QUOTABLE: “I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature.” ~ John D. Rockefeller

RAMBLINGS FROM THE PATH:

  • The headline on my 1440 Daily News Digest read “Taco Bell manager performs lifesaving CPR on 11-month old baby in drive-thru.” The rest of the story…Mom noticed baby Myles struggling to breathe just as she pulled up to the drive-thru window. She jumped out of the car, and pulled the then unconscious child out, but panicking, had no idea what to do. Becky Arbaugh, the restaurant manager, happened to be working the window that day and flew into action. Throwing off her headset, she ran outside and began life-saving chest compressions. How did she know what to do? Her daughter previously had a similar issue, so she learned what to do. How miraculous that those two women were in that place at that time.
  • Speaking of miracles…in Ohio a man stopped a hockey puck from hitting a 4-year-old. Pretty cool, but a miracle? 1) The man’s buddy, with the seat next to the boy, didn’t come to the game. 2) Somehow, the man ended up sitting there instead of his own seat one over. I ask you, how many men wouldn’t take the opportunity to put a seat between them and a small child? 3) He saw the puck coming and anticipated its target. 4) Then he managed to get his hand in the right place at the right time to divert it. The power of that speeding puck did a number on his hand, but could easily have killed that little fellow or worse. So I think that counts. God is good!!
  • I was recently standing in line to order food. There were four or five people in front of me, so it was a little bit of a wait. When the guy in front of me finally made it to the counter, he said, “Hmmmmm, what do I want?” DUDE!! You’ve been standing in front of the menu for more than 5 minutes!! What the heck??!! I agree with what comedian Jon Pinette has to say about it: “Get out of the line!!”
  • So, if you had a business and wanted to display signage, would proofreading be a part of that process? How about in company documents, or brochures? We recently toured the Ronald Reagan museum at Eureka College where there was a special display about a long ago death and possible ghost. Within the few boards were lots of mistakes (e.g. abd for and, boaders for boarders, stared for started, orginal for original). Presumably these were done by college students, so you’d think they could spell and proof. We’ve also seen signs saying things like “…is not resposible for items…”, “Dinning In?? Please wait to be seated!”, and the drink of the day listed as “Apricot Crandberry”. One permanent, printed road sign read “Laramie Return To When Flashing”, while another on the opposite site of the highway correctly said “Return To Laramie When Flashing”. It is now common to see misuse and misspellings everywhere…books, newspapers, magazines, etc. Sometimes these are an over dependence on auto-correct, as the hilarious text conversations on the internet can attest. However, more often the problem is either people not knowing the basics, failing to make even the most cursory review, or just not caring. We all make mistakes. (Although when you find them in this blog, it is sure to be my editor’s fault. Ahem…MW. *wink* *wink*) This seems more like a devolving of our language skills, though. I’m sure texting shortcuts, X, and Meta aren’t helping, either. Maybe we are like Charlie in “Flowers for Algernon“, returning to our once illiterate state?

As always after our long trips, there is a lot to do. Also par for the course, at least mine, is a long break from writing. Not that I don’t think about it, but I really do just enjoy being back for a while. Now, however, it has been over 5 months and we are about to hit the road again, so I feel I better get it in gear and catch y’all up!

Our first issue upon arrival at the barn, was getting into my car. We leave it in the barn up on jack stands when we travel, which helps the tires. Mr. Wonderful (MW) also disconnects the battery, then charges it and reinstalls when we return. This time, one of us actually locked the car doors, which honestly was probably me. Without the battery connected, the key fob was useless. No worries…we just pulled out that little dummy key to open the door. It didn’t work, either!!! Very frustrated, we put in a call to Coach-Net. They handle our RV roadside assistance, which also covers all of our other vehicles, whether we are on the road or not. We got a quick call back from Anthony Lakins with Access Unlimited Inc. out of Morristown (about an hour away). He said he would be here in a couple of hours, then made it 45 minutes early. It took all of 3 minutes to get it opened, and he told us how to check to see if it is a broken issue or something else. Anthony was super nice, and we definitely recommend him (423-581-0516).

We were only going to be home for a week or so this time, and Priscilla needed new kicks. MW orders from Tire Rack online and has them delivered, this time to Tire Choice in Morristown. On Monday, October 14, we headed over to Morristown for a 9 AM installation appointment. Denied!! Frustrated, we ran a few other errands, then headed back to Sneedville. We left messages about the appointment, then MW talked to the manager the next morning who was extremely apologetic. Turns out that he was up in Kentucky on appointments to get some type of organ transplant, and the guy who was supposed to open for him lost his father before coming in on Monday. So our tires weren’t the priority that day, and that’s okay. Would it have been nice to receive a phone call before driving for an hour? Of course. Was it understandable that someone who lost their Dad forgot to check his calendar and notify people? Absolutely. They worked us in the next day and would not let MW pay when it was done. Wow! I felt guilty for my grousing and humbled by the lesson. Definitely check them out if you are in Morristown, Tennessee, and have tire issues.

After taking care of a few things at the barn and catching up with church friends in Sneedville, we left on Friday, October 18, headed even further east to catch up with friends and family. The drive across southern Virginia to North Carolina is one we’ve done often. MW always likes to stop at the Flying J in Wytheville, and this time lunch was at The Mason Jar in Hillsville. Then we spent a couple of nights mooch-docking with long-time friends in Pelham, North Carolina. The Palermo place is a pretty sweet setup. We park next to their house where we have electric and water, plus a view looking down the hill across their 80 acres of field and trees. Gorgeous! It’s always nice to hang out with Chuck, Dempress, and Demp’s Dad, Bobby. While there we checked out The Tickle’s Table in Ringgold, Virginia, for supper. The food was okay, but people pop in because it is owned by Steven Ray Tickle and his wife Carol. (The former is famous from both Moonshiners and Tickle on the Discovery Channel.) Also during our visit Drew and Chuck worked on a new deer stand, we stocked up our Neese’s Sausage bin (only available in select areas), and went to a food festival and a high school rodeo just up the road in Danville, Virginia.

On Sunday it was time to continue East to Emerald Isle Holiday Trav-L Park. If you’ve read much of this blog, you know that beaches are only my thing in the winter. However, an opportunity to hang with my BFF Tina and her hubby Keith was too much to resist. They rent a big house on the beach every year and have a whole houseful of folks coming and going for several weeks. Unfortunately MW was a little sickly on Monday night and Tuesday, so he didn’t get as much visiting in as I did. Aside from just hanging with the group, I spent a little time on the beach enjoying the early morning.

We also spent a little time on the pier, took a sunset cruise on their GIANT boat, had Mexican out with the crowd, and enjoyed an AMAZING dinner of fish Keith had just pulled out of the water at their place. Tina feels about the ocean like I do about the mountains, and I am so glad she found someone who enjoys it like she does!

While everyone else was out on the beach, MW and I took a ride over to Fort Macon State Park at the east end of the island. It wasn’t until we headed there that I realized we had been to Emerald Isle and the Fort before, waaaaayyyy back when MW was stationed at Cherry Point and living in Morehead City. The town of Beaufort, North Carolina, (pronounced bow-furt, unlike that South Carolina town, byou-furt) is the third oldest in the state, founded in 1713. With a beautiful harbor and direct ocean access, it was defenseless in wars with Spain, France, and Great Britain in the 1700s. In 1756, the first fort designed to defend Beaufort Harbor was started east of the current fort on Bogue Point, but Fort Dobbs was never completed. A second attempt in 1808 produced Fort Hampton, which was located about 300 yards east of the current fort and active during the War of 1812. Deactivated in 1819, it disappeared into the inlet during a hurricane in June of 1825. The next year construction on Fort Macon began, and it was garrisoned eight years later. Its original mandate was to help protect Beaufort Harbor from the threat of foreign invasion. A few years later in 1840, a young US Army Engineer was sent to inspect the port. The improvements that Captain Robert E. Lee recommended were implemented shortly thereafter. Fort Macon was seized by North Carolina at the beginning of the Civil War, but that only lasted for a year until the Union army took it back. It had a short stint as a federal prison after the war, then was abandoned until the Spanish-American War in 1898 brought back the troops. In 1924, the state of North Carolina again took charge of the fort…purchased, not seized. With the property seriously in need of restoration, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) entered the picture in the mid-1930s, and Fort Macon State Park was born. Interestingly, its military life was not quite over, though. During WWII, the Army leased the fort from the state and garrisoned it with Coast Artillery troops.

Holiday Trav-L Park Resort is located near the B. Cameron Langston Bridge, just off of Emerald Isle Drive as you come onto the island. In addition to the beach and all of the island, you can easily access everything from Jacksonville (NC) to Beaufort on the mainland. It is a very large park that backs right up to the dunes with three access points to the beach. Although there are lots of park models and permanent RVs, it is very well kept and resort-like. Amenities include an office, swimming pool, splash pad, propane sales, golf cart rental, recreation hall, gazebo, playground, go-cart track, laundry, bathhouse, cable tv, wifi, and trash pickup. During the season there are plenty of scheduled activities including bands on the weekends, and you can easily access the more than 20 miles of biking trails from the park. There are a variety of site options, most with full-hookup, 50-amp. Some are paved, while others are gravel. For what it was…a resort park with direct beach access, it was good. We expected the expense for the access. I was a little surprised that our gravel site was not more level, but it wasn’t terrible. Crowds were light during our visit, but I imagine the summers are packed in pretty tight. For this stay in October 2024, we paid $110 per night.

Thankfully, Thursday dawned with MW feeling almost normal. Before leaving the island, we stopped in a Giovanni’s Brooklyn Bagels for a bite to go…delicious! We started towards Georgia with an overnight pit stop at Lynches River County Park. It wasn’t a long day, and we arrived early enough for me to do laundry in Florence.

Lynches River County Park sits on 676 wooded acres along the Lynches Scenic River near Coward, South Carolina, which is between Lake City and Florence. Facilities include a boat launch, canoe and kayak rentals, a splash pad, a climbing wall, hiking trails, river board walk, and dump station. Visitors can enjoy picnicking, fishing, archery, and geocaching, too. Accommodations include 2 cabins and the campground, although an equestrian campground is in the works. The current campground advertises 22 pull-through sites with water and 50-amp electric, but everything is dirt/sand, and it is very hard to tell where to go. Our site really didn’t appear to be pull-through and required a bit of maneuvering in the bathhouse parking area to get in. During our visit we were the only people there, so it was very quiet. However, for the price, we didn’t feel it was really worth it. On this visit in October 2025, we paid $50 for 1 night.

Friday morning we continued towards Georgia, making a stop in Florence, South Carolina at Lizard’s Thicket for some pretty good country food. Then we coasted on into Lincolnton, Georgia, and set up camp at the Mays abode. My Aunt Pat and Uncle Ken have hookups at their place, and we always enjoy getting in some good visiting time. We also get to hang with our Bailey kids, Ryan (RP) and Alene, and three of the Boogers, Brennan, Liam, and Cadence. That’s always a blast! In the evening I ran over to Papa’s Pizza in town, where I got a quick hug from employee Brennan aka Booger Butt, my oldest grandson, and picked up some pie. The others came over for a little while in the evening, too.

Saturday MW and I went by Ryan’s to see the damage from Hurricane Helene there, then drove down to Pollards Corner. There we picked up sandwiches from the Smoke Show Southern Style BBQ, then drove over to Clarks Hill Dam to eat. Honestly, it is really crazy how many trees are down. There are piles of debris everywhere, and work crews stacking up more. Right at Pollards Corner, just about every good-sized pine tree on one large lot was toppled. There were many uprooted, and then huge ones just snapped off. No kidding! Back in Lincolnton, we stopped at the grocery store, then went back to Pat and Ken’s where we ran into Josh, their son, who also came to help with clean up. We found out that Williemacs on the lake is closing, so that evening the kids, Boogers, Pat, Ken, Josh, and us had to go for their last Saturday night.

Sunday we went to church with the RP and family at First Assembly of God, then ate lunch at Papa’s Old South Too with RP and crew. (Not very good and now closed.) I took Cadence and Liam to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in Augusta while MW helped Uncle Ken and Josh with their tree work.

Monday was a work day, so we got an early start, stopping by Hardee’s for biscuits on the way. As I said before, the damage was crazy! We managed to get everything off of RP’s fence line so he could get that back up, his main priority. Ryan is a Maintenance Ranger for South Carolina State Parks, and I was amazed at what he could do with a chainsaw. He also had the use of his neighbor’s mini excavator, which helped with some particularly big stuff. After we finished what he wanted to accomplish with the extra hands, we all dispersed to get cleaned up and then met for lunch at the Chicken House. Later in the evening it was perfect weather for a cookout, so we all gathered at Pat & Ken’s. Thankfully, Pat, who had been feeling puny for a couple of days, was better and ready to hang with us.

Tuesday it was time to head back to the barn. We hit the road early, zig-zagging through north Georgia up to Cornelia, where we stopped at Chick-fil-A for lunch. (If you haven’t tried their Banana Pudding Shake, be sure to check that out when it comes back for the summer. Awesome!!) Thanks to closed roads due to Helene, we were re-routed on the Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville route, which has a LOT more traffic. We finally made it back, exhausted from the long day. On the plus side, the fall colors were beautiful.

We settled back into our Sneedville life, including church, book club, bible study, and catching up with friends. The next week we made the drive over to Asheville for the memorial service for cousins Mike, Nora, and Micah, lost in the flooding from Helene. (You can see that story in a separate post, Saying Goodbye With Amazing Grace.) We also worked on chores around the barn, including cutting down a few trees. For that one, I got a new chainsaw!! Friends Brenda and Les started having a gospel singing (with food, because us southerners do EVERYTHING with food!) at their barn, and we really enjoyed that. They had a Thanksgiving dinner where everyone brought stuff on the Friday before the holiday, which was terrific. We arrived back at the barn the Saturday after the holiday, then continued with our winter chores…hair appointments, doctor’s visits, land work, checklist items, etc.

The next day we hit the road for Georgia…AGAIN…this time to Rocky Mountain PFA (reviewed in this post) to spend our regular holiday week with Mom and Larry in Rome. There was lots of visiting and running around. Thanksgiving day, for the first time that I can remember, did not include step-sister Tracy. She tested positive for Covid and didn’t want to share. (Thank you!!) So we had Mom, Larry, Aunt Pat, cousin Bill, MW, and me. It was small but fun.

Back at the barn, we continued puttering around on our list of chores. On my birthday weekend in December, friends Lori and Jimmy Grimm came over from Paducah, Kentucky, to hang for the weekend and go to Bristol for the Speedway in Lights, their annual Christmas lights display. We also hung around in downtown Bristol a bit and had dinner at 620 State Street, where the food is always terrific.

After Lori & Jimmy headed home, we had the last and largest tree by the dam taken down. We were concerned that it might fall and take half of the dam with it. After seeing the giant hole in the center of the thing, we were happy about the decision. It needed to fall just the right way, and we weren’t confident that we could do that, so Yoder Tree Service made quick work of the job.

By December 12 it was time to head east and prepare for the big game. What game? The ONLY one that MATTERS…Army-Navy! Interstates were still shut down in the Asheville area, so we had to divert south to get over to Townville, South Carolina. This is our second trip through the area, and the extent of the Helene destruction was more apparent with every turn. So was the beauty of our part of Appalachia. Cleanup is under way, but will definitely take years. In the afternoon we arrived at the home of our Naval Academy Alumni friends Hoot and Janet Wade for the long weekend.

During our long-weekend visit, the four of us ate at Earle Street Kitchen and Bar in Anderson, where the Brussel Sprout Salad (their spelling) was to die for, and Saskatoon Steakhouse and Wild Game in Greenville, where everything we tried was awesome. Friday we also walked around in Greenville and hit up an arts and crafts festival near the downtown waterfalls. Then that evening we went to see Trans-Siberian Orchestra, which was fabulous. (If you’ve never been, I do recommend it. The music is a mix of rock and classical with crazy light and pyro effects. However…MW and I wear ear plugs, because it is seriously loud!!) There was a lot of visiting and enjoying their place on the lake, too.

Saturday it was time to watch Navy beat the tar out of Army, although we were a bit nervous. Army was favored to win by 6 (if memory serves), but the game turned into a Navy show all the way. The final score was 31 – 13, and Navy held Army to one touchdown and two field goals. Needless to say, we were all ecstatic. Well, except for Hoot and Janet’s friend John, who was in the Army. It was a sad loss for him…sorry, NOT sorry!

On Sunday it was time for us to head back to the barn. When passing through Asheville, we took the time to go over to Swannanoa River Road, where my cousin’s house was prior to the Helene floods. It was awful! As we drove down the hill to the river, things changed from virtually unruffled city to massive devastation. The only thing remaining of Mike & Nora’s property was Mike’s law office sign. More than 10 weeks after the storm, there were still untold amounts of debris, tractor trailers in the river, massive erosion, Aldi and other local businesses trying to reopen (although some never will), and local roads closed. On the way back to the highway we passed through the Biltmore district just outside the gates, where buildings are boarded up. Although there is still much to be done, we saw people working…piling up and hauling off debris, cleaning out mud, road construction, etc.

Due to road closures along our normal route back to the barn, we diverted north on I-26, where we ran across yet more debris. We also passed several devastated businesses, including the Impact Plastics plant, from which several employees were washed away and five drowned. They are embroiled in a lawsuit with at least one family member alleging that management did not allow employees to leave as the danger worsened. I sure hope that’s not true.

Thanks to the strength of the people of the beautiful Appalachians and the help of thousands of volunteers and supporters from around the country, Asheville and the surrounding areas of Tennessee and North Carolina will recover. Helene and her path of death and destruction, though, will not be soon forgotten.

Well, that gets us almost to Christmas. Next up…Boogers In PA, The New Year, And A BFF Visit. See you on the path!

Talisa

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