We don't need no safety harnesses

Trip up with Lorraine for two primary purposes; to meet with Terry from Jackson County Zoning on stairs, and to meet with David on assuming my lawn-mowing duties, which are becoming an obstacle for us.

We arrived at the property around 10 AM, and set to mowing. So, mowing has become problematic for us. We now have enough clearing to where doing a push-mow takes nearly three hours. So, that means that when I need to mow, I do it that way or I haul up my JD tractor on a trailer. When I am hauling that, it keeps me from hauling other things, such as the pop-up (when not already there), the ATV, or kayaks. I had tried over two years to find someone to mow, but usually when I found someone they really did not want to take on more work. Well, we learned about David from Dr. Robago, and I had lined up to meet with him while we were up there, which we were able to do at night. But, let's get beyond the mowing and onto the rest of the day.

So, after our mowing was complete, we met with Terry from Jackson County. We needed to discuss where we wanted to install stairs. I have tried my hardest to not install stairs. I don't want something like stairs visually "polluting" the beauty that kayakers see when they are on the water. But, a safe trip to the water is a requirement, and no matter how hard we try to slice the onion differently, the landscape would still require structures for safety, such as railings, that would be just as intrusive. So, I have caved in and going with stairs, hoping we can "hide" them to some degree with proper plantings. In any case, we were able to get all of our questions answered and understand our limitations and requirements.

It was then to the bluffside. We started by flagging approximations on where the outline of the stairs could go, along with measurements and slope determinations for each section. We then took a second pass, starting at the top and driving stakes for each landing. We also put stakes every six feet, which allowed us to measure and stake at some static dimensions we could draw and measure to.

After hanging some peg hooks in the outhouse, for the first time the wasps in the nest at the peak were getting agitated. I had left them alone to date, as they had left me alone. But this year they seem a bit more aggressive and get agitated just going in and out of the outhouse, so time to deal with them. One example of us not being perfect I guess.

We then did the water-hike up to the falls (drop #3) and tubed back down to the property. This is such a nice, and pretty, hike and a nice little tube trip where you don't need to worry how you are going to get back to the property. It just takes a little hike, but the scenery is breathtaking and well worth the effort. And those falls are just cool.

We had to have an early departure on Saturday morning, so we decided to cash in on some points and have a free night stay at the Comfort Inn. This meant we didn't need to deal with drying and putting away the pop-up in the morning. So, after checking into the hotel and getting some supper at Rozarios (what, Rozarios is for sale??), we went back out to meet with David on the mowing. After that, it was to the hotel to rest, as we had worked our tails off and then decided to water-hike to the falls.

Awoke early the next morning as I normally do, and out to the property. A deer ten feet away from me as I drove up the driveway, and was more interested in watching me than running away. As I went down to the water to shoot pictures of the stairway layout, there were five deer upstream crossing the water. They saw me and couldn't decide which way they wanted to go as they ran through the water. Packed things up, and headed back to the hotel. Then, we hit the road and headed home.

All in all a good, even if short, trip.