Wilderness, Sort Of...

Okay, here goes...

Me and the old lady loaded up the Yaris Saturday with the dog and enough camping gear, fishing gear and food-stuffs to sustain us for a week. She was able to ditch work early and I cut my Habitat day short to get a jump on the drive. We were out by 1pm and at the Walnut Hill Campground, outside Waynesboro, VA by 4:30pm. The tent was pitched, the fire sparked and the whiskey sipped all before the sun dropped below the trees. We were camping.


The soreness of my ground-slept back had crept away as I slipped into the South River for my first day of fly fishing. After hooking a couple baby brookies, one so small I didn't know it was on until it became park of my backcast, I noticed I was tripping over something with every step towards the bank for lunch. Upon further investigation, I realized the felt sole of my Orvis boot had come unglued. Since this was only the third time these boots had seen the river, I was about to come unglued myself.

After lunch, we tracked down a craft fair so Aubry could get her kicks too. It never fails to amaze me what people can come up with and that they believe someone will buy it. Anyway, Ollie was a big hit with the kids. Lots of kisses and hugs then back to the campsite for hobos, fires and lots more whiskey.



The next day I strapped a Band-Aid on both boots, since the other sole was acting like the first, by way of electrical tape. I tried a section of the river I had never fished and came out on top. One nice brookie, two rainbows of similar size and a handful of baby bookies; all on the same flying black ant.


I packed it in at lunch and we started back towards home. On the way, we stopped by the Orvis store in Richmond and they switched out my ailing boots for a fresh pair, no questions asked. Good guys over there at Orvis in Richmond. Good weekend all around.