Lobster Fishing and Buoys

 Today was a busy day - 16,961 steps and 41 floors! Scotty bagged up 7 dead gulls from the south beach rocks. There is an Avian flu and keepers have been asked to swab for samples. They are shipped off and studied. I had already weeded around the buoys. Camille suggested getting rid of the older, uglier buoys. What a job. We had started yesterday separating tje buoys and today I stacked them back up against the wall. Scotty and Duoey went out lobster fishing and caught 4. We cooked them up and will save the meat to make lobster rolls tomorrow. Then we got the trailer and loaded it up 3 times to dump in the woods beside the oul house. Lots and lots of buoys. I mafe my daily climb of the south tower and will try to get out some morning.

Thacher Island Arrival

 As I sit here working on this blog, I feel physically exhausted. We didn’t get a good sleep as we weren’t able to run the air conditioner since were not hooked up to electricity. We kept the windows open and It was a cooler night, but we were also a little bit worried about the food in the refrigerator. We got up early the next morning and started packing our tubs.  Dave says he gets up early every morning so he drove us over to Granite Pier and we got on Thacher I to go out to Thacher  island. Rain was predicted at this time but it never came instead the skies were dark. It made for a dramatic first showing of the lighthouses with the dark dark clouds and the morning sun just starting to peek through. We loaded up the cart and took our supplies up to the assistant keepers house, our home for the next two weeks. We quickly went back down to the boat house as the boats from now bringing in the docents and visitors. Camille supervised me on the winch to refresh me on its operation. Scotty worked with Dewey down on the ramp bringing the boats in. We brought in six boats of visitors and it’s always interesting to see the people that come out to the island. There was one man that was not the ordinary visitor as he didn’t seem to be enjoying where he was. But overall the visitors love coming out. Then the process is reversed as we put the visitors back on the boats to go back to the mainland. We had a quick lunch and after lunch went back down to the boathouse. Syd had mentioned that he wanted the vines cleaned up on the side of the boat house so Scotty started to work on that. I started cleaning up all the weeds around the buoys. After consulting with Camille, we both decided to take down all the buoys and stack them back up. It was definitely a work out as we picked up buoys, threw them into piles of either keepers or tossers. We only partially started to stack them back up and decided to stop for the day and finish the rest of the task tomorrow. For dinner we had BLTs and chips. Somehow the dinners here taste better as we’re Tired and hungry and surrounded by the fresh air.

Gloucester Arrival

 It was a short drive to Gloucester, no more than five hours. We parked in Dave and Sharon back lot two for the second year in a row have generously allowed us to keep our camper there. We went to the market basket and did some last-minute shopping of fresh produce. Our refrigerator is now full, and it has to last one night without electricity hook up. There should be enough juice in the battery to keep it running, but Scotty did hook up the trailer twice to charge the battery. We then went over to visit with Dave and Peg, the keepers we worked with last year. They have a gorgeous house and fixed an excellent dinner. It was a nice evening.

Beer Detour

You know a beer is good when you make a detour on your trip. I had a flight but sadly could not taste all the seltzers. The only one available was the blueberry and that was great!

We made it to our campground, winding hills. It is appropriately named because the road definitely winds up and down and is hilly. What we didn’t realize is this campground only has electricity and no water hook up. This is fine because we are only staying for one night. The interesting thing about this Campground is that you cannot make reservations, it’s first come first serve, but they were lots of lots. Also there was no attendant, but later in the evening a man came by in a golf cart and collected our $45 cash. After  89 days of camping in our trailer, the slide no longer goes out. Sadly we had heard of this happening in other Winnebago trailers. We’ll definitely be able to continue camping, we just won’t have a table.  We drove to a nearby Walmart and got some supplies and when we got home there was a short rainstorm. After the rain storm I watch down by the Lake. It wasn’t a long walk as it was getting dark but it did feel good to stretch.

Hiking/Kayaking - Shenandoah River

Rain was predicted so we got out early to do a hike. We hiked the river trail right behind our camper as we wanted to look at the river. We ended up hiking to down river canoes and they said the river level was at 2.2. A good level is 2 feet. The river to the trail is nice as it’s paved, but not so nice because it’s mostly in the sun. But we did get to see the river. We hiked almost 5 miles and this was the hike that tard me out the most, because of hiking in the sun.

 After a quick lunch we loaded up the kayaks and took them up to the bridge just before downriver canoes. The water temperature was not cold at all and we could definitely see the rocks all along our route. We passed over many many rocky ledges and often had to rock our boat to get over the rock. We only went a Short 3 miles, But that was enough considering how often we were getting stuck. It really is a pretty paddle as you can see the Shenandoah mountains around you.

Hiking - Shenandoah River State Park

 Rain was predicted in the afternoon so we left our campsite to go hiking. The first trail was the big oak trail And red Tail Ridge Loop, Trail. This was a fairly easy hike that went through the woods And had several outlooks. The most memorable thing on this hike with a great number of mushrooms we passed and all of different colors and sizes.

It was still early so we decided to do another short hike. Cottonwood Trail is extremely easy as it’s all one level and is on a board walk through the woods. We even saw two Rangers making repairs and they said it’s a constant job. Although wildcat ledge was rated very difficult we decided to attempt it as the steepest part only lasted .2 miles. It was definitely difficult as you had to climb up a very steep incline along the rocks. Once at the top it was a dirt path that went up and down through the woods. It did lead to rocky outcrop which overlooked the valley with the mountains in the background. The hardest part was probably coming back down the steep incline because we didn’t want to slide.  After hiking we drove into the town of front Royal which is a charming little village and head pink and purple petunias lining the main street. We had a delicious lunch at a brewery/Café called pavement. It was a renovated gas station and we could smell the meat cooking outside . Scotty had brisket and sausage with some sides and I had a large salad with some Mexican roasted corn. We also had a honey wheat wheat beer that was delicious.

Hiking - Bluebell, Hemlock Hollow, Overlook, Campground Trails

 We were up and readied the trailer for traveling. We walked over to say goodbye to Jim and Deb, who were also ready to go. We drove 7 hours with a stop for lunch and also slowed down considerably when we encountered a severe thunderstorm. The drive here is always pretty as there are mountains in the distance and sprawling fields dotted with farmhouses down below. We pulled into Shenandoah River State Park, site #12. Behind our camping spot is an opening in the trees with the Shenandoah Mountains over the treeline. 

We had crackers, meat and cheese for dinner before we decided to hike down and see the Shenandoah River which was only a short distance away. As it was still light, we decided to hike a bit further to see what the kayaking conditions might be. And then we kept hiking and hiking. The trail turned and went up a steep incline. At the top, we could see the Shenandoah River streaming like a ribbon into the distance. It was quite a climb. We were now on the trails rated ‘moderate’ and not ‘easy’ like the trail beside the river.  As we were drenched with sweat, it was time for  showers in the camp bath house. A day of driving turned into a short hike day 90 minutes an 3.3 miles. Hooray!

Hard Times Trailhead

 Once again we headed over from our campground to the hotel breakfast room and separated into two groups. Sam went to the WNC farmers market and some of us went back to the Pisgah national Forest where we hiked the bent Creek Trail starting at the hard Times trailhead. It was a very easy walk and went around part of the campground and around the lake. The whole group gathered again and what else does a group of German friends do but head to another brewery. This time we went to the new Belgium brewing company. The guys went on brewery tours and the girls plus Jim and Gus hung out in the taproom. We all really enjoyed their beers. We had some food truck food. Scotty had a pulled pork and pimiento cheese sandwich. I had roasted corn that was excellent it had a lime flavoring. And I also had a dish of watermelon and blueberries. From the tour we learned that New Belgium brewing company is very good to their employees. After one year of employment, even if it’s part-time, an employee receives a fat tire bike. After five years they get a trip to Belgium where their ideas originated. We went back to the hotel and hung out in the pool. For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant a Greek restaurant, Apollo Flame. Scotty ordered spaghetti Alfredo and I had a lamb Gerus, once again excellent dinners. The nice thing about this restaurant is their dining room was crowded so they moved us next door to their  private room that had larger tables.

Asheville Walking Tour

 We met the group at the Holiday Inn express restroom and from there headed downtown for a walking tour that lasted from 10 o’clock to 12 o’clock. It was the Asheville free walking tour and I would recommend it for anyone wanting to get a quick overview. Asheville is a University because there are lots of examples of different architecture downtown. And Asheville is known for the mini micro breweries and we did pass a couple and stopped at one Distillery. We sampled several alcohols and my favorite was the chocolate liquor. I will admit that I did not fully pay attention to the tour, because with such great friends around we often fell into laughing over silly things. There were 11 of us in our tour and the guide said she did enjoy our company. After the tour we went to Woolworths and had either a drink or a small snack. We went back to the hotel and hung out for a while before we headed out at 4 o’clock for dinner reservation at HausHeidleburg. This restaurant is located in Hendersonville about 30 minutes outside of the city but it was well worth the drive. It truly looks like a German guesthouse inside with mini Germany photos and mugs decorating the restaurant. I ordered a Jager schnitzel and Scotty had an all American schnitzel. We each had a Weisse Bier here and we both agreed it was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long long time. Everyone truly enjoyed their meals and we again laughed a lot. Our excellent waiter make our meal that much more enjoyable. We had the conference room reserved at the hotel so after dinner we hung out there and again caught up with each others lives.

Hiking and Visiting

We had an early start, met with the Coder‘s and drove over to Looking Glass Falls. From there we drove to the trail head and hiked Moore Cove Falls. It was only a mile up to the falls and the interesting thing is you can hike behind the Falls. It was a pleasant hike because we had gotten out before the heat. From there we went to Sierra Nevada brewing Company and sat on the back deck and had ears. Scotty had a sloppy Joe and I had a quinoa salad. The place is large and there were lots of people out enjoying the day.

At 4 o’clock we went over to the Holiday Inn express and met most of the Illesheim attendees. We had such a great time visiting and catching up quickly with each other. We then walked about half a mile down the street and eight and a tavern. I had a large salad and Scotty had a Gyro‘s sandwich. Good food, but even better company. We then walked back to the hotel and hung out in the conference room.

Lake Powhattan Campground

 Lake Powhattan Campground

It was about a 6 Hour Dr. from home to the campground. Along the way we did stop at Buc-ees in Cookeville which had just opened. There were 250 gas pumps and when we walked inside, we were overwhelmed by how many people were in there and quickly walked in and out.We set up camp and walked down the road to find Coders who I had not seen for over 30 years, although Scotty had seen them at previous Boy Scout camps.  It was so great to see them and we sat for a while visiting in their airstream escape pod camper which is really cute. We went back to have dinner and then they came down later and we visited more in our trailer.

Buffalo River

 Kayaking - Buffalo River                    11 miles

Crazy Horse to Blue Rock with Laurie, Jack, Bernice, Susie and 

we met up with some kayakers from the paddling birds group and drove two hours south to kayak the buffalo river. It’s been unbelievably hot in Tennessee and miraculously today was in the 80s. It was an overcast day and we felt really really happy to be out on the river. The buffalo river is a favorite Tennessee river of ours but we don’t get there very often because of the distance. A few miles into the trip there is a waterfall on the right but hidden by the trees. Is a nice river and has a good flowers. It’s banked by cliffs several times and the route. At one point there was a split in the river and Scott was in the lead. I hear him yell out paddle hard. There is a cliff on the left and I paddle hard, but not hard enough and I get sucked right under the cliff. Immediately my boat is knocked over and I’m in the water holding onto my paddle. I know in my head that I’m supposed to let the boat go but I think that I’ll be able to float along with it . That would have worked except it I came across a tree laying across the river and my legs hit it. I let go of the boat in the paddle and I managed to get over the log but my paddle goes under the tree and gets stuck. I manage to pull my boat over to the road to shore. Scotty attempt to go out into the river and is able to retrieve my paddle from under the big tree route. My hero. Once again. The rest of the group wisely took the right fork of the river and met us at the end of the little island. We stopped for lunch on the route and we stopped a couple of other times just to play in the water. It was a gorgeous day especially after the heat wave and it was nice meeting three new paddlers. We only waited a short while until crazy horse outfitters came along and shuttle us back to their outfit. We said our goodbyes and all headed home. We decided to stop for dinner and stopped at a restaurant called log cabin. We both enjoyed our meals. Scotty had chicken fried steak and I had chicken and there were lots of sides with borhnof our neals.