To celebrate, I'll send you this paperless, toxin free, seemingly sustainable update on the life and travels of GravyTrain :-D
Since I last wrote, we've continued to keep busy with work and play. Early this month we moved into our new home, acquired a "Dag", hosted my brother for a week, and had our first hike on the Appalachian Trail!
Life is so good.
What's a Dag you ask? Well, let me show you:
Awwwwww!After years of daydreaming about being adopted by a canine friend Dan and I finally took the plunge. We stopped by the Montgomery Pound three weeks ago and visited their more than 40 dogs. Almost every dog was barking, but not this stout little dude. He was quiet as a mouse... well, until we started walking away from him and then he gave this fantastically whimpy whine of a "bark" that sounded so adorably pitiful we just had to get him out of the kennel and see what he was all about.
We took him to the fenced play area and he ran figures of eight around us so fast I literally got nauseous. Talk about a high energy dog! Dan held a tennis ball up in the air and Dag jumped nearly 6 feet to retrieve it from him.
When we met him, Dag had been in the kennel for over two months, locked up 6 days a week and permitted only a brief walk on Saturdays. Virginia law states that dogs found with a collar (which Dag was) will be held for 10 days and beyond that it is up to the Shelter to determine when to euthenize. Floyd's shelter kills immediately after that minimum holding period (a sign of how very many dogs are being pushed through this kennel each week), while the Montgomery Shelter holds well-behaved dogs for up to three months to give them a better chance at adoption. Dag's time was running out and we're so glad we found him before it was too late.
The name "Dag" was inspired by the film Snatch, where Brad Pitt's thick Irish accent confuses the guy who Pitt is trying to sell a travel trailer to. Brad offers him a "Dag" to go with the trailer, and the buyer can't for the life of him figure out what the heck a "Dag" is. (is it a tool? is it a spare tire? what the heck is a Dag?!) It's a dog!
Dan and I just moved into a travel trailer, and we figured the name fit our scenario and Dag's just fine. Nicknames have already been evloving out of it, from "Dag Nabbit" when he misbehaves, to "Dagus Maximus", "Daggers", "Dagginator", "Da Dag", "Dagwood", and so on...
Here's Dan's brother's spin off the name "Dag" (notice Dan's face in place of Brad Pitt's):
Kennel dogs often make their gratitude for adoption known in very physical ways. Here's a photo of the kiss bath Dan got in our car moments after we adopted our new best friend:
It ends up Dag is a FANTASTIC road trip dog, which is GREAT for us as we plan to drive cross country a few more times in the years to come. Sometimes I think Dag is more comfortable in the car than any other place on the planet.
Here he is napping in floor space behind the passenger seat:
We got Dag neutered just a week after we adopted him. The vet told us he weights 50 pounds and is about 1 1/2 years old. We also got the surprising news that this high energy dog had worms (which are SUPPOSED to make dogs lethargic... uh oh). Ends up he's even higher energy than we thought. He gets that from the Australian Cattle Dog in his bloodline. And he gets his immense loyalty and cuddliness from the Rotwieler and Shar-Pei sides of his family.
We take Dag for at least two walks a day, making him walk behind us, and stopping to issue commands sporadically throughout. The now famous film series figure, Ceaser Milan's methods of acting as your dog's "pack leader" are essential when you've got a dog with the jaw of two fighting dogs (Rot and Shar-Pei) and the energy and demeanor of a high endurance working dog (Cattle Dog). Here's our pup being appropriately submissive in response:
Dag is a good sport whenever we want to get a laugh out of him. Here he is in our new home wearing his pink toy monkey around his neck and back:
Oh yeah, our new home. Look out, just three months in Virginia and we're already home owners! Here's a picture of Dag posing in front of our 24' 5th wheel travel trailer/ new home.
This is a shot of our dining room table/ desk, which doubles as a very comfortable guest bed (come visit us!):
Below is a view looking out of our bathroom and into the trailer. The bathroom has about a 1/4 size tub (deep but not long) with a shower head. We won't be using the toilet as we don't have a means of disposing of the waste, but once we get our systems set up we should be able to make use of the shower.
To the left you see our kitchen, to the right the dining space, straight ahead with the tie-dye and lambswool blankets is "Dag's Bed"/ our living room, and up the stairs is our loft bedroom with a fancy memory-foam mattress (soooo comfy -- horray for no more floor sleeping!)
We've parked the trailer in a year-round shade spot on our bosses new land (pictured below). The other structure is a horse barn in which we'll be putting a larger stove and more counter space for more efficient cooking. A co-worker of ours will also be living there temporarily for the growing season. Pictured to the back right is the garden plot that will be farmed on this land this year.
If you followed the above tree line left you'd run into our darling outhouse (pictured below), which is well ventilated and has a super serene view of the hillside. We much prefer outhouses to flush toilets for reasons of water conservation and decreasing waste pollution.
Just a day after we moved into our new trailer, I left Dan and Dag and flew to Kansas to spend a week with family. Then my brother Joe and I drove from Kansas to Virginia with a van-load of stuff Dan and I needed but couldn't fit in the Camry last winter.
Below is a shot of Joe and I saying goodbye to our other brothers, Mick (red hat) and Tommy II (helmet):
Joe arrived and our first big mission was to get out and hike the Appalachian Trail. Since we had two vehicles, we decided to do a non-loop 10 mile hike from Burke's Garden to Laurel Creek. On the first night we camped out at Laurel Creek (at the end of the trail we would drive to and hike the next day).
Below is a shot of Dan climbing a formerly functional bridge (now just a few piles of rock in the middle of the stream). Moments after the shot was taken Dag attempted to also climb up the rocks. He fell several times before we convinced him to give up. It was impossible not to laugh at his enthusiasm and commitment to following Dan ANYWHERE.
The campsite was really lovely, right on the Creek with plenty of sites but no one else to share them with. Here's where Joe set up his tent (note swing site):
And here's our new backpacking tent, a Christmas gift from my brothers:
Joe built us a rockin' camp fire and Dan cooked up a delicious tempeh and vegetable dish on his Coleman grill. We ate like champs and prayed the bears didn't smell it.
Dag is great at camping, super patient with us, and highly adaptable to small spaces like our tent:
If you look closely below you can see Dag curled up in the 2 foot space between our toes and the tent wall. He doesn't ever wake us at night, just lies perfectly still and waits for our cue to get up in the morning.
The next morning we left car 1 at the campsite and drove car 2 to the start of the trail at Burke's Garden. Below is a shot of Joe, Dag, and Dan standing by our first "White Blaze" marker on the Appalachian Trail (AT). About every 25 to 100 paces along the over 2,000 mile AT, which runs from Georgia to Maine, trees are marked with vertical streaks of white paint to keep hikers from getting lost... Funny thing is, we got lost anyway on our first attempt! It ends up getting distracted by a cool-looking rock formation at the start of the trail can be the difference between staying on the "white blaze" AT trail and having to turn around and start the trail over again cause you can't find the white blazes anywhere! (Oops.)
The section of the trail we chose to hike begins at the ridgetop above Burke's Garden, which is the stunning geological phenomenon seen in the aerial view below:
It looks like a volcano with a town in the middle of it from above, but this 10 mile long valley in the middle of a single mountain (Burke's Mountain) actually exists as a result of the erosion of limestone in the heart of the mountain. The soil in this area is incredibly fertile because of the limestone deposits and is highly favorable for farming, hence Burke's "Garden".Here we are at an overlook of the "Garden":
And here are a couple close-up views of the area we took later that evening when we returned to the car to drive home:
...ok, back to the trail:
Here's a couple riverside shots along the trail (sorry, couldn't get the one of Dan on the bridge to rotate):
The large green leaved trees are Rhododendrons/ Azaleas and Mountain Laurels that are evergreen and grow along streams throughout the region. In mid- to late-spring they will be fully blooming with huge white and pink blossoms. We can't wait!
Here's Dan and Dag resting on an uphill break. Ends up Dag's Cattle Dog endurance make him the perfect trail dog. He didn't mind taking breaks but he always had plenty more energy to continue on this 10 mile treck.
At the end of the trail we let Dag (and Joe) off leash. Here's Joe after dipping his head in the water of the stream to cool off. Dag quickly decided to do the same, and then spastically ran circles across the bridge and through the stream and across the bridge and through the stream and so-on (endlessly until directed otherwise). No photo could do justice to depicting Dag's ultra-wiley expression of inner bliss.
After the hike we drove car 1 from our campsite (at the end of the trail) to where we'd parked car 2 (at the beginning of the trail) that morning, and on our way picked up this stray dog (seen below). We called the number on her tag and they told us that her obscenely heavy and bulky collar was actually a tracking device and just to let her go and they'd eventually find her. She was not spayed and had clearly birthed at least one litter in her life -- we're guessing she was a high prized hunting breed dog.
Our newly neutered Dag thought the not-spayed thing was pretty hot and was a little TOO thrilled to have this temporary girlfriend for an hour or so. Note to self, feed Dag's inner bliss by adopting a SPAYED girlfriend as soon as time and sanity permit.
Here's some of the plant life we saw along the trail:
Lots of gigantic vines of either Virginia Creeper of Poison Ivy (we're not sure how to tell the difference yet):
Lovely white blossom trees scattered throughout:
A few patches of early spring purple blooms on the forest floor:
Ummm, I have no idea:
Err, uhh.... Canadian Thistle babies?:
The next day we took Joe to see the edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains we are living on. Here's a couple shots from Smart View Trail (in Floyd County), overlooking the valley in Franklin County:
On Joe's last day in town we took him to see naturally raised beef, pork, and hens at Bright's Farm -- to try and coax him into moving here (of course).
Here's farmer Larry Bright showing us the coup where his 600 baby chickens will be moving into in a couple of days:
These pens are used by the Bright family to move broilers from one section of pasture to another -- allowing them regular access to fresh food from the earth while simultaneously evenly spreading their manure across the pasture for optimal soil health (read books by Joel Salatin for more detail on this concept):
The Brights breed their own pigs. Each pig mamma has her own little house for herself and her babies. They're very social animals and will go visit each other's houses to see what's going on throughout the day.
The mamma pig pictured below is about 3 years old and 700 pounds of love. She's super friendly and loves when you scratch behind her ears:
The cow's were running all over, this is the best I could do for ya:
**BIG BIG thanks to the Bright family for letting us come out and bug them on a lovely sunny spring work day.
After our farm tour we bought some ground Bright's beef and made the best beef burgers I've ever had in my life. Naturally, anti-biotic free, meat raised on well managed highly nutritions pastures is SOOOoooo much more delicious and nutritious than conventional hormone-pumped, feed-lot finished beef. You'd be amazed to try it (if you haven't done so already).
We closed Joe's visit by swinging through Virginia Tech (a University in Blacksburg, 30 minutes from our home in Floyd) for a Farmer's panel discussion on the importance of getting locally raised foods into local educational institutions. Here's a couple photos of Virginia Tech's "Farms & Fields" local foods kiosk in the campus cafeteria:
You'll note on the "Farm's & Field's" sign that our bosses' farm (Full Circle Farm) is already supplying to this lovely food kiosk:
HORRAY FOR BUYING LOCAL!
Horray for Earth Day!! (My buddy Sharon has a sticker that says "Everyday is Earthday for Farmers", I love it.)
Next post: SPRING SPRING SPRING! Spring on the farm, spring at the market, spring in the mountains, spring in my mouth through food in our bellies.
See you then :-)
