Swamp Fever

Today was ALMOST the day.  John and Debi’s tech, Mike,  got the parts he needed to complete the re-install of their self-destroyed bearings in the cooling fan.  Our new 4” steel hose was manufactured and installed and the boots in place so that Matthew told me to ‘take her out and see what happens.’

Very  little, as it turned out.  The air noise up front was just as loud as it had been before and the power was still at less than 30%.  The new hose and boots were on but pressure was leaking some place.  Matthew will take another look and try it himself tomorrow.  But he has other work now piling up behind him and you can tell he feels the pressure.

So we had lunch at home and headed south about 20 miles in TOAD to the Savannah and Ogeechee Rivers Canal Park.  Two brick locks of the original 17 mile canal built in the early 1800’s still exist at the Ogeechee end of the canal.

The park greeters are Gopher Turtles.  These dusty guys live in dry holes under ground and as slow as turles can be these can scuttle pretty fast down into their holes when frightened.

 The park is known for its well kept tow path, and wheeled path roads on each side of the canal.  There is also the old Jenck’s Road with walking bridges between ridges man or God made, I do not know. All of these paths and the canal itself winds through deep swamps and cypress woods.

  

We were the only walkers this afternoon so we were sure we would see some wildlife.  Deer, and hopefully alligator, but none of those presented themselves.  Indeed, not a snake, a wild cat, or a Bigfoot came out to say ‘BOO.’.

We did see lots of squirrels, and one big heron majestically took off down the length of the canal. And we heard many, hundreds, maybe thousands of birds, but the swamp vegetation was too dense to see them high in the branches.

So we simply enjoyed the glorious peace. At one point where we were sitting on one of the occasionally placed benches overlooking the Ogeechee River, that this was one of the most contented places we had seen since our departure on June 8. And we have seen a few.

Then we began meeting the real wildlife of the 80 degree November Georgia low country swamp: the mosquitoes.  No need to hurry back, just GO.

When we returned home we found John at the back of his coach with his tech and they had the hood up both scratching their heads.  Something wasn’t right.  So a day that began with the chorus, “We’re gonna get outta this place”, and , “Soon gonna be on the road again!” ended with, “Glad the rent and utilities are free.”

 And once again, especially as I edited the pics from today’s walk, I have to sing, “If you’re gonna be stuck somewhere with a breakdown Savannah is NOT a bad place to be stuck.”

-Ken

The full set of pics are on FACEBOOK