We are both enjoying our remaining weeks in the high mountains and preparing for travels after our departure.  We have let some of you know our plans directly.  Others may be interested in an outline of our travels below.

Anne works until June 25th.  On that day we will drive to Cape Hatteras where we have plans to take to the high seas in search of pelagic birds.  These adventures in deep-sea fishing boats are at times heavenly and at others nauseating.  We have seen sperm whales, giant loggerhead turtles, miles of banded seaweed, huge waves, and sea as flat as glass.  Mostly, of course, we go to look for birds such as shearwaters, petrels, and boobies that come to land only to nest and so are mostly far from it.

We will take only our car on this trip and continue on to Pennsylvania to visit Chuck’s family and our house.  After the 4th of July we will return to Cherokee to recover our motorhome and begin our journey west.  We plan stops at Mark Davidson’s parents in Hendersonville TN, Shawnee National Forest, and near St. Louis before arriving in Chicago.  There we will camp at the Illinois Beach State Park north of the City. 

After festivities there we will move west into Iowa to meet Elley who is planning to peddle across that state in the Ragbrai Tour.  We will make another stop along the Mississippi River before arriving at Lake Farm Park in Madison.  There as in Chicago, we will arrive Thursday and depart Monday. 

After Madison we will work our way east with stops near Point Pelee in southern Ontario and Golden Hill and Cayuga Lake State Parks in New York.  This travel should take us into Schenectady for a final wedding of the season.  We look forward to seeing many Woods in these travels.  We should be in our house during the fall of this year should anyone wish to see the hills of Pennsylvania or the Gettysburg battlefield and park.

Here we have spent a lot of time walking trails in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, looking for birds, and paddling our canoe down modest whitewater streams.  Anne has enjoyed the work, but looks forward to its ending as well.  We have stayed in a private campground well removed from the highway.  Our social life here is limited, but we have friends who work at the hospital.  Anne works on quilting, and Chuck studies natural history.  Some might find living in a motorhome confining, but we find it adequate and comfortable.  Having less to manage is rewarding in itself, and if we want more room we go outside. 

The computer or “corresponder” that it has become provides rapid communication.  This is good, because mail has difficulty reaching us at times.  I could blame it on our moving from place to place, but the bigger problem is it is a governmental operation.  I chuckle to recall a comment by Milton Friedman, I believe, who when told the government was going to take over the passenger railroads to “fix them” said it was a good idea considering what a wonderful job the government did with the post office.