Silver Anniversary Express

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     The Silver Anniversary Express covered 2319.7 miles in 13 days, 12 hrs, and 20 minutes.  The truck consumed 145.2 gallons of gas costing $2.458 per gallon delivering 16 mpg at 15.4 cents/mile.  Out of pocket expenses were $68.64 per day, gas costing $25.50.
     The temperature never rose above the low 70s and stayed mostly in the 50s and 60s (except at night).  However, it rained 10 days of 14 and nearly all day for six.  This affected wildlife sightings and photo opportunities, but ticks and bug bites were zero.
     Woodthrush soundings were very low this year heard infrequently in only 10 days.  Usually their crystalline songs would be heard at every stop on all days.  Nonetheless, Doc sighted 5 wild turkeys one hen with chicks, 4 ground hogs, 23 deer (2 does with spindly drinking straw wobbly leg fawns only a few hours old.), 15 chipmunks, 6 rabbits, a red-headed woodpecker, 6 box turtles, an alligator snapping turtle, 2 goldfinch groups, 2 bluebirds, 2 hawks, a black snake, a grouse hen with chicks, 7 shoulder dogs, and 24 dead possums.
     Two new wildflowers were keyed out:  wild monkshood, and a saxifrage called mountain lettuce.  The monkshood was cream colored instead of blue; the Tennessee wildflower book mentioned this one as 'rare', but who the hell knows.
     There were 117 picture stops harvesting 490 shots, about 2-5 percent rising to the status of 'photograph' which is normal for film and digital backroads photography.  Motifs collected include:  5 triple crosses, no race cars, no barber shops, no fire trucks, 9 old stores, 28 country churches, 1 court house, 1 post office, 1 train, 4 bridges (3 covered), 1 motel, 1 grist mill, 2 diners, 1 log truck, 1 authentic pure sign, and a cat in the upstairs window.

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© d090604-004  Cat in Window
  Glenville, West Virginia
  Gilmer County
  Thursday 4 June 2009

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Comments

[harold]

Helluva trip, Doc, and to think of it being the Silver Anniversary makes me wonder where all those 25 years went. Ma Nature and the Backroads Goddess should have rewarded you with better weather.
One question, do all the different colors of your track on the map have significance, like each being a different day, or do you just like different colors?
slim

[Doctor Flowers]

Slim, each color describes the exact pathway taken each day.