My fiefdom in Alabama consists of 100 acres. This year, I annexed 3 neighboring properties into my running territory. Illusions of grandeur have possessed me. More territory is needed. Introducing my new military campaign: the Northern Expansion into the Carolinas. Troops deploy from Camp Parker Plantation at 11:00 Friday morning.
Check out Sleeping Beauty's lip. In spite of having half the seats removed out of the car, it is still cramped quarters for us with the load of firewood.
This horde of Huns pack their own provisions... Rendezvous in Northern Georgia to test our new equipment.
Tank Commander Smith and Gunner Cole are mightily impressed with their British FV 432. Dear Santa, please, please leave me a tank under the tree.
Was the 4 hour drive, including scrimmages through Atlanta traffic, worth it? You bet. Anyone who has not driven 33,000 lbs of steel with a Rolls-Royce engine through a muddy obstacle course has not lived. Tank Town USA and Todd, the owner/instructor/tank importer extraordinaire, have not seen the last of me! Todd had been gracious enough to allow Cole to be his first canine student, but I'd been forewarned about a ladder to climb in order to mount the tank.
Marvel at the RQ-435: canine rappelling gear. One dog backpack harness with added butt straps clipped off to my hard frame backpack. A few days of practicing climbing up and down a conversion van ladder and we were set. Unnecessarily... as the tank sat two feet down in the mud, allowing me to simply lift Cole up onto the top.
Anyone missing a feather duster or brush? They were commandeered for the war effort. I spent a lot of time working the paper mache into shape! Yes, I'm 42 going on 12. Don't let life pass you by, get out there and grab it, or assault it. We press on into enemy territory and take Western North Carolina before nightfall. Yes, we are that good!
My blood pressure drops 10 points whenever I see my beloved Nantahala National Forest. Command Central is established here in Highlands.
From this fortified position, we plot our eastbound invasion... and paint ceilings (the real life reason why we're here). Saturday's campaign: to takeover Hampton Country Club, via Rock Mountain and Chimneytop.
Marvel now at the KD-87 personnel transporter.
Jinx, Chief of Communications with those radar ears, may have walked 30 minutes of the total 5 hours we surveyed the mountains. Given the option, he doesn't want to get out of his carrier (solid bottom, padded, with or without mesh top).
Success, the country club below us, at our mercy.
As an army marches on its stomach, we conclude the excursion in Cashiers, NC, assessing what fare this territory has to offer.
Treats from our favorite store, Woofgang Pet Store and a half pound of pork from the best BBQ house in the land, On The Side BBQ. Hostile takeovers can be tiring.
Radar O'Reilly slips off the seat and onto the floor on the way back to HQ. Sibling rivalry over who gets to sit on the throne.
Indeed, Dogs Rule, especially in my world (which now includes sections of Western North Carolina, thank you very much)
