Hitting the Trail

Day 148  |  Rogersville  |  AGLCA Fall Rendezvous Day 1

The orange and pink hues of this morning's sunrise provided the boost I needed to get out of bed and hit the trail. Today was our last free morning here at Joe Wheeler State Park and I wanted to explore the hiking trails around the marina and lodge. Following the blue markers, I took off. A brief distance in, I saw the marker for a historic elm. Its not often you come across such a specimen, so I took a quick selfie with the said tree.

Although leaves have begun to fall, the canopy was still full and provided plenty of shade. Impressive saucer-sized fungi grew from the trunks of trees. The broken marker for a champion chinkapin oak was tiny against the massive trunk of the tree. From the blue trail, I moved to the yellow trail which led around the rim of Wheeler Lake. These trails had steep elevation changes, but since I move pretty slow, footing was not an issue. I surprised two does (or maybe the same on twice) and they scampered off into the underbrush with only their white tail visible.

The yellow trail intersected a nicely maintained woodland disc golf course. I opted to follow it back to a main park road and was glad I did as I met up with this little fawn. We both stared at each other for a while before continuing with our morning activities. I was out for about an hour and it was good to use some muscles that won't see much action while sitting in seminars for the next three days. The morning sun was warm and I soaked up a few rays by the pool before returning to Crossroads.

Around noon, we took a shuttle into Rogersville for lunch and a quick stroll. The Old Town district, with its multiple antiques stores and boutiques, was festively decorated for fall.

The large metal rooster was a permanent feature on a local deli's facade. The sign hung from the bandstand in the town square where we sat and checked emails. Our shuttle picked us up just before 2:00 and returned us to the lodge in time for the AGLCA Rendezvous kickoff at 2:45. Executive Director Kim Russo welcomed everyone before turning us loose for the afternoon boat crawl (open houses). In the span of an hour that we were indoors, the weather turned windy and much colder. Barry and I both needed a change to jeans and to grab a jacket before walking the docks. On the way back, my lanyard whipped around in the breeze, quickly turning into a tight-fitting choker necklace.

Every boat is different and some little detail or trick can always be learned by visiting other folks' boat homes. Crossroads is open for tours and inspection tomorrow. We have washed, vacuumed, and decluttered for parts of two days now. We think/hope we're ready.