Hell and High Water - A Novel

 I have had this story in my head for about a decade or so and over the last several years, I have finally knocked it out of my head and into a digital universe. I had started the beginning somewhere around 2018 or so. About 19,000 words. Then I discovered something called NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) where you attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. I won my first NaNoWriMo in 2019, shortly after we started full time RVing. But the story, now at around 70,000 words was only half done. The story sat for another 11 months and then I did my second NaNoWriMo and got the first draft done at about 120,000 words. There is sat for a couple years. In 2022 I decided to pick it up again and do my first edit of the story. Fleshing out things I left incomplete, adding and deleting stuff, finding typos, bad grammar and punctuation. and adding about another 9,000 words.

I had no professional help, but I'm ready to put it out there. Soon, I will be converting the somewhat finished product into an eBook and publishing it on Lulu.com.  For now, I'm posting a chapter a day on my AT Facebook Page until I either get the whole thing on there or I catch up to where my "final" editing is. (One last go through until I pull the trigger). 

I'm going to post the chapter links here if you want to read them from here and don't do Facebook or whatnot. 

Here's the synopsis:

Sergeant First Class Clayton Collier has been in the Army for 19 years. During a survival training evolution, some very bad things happen. The war that brought on this new world only lasted four days, but it really did the job. Clayton is now separated from his family by a landscape full of beauty and danger. He decides to forsake his duties and get back home, where he hopes to find his family still alive and waiting for him. As he makes his way over the 1000 miles he needs to travel to get home using the famous Appalachian Trail, Clayton encounters many challenges along the way and meets several interesting people. Clayton teams up with several unique hikers, who help each other during their trek.

Legalese:

This is a work of fiction. All the names, characters, businesses, places, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2023 by Joseph Harold

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Dedication:

Dedicated to my hiking partner, LoGear, who always walks beside me, even if she is several meters ahead, and to my girls, who inspire me every single day.

Lastly, to Xander, my little fox. Your loss will be felt the rest of my life, being able to imagine what could have been, was my therapy.

Download the ePub here: Hell and High Water

Chapters:

Chapter 1 - Army Training Sir - Monday, June 4th

Chapter 2 - Survival of the Fittest- Monday, June 4th - Tuesday, June 5th

Chapter 3 - FUBAR - Wednesday, June 6th - Thursday, June 7th

Chapter 4 - The Attack of the Hill People - Thursday, June 7th

Chapter 5 - A Footpath in the Wilderness - Friday, June 8th

Chapter 6 - Hiking North - Saturday, June 9th to Friday, June 15th

Chapter 7 - The Home Front - Friday, June 15th 

Chapter 8 - The Smokies Saturday, Jun 16th to Friday, Jun 22nd

Chapter 9 - Town Visits - Saturday, June 23rd to Friday, June 29th

Chapter 10 - The Home Front II - Thursday, June 28th

Chapter 11 - The Resistance - Friday, June 29th to Wednesday, July 4th

Chapter 12 - Decisions - Thursday, July 5th to Tuesday, July 10th

Chapter 13 - Home Front III - Tuesday, July 10th

Chapter 14 - Gnobbit and Finn - Wednesday, July 11th to Saturday, July 21st

Chapter 15 - Home Front IV - Saturday, July 21st

Chapter 16 - Pushing North - Sunday, July 22nd to Thursday, July 26th

Chapter 17 - Part II

Chapter 18 - Waynesboro - Saturday, July 28th to Sunday, July 29th

Chapter 19 - Home Front V - Sunday, July 29th

Chapter 20 - Shenandoah - Monday, July 30th to Thursday, August 2nd

Chapter 21 - Home Front VI - Friday, August 3rd to Saturday, August 4th

Chapter 22 - Shenandoah II - Friday, August 3rd to Sunday, August 5th

Chapter 23 - Home Front VII - Sunday, August 5th to Monday, August 6th

Chapter 24 - Home - Monday, August 6th to Tuesday, August 7th

Chapter 25 - Assault on Weather - Tuesday, August 7th 

Chapter 26 - Many Partings - Wednesday, August 8th to September and beyond

The Wounding of Vixen

 

Vixen is our house.  We live in her.. She follows us around as we travel the country. Camping in the places that keeps us close to the earth.  

Last March. Vixen was wounded.  One of her tires fell off.  It was totally my fault.  This post is a lesson in maintaining your house or you may end up actually homeless for a time.

We were driving up I-81 on our way to Base Camp where we would prepare for our next gig as camp hosts at Cunningham Falls State Park.  It was a rainy, gray day and we were heading for our next Harvest Host location where we would spend the night before finishing this latest leg of our travels. 

I felt nothing out of the ordinary, but a car came up next to us, beeping alarmingly and pointed at the back of the trailer.  We quickly pulled over and got out to check it out.

This is what we found.

Failed Wheel Bearing

One of our wheels had fallen off.  Not gone flat. Fallen Off. We were about to become Homeless with three wheels.

We sat on the side of the highway for a few minutes, trying to figure out what to do next.  Of course, I immediately went into troubleshooting mode. We have road-side service with our insurance company, so that was the first item on the to-do list.  I called and give them my information and described our situation. They told me they would call back when they had found a tow for us.

I started searching the area for RV Repair places, not wanting to sit idle while every truck that came by shook and rattled our poor baby as we sat inside. I had lowered the stabilizers, but the the rear, driver side stabilizer had been damaged as the tire rolled out from under the trailer. 

I found an RV repair place about 15 miles up the road and he told me to bring it in.  He also mentioned that he could provide a tow if the insurance company has any trouble finding anyone.  

The rain had slackened and then quit as we waited.  Suddenly, we heard a knock on the door.  I came out to see a trucker walking back to his rig.  He opened his passenger door and pulled out my tire.  He told me that a fellow trucker had put out a heads up on the CB radio and he had located the tire and brought it to me.  I guess it wasn't too far back, but this was great.  The tire was still fine, but the wheel bearing had broken apart which was how the wheel had just come off. I had been planning to have the bearing re-greased when we got to camp, but I was at least a year late on the maintenance and apparently this is what happens when you defer maintenance too long. 

Eventually, the insurance company called back telling me that they couldn't find anyone to tow me.  I gave them the RV Repair information and in about another hour and a half, a tow truck showed up with the RV Repair guy.

They chained up the axle, hooked it up the the repairman's truck and headed out. We noticed that he was driving pretty fast, but thought he knew what he was doing.  Shortly after that, smoke started coming out of the other tire.  He pulled off the highway and they took their time re-chaining the axle.  This time he went slower and we had no trouble getting to his shop.

After a quick check of the damage we were told that we needed a new axle and it might be a five week wait for it to come in.  "Supply issues" due to COVID of course.

We checked into a local motel for the night to decompress and plan our next move and the next morning we went back to the shop and removed all we could of importance from the trailer and transferred some unneeded items from the truck.  

Sadly, we left Vixen in the lot as we headed north to Maryland. I called our volunteer coordinator at the park and told them we will be several weeks late for our camp host gig. No worries, she said.  Our spot would be waiting for us.

We spent a week at our daughters, then a couple weeks in Philly at Lisa's father's house. We were on our way to Cape May for another week or so when we got the call that the axle was in and they would have it ready in a few days. 

After a couple days at the shore, We headed back to Philly and I continued on the next day to VA.  I got a room about 45 minutes away from the shop and picked up our house the next day. I didn't even mind driving through some spring snow on the way down.

Snow

I checked out the repairs and talked to the mechanics about several different things.  I had all four tires replaced and the bearings greased. I once again reinforced in my head the importance of not deferring important maintenance for the trailer.  We now had better tires than we had, a new back axle and freshly greased wheel bearings.   

Everything was pretty much back in order and I headed out with our house behind me once again as it should be. 

I headed straight to the Campground and pulled into our camp host site. A week later, I went and picked up Lisa and Ginger and everything was pretty much back to normal after that. 

All fixed

An unexpected adventure that I prefer not to repeat in the future.  

Peace,
Homeless On Wheels
Adventures with Vixen

Campfires and Cooking

The Lure of a Campfire

For me, campfires have always been an important part of camping. I love the smell of the wood smoke, (unless it’s in my eyes). The dancing flames are the best hiker TV you can find, and the warmth is always welcome on a cool evening in the woods. 

Cooking on the fire has become a common occurrence in our camp. We started cooking meals on the fire shortly after starting RVing full time and plan to continue as long as we keep camping in areas that allow fires. 

So far, it hasn’t been anything elaborate. Usually chicken thighs, pork chops, turkey burgers or fish. We like to put corn on the cob, unshucked and soaked in water. The water turns to steam and cooks the corn as the leaves protect the kernels from being burned in the flames. 

People leave a lot of stuff behind when they are camping, so we have accumulated a few things that we could use. One is a small grill that is on legs that sits over the coals of the fire. At first we thought it would be too close to the flames, but we have found that it cooks pretty good if the flames have calmed down some. 

We make the fire and feed the logs in until we have a good bed of coals. Throw the grate on after spraying it with some pam and then place the meat on the grill. 

Gathering Wood

Processing wood has become a new hobby for me. I love gathering wood in the forest for the campfire. We have yet to purchase firewood on our travels. If I’m able to gather and process my own wood for free, that is what I’m going to do. I have a bow saw a hatchet and a 2.5 lb maul. I like to process the wood into sizes that will burn efficiently in the fire. If the log is too big, it takes a long time to burn and usually it doesn’t burn with a good flame. I will cut and split the wood in to a size that will burn well. 

When we were camp hosting, one of the benefits of cleaning camp sites is getting to collect the wood that the campers purchased and then left behind. We got a lot of wood that way during our time at The Manor. I would also collect the half burnt larger logs that were left in the firepit and burn them to ash in my firepit. Sometimes I would split the half burned stuff to make it burn a little better. 

There is nothing more comforting than staring into the dancing flames of a crackling fire that you have built. It is mesmerizing. The warmth is always nice and using the fire as a tool to cook a meal is the utmost in self reliance. 

Fire Starters

Usually we can get the fire started by saving burnable trash and using that to get the kindling going, but I have been making nice fire starters for quite a few years. 

They are simple and based on the cotton ball/petroleum jelly concept. I got the idea from a fellow bush crafter that I met on line several years ago. The recipe is simple. Take those round makeup remover pads and dip them in melted petroleum jelly. Let them cool off and put them in a tin or zip loc bag. I can usually get all the ingredients at a local dollar store. I but those foil pie tins to melt the PJ in and the makeup pads come in like a pack of 100. I have found that half a pad is usually good enough to get dry wood burning, so I cut them all in half before dipping them. 

The pad will burn for several minutes and you can even dip it in water before lighting it. The PJ makes the pad practically water proof. If I am trying to start a fire with damp wood, I might use two halves. You can even get them flaming with a fire steel. You just scuff the pad up a little to get something that will catch a spark and they will flame right up. 

A few years ago, I went a whole year or so, lighting dozens of fires and never used a match or lighter. It was just fire steel and the pads or natural tinder like broom sedge or birch bark. Bush crafting is another hobby of mine. I like to learn the primitive ways to thrive in a forest environment. 

Fire Safety

Fire making skills is an important part of bush crafting and camping. Even if you are in a trailer or other RV and staying in campgrounds all the time. It brings me close to nature. 
Of course fire safety is always of the utmost importance. I always check the fire danger in my area and will keep a good eye on the fire. Dousing it with water or dirt when I’m done is an important part of the process. Windy weather always makes me more cautious. 

A daily ritual of sharing marshmallows with Ginger

When I was long distance hiking, I didn’t make fires very often. Usually after walking all day up and down mountains, my energy was at a very low level at the day. What I usually did was set up camp, get water, eat dinner using a cook stove and go to bed or relax for a while. There were several times when I would gather wood with the intention of making a small fire before bed, but after doing the other chores, I was so spent that I didn’t have the energy to make the fire. The times that I did make a fire though, I never regretted. The magic of a fire is very rejuvenating. 

So, I will keep making those fires as we travel around the country. I’m sure there will be times when we are in places that don’t allow fires. Camp Lejeune, for instance, where we are at the time of this writing. They don’t allow any open fires or flames. I’m sure when we get out west, we will encounter other bans in the tinderbox of those western states. No worries. I’ll just wait for the next time were in a lush, damp forest and then I’ll stare into those flames and think about what I can cook on the fire next. 

Watching a Forest for a Season

 Living in a Forest

I consider myself somewhat of an outdoorsman.  I love being out in nature and experiencing the weather, the flora and the fauna as it goes about its business. For the first time in my life, I have spent the turning of the seasons, living inside a forest. Watching it change and come to life as the days grew longer and then shorter again. 

We arrived at the foot of Bob's Hill, part of Catoctin Mountain, at the end of March. Spring was getting underway, but still had some way to go.  The day we arrived a sleet that turned into a snow squall blew over the mountain and dropped the first flakes on my shoulders that I had avoided the whole of the winter.  

Site 15

We settled into Site 15. It was close to perfect.  The site was plenty big enough for the coach, and level.. There was a nice running stream named Muddy Run right behind the site that Ginger would use to cool herself off later in the season.  The bathhouse was just down the path and we really didn't have any close neighbors. 

Spring

The forest was still mostly asleep when we arrived.  We were at the base of a mountain and Spring was underway, but still coming on.  You could easily see through the whole campsite at this time, since the undergrowth hadn't started growing yet.  

Easy to see through the trees

Mayapple

Daffodils

The stream was running fast and full. Some of the trees were starting to bud and a few of the flowering type were sending out their blooms.  The forest felt like it was slowly waking up.

Summer

As the trees began to leaf out and the undergrowth came out, the campground started to close in.  Where we used to be able to see easily across the campground, was now just a wall of trees.  You had to actually walk around the camp to see all the sites and campers. 

Ferns

Ginger cooling in Little Hunting Creek

The stream slowed to a little more than a trickle, but was present the whole summer. 

With the warm weather, came the cicadas. Brood X was hatching and early on, we saw many signs of them coming out. Small holes in the ground under the leaves and one or two here and there.  This trickle soon became a torrent and the cute bugs with bulging red eyes took over the forest. Their cacophony filled the hillside and they were everywhere.  We enjoyed them being around.  They were harmless and fun to play with.. 

Cicada Love

Drawn to the only light source in the forest

I named this one Clyde

Lisa would pick up the ones that came dive bombing into camp and release them on a tree.  We would spend the next several minutes watching it climb to the top.  

Wildlife

From day one we started seeing several deer that lived on the hillside and routinely moved from up the hill through the camp to the open grass down below.  There were also several female turkeys that would walk through camp. Later their brood could be spotted moving from one campsite to the next, looking for bugs and scraps as they followed their mothers up the hill. The snakes and bears also came out as the season changed.  We started seeing different snakes. Garter and Black snakes at first. Then copperheads and rattlers.  I had a copperhead slither into my camp one day as Ginger and I were sitting outside enjoying a lazy afternoon.

Rattle Snake

Copperhead

Garter

On another day, Ginger and I were outside and i spotted a bear moving along the creek on the hillside above our camp.  It crossed the creek and passed about 100 feet away. When Ginger saw it, she started barking and scared it up the hillside.  It was an exciting experience.

I became proficient at picking up snakes with the tools the ranger game me and releasing them across the creek and up the hill.  

The forest came alive with the warm, summer weather.  

Relaxing by the fire

Our nomad garden

A Break From the Forest, Then Fall

In July, we left the Manor and went exploring in the general area, but we came back in late September and got to experience the forest changing from high summer to fall.

When we left, the wine berries were just getting ripe.  We had been waiting for them to get ready for several weeks. They are so good.  

Wine Berries

As the year moved on, the leaves started turning and falling and covered the forest floor with another carpet of leaves that would eventually add to the duff that helps nourish the plants and trees.

Fall arrives

The fall also brought out another insect. This one not as cute as the cicadas.  The dreaded stink bug.  These MF'ers got everywhere in their quest to avoid the colder weather. They found their way into our trailer and found all the places to hide.  Several months later, we are still finding their hiding places and throwing them out into the cold.  

The days became shorter and colder and when November rolled around, it was time to go.

The Circle of the Year

When we pulled out of site 15 in early November, Fall was in full swing and the forest was preparing to go back to sleep for the winter.  It was a very nice experience to see the forest go through its annual changes and to be sitting in the middle of it as it happened.  Everyone should spend a year and a day or some long part of a year inside a forest.  Just to see how it lives.  

Our flag display

Black Squirrel

Traveling Through Time With Spring

 The Longest Spring

As summer quickly approaches, I am reflecting on my spring this year.  It was the longest spring I have ever experienced in my days on this planet.  Traveling. First south, then west, then north, made the seasons do weird things.  

Heading South

When we left New Jersey in November, running from winter, we slowly moved south to try and avoid the cold weather and that white stuff. Personally, I like winter, but living in a trailer, very close to nature, made me want to try and lessen its impact for as long as possible.

North Carolina

We spent several weeks in North Carolina throughout the holidays, then drifted south, as we stayed on the Edge of Winter, eventually landing in Osceola National Forest in northern Florida for some real boondocking.  There is where I started to see signs of spring.  Two weeks outside St Augustine made the feeling of spring much more noticeable.  

Mushroom in Florida

Spring in Fits and Starts

We started seeing flowers and a few trees were budding around us.  We started moving west after that and spring would move back and forth as we moved to different areas of the southern US. We would see some redbud in the forest, move a little north and see it all over again.  One place would have spring progressing nicely, then we would move a little north or up in elevation and it would be like we had moved back in time. Once again, we would see the beginning of spring.

Redbud in Georgia

Back on the Edge of Winter

Eventually, we made our way back to Maryland to get ready for our Camp Host gig. We moved back in time a bit to get here.  Spring was once again just starting.  

The day after we checked into the Manor Campground, we were going through orientation and we looked out the window and it was snowing.  I had been proud of not having a snowflake fall on my shoulders all season, but here was an early spring snow squall to welcome us back to the north.  

Watching Spring Turn to Summer

We settled into our campsite and started being the stewards of the forest. We cleaned sites and helped the campers as spring came once again to where our wheels were parked.  This time spring stayed and now I would call it a wrap.  Summer is clearly upon us now.  

Traveling through time in the season of spring was fun and interesting.  I wonder how long I can keep fall going when we once again head out, finding adventure and avoiding the white stuff. 

Living on the Edge of Winter

Although I don't think we can be categorized as Snow Birds just yet, we have done a fair job of running from winter these last few months.  We seem to always still be on the edge, but we haven't seen even one snowflake this winter.  There has been frosty mornings, and chilling winds, but so far, winter hasn't caught us. 

Delaware State Forest, PA

Since we cast off on this adventure of full time RV living, we have bounced up into Maine in the early fall and then started moving back down.  First back to Maryland.  Then to Cape May, NJ for a month or so and then down to North Carolina, where we spent three Holidays on Camp Lejeune.  

Somewhere in NY

After that, we continued south slowly, always have a cold night from time to time to remind us that we weren't quite south enough yet.  Now we are in Northern Florida and this is probably as far south we are going, so it will have to do.  Thankfully it seems to be warming up here, even though we had an early morning freeze just the other day.  

Even in PA in September we experienced nights when the temperature would drop to or below freezing for several hours.  It never lasted long, but I re-learned that water freezes in a hose when it gets cold.  

Maine was still warm when we were there.  We never had a colder night than the mid forties while we were there. Cape May was also rather temperate, with only one night dropping into the high thirties.  

At Lejeune, we had several nights when the temperature would drop to freezing and stay there.  That is where I had the frozen hose experience.  

Frosty morning in VA

Cold Boondocking at Lejeune

Ginger shows another frosty morning in NC

Frozen Hose

In South Carolina and Georgia, we had a few cold nights, but it was just a part of the adventure.  

Foggy morning in the pasture

Personally, I don't mind a bit of winter during the season, but after a while, I notice that the sun warming my body is a very nice feeling.  LoGear would be happy if she never saw a temp below freezing again.  

Today is supposed to be somewhere in the 70s, but there is rain in the forecast.  I think we have finally moved away from the edge of winter and are now looking to the coming of Spring.  

Peace,

EarthTone and LoGear

Florida Sunrise