Summer Starting to End on the Farm

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It has been good spending time on the farm. I really had forgotten how quiet and dark it is here. It can actually be a bit unnerving. The leaf doodle bug was put to work in the forest. However, it looks like the car will be going back on the road. We can say it failed field trials,but that would only be partially true. The better utility value at this point is more suited to getting a teenager back and forth from high school. The mycological aspects of the farm did not disappoint. The pics of these shrooms are not photoshopped. The coal stove (very heavy) is loaded on the truck. It will be rebuilt in Georgia if I can save it. Coal stoves are increasingly out of production. When they are gone they are gone. The small wood stove is now in its place. The pic of the red sky in morning was indeed a warning of weather. We had strong storms and tornados in Upstate NY. Although I was travelling much that day in the area, I missed the worst of it.
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My kayak trip was awesome! So what happens when three restless boys want to do something exciting in Atlanta over the Thanksgiving holiday? Shoot the Hooch. Traverse the Chattahoochee river in grand style. We did it in a combination of couchsurfer, thrillseeker, and urban explorer (mostly Couchsurfer). We met for the first time last week. The participants, one from France (a recent MBA grad from Georgia Tech), one from California (a 20 something Mechanical Engineer) and me.

We put in at the Buford Dam at Lake Lanier. We put in illegally since the park was closed. (I mean who would want to use a park on a holiday?) We parked illegally at both ends of the run (not sure of the reasons, but an accumulation of a $50 parking ticket). And, we camped illegally for two nights. So, let's add some danger with two beginner kayakers, and very fast water. It is very dangerous, at least one person has died in the Chattahoochee in the last year from swift water. The risks were fully assessed. This wasn't a ride at Disneyland.

I have to admit that in my 28 miles I had a couple good shots of adrenaline, like when my team member got caught in a strainer and he had to bail inverted. Keep in mind, the temps were just above freezing during the evening, the water was cold. I was with two exceptionally cool guys.

It was fun cruising through the sanctum of the backyards of multi-gazillion dollar estates and country clubs. These are the same country clubs I enter the front door. At one point, I was out of my boat on a golf course. The golfers acted like a frogman just climbed out of their swimming pool. They didn't know whether to say hi or get me arrested. The biggest house we saw on the hooch was 32 thousand square feet, with an 18 hole golf course on 60 acres with a ten thousand square foot carriage house. Others were much more modest and I don't think we saw a single house with more than 5 stories.


















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gpc said…
Dang! What a cool trip! Great job!
Lynn K.
1:06 PM
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