Every trip begins with a list of things you have to have for your journey. It doesn’t mater if it is for an overnight visit or, as in my case, a two week over 2,000 mile epic trek “*There and Back Again.”

Preparations included a new storm door for the dogs so they would not have to be crated all day through the weekdays… Nope, I couldn’t ever do that to my little furry friends!

That-moment-when You saw this door in a previous post when my washing machine flooded the mud room. 😉

And the procurement of a new sound device that works with my smart phone to play all my favorite music (saved on said phone) through my radio, because my disk player is kaput and I couldn’t afford a new one. Bob found this for me and it came the day before I left. It is amazing how much music you can load onto your phone! I never listened to the same songs/albums the whole trip. Oh yes, and a bonus feature is that you can talk hands free on the phone when it rings!

I planned for over a month, made lists both

mental and on paper, then finally I was on my way!

Bob took the day off to help me load up the truck and to see me safely on my way. I drove down our little street, over to the highway, and was just over the state line when it hit me:

I have forgotten the **self inflating air mattress!

(My octogenarian Aunt Eva doesn’t have a spare room, much less a spare bed.)

Thankfully, that little jaunt was only about 25 miles round trip. Bob met me in the drive with the air mattress, linens, my special pillow, and more hugs and goodbyes, then once again I was on my way.

I made it all the way to Mount Vernon which completed the first leg of my journey. So far so good! Of course my cousin Bruce, the truck driver, had said I could make it from home all the way up to Iowa in one day… Well, good for him I say! I’m not willing to mentally or physically kill myself trying that kind of trip. 😉 I know my limits and it just isn’t in me.

~*~

FOR MONDAY: When a certain technology dependent traveler finds herself stranded in the Hotel parking lot with a broken GPS device.

~*~

*There and Back Again, the title of Bilbo Baggins Memoirs – from the Lord of the Rings

**A sincere thank you to my In-laws Kathee and John for the, erm, permanent loan of that item! It has served both Bob and I well on several occasions over the years.

~*~

Well, according to WP this is my 500th post.

Doo-dah!

Save

Yesterday we set to work and had in mind to get the lawn mowed and wall work done. So of course before we even left for the mountain I bent over to turn on the water spigot to water the geese and

WHAM!

I threw out my lower back.

I didn’t let it stop me going, but it sure limited my work.

Every week it is something new up there, but the surprises that help us to continue, and not become too discouraged, are awesome! So while Bob continued on demo and reconstruction, I busied myself with cleaning out the old smoke house. In recent history it had been used as a shed and was mostly empty after the Octogenarian’s estate sale, but there remained tons of old junk,

plastic bags, moth balls, old chemicals, baling wire, string, cracked and brittle extension cords, old antennas from two mystery cars, pine cones, mouse eaten black walnut shells, screws, nails, old silk flowers, rusty saw blades, spider webs, and of course the ubiquitous mud dauber nests.

A nice consolation prize was finding a primitive, hand crafted bench, and some ancient iron shelf supports that will look great when cleaned and repainted for the kitchen.

I apologize for not having pictures for you, but I couldn’t carry the camera and lean on the broom for support at the same time. Rest assured you will see these items when they have been spruced up and placed where I need them!

However, at the end of the day I did find you these by using my tripod to support the camera, and on the trail I used my trekking poles to support myself! HINT – if you find yourself on poles for support, well, in a pinch you can use one of the poles as a monopod and balance your camera on it. It isn’t as sturdy as using the tripod, but it works well enough. 😀

: Turkey vultures playing in the thermals above.

: Strands of wire held in place by little circlets once made a fence. If you know the name of this wire please tell me! 🙂

: A dry spring. When it rains the water comes out from under the old tree’s roots.

: A little maple gives its all for fall

: Striped Wintergreen! (See my notes below)

: No cat, no fiddle, not even a jumping cow, but oh what a moon!

UPDATE! The fencing in question is called “Ring Lock” fencing and is apparently quite dangerous to wild animals and livestock. Mostly in Australia, and mostly to Kangaroos! Animals attempting to jump over it get their feet stuck in the wires. Their feet go through and as momentum takes them over their feet cause the lower wire to the whip over the top wire and this captures their feet. Very sad! Glad I will be removing any of it that still remains. I like the look of the wire fence, but imagine it put to better use as some Objet d’art. Thank you Pam and Deb for getting me on the right track to solving this mystery fencing! 😉

NOTES:

Chimaphila maculata – aka: Spotted Wintergreen, Pipsissewa, Striped Wintergreen, Striped Prince’s Pine, Striped Prince’s Plume, Dragon’s Tongue. Dragon’s Tongue is my favorite of its names and it produces the prettiest petite flowers too! Want to see them? Then look HERE!

Smoke House – When the Octogenarian’s husband was growing up on the Mountain, they raised pigs. To keep pig healthy for eating you had to butcher it in winter and smoke the meat to last you through the year. The smoke house works on beef, venison, or fish too! Want to know more? Look HERE!

Construction notes on the Mountain Farmlet – I promised you a bit of history on cabin building, but now feel it will be more interesting if you wait for me to take more pictures of the cabin’s structure.

I know this is a big tease, and I am sorry, but I think you will be as excited as we are when you can see the photos along with a good explanation of what you are looking at. Don’t you agree?