trees might have already peaked here. I camped at a state park campground: Moffitt Beach. It's all spread out along a beautiful lake - my campsite was a mile from the camp office! Most of the sites are too crowded with trees for my big-rig, but there were a few roomy ones, and I found one where I could back up to the lake. Again, nobody around, so I could let the dogs free. Toby lost no time finding the sharp end of a porcupine and getting some quills stuck in his muzzle! He was brave as I yanked them out one by one.

The rainy weather that I had been driving under all day finally cleared out late afternoon, and the view was gorgeous over the late at the hills ablaze with color:


The sun set behind storm clouds, and I caught this silouette of Toby framed by the lake and distant angry sky (click to enlarge, as always):


The next day I took Toby for a hike up in the hills and we had fun crossing a swollen stream in a couple of places. It was warm and smelled of fallen leaves and fresh rain:


Found this colorful array of fungi:


Back at camp, we found the lake millpond-smooth, so I couldn't resist launching a kayak and going for a quick paddle before dinner. Toby was trembling with excitment as several beavers smam nearby and spashed their tails with tremendous slaps. He would have jumped in and swam after them if I hadn't held him back! He is still gazing intently as I manage to snap a few pictures:



And the evening ended with a roaring campfire, smoky burgers, and one of the reddest sunsets I have ever seen: