The weather was lousy, but we took our time on the hilly, curvy roads and arrived at Ole Bull at 5:15pm. After taking a few minutes to unhitch the camper and pop it up, we headed up the mountain to see if I could still find the old hunting camp where I spent so many great times as a kid with my grandfather.
After leaving the campground and traveling about half a mile, we turned onto a Joerg Run Road, the first of three dirt roads on the way to the camp. Things got a little hairy after we turned onto the Twelve Mile Road to travel the last couple of miles to the Fairview Camp. The road was so muddy that sometimes when I turned the steering wheel, the car would keep going straight. That's a bit disconcerting when running off the road could mean a trip down the mountain the hard way! Luckily, there was a solid base under the mud so we didn't sink very far. Some of the hills were so steep that the wheels spun as if on ice, but we made it to the camp without mishap.
The camp has had a complete overhaul since the last time I was there, in 1999. Vinyl siding, beams on pilings to reinforce the floor, new windows, and I'm sure many more improvements that I couldn't see from the outside. We walked around the camp, took some pictures, and headed back down the mountain.
Instead of going back to the camper, we went to Cross Fork, a town of 60 people about six miles south of Ole Bull. Legend has it that this is where Gabby Hayes first performed on stage. I remember the old hotel where he performed, but the people in the bar where we ate dinner said it burned down many years ago.
After dinner, we headed back to Ole Bull expecting to see Joe & Loretta in their reserved campsite next to ours. When we got there, the campsite was unoccupied. We sat around for a while, but the rain on the roof made us sleepy, so we turned in. Marsha heard Joe & Loretta arrive around midnight, but neither of us got up to greet them.
We'll see them in the morning.
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