Trip Planning - Oscar's Method

Walking near the bedroom, I heard these squeaky, puppy-like, sounds and found Oscar fast asleep, his feet occasionally twitching as he chased imaginary squirrels up imaginary trees. When he awoke, he said "Pete, I dreamed about wondrous things . . . places where the trees grow as big as sky scrapers and cars even drive through them! I saw tall, wide mountains all topped with white stuff and rivers with people standing in them catching fish - I think I saw YOU there! There are ocean drives where you see the beach with huge rocks, as big as houses and the waves crashing on them! There's a city with a space needle sticking into the sky and I saw some slow, slimy creatures called banana slugs and heard cayotes howling at the moon. There are so many new things to see and smells to smell . . . whatarewewaitingfor?!?!?!?!? Lets go again, Pete. REAL SOON!"

By now, you know how insistent this dog can be. There'll be no peace until he sees the all things in his dreams and smells all the new smells. I guess we'll be on our way again . . . looks like we'll be northwest bound.

:)

Home again . . .

3522 miles . . . Whew! We had a great time on the road out east. It was nice to return home and see the Crepe Myrtles welcoming us with a display of color :)

Time to take care of some logistics and plan our trip out west, woohoo!

Tales from the Grave

One never knows what treasures await while camping in out-of-the-way places. Take for instance, Many Cedars Campground, nestled deep in the forest along the Buffalo River in Tennessee, a regular destination for trail riders from far and wide. Labor Day Weekend brought 90 horses to traverse the 3200 acres of beautiful country along 65 miles of wooded trails. Generations come here to pass down the love of riding to their children and their children's children.

Oscar and I were the only ones there after the big weekend. I told him about the trails and asked if I could put a saddle on him for a brief trot. If looks could kill I would have been struck dead. He flipped his ears up, hopped into the trailer and said "Go TROT yourself, Pete!" (What EVER did he mean by that?)

So I grabbed the camera and went for a walk. In short order I came upon the Pollock Cemetery.

Here's what I discovered . . . James and Sarah Pollock's resting place - James was here on the earth from Aug 2, 1799 - Jan 19, 1871 and Sarah lived from Nov 28, 1805 - Nov 20, 1858.

Elias and Mary Fite lived in these parts during the mid 1800's. They rest here now.


The Pollock family had a history of military service in the Confederate Army. Here lies young James, who was evidently captured by the Union Army and died while in prison camp in Chicago. He rest now with his clan. Note the refreshed American and Confederate flags that are present today.


More evidence that the Confederacy is still alive in the hearts of many hereabouts . . . another grave site from 60 years ago also still receiving fresh Confederate flags to mark J. Brown Churchwell's contribution to the cause.

There were numerous small markers eaten away by the years that mark the resting places of infants. Hardy people lived here in rugged times . . .

Great Smokey Mountains

Up. up, up, we climbed on our ascent to Balsam State Park in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. Here we are at 5020 feet.


The vistas were as breathtaking as the air was rare . . .


200 years ago, German immigrants to this land developed a strong breed of bear-hunting dog, famous for its fierce tenacity against beasts that could tear a man to shreds.
In fact, here's one of those fierce fighing dogs right now, just daring any bear to scuffle with him! Presenting . . . "OSCAR THE BRAVE"


The great thing about grilling out is you can always bring a bit of Texas with you. Here we have an example of a jalapeno-burger on the grill, coming to perfection high in the Great Smoky Mountains. :)

Raccoon Holler

Raccoon Holler Campgrounds Glendale Springs, NC, has been a joyful destination for generations of families. Labor Day weekend brought folks from all over the southeastern US to enjoy cool air, friendship, fellowship, and memory making moments.


Oscar & I settled in on spot 118 and then Oscar "did his thing" making friends . . .


Here we have our friends we went to visit . . . Oscar seems to have made a "special connection!"


Yep, Oscar & Francine both had this smiley thingy going on . . .


Here's Oscar and a couple of new friends in the theater industry. They are on their way to Wyoming to appear on stage together.