Day 2 - 2003-06-02 I didn't have to go to work until lunch time but I ducked in at 0800 just to get a briefing and then went hiking for a couple of hours.It is not the busiest place I have ever been, 43 visitor's for the day. As to be expected the people I talked to were very nice and I enjoyed them. There was a Germany couple from Dortmund who required help with directions and I was able to do so in German.

The hike was short but interesting and attractive. Mountain Laurel is now blooming and wild azalea is just about ready to fully blossom. I took a number of pictures of course. I also spotted a garbage bag with its contents strew all over a slope, apparently a black bear pulled the bag out of the garbage can and wasn't that happy with its contents .I took quite a few pictures, some simply to test out new macro lens. It is impressive just how much more one can capture with the macro despite the telephoto effect of the EOS digital camera. The more and more I become involved in the biological and botanical aspects of my volunteer work. the more and more it is obvious to me I need more smarts. At my advanced state of senility it may seem silly but it keeps the old gray matter working.

The weather today was fantastic however rain is forecast for tomorrow. Last year the farmers had a very difficult time due to the lack of rain, this year the excess of rain has delayed the planting of the cash crops and hay still has not yet been cut or if it has been cut it is rotting on the ground as they cannot dry it.

Day 3 - 2003-06-03 Rain it did, it has poured all day. No hiking for me at all, the trails are either slippery with mud or the rocks are slippery from the rain. Despite them rotten weather we had a fair number of visitor's so the day went fairly fast. I usually attempt to return to Tiny every hour to throw more slides into the hopper of the scanner, I have scanned almost a thousand slides since I arrived. I had one stack of slides that were slightly`warped and these took forever to feed them one by one. Before I go to bed I will fill the hopper and hope it runs all night long. It appears that I hear it going even while I am sleeping for if it stops I wake up, take care of the problem and return to sleep.

The volunteer coordinator - among many other titles and collateral duties - spent the afternoon at the visitor's center providing information of future events and just making sure that I had properly been briefed and that I felt comfortable with what I was doing. I returned the favor by briefing her on the imaging and its unique requirements. I am estimating there will be a total of less than 4000 slides which is nothing compared to Lake Moomaw and Prince William Forest. All I can do is keeping chipping away at them. At this point in time they seem to be organized appropriately so things will progress more expeditiously than I have been able to do at some of the other places. Of course I have been fooled before and I expect that I will be again in the future. I also have been asked if I will do a few personal collections as part of genealogy works by various forest employees. Of course I always keep a copy to be used as I see fit at some time in the future. One never knows what can be used.

Day 4 - 2003-06-04 The rain and fog really never let up all day. A good portion of the day one could not see across the highway it was so bad. I noticed a couple of people coming in the visitor's center with their fingers still white from hanging onto the steering wheel. I am surprised that the road was not closed. That would have been most unpopular with the trash truckers from further north but I frankly do not care. I wish that Virginia was not a major repository for the larger cities of the northeast, I do not think it is ecologically sound to store this material and the pollution created by the thousands of trucks transporting this trash will impact negatively on the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. I realize that this is a major problem for cities that do not have incinerators and who have to rely on landfills. I admire Baltimore which has an incinerator which seems to be smoke free if nothing else. Yes, they cost big bucks, so do the medical bills of those affected by the pollution. Of course the trucking interest groups are powerful and are heavy providers of funds to those wishing election regardless of cost.

I would think that Sierra Club and others would be mounting attacks on these issues which impacts on millions of people of the Northeast. It seems to be of greater interest to more people than is the use of ATVs or snowmobiles in national parks and forests. I think some priorities may be screwed up. I think I will get on my band wagon again and start writing letters to the appropriate agencies, elections are getting closer.

Day 5 - 2003-06-05 Surprise, no rain today, we even had some sunshine. We could even see the Shenandoah Mountains some twenty miles away. We had more visitors come through so we could strut our stuff, got the grass cut and general clean up. I cleaned up Tiny a little bit, at least managed to get off the eggs thrown at it a few months ago, and some of the road dirt that has stuck to it.

I will drive over to Stanley after closing the center, Tiny requires some maintenance before I take off for Georgia. I will spend the night there in the parking lot, less than ideal due to road noise and the fire station across the street but the price is right. I will probably eat at the "Main Street Cafe" about a five minute walk away. The food is anything but great but it is inexpensive. I usually have my morning coffee and breakfast here as well. They do not seem to mind me bringing in my computer and working on it while I eat or drink coffee.

Day 6 - 2003-06-06 Beautiful day despite horrendous rains during the night, local radio stated almost an inch of rain in two hours. The roof was echoing like a drum for a while. I am back at the visitor's center, on time, and set back up. I did stop at Walmart and picked up some ice cream and other essentials so I am good for a while. It was an expensive trip to the RV doctor, $600 with tires being the bulk of that.

I guess I will bring the laptop in this afternoon so I can work at it inside, there really isn't a great place to do it as the counter is the only flat space but I still will be able to work. Every little bit helps. I have scanned close to 2000 slides so far and I understand there will be more as the volunteer coordinator shakes the trees and file cabinets. Of course scanning is just one part of the ritual but it is the most time consuming and aggravating as the older slides tend to warp and then jam which then takes a while to clear and start again. It is a rough life but somebody has to do it .I did find time to take a hike today, walked the Wildlife Trail. I think I took some decent pictures, the mountain laurel are still blooming and many of the wildflowers are now coming out. I did go out for dinner this evening, took the forest van and went to a steak house down the road. It was a little disappointing as the prime rib was overcooked but still better than my cooking in the RV. The service was too fast, I felt pushed and rushed but I know that is the American style. They had an interesting wine list but because I was driving a government vehicle I could not partake. The forecast for tomorrow is for thunderstorms, I hope they are incorrect.

Day 7 - 2003-06-07 No thunderstorms but certainly heavy rain and fog. It is a good day to do imaging, it will be the only thing to keep this place from being very boring. I think it is highly possible to have a serious bout withy cabin fever being contained inside for so long. While I did bring quite the library with me, I do not think I could last two more weeks without reloading with fresh books again. I know that when I get back home I will have to go through Tiny and sort those things out that I have not used or that are not seasonal correct.The rain woke me up at 0430 this morning and I will probably take a practice nap a little while later. The water levels are back up to normal so I guess the drought is officially over. Virginia and Maryland are way behind in planting, most farmers have yet to get their crops in the ground. The Spring Hay crop is just about shot, it has been too wet to cut most of the time; those who did cut are finding the crop rotting because of the train. I do not think I could be a good farmer and put up with all the uncertainties. I think I will go home Sunday evening once I am finished here, time to do the lawn and purchase some Korean food to bring back with me. While I enjoy ramon it does get stale after a week of it, regardless of what you put in it. I enjoy the artificial crab and use hot dogs or sausage frequently. The weather forecast doesn't look too grim for Sunday and Monday, possible thundershowers, but they are usually of short duration.

I had an interesting discussion with someone attempting to proselyte me, she left quite upset I fear as I think I got to her. She was a proponent of the concept that man is on earth only to serve Jesus and God and didn't accept my philosophy that we are on Earth to serve people. She will probably write Forest District that am an atheist. So, fire me.

Day 8 - 2003-06-08 Nothing new, just more rain. It started off sunny and I did a five mile hike but by the time I returned it was it had clouded over and was threatening. I hadn't been in the Visitor's Center more than thirty minutes and the flood gates opened and we had over an inch of rain in two hours. I need several days of good weather and warm temperatures so I can reseal the roof, I do have a small leak on the left rear over the shower. Since the shower is where I store bulk food it is a pain. I have to put a plastic sheet over the food and divert the water to the drain. So far nothing has gotten wet but I would like to fix the leak.

I had an interesting experience last night. I cooked some chicken over the grill just before dusk. I brought it inside and was just sitting down to eat when I glanced out the window and saw a snout pressed against the window. "Smoky" was standing up looking in. I am glad the window was closed or he could have just helped himself. He was a good sized black bear who probably will not make it through the next hunting season as he is too acclimated to humans. I told him to go away and he sauntered off back into the trees. We have visitors here that inside of walking fifty feet to the trash barrels they will leave the bag on the ground just outside the car and drive away. Smoky has a great time tearing up the bags and distributing everything around the parking lot. Naturally the crew gets to clean up the next morning. Some people just do not have any courtesy toward others at all.

I think we only had fifteen visitor's all day. I brought the computer in so I could work on the imaging and keep from going mad from boredom, just working on the counter top. The stool is a bear, my butt hurt after an hour. I did get outside and packed Tiny for going home so that at 1630 all I had to do is unplug the electricity and take off. I made it home in two hours without pushing, Mimi was at class and didn't get home until quite late. By the time she got home I had gone through the mail, updated the bank accounts and had even edged the lawn. It was dark so I held off the mowing to the next day. I also straightened out the imaging files so I had copies of all the files on multiple drives just in case. It is painful when after after many hours of work and through a careless mistake one wipes out many hours of work. I do not do it often but I have learned to take as many precautions as possible. I usually have at least four copies on hard drives of any working file that I know are not on CD offline.

Day 9 - 2003-06-09 Day started off badly, I walked out the door and noticed a fan belt was sticking out from under Tiny. I managed to get Tiny to a garage without any problem and had all the belts replace as I could see they were beginning to crack. I lost almost three hours so I did not get all my errands done to include buying food. I will have to wait till I return to Massanutten and borrow the van to go to the market. I did get the lawn finished and mulched all the branches that had fallen down in the last storm. I also reloaded Tiny so I can get off to an early start in the morning. Mimi had class again so I didn't get to spend much time with her. But I did my chores so I guess I am not in too much trouble. I plan on going home next weekend as well. Our yard has a severe infestation of red ants in the front of the house and I need to spread ant poison over much of that. There is always something when you have a house.

Day 10 - 2003-06-10 Back in the forest and back in front of the computer chasing pixels around the computer. I will finish up all of the scanning by midweek but I am sure I will have more found that will require scanning plus I will have some flatbed scanning as well. It appears now that I will not have all of this completed before I leave for Georgia so will have things to do while I am there. It will keep me out of mischief anyway. The problem here is that so many of the slides were not labeled, only the boxes was labeled, so it will probably be better to make presentations from these boxes of slides rather than a collection of unlabeled images - it will be something like taking all of your slides, throwing them into a boxes, shake and it it well and still expect to be able to find something when one wants. It ain 't going to happen. I will do my best however.

Day 11 - 2003-06-11 Back at the imaging. As I had anticipated I received another 800 slides to scan and I may get 400 more. I think I would be raising my hopes up too high to think they will be labeled. I will be the first to acknowledge that keeping slides in any order is a first class pain where one has to sit on it. It is so easy to get behind if one takes a lot of pictures such as we did in Korea or Europe. We all know that we are`equipped with photographic memories and even months after taking a picture we can recall exactly where it was taken and what it was taken of and who is in the middle of the picture with the tree growing out of the top of her head. This is a major problem at the parks when one has all these beautiful pictures but nobody has the institutional knowledge to remember what and/or who the picture was taken of.If you believe that lets talk about you buying a bridge I have for sale. I do think that having most of my efforts on the computer has helped me significantly but there is still room for improvement.

The weather has changed and we have actually seen sunlight two days in a row. It hasn't appreciably increased the number of visitor's to the visitor's center however and sales are about 50% of last year. Schools are starting to let out for the summer and that should help. If I didn't have this imaging to do I fear I would be awfully bored. Here it is even quieter than Prince William Forest. I ducked into Luray today to pick up food and a computer cable that failed. It is wonderful to have access to a vehicle to drive so I do not have to take down Tiny and then have to set him back up again. It makes life much easier.

We have had severe weather warnings broadcast for several hours but as of yet there hasn't been any rain at all. In the southern part of the county people are `expecting flash floods from 2 or 3 inches of rain. It isn't even cloudy here yet. I am not concerned about bad weather except for what it does to visitors.

Day 12 - 2003-06-12 No rain, no nothing. Had a real quiet evening and it was warm. When I go home this weekend I will take the winter clothes out and store them. Of course then on Tuesday we will have a snow storm. But that is life and to be expected. The volunteers that will share the RV area with me came in for a look see today, they will arrive Saturday and get set up. The area we have is small and with a second RV there will not be room for a picnic table at`each site. Neither of the sites are level, I have about six inches of wood under each of the front wheels and should have at least another four to make it level. It is sufficiently level that the refrigerator works but still a problem The water valve for the commode had the spring break that automatically shut the water off, this afternoon I wasn't paying that much attention and it overflowed and I have very wet carpet from the`rear of Tiny all the`way to the driver's area. I have picked up quite a bit using towels but I should use a wet/dry vacuum. I will leave the windows open and keep the fan on today and it should just about dry out by tomorrow night. It feels funny to be wearing shower clogs inside. It`really hasn't interfered with the imaging however, I just made sure there weren't any electrical or data cables on the floor.

We did have very heavy rain about midnight but I do not`recall any thunder and lightning. Hopefully visitor traffic will pick back up. Sales are down 50% of last year. Not that the monies collected from sales at the visitor's center has ever been that great, it has provided for the upgrade of interpretive items in the forest. Some one abandoned a beagle here at the visitor's center, he is a very affectionate animal and loves the company of people but has been abused. You reach for him and he cringes and grovels on the floor. He is very skinny and malnourished but is so friendly. The animal control people didn't make it here Friday so we have been keeping him in the garage so he doesn't get killed on the highway. He has decided the seat on the tractor is just right for comfort and every time we go in there to take him on a walk he is curled up there. He would just love to walk around the customer area and greet people but there are people afraid of dogs so that is a no go. Of course when he was outside he was going up to everybody looking for food but he loved the attention he was getting.

Day 13 - 2003-06-13 Another day of rain, heavy most of the day. Not many visitor's - we always have a few that stop bye to get directions to Luray Caverns or to Shenandoah National Park. It does break up the monotony of the day if nothing else. We still have the beagle here, the animal control people will not be here until Monday. He loves it when we take him for a walk, he sniffs at everything. If it is a wild animal scent he bugles like mad. I would let him loose but I doubt if we would ever see him again. I admit that I do not know if he would be better free or at the animal shelter. I hope he is adopted as he truly enjoys people.

I am still working diligently on the slides, the scanning is completed, now comes the slow and painstaking part of editing and labeling. I have printed out edit listings that should make it easier for the project manager to check it out but I do not anticipate getting any back until I reach Georgia, I have provided an address so she can get them to me. I suspect I will have to return here in September to do the final touches. I may use the opportunity to finish taking the pictures of the forest that I have been able to take due to the rain.

Day 14 - 2003-06-14 Rain again - more time spent on the imaging, in fact I moved back to Tiny so I could work in comfort and listen to the radio. Beagle received a fair amount of TLC today and we went walking several times. The weather forecast was for clearer weather but this did not materialize. After so many days of this it is quite demoralizing and depressing. I hope that it clears up - I know then it will be people complaining about the hot weather and the lack of rain shortly. People are never satisfied with the weather. Air pollution is becoming noticeable here, it used to be that one could see the Washington Monument from here, now the smog makes that impossible. Too many huge gas guzzlers in the area and combined with the pickup trucks that are six feet off the ground the hydrocarbon smog is quite bad and is having an adverse impact on the environment and visibility. I still do not understand why people have to feel macho or how they can feel that way by just by having a SUV in their garage

Day 15 - 2003-06-15 I came home shortly after lunch to find the lawn ready to attack anyone who was too close. It took me two hours to whack it down and pick up the branches that had fallen and which had to be ground up in the mulcher. The grass was too wet to pick up by vacuum so that will have to wait until it dries. Of course in the meantime it will blow all over the place and get tracked into the house which will get me into trouble again. Naturally I have accomplished the more mundane things like picking up food to eat and washing clothes and this other time consuming tasks. I have to remember to make arrangements to have the grass cut while I am away. I wouldn't want Mimi to get lost in the jungle until I get back. I still have other things to do like paying bills and the like but that shouldn't take too long. Time passes all too rapidly while I am back. I am thinking we will go out for dinner this evening, now will come the major discussion as to what we will eat and where.

Day 16 - 2003-06-16 - Italian last night - not that bad. It is not raining today - so far - so I guess I should do more work in the yard and then tackle Tiny and straighten some of the closets out. I never know what will strike when I open the doors. I know that I will have to empty everything wash out the shelves, I can feel sticky stuff on some of them - not a good sign. I need to check all closets to see if water has gotten into them and started mildew on the clothes. I also need to clean out the bunk area, over the driver's seat, and take out the audio and computer equipment that I will not use. It is to the point where I cannot find anything. I think I will stay home over night and return to the Visitor's Center Monday morning, I know that somebody will be there to watch over things until I return.

Day 17 - 2003-06-17 I went back to forest, found everything was in order so I set back up and work on imaging again most of the day. It rained off and on all day so there`was not much sense going outside. With all this rain I certainly scrub very carefully under my chin in the morning and be sure that it is not turning green from mildew and then check for developing gills before I shave. I haven't seen this many consecutive days of rain since I was in Vietnam. It is depressing after a while. I know that it is great for the forest but it is killing the farmers as many haven gotten their crops in yet and the growing season isn't all that long around here surprisingly. I guess this is due to the elevation. As I understand it, many farmers still have not be able to plant their primary crops yet. I guess the primary corps here are wheat and corn and other assorted grains to support the chicken, cattle and pig farming in the area.

Day 18 - 2003-06-18 I went to AARP picnic, filmed the remnants of the first CCC camp. Explanations - AARP - American Association of Retired People - a group that works for retirees rights and assists those retirees that exist at the poverty level in getting jobs that provides a little income. the forest has a contract with AARP for people to do work in the visitor's center as well as general maintenance and cleaning. They can only work 70 hours a pay period, get minimum wage and no benefits but it helps them live. Most of the people I have met are very hard working and diligent and accomplish services the forest can no longer provide with their budget. The picnic was to recognize these people. CCC Civilian Conservation Corps. A program setup by Franklin Roosevelt during the depression to provide training for young men in skills always required and to provide income for their families. It was run military style and usually by military men as instructors and leaders. They built roads and dams and other public projects as required, usually in rural areas. Prince William forest had five such encampments which were later used during WWII as training site for the Office of Strategic Services or OSS which later became the CIA.

Day 19 - 2003-06-19 - Heavy rain all day - When Red had to go outside, he just dove under Tiny, did his thing and then back inside. He does not like to get wet and he comes inside showing great indignation about having to go outside and brave the elements. Of course this made for a very long and boring day as not many people stopped by to see us. No sales at all in the visitor's center. I worked on imaging almost the entire evening and well into the night. I know that I will not finish all before I leave here but I hope to at least finish all the scanning so I can return the slides. Floor space becomes a premium after a while. I hate stepping on things during the night, Red doesn't like to get tangled up with the wires but tries to very carefully wiggle his way around them. I know there has to be a better way of doing this network in Tiny but I haven't discovered it yet. I guess I could go wireless but that can cost money

Day 20 - 2003-06-20 - Repeat of Yesterday - Yuck! It is supposed to clear up tomorrow, I would like to great my daughter in sunlight. The Lion's Tale Trail is interesting. Developed in cooperation Lion's Club of America, it is a trail specifically design for people with visual impairment so they can develop self confidence but also allow them to learn about nature by experiencing it, being able to touch and feel their way around the trail. The trail has a very heavy tape on both sides of the trail all the way around and the tape is marked with the locations of the brail signs that explain to the individual where they are and what they are feeling. The trail even goes through a small stream and the folks are encouraged to take off their shoes and socks to feel their feet getting wet. It is quite interesting as it allows the people to grow and understand their surroundings. Lions Club is to be commended.

This was followed by a drive over almost to the West Virginia State line to Tomahawk Pond, a joint effort between the National Park and the Virginia Game and Fisheries. Every attempt has been made to make the mode readily accessible to the physically impaired with a path around one side of the lake. It now had a working beaver lodge, I saw a beaver stick his head out of the water and is keep stocked to keep the fishermen happy. I saw large schools of fish, I think trout, patrolling and of course all sizes and shapes of pan fish as I browsed around. If I had brought fishing gear with me I think I would have tried it out. However, I was with other members of the park and I didn't want to interfere with their work schedule. We had to return to the Forestry Office and pick up supplies and resale items for the visitor's center and most of these people finished work much earlier in the day so they could work everyday but not exceed the maximum number of hours per pay period.

Day 21 - 2003-06-21 I came home at 1830, having left the visitor's center at 1600. I had gotten things ready as I went along during the day so all had to do was disconnect the electricity and hit the road. Traffic was moderate all the way although I was hearing horror stories about I 95 southbound on the`radio. It was out for dinner and back early to go to bed. I do not even remember what I ate or where I went to eat it. After a week of my own cooking it didn't make all that much difference. My cooking generally is limited to one dish meals withy the pot being used to eat from. I tend to live an ascetic and austere uncomplicated life when out on the road like this. Mimi had gone to Maryland to pickup Hanna so she could be here to meet the "kids." It seems that life is never easy around here and in fact can get darn right complicated at times, the complications adding zest to the overall picture but sometimes leading a little frustration to the planning of such.

Day 22 - 2003-06-22 Little got done except running errands and having minor work done on Tiny who is showing her age. This time it was leaking hydraulic fluid, brake fluid I believe, and it stinks when it hits the exhaust manifold. There are some more serious problems that need to be taken care of but I do not have the time to take care and check out before I had to return to the forest. Quality work is difficult to find and I have found out that if I do not check it out by a road test I will ultimately have a problem and not be able to get back to the original repair shop and I will have to pay someone else to correct it. I did stop by Prince William Forest and harassed the people on duty for a while. It is always good to see these people. While nothing has to be done that threatens driving safety, it is things such as the awning sliding out without binding that are time consuming and expensive. I fear that Tiny will have to be replaced within two or three years.

Day 23 - 2003-06-23 Theresa came home, the flight was ten minutes early but it took two hours to get through Hertz car rental. What a mess. It was good to see them as I hadn't seen them since a year before they left for Korea. They will be staying at a cabin not far from where I am staying in the forest. I will try to get away and see them and have dinner together. They will only be in the area until the end of the week and then it is up to Michigan to take care of moving stuff from Wisconsin to Michigan. This is not a pleasure trip at all. I only hope that Grandson doesn't decide to throw a tizzy once they get to Michigan and not want to return to Korea and finish high school. I realize that he is on "probation" by his mother but I am still fearful. This would be a great opportunity to do this for the maximum impact of all those involved. I think this is one of the reasons Theresa is so stressed. There isn't anything I can do so I will not lose sleep over it.

Day 24 - 2003-06-24 I went back to Forest, the kids showed up later and we went out to a steak house close by. Good conversation with a lot of banter back and forth. No wine as I was driving government vehicle but I didn't really need it anyway. They seemed to have a nice`day and Theresa looked a lot more relaxed. All were suffering jet lag to some degree but that is to be expected. So far the weather has been good for them, I hope it continues.

I hadn't realized that there were still covered bridges in Virginia, they are usually advertised wildly. This bridge is across the North Fork of the Shenandoah River very close to I81. It is in very good condition as it looks like it was overhauled very recently. I didn't drive over it but still have a few pictures of it. I know there is another near Blacksburg so will investigate that when I return to that area.

Day 25 - 2003-06-25 I filmed Catherine Furnace, the only true photographic exploring that I did. Catherine Furnace was built well before the Civil War and was considered a military target but the Union Forces never made it to destroy it. The iron was sent to Richmond by wagon to the James River and then by barge the rest of the way. The owner`was a union sympathizer as the story goes and was instrumental if giving the address to the Union Forces. There are several other furnaces in the area, some in decent condition or have been rebuilt, some have virtually disappeared. They were fueled by charcoal and using ore found locally, they significantly impacted the forests and virtually denuded the mountains in the area. It took huge quantities of charcoal to fire this monster and the making of charcoal was very labor intensive. the life of the furnace was more dependent on the wood supply than that of the available iron ore. It also required a dependable supply of running water to turn the waterwheel that delivered the air to increase the heat required to melt the iron ore.

There is another furnace within the Massanutten Forest and this one was restored as best as it could be. Stones that had fallen off these fifty foot high structures often would up in the creek and had to be fished out. Other rocks more than likely were used in other structures so had to be re cut. I haven't found any information regarding just how much iron was created in each burn or of its quality. Not that it makes a hill of beans difference but just one of the trivia questions that I usually come up with and bug me until I find out and then of course usually forget. I am beginning to think that my poor mind has just about reached the saturation point and like an older version of Microsoft Windows I will see the "Blue Screen Of Death" from running out of memory and I will have to be recycled. However, the newer versions of Windows do not have that screen so maybe there is still hope. I wonder where I can find about ten gigabytes of RAM that I could have installed. I need it soon I fear.

Afterwards I located where the kids were staying, heard the bear stories, and then went out to eat. This was a family restaurant without alcohol so no problem driving back to the visitor's center, no concerns about overeager highway patrol. I can still tell that Theresa feels significant stress but she appears better. I hope she finds the solution soon, she needs the release. She does feel the teaching position is good, she starts as technology director next school term and that will be good for her as well.

Day 26 - 2003-06-25 I said my farewells at the visitor's center and the forest and went home. Many things to do before heading south. I want to head south a day early to make sure I arrive on schedule. Traffic will be heavy with the holiday coming up, the radio is stating that they expect much more traffic than last year as last year was impacted on by 9-11. While it is only seven hundred miles, I will break it up to two days by stopping at Goldsboro North Carolina to see a friend of mine and then it should be another seven hours or so until Fort Frederica.

This concludes this trip, attached are additional photos taken at the forest