September 2004

Well, another month has swept by and we find ourselves trying to catch our breath in the southwest corner of Virginia as the effects of Hurricane Jean swirl by. In this one month we past through nine states, put 1,682 miles in our recreation vehicle, and 1,487 miles on Squirt (our four wheel drive Suziki). There have been visits with family, friends, Congress, and, of course, time the Forest Service. It was a busy month.

Our first stop of the month was at North Truro, on Cape Cod. There we did some sightseeing in Provincetown, MA (something of a cross between Annapolis, Maryland and Key West, Florida), took Squirt out on the National Seashore's sandy beach, and explored Fred's family local roots. We even got to spend an afternoon with Fred's nephew, Alex. That afternoon was spent with "the boys" hot dogging in Squirt on the seashore's beach. Everyone had great fun. We found a vineyard with a fair red wine, a great outlet for spices and teas, a wonderful historian named Dorothy Groom, and some family photographs in the Old Town. We now know who Fred resembles Elisha Wood Cobb.

Next we took a ferry from Bridgeport, Conn to Port Jefferson on Long Island (an expensive adventure but after spending one and half hours driving a 24 mile section of I-95 a week earlier, it was worth it) and drove across the Island to a campground on the Atlantic shore. What a drive! So much traffic, such narrow roadways, and so many old stone bridges we had to negotiate around, made the drive an exciting event. We arrived in time for Hurricane Francis, another adventure, and got to rock and roll our night away. A couple of much too brief visits with Fred's sister, her children, and Robert, Fred's eldest son, filled our few days on Long Island.

Then it was off to Washington, DC and our appointments with the Forest Service and Congress and visits with family and friends. The meeting with Forest Service was informative and satisfying. Our day on the Hill was, also, informative but somewhat frustrating. This was our first time to interact directly with any Federal political people and it was eye-opening. The Senators and Representatives universally had no time for us (except for our local Representative who Suzi bushwhacked as he was waiting for the elevator) and their staff had only the barest amount of time to talk with us. We did, however, take every opportunity to express our position that the Fee Demo Program is critically important to recreation in national forests both in face-to-face conversation with staffers and in a letter to each Congressperson we stop to see. We doubt our initial efforts made much difference but we will continue the battle. (Be warned: we may be soliciting your help.)

We got to enjoy lunch or dinner with a number of old friends as well as enjoying some time with Thomas, Fred's youngest son, and Megan. It was good to swap stories and learn how well everyone is doing. We hope everyone of these people will accept our invitation to visit Bisbee.

Next we were off to Luray, Virginia for a week of work on the George Washington National Forest (NF) with our good friends, the Hogans and Mike Monbeck. We "enjoy" brief visit from Hurricane Ivan. The day after Ivan was one of the prettiest and clearest days we have had in long time - you could see for miles, even into West Virginia! One of the highlights of Luray was a visit to Wade's Mill, owned and operated by Georgie Young, an HUD buddy of Fred and Mike, and her husband. If you have a chance to visit this delightful authentic working grist mill in Raphine, VA please say "Hello" for us.

Another treat of the Luray area is access to a number of wineries. We had fun driving around the beautiful Virginia countryside and sampling the various vintages. We could have spent all of our week in Luray going from one to another vineyard but did need to do some work so spent only one day on exploring wineries.

When we did the area's national forest campgrounds some eight years ago, we were still developing our technique so this visit was primarily to bring those campgrounds up to the standard of our more recent work. In the process of revisiting the campgrounds we found half of the campgrounds no longer meet our requirements. That is not to say the Forest Service hasn't been doing their very best to keep all the campgrounds up to standard but time and a lack of funding has simply worn some campgrounds down. Sad to see but we know it is a hard choice the Forest Service, all across the country, must make over and over again.

We end the month camped in Abingdon, VA were it all started with a visit to this town's Scottish Folk Festival and a stay at Beartree campground in the Jefferson NF. Here we had to dry out from yet another soaking, this one from Hurricane Jean. Even Ralf is hoping this is the last. Desert critters don't know what to do with so much moisture and we are starting to feel moldy.

From here we head south for a little ways to the Pisgah NF and than turn west and revisit Chattahoochee, Bankhead, Kisatchie, Ozark, and Ouachita NFs before reaching Texas and its Nfs. We will end our 2004 season in November with a brief visit to the Los Padre's National Seashore and a leisurely drive home.

Oh, by the way, keep an eye open for a Ford Motor's print advertisement with one Fred photographs in it. It is of a roller coaster roadway in Missouri. Ain't that way cool!!!!

Suzi and Fred