Basement work ; West Virginia Fall Colors trip
(posted from Starbucks parking lot, Beckley, WV)
(This post covers 1 – 10 October, 2011)
---------------------------
Monday, 10 October – Columbus Day
This morning I woke without the alarm at dawn. I piddled about and had breakfast and didn't get on the road until 0800-- mostly because it was overcast and didn't LOOK like a nice day for touring.
I drove down the mountain to the Cranberry River and followed FR76 upriver. Wow-- what a NICE river. It's ultra-clear, bordered by lots of mountain laurel and of course it's looking great with the colors of Fall all along it.
I picked a favorite campsite-- #8-- and waypointed it on the GPS. I'll definitely be back, hopefully next Fall.
I followed the forest road to Cranberry Campground and was surprised to see so many campers. Then I remembered it's a holiday-- that explains it.
Just after Cranberry Campground there's a gate. The road is gated 'to preserve the backcountry nature of the River' according to a sign. I LOVE it! I wandered around a bit and shortly thereafter two fishermen arrived and unloaded their bikes and fishing gear. They were going to bike in 8 to 10 miles today. One explained that the grade is slightly uphill (heading upstream) so they'll work harder going in than coming back to the truck.
I then set the GPS for Richwood and soon found myself back in civilization. At Cranberry Campground I checked the mileage and time to home and it was just under 350 miles and 6 and a half hours (for future reference).
In Richwood I checked in at the visitor's center and chatted with the ladies running it. I learned there's a major development coming-- a new Scout camp. This is apparently and Eastern version of the Philmont Scout Ranch in north-eastern New Mexico. It's a 10,000 acre site being developed for a first Jamboree in 2013. So far $250 million dollars has been raised for it. It will be called the Bechtel Family Scout Reserve and lies along the New River. It will reportedly also cater to the public and allow non-Scout visitors to camp there --- in Scout tents!
I can't wait to visit. I was a Scout many years ago and though I only achieved First Class, I have fond memories of Scouting days. I was a member of Troop 127.
Last Spring Labashi and I visited the Philmont ranch as we returned from our Desert Flowers trip and I wish I had been able to visit there as a young Scout. (I still have my Scouting books and my official Boy Scout camping gear, by the way).
At the Richwood visitor's center I also asked about wi-fi and was directed to the library beside City Hall. The librarian gave me a one-hour pass just for the asking and I went out into Mocha Joe, set up my wi-fi antenna, and called Labashi on Skype. We talked for a half-hour and I learned I needed to give Maypo a call too-- something about the house.
Maypo and I talked a bit and then called Orat on a three-way to set the asking price for the house (house #2)-- Maypo has someone who may be interested.
I then headed to Summerville and the Lake, stopping along the way for lunch. I was disappointed to find the lake drawn way down and at its seven-year low. Facilities around the lake were mostly closed so I decided to just move on.
I then drove to the New River Gorge visitor's center near Fayetteville. I watched the tourist film and asked a ranger for recommendations for a drive. I followed her directions and took a very nice little drive down into the gorge and under the New River Bridge and back up the other side.
I then drove down US19 to the turnoff to Thurmond, an abandoned coal-mining town. The visitors' center was closed but when I tried the door a very nice gentleman came to the door and said he's working on the accounts and I'd be welcome to look around while he does that. I loved seeing the old pictures of the steam-era town and then walking the ghost town that it is today.
I had noticed a small picnic area and campground nearby so decided I'd try that for the night. I found a launch ramp there with a few camping spots and settled in there for the night.
Tonight is very balmy, apparently because of oncoming rain in the next few days. The full moon is lighting up the clouds and it actually got dark, then lighter after sunset and as the moon rose over the mountains across the river from me.
I spent the evening blogging and starting on camera chip 2 from the Africa trip.
---------------------------
Sunday, 9 October -
I thought I had turned off the 0600 alarm but I was proven wrong. I couldn't get back to sleep and was on the road within the hour. I drove back Route 39 toward the Cranberry Glades area thinking I'd take my time so the Nature Center would be open. I took a short walk down to the Upper Falls at The Falls of Hill Creek and then went on to the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area.
I chatted with two backpackers-- a father-daughter pair -- from western Pennsylvania who had spent the night camped nearby. We had a long conversation about travel and I listened intently while the young woman described her trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji.
I then walked the boardwalk at the Botanical Area. This is a high mountain glade, which consisted of a mix of open, swampy area and a bog forest, surrounded by hills ablaze with fall colors. The first thing I saw was good old arctic cotton-- called 'grass cotton' here. There were pitcher plants, sundews, and other plants native to far-northern places. I looked for Labrador Tea but didn't see any. The Glade looked like it had been moved here from Newfoundland or Labrador or certain areas of the Yukon and Alaska.
I moved on to the Nature Center and asked about Labrador Tea. The ranger-lady spent quite a bit of time checking and then I looked through 'Flora of West Virginia', all to no avail. I'd like to have seen its pretty, orange, and delicately-veined leaves. I spent the better part of an hour at the very-well-done Nature Center and bought a map of the Monongahela National Forest.
The Nature Center had a relief map of the area and I saw that I could follow the Williams River and then the Cranbery River on a large loop. And along the way are primitive campsites- something I always like to check out but these in particular, since sites range from $5-$10 per night-- my kind of number!
As I was looking for FR216 I saw a trailhead for the High Rock Trail and stopped in to look at the map. I couldn't resist walking the two miles out to the vista point and back.
After my walk, I followed Forest Road 216 down to the river and began winding along it. This is trout territory and I should come back and fish here.
When I came to the first campsite I stopped to check it out and made lunch. I then spent the rest of the afternoon following the Williams River, nearly to its source, then turned up the mountain on FR101. I followed it to Bishop Rock campground. I saw only one campsite in use in this fairly large campground and liked what I saw. I was tired of driving for the day so even though it was only 1600 I stopped for the night.
I walked a tiny bit of the Bishop Peak Trail, gathered firewood (for a fire I never built), and started logging the video clips and stills from card 1 from our Africa trip. That latter took all evening. Then I read a few pages of 'The Paperboy' by Pete Dexter before going to sleep. I picked that one up in Florida last winter at a rural library just outside the Ocala National Forest. It has been biding its time waiting for me to get to it. It's definitely different-- in a good way....
-----------------------
Saturday, 8 October -
I set my alarm for 0600 this morning but that was too early-- the sun wasn't even close to being up. I arose just before 0700 and drove Mocha Joe to Bear Rocks for the sunrise. The parking area was almost full and there was a lineup of photographers at the sunrise vista. I took a few shots with my little point-and-shoot among the pro-ams with their tripods and yard-long lenses. There was a beautiful white fog in the valley and it changed moment by moment as the sun rose.
After the sun was well up I returned to the van and had breakfast while looking out over the Bear Rocks Trail.
I then drove down FR75, stopping at several vantage points. I've not seen any animals up there and today was no exception. But the colors are worth it anyway.
I then started down the mountain toward Davis and noticed the Forest Road 70 gate was open, apparently because of hunting season.
I drove the three miles of narrow dirt road, hoping I'd not meet oncoming traffic on such a narrow road. I met one guy on the way in but we happened to meet at a wide spot so that was no problem. On the way out I met a large oncoming pickup and we both edged off as far as we could and just barely got by each other.
Back at the main road I talked with a guy driving a pickup with a dog box and he said he was hunting bears. Bowhunting season is also in – for deer.
I drove on to Canaan Valley State Park and stopped in at the Nature Center. The clerk said they had had two inches of snow last week (but it's 70 degrees now!).
The main restaurant in the valley, Big John's, now has Piccolo Paula's Coffee Shop on the side. I had an excellent-plus buttermilk biscuit with sausage gravy (I can't have those at home) and a fresh orange juice for my brunch.
I then drove on through Davis to Thomas and the Mountain-Made Craft Shop. I've stopped here several times in the past and have always been impressed, particularly by the photography.
I drove on to Parsons and tried to hurry on to Elkins to beat the parade. The clerk at Canaan Valley had told me this weekend was 'Forest Days' weekend and the parade started at 1300. and that would surely make a mess of traffic. I managed to arrive in Elkins precisely at 1300 and, yes, traffic was a mess. I was detoured around the parade in about 20 minutes so it wasn't really that bad. Judging by the number of people I saw and the fact that every nook and cranny where a car could be parked was filled, I'd say Forest Days is popular.
I continued down 219 toward Marlinton and turned off on the Highland Scenic Highway-- Route 150-- at 1530 or so.
The scenic highway lived up to its name. The trees are just perfect and with the sun lower in the sky they were lit wonderfully. I stopped at each viewpoint and just soaked in the beauty. Now THIS is why I come to West Virginia in early October.
I drove on to the Cranberry Visitor's Center but just missed it closing by a few minutes. I had seen there were two free campgrounds on the map and wanted to ask about them but couldn't. I drove to the area of the first but couldn't find it but then did find one at Third Bridge. I had my choice of three road-side campsites backing on a creek. I passed the entrance and had to turn around and as I made my turn I saw a black bear scurry across the road.
I made a supper of chicken ala king and sat out in my chair for an hour or so. As I sat there a guy came along in an old Toyota pickup and pulled in to talk. He said his family sometimes comes here to camp and then proceeded to tell me story after story about his childhood, his medical ailments, and, his love for his Toyota pickup! Actually he was a nice guy. It turns out his father recently passed away and he's a bit lost. He was just out driving around today to forget his troubles and happened upon me. I think we both got some good out of our conversation.
I then got on the laptop and caught up the offline blog and read maps and a bit of Michener's 'The Covenant' (South Africa!).
------------------------
Friday, 7 October -
This morning I cleared out the van for my little trip to West Virginia this weekend. I had to get the stuff out of the van and back to the back (west) portion of the basement. I then painted the east basement floor, finishing up around noon.
I loaded up Mocha Joe and got on the road by 1330. I drove to Chambersburg and then down I-81 to I-70 and I-68 to Cumberland, MD. Then I followed US 220 through to Keyser, WV. I finished my provisioning at the Keyser Wal-mart and then drove on to Scherr, Jordan Run, and up the dirt road to the north entrance of the Dolly Sods Wilderness.
I checked the freebie campsites at the bottom of the mountain but most of them had someone in them so I thought I'd run up to Red Creek Campground on Forest Road 75. As I topped out at Bear Rocks there were so many cars there that I thought I may as well turn around and take one of the less-than-terrific sites I had passed at the bottom. But by then I was close enough to Red Creek to want to see it anyway.
Imagine my surprise when I found campsite 1 available. For my money this is the best campsite at Red Creek. I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't have been taken and then noticed a no-tenting sign on the grass. Most of the other campers were tenters, leaving the primo site to me. Perfect!
I made a spinach salad and sat out on the full-moon evening until 2100 or so, then retired to read.
------------------------
Thursday, 6 October -
This morning I caught up the blog and brought the online version up to the end of September.
I then mowed the grass and cleaned out the rain gutters on the house. I'm amazed how a small handful of pine needles will completely jam up my the gutter on the back of the house. I also washed down the gutters to get rid of the accumulated grit, leaves, and some type of black scummy growth.
While I was working outside Labashi cleaned and scraped the floor on the east side of the basement so I can finish painting it. That evening I painted the block portion of the walls. I wanted to get it done this evening because I paint an inch or so of the floor at the wall-floor joint when I do this and I want that paint to dry overnight.
----------------------
Wednesday, 5 October -
We took our malaria pills this morning-- one more to go after this one. We had breakfast at McDonald's and went back to work on House 2. We touched up walls and ceiling and painted the back door. We applied the end-cap to the kitchen counter by carefully trimming the supplied piece to fit and then ironing it on to activate the heat-sensitive glue on the back of it. I mowed the grass and trimmed along the house and brushed down the lower siding to remove dirt splashed up on it and grass trimmings.
We finished up by 1600 and drove home. That evening we watched a very good National Geographic special called 'Eye of the Leopard'. A husband-and-wife team had filmed a young leopard in Botswana's Okavango Delta and had produced incredible footage.
---------------------
Tuesday, 4 October -
This morning we loaded up two metal cabinets I'm giving to Maypo onto his trailer and headed for Mechanicsburg and Chambersburg. We had to go to the former to buy heating registers for House 2.
We had an early lunch at the Shippensburg Wendy's and made it to Chambersburg by 1130 or so.
We spent the day installing the nine registers, working on the now-stuck back door (it keeps growing!), setting up the dehumdifier, installing the kitchen stove outlet, and beginning to clean the siding and windows.
We had supper with Maypo et family and spent the evening watching “Dead Poet's Society”
on tv.
----------------------
Monday, 3 October -
With the floor now painted in the west half of the basement, we spent this morning emptying and moving the storage cabinets out of the east side. These are plastic storage cabinets which withstood the flooding but we have to get them out to clean under them. In retrospect, we should have selected a solution which didn't trap water underneath.
Labashi had an appointment in the afternoon and I decided I'd get the F650GS out of the barn. That turned out to be a mistake. I didn't have problems getting it out of the barn but the lawn at the northwest side of our house was so soft that I created a deep tire track through it. Everything was fine at first but as I approached a low spot, the rear tire started spinning and cutting into the lawn. I was barely making headway but couldn't stop. I knew if I stopped I'd be stuck. The ground was too wet to support the bike on its kickstand so the only solution would be to keep going or lay the bike down, creating another mess.
Once I got onto higher ground the spinning stopped and I was able to get to the driveway without any damage to the front lawn. Once there I had to hose down the back tire and fender, now encased in gooky-glop. There was even some on the seat (because the spinning tire had thrown it).
After washing down the bike I dug out my riding gear and rode down to York. I visited a bit with my Starbucks buddies and went over to Best Buy to see what I could learn about GSM phones.
I explained to the Best-Buy phones person that I had been in South Africa and Botswana and bought a GSM phone and the SIM cards for each very cheaply. Did the US have a similar solution? It turns out there is--- it's called H2O. This is a SIM card for any GSM phone which provides prepaid service on the AT&T network. The card is $10, then you buy minutes and the per-minute rate is around 14 cents per minute.
Back home I read through the supporting documentation and learned the card may not work in the phone I bought in South Africa. I'll have to research more.
---------------------
Sunday, 2 October -
I painted the floor in the west half of the basement today. Labashi did a terrific job of scraping and cleaning the floor so I had a very easy time of it. The scraping was necessary to remove the paint blisters caused by the floor paint sitting in water for so long. Most of the paint is okay but part of the basement had had a red undercoat of old paint and that's the area with the blistering. The Drylok Concrete Paint has been wonderful on this floor and because of our experience with it in our own house, we've used it in the basements of the two houses we re-habbed in Chambersburg. But it can only be expected to withstand so much and submersion in water for two weeks is expecting too much! I'm really surprised it's not more extensive. I'd guess that the blisters came up on less than two percent of the floor area which had the red undercoat and nowhere else.
The dehumidifiers have now taken the basement down to about 40 per cent humidity and the wood is well dried out.
----------------------
Saturday, 1 October -
The weather turned colder today but at least it's not raining for a change. I mowed our lawn today, much of it very wet but with more rain coming I really needed to get it done.
***** END OF POST *******
(posted from Starbucks parking lot, Beckley, WV)
(This post covers 1 – 10 October, 2011)
---------------------------
Monday, 10 October – Columbus Day
This morning I woke without the alarm at dawn. I piddled about and had breakfast and didn't get on the road until 0800-- mostly because it was overcast and didn't LOOK like a nice day for touring.
I drove down the mountain to the Cranberry River and followed FR76 upriver. Wow-- what a NICE river. It's ultra-clear, bordered by lots of mountain laurel and of course it's looking great with the colors of Fall all along it.
I picked a favorite campsite-- #8-- and waypointed it on the GPS. I'll definitely be back, hopefully next Fall.
I followed the forest road to Cranberry Campground and was surprised to see so many campers. Then I remembered it's a holiday-- that explains it.
Just after Cranberry Campground there's a gate. The road is gated 'to preserve the backcountry nature of the River' according to a sign. I LOVE it! I wandered around a bit and shortly thereafter two fishermen arrived and unloaded their bikes and fishing gear. They were going to bike in 8 to 10 miles today. One explained that the grade is slightly uphill (heading upstream) so they'll work harder going in than coming back to the truck.
I then set the GPS for Richwood and soon found myself back in civilization. At Cranberry Campground I checked the mileage and time to home and it was just under 350 miles and 6 and a half hours (for future reference).
In Richwood I checked in at the visitor's center and chatted with the ladies running it. I learned there's a major development coming-- a new Scout camp. This is apparently and Eastern version of the Philmont Scout Ranch in north-eastern New Mexico. It's a 10,000 acre site being developed for a first Jamboree in 2013. So far $250 million dollars has been raised for it. It will be called the Bechtel Family Scout Reserve and lies along the New River. It will reportedly also cater to the public and allow non-Scout visitors to camp there --- in Scout tents!
I can't wait to visit. I was a Scout many years ago and though I only achieved First Class, I have fond memories of Scouting days. I was a member of Troop 127.
Last Spring Labashi and I visited the Philmont ranch as we returned from our Desert Flowers trip and I wish I had been able to visit there as a young Scout. (I still have my Scouting books and my official Boy Scout camping gear, by the way).
At the Richwood visitor's center I also asked about wi-fi and was directed to the library beside City Hall. The librarian gave me a one-hour pass just for the asking and I went out into Mocha Joe, set up my wi-fi antenna, and called Labashi on Skype. We talked for a half-hour and I learned I needed to give Maypo a call too-- something about the house.
Maypo and I talked a bit and then called Orat on a three-way to set the asking price for the house (house #2)-- Maypo has someone who may be interested.
I then headed to Summerville and the Lake, stopping along the way for lunch. I was disappointed to find the lake drawn way down and at its seven-year low. Facilities around the lake were mostly closed so I decided to just move on.
I then drove to the New River Gorge visitor's center near Fayetteville. I watched the tourist film and asked a ranger for recommendations for a drive. I followed her directions and took a very nice little drive down into the gorge and under the New River Bridge and back up the other side.
I then drove down US19 to the turnoff to Thurmond, an abandoned coal-mining town. The visitors' center was closed but when I tried the door a very nice gentleman came to the door and said he's working on the accounts and I'd be welcome to look around while he does that. I loved seeing the old pictures of the steam-era town and then walking the ghost town that it is today.
I had noticed a small picnic area and campground nearby so decided I'd try that for the night. I found a launch ramp there with a few camping spots and settled in there for the night.
Tonight is very balmy, apparently because of oncoming rain in the next few days. The full moon is lighting up the clouds and it actually got dark, then lighter after sunset and as the moon rose over the mountains across the river from me.
I spent the evening blogging and starting on camera chip 2 from the Africa trip.
---------------------------
Sunday, 9 October -
I thought I had turned off the 0600 alarm but I was proven wrong. I couldn't get back to sleep and was on the road within the hour. I drove back Route 39 toward the Cranberry Glades area thinking I'd take my time so the Nature Center would be open. I took a short walk down to the Upper Falls at The Falls of Hill Creek and then went on to the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area.
I chatted with two backpackers-- a father-daughter pair -- from western Pennsylvania who had spent the night camped nearby. We had a long conversation about travel and I listened intently while the young woman described her trip to New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji.
I then walked the boardwalk at the Botanical Area. This is a high mountain glade, which consisted of a mix of open, swampy area and a bog forest, surrounded by hills ablaze with fall colors. The first thing I saw was good old arctic cotton-- called 'grass cotton' here. There were pitcher plants, sundews, and other plants native to far-northern places. I looked for Labrador Tea but didn't see any. The Glade looked like it had been moved here from Newfoundland or Labrador or certain areas of the Yukon and Alaska.
I moved on to the Nature Center and asked about Labrador Tea. The ranger-lady spent quite a bit of time checking and then I looked through 'Flora of West Virginia', all to no avail. I'd like to have seen its pretty, orange, and delicately-veined leaves. I spent the better part of an hour at the very-well-done Nature Center and bought a map of the Monongahela National Forest.
The Nature Center had a relief map of the area and I saw that I could follow the Williams River and then the Cranbery River on a large loop. And along the way are primitive campsites- something I always like to check out but these in particular, since sites range from $5-$10 per night-- my kind of number!
As I was looking for FR216 I saw a trailhead for the High Rock Trail and stopped in to look at the map. I couldn't resist walking the two miles out to the vista point and back.
After my walk, I followed Forest Road 216 down to the river and began winding along it. This is trout territory and I should come back and fish here.
When I came to the first campsite I stopped to check it out and made lunch. I then spent the rest of the afternoon following the Williams River, nearly to its source, then turned up the mountain on FR101. I followed it to Bishop Rock campground. I saw only one campsite in use in this fairly large campground and liked what I saw. I was tired of driving for the day so even though it was only 1600 I stopped for the night.
I walked a tiny bit of the Bishop Peak Trail, gathered firewood (for a fire I never built), and started logging the video clips and stills from card 1 from our Africa trip. That latter took all evening. Then I read a few pages of 'The Paperboy' by Pete Dexter before going to sleep. I picked that one up in Florida last winter at a rural library just outside the Ocala National Forest. It has been biding its time waiting for me to get to it. It's definitely different-- in a good way....
-----------------------
Saturday, 8 October -
I set my alarm for 0600 this morning but that was too early-- the sun wasn't even close to being up. I arose just before 0700 and drove Mocha Joe to Bear Rocks for the sunrise. The parking area was almost full and there was a lineup of photographers at the sunrise vista. I took a few shots with my little point-and-shoot among the pro-ams with their tripods and yard-long lenses. There was a beautiful white fog in the valley and it changed moment by moment as the sun rose.
After the sun was well up I returned to the van and had breakfast while looking out over the Bear Rocks Trail.
I then drove down FR75, stopping at several vantage points. I've not seen any animals up there and today was no exception. But the colors are worth it anyway.
I then started down the mountain toward Davis and noticed the Forest Road 70 gate was open, apparently because of hunting season.
I drove the three miles of narrow dirt road, hoping I'd not meet oncoming traffic on such a narrow road. I met one guy on the way in but we happened to meet at a wide spot so that was no problem. On the way out I met a large oncoming pickup and we both edged off as far as we could and just barely got by each other.
Back at the main road I talked with a guy driving a pickup with a dog box and he said he was hunting bears. Bowhunting season is also in – for deer.
I drove on to Canaan Valley State Park and stopped in at the Nature Center. The clerk said they had had two inches of snow last week (but it's 70 degrees now!).
The main restaurant in the valley, Big John's, now has Piccolo Paula's Coffee Shop on the side. I had an excellent-plus buttermilk biscuit with sausage gravy (I can't have those at home) and a fresh orange juice for my brunch.
I then drove on through Davis to Thomas and the Mountain-Made Craft Shop. I've stopped here several times in the past and have always been impressed, particularly by the photography.
I drove on to Parsons and tried to hurry on to Elkins to beat the parade. The clerk at Canaan Valley had told me this weekend was 'Forest Days' weekend and the parade started at 1300. and that would surely make a mess of traffic. I managed to arrive in Elkins precisely at 1300 and, yes, traffic was a mess. I was detoured around the parade in about 20 minutes so it wasn't really that bad. Judging by the number of people I saw and the fact that every nook and cranny where a car could be parked was filled, I'd say Forest Days is popular.
I continued down 219 toward Marlinton and turned off on the Highland Scenic Highway-- Route 150-- at 1530 or so.
The scenic highway lived up to its name. The trees are just perfect and with the sun lower in the sky they were lit wonderfully. I stopped at each viewpoint and just soaked in the beauty. Now THIS is why I come to West Virginia in early October.
I drove on to the Cranberry Visitor's Center but just missed it closing by a few minutes. I had seen there were two free campgrounds on the map and wanted to ask about them but couldn't. I drove to the area of the first but couldn't find it but then did find one at Third Bridge. I had my choice of three road-side campsites backing on a creek. I passed the entrance and had to turn around and as I made my turn I saw a black bear scurry across the road.
I made a supper of chicken ala king and sat out in my chair for an hour or so. As I sat there a guy came along in an old Toyota pickup and pulled in to talk. He said his family sometimes comes here to camp and then proceeded to tell me story after story about his childhood, his medical ailments, and, his love for his Toyota pickup! Actually he was a nice guy. It turns out his father recently passed away and he's a bit lost. He was just out driving around today to forget his troubles and happened upon me. I think we both got some good out of our conversation.
I then got on the laptop and caught up the offline blog and read maps and a bit of Michener's 'The Covenant' (South Africa!).
------------------------
Friday, 7 October -
This morning I cleared out the van for my little trip to West Virginia this weekend. I had to get the stuff out of the van and back to the back (west) portion of the basement. I then painted the east basement floor, finishing up around noon.
I loaded up Mocha Joe and got on the road by 1330. I drove to Chambersburg and then down I-81 to I-70 and I-68 to Cumberland, MD. Then I followed US 220 through to Keyser, WV. I finished my provisioning at the Keyser Wal-mart and then drove on to Scherr, Jordan Run, and up the dirt road to the north entrance of the Dolly Sods Wilderness.
I checked the freebie campsites at the bottom of the mountain but most of them had someone in them so I thought I'd run up to Red Creek Campground on Forest Road 75. As I topped out at Bear Rocks there were so many cars there that I thought I may as well turn around and take one of the less-than-terrific sites I had passed at the bottom. But by then I was close enough to Red Creek to want to see it anyway.
Imagine my surprise when I found campsite 1 available. For my money this is the best campsite at Red Creek. I couldn't figure out why it wouldn't have been taken and then noticed a no-tenting sign on the grass. Most of the other campers were tenters, leaving the primo site to me. Perfect!
I made a spinach salad and sat out on the full-moon evening until 2100 or so, then retired to read.
------------------------
Thursday, 6 October -
This morning I caught up the blog and brought the online version up to the end of September.
I then mowed the grass and cleaned out the rain gutters on the house. I'm amazed how a small handful of pine needles will completely jam up my the gutter on the back of the house. I also washed down the gutters to get rid of the accumulated grit, leaves, and some type of black scummy growth.
While I was working outside Labashi cleaned and scraped the floor on the east side of the basement so I can finish painting it. That evening I painted the block portion of the walls. I wanted to get it done this evening because I paint an inch or so of the floor at the wall-floor joint when I do this and I want that paint to dry overnight.
----------------------
Wednesday, 5 October -
We took our malaria pills this morning-- one more to go after this one. We had breakfast at McDonald's and went back to work on House 2. We touched up walls and ceiling and painted the back door. We applied the end-cap to the kitchen counter by carefully trimming the supplied piece to fit and then ironing it on to activate the heat-sensitive glue on the back of it. I mowed the grass and trimmed along the house and brushed down the lower siding to remove dirt splashed up on it and grass trimmings.
We finished up by 1600 and drove home. That evening we watched a very good National Geographic special called 'Eye of the Leopard'. A husband-and-wife team had filmed a young leopard in Botswana's Okavango Delta and had produced incredible footage.
---------------------
Tuesday, 4 October -
This morning we loaded up two metal cabinets I'm giving to Maypo onto his trailer and headed for Mechanicsburg and Chambersburg. We had to go to the former to buy heating registers for House 2.
We had an early lunch at the Shippensburg Wendy's and made it to Chambersburg by 1130 or so.
We spent the day installing the nine registers, working on the now-stuck back door (it keeps growing!), setting up the dehumdifier, installing the kitchen stove outlet, and beginning to clean the siding and windows.
We had supper with Maypo et family and spent the evening watching “Dead Poet's Society”
on tv.
----------------------
Monday, 3 October -
With the floor now painted in the west half of the basement, we spent this morning emptying and moving the storage cabinets out of the east side. These are plastic storage cabinets which withstood the flooding but we have to get them out to clean under them. In retrospect, we should have selected a solution which didn't trap water underneath.
Labashi had an appointment in the afternoon and I decided I'd get the F650GS out of the barn. That turned out to be a mistake. I didn't have problems getting it out of the barn but the lawn at the northwest side of our house was so soft that I created a deep tire track through it. Everything was fine at first but as I approached a low spot, the rear tire started spinning and cutting into the lawn. I was barely making headway but couldn't stop. I knew if I stopped I'd be stuck. The ground was too wet to support the bike on its kickstand so the only solution would be to keep going or lay the bike down, creating another mess.
Once I got onto higher ground the spinning stopped and I was able to get to the driveway without any damage to the front lawn. Once there I had to hose down the back tire and fender, now encased in gooky-glop. There was even some on the seat (because the spinning tire had thrown it).
After washing down the bike I dug out my riding gear and rode down to York. I visited a bit with my Starbucks buddies and went over to Best Buy to see what I could learn about GSM phones.
I explained to the Best-Buy phones person that I had been in South Africa and Botswana and bought a GSM phone and the SIM cards for each very cheaply. Did the US have a similar solution? It turns out there is--- it's called H2O. This is a SIM card for any GSM phone which provides prepaid service on the AT&T network. The card is $10, then you buy minutes and the per-minute rate is around 14 cents per minute.
Back home I read through the supporting documentation and learned the card may not work in the phone I bought in South Africa. I'll have to research more.
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Sunday, 2 October -
I painted the floor in the west half of the basement today. Labashi did a terrific job of scraping and cleaning the floor so I had a very easy time of it. The scraping was necessary to remove the paint blisters caused by the floor paint sitting in water for so long. Most of the paint is okay but part of the basement had had a red undercoat of old paint and that's the area with the blistering. The Drylok Concrete Paint has been wonderful on this floor and because of our experience with it in our own house, we've used it in the basements of the two houses we re-habbed in Chambersburg. But it can only be expected to withstand so much and submersion in water for two weeks is expecting too much! I'm really surprised it's not more extensive. I'd guess that the blisters came up on less than two percent of the floor area which had the red undercoat and nowhere else.
The dehumidifiers have now taken the basement down to about 40 per cent humidity and the wood is well dried out.
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Saturday, 1 October -
The weather turned colder today but at least it's not raining for a change. I mowed our lawn today, much of it very wet but with more rain coming I really needed to get it done.
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posted by Bezabor&Labashi | 23:59
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