RV Folly Adventure Freedom Ride

(Photo album links are at top of page to right)
(Journal entires are from the June & July #1 below up to the most recent entry)

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September 19-30, 2008

Came off the mountain and returned to Raleigh. After a month of peace, quiet, and meditation the return to the "rat
race" is quite a shock.....sigh! How we have come to love the open road and parks off the beaten path. We have
been immersed in family duties of late and anticipate more of the same for 2 to 3 more weeks. Then, we intend to
get Folly back on the road, possibly to the Florida panhandle. Can't wait and looking forward to the freedom of
adventure again. A link will be added above to a few pix of Moses Cone Memorial Park Manor....enjoy.

September 18, 2008

Rode the Peds to Moses Cone Maner in Moses Cone Memorial Park. It's about 3 1/2 miles from our camp and
mostly uphill. Well, the Peds could only carry us without us pedaling or walking about 1/2 the way. Whew! Pooped
us both out. If only we each weighed a 110 pounds....we probably could have made the trip quite easily....but that is
not the case....lol. Did some scouting around and picked up a couple of gifts. The trip home was a breeze...downhill
of course.

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a program here at Julian Price Memorial Park where flute players from near
and far played Native American Indian flute music. One man, Lee Entrekin of Old Fort, NC plays and makes
wooden flutes for sale. If you think you would like to play, his flutes vary from the simple to the ornate....and I am
sure he could make you anything to order if you want to give him a call at 828-668-9255.

We picked up a CD at the Cone Manor recorded by The Glen Clayborn Band entitled "Buffalo In The Snow". Glen
is an accomplished wooden flute player. And, we enjoyed playing his album last night under the stars. If you are
interested in what we have been experiencing in music recently, check out www.theglenclaybornband.com.

September 16, 2008

Still on the mountain. What a magical place. One doesn't have to imagine to much to understand why the American
Indians tried so hard to keep it their home ..... but, of course, didn't have the numbers or the technology to prevent
the hoards from Europe from eventually trampling all over them. Many Indian societies lived by the "take what you
need and leave the rest alone" philosophy, and, the thought of "owning" land, as practiced by the people coming
from Europe, was a complete mystery to them. They were taught the land and what was living there belonged to the
Creator, not man.

If you think about, as written in history over the centuries, the only way to become landowners was to take what one
could from someone else and then set themselves up to keep it away from anyone else. And, there will always be
others, people and/or governments, that eventually come along that are stronger and better equipped than those
before them and will take it away. Alas, the whole process keeps perpetuating itself.

I think the "take what you need and leave the rest alone" philosophy along with the barter system will survive in the
long run, as the system now in use will one day implode upon itself either by some kind of natural, biological, and/or
nuclear disaster. Written history, rather recent in geologic time, has indicated over and over again that every past
"owning" society, empire, kingdom, etc., eventually comes to an end. And, with the weapons at hand and Heaven
knows what else is being developed, if mother nature doesn't end our present "civilized" world, the "civilized" people
will eventually destroy themselves. It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

How many times in Earth's history has this "process" happened before? Statistics indicate societies, perhaps
developed as much as ours or even more so, could have come and gone at least 90 times. And, given geologic
time, any sign of their existence has completely disappeared. People speak of the end times and there may be
truth to that. However, I prefer to imagine a new beginning .... Genesis for the say, 91st time maybe?

"The entire Creation still follows...Instructions of life. The tree, the fruits, they never fail. They never make a mistake
to bring their fruits in their season. The animals never make a mistake. They still live as they were created. Among
the Creation....Life, the circle, a measurement with no beginning and no ending." Phillip Deere, Muskogee-Creek,
1977.

September 11, 2008

Well, about the time I got the peds ready to roll, the rains came ..... and have continued on since then. So, instead,
we are hunkered down in Folly reading books and enjoying a delicious home-made soup. Being on this mountain
has had a profound effect on the time we have spent in peaceful conversation and meditation. So good for mind
and soul. It will be very difficult to leave this Heaven on Earth. Hence, we may stay here longer than planned. Can
anyone blame us?

All of our recent new friends have now reluctantly returned to there admitted worlds of "stuff" and the hustle and
bustle of acquiring more and the endless, mostly bad news from the media. Seems, everyone that stops here is
reminded of what is truly important in their lives and say they will try to maintain that when they return home. I
wonder if they will be successful?

September 10, 2008

Just spent several days working on getting our MoPeds running. Seems I drained the regular gas tanks but not the
reserves. Hmmmm. Neither ped would run when I put fresh gas in the tanks....one would sputter a bit and the other
would not even fire. Since I had gas and spark, I drained the tanks of the new gas mixed with the old and I drained
the float bowls. Back to the gas station for another tank of new gas. Before filling the tanks this time I took the carb
out of one of the bikes, cleaned and then reinstalled the little bugger. After filling the tank, still no fire...sigh! So, I
filled the other with new gas and she fired up but ran rather poorly and had no power. While I was laying down
looking everything over on this bike I saw a splotch of brown in an otherwise solid black exhaust. Low and behold,
mud daubers had sealed the dog gone thing completely......a plugged exhaust = no intake = no fire. I dropped the
exhaust and the bike fired right up. Well, I cleaned out both exhausts and both will run, the one with the clean carb
a whole lot better than the one without. I will clean that carb later as the only issue now is a dead spot near idle that
I can adjust for while riding. Yippie!!! Back in business with the knowledge both tanks need to be drained and a
screen, plug, or cap will need to be put over the exhaust. The folks here were so nice as many stopped to lend a
hand having 2-cycle experience down their roads. One stopped back again and was surprised about the exhaust,
but knew an engine wouldn't run with the exhaust plugged. Wow! Learning experiences!

We caught a couple of mice recently and took them on the "Mouse Walks" I wrote about when we were at the Outer
Banks of North Carolina last April and May. Interestingly, Ranger Sylvia told us, during a long, friendly discussion
when she stopped by to say hello, it is a federal offense to kill ANY wildlife on park property and was quite amused
and pleased with how we have handled the mouse situation here and the OBX. The mice of course are a huge part
of the food chain in the wild.

We had a wild lighting storm with a ton of rain recently. I can't quite explain it but the thunder sounds so different
here than in the flat open spaces. The lightning seems less crackly and with mountains all around, the sound of the
thunder seems to bounce all over the place.

We wish our many new friends safe passage along their trails of exploration and enlightenment. We especially wish
Don and Pat a safe trip home with no more over-heating problems and may their music continue to bring folks
enjoyment. They had traveled to Japan, Korea, and Vietnam years ago to entertain the troops. The world has so
many nice, caring, and loving people, and, such beauty......it's truly a wonderful place.

September 6, 2008

The wonder of the beauty of the North Carolina mountains continues. Built a bonfire and stayed up late last night.
We talked and talked, enjoyed the billions of stars in the night sky and the cool weather. Long after we had gone to
bed the wind came up about 4 am...I guess due to Hanna passing harmlessly by. This morning the wind still blows
and we go to overcast to party cloudy and back, with a drop of rain now and then. The temperature has been
hovering at about 70....sweet.

Also, we have had many folks stop by to say hello and talk of Travco campers they or their parents owned years
ago. One couple winters about 3 miles from my brothers winter home in Punta Gorda, Florida so we will hook up
with them upon our return there. They are both musicians and play at the Punta Gorda Park on the river Thursday
nights, so we really look forward to seeing them perform. Life is good....strive to be happy...our RV Folly Adventure
Freedom Ride continues. Stop back soon!

September 4, 2008

Happy anniversary to Sandra! It has been a year since she left her job in Southern Pines, NC in order to begin the
RV Adventure Freedom Ride trek with our very good friend Folly.

The last couple of days we have continued to enjoy Julian Price National Park located on the Blue Ridge Parkway
in the North Carolina mountains. The serenity, the beauty, the joy of being free among men....who most times are
not....as so many are so wound up in their quest for "stuff" they haven't a clue any more of what freedom really is.
Could this be you?

For us, it has been hikes around Price Lake with all the beauty and wonder one can enjoy....if one should look. The
lake, the trees, some already turning to the call of winter, the trail, the beaver cut trees, and on an on. Now picture
sitting at your camp with about 12 deer scampering about, 4 large and 8 yearlings. Later, we moved from campsite
to campsite in search of logs for our planned fire tomorrow night. The deer barely gave us a second look while we
browsed and they fed and the youngsters chased each other around like playful puppies.....so tame. WOW! All is
good with the world. Be happy!