CuRVWander

EVERYTHING SHINY AND NEW The heart of a full-timer's life is the rig they live in.  And if one lives in a trailer, then the lifeblood is the truck that tows it.  Big Gulp has been our lifeblood since 2006 and has seen us through thick and thin.  Some of the thin would be Big Gulp itself. The day we took delivery of Big Gulp March 31, 2006 It was a proud moment when we picked up our truck from the custom up-fitter in Valparaiso, IN.  It symbolized a new beginning, a whole new way of living.  A nomadic life filled with adventures of all kinds.  And with this truck, dubbed Big Gulp for the copious amounts of fuel it consumed, our adventures began.  Small ones at first because we were both not yet retired, but vacations and long weekends helped us hone our skills for the full-time lifestyle. THE SHINE DULLS The warm glow of the possibilities before us were soon tempered somewhat when we began having mechanical failures, all associated with the Ford-built d...

 Early this spring I was asked to photograph an event that took place at Allatoona Lake dam.  The Corps of Engineers were hosting a local museum society by giving a talk on the history of the dam as well as a tour of it, both inside and out.  While on top of the dam I was trying to find a good angle to capture the ranger giving the talk as well as his audience.  I got up against an exterior wall that overlooked the Etowah River, which is what the dam discharges to, and got my shot.  But before moving to my next shot I took the opportunity to enjoy the view. Besides being a long way down, there were a lot of wildlife present in the form of birds.  What particularly caught my attention were a pair of Osprey that were building a nest.  This nest was being constructed atop a telephone pole installed by Georgia Power (just one of many they put up around the lake for nesting purposes).  A platform atop the pole to act as a base for the nest is a surplus...

 Six months!?  It's been six months since my last post?  Hard to believe, at least for me.  But it is true, time has gotten by me, at least where this blog is concerned. My readership has dropped to embarrassingly low numbers.  This blog is more of journal for my own purposes rather than a public publication.  The upset in all things normal caused by the cruelty of COVID-19 is easy to blame for my reticence to sit down and write this blog.  It seemed as if every day was the same as the last and not worth the effort to write about.  But after doing some photograph file maintenance today I realized that we stayed busier than I thought. The open outdoors seemed to be the go-to thing with everything else either closed or with severely restricted access.  Riverside Park hosted two disc-golf tournaments in June and September of 2020.  The September tournament was several weeks later than planned but the civilian that organizes the tournament d...