Panthers WIN!!!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Franklin Panthers win 7 to 6

At 4:30pm it was 62 degrees but the wind was blowing about 15 to 20 which made things a little uncomfortable, but not enough to chase the fans away. By the time the game was over it was in the high fourtys and I was glad I brought my heavy winter coat rather than my leather jacket.



It was a good game the North Bucholm Blackhawks Struck first with 2 runs in the first inning. Then the Panthers came back in the third with a big inning and it was 5 to 2. The Blackhawks tied it in the 5th in inning and then in the last inning pulled ahead 6 to5. However the Panthers were the home team and were last to bat. They tied it with two outs and a runner on second. The last play was the best of the whole game. The batter hit a long ball to the gap in left center. All the guy on second had to do was to run home and Panthers win. Tonight things were not that easy. The runner on second missed the base as he rounded third and stopped to go back then decided for some reason to not go back and just go home. (I guess hoping nobody saw) Now, the left fielder who thought the game was lost began walking to get the ball and casually picked it up and began trotting in. The third base coach was yelling at the runner to go back to third. The runner halfway home turns around and hustles back to third. The coach sees that the fielder is just now picking up the ball sends the runner back home after he tags third. The fielder sees the runner take off and throws the ball in to the plate, but by that time the play wasn’t even close.

The Victors,





Wednesday, April 30, 2008

It got down to 35 degrees last night, but our little Quarts heater that Bobby Shank loaned us, kept us nice and toasty. Once the sun came out and the wind died down the temperature climbed to around 74. I cut a few more stones today and Cutter and I went for a long walk. It turned out to be a chamber of commerce day.

AV

Mountain Lake

Monday, April 28, 2008

It rained pretty good last night and the temp dropped around 9am about 15 degrees. The river has risen about 8 to 10 inches. Nothing to worry about; however they were telling me about a night three years ago, after the tail end of a hurricane went through, the river rose 10 feet. Most of the campground was under four feet of water and several trailers were lost. A house that was upstream from the campground was washed into the river and 3 people died. I don’t have anything to worry about I’m a good 20 feet above the river so no matter how much it rains I will be high and dry. But it is interesting to see how much more powerful the river is today than yesterday. I wonder what the lower falls looks like today.

I decided to ride the back road up to the lake before it got any colder. It looks like the rain will not be an issue, the river has already started going down by Monday afternoon. The Back road, though pretty, is not as scenic as the Highlands road. The lake is nice, it's at an elevation of around 4000 feet. It was windy when I took these pictures. I bet it really looks nice when the water is glassy.



A valley on the back road was very impressive, but the picture does not give you the depth of the valley and the steepness of the hills.



Thursday, April 29, 2008
The temperature definitely dropped last night it was 38 degrees at 7am. And of course, Cutter needed to do some business with the local flora when we got up. So I rode my bike down to the local grassy strip with my buddy hopping behind me. He must have thought it was a little cool as well, because he wasted no time and was headed back to the trailer.

This evening, if it isn’t too cold, I had planned to go to the last game of the season for the Franklin Panthers High School baseball team. It is supposed to get colder tonight than it did last night, so we will see when the time comes. The Game is at 4:30pm and the temperature has normally been fairly warm in the early evening so I might take a chance.

AV

A Change in the weather

Friday April 25, 2008
Sic Fiddy and I went back up Highlands Road to take some more pictures. The river that runs behind my campsite is the “Cullasaja” River (I have no idea how to pronounce it). It is the same river that the road borders up through the mountains. These first pictures show the winding road. I am not sure I would want to pull the trailer over this road. However there were several big trucks that passed me going the other way. But only one was a large trailer type truck and it was hauling logs.







The next picture is the lower Cullasaja Falls. It is the most spectacular of the three falls on the river.





This shot of Dry Falls (so named because you can walk under it and stay dry). It was closed for renovation if the parking facility. But I snuck down to the falls to take these pictures.





Then Sic Fiddy wanted to get under some falls so here he is at Bridal falls.





The loop under the falls was made so that cars could drive under it. However last year a big boulder fell down from there so they put barricades up to close it off. Which someone promptly removed. When Sic Fiddy and I arrived at Bridal falls there was a red Honda getting his picture taken under the falls.

These next shots are of the upper falls.





On the way up we saw a sign that said “Rock Shop” so when we came back down off of the mountain we stopped by Roy Jukes Rock Shop. Roy is older than most of the rocks in his shop, but he is still kickin. We got to talking about stones and he told me his favorite stone to cut was Opal. Cool Beans. We talked for quite awhile about cutting opals until Roy’s voice failed him. I told him about some Ethiopian Opals that I had and he wanted to see them. He showed me some he had but they were a lot different than the ones I had. I told him I would return tomorrow and show them to him. He said he would show me how to put a stone on a dopp stick.


Saturday, April 26, 2008
Went to Roy’s Rock shop and Gave him one of my uncut Ethiopian opals, he showed me how he does his dopping but he wasn’t feeling very well and we made it a short visit. He said I could come back Sunday afternoon if I wanted. I may stop by and see how he is feeling. I told him I would drop off some info on the Ethiopian Opals.
The weather is changing. It has been beautiful for the past 5 or 6 days. Today it rained in the afternoon. I checked the weather forecast and it is supposed to rain most of Sunday and Monday the temperature is supposed to drop into the mid thirties.


Sunday, April 27, 2008
The sky is overcast but it has not rained since yesterday. It is still very comfortable temperature wise. I had planned to run up the mountain to a lake high up on a back road with Sic Fiddy, but I hate riding in the rain. I don’t know if I can trust the rain to hold off while I ride up. We will see. I still have 12 days left to do it before I pick up Jo in Asheville.

AV

The road to Highlands

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Cutter and I had to go to the bank and the closest Bank of America is in a little town called Highlands, NC. According to folks around here that is where the rich people live. Well we drove there today and the road to get there is one of the prettiest that I have seen so far. It is very narrow in places and you are hanging on the side of the mountain but the natural beauty is something else.

A small falls along Highway 64 / 28.



See the road in the upper left corner.



The city of Highlands itself is about as quaint as a small town can get. All of the stores have that country mountain look even the Ace Hardware has the down home look. The streets are neat and clean, no dilapidated buildings or anything in need of repair was evident.

The view of Highland City Limits coming from Franklin



Main street



Me and sic fiddy are going back on the road to Highlands tomorrow and take some more pictures. There were not many places where I could pull the truck over and stop without blocking the road.

PS. Happy Birthday to my seeester. (female sibling)

Good weather ahead

Sunday, April 20, 2008
It’s 2:33 am and I am half asleep when I roll over and I glance out the window and a street light is shinning in my face. I think, “I don’t remember a street light outside the camper.” Then I’m thinking, “Wait a minute, that street light is over the river, oop’s, full moon”. The full moon is so bright it hurts my eyes to look at it. I would have gone outside and looked around except that it was 40 degrees. As beautiful as it was I closed the blinds and went back to sleep.

Later that day, when the sun had come up and the temperature had risen about 30 degrees, I drug out my lapidary tools (stone cutting and polishing equipment). This is the first time I have used this type of equipment and some of the classes that I am taking at William Holland School will use this kind if machinery.

Pixie Lapidary machine



10 inch Diamond saw



So I sorted through some of the stones that I brought with me and decided to practice, so that I would have some experience on it before I walk into the classroom. I cut these stones and have worked them up to the pre-polished stage.

The five across the bottom are opals. In the photo it's hard to see the fire in the stones, especially the dark ones.



I haven’t read the instructions so I am not sure about the polishing procedures, plus I have to put the cut stones on dopp sticks it make them more manageable for polishing. A dopp stick is a round wooden dowel that holds the stone on by the use of a hard wax that is melted and adheres the stone to the end. This is another procedure that I have never done, plus I don’t have the right type of alcohol to melt the wax with. I think I will wait to get to the school to do the dopp sticks and the polishing.

I am afraid that these stones show just how much of a novice I am at this endeavor. But a guy has to start somewhere. Besides I’m having fun. I have chosen fairly small inexpensive stones to start with. Pictures don’t show the true beauty of the stones but until they come up with a better process this is the best I can do. When you cut stone you have to run water over the wheels to keep the stone from building up too much heat and breaking. So when my fingers thaw out I will get on the computer and post this on my blog.


Monday, April 21, 2008
It is still too cold to lay on the ground and adjust Cazee’s brakes so I plan to take Sic Fiddy into town and pick up a few items then perhaps cut a couple of more stones later in the day.


Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wow what a beautiful day, I mentioned earlier in my blog that the Dogwood trees are in bloom. Now the wild flowers are popping up all over and make wonderful splashes of color on the otherwise drab landscape.





Most of the trees are showing tiny bits of green but it will be several more weeks before they have enough foliage to affect the overall look of the stark landscape.

The weather has cooperated and it is sufficiently warm to allow me to comfortably crawl around on the ground and adjust Cazee’s brakes, which I completed around three this afternoon. Now I think Cazee will be able to help Lyca navigate down these treacherous slopes. I will test the brakes before deciding which rout to take back to Young Harris, GA. There is a longer route that does not have the steep climb and decent but it will add to the time and fuel expended. We will see how the trailer brakes perform then I will decide.

The afternoon was young so I cut a few more stones. These came out somewhat better than my earlier attempts.



I especially like the long angular one. The person who sold it to me said it was Hickoryite. I had never heard of this stone before so I looked it up on line. It goes by several other names, Wonderstone, Elixiriye and Rhyolite. I think it has some nice colors. It will be interesting to wire wrap this piece. I think it could make a really nice pendant.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Another great day, the temperature is supposed to get into the 80’s, but it still gets pretty cold at night, however all I have to do is close up and we are cozy.

Cutter and I went Gem Mining today. Cutter was the only one to find anything. He found a bunch of dog adoring gem mining families. I found zip. I’m not to impressed with the “MINING” operations here. They are not very productive and most of the mines salt there dirt. (Salting means; adding attractive, non local and virtually worthless stones to the piles of dirt, so that you actually get something when you sift through your bucket. They call it enriching.) I call it lame. However it was an enjoyable time at the mine, but I didn’t strike it rich. I guess I will have to rely on the Lottery. Now there is a real opportunity to strike it rich.

Right behind our camp site is a wooden deck that stands about 20 feet above the river and that is where cutter and I usually have our meals unless it is too cold.





We get great seats and we don’t even have to tip the may-tra-de (French, for head waiter guy).

AV

Off to Franklin NC

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Sic Fiddy and I went into Thomaston to pick a spare battery for my cell phone. The air was crisp and cold on my face, my jacket kept me warm, but my cheeks got numb. It was still a nice ride.
I cleaned up around Cazee and made preliminary preparations to break camp.

Thursday, April 17, 2008
Left Martha’s around 9am and headed north on 27 to Rome then 411 to the Zell Miller Pkwy (515) into Morganton where we camped at Whispering pines CG.



It is a fairly nice campground with all new electrical circuits and plumbing. The entrance road is steep, however it is paved. The campground boarders on a small picturesque stream.



Friday, April 18, 2008
The team continued on the north Zell Miller Pkwy into Young Harris, GA. We stopped at The William Holland School to drop off some donation items and to get my schedule straightened out. I checked out the camping facilities at the school and found them sparse and small. I may decide to camp somewhere local and commute to school.

Having finished my business at the school I continued north to Franklin NC. Along the way there were several scenic pull-offs, Cutter and I stopped so I could take in the exceptional sights and Cutter could take in the exceptional variety of smells from past animal visitors. You would think a dog would eventually run out of pee to mark territory with but Cutter seems to have a reserve tank hidden somewhere.



This drive proved to be the first test of Lyca’s ability to pull Cazee. The route that I chose included hwy 64 in North Carolina there is a section of this road that goes up and over a box canyon that ends in a mountain climb that took a lot of effort, often Lyca down shifted to work his way up the slope. At times we were in low gear, thirty miles an hour at 4000 rpm. Lyca stayed cool and though it was work, made it to the top. Once at the top we started coasting down the steep 8% grade. New problem, I found I had to keep riding the brakes to keep from gaining too much speed. Even though I had just replaced the brake pads on Cazee, I discovered yesterday that I had not adjusted them properly and they were only partially adding to the stopping power available, so Lyca was doing 90% of the work to retard what was becoming a 25,000 pound meteor. Lyca’s brakes were getting hot, to the point that I could smell them, luckily there was a pull-off and we stopped to cool down. Slowly pull-off by pull-off we worked out way down. At the first opportunity you can bet I will readjust Cazee’s brakes.
We pulled into Franklin about 1:00pm and checked into the Old Corundum Mill Campground. Where they put us next to the small river at what I felt was one of the most attractive sites that they had and the park was almost full.



It appears that most campers here park there trailers here year round and just come up during season, a vacation home of sorts.
Anyway it is beautiful here and I will be here three weeks, until May 11, when Jo will join me and we will go back to William Holland School. I may take a different route rather than hwy 64. I bet we used 5 gallons of gas getting up that hill. At today’s prices that’s almost twenty bucks.
There is one problem with this campsite, no cell or internet reception. My cousin Billy tried to call me but it was all broken up. I will go into Franklin tomorrow and see if I can find a signal booster. At the very least I will find a Wi-Fi connection and get my e-mail. I will probably be able to make calls from there also.
I purchased an antenna in Franklin and I am connected and back online even down in the hole where the Old Corundum campground is. I am posting this blog with the new antenna and my phone also works as long as it is connected to the antenna.
Later
AV

Lazy days at the Shank plantation

I had complaints that my last blog post was out of order. It was not listed as last date first and I was not doing it right and that I needed to correct my next post. So here is the newest entry to the oldest entry.
Ps. You can click on any April Picture and go to the web photo album for April.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Well my aunt Martha returned from the hospital today, everyone is happy that she’s back, especially the animals.



The weather has gone from cold and sunshiny to cold, overcast with drizzle.

I signed up for another couple of classes at the William Holland School of Lapidary Arts,
http://www.lapidaryschool.org/ this morning. So it looks like I am going to be in Franklin NC from April 19 through May 4th then back to Young Harris, GA to the lapidary school from May 5th through the 24th. They added a bunch of classes that they didn’t have when I signed up for the original class. One that I really wanted to get into had one opening left. It is “Cutting Opals”. Cutting gemstones has always been a craft that I have always wanted to do but until now I have never gotten around to it.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Following the storm a cold front went through and the temperature this morning is in the low 40’s and expected to drop another 10 degrees by Wednesday. I plan to leave here on Thursday morning and go in to even colder temperatures. I am breaking my base rule of “when it gets cold drive south”. The thing is that it is nice during the day when the sun is out. Temperatures run in the 60’s and with no wind the weather is almost perfect. Hopefully by the 19th when I arrive in Franklin NC the cold front will have moved on. I have to expect some cooler weather just as long it doesn’t last too long and it isn’t bitter cold. Cutter is lying on the floor shivering; I put a towel over him to help him retain heat. The main reason he is cold is that he wanted to go out at 5am and I just let him back in around 7. He has to learn to do his business quickly so I can let him back in before I fall back asleep. We will get it worked out. He’s stopped shivering already and is snoring.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Saturday morning and the weather has been great, until last night. My cousin Marty told me we were in for a big storm but it was more like a little shower where we were. TV radar did show a large storm passing through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia; some areas had high winds and tornado warnings.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Around noon, my cousin Marty (when we were kids we call her “sister” or “little Martha”)



asked me to help Martha into the car as she was feeling dizzy and was out of breath. Marty took her to the local clinic and later they took her to the hospital in Griffin GA. She had become dehydrated and had a light infection. She seems ok now but they are keeping her until Monday just to make sure and to run a few tests.

I went to Katie's, with most of the rest of the Shank clan, for dinner. Katie is one of Billy and Paula Shank's daughters.



Carter is Katie's son. Here he is hiding behind a glass of tea



Click on Carters picture and check out the rest of the crowd.
We all stayed after dinner and plade a card game called "Hand & Foot".

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Today I went into Thomaston GA. and got the window repaired. I had about an hour to kill while the guy cut and installed the glass in the frame, so I went to the Piggly Wiggly. For those of you who are not southern born, a Piggly Wiggly is a grocery store. I picked up some fresh produce, fruit and a couple of other items, and then I drove around town. I still had 40 minutes to kill. Thomaston is not very big, but it’s about 900 times bigger than Molena. Thomaston is a typical small Georgia town. Like most it has a town square that houses the local Government center.
Some have parks as the town square which is nice. Most small southern towns are of older construction (which I like) and most are in need of repair (which I don’t like). Much like the American infrastructure the small town is in need of repair at a time when its economy is struggling to survive. I have a feeling that I will discover that Georgia isn’t the only state where this phenomena is occurring.
I picked up the new window glass that he installed in to its frame and happily paid the man the $15.00 he requested, which to me was a bargain in anybody’s book. I returned to Martha’s and installed the window.

After posting this entry from newest to oldest I think it is more confusing and a pain in the neck to try to read, so regardless of the way it is SUPPOSED to be I am going to post oldest to newest if I have more than one entry in each post.
AV

Six days OTR (On The Road)

Day two on the road (OTR)

April 2, 2008 Wednesday

I had planned to go to the Kennedy Space Center, then I found out it costs $38.00 and it takes all day. Well I wasn’t prepared to spend all day at the center and I wasn’t prepared to spend $38.00. Besides they have a negative entrance policy against the lupus race. And I was not going to leave Cutter in the Trailer all day, so I just drove buy and took this picture.



So, onward to South Daytona. I arrived at Lynn's around ten thirty and the managers of the park wanted me to park the trailer in the storage lot, which was no problem as they allowed me access to the trailer during daylight hours, besides there wasn’t much I needed to get out of Cazee anyway. I spent the next two days visiting relatives.

My step mom Lynn Hatch



Angie's mom Nancy Gaskins



My uncle Eddie Sweat (Mom's brother)



On Thursday evening we went to a Daytona Cubs AAA ball came. The Cubs were doing great until they changed pictures and they fell apart. They lost to the Milwaukee Manatees 8 to 6. I forgot to bring my camera again, so I took some pics with my cell phone. The problem with that is I haven’t figured out how to get them out of the phone and onto the computer.

Friday April 4, 2008
I said my goodbuys to Lynn and pulled out around seven thirty in the morning. I headed west across state road 44 towards Sanford FL where a friend of mine (Greg) lives with his cousin Linda and her husband Rick on the Wekiva River. It is a very scenic and tranquil location. I should have taken pictures but someone forgot the camera. I did take pictures of the camp ground (Wekiva Falls).







In it it’s hey day (Seventies) the spring was a very popular resort destination and the park grew quite large. They have over 600 RV sites with full hookup including grey & black waste water. The lady at the park said some investors have purchased the property and plan to upgrade. Right now there are a lot of people living in camper’s full time and some of them are in pretty poor condition. So some clean up is in order but that is also going to mean higher prices. The cost for a site is advertised at $18.00 but everything is extra. Electric $3.00, additional adult $6.00, child $3.oo, pet $300. Water and sewer did not cost extra. It is an OK spot but there are much better for the money.

My friend Greg Baumgardner



I met with my friend Greg and dropped off some stuff that he had stored at my house. It was good to see him again.


Saturday April 5, 2008
Greg took this picture of Cutter and me as we departed.



Our plan was to visit my cousin Rita and her husband Mike in Dade City and my other cousin Reba and her husband Phill in Brooksville, but I had called them yesterday and neither of them answered and when I called again today there was still no answer so I made the decision to shoot up the west coast of Florida on highway 19 and see if I could make it to Tallahassee. I was sure glad I had made the decision to not travel Interstate roads. There was hardly any traffic and often I was the only vehicle on the 4 lane divided highway. The speed limit was 65 mph and I really enjoyed the drive. We stopped every 50 or 60 miles to stretch and relieve ourselves. Cutter really seems to be enjoying the adventure so far. As we approached NW Florida the weather turned as a front moved across the state. By the time we hit Perry Florida it was pouring down rain and there were tornado warnings. I debated whether to go to Tallahassee or just run strait into Georgia until I found a nice camping spot. I decided that the weather made sightseeing in Tallahassee a pour choice at best so we continued north towards Albany GA. A few miles before Albany we spotted a nice little campground called Creekside and at a flat rate of $25.00 for overnight and full hookup including dump, elect, water and cable TV. They did not have Wi-Fi and my Verizon card would not connect in southwest GA. Cell phone reception was sketchy so I had to raise my antenna and stick my head outside to receive calls.
We drove a total of 317 miles this day. Four times the amount I said I would try to average. Even so, one of the goals of these adventures is to be flexible and adapt to the conditions.

Cutter and I went exploring and there actually is a creek at Creekside RV Park. A nice one too. On the way back to the campsite Cutter acted like he was having a hard time breathing. That was one of the symptoms of the heart worms that the Vet told me about. Another symptom is fatigue. He could have a heart attack or he could live several more years. I guess we will see, I am doing what I can. The treatment to kill the worms completely could kill him so I have elected to give him medication to keep them from getting worse but the damage that they have done can't be reversed. The breathing problem only lasted a few minutes but it was kind of scary. That is the first time that it has happened.

Sunday April 6, 2008
Pulled out of Creekside RV Park at 8:30 am and pointed Lyca North. Next stop, my cousin Angie Cobb and Mark, who lives in Seal Alabama, which is just SE of Columbus GA.

My cousin Angie



A couple of hours later and we arrived at her house. Parking was very tight and I broke a window on Cazee by hitting a Dogwood tree limb. The Dogwood are in bloom and when I hit it the pedals rained down like snow. A Dogwood in bloom is one of the most beautiful trees that I know of.

I put duct tape over the window and when I get to Aunt Martha’s in Molena GA I will fix it. We are heading over there tomorrow. Molena is about 50 miles N E of Columbus GA.

Monday April 7, 2008
We pulled out of Angie’s at around 8am and drove through Columbus missed a turn and quickly recovered. Arrived at Martha Shank’s around 10am or so. I plan to stay here a week, give or take a few days and sort some kinks out in the trailer and fix Cazee’s window. It has been hard to keep up the blog while on the road. Here I have a good internet connection and I have the time to catch up.

Till next post

AV

HTR Day has arrived

And weeeerrrrrrrr OFF

The warehouse is empty, the trailer and truck are loaded, the only thing left is to drive out of here. It is 10am April first 2008.





Cutter has his own specially made perch that is more stable for him and gives him more room to lie down and sleep.



Cutter says look at me I get to go on the adventure too, but he seems to say it without much enthusiasm.





We made several stops to pick up last minute items as we exited West Palm Beach. We took Military Trail to Blue Heron then north on I-95 to Donald Ross Road east to US1. From there we drove US1 all the way to Melbourne and took 192 east to A1A. and ended up at the Jetty Park in Cape Canaveral http://www.jettypark.org/ .

Here is a map link to Jetty Park.
http://maps.google.com/maphp?tab=wl&q=jetty%20park%20campground.%20cape%20canaveral%2C%20FL

Cutter tried to breath in all the air from West Palm to Jetty Park by sticking his nose into the wind but he got tired and finally laid down.
It was a pleasant drive. The trailer feels heavy, probably due to all the crap I jammed into it. I can tell I am going to have to throw some ballast overboard eventually. A bunch will be removed in Georgia when we get to the lapidary school. I am bringing a bunch of items for them to auction off for the nonprofit school.

Here cutter is keeping a tree from falling over, you can't see the tree, but trust me, Cutter is doing a great job. Good Dog.



Tomorrow we plan to visit the Kennedy Space Center first thing in the morning then hot foot it to South Daytona to visit family

All in all day one was pretty good

AV