Back to the "Deep South" in Duluth GA

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I get a kick out of hearing the term "Deep South" in 2026. It is a crazy incredibly outdated label. I think maybe I should start saying the "Deep Northeast". I am a Yankee. My family came over on the Mayflower and moved to Upstate NY via Connecticut. Terms used in the revolutionary and Civil war days are generally inappropriate. My family is all but totally out of NY State now. I find the term "deep south" to be of the same thinking that the movie "Heidi" is what contemporary Europe is like. It is a long drive between Berkshire, NY and Duluth, GA. Most of the 35K miles on the truck were spent in between. I drove the truck about 3k miles in 2-1/2 weeks. It was great to spend time on the farm. It was good to make some progress on needed repairs and improvements. I also felt good about making some new friends up there. I will be back up there in August.
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I walked the next section of the Appalachian trail. I am doing what they call "In and Out Hikes." That means I hike, turn around and go back where I started. There are no downhill or uphill hikes when you do it that way. This hike was a bit extreme. It was really too much, but I feel good today. I hiked about 15 miles with lots of vertical in about 7 hours. There were lots of squirrels and I almost stepped on a decent sized snake. Even after I drank 5 liters, I almost broke out my reserve liter of emergency water.

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