A Different Kind of Fishing Expedition...

After pushing so hard to complete the Watermen boat project within, perhaps, an overly enthusiastic deadline, I finally took the hint not only from the boat but from my body. I had pushed both beyond healthy and did not want to break either beyond repair. As with anything, moderation can be a guiding light. I have been on a different kind of fishing expedition, one that has taken me nearly seven thousand miles in thirty-one days.

I left Oklahoma on July fourth, making way to Nashville, TN, about eleven hours of driving. I actually forgot it was the 4^Th and was quickly reminded with a traffic jam near a downtown ballpark just blocks from the Lipstick Lounge….a small corner hot spot with a policy of diversity. It was closed because it was a holiday. Still, I considered this day, and the days to come, independence day for me; I began a new journey with the intention of just allowing my response to the world evolve naturally. There was no need to plan; the trip was an act of freedom. I was traveling solo in the Argo (a trusty Subaru Forrester) using modern technology: a good old fashion road atlas (thanks to Lynn at State Farm). Emily, an electronic GPS guide with a British accent, sat shotgun; she was inaccessible in Canada.

When I woke the morning of day two, the rear tire on the passenger side of the Argo was fairly flat. I found the Parkway Service Station nearby. Ed jacked up the rear and sprayed soapy water as he spun the tire ‘round. Sure enough, bubbles began to form in the center of the tire where he found…and extracted….a large rusted nail. He plugged the hole with a nylon/rubber cord that would adhere itself and become a permanent fixture on the tire. He even went so far as to say the plug would probably have a longer life span than the tire itself. As Ed was making the repair, he talked about Tennessee having some of the best roads in the country. One of the reasons is the use of crumb rubber mixed into the asphalt. The rubber, according to studies completed by the Tennessee Department of transportation, had a number of effects; reduced cracking due to added strength and durability of the mixture, a reduction in the “backwash” a vehicle sprays when the roads are mildly wet, and possibly there is a noise reduction.  Not only were the roads smooth, but they were also clean. I saw very little road kill and very little trash along the shoulders.

Ed also talked about his love for caving, and perhaps he even used the word Speleological, which has more to do with a scientific interest, examining the structure and physics of these spaces rather than the recreational sport approach. I suppose they overlap. He talked about specific caves and hidden caverns, and also gave a bit of a history lesson; Big Bone Cave used to be operated as a saltpeter mine, and saltpeter was used to make gunpowder. You can find out more information by stopping by to see Ed:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Parkway+Service+Station,+nashville+tn&ll=36.149415,-86.663976&spn=0.008993,0.012832&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-a&fb=1&gl=us&cid=0,0,9577487007509197659&z=16&iwloc=A

or by looking at the following link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bone_Cave

If you look at the recent entries over this past month, I have posted images and limited musings about my travel. As I re-enter back into the more routine of daily life, routine, yet changed, well, you will just have to come back to see where this fishing expedition took me and what I learned.