Matt's New Mexico (Formerly Airstream) Adventure
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I almost forgot!!! We invested in some Battle Born lithium batteries for the trailer. They were a grand a piece and we needed 2 but they won’t overcharge and should require a lot less charging and general maintenance. This opens us up to take advantage of more remote campsites once we get into less populated more wild areas. We’re pretty excited. I won’t say getting the batteries shipped to us then installing them was completely without hassle, but it’s done. And with only moderate nervous breakdowns. We even got a blue tooth attachment so we can monitor it’s levels on our phones. I should be able to treat you guys to some pretty epic landscape pics in a while.
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Chickasaw St Pk is named for the Native American tribe that lived here. They were one of the last to leave the area in the late 1800’s. I’m sure their exodus was peaceful and mutually agreed upon.
The park is pretty nice. We were exploring today and found a few rescue birds.
This Great Horned Owl was hot by a car and can’t fly because of how it’s wing bones fused…
This Barred Owl did not like its Great Horned neighbor…
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How do I know they’re fire ants you ask? Because I stepped in an untreated ant hill near the playground while the kids were playing and looked down to see my entire right foot covered in ants in a matter of seconds. Mind you I stepped on it, not stand in it for any length of time. I took my shoe off and they were in there too. I jumped into the road out of the grass and a car drove by prompting the driver to say out her window “Fire ants?” I was about to take my pants down to make sure the infiltration was not too serious as I was wearing SBG 777s and was unable to get the cuff up above my sock when my wife stopped me before I was able to expose myself in front of a playground full of children. Crisis averted on all levels.
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1975 Silver Streak! This was an old Wally Byum (Airstream founder) design from the 40s right before he started AS. The Jalousie windows are totally rad. The owners invited me inside but I declined politely. No one down here wears masks or practices distancing so they probably thought me rude. Oh well…
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Pinson Mounds St Pk in TN is home to 2000 yr old sacred Native American mounds. The mounds were built by hand using baskets of dirt. They were not villages but rather destination points for things like ceremonies, stargazing, weddings, funerals and the like. The tallest one is Saul’s mound and is about 75’ high. The corners align with NEWS so it’s believed it was an observation tower of some kind.
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I would have taken some more pics but we had to leave before seeing anything else because the kids melted down.
Also, I was dragging a bit because I’m pretty sure we all got COVID in KY last week. The kids had cold symptoms for 2 days and Katie and I felt slightly off last Tuesday. A couple days ago she and I started feeling fatigue, headaches and mild soreness. We hoped it was just a cold but we’re leaning towards COVID now. We’re hiding for the next week just in case. I guess wearing masks doesn’t really help if no one else does. Fortunately I got world class medical care at a military hospital after being helicoptered there and receiving a cocktail of experimental drugs and round the clock treatment. That’s the standard here apparently.
