West Virginia Car Camping Trip July 14-1 7th 2005

“Sorry guys, I am out. Woke up with a sore throat this morning and the little one has a fever as well. I don't want to be gone in case something should happen here.

Have a beer for me!

Geo, you have mail.”

“WK! :(

if ruby decides to not go then I cant go :( The car needs too many repairs for me to trust driving that far alone.

I hope youe little one will be ok.
last edited: 7/13/05 9:42:37 AM”

“I know Nicole, I wish it did not have to happen this way. sorry!”

“OK, this sucks!

Take care man, I was looking forward to sampling your cooking.”

“well that will make room for my haggis ingrediants then...i'm makin haggis for everyone :D






















JK- i do not condone haggis....”

“I would have won too! I was making flank steak.”

“WK cant you just feed her some baby pills and go? You have a wife to take care of things ;)



(let the flamewar begin)”

“Hmmmm, looks like you've been out-flanked by circumstances, WK.”

“She said that I should go but if something bad should happen and she lands up in the hospital, I would be pretty upset at myself.”

“baby's get fevers all the time. I think she will be alright. Howabout you wait till tomorrow morning to make the choice? I bet its gone by tomorrow :)”

“Is there extended family??

Is Momma well??

If she says "go", you are sure to be greeted well upon return.”

“I have already made my decision. I could stand to get some things done around the house as well too.

I am very sorry all. I was looking forward to seeing old faces and new ones.”

“Oh, so now I have an old face??”

“:(

:(


:(


:(


8(

8( <~~~sad puppy dog eyes”

“shoot...and I was all packed too :(


4 days off and nowhere to go...

Ruby, please decide to go!”

“Come on! The whole Midwest connection can't bail! I've got days off and a rental car reserved!”

“Go Ruby!!”

“At the rate things are going, I'm going to be sitting all alone in the middle of the most expensive campsite in history. At least I'll win the cookoff!”

“We need new recruits!!”

“I'm beginning to understand how Jubal Early felt in the Shenandoah in late 1864.”

“I will arrive at the campground between 2 and 3 tomorrow. I am claiming two campsites close to the treeline along the road on Campsite A. To reiterate, Campsite C is Party Central. Camp there if you don't mind party animals all night. B is in between.

There are four pit toilets located along the driveway between B and C.

If you want to shower up, bring along a shower bag or whatever you use. If you plan not to shower, that is okay too.

Either MarkO or me will be able to give directions to the attractions listed earlier in the week. If you are coming into WV on an Interstate (I-81 for example), stop in the welcome center and lay claim to a state highway map.

Maps of the Monongahela National Forest are available at the Seneca Rocks visitor center, the forest headquarters in Elkins, or the Potomac Ranger District Hq. on Route 55/28 west of Petersburg.”

“I'm out... :(_ _ _”

“Damn, what a friggin' shame this has turned out to be. I wish I could be there. Extenuating circumstances (work) have forced me to say here though. I have to work now after all tomorrow, and it's too far of a drive for a 3-day weekend. I am sooooooo sorry, SC. And WK, I hope she feels better.

And to the rest of you, I am so bummed to not get to meet.”

“Olsy guys, we can talk about Ruby!

The Geomobile is packed and will haul out of here at 7:30 tomorrow. I'll see those who show up and we'll have a great time to spite those who don't. So there!

And if an asteroid smacks into Smoke Hole Canyon and we all get wiped out, those who stayed behind will have a hell of a story to tell!”

“Alright, I gotta pull out; finances are a bit tight around here, and I gotta make sure I have enough money left for this summer's big trip.

Make sure all y'all have a drink or 30 for me...”

“Geo, you've got some mail from me....”

“OK

I'm hittin' the road Friday morning.

Come on you guys, join us for a fun weekend!!!!!!!!!!”

“ok guys have a GREAT GREAT time
raise a glass for the trees who are in the middle of planning a yard sale LOL

ps, also have a group thought for the interview i had, it went great!!!

lots of pics, you are going to a very cool place. if you go to the caves you better bring me back something!!”

“I'll bring you a special rock, mapleleaf.”

“LOL and you know I would just love one from WV

Janet going?”

“It's just going to be me and Linus this time.

Janet is staying home to party with some wild women.

The girl next door has been in Afganistan for at least a month and gets home today.

She's the one who makes me drink good Scotch.”

“Geo... Thanks for the info. I was not fussing over the cost. I just needed to know.



How far is it from the SMNP? About how long will it take to get there?”

“So, I had to go to Charlotte Wednesday. I was coming home last night when I got a call that a client had a problem in Gatlinburg. So, as I am finishing up to come home, CS says, well, I am leaving right now to go to WV.

Wasn't even going to wait 20 minutes for me to get home. Took the kids and left.


After a while, a guy just gets the hint.”

“now that would be a pisser' no matter which wayin to look at 'er.

wishin' i were ther too.”

“Chili, I think it's great that you and Cottonsocks have an open marriage like that. How was Hooters? Oops, I wasn't supposed to mention that, was I?”

“Okay folks, here's what happened:

Myself, Paul, NonConformist, Cottonsocks, and MarkO showed up. I had rented the campground for what looked to be 20-30 people at the cost of $342. So far I have recovered $180 of that from the people who showed up, including myself. I never expected that nearly everybody who signed up for this trip would drop out. Several people who could not make it indicated a willingness to pay. I would appreciate voluntary payments, considering the fact that in past years everyone was responsible for making their own prepaid reservations, and had that been the case you would have been out the money. Suggested donation would be $30. My name and mailing address is posted with my preferences. Click on my name to access it.

Thanks.”

“Trip report and pix will follow. The short version is that we had a good time despite the poor turnout. The cookoff was between Cottonsocks and Paul. MarkO forgot that he was supposed to have his stuff ready at 5 p.m. and just got started at 4:45.

Frankly, the three dishes that were prepared were all very good. Paul had his potato salad. Cottonsocks came up with a mushroom dip and barbecued duck.

The panel of judges very narrowly picked Paul's potato salad. And it was a very narrow margin.

We got some rain, but the Tarp Mahal held up. It was great meeting the famed Cottonsocks (sans Chili) and their three kids and Nonconformist and his son. Good to see MarkO and Linus again.

We missed the rest of you pansies, but you missed a lot more.

The trip report will feature eagles, steam locomotives, good brew, great scotch, and good times with great people. Nonconformist may have something to say about Seneca Rocks and golden trout, and Cottonsocks may have something to say about swimming holes.”

“I am hanging my head in shame. But I am so happy that you had a good time.

I will send you a check for $30. Looking forward to the TRs and pics!”

“Oh yeah, we got home a little before 4:00 PM.

Too bad we didn't have more of our far-flung family show up.

The Tennessee and Pensylvania and Maryland contingents gave us a pretty good spread, but we should have had a few more states represented.

We were in the middle of nowhere, down a narrow and steep river holler some nine miles near the end of the line.

Linus and I cooled our butts in the South Branch of the Potomac yesterday to beat the 101 degree heat.

The Chili Family was a really charming bunch.

The Geo Beeboppers were a pleasure to hang out with......as usual.

Thanks for helpin' me to finish the hooch, Big Daddy.

I just didn't have it in me.”

“Glad Y'all had a great time!!!......Cottonsocks DON'T leave a message saying " call me as soon as you get this".....ya scare me.....sheesh....I'll call ya soon.....
...and I am sorry I didn't come..I wanted to, but I was a little busy being proposed to.....

I too will send ya $30.....I appreciate the fact that y'all take the time to plan campouts.......”

“Geo,
I will get a little report in tomorrow and hopefully a few pics, but I just want to again thank you, your family, Cottonsocks and her crew, and MarkO and his son for making us feel welcome on our first TT trip. I hope this is the first of many. I appreciate everything you guys did for us and look forward to seeing you all again---and hopefully tasting Mark's homemade tomato sauce if it's done cooking by then. We got back to MI and managed to unload and return the rental car with time to spare. Lots of miles but we'd do it again in a heartbeat. Thank you all.”

“Geobeet went to the West Virginia Car Camping/Cook Off and all he earned is this t shirt.



No reason to go if the Trees weren't going.”

“wot happened to the trees? i thought this was their event?”

“Oooops, I forgot to mention Michigan!!

You guys were real cool.”

“i never signed up for this trip, but im sending 90 bucks in monopoly money for wk, spirit coyote, and ruby”

“You're a real pal....”

“sorry to hear the turnout was low. Sounds like you made the best of it. Glad you enjoyed yourselves. Geo, you have mail”

“This camp was great, we had the entire place to ourselves.

We could have raised hell and only the wildlife would have been disturbed.”

“is doing it again an option for next year?
pay up front”

“Next year??

I'm there.................where ever "there" is.”