I arrived at my camp here in Bethel at about 11:30 p.m on Saturday night after a grueling 30 hours of driving. The trip was quite uneventful only having to deal with panhandlers in Fayetteville, North Carolina at a rest stop – didn’t get much rest.
Gas prices were varied within relatively short stretches of highway, which makes one seriously question what is going on with gas prices. Don’t get me wrong, I am a firm believer in free enterprize but not free lying.
I got off Interstate 95 in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I travel up highway 17 to Winchester, where I pick up Interstate 81. In Fredericksburg, along the “strip”, the lowest price gas for regular unleaded I could see as I passed through, was $3.11 a gallon. As I continued north, the prices progressively dropped, so that by the time I reached Winchester, the prices averaged about $2.75 per gallon. This is a difference of about 80 miles all within the same state. Go figure!
Enough of that. It is a culture shock to arrive here, dragging along an older computer I rehabbed awhile back and making an attempt to get onto the Internet.
In the civilized world, you would plug your computer into a telephone jack, one of which I have along with working phone service, search for a provider and within minutes you’re good to go.
Not in Bethel, where there is only one available ISP – $18.95 a month for dial-up, YIKES! – and you have to call the telephone office, DURING BUSINESS HOURS, to set up an account and receive an access number.
I’m finally back on line – I’ve only crashed and got botted 6 times in an hour. Not bad! I had to first sort through over 1700 e-mails I had amassed in three short days. The blogging will probably be light for a day or two while I get camp in order, etc., etc. In the meantime, I’m trying to locate my longjohns that I left here in camp somewhere after deer hunting season last fall. I might have to head to Wally World to fing another pair, along with some Deep Woods Off.
I’m off to the post office, etc. and will return later today and keep you informed, as always, as to what’s happening in the world of hunting.
Tom RemingtonÂ
