The Tale of Two Passes

Nothing is simple – that has been one of my mantras for many years.

This past Thursday Jerry and I left for just one more fun trip. We headed down
to Red River Gorge for a couple days of camping with friends. We had been there
is April for our annual spring flower hunt weekend. At that time we got there
on a Wednesday, off season rates were still in effect until Friday night – off
season rates = $7.00. What a deal! And with my trusty Senior Citizen National
Park Pass the first two nights were only $3.50. On Friday the rates when up to
the in-season rate of $22. For a double site – but wait, with that same little
pass our rates (for being old) was $22./night. Yes!

This time we got there on Thursday, paid for three nights – same pass/same price
– total $33.– at least that is what you’d think. We were told by the campground
hosts that the pass wasn’t accepted there – mind you, the same campground,
actually the same site as the month before. We were told we could pick up a
Golden Age Card at the nearby information center at Gladie Creek. Well worth
our while- we’d still get ½ price. So, good friend, Karen and I head there
about a 40 minute drive through the Gorge. Nice scenery but I’m beginning to
dislike the narrow road in my old age. When we get to the Information Center we
were told in fact, that we did not need the Golden Age Card and that the NPP
(National Park Pass) card was accepted. A mistake had been made. Okay, that’s
cool. Saved myself $10. So when we get back to the camp site #1 campground
host stops by, apologizes and said that the #2 host had made a mistake. After a
very confusing conversation I wasn’t convinced that we had the right card so a
day later Jerry and I went back to the information center to get the Golden Age
Card which we were told could be used in places through the country where the
NPP was not accepted. When we get there for the 2nd time and after talking to 3
different people it was decided that the Golden Age Card no longer existed and
the program was absorbed into the NPP program. How totally crazy! Hopefully
our experienced help straighten things out a little so on one else will be as
confused as we were most of the weekend. But don’t get me wrong – the
campground hosts are really good, friendly and really hard working people. The
really do their best to make your stay an enjoyable one. Someday we want to be
campground host too!

The rest of the weekend looked something like: good friends & family, perfect
weather, good food, guy hike, girl walk/run, cold drinks, campfires, good fire
wood, marshmallows, nice neighbors, 2 very impressively large black snakes,
bees/wasps/ants in the camper, sunrises, stars at night, visit to the frog pond,
a few drops of rain one night, a couple of good hikes, mountain laurel, tulip
popular in bloom, lady slippers, clean outhouses, did I mention Good Friends?

Nothing is simple – but it’s all good!

Scratch one more...

… off the bucket list. Jerry has always wanted to see a space shuttle launch – and now we have. The adventure began Saturday morning when we left Covington about 6:00 a.m. Our intent was to drive most of the day and then camp somewhere probably in GA. This part of the trip was fairly uneventful. We ran in to a storm in GA that caused us to pull off the road for about 20 minutes. It was fast, furious and had a lot of lightning and thunder. I can’t remember that it was cold before the rain but it sure was after. I recall checking the weather down south before we left. High in the 80’s and lows in the 60s. Great camping weather, right? So after the rain highs were in the 50’s and lows in the upper 30s. Neither one of us packed cold weather campin’ clothes so we visited a Day’s Inn for the night. After doing the usual bed bug check we slept fairly well. We hit the road early on Sunday morning. We had talked to our friends Sheila and Eduardo, who we were staying with and they suggested we arrive after 5:00 p.m. That was great. We had some time to kill so we got off the expressway and hit some back roads. The Magnolia Trees were in bloom. The Spanish moss was fascinating. We followed RT. 1 down the coast – saw a lot of hotels/motels/souvenir shops and some water. We ended up at the National Sea Shore Park. There was an entrance fee – but I had my trusty little senior citizen National Park Pass in my wallet which allowed us both to get in free. (Yea, for being old.) We found a hiking trail and decided to walk it. This was our first introduction to the Florida Love Bug. For those of you (if there is anyone out there reading this) who don’t know the love bug flies and walks tail to tail with its mate. They don’t sting, they don’t bite but when there are thousands of them they can be very annoying. Literally you had to put your hand in front of your mouth if you wanted to talk to keep them from flying in. When we opened the car door to get in or out we ended up with a dozen or so pairs joining us for the ride. Not a good thing. It was like it was raining bugs! Also, our car became covered with the little things. Apparently the squished bug leaves an acid that removes the finish off your car. They are really tough to remove from the windshield also. Back to the walk - walk led us up a ramp in to the tops of the trees. This too was a challenge since I don’t ‘do’ heights very well. We then drove to Eduardo and Sheila’s wonderful beach house. When we got there the Love Bugs were there also, everywhere, heavier than before. We ran from the car in to the house. Apparently the bugs have never been this bad in the 20 some years that they had lived in Florida. Just our luck! They were so bad that we could not even walk to the beach, which is in their backyard. We went to supper about 2 miles from their home – no bugs. Ate a wonderful meal, watch the sunset and caught up with friends. What could be better? On Monday Jerry and I got up before dawn. Having said goodbye to our hosts the night before we drove off in search of the perfect shuttle launch. Eduardo had given us some ideas as to where to go to view the launch. There were so many people lining the roads, at the parks, in the streets – and this was 4 hours before the blast off time. We got to the city where we wanted to be. People were everywhere. We found a church that was charging $20.to park in their lot. Perfect – good cause, they sold snacks, had restrooms and were right across the street from a place where we could watch from which was behind a burnt out building but right on the water front. There were few people there. The owner of the building came out and said that we really shouldn’t be there because it was private property but they would allow us to stay anyway. Yea, owners! We were about 3 hours early so we saw the sunrise, fish jumping, birds diving and even dolphins passing by. What a treat! We watch the launch with a young couple from New England – he had a smart phone which kept us up to date with what was going on launch-wise. There was an older couple there from Cleveland – oh, wait – maybe we were the older couple. Then there was Betty Boop, Sleeping Beauty, Fiona all rolled in to this one woman who also worked for Disney in Japan and climbed Mt. Fiji – a very interesting young woman – and I do believe she was telling the truth, So the countdown happened but not before the clouds rolled in and clung so very close to the earth. 3-2-1- there is goes! There it went! – maybe 5 seconds worth of’ ooooo’. Of course from the distance you cannot see the shuttle or boosters or anything else that you might see on TV. So that was it! 5 seconds! Like a giant bottle rocket. I’m not saying that it was not worth the 2,000 mile trip. It was! But 5 seconds?! Back to the car, locked in traffic – but only for about 30-45 minutes. I think we were lucky there. Then we drove home. Spent the night I in a Red Roof Inn because it was in the 40s again. In the name of simplicity we had taken our Corolla. Only the two of us - we thought we could be comfortable and at the same time squeeze our camping gear in the trunk. It was an experiment. Worked fairly well. However,…..at some point the car started to fall apart – literally! Some gizmo (Jerry should be telling this end of the story)– maybe something like heavy cardboard that lies under the engine to protect it from dirt, fell off on one side and started flapping on the ground. Not good! Jerry and his bionic arm managed to crawl under the car – not a whole lot of room there folks! – and tie it up with some string that came from a piece of camping clothes line. With that secure feeling we headed back on to the expressway. Within 20 miles another piece of the car started flappin in the wind. This came from under the passenger side door. Totally unrelated to the first incident. All but one bolt apparently broke off. Jerry managed this time to break off this piece way too easily – who needs it anyway? It now is riding in the back of the car. A little closer to home the tire pressure light comes on. Wait – we had a slow leak a week or so ago but we got that fixed – apparently in our dreams. A little air held it until ½ block from home when the light came on again. Ah, but who cares? We made it home safe and sound and in time for Nephew Adam’s graduation. Life is good! Congratulations Adam.