GETTIN THERE

Hello Friends:

Just trying to understand the world of blogging (grin).

I titled this blog "Turning the Page" because I found a quote from St. Augustine that goes like this;

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
St. Augustine

We are ready to "turn the page" with a little traveling music from Bob Seger.

Many friends have asked that we create a blog so that they can follow us. Most believe that we are actually on the road. I guess in a sense we are. We live at Oak Plantation Campground off Hwy 17 which is near Main Rd. which is technically called Johns Island, SC. You can reach us by phone, e-mail, blog, or snail mail; 3540 Savannah Hwy, Johns Island, SC 29455

This weekend Pat and I are developing a timeline of where we want to be for the next 6 months or so.

We need to be in North Carolina on June 11th for Pat's granddaughters high school graduation. So, we are working around that time frame.

We will first head to Bradenton, FL in the next 30 days to see Pat's dad and I plan on doing some home repairs for him. We will more than likely spend a week there. We also won a free days pass to Busch Gardens so we will take advantage of that while we are in the Tampa area.

We have been looking into doing some volunteer work for the National Parks Service especially an organization called "Passport in Time (PIT)";

Passport in Time (PIT) is a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program of the USDA Forest Service (FS). PIT volunteers work with professional FS archaeologists and historians on national forests throughout the U.S. on such diverse activities as archaeological survey and excavation, rock art restoration, archival research, historic structure restoration, oral history gathering, and analysis and curation of artifacts.

I am very interested working on two sites;

1. Hudson-Meng Excavation 2012 - Chadron,NE                                                  Research at Hudson-Meng in the 1970s identified a Paleoindian bison kill associated with the Alberta culture, which dates to over 10,000 years before present. Subsequent research in the 1990s recognized that more than one kill event may be responsible for the formation of the bison bonebed, and identified a secondary cultural component positioned over the main assemblage. Continued investigations between 2005 and 2011 positively identified the presence of at least two additional Paleoindian components: the first belonging to the Eden culture, and the second, later occupation, both dating to approximately 9400-9500 radiocarbon years ago. The recognition of two additional Paleoindian levels above the bison bonebed raises a host of new research questions and opens the door to exciting new discoveries about how ancient people lived in the Hudson-Meng valley.
2. Following up on the Cherokee Trail - Laramie, WY
   PIT volunteers and Forest staff have spent the last two seasons surveying and studying the historic Cherokee Trail. The 1850s emigrant trail passed through southern Wyoming, and was made famous by western writer Louis L'Amour. Thousands of emigrants blazed their way to California and Oregon as they crossed the Big Laramie and followed Boswell Creek. The years of constant use created deeply eroded swales in some places, only slight traces of evidence of use in others. However, there is a wealth of information about the people who used the Trail, stored in the artifacts and features they left behind.
   The assemblage recovered during the last two "Finding the Cherokee Trail" projects now needs to be processed, studied, and prepared for storage. Volunteers and Forest staff will clean, identify, and catalogue the cultural assemblage, and ready it for long-term curation. This is a fantastic collection, and it will be a definite journey into the past as we study each artifact.

The Laramie dig is April 16th and the Nebraska dig is in 4 segments from May 21st to June 17th. So it will take some planning if we get accepted to both digs in order to be back in NC by June 11th. We can do any of the 4 segments in Nebraska so we would not be there past the 10th of June.

We will visit my dad who is in a Veteran's Home in Norfolk, NE and the rest of my family who still reside in Nebraska. Probably spend several weeks out there both going to WY and returning.

I am jacked up on coffee today and so excited about hitting the road I am besides myself.

Pat would you like to add anything?

Pat: "I am busy being retired I will post later."

We love you all.