September 15, 2005

For those of you who ask "where the heck is she"? I am in Lexington VA posting while sitting in the Black Dog Cafe on Nelson St. Bearfoot is parked at the state park in Collierstown, Lake Robertson. We arrived here a day early on the 13th. I started working as the park host the following day. It is very quiet up there at this time of the year except on weekends so I am not exactly worked to death. I did help plant mums this morning though after cleaning the comfort stations. The site I have been given is really nice. It is protected under a canopy of trees and since it is very hot here, it is a blessing to be shaded. We have a tiered area down to the fire pit. I sat by the fire last night until time to crawl under the covers. It does get cool at night here in the mountains. I had my first scary experience on the trip down Route 15 through PA. Of course, there is no way around the steep PA Allegany mts. You gotta go over 'em somehow! US 15 is really a great road though. There is not nearly the volume of traffic as on I 81. But it does climb up and over and then drop down through some snaky passes. Trucks like me, gear down to save our brakes. It was breathtakingly beautiful coming down the mountains on sunday. I took 180 which is a beltway and pulled over on the shoulder to take a quick break. Bearfoot wouldn't start. Nothing! I have an aux start switch on the panel so I used it and he started up. Well, I knew somethiing was wrong but went on for another 5 miles or so when he quit again only this time while underway at 55 mph. There are no brakes or power steering - the most hopeless feeling in the world esp. driving 11 tons of vehicle not counting the tow car. My mind was crystal clear though as I reached with my left hand to hold down the aux start switch, while my right hand shifted to neutral, then quickly turned the key to the start position. It is a good thing I was going in a straight line. He started right up and we were in business again but I knew I had to stop somewhere. I came off the ramp at a Citgo station in New Columbia, PA. , called my roadside assistance service. They were very kind but couldn't get a tow for me until monday but they wanted to be sure I was safe for the night where I was. I put in a call to my son, Matt, in Vermont, left a message and lay down for a nap. He called a couple of hours later and began troubleshooting, something he does very well. He said he felt it had to be in the knife switch I have on one battery. He also said I had to open the hood!!! I don't like to open the hood and always put it off since it takes superwoman powers to open it. It is always frustrating and upsetting. But I did open it after pulling, tugging and saying words that my daddy taught me. Sure enough, there was that knife switch opened without any connection at all. I closed the connection and Bearfoot started right up. Thank you Matt!! By that time, it was late and I was exhausted so I went to a campground just down the road to spend the night. Candy Hill it is called, sounds pretty doesn't it but next door is a livestock auction house. The poor young veal cattle called all night for their mother's. Couldn't wait to get out of there. I went straight through to Lexington on I 81 which was not too bad. The surface is much better in VA than in PA. I am going to try to post some pics of the Grand Prix in Watkins Glen but don't know if there is enough power here to do so. I went out in my kayak yesterday afternoon on Lake Robertson. Saw some huge snapping turtles and 3 of the largest crows I have ever seen. Wildflowers are lovely this time of year and plenty of butterflies. More later ---