Glenn Wheeler’s

This morning finds me at a Microtel in Kingsland, Georgia eating a Sausage McGriddle and waiting for laundry to dry.  I’m still on the road and should make it to Crossnore, NC this evening.  Crossnore is where I’ll be taking the week-long high angle rescue course that I will also be photographing for Outdoor Life.

It’s been a great trip so far and I will update with more details and some images later.  But, to summarize; I spent two days in North Alabama, near Scottsboro, for fishing and photography for PRADCO fishing brands.  While in the area, I got to visit somewhere I have wanted to visit since Jr. High, The Coon Dog Cemetery.  It’s the only one in the world and I can remember reading about it when I was a kid and thinking “someday….”  Anyway, more on that later.

I also hit the Unclaimed Baggage store, which is worth a visit as well.

After Alabama, I headed south, WAY south.  About half way down the Florida pennisula to Punta Gorda (almost two hours south of Tampa).  I was in Punta Gorda for a mid-year board meeting for the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association.  I’m Second Vice President of the group and surrounded by a great Board of Directors!  Our annual conference will be held in Punta Gorda this year and should be fantastic!!  Incidentally, we settled on our next three conference sites while at the meeting.  Next years (for which I will be the chairman) is in Huntsville, Alabama.  Right up where I just was.  After that, we’ll be in Branson, MO in 2011 and Johnson City, TN in 2012.

Yesterday, I left Punta Gorda and took my time coming up Florida, actually coming back via a slightly different route, coming up through St. Petersburg.  I crossed the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (see images below).  It’s a very cool bridge, and at 5.5 miles, is the longest bridge in the world that uses a cable-stayed main span.  It opened in 1987 and replaced an older bridge on the same spot that was the site of a disaster in 1980 when a ship hit it, causing a large portion of the span to fall into the water, taking cars and even a Greyhound bus with it, 35 died.

Current Sunshine Skyway bridgeCurrent Sunshine Skyway bridge in the fog

So today, it’s on to Crossnore, NC to check in.  We begin training and photographing tomorrow.  The weather is calling for rain for the next few days with some possibility of snow thrown in.  I’ll try and update later….

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