Labor Day Break Away...

 We took advantage of the three day weekend by heading to the beach, or at least close to the beach. A great thing about where we live is that in three hours, I can be in the mountains of Western Maryland. I can also be at the beach in the same amount of time. Camping at the beach is not always easy however. The campgrounds are often booked a year in advance, the State Parks there, offer very little privacy, and you often have to deal with the ponies that love to come crap in your site, push you around and leave clouds of flies when they leave. Have you noticed I am not a big fan of the ponies of Assategue? A great alternative is Pocomoke River State Park. It is 20 minutes from Ocean City and the campsites are huge and fairly private.

 The forest in this State Park is fairly spectacular. It is a typical Eastern coastal blend of loblolly pine, sweat gum, swamp oak, and cypress. The canopy is dense and offers a lot of beauty. We have camped at Pocomoke River State Park a few times. This time around, we were in the Shad Landing area. We have camped many times on the other side of the river in the Milburn Landing area. This park makes a great launching off for day trips.

We headed out for the day to go to Crisfield. I took all back roads and made many unexpected rights and a number of lefts. I like getting somewhat lost and truly enjoy finding the unexpected. An unexpected find was Rehobath Presbyterian Church on the way to Shelltown. Never heard of either? Me too. That was the point...

This church was built very early in the Colony. It burnt to the ground a number of times, was rebuilt, to burn down again. 

Not a bad place to spend eternity, here lyeth the body...

The sacred body...

The 65th annual Hard Crab Derby was going on when we got to Chrisfield. Our timing was great, because as we pulled into town the parade was just beginning. There was a fairly large crowd for such a small town. Crisfield was or still is known as the seafood capital of Maryland. If you want crabs, this is the place to go. If you want the best soft shell crabs you will be coming to Crisfield for sure.

 

I love small town parades. There are always a group of girls shaking things they shouldn't as a group

There is always a military band. The Air Force showed up in this case.

The local High School band does their thing. In this case, their thing was a Lady Gaga song...

Of course, there was a fire brigade with an antique pumper of some sort. In the Crisfield parade, there were two. The fire department was pressed into service when their first truck ripped down the phone lines with the ladder truck, bringing the entire parade to a halt for a good 20 minutes.

My favorite float was done by the prisoners at the local jail. You know the song Godzilla? Well, it was blaring, but instead of Godzilla, it was Crabzilla.

The National Guard was trying to fight Crabzilla...

Crabzilla seemed to be winning...

They had some very tall clowns throwing candy to the kids in the crowd. I am a kid too and have no shame in pushing a nine year old out of the way so I could get a wild cherry Dumb
Dumb.

After the parade, we headed down to the Marina to witness something lost to time. At one time thousands of these little skiffs worked the shallows of the Chesapeake Bay. Many of the guys would race each other for bragging rights. Today, there are but a few dozen of these skiffs left. A few still get together for a friendly race.

19 feet long with a 30" beam. A 18- 22hp inboard motor and absolutely zero comfort. These boats were built to work the shallows for soft crabs and then rush them to the buy boat at a very high rate of speed.

I am not going to lie, I am somewhat smitten and am very seriously considering building one of these boats this winter. I would love to be a part of the race next year. 

The man in the white shirt built that boat in 2000. He spent his life building work boats for the waterman working the Bay. She won the last race of the day.

On Sunday we managed to go to Ocean City for the day. We went to 13th Street where Beth's Grandmother resided ever summer from 1948 until she passed on in 1999. I am bored out of my mind sitting on the beach, but the girls love it, so I make the best of it.

Something I am always amazed by is how much I enjoy dinner in the trailer. We usually eat out on the picnic table, as it offers more room to spread out, but the weather was very humid and rather hot too. The AC felt very good!

The real amazement is how incredibly good the food tastes. We made hobo pockets(throw match stick potatoes, carrots, onions, butter, salt and pepper into a foil pouch and cook till done, about 40 minutes flipping often) and flank steak on the grill. A salad with Mr Moyer's BBQ sauce on it by mistake(a dash of vinegar added and tossed to fix the mistake) was mind boggling. Not one single bite of left overs remained.

What a great weekend in our second home....

Ya, I'm a GOLDIGGER

NOTE: my precious Lumex xx something something 10 had died for the third time. I apologize for the lack of action photos and place photos. 

"Gold Digger" always had a negative connotation with me, but I have become one. The difference is I am digging my own. This new hobby has really gotten hold of me to say the least. Over the past long weekend I hitched up Anna and headed to Thermal City North Carolina. In Thermal City I met two fellow GPAA(Gold Prospectors Association of America) members and we had our go at processing two tons of "gold bearing material" form the mine there. 

Over the entire weekend this was my share of what the three of us brought in. You will note that some of the gold is silver looking. That is mercury that has coated the gold. This area was long ago dug and processed. The procedure in the day was to crush everything very fine. It was then run over copper plates coated in mercury. The mercury loves the copper and the gold loves the mercury. Go look at the Periodic Table and it will become clear why this is(maybe not, many just glaze over looking at it. Me I see combinations and possibilities). They all kind of bind together into an amalgam. The amalgam can be scrapped from the copper plate and the gold and mercury separated using a retort process. Well, not all of the gold was collected up and a great deal of mercury was lost into the river.

I will never get rich doing this, but that is not the goal. This is all the gold I have found this  year. It sure beats sitting in a bar drinking beer and allows me to play in the woods and streams like I did as a child. I can think of worse ways to spend a weekend.

Weekends are made for RELAXATION(and a number of Michelob like beverages)

We hooked Anna up and headed to our favorite Maryland State Park this weekend. We have been here a few times in the past and the beauty of this park always astounds us. It was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corp but has been a place many have visited over the years.

There is no mention of the numerous Native People that surely camped here, but Henry Ford was an avid camper and this was a place he loved to visit. 

The upper two photos above are from one of these trips to what is now the Park. Make a note of the size of the trees next to the falls. Most of Western Maryland had been timbered by the time Henry Ford camped here. The Park contains 35 acres of virgin hemlock forest. This is the only remaining virgin forest in the entire State.

We watched a couple of fisherman catch 7 keeper brown trout in about 20 minutes time from below Muddy Creek Falls. I kept wondering if Henry Ford had the same luck. 

This is the name sake falls. The last time we were here was during a fairly wet summer and the water level was a good two feet higher than it is now. None the less, it is a beautiful water fall.

My favorite falls is the smallest one in the Park. It is called Tolliver Falls. I love the way it steps down the bed rock. It is not seen in the photo, but it steps down the bedrock for about 100 yards before dumping into the main pool. You have to hike through the part of the Park where the virgin hemlocks are to get to this falls.

Another thing I like about the park; it has a phone booth with a pay phone. The phone booth even has a current yellow pages in it.  The fact that the sites are generous, the park is clean as a whistle, and not overly crowed as most State Parks are closer to the cities, makes Swallow Falls a big hit with my family.

Bash Bound 3

Not being from Maryland, you may not know this location. This is Sideling Hill, elevation 2310 feet. At one time Sideling Hill was as tall as the current height of the Himalayas. A few million years have worn the Appalachians to mere hills by Western State standards.  When traveling west on I-70 you must go through Sideling Hill. For me, this is where Western Maryland begins. This cut through Sideling Hill also delineates the beginning of many of my adventures. 

You never know what lies on the other side of the mountain. In this case, you can't see much ahead because your head is still in the clouds. I thought of this as a foreshadowing. My first destination was

Ann Arbor, Michigan. The reason for going to Ann Arbor? My cousin David passed on. David was always my favorite cousin (sorry to all the rest of you, I mean no disrespect, everyone has favorites--it is human nature). He was the kind of guy that treated everyone like they were important. He never treated me like a kid, he treated me like an equal. He had my respect and I had his. I was heading out to attend his memorial service. I went alone due to Beth's new job and the lack of extra vacation time on her end. Going solo was actually a good thing for me. It gave me time to "talk" with David and get a lot of sadness off my chest. Yes, I talk to the dead and oddly they talk to me too. By the time I arrived in Ann Arbor I was all done with my mourning.

My cousin Linda(David's sister) hooked me up with a super nice spot to driveway camp. It is refreshing to have your home wherever you go. I was shown around town and have to say Ann Arbor is a very nice little city. The people are very progressive and the building stock is really cool. Unfortunately, no pictures were taken, even though my camera was in my pocket the entire time. I guess I was too busy listening to snap any photos. I was just taking it all in. I am not too sure if I able to ease any of my family members' grieving over the loss of David, but I am sure glad I went nonetheless. 

My next destination was Coopers Lake Campground. For the third year in a row I have been one of the hosts for an annual Airstream rally called the Birthday Bash. We gather to celebrate the founder of Airstream's birthday. It makes an excellent excuse to get together, talk too much, eat too much, drink too much, and spent too much time relaxing. Unlike previous years, the entire region was in a major heat have. We made a last minute venue change from the lake to the area with full hook up. I think everyone was grateful to be able to run their AC even if they spent virtually all their time outside talking in 100+ degree heat.

Most of my photos are at sunrise. I found this time, before we got breakfast rolling, to be a great time to take in the aluminum. I hope no one in these sunrise pictures is offended. I took some early morning photos a few years back, and was accused of sneaking around. Special Ed was not in attendance so I think we will be okay with what you will see.

There were some of my clients in attendance. The Toaster came. Mary and Rick have been putting their rig to serious use after her restoration. I think they are making up for lost time. I feel a huge sense of pride in seeing a 51 year old trailer put into service again. Godspeed,Toaster...

Priscilla was there, too. I did the axles for Ed and Tim a few months back. Ed has been pouring on the love, and the polish job he did was stunning, to say the least.

Rosie was there, too. Elly has been slowly, but very surely, putting hers back together again. She now has a toilet and functioning bathroom. She is not fully functional yet, but that has not stopped Elly from using her. I have mad respect for Elly and all that she has done by herself. I think she could have done the structural work which was completed by Frank's Trailer Works with the confidence she has gained doing all the rest herself. An incredible woman, that Elly Cramer.

You might remember Roy from our caravan to Madison a few years back. He was the guy who took 30 total strangers out to his mother-in-law's house to courtesy park. Roy has been coming to the Bash ever since. He is a guy who gives way more than he takes. Heck, everyone in attendance fits that description.

We had a MoHo come. It was an Airstream Moho, so it was very welcome. There was supposed to be another one coming, too, but unfortunately a family crisis came up and they were not able to attend. I dig Airstream motor homes when they were still produced like the travel trailers. When they began to look like the white flat sided motor homes that my interest ended. To be honest, we welcome anyone to attend. It is our belief that the curious can become believers. Show them the Airstreamer's way of life and they want to be a part of it.

The day starts with coffee at 6am for the early risers. Yes, some of us like to wake with the sun. Having a great cup of coffee with friends is an excellent way to double down on the odds of making that day excellent.

Breakfast was served by 8am everyday. They say it is the most important meal of the day and I tend to agree. When I first started attending rallies, the tradition was a continental breakfast. I would see that people came out of their trailers, filled their coffee mugs up, grabbed a danish and headed back to their trailers. When we serve a full breakfast, people tend to linger. They converse and hatch plans as to how to spend the day together.  Each day we served plain and blueberry pancakes. Blueberry was wildly popular. Maybe next year we will try banana out on the crowd too.

Eggs to order. Sunny side up, over easy, over medium, over hard, murdered, scrambled were all requested. Oddly, no one asked for an omelet. 

100 pounds of bacon was cooked over the four breakfasts. I think some vegetarians broke their streak. Bash Bacon is hard to pass up.

We cooked about 75 pounds of breakfast potatoes during the event.

 There were a bunch of Ostrowski's sausages for those wanting them, too. You may note the scrapple in the back of the tray. Not a huge hit with many, but those that like it sure love it. It didn't make the photos, but we had corned beef hash also. That stuff is always a huge hit.

Speaking of hits, We had a killer band. 

They are Airstreamers. I suggest you check them out sometime.

All of this was upon reflection...

Spring has Sprung

Spring time has come to Rockwell Avenue in full force. It actually came over a month ago, but it was not until the last week She really took hold here.

 The beds out front are all filling in from their Winter hibernation.   

 The Dutch iris that came with the house, which came with the previous owners purchase from the previous owners purchase are in full bloom. They smell like "purple" to Beth.

 The strawberries over wintered in the shed. 

The Mock Orange is in full glory. The scent from this bush comes into the house all day and night for about two weeks. I wish I could bottle it, but then I have 50 weeks to look forward to it's bloom again.

 The garlic we got from Baker's Acres of Chenango is absolutely bumping. This is the second year of this strain being planted here in Maryland. I selected the 10 largest heads for this crop. I will do the same for next years crop too. This garlic will be harvested on the Summer Solstice. 

 We have tomatoes in the ground now too. These are our cooking and canning tomatoes. We plan to put up a good deal of sauce this year.

 The chard is bumping too. A first picking is coming soon. Last time we planted chard it lasted a year and a half before we dug it up. 

 Here is the sandwich tomatoes. BTW, all our tomatoes are heirloom varieties. My favorite tomato, German Stripped is in the mix. We have a tomatillo too. The lettuce... if you want some, come by. We have too much and have had a salad every night for a few weeks now. We could use some help with eating it all.

 The chives. This clump refuses to die. I have tried very hard to kill it but it just flourishes. The flowers are an excellent addition to the salad. Very delicate flavor and nice visual contrast in the bowl.

 Beets, we got em too...

 The King of my garden. What can I say about my favorite grass.