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Sleeping
In
10:00am The old guy is still asleep. Must be
nice. :) Breakfast for Steve = slightly stale Honey
Nut Cheerios, for Bob = 1/2 box of powdered donuts, for Dad = 1 donut, 1
Cheerio (to test the degree of stale-ness, of course). And for
each guy, an almost too ripe banana. Yum...Yum.
By the way, we stayed at Erehwon
Log Cabins (erehwon is "nowhere" spelled backwards) and this is an awesome place. These are real log cabins
with a very rustic touch and some amenities as well (gas grill, washer
& dryer, satellite dish TV & VCR). Even the stairs are
made out of logs! There was also a hummingbird feeder on the porch
and quite a bit of activity at the feeder. If you are taking
a W. Va. vacation, this is the place to call home while you are there!
EREHWON Log Cabins
Fish on - Fish off
11:30am We called ahead and they said they aren't open on Monday
and Tuesday, but they said we could fish anyway. Kewl! So, after packing
the cooler, a box of Munch 'ems, bug spray, sunscreen, and taking extra
shoes, we're off to the Elk River Trout Ranch. It's a 45
minute drive across 15 or so miles of unimproved road over a "bumpy
mountain." This is true Grand Prix racing!! Dad can go
45 mph and miss most of the chuck-holes in the road! What sliding,
exciting fun!
Sticker Shock!
12:15pm (or so) We arrived. Of course, everything costs $$. $10 per
person, $10 for poles, $1.75 for bait (night crawlers)...ummmm, there
must have been something else.
The Blind Leading the...
12:30pm The guy points us in the general direction and says
"go fish." Then, sensing our general lack of fishing aptitude
he said, "After I finish breakfast, I'll come back to give you a
few pointers." YyyyyyESssssss...
Miracle Worms???
12:32pm I put a worm on Bob's hook and I drop it in the water.
Within 12.5 seconds, Bob has a bite...fish . He said it doesn't count
because he didn't do it. I mean, all I did was place the hook into
the water and wham, a fish appears. I go get a net...there's a
hole in the net. The fish goes through the hole in the net and
into the water. We get the fish back into the net. Luckily the
hook is on on the edge of the fish's mouth and I can remove it pretty
easily. This is happening all too fast. I put a hook
on Stephen's rod, we drop the hook in and, within 14.2 seconds, Steve
has a fish. This time, however, the hook is deep. So here I stand,
the guy hasn't come back yet, I have no tools, no knife, and certainly
no know-how regarding these things. I leave the fish in the net
and sit there awaiting help.
Lesson #1 - How it's done!
12:40pm The guy returns and solves all our problems. He
teaches the boys how to cast, wait, blah, blah. They catch fish
after fish after fish. My job is to string them up and place them
in water until we are done. Stephen and Bobby catch 12 fish, 6
each (at a place like this, it is easy to plan). They even catch
four or five 3-pounders, fish that are fighters. What a neat
experience they had. Of course, I'll spare you all the gross
stuff, but just know that there was some gross stuff. :) Once, one
of Bobby's fish got off the hook before I could get the net
there. That was my fault, of course. Ha...ha...ha.
Paying the Piper
2:00pm We are finally done and it is time to clean the fish. We
weigh them and discover that we have 25 lbs. of fresh trout.
Oooooooooops...... The guy asks if we want to have a picture, and of
course, we have no camera. We buy one of those disposable ones w/flash
for about $12. Depressing, but convenient. We do the fisher-guys
picture. Again, sparing you the gross stuff, we get an up close and
personal lesson. More fun! We even found a fish with a pile of eggs
which we took to the pond for potential hatching. (Yeah, right.)
Fishy Friends
2:30pm This cleaning stuff takes awhile. Then...time to
hose the area down. Major wet. The fish-boss dog
"Doco" gets fish parts as a treat. Yeccccchhhh!
Time to pack the fish for their trip back to the cabin.
Three bags full...I don't know how we're going to eat all this
fish. The bags leak, of course, so 2 more layers, a pile of
newspapers, etc. we pack the fish in the trunk.
Ummmm...Did we Really?
3:00pm Time to pay for these fish. Another oooooooops....
Let's see now....19 lbs. (the 2 biggest fish are free) x $3.60/lb. =
around $70.00. Oh boy...... Another $10 for cleaning the
fish. This is a $100 experience...but, well worth it.
Mr. Navigator
3:45pm We drive home, mis-read a back-woods road sign, and end up
someplace else. But, this is Dad and he has a sense about
these things. We end up on the right road, just a few miles
earlier than we should have been.
Will Trade...for Food
4:00pm We arrive back at the cabin and I immediately give a bag of
fish to Sandy (cabin "boss") because there is no way we could
eat that much. She stops by shortly thereafter with an onion,
margarine, spices, and cooking instructions. Now that's excellent
"cabin service"!
It Doesn't Get any Better!
4:30pm Grilling begins. After the exciting flame
"poof" that comes with starting a gas grill, we boys eat
around 8 lbs. of fish for dinner. Nothing else...just fish.
Most excellent, fresh trout.
Fishy Memories
5:30pm Time for movies...can't get that fish smell off our
hands...have to wash our clothes
too....fish...fish....fish...fish...fish....fish. I'm sure glad
there's a washer & dryer in the cabin - we had to wash our clothes
twice! What a day... Tomorrow, we go mountain-biking!!!!
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