06/21/04

We have been to the North Carolina State Bluegrass Festival in the Happy Holiday Campground and RV Park in Cherokee, NC. We left on Sunday morning, the 13th, and got back this afternoon. We also spent 3 days with retired friends in Lake Lure, NC. It was a good trip. Except for a couple of showers, all the rain was either at night or it went around us. Weather was nice, scenery was great.

We had a 'bunkhouse'. This is your basic 2x4 and strandboard shack, with 5 sets of bunk beds in it. But, in case of rain, it's up off the ground (much better than a tent), you can stand in it, it has a light (real electric), and a ceiling fan. Next to the front door, there's a spigot for water, and down the road about 1/2 block is a shower house with showers, and real porcelain facilities. Luxury living.

With a lot of blue haze, I installed a Polish Cruise Control for the trip, which worked ok. Basically a manual throttle. It takes a little dickering to get it to the right speed, but.... Oh yeah, it works pretty good in the flatlands, but ain't worth much in the mountains. Too much speed variation. But, despite modern government gas, I still got in the area of 45 mpg at 65 mph.

At the festival, I did some playing with the Gusmus bunch from Tupelo. Mississippi. There was also a guy (Jeb) from Talladega, Alabama, who was a really good banjo player. Did some more new stuff (1st time in public, and pretty rocky - so what's new?).

We're ready to go again.

Ted and Martha

Ted & Martha