Sunday, April 24, 2011

Inquiring Minds Want To Know...


trip1-005What the heck really happened on the Mega Smoky Mountain Tour??   Was the River Damsel "Southern Fried" or "Southern Soaked"???  Just know that sometimes there are  two sides to a story...(Owl Jones had his video and first story published as soon as we got back and a funny one it was...)  But, I am here to tell you that there was quite a breeze up there on the "rail trail" where we had stopped to look at the view.  What was I supposed to do with  cardboard Rebecca and Howard?  Let them blow away or even worse, fall 500 ft below us?  No, I did the right thing...quickly putting them down in front of me.  Ok...enough about that.  What I really want to tell you is that, well...after that video, my hubby bubby left me a note the next morning.  All I can tell you is that it said something like...

"On my way to find "cupcakes"... Hmmmm....Well, I know that he didn't go all the way to Colorado...haha.  And if you don't get this, follow the link above to Owl's video.  That darn Owl...always the funny guy!! 

When I met Mr. and Mrs. Owl, they couldn't have been nicer.  They greeted me with open arms, surprised me with a "Hillbilly Swag Bag" full of fun stuff including dried possum (gee, thanks!), sweet flies and taught me a few things about the Southern style of living and speaking. (I was given a nice little book of Southern phrases)... Let me begin by saying that this trip was not all about fishing...it was about friends meeting up and going on a short, whirlwind journey through some beautiful country...The Smoky Mountains!   I fell in love with the Dogwood trees there...We started our journey on the Nantahala River...in western North Carolina.  The "Nan" was probably my favorite water that we visited on this trip.  A little more open like I was used to.  Maybe the fish knew that the storm was coming...they were a little quiet.  But, we each caught a couple and we met Mark (Flyfishsc.com) for the first time there.  He presented us with some awesome dry flies for the trip, which we appreciated!  I was glad to be with two very good tiers on this trip...as they both knew the bug life well in this area that we were fishing.  Mark cracked me up brown trout with his "Well, let's go get that skunk off right now" statement as he headed towards the river.  And a few minutes later, yep... "Incoming!"  Ok...he made a believer out of me.  Ha.  I wonder if that would work for me...next time I go out fishing, I'm going to be more positive in my approach!  "Here I come fish!  Who's up first??"  : )   Here's a nice brownie that Mark caught...I had a brown on the approach to the net, but came off...darn it all!  Owl has it on video, so it still might make a post...

I had never seen a brook trout up close until this trip...I know, hard to believe.  Another reason why I wanted to go out to the Smokies...We do have them here in Utah, I just don't usually head up into those mountains that have them.  I love their spots!!  Owl and I found one in a deep pool.  Cardboard Rebecca and Howard stayed pretty dry until the afternoon...I had just one little fall with one knee down, but kept Howard pretty dry...just getting his feet wet.  Ha!  I'm thinking that he had something to do with the fall actually...(Troutrageous! blames him for everything that goes wrong... : 0 )  If he could have piggy backed instead of wanting a front and center seat in my wader belt...oh well.  It happened.   Life goes on...got to roll with the punches! 

 Howard and I fishing!

The storm that was forcasted came with a vengeance...Wind, rain and we finally headed back to our fishmobiles...We decided to go to the campsite next and set up tents and then go to town for some Southern BBQ...Yummy!!!  That beats sitting out in the rain anyday!  We were all hungry and the Black Eyed Pea stew warmed me up inside...it had a flavor of BBQ pork in it that made it absolutely delicious!  Afterwards, we got the waiter to take a picture of all of us...heehee.

bec and sweet tea
Rebecca trying some "Sweet Tea"!  I thought her hair held up remarkably well in the rain
                                 
Did I mention that we took a few detours before getting to the campground?  Mark and I didn't know that the tour director that we hired for $4.83 plus a Mtn. Dew would get lost and not remember which turnoff we needed to take... he relied on his memory to find the campground...but, we eventually got there!  ; )  It was hilarious.

Tour Director giving the little bass pond by the campground a try...

SUNDAY TIPPET:  Tour guides/directors are usually worth every penny that you spend...and sometimes you get more/less than what you paid for their services...just sayin'!  Love ya, Owl!!! : )  Ok...I think that I did pretty well with my choice...I mean, I did get fried pies, boiled peanuts, Stewarts Key Lime soda, and Steaks over a bonfire!!  Wow...wait till you hear all about that!  So, this is all that happened before the storm...I guess that you could say that I was "Southern Soaked!"  What happened after the storm moved out...you will have to wait and see!    


The Famous Blue Ridge
Today's Guest Summary Writer:  Jason (Fontinalis Rising)   And so the saga continues. Owl Jones turns out to be a contraband possum dealer. Mark is really Saruman, wizard of southern weather. Have they lured RD into the southern mountains to drown her or poison her with roadkill? Will RD be able to save Cardboard Howard from Owls voodoo? Why does cardboard Rebecca seem to be immune to all of this? Do her powers as Goddess of OBN extend to the Realm of Cardboard? Will RD disappear into the Blue Ridge forever on a quest for brook trout? Tune in next week on The River Damsel: Southern Soaked!



26 comments:

  1. We're glad you had a good time. Sadly, you got to see our creeks and rivers at near max-capacity because of the rain. I can't believe you spent the first paragraph defending your head-slam of cardboard R and H. You know...I mean...they're just cardboard. Unless you put the voo-doo on 'em so they could feel what was going on! If that was the case, then I bet Howard's feet were really hot when that fire got out of control! :) tee hee!

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  2. Sounds like you had an awesome time! Hope to see more photos soon!

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  3. Nice trip Nice write up too!
    Next time.. Invite me please!
    Brian

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  4. Owl ~ Do bloggers sleep? Haha...well, I know Owls don't!!

    Mark ~ The adventure continues in a few days! And pictures we have!!

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  5. Brian ~ Wow...there are more night owl's than I thought! Oh, there will be a trip to the Uinta's that you can go on this summer...I'm sure! I'm on the brookie brigade now!

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  6. All that wonderful southern food.
    Who needs to fish.

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  7. Glad you had a good time despite the the less than desirable weather, that somehow became my fault. :) It's mostly in the approach and attitude. Just say, trout, I'm going to catch you whether you like it or not so we may as well get on with it.

    Keep those dries handy. I'm sure the western brookies will eat 'em up too.

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  8. Brk Trt ~ Pretty much true! I tried way too many new things...bad bad!!! But, sooo good!

    Mark ~ That thought on catching the first one is engrained in my head now!!!

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  9. Damsel, okay I know I harass you a bit, but I've enjoyed this as much as if I had really been there...well except the slam down. Good job and tell hubby he married a great sport. I'm sure he's proud.

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  10. Cofisher I - Ahhh...let's not go there again! You're a true warrior for taking the journey with us...as you will see in Part Deux! Thanks, my friend.

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  11. Cofisher I - The Hub-bub says that he's proud of me, but still thinks that I'm crazy!!! Oh well!!
    Who's having the most fun????

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  12. And so the saga continues. Owl Jones turns out to be a contraband possum dealer. Mark is really Saruman, wizard of southern weather. Have they lured RD into the southern mountains to drown her or poison her with roadkill? Will RD be able to save Cardboard Howard from Owls voodoo? Why does cardboard Rebecca seem to be immune to all of this? Do her powers as Goddess of OBN extend to the Realm of Cardboard? Will RD disappear into the Blue Ridge forever on a quest for brook trout? Tune in next week on The River Damsel: Southern Soaked!

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  13. F.R. ~ You are now a guest author...

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  14. Great recap post. In reading all accounts, seems like everyone had a great time in some tough (weather) circumstances. And yes, anything that went wrong, Howard did it.

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  15. Looks like it was great. Judging Owl's film the creeks are flowing there about like they are here right now...not necessarily conducive to fishing! I'm having a hard time figuring out how it is that anytime us box people hook up to do some fishing in real life it turns out to be a great time with great people! Truly blessed.

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  16. Mike ~ I'm in total agreement about Howard now...

    Pam ~ HIGH water...YES!!! Boxes R Us...

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  17. I bet the south was quite the landscape change for you - I already miss all the green of home.

    Sounds, and looks, like you guys had a hootin' and hollarin' good time. Thanks for sharing with all of us.

    Did you wear your new waders?

    -stephanie

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  18. Steph ~ Yes, it was very green!! And I broke in my new waders with that one little slip on a rock! haha BTW- I really like Patagucchi!

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  19. it's good to know that mountain dew is still worth something...

    sounds like an epic adventure to say the least! regardless of the weather, the southern food is always worth the journey :-) Looking forward to part II!

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  20. Thanks, Sanders!! Kinda glad that I don't live closer to those fried pies though!! :)

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  21. Don't you mean boiled P-nuts? Hmmm? Hmmmmmmm? Someone liked the boiled P-nuts too! :)

    Hurry up. I'm dying to know how it turned out. :)

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  22. Hillbilly Swag Bag!
    That's a blog contest waiting to happen!
    How can I not follow this one.

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  23. Owl ~ Don't you have a post up to do or something???

    Kevin ~ Welcome aboard...we will have a contest next week actually in lieu of going over 15k visits and over 100 followers! And why not call it the Hillbilly Swag Bag Contest...with Owl's permission of course!

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  24. I spotted some sour candy in one of those pics...its the only way I get through a long day on the river

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  25. I would be honored to have it named that. You go girl. :)

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  26. Charlie ~ Owl knew that my favorite river treat is Sour Patch of any kind!! But, I have to tell you the truth...gotta be careful, or else your lips can go numb by the end of the day!!! :) Ask me how I know...

    Owl ~ We will put together a sweet Hillbilly pkg that you will be proud of!!

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