October 1996

October was a month for celebrating, sightseeing, and work. We finished the Eastern Region of the National Forest. HIP-HIP-HOORAY!!! That means seventeen different Forests in thirteen States were visited and two-hundred and forty separate campgrounds surveyed, the data compiled in our database, and developed web pages for each Forest with digitized pictures. A lot done but it is true - when you enjoy something its not work.

To celebrate our achievements, we took almost two weeks off in Kentucky. (A very beautiful state of rolling hills, rugged mountains, and friendly folks.) First, we visited Fred's alma mater, Western Kentucky University. Boy, has that place changed - not that Fred has, of course. Most of the old classrooms have been replaced with new, the gym is now part of a very large, attractive library, and the dorms are coed. They even have liquor stores and bars in town!!! Next, we visited Suzi's son, Douglas, in Louisville. (Douglas moved to Louisville to open his own business and is in his second year.) We are proud to say he is doing well and has very nice friends. Then we visited the horse-country around Lexington. We stayed at a State-run campground called Kentucky Horse Park. It is quite a complex. There is a campground next to an active horse farm. For two horse-lovers it was a little bit of heaven.

After our break, it was back to "work" and the Daniel Boone National Forest. (Is it "work" when you enjoy it as much as we do?) The Daniel Boone is a delightful forest but there can't be more than a total five miles of straight road in the entire forest. Unlike most areas that warn you of upcoming curves, the Kentucky roads have very few warnings. And the roads are rather narrow. Now Kermit, our truck, like Suzi, is a bit broad in the beam. Driving on those Forest roads was very exciting especially with the trailer in tow. The most interesting was the route into the Red River Gorge. To enter this area from the north one must travel down State Route 77 and pass through Nada Tunnel. Originally curved through a mountain for logging trains, Nada Tunnel has been modified, by removing the tracks and asphalting the bed, to accommodate automobile. Today, Nada Tunnel is a nine-hundred foot long tube, thirteen feet tall and twelve feet wide. Not a problem in a sport car but if rig is ten feet wide it is a white knuckle experience!

Jefferson National Forest, in southwestern Virginia, was our next designation and with it we were back where it all started. Three years ago, on a trip to Abingdon, VA. we camped (in a tent back then) at Beartree campground. We were impressed by the Forest's beauty and frustrated by the lack of information. The idea for writing something about National Forests was born. Returning to Beartree was both nostalgic and enlightening.

Too soon we had to leave Jefferson NF for the Sumter and Francis Marion National Forests in South Carolina. (We'll be back to do Cherokee and Nantalla in Tennessee in the Spring.) With only seven campgrounds spread throughout the two Forest, one would have thought it would take no time to get through these Forests - Right? Well, Wrong. These campgrounds are spread literally from the mountains in the west to the Atlantic Ocean's coast. But that's what makes this adventure so much fun. If the campgrounds weren't spread out we wouldn't have the opportunities for dinner at the Steakhouse Cafeteria in Wallhalla (your basic mess-hall style restaurant open Thursday, Friday, Saturday only for dinner), conversations with folks like Doyle (half Cherokee and hundred percent rebel), lunch at Market Street in Charleston (with hundred year-old church bells chiming), or enjoyed brilliant sunrises on the Intra-Coastal Waterway (while beating off the bleed-sucking insects)?

In "Travels with Charlie", John Steinbeck, laments the lack of a political discussion by the "regular guy." Steinbeck traveled from Long Island, New York to Salinas, California and returned to Long Island via Texas and Louisiana. As most of you know, Suzi has an interest in political communication. This being a Presidential election year, her ear was tuned for the level and topics being discussed. Until we reached South Carolina Suzi agreed with Steinbeck's observations. South Carolina is very proud of their political activism dating back to before the Boston Tea Party as well as the well-known attack on Fort Sumter. We realized, after meeting people like Doyle, this tradition is still alive in South Carolina. A conservative or liberal label really doesn't apply to the folks of this State - opinionated is a more accurate.

As we end the month at Buck Hall campground in the Francis Marion NF on the Intra-Coastal Waterway of South Carolina, we plan our approach to completing the Southern Region. The schedule will be more relaxed for the next few months. We are planning to be in South Carolina for another two weeks sightseeing and visiting friends. Than it is off to Florida and its three National Forests. We'll visit DisneyWorld, the Everglades, Key West and whatever catches our fancy. Florida should take us a month or two and than we're off to the most southern National Forests in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. We won't head back to the east until the chance of snow and ice are over, probably early March. This may sound very vague but the information we have on those Forests is limited and that influences just how firm our plans can be That is another part of the adventure and the fun. Are we sick, crazy, or a couple of the luckiest people around? Wish you could join us to help in the diagnose our condition. Bye for now.

Suzi and Fred