Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Sandwiches, 'Shine, and the Space/Time Continuum


"Never let the lack of a sandwich stop you from having fun."

Unable to find a flaw in his logic, I accepted Chris' generous offer to assemble a stream-side snack for me. We had crashed, for the night, at a convenient inexpensive hotel in blustery Boone, sandwiching a night's slumber between a day on the Watauga and one scouting new Caldwell and Wilkes county trout waters. He was digging through his larder, preparing for the next day, and took pity on me and my cuisine de Clif.

With little in the way of a coherent narrative, I simply offer these three disparate images from the outing. A bonus photo bin, of sorts. The first pretty much speaks for itself - a warm, dry night's sleep under the 8.

The next day's scouting landscape was miles and miles of country road, winding through the foothills of the Appalachians, small streams running just beyond each guardrail.

This image's yesteryear filter seemed appropriate as the roadside view has probably changed little since the 40s when 'shine runners barreled through these passes, revenuers hot on their heels. This is, after all, a backfire away from the birthplace of NASCAR - a country lap or two from the old North Wilksboro Speedway - and it's early stars spent their night jobs running wide open through these hills.

We were looking for trout, but they proved as elusive as the feds had found those flying flathead 8s - those lightning loaded 'forty Ford coupes - smelling of corn.

The final shot was taken by Chris who pointed the camera at me but somehow cracked the space/time continuum and captured an image of my father, an old dirt tracker himself, hat-head and all. Not bad for a guy who also makes a mean summer sausage and crisp cheddar on hard roll sandwich. The banana chip and peanut trail mix wasn't bad either.

No one eats better on the stream than Chris. No one.

Thanks buddy.

11 comments:

Clif said...

cuisine de Clif? Should I be insulted?

Mike Sepelak said...

HA! No reason to be insulted., Clif as in Clif Bars. I live on them on the stream.

Sanders said...

I'm surprised there wasn't mention of Mountain Dew...

The space/time continuum...thanks for the glimpse.

...Really enjoyed your article in Bloodknot! Good stuff my friend.

Mike Sepelak said...

Oh, Mt. Dew is a given around here. Can you say "addiction"?

cofisher said...

I enjoyed this look at your travels and discussion of road trip cuisine. Friends like Chris can keep you from starving to death.

Mike Sepelak said...

... or at the very least from eating yet another generic energy bar. Spot on Howard!

Mark Coleman said...

That looks like old hwy 176 between Saluda and Tryon.

Mike Sepelak said...

It looks like a lot of the Appalachian foothills, though the stretch pictured is a good bit north-east of the area you refer to. They both, though, look a lot like what we love about this state. Thanks Mark!

Chris said...

New water... God's gift to dilettantes like us. And don't sweat the image of your father... I get the same thing all the time. I'm just thankful I haven't devolved into a right-wing conspiracy theorist...

Brk Trt said...

Those mighty flathead 8's.
Summer sausage and cheddar, the man can put one together.

Mike Sepelak said...

New water... God's gift to dilettantes like us. Ain't that the truth! Thanks, Chris.

And he sure can put one together, BT. Good eatin'.