On this trip, July 26, 2006, we were about to head out and I soon found that all of the 7 people (three families) on the boat were Pinellase County, FL residents. I told them I was from the area as well and they found that very entertaining. As soon as I told them this a tall 6' 7" man, followed by his family, was coming down the dock headed towards our boat. I asked them if they knew who that was coming. They had no idea, so I informed them that the family was Rick Backer's, the mayor of St. Pete (Pinellase County.) They instantly recognized the Mayor and found the coincidence very amusing.

The picture above is Providence shadowing Mayor Rick Backer. A very funny picture.

Here I am doing some volunteer work for the Appalachian Trail. One of the big reasons I wanted to move was to be closer to nature and enjoy the outdoors. I actually found Fontana because of backpacking... So it's kind of like I'm thanking the trail by keeping it clean.
Yesterday I did 10 miles of trail maintenance. Actually 5 miles of maintenance, but I had to walk ten miles.

What a weekend! After doing some trail maintenance on the Appalachian Trail, I spent the remainder of the Fourth of July weekend with friends from Florida and Georgia.
Kenny, William, Jym, John and I headed out on a boat up Hazel Creek into the Smokies for a couple nights, and then back out on Fontana Lake to one of the island campsites. Besides smelling the Boater's crap upon docking, it was a blast. We did a lot of swimming and jumping off ginormous rock croppings from the once mountain side, but now shoreline of Fontana Lake.
You can check out more photos of the trip here..