(Posted by Andy)
In this edition of On The Wings of a Dolphin, you’ll see pictures of Caitlin and I in full-body hazmat suits, zipline body harnesses, and even a llama!
Caitlin discovered a program called Help Exchange, a website that provides the user with a list of people all over the nation that have farms and ranches and are looking for people to help them for 4-6 hours a day in exchange for 3 meals a day, room and board. What a great gig! We have just completed our first Help-X experience in North Carolina with our host Karen Rund. Karen has about 20 acres, almost half of which is wooded, that is home to a dozen goats, 3 Clydesdale horses, 2 white and fluffy dogs, 3 cats, a llama, and us for 9 days! There are pictures below of most of the animals and us in our hazmat suits. Cause of the suits: Karen had purchased 3 almost empty industrial drums for storage purposes. The part that wasn’t empty was a few inches of solidified pork-lard from the restaurant industry. Our mission, to clean! A messy and photogenically hilarious endeavor, this was an experience not soon forgotten. For anyone that has the same food driven sense of perception as Caitlin and I, the hog fat did not smell like bacon. Since Caitlin and I are interested in eventually purchasing our own land, these ranch-hand experiences are very beneficial to our knowledge of what it is like to actually own land and animals. A previous thought of owning milk goats has been shot down with our stay at Karen’s for financial reasons mainly, but we are now very keen on owning a llama or two of our own for backpacking aid and general good company. Thank you Karen for opening your home to us, we look forward to more Help-X work!
I
’m letting a goat eat hay out of my hand when my dad calls and says, “Son! You gunna be in Greensboro? Wanna go ziplining?” Uhh, YEAH! With about 10 different zip lines and over an hour of “flight”, Kearsy Valley Zip Lines was an experience of a lifetime. I’ll never forget whitewater rafting in Rishakesh, India, and we’ll never forget flying through the woods in North Carolina.
I’m not sure how many times we’ve said this in our posts, but Thank You Steve Sego, my dad!
We’re now making our way down to Florida, where Mr. Larry Corta an old friend of my father’s, Key West and nude beaches await us. A side stop though has put us on our ass`; Price’s Chicken Coop. Consistently rated some of the best fried chicken in American (and a 10 on the Cardiac-Richter scale), this was some damn good, damn greasy chicken. Now off to Florida, after this grease coma wears off!
Mikey
Pogo
Goats
Cricket
Karma (9 months old, daughter of Dharma)
Karen
Dharma
Roo
Views from our zip lines
Caitlin climbing to the end (didn't make it all the way)
She's mine.
