Hi Rusty! Just checking in after a LONG break! It was a really warm Thanksgiving here-- I was wondering if anybody did the Thanksgiving camping thing! I surely would have loved to! However, tradition dictates otherwise! So, on Friday I raked half the yard and then made a campfire. Had burgers over the fire for lunch. Yesterday I FINALLY emptied out the cabinets in the pop up. It looks like it still needs a major cleaning! I am thinking that it might actually be time to empty everything (EVERYTHING) out of the camper to do an overall inventory!

No more camping this season for me but weatherwise I can't complain! It really hasn't been cold at all! I'm already planning my first trip out in April...

I did some walking (1-3 mile trails) over the Thanksgiving week. It was in the 60's and 70's here. November is Georgia almost makes August worth it. Mostly I think about the camping/canoeing trip scheduled for January in the Everglades.

Hi Rusty,

No winter doldrums here! I just spent three days camping at a tent site with an open view of the ocean a couple of hundred feet away. Cool nights and mostly warm days. In a few days I head back on the motorcycle from Beaufort,SC to Virginia, and a couple of weeks later I'm flying to Alaska for three weeks.

Brian

Wow, Brian! I'm jealous! I have to plan all of my camping around school calendars! Alaska sounds way cool! Some day I'll definitely get there! Your three days at the beach sound heavenly! I can't think of anything better on a nice fall day!

I'm gearing up for the conversion from camping to backpacking. Going gear shopping at REI is so much fun!

Was going to go camping the day after Thanksgiving, but with such a wild November with 15.63 inches of rain, forget it!

Hey, Jen, your tale about raking the yard, the leaf burning, and a cookout, brought back the memory of one time, our family went camping for a weekend, then came home, but didn't want to go sit in the house. So, i started a nice small bonfire out behind the trailer, my wife got out the hot dogs and some sticks, the condiments, etc. and we had a nice evening under the big old oak trees in our side yard!
It was great, although i expected the kill-joy cops or firemen to come along and tell us to douse the fire! Me being a fireman wouldn't have looked good, scoffing at the "no burning" regs. But it was fun!
Any way, Spring is just around the corner, so get ready!
Rusty

Hi Jen, hi all

I really enjoyed the camping (I also stayed at a motorcycle only campground on the way down) and warmer weather in South Carolina. I rode the motorcycle back into a cold wave in Virginia. It's warmed up now, but early next week I'm headed to Alaska for three weeks. Should be fun, though, and I'm packing warm clothes. It's good to see so many people preparing for Spring. Guess I'll start when I get back.

Hey Rusty, I'm not allowed to have fires in my yard either! Oh, well. Nobody has ever reported me and some of my neighbors have fires too!

Very cool Brian! Are you actually camping in Alaska? I know you can't be taking the motorcycle!

I can't think of spring until after New Year's. Then I start planning my summer. I have to do some purchasing for my summer campground job and that always gets me dreaming of camping in the north woods!

Record rainfall, snow, and now a killer windstorm that left 1 million without power and six dead.
This weather is really putting a cramp in my outdoor life! I can't even get out for dayhikes to train!
Anytime that El Nino wants to hit, ok, well, let's go.

Hi Rusty, yes there is a guy here who has people at the landfill on the watch for old mowers, tractors etc. He repairs them and seems to do right well at it.I still work part-time at a local hospital during winter season. I guess whatever it takes to get the job done. Spring is just around the corner.
Steve in Baltimore County PS sometimes the big mower dealers will give old ones away just to clear storage space.

Well, after my treatise about the Fire Police position--it finally got to me, and, after getting told off by a couple of nasty tempered old bags, who didn't want to obey my orders--i decided i didn't need that crap any more, so i resigned my title and position in the Fire Police unit! Turned in all of the equipment, i can see the passenger seat in my truck, no more having to stand out in the weather trying to protect unthankful nuts, and i now have time to do other things! And, my temperament has changed for the better. And, my old truck might last a lot longer--not having to be raced to a call!
And, after the holidays, i can get back to fixing up the inside of my motor home overhang! (The part over the cab.) Got to keep busy! An 82 year old guy who sets around watching TV all day won't last long, i don't think! I take no pills, am in good health, no patent meds, drink a beer every day, drive 30 miles at night to pick my banjo in a bluegrass jamm session,(several of those!), and i picked long-lived grand parents! It was told to me thats the best way to live to a ripe old age! I'm trying! And saving my money to buy gasoline next summer! I'm going camping--thats if my mower repair customers let me go on weekends!
Cheers!! Rusty

Hi again Jen,

No, I'm not camping in Alaska! And I flew up. I thought the last leg of the flight from Seattle to Juneau was eventful...because of high winds they took 90% of the passengers off the plane, leaving only those of us going to Juneau and Anchorage on, and warned us that we might all be going to Anchorage as conditions in Juneau were marginal. We spent four hours in the plane, including two trips back to the terminal to check out problems with the plane's air handling equipment and then electrical failures in the cockpit, finally made a low-visibility high wind landing in Juneau. The next morning I got the ferry to Haines. It's been cloudy and mostly snowing since then, and of course pretty much dark all day, especially with the weather conditions. Still, a nice trip so far. We're house-sitting a house and a very nice dog for a week, then moving into a motel for a few days here, and a couple of days in Juneau before heading back.

Looking at the news this morning, I'm just glad I wasn't taking the trip a few days later. I really feel for the travellers caught up in the storms.

I wish everybody happy holidays and a great upcoming year.

Enjoy your trip Brian! I just saw my cousin who lives in Alaska a few days ago. He went for a visit and never came back! He said it's beautiful! Sometimes I wish I was less tied to where I am so I could just pick up and go somewhere like that and never come back! I've thought of it a million times but just can't leave my family and friends!