ON THE BLUE RIDGE PARKWAY

My friend, Bob, and I rode the motorcycles over the Great Smoky Mountain National Park road and onto the Blue Ridge Parkway on Saturday and overnight to Sunday. I can only describe this ride as wonderful. I left Greenback just before sun up in order to miss the masses of tourists that cruise the park each day. I met Bob at the visitors center on the Gatlinburg side of the park. Even at that early hour we still had to deal with tourists. The weekend is not the best time to drive in the mountains of East Tennessee. Tourists! They literally jamb the roads everywhere. As we gained altitude on the Blue Ridge we began to see rhododendron. The mountainsides were carpeted with them. The Blue Ridge Parkway is the most magnificent motor road in this country, in my estimation. When nature decides to paint her canvas with flowers, she selects the most prime areas. And the parkway is one of them. After driving higher and higher we came finally to the Brevard exit. A short run down that road brought us to our destination; The Blue Ridge Campground. It is motorcycles only and the best I have ever stayed at. They offer miniature cabins as well as tent sites. The place is wonderful. Early Sunday morning was spent winding down a snaky road through the Pisgah National Forest and on to Cherokee and over the park road to home. It was a fantastic weekend. Click pics for enlargement..... Mama Gotta Hurry! Come on Ma. Hurry!

GHEENOE AND FRIENDS

Today is the first really good boat ride I have had in the Gheenoe. I have been changing this and altering that and finally got everything pretty much as I want it. I still have to extend the trailer tongue two feet but that can wait. Today this boat ride is a quality ride. I'm breaking in the engine and running slow, medium and full out as my feelings dictate. It is 4:50PM and the sun is still hot but a very gentle breeze is present, at times. I have brought Douglas and little Happy along. I picked Happy because she is small and she obeys my commands. I almost lost touch with the serenity and solitude that accompanies my time on the water. It's been many months since I sold the big boat. I look for hazards in the water and scan the banks, trees and logs that project out from the shoreline for wildlife. But most of all I am sharing quality time with my pals. It's quiet and the boat is pulled up on a sandy bank hidden by trees. This would be a wonderful camping spot. Everything is perfect. (It's in the GPS now) There is thunder in the distance to the West and the sky is turning black and purple in that direction. That would be over toward the Smokey Mountains. This lake is no place to be caught in the open by a vicious storm. If I were camped here and the boat secured, I would welcome a good storm. There is nothing better when camped! But I'm not camped so I better round up the kid's and move the steam liner toward the dock. What good is a Tennessee lake without a Mimosa Tree? This beach will prove to be a great camping location for an overnighter.. We found a great spot to beach the boat and walk. This would be a super camping spot. I marked it on the GPS. Very well hidden..... This is Happy's first ride in the Gheenoe. It's a bit cramped but she can fit anywhere. Douglas, on the other hand, seems to always have to be located in the very tip of the boat. That's where the trolling motor is. I wish I could figure a way to locate the motor to the side more or maybe have a quick detach mechanism where I could remove and put it back on board at will. I'll work on it. I elected to take Happy with us today. She is small and takes up little room. And she listens... He is such a good, good boy. I'm glad I can add this experience to his life. He is an exceptional friend. I'm really glad he lets me come with him. Douglas is happy again. He's back on a boat. He could care less if it were a raft. No place to be caught in a big storm Heading Home

JUST A COUPLE MOVIES

There are a couple movies of the dogs and a movie taken out of the new Gheenoe boat. http://s307.photobucket.com/albums/nn312/loucksgl/

AMAZING DEATH!

While driving to work this morning I witnessed the most amazing sight! I was sitting at a red light on route 129 just outside of Maryville. A hedge row was directly in front of me. Nothing fabulous; just a four foot high hedge. It was very thick and untrimmed. In the blink of an eye a small sparrow plunged directly into the thickest part of the hedge at what appeared to be nearly full speed. Before I could recover from the first blink of my eye a red tailed hawk followed the sparrow into the hedge feet first, talons open. The hawk's wings beat rapidly as if back peddling. His body did not touch the hedge; only his feet entered. And when he withdrew himself he had the little sparrow captured in his talons. I felt shocked at what I saw. Oh, I totally understood it but the finality of it. The quickness of it. I could imagine the little heart in the sparrow thumping hard and maybe his eyes saw his friends coming to his aid. Instantly from nowhere three companion sparrow's appeared and harassed the hawk. They swooped and dived on it until, in frustration, they retreated. And the realization in his beating heart was that it was over; as he watched, in vain, his friends flying further and further away. He was alone in the clutches of death. And then----darkness. Their brave attempt to rescue their little friend was to no avail. Such is the way in nature. That scene will live in my mind forever. I can almost imagine the terror of the little bird as it flew at top speed seeking sanctuary in the deepest part of the hedge. He almost made it. Another second more and he may have found safety, for the hawk could not possibly enter that maze due to its size. But the long leg's of the hawk could and did enter and the talon's found their mark. The simple finality of it all is amazing. Life and death. The daily routine of nature. The quick and the quicker. The living and the dead. But it is a routine in survival. No wanton killing; ------------as humans sometimes do.

JUST A GREAT DAY WITH THE DOGS

I took a break from motorcycling and boat projects to take Sigh, Douglas, Shade and Happy to the lake and woods. They haven't been out in a couple weeks. I am thankful for the huge fenced in yard they have for their exercise and protection. We spent an hour on the shore line of Tellico playing their favorite game. I throw the stick in the water and they go get it. Well, its a big deal to them. The experts say that dogs live for the moment and have no idea of time. I'm not sure I agree with that. I can come and go daily and they simply greet me at the gate. But when I put the camera into my shoulder bag and pick up my fedora hat; they act like its Christmas. They, one and all, will wait impatiently at the gate to the yard anticipating their trip to the lake and woods. I guess it's and association thing; a learned response to my preparation. I'm lying in the grass in a clearing and they all are resting near by. They have been running full out since we arrived an hour ago. The rest is welcomed by each one. The wind is blowing about 30 miles per hour and there's a pure, deep blue sky. Branches with the greenest leaves are rocking back and forth and up and down. It is 80 degrees but the heat is dry. What a day! Maybe a boat ride tonight. I haven't been on the boat much as there are things that I was not satisfied with. The trailer really needed re-engineered. The bow stop was not functioning to my expectations and the winch that is used to pull the boat back onto the trailer was too hard to crank. The bow would not contact the rubber stop on the trailer either. I installed a winch rated for 1200 pounds and redesigned the trailer bow stop. Boats have to be supported by the trailer bunks. (boards with carpet on them) and rest snugly against the bow stop. The bow stop prevents the boat from rocking up and down while on the trailer. Then the weight of the boat must be supported by the (bunks) boards that run the length of the boat from underneath. So all is well there. I will be going on an overnight camp trip with Douglas next couple days off. So that's the update. Ha, decided to take the boat out and float around tonight. The wind died down and the surface is glassy. Looks like a great sun set too. I'd like to stay out here till midnight but the Tennessee State Hog (Harley Owner's Group) is this Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Townsend, TN about ten miles from the Harley Dealership I work at. We're expecting three to five thousand motorcycles each day at the dealership and I guess I should try to get some sleep. Not my cup of tea, these crowds. So I better get out of here. Till next time; Live each day as if it were the last.

THE GHEENOE - AT LAST; ESCAPE!

Today is a great day! Today I am again able to explore the magic of the lakes. The Gheenoe has arrived and I have tested it out on Melton Hill Lake. I really missed the ability to escape the noise and confusion of traffic and gobs of people. I missed the photo opportunities that nature provides. As a matter of fact, at the bottom of this blog entry I was rewarded with an unexpected treat. It caught me off guard and the camera wasn't ready but I snapped off a few shots of a swimming deer. Not unusual but sort of different as it was noon. The Gheenoe is of the custom variety and is powered by a 25 horsepower four stroke Honda engine. With only me and an empty boat the top speed is 29 to 30 mph in slight chop. Loaded with all the stuff I like, the speed dropped to 28 mph with an occasional 29 mph showing on the GPS. She has an 11 gallon inboard tank in the bow and I am proud to say the needle barely moved in three hours. Wow! I can afford to run it. Today is just a test run but full scale camping adventures off this little boat are coming up. By the way; the cliff on the lake is the same one that my Golden Retriever, Douglas, stepped off onto from the government boat in the story "The Storm" that I wrote two years ago. He was six months old then. That story is on the blog in the achieves. I almost ran into that cliff in dense fog during a terrible storm that Douglas and I got caught in a year later.

SCRUFFY

I haven't been on this site in quite awhile. That will change this weekend. I'll have the new boat on Friday and the lake trips will start shortly after. It will be great to be back on the water and away from cars, noise and civilization. I took on a new dog friend. I was told about him two days ago. His owner has to move to an apartment and Scruffy was slated for the pound and scheduled to be euthanized. I told them to hold everything and that I would get him out of there. I did and his pictures are below. He will be living with my little family here with me until a permanent home can be found. Of course he has visited the vet and got all his shots and neutered. What a friendly, sweet little guy he is. He's ten years old but acts like a pup. Scruffy is up for grabs if anyone wants to adopt him. He is great with cats and other dogs. His face appears to always be smiling.