Apprehension in Appalachia

After exercise I went down to the lake and dock to snap some photos and check the dock rash on the boat again. I was troubled by that whole experience through the night. Adding to the morning was a fair amount of fog lingering over the lake. I was certain that pictures would be awesome. As I made my way down the steep slope to the lake I slipped on the dewy grass and busted my rear good. My head narrowly missed smashing against a boulder protruding through the grass. Much of the local terrain is like that. I jostled my neck pretty good and scraped up my left arm but was otherwise fine. Down at the dock the photo op was all I hoped it would be. The sun was barely visible through the fog as it hung just over the water. Cool! The dock rash didn’t look as bad today. For this I was pleased. Back to the house. I took Mindy her coffee and let her know that I was taking off on my run. I decided to run west – the way we came in on Sunday. I couldn’t recall much if any of the terrain since I was so nervous as we pulled in Sunday. The run west was much different than eastward. For starters, there were fewer homes and more wilderness. The cove ended too making it a run in the woods. As I approached a fork in the road I took a left not remembering which way we actually came in. The hills were tough and twisting. I was winded and worried. Soon I happened upon two or three run down homes that gave me the creeps. Suddenly I wasn’t in Kansas anymore. There was strong odor of rotting meat hanging in the air too. That’s when I let my imagination run. I spotted dog four legs up in the air lying on its back in a gravel drive of one of the run down homes. I surmised that he was rotting dead. I promptly turned around and headed back for home. I had gone much further than I had thought. That happens a lot when I run in unchartered waters. I was very happy to spot familiar landmarks as I closed in on our lakeside home. Mindy & the kids woke soon after I returned home. During breakfast, I asked Mindy if we could take a practice drive out of the hollow up to the Bethlehem church we passed coming in. We agreed it a good idea although Mindy was confident that she knew the way. But the thought of pulling the boat out of there tomorrow AM without the confidence myself was a harrowing thought. She understood my apprehension. After breakfast, we detached the boat trailer form the Trooper, loaded the kids, and headed west towards the highway. Mindy was correct in her navigation. But more importantly, I knew what we would be facing as we pulled out in the morning. It was a scary drive even without the boat. Quite a bit of the drive out is single laned. I still don’t know what I would do if we encountered a vehicle going the other direction. Back home we readied for the last day on the lake. Mindy & I agreed that we would trailer the boat immediately after the day’s activities. We coved just around the bend to the south across from the island of pines. I napped much of the afternoon and didn’t drink a like of booze or beer. The kids spent most of the afternoon in the water, just as expected. We headed back to the dock at 4pm even though, mentally, I was ready much earlier. That’s how I am. Once I set my mind to something, I am ready. Mindy dropped me at the dock and then took the boat back out to await me and the trailer at the boat launch. I tried to hurry but without panic. I faced a little dilemma as I went to reattach the trailer to the Trooper. The terrain was steep and rocky so maneuvering the trailer to the hitch was tricky. I tried moving the trailer by hand when it got away from me and began rolling down the steep gravely incline. Shit! Lucky for me, I had enough foresight to push it sideways enough to stop the downward momentum, which if left unabated would’ve most likely rolled all the way down the slop and into the lake. The thought sent shivers down my spine. I wrestled with the trailer and Trooper until I successfully reattached the two. It took every ounce of strength I had to reposition the trailer up the incline enough to meet the trailer hitch. I slowly made my way to the launch ramp just down the road. Meanwhile, Mindy was idling out on the lake awaiting my arrival. I positioned the trailer and guided Mindy in. The launch was shallower than most back home making loading onto the trailer difficult. You only want to back your vehicle in so far. I had to have Mindy attempt to drive it up onto the trailer. We missed center by an inch or two requiring a do over. I back in a little more and eventually got it. After short little clean up we headed up the long steep ramp for the road. The kids waited at the top. I let Mindy and the kids out of the Trooper before charging up the steep gravely drive to avoid any unnecessary weight. Shifting into 4-wheel drive and low gear I cruised up with little trouble. After a sigh of relief, we unloaded our daily boating gear. I spent the next hour prepping the boat for the trip home. That entailed a simple wipe down, stowing all boating gear, and lubing the trailer’s bearings. Inside, I spent the next half hour relaxing then packed as much of my personal gear as feasible. As usual, Mindy had much of the inside stuff already to go. She chose to do most of our dirty laundry there instead of taking it home. That would dramatically reduce the workload once home and save our own electric. We ate leftovers for dinner. I asked the kids half heartedly if they wanted to take a walk but they didn’t want to. Jacob was especially against it. :) Instead, we spent a leisurely evening watching more Olympics and another NFL preseason game (Titans vs. Raiders). We watched Michael Phelps earn his 7th gold medal. We headed to bed around 11pm.