Monday, October 24, 2005
So fresh and so clean
Went camping in the Cohutta Wilderness this weekend. It's in GA, but near TN.
We like to camp on a ridge overlooking Jack's river. It's about a 3 mile hike in and with food, water and camping supplies, and a dash of none of us know how to pack very lightweight, our packs were fairly heavy. But we ate all the food, drank most of the water, so our packs on the way out were almost enjoyable.
Our menu for the weekend:
Fri. dinner-Hamburgers and snacks
Sat. breakfast-sausage(which we made into sausage burgers) and grits
Sat. lunch-chicken and cheese or steak and cheese quesadillas (pre-cooked steak and chicken)
Sat. dinner-hot dogs
Sun. breakfast-pancakes
It was all very good. And I must say, I did a damn good job with the pancakes. It's a little tricky not burning them but you just have to be focused. Cooking over a campfire is always a tricky proposition.
It was sort of cool the first night and got pretty chilly the second night. First night, laid on top of my sleeping bag for about 20 minutes before I got inside it and never zipped it up all the way. Second night, took my clothes off inside my sleeping bag and then closed the top to keep all my warm air inside. Definitely colder. And if anyone doesn't know, sleeping bags work best with the most amount of exposed skin possible and that's why I sleep naked in the woods, it's warmer. I sleep naked at home because it's more comfortable. And if you don't believe me, please give both a try. It does make it a little extra cold in the morning but those are cold anyways.
The drive home was good. I went a new way, suggested by Mapquest and it worked out fairly well. Nice sections of 2 lane highway and a couple sections of 4 lane highway, so it's a nice balance. Now a few driving stories.
The speed limit on those 4 laners is 65. Which means at least 70-75 to most people. I like to keep my speeding no more than 15 over, so I was cruising at 80, no cars in front and none behind. Or so I thought. I glance up in my rearview and see a state trooper flying up on me. Luckily I'm in the right hand lane and he's in the left, so he just zooms by at around 90 but it still spooked me a little bit. I did see a couple other law enforcement agents but none running radar and I did not have the chance to stop and chat with any of them. Another ticket free trip for me!
Some of the roads are 2 lane. And I drive expeditiously, so I pass people. I try and not make it too close, it really freaks people out. But I did finally realize a few years back that, especially in my Focus, that it's easier to hit the brakes and drop back than it is to "floor it" and get around the person. So there was one instance where I was attempting a triple car pass but just as I was up to the third car's bumper, an oncoming car pops up, so I hit the brakes and slide in line behind him. And then passed him later.
But the closer one was this: I'm behind a Kia Optima, or some Kia sedan and move to pass. As soon as I'm over in the other lane (no one oncoming at all for a good distance) I see a truck coming up to a stop sign at an intersecting road. Shit, locals don't really respect road signs so I'm guessing he's going to look left and then roll through the stop sign. Hey! I'm right! So I was watching the guy and he did exactly what I expected so I hit the brakes hard and got back over. I guess the tires squealed (I didn't hear them) or someone in the Kia squealed because a red headed teenager popped up out of the back seat to see the impending carnage. Alas the carnage did not occur. Everyone made it out okay and the truck got a finger whangle for not stopping at a stop sign. (I have no other recourse for things like that. I prefer to save the finger for blatant disregard or traffic laws, so I resort to the "fist shake" or the "shame on you" finger shake) But I'm still behind this Kia, so next chance, I go to pass. They IMMEDIATELY hit the brakes and give me lots of room to pass. I give a nice wave and continue on my way. So to that family in the Kia. I'm sorry. It was the truck's fault. Don't be scared of the Focus, which is crazy dirty by the way. I should take her picture like that.
We like to camp on a ridge overlooking Jack's river. It's about a 3 mile hike in and with food, water and camping supplies, and a dash of none of us know how to pack very lightweight, our packs were fairly heavy. But we ate all the food, drank most of the water, so our packs on the way out were almost enjoyable.
Our menu for the weekend:
Fri. dinner-Hamburgers and snacks
Sat. breakfast-sausage(which we made into sausage burgers) and grits
Sat. lunch-chicken and cheese or steak and cheese quesadillas (pre-cooked steak and chicken)
Sat. dinner-hot dogs
Sun. breakfast-pancakes
It was all very good. And I must say, I did a damn good job with the pancakes. It's a little tricky not burning them but you just have to be focused. Cooking over a campfire is always a tricky proposition.
It was sort of cool the first night and got pretty chilly the second night. First night, laid on top of my sleeping bag for about 20 minutes before I got inside it and never zipped it up all the way. Second night, took my clothes off inside my sleeping bag and then closed the top to keep all my warm air inside. Definitely colder. And if anyone doesn't know, sleeping bags work best with the most amount of exposed skin possible and that's why I sleep naked in the woods, it's warmer. I sleep naked at home because it's more comfortable. And if you don't believe me, please give both a try. It does make it a little extra cold in the morning but those are cold anyways.
The drive home was good. I went a new way, suggested by Mapquest and it worked out fairly well. Nice sections of 2 lane highway and a couple sections of 4 lane highway, so it's a nice balance. Now a few driving stories.
The speed limit on those 4 laners is 65. Which means at least 70-75 to most people. I like to keep my speeding no more than 15 over, so I was cruising at 80, no cars in front and none behind. Or so I thought. I glance up in my rearview and see a state trooper flying up on me. Luckily I'm in the right hand lane and he's in the left, so he just zooms by at around 90 but it still spooked me a little bit. I did see a couple other law enforcement agents but none running radar and I did not have the chance to stop and chat with any of them. Another ticket free trip for me!
Some of the roads are 2 lane. And I drive expeditiously, so I pass people. I try and not make it too close, it really freaks people out. But I did finally realize a few years back that, especially in my Focus, that it's easier to hit the brakes and drop back than it is to "floor it" and get around the person. So there was one instance where I was attempting a triple car pass but just as I was up to the third car's bumper, an oncoming car pops up, so I hit the brakes and slide in line behind him. And then passed him later.
But the closer one was this: I'm behind a Kia Optima, or some Kia sedan and move to pass. As soon as I'm over in the other lane (no one oncoming at all for a good distance) I see a truck coming up to a stop sign at an intersecting road. Shit, locals don't really respect road signs so I'm guessing he's going to look left and then roll through the stop sign. Hey! I'm right! So I was watching the guy and he did exactly what I expected so I hit the brakes hard and got back over. I guess the tires squealed (I didn't hear them) or someone in the Kia squealed because a red headed teenager popped up out of the back seat to see the impending carnage. Alas the carnage did not occur. Everyone made it out okay and the truck got a finger whangle for not stopping at a stop sign. (I have no other recourse for things like that. I prefer to save the finger for blatant disregard or traffic laws, so I resort to the "fist shake" or the "shame on you" finger shake) But I'm still behind this Kia, so next chance, I go to pass. They IMMEDIATELY hit the brakes and give me lots of room to pass. I give a nice wave and continue on my way. So to that family in the Kia. I'm sorry. It was the truck's fault. Don't be scared of the Focus, which is crazy dirty by the way. I should take her picture like that.
# posted by Seth @ 6:52 AM 
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