Sea Level and OBX

At Sanford we had the coach serviced at the RV place south of town. They couldn’t/wouldn’t do much, like just a general service, which was a little disappointing, but we figured “oh well” we’ll get it done somewhere else. So we got the oil changed and were ready to head out. Surprise, surprise, I couldn’t open the door! This thing has only one door and as I’ve mentioned before in passing neither of us is as young, supple and agile as we once were. We ain’t going through the window easily! I called a tech over and he affirmed that the door was locked. “Well Duh!!!” Anyway he went through the window and opened the door and then took a look at the lock which he assured me was toast, it can’t be fixed, and they don’t have one. Great! At least we were on the inside looking out, not the other way around. There was no point in hanging around so we took off heading to the Outer Banks, or OBX. We stopped at a little park on the way and I took a look at our door latch and lock and surmised that the thing could be fixed, at least temporarily. I did that while Kat tried to find a dealer or shop that had a replacement. I was able to bend a pin that reengaged the lock opening mechanism and we were back in business; I thought! It was working, marginally, but working, and Kat couldn’t find one anywhere so we decided to wing it. I made sure I left the ladder compartment open if we needed the ladder to climb in the window and I duct taped the window lock open so we couldn’t be locked out. We continued to Sea Level NC which is very near the ferry terminal that takes you to the OBX. We spent a couple of days just hanging out and using the pool and our door appeared to OK. At least OK enough that I didn’t want to mess with it. Kind of like, ‘don’t fix it if’n it ain’t broke’ or in this case completely broke two hundred miles from a repair facility. So we got on the ferry and nervously got out of the rig to look around. I say nervously, because on a ferry, in a motorhome, in front of and blocking about 50 cars is just not the place I wanted to be locked out. And the lock was acting up a little. Really Great!!! But we got back in and I was just too chicken to get out again, so we didn’t have all that great a ferry trip. It’s over an hour I think from Cedar Island to Ocracoke if memory serves. When the ferry docked and it came our turn to drive off I put the coach in gear and pulled forward to the sound and feel of something locked and dragging behind us, and people yelling. The car was obviously in park and not rolling well at all. Kat had secured it for the ferry trip. No problem really, she just ran out the door and took care of it. But then I was thinking she had to get back in that same door and I could just see this whole thing unraveling real quickly. And sure enough the door hesitated a little but I opened it from the inside and we were in and rolling, whew!!!!, off the ferry, much to the delight of crew and passengers, who by the way were all very polite. We had another little ferry ride between us and our destination on the OBX but we didn’t even think of getting out of the RV on that trip. All we wanted to do was get parked, relax a little and think this over. And that is exactly what we did. Next day I took the lock off did some studying and tinkering and got the whole thing working just like new. No thanks at all to the service tech back in Sanford! And “knock on wood”, as of this writing, it’s still working.

The OBX was good, we did some time on the beach, me more than Kat, and we went up to see the Lost Colony at Roanoke. Ya; know they still haven’t found those folks. What folks is that you say? Well for now you’re going to have to look that one up yourselves.
Suffice to say they have been missing for a long time. We watched the kite boarders which was interesting. Kind of a cross between para-sailing and wind surfing I guess. We might have tried that about 40 years ago. One young hot shot girl went way up the bay and we never saw her again. Maybe she found the Lost Colony? Just a thought? We spent a little too much time in Wings, which you know about if you’ve been to the East coast. It’s a huge beach apparel, souvenir, and crap shop chain. And we had a really good pizza that reminded me of Donatos in Columbus.

Three Lizards

Our volunteer duties were finally done and it was time to go. We were heading for North Carolina and a visit with nephew Mike and the lovely Phyllis in Sanford. With a little luck sister Sandy and Brother-in-law Don would still be there.

Before we got to Sanford I needed to work a little, or a lot, on my tan. I could just tell that my ‘laying out’ Buddy Phyllis was out everyday by her pool trying to best me and damage my ‘rep’. We stopped at Lake something-something on the SC, NC border and I got some good sun and then again at the pool at Banjo RV park. At Banjo they had a jumping bag, the first one I had seen. We gave it a try but this is something for people who really have knees and are maybe a might more agile than grandparents. I think that’s a pretty polite way of saying it. But we did give it a try and at one point I think I was high enough that you could get a cigarette paper under my feet (a very, very old accusation from my Dad). From Banjo we also visited the NC Zoo and got three lizards.

Many days ago we found a little rubber lizard with a suction cup that we just stuck on the outside windshield of the car without much thought. He rode along with us for many, many miles in that position and drew many looks and comments. But through the dust, sand, grit, mud, and wind of those many miles he finally lost his suction and had to be moved inside. We have looked at every gift shop and crap store we enter (and that’s a lot)for a replacement and could not find one until the NC Zoo. They had a whole basketful at the zoo and we got one of each variety. They look good, but sadly they are not as good as the original we found in a parking lot those many days ago. They just don’t stick as good. I guess it’s just hard to replace an old friend. Still, they are stuck around the inside of the RV. So don’t panic if a lizard is peeking out at you from between the pencils in the pen holder on the dinette. And our old friend is still riding in the car, but unattached on the dash.

Sandy and Don were still in Sanford for one more night when we got there and we had a good visit all around. All are well and Garrett is nearing manhood in size and temperament. ( I hope that doesn’t go to his head). The RV fit better in the driveway with the basketball hoop gone and the pool and fishing were great. Well! Maybe the fishing wasn’t as good as last time. Phyllis was ahead of me in tanning but it didn’t last. By the time we left I had reestablished my dominion as the “Bronze God”. Maybe just a bit chubbier “Bronze God” though. Still ‘tan’ fat is better than ‘white’ fat. Soooo…….. we hated to leave but it was time to head on down the road and not wear out our welcome at one of our favorite places to stay. I just have to get Mike to put in that RV pad with electric, water, and sewer. You can do it Mike!

Uncle Simeon in Chattanooga

Before anyone in the family gets to excited, I didn’t find a long lost uncle in Tennessee. Well I did, but, let me explain…………..

Uncle Simeon, or maybe Simon, called just Si ( I think? And pronounced Cy) is my great uncle. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Chattanooga. We had the good fortune to visit there and see his burial site.

Uncle Si (he is referred to that way by his brother, Peter Robert, in a letter home) was killed in the Civil War battle for Chattanooga at Missionary Ridge. That was November 25th, 1863. His father Absalom, my 2nd Great Grandfather, and five of his brothers, including my Great Grandfather, Leonard, all joined the Union Army. Absalom was 60 years old at the time and had to die his hair and beard to get in. Absalom, Si, and Peter Robert were all in Company B, 15th Regiment, Ohio Infantry, in the Union Army of the Cumberland. Absalom had been killed the year before at the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro TN. Peter Robert served until the war ended. I mentioned in a previous entry that he may have been here at Cooper Furnace where we are working. I have visited Absalom’s burial site at the National Cemetery at Stones River Battlefield. Two other uncles were killed during the war. William was killed at Cumberland Gap TN, and Isaac in Vicksburg MS. We have yet to visit Vicksburg and the location of the gravesite of William has been lost?

Kat and I went to Chattanooga to see the battlefield and to visit the cemetery. We started at Lookout Mt., and then went to the cemetery and Chickamauga National Battlefield in Georgia. It’s right across the state line and where the battle for Chattanooga began. Si and Peter would have been there. As with all the Civil War sites I have visited, Lookout Mt. and Chickamauga are very well done. The National Park Service still gets this done right. They have some real dedicated folks doing this kind of thing. The same can be said for National Cemeteries. Simeon’s marker had obviously been replaced as had others. The whole visit was great. Pictures really don’t do it justice. For a little perspective on the Civil War the need for this cemetery was started by the Battle for Chattanooga in late 1863. It was dedicated Christmas Day 1863, and by 1865 12,000 Union soldiers had been buried there. 5000 of those are unknown. Confederate soldiers are buried at another location. As I have said before, When I walk these grounds “I feel like I am in very good company”.

The Yellow Bellied Slider

Just yesterday we were driving through the park and encountered an older couple watching a turtle. It turns out the turtle was a Yellow Bellied Slider female laying eggs. She was a pretty good size turtle as you can see from the pictures. We did some research and found she was bigger even than she was supposed to be. Wikapedia says she should be 8-10” long, Kat’s ‘Croc’ is 10”, which is not a size 10 because that would be a big foot for Kat who is more like a size 6 just so we keep that straight. Anyway, you can see she was a couple of inches longer than that. I had to run back to the RV to get the camera and missed getting shots of the eggs and laying but it was neat. She laid 20 some white, ¾” eggs and they will take 2-3 months to hatch and then the young may stay in the hole until spring, before they go to the water. Don’t know how that works but that’s what Wikapedia says. She dug the hole and covered it with her hind feet and returned to the water. Just like National Geo. We watched to make sure she made it OK. She got hung up in some down branches and I thought I might have to do some rescue work. I even went to get my extendable pole to help push her, but she got unstuck by herself. And today her nest is undisturbed. We read that raccoons are a natural predator of turtles and their eggs and we have plenty of raccoons, but no problem. So these eggs have a good start.

The Vine that Ate the South

From the University of Alabama Center for Public Television and Radio

The Amazing Story of Kudzu Love It, Or Hate It... It Grows On You!

In Georgia, the legend says That you must close your windows At night to keep it out of the house.The glass is tinged with green, even so...

From the poem, "Kudzu," by James Dickey

There's so much of this fast-growing vine in the Southeastern U.S., you might think it was a native plant. Actually, it took a lot of hard work to help kudzu spread so widely. Now that it covers over seven million acres of the deep South, there are a lot of people working hard to get rid of it! But kudzu is used in ways which might surprise you...

Common names for kudzu include: mile-a-minute vine, foot-a-night vine, and the vine that ate the South.

Kudzu's History:Up and Down the Power Pole

Kudzu was introduced to the United States in 1876 at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Countries were invited to build exhibits to celebrate the 100th birthday of the U.S. The Japanese government constructed a beautiful garden filled with plants from their country. The large leaves and sweet-smelling blooms of kudzu captured the imagination of American gardeners who used the plant for ornamental purposes.

Florida nursery operators, Charles and Lillie Pleas, discovered that animals would eat the plant and promoted its use for forage in the 1920s. Their Glen Arden Nursery in Chipley sold kudzu plants through the mail. A historical marker there proudly proclaims "Kudzu Developed Here."
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the Soil Conservation Service promoted kudzu for erosion control. Hundreds of young men were given work planting kudzu through the Civilian Conservation Corps. Farmers were paid as much as eight dollars an acre as incentive to plant fields of the vines in the 1940s.

The problem is that it just grows too well! The climate of the Southeastern U.S. is perfect for kudzu. The vines grow as much as a foot per day during summer months, climbing trees, power poles, and anything else they contact. Under ideal conditions kudzu vines can grow sixty feet each year. Kudzu grows better in the South than it does in its native lands. Its natural insect enemies were not brought to the U.S. with it. So, while Kudzu can help prevent erosion, the vines can also destroy valuable forests by preventing trees from getting sunlight, and considerable damage is being done across the south.

That's why visitors to the South are sometimes awe-struck by scenic vistas which reveal miles and miles of seemingly endless vines.

My life on a string

You all probably know we have a cat and the cat is named Jade. She’s gray with two white spots on her belly that are not normally visible and she has green eyes. Hence, the name. Just a plain ol’ DSH (domestic short hair) that came from the Humane Society of Portland. A freebie! Well! The kind that use to be free anyway. Now it’s $85. That is another story. At any rate she’s just a “throw away cat” that came from the pound. A cat to see if it was possible to have a cat as full time RV’ers.

I’m a dog person. Kat, with a name like that, is not. Kat is a cat person. My first clue came when we met and I realized her license plate was personalized “CATCRAZY”. You get the point. Anyway we have considered getting a pet for a while but didn’t agree much on what kind of pet. But we thought about it, and we have watched fellow RV’ers walk their dogs in the dark of night, early and late, and during driving rain and thunderstorms, and have said to each other, “I don’t think so”! We have walked around RV parks and campgrounds and saw dogs yapping and crapping all over the place and said to each other, “YUK”!!!!, I don’t think so! And besides, I had the best traveling dog a guy could ever have in Binx, a calm and mellow Dalmatian that was as loyal as any dog ever was. Still, he required walking, cleaning up after, and space that we just don’t have. And they probably aren’t making anymore like Binx anyway.

Soooo………………..We got the cat, and the cat was Jade! Actually it was and is Bago Jade. Naming her was just one of those cute little things pet owners do when they get a new pet and they’re so proud of themselves and their new pet. The Bago in Jade’s case is short for Winnebago, our brand of motorhome. Of course now it’s just Jade, well, it’s never Bago Jade anyway. She has all sorts and kinds of names. She can be the ‘Brat cat’, ‘you stupid cat’, ‘butt plug’, ‘dingleberry’, ‘the freakazoid’, ‘Bitch cat’, ‘feral bitch’, or just ‘BC’, which covers a couple of the aforementioned. All of which are meant with love and affection, of course.

We knew when we got Jade that she would need to be able to do a couple of things. She needed to be able to travel and she needed to be able to stay on a collar and leash. An RV is not a big enough place for just an inside cat. Doors are too close and windows are too open and accessible for ‘escape artist’ cats. Jade passed her first two tests with flying colors. Actually we tried her on a leash at the Humane Society and she was OK. Collars were a little bit of a problem. We’ve tried harnesses but they don’t work so well. It’s the kind of thing that just paralyzes a cat, or so it would seem. And then there’s the ripping and shredding thing. Putting a harness on a cat that doesn’t like a harness when the harness attaches on the underside near those feet is not a prudent or safe thing to do. It can get nasty. Cat collars won’t work in our case because they have that stretch release on them. But, not too long before we got Jade, Kat had seen a cat at a “rally” and it was on a leash with a dog collar. The kind that don’t have the ‘stretch and release’ thing. That is now what we do! We are careful that she isn’t left alone to climb over a tree branch or picnic table where she can be left to dangle but other than that the dog collar works very well and is generally not in reach of the claws when you put it on. But like I said you have to watch they don’t get stuck somewhere and Jade has tried it a couple of times. Once she climbed into a permanently fixed bird feeder to wait on lunch and forgot which way she came in and went out the wrong way. Fortunately, it was on a wooden post and she climbed back in, but it was kind of humorous seeing her scramble back up that post. And in this case we were there, and it began the learning process for us all. Her second test, learning to travel, was even easier, almost like ‘falling off a log’. Except in this case it was find a ‘hidey hole’. We found out quickly that she will travel, but that don’t mean she likes it. When the motor starts she finds a hole. It can be in the pillows on the bed or behind the couch. Right now it’s behind the couch, although it may change back to the bed. But she travels well and is never under foot which is great. We don’t encourage her to be out anymore, it’s good the way it is.

Jade has an uncanny ability to tell when we have reached our destination. We can drive for miles and stop at rest areas, grocery stores, gas stations, all manner of places, and she remains hidden, but when we pull into our campsite she’s out of her ‘hidey hole’ and ready to go outside. We have taken to having a milk jug full of water and her ‘string’ attached to it right by the door and when we get to a campsite we attach her to the milk jug and throw both out the door. She does like it outside and this keeps her safe and out of the way, and allows us easy access to get setup. The milk jug is good for portability too. Sometimes she likes to be where we are or near the bushes where she can see birds and critters, so we just move the milk jug. The usual practice is to go ‘jacks down’ (a little RV talk) get all set up and then tie Jade out more permanently. I have a 15’ line attached to two tent stakes that I drive in the ground and attach her string to so she can slide up and down and get a little more traveling space. Then all we have to do is keep her untangled from tables, chairs, trees and such. But she is smart and does a pretty good job of staying and getting free, if she doesn’t, she is so much better than any dog about being stuck. She just waits or maybe figures it out. No straining and stretching, barking, or whining.

Jade spends hours just watching and hoping that some bird, chipmunk, squirrel or other critter will come into her range. She has caught a couple of unfortunate birds, de-tailed a couple of lizards and skinks, killed at least one, played with a few toads and frogs, and shredded a shrew or two. All in almost complete silence I might add, no carrying on at all. When there are no critters to entertain she will revert to chasing bugs and eating spiders, although she leaves the caterpillars and dung beetles alone. I think maybe the caterpillars tickle and the dung beetles she finds useful. She almost always prefers the litter box to outside but occasionally there is an urgent need and it is after that that she finds the dung beetles useful. They do perform a service. To deviate just a bit, dung beetles do exist and they do so in Georgia. I guess that’s what they are? They are beetles and they roll little balls of dung across the landscape. I guess it could be raccoon crap? Whatever? Jade watches but does not touch. One way or the other I guess she figures they’re cleaning crap out of her yard. I digress! Jade also has lots and lots of down time. She is a cat! She spends lots of time sunbathing on her back in the warm sun on cooler days, and we swear sometimes she’s trying to darken her white spots. When she’s all done with outside or needs a nibble or drink she uses the ‘knocker’ to get our attention to open the door. All RV doors have a hook and latch to keep the door open when desired. This hook hangs on a hinge at the bottom of the door. Over time she has learned that when it rattles we open the door. So now she bats at it when she wants in, her ‘knocker’.

Inside it’s mostly eating or more downtime on a choice of beds. I think she’s up to three of four now. Those are just hers. But like all cats she pretty much lays where she wants. She has a couple of places to scratch and is pretty good about using them. We did replace the lower screen on the door but that was no big deal. We have the squirt water bottle for any misbehaving and it’s effective. Three of four times a week she will turn into the ‘freakazoid and run up and down the hall scattering rugs and scarring toes (ours I mean!), and diving behind the couch. Almost every night she must play a little ‘flashlight’ and drives Kat to distraction until she does. ‘Flashlight’ is chasing the ‘laser light’ spot around on the floor or outside on grass or concrete. That’s just about her favorite thing to do. If she happens to get loose we will even grab the laser light to get her to chase it back into the RV.

Jade is not a ‘lap’ cat. Oh, every once in a while she will crawl up to get her ears and cheeks scratched but it doesn’t last long. She sleeps on her bed, not ours, and that is good. She likes us to come outside and sit so she can wind herself around our folding chairs and have some company. Here at Cooper Furnace she has taken to jumping up on the picnic table, when I return from my morning bike ride to unlock the gate, so I can give her a good brushing and scratching. Mostly she is our silent companion to talk too, blame all those little things on, and have around for the comfort it brings. Maybe she ain’t a dog, but she is a pretty darn good cat!

And if you’re an RV’er reading this, inside cats can work on the outside! At least in some cases. But don’t call me.

PS. The first thing we look at on any prospective new RV is where to put the litter box.

Carvings and haircuts

I mentioned some time back, at Yuma, I believe, that I had been doing some wood carving. I’m still at it! We have time here, it’s relaxing, enjoyable, and it fits the lifestyle. Not only that, but there is a “Woodcraft” store only a few miles away in Roswell GA. They sell tools and stuff and of course a guy can always use a couple of new ‘toys’. So we went and I got some; toys that is. Actually we have been there twice and I got a couple of things both times. But all my paraphernalia combined is still small and fits in my little ‘carving’ bag and a small box. I could probably fit everything I have for carving in a breadbox, except for the two ‘walking sticks’ I haven’t finished. My latest project was the ‘outhouse’. Don’t ask where the idea came from, I was just holding a piece of wood and visualizing what didn’t belong there and it became an ‘outhouse’. That is how it works for me! I could not draw what I can carve out of wood but I can see it and remove what doesn’t belong. Strange! And I did use the new micro size tools I just bought. Couldn’t have done it without them. I think I do pretty well for a ‘newbie’ but I’ll let y’all be the judge. I will say that the items pictured are pretty much the sum total. That is, these aren’t just the best stuff, this is mostly all the stuff. I’ve left a few things along the way on our trip. I did a bird and left it at the fish hatchery on a post, Cousin Shirley got a bear, I made Erwin a walking stick because he needed it, and I left a couple of other things on picnic tables just for fun.

I have discovered one other thing as a result of carving; that is that Kat is a pretty good nurse and unequaled with a band-aid. Wood carving requires very sharp tools and I’ve learned how to do that too. But the one thing I haven’t learned yet is to wear my protective glove and thumb guard ‘All The Time”. But that’s were Kat comes in; I swear with two band-aids, a pair of scissors, and a little wood glue she can re-attach a thumb. But I still have to clean up all the mess. “A small price”.

Kat has a relatively new hobby too. And I am very proud and delighted to tell you that it revolves around me. I now get haircuts. I am fortunate enough to still have a full head of hair along with my full beard. Kat has never known me without the beard and probably won’t and early on she would trim me a little when I needed it. It’s not always easy to get the lines straight and proper and she would help. Over time she did more and more and I did less and less. Why would I resist? I’m a guy and she is not and attention like that is a very good thing. Not only does she do it more often, over time she has begun to do more cutting and trimming. We just go outside and she has at it. It now is to the point that I got my first real haircut a couple of days ago and it looks great. The only bad part is that she is very critical of herself and that can be distracting for me. I’m like a piece of art. I just reread that last and it needs an explanation. I don’t mean to imply that I think of myself as a real hunk or anything; unless you consider the ‘Bronze God’ thing. Just kidding! Bronze Buddha maybe? Anyway what I mean is, I see her staring at me from the side and then she frames me in her fingers like a photographer or grabs a loose hair and talks to herself about doing this and that; a snip here, a tug there, a tweak in this spot………… But who am I trying to kid. I love the attention!