Route 40 West

                   

In the early summer of 1986, we hit the road. The destination? California. The decision was made and one week later I found myself in a van, towing a small pickup truck full of my possessions, driving on Rt 40 west. The van was an old work van with no windows on the side.This was also the beginning of my list of "major highways driven". We set off early enough but by the time we got out of Hickory, it had started to get dark. The road dramatically changes from flat and straight to basically uphill and curving. You could just make out the Blue Ridge Mountains with Mt. Mitchell off in the distance, thanks to the setting sun. We stopped at a rest stop in the Smokey Mountains where I picked up this rock. It was too dark to see any views but when I look at this rock, I know I was there. We drove all night and into the next day to our first stop over, Memphis.

It's not over yet...

Has it really been over a month? Time does not stop for a new job and finals. School is over for the summer and I have settled in to the new office. So today I am determined to start the blog again. It will begin a year or two later after I sunk my car. So let me get my creativity section of the brain going again while I putter and clean the house. It also has suffered too.

Radio Island, NC

In March 1986, I was still working at Burton's. After work one night, two friends-Larry and AJ- and I decided to take some beer down to the beach and drink til morning, watch the sun come up, and chill out for the rest of the day. It was just the kind of thing we used to do. We chose to go to Radio Island, near Morehead City and Beaufort. It was pretty deserted most of the time, with one long road down the center of it. At the end of the island was a loading dock which was used by the Marines when they were shipping out by sea.

Now you see...we thought for sure that my 1982 Honda Civic with front wheel drive could handle driving on the beach. Nope. We got stuck. The car ended up parallel to the water with the tide starting to come in. AJ got in the driver's seat, Larry and I tried to push or rock or something. The car shot, in reverse, and ended up nose down in the water.  We ran in the water to keep it from sinking completely. The engine was running, lights were flickering....salt water getting sucked up into the engine, into every nook and cranny. And then, the car died.

Larry took off for the main road to flag down somebody for help. (This was before cell phones.) AJ tried to console me about the loss of the car. I was dumb founded. I had, of course, just finished paying it off the month before. AJ started a fire to warm us up, maybe dry us out too. I took off my sneakers and set them by the fire. They caught on fire when I wasn't looking. I decided I needed a cigarette and waded out to the car to see if they survived. As I looked in the car, The water was only as high as the steering wheel. Floating in the back seat area was a flounder. Chances are that was the only flounder in history run over by a car. And the cigarettes survived because they were on the dashboard. 

Larry returned with help. He had flagged down a tow truck on his way to work. After the driver quit laughing at us, he started to tow the car out of the water. As he tried to pull away, his truck got stuck in the sand. (karma?) He managed to get both vehicles to the road and let us drive back to the garage with him. We called for a ride and waited at next door at Denny's. We really looked pathetic, especially me with no shoes at seven in the morning.

In my pocket, my rock and my shell.

Burton's Restaurant and Bar, Havelock, NC

 After my four years were up, got my honorable discharge, I decided to stay in North Carolina. I tried a few jobs, like a toy store clerk before I gave in to waitressing and bartending at Burton's Restaurant and Bar. This was one of those decisions that literally changed the course of my life...in a good way. Life is full of choices. I started out taking care of lunches, got to know the people in this small town. The mayor, Tom Mylett, was a regular and four years later, becoming my boss but that's a different story for later. I remember watching the Challenger Explosion, just as lunch was getting started. It's one of the moments in history when you remember where you were when you heard or saw it. The man who owned the bar, Burton J Branch, was one of the best people I have ever worked for. Hard worker, loved his family and treated everyone with respect and a smile. His family treated you like family. Good people.

I soon worked nights, getting all those Marines their beers. The place was less than a mile from the front gate of Cherry Point. We only served beer and wine. And Marines don't drink much wine. There was a DJ, dance floor, and a 3 table pool room. Back then, the place was always packed. I had a blast working there. I would start at five and work until 3am. Sometimes we would party after, sometimes we would take a nap, get up early and make our way to the beach and sleep the day away until it was time to go get ready for work again. Life was good.

Over 25 years later, I'm still friends with people I met during this time.Unfortunately, there is only a few stories that I will be sharing in cyberspace. Most will have to keep private, to amuse me and keep me company in my old age. The most important thing to happen to me during my time was that I met the man who would a few years later father my amazing daughter. The grandson of the founder of the city became her Godfather.

It was a sad day for all of us when BJ wanted to retire and sell the business. By this time, I had moved on. Many years, a few owners, a few bars later...a fire one night consumed the building. It was heartbreaking to see all the ashes that used to be a building that meant so much to me and the course of my life. This burnt out piece of wood may not be "geology" but I value it as much as my other rocks and shells.

Somewhere near Henderson , NC

 One woman I remember being friends with while stationed at Cherry Point, Kathy Hudson. She was the epitome of a southern belle with her y'alls and honey childs, so perfectly poised and prim, just like her mama taught her. But don't let them fool you, they have their wild sides when the mood dictates. Southern woman are in a category of their own.

Kathy chose Cherry Point because it was close to where she grew up. One weekend, she invited me to go home with her. The thing I remember about the drive was the song "I love Rock and Roll" by Joan Jett being played over and over again, cruising some back country roads on a warm day.  The house she grew up in was so charming. It sat back in the woods, on top of a hill. It was quiet and welcoming. There was a small barn with a couple of cows, pigs and a lot of goats. Her parents were charming, generous and loved having us to dote over.

Another vivid memory of that weekend was how her mom woke us up for breakfast. I opened my eyes to a tiny baby goat sniffing my face. His coat was soft and his cries were sweet. 

I found this rock, a Henderson Gneiss, somewhere in Henderson. It's usually not found in this part of North Carolina. There is an Henderson Mountain, a little further west where it's very prominent. But I thought it was a good find for my trip to Henderson.

MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina

My next and last duty station and destined to become home for a few years after. Cherry Point was very different from Puerto Rico. The Navy provided support for the Marines at the hospital and supply. We were a very small number, basically Marines in Navy uniforms. My first assignment was in stores, working in a big warehouse with a place for everyone to come get supplies from tape to toilet paper.

Coastal Carolina was a rural area with an upcoming tourist industry by the beaches. The restaurants in Morehead City and Beaufort offer the freshest seafood. The views, looking out to the Pamlico Sound are serene and breathtaking. One of the first things I remember doing is going out Deep Sea Fishing with two of my friends, Mike and Terry. Mike had a 25 ft, center console boat and Terry had a custom fishing pole business. Needless to say, they loved to fish. Even better, they showed me how to fish.

We would let out the boat very early in the morning near the Beaufort Bridge. Terry and Mike would work in silence, just as the sun was coming up, loading the boat. Each knew what the other one was doing. Right under the bridge, they would have their light poles hooked up with six gold hooks. Put it out i the water, shake it, and come up with 3 or 4 fish hooked on. Each would swing the pole to the center of the boat, where I was standing with a 55 gallon plastic trash can, full of water. I would unhook the fish and drop them in. No less than an hour and we would be on our way out to sea, looking for Marlin, maybe some King Mackerel...just about anything that would put up a good fight. The boat would slowly troll, with 2 heavy poles, set up in the back of the boat with the live bait caught earlier dragging behind in the water. All of the sudden, these lines in these poles would take off. It would take up to 45 minutes sometimes to reel these big fish in.

My first fish that I caught was a 55 lb King Mackerel. It took a long time and a little help.

Over by the Beaufort Bridge, lies an active shipping port with a long history, dating back to early days. I found this barnacle near where we would unload the boat.

The broken conch shell has a funny story. Being a woman, it is not always convenient to relieve oneself on a boat in the middle of the ocean with two men. Terry suggested that I go for a swim when we were out pretty far. He jumped overboard and showed me how safe it was. He came back up just as one of the poles took off. On the other end, came up a shark. Needless to say, I lost my courage to take a swim. On the way home, we passed by the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Mike pulled close enough to the shore where I could wade in the water for a bit. I found this shell sitting just underneath the water.

Gloucester, Massachusetts

This small fishing port became famous in 2000 when the movie "Perfect Storm" came out. I visited Gloucester in January 1982. Once again, still in Winter, visiting a beach. (Just to let you know, future adventures take me inland!) The most amazing memory I have was how the sand was rock hard frozen. Huge ice chunks had come to rest along the water line, big enough to stand on. The sky was overcast and the color of the water was a deep gray, along with being on the rough side. Good day for treasure hunting...granite, volcanic rock and two great finds. One was a bolt that had filled with sediment from under the ocean. In my head, I believe it came from an old fishing boat, long lost to the seas. The other is a small shell, that has begun to turn into a fossil.