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    • odd man out wrote:

      socks wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      socks wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      just finished the new biography of the Wright Brothers by McCullough. Great story. Before that I read the definitive guide to Tajikistan and Pamir Mountains so I'm all set to go trekking there. By all accounts it among the world's most spectacular, remote, and undiscovered hiking destinarion.
      that wright brothers book is on my wish list, I've been trying to get to kitty hawk for years, maybe this'll be the year.
      If you do go, after you tour the museum, take a hike up to the top of Jockey's Ridge (giant sand dune) for a 360 degree view and to see the hang gliders fly. Then if you have time go to Cape Hatteras and climb the light house. If you still have time take the ferry from there to Ocracoke Island to get out of the crowds.
      Thanks for the itinerary, always nice t have some idea of what and where to go. Were only about 40-50 miles up the beach when on Vaca, so I'm hoping it'll happen this year (but it's difficult to get 10 of us on the same page) if not, have a friend who just bought a house in the area, so better than good odds for me to come back to the area for a visit.
      years ago we rented a beach house on the outer banks for vacation. If you want quiet there is a lite section in the middle of Hatteras island that is a small community of rental properties. It's about half way between Kitty Hawk to the north and Hatteras to the south with only undeveloped National Seashore in between.
      We used to rent a cottage in Rodathe. There are Waves, Rodathe and Salvo, Right in the middle of the island. That was in the early 70's however!
      Pirating – Corporate Takeover without the paperwork
    • jimmyjam wrote:

      socks wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      just finished the new biography of the Wright Brothers by McCullough. Great story. Before that I read the definitive guide to Tajikistan and Pamir Mountains so I'm all set to go trekking there. By all accounts it among the world's most spectacular, remote, and undiscovered hiking destinarion.
      that wright brothers book is on my wish list, I've been trying to get to kitty hawk for years, maybe this'll be the year.
      If you do go, after you tour the museum, take a hike up to the top of Jockey's Ridge (giant sand dune) for a 360 degree view and to see the hang gliders fly. Then if you have time go to Cape Hatteras and climb the light house. If you still have time take the ferry from there to Ocracoke Island to get out of the crowds.
      And while in Ocracoke, make sure you eat at the Back Porch. Unless it's changed since 2007 it KICKS ASS!

      backporchocracoke.com/Back_Porch/Home.html
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • Grinder wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      socks wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      just finished the new biography of the Wright Brothers by McCullough. Great story. Before that I read the definitive guide to Tajikistan and Pamir Mountains so I'm all set to go trekking there. By all accounts it among the world's most spectacular, remote, and undiscovered hiking destinarion.
      that wright brothers book is on my wish list, I've been trying to get to kitty hawk for years, maybe this'll be the year.
      If you do go, after you tour the museum, take a hike up to the top of Jockey's Ridge (giant sand dune) for a 360 degree view and to see the hang gliders fly. Then if you have time go to Cape Hatteras and climb the light house. If you still have time take the ferry from there to Ocracoke Island to get out of the crowds.
      And while in Ocracoke, make sure you eat at the Back Porch. Unless it's changed since 2007 it KICKS ASS!
      backporchocracoke.com/Back_Porch/Home.html
      redneck burger with fries and a PBR at SmackNallys is my standard
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference
    • rhjanes wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      socks wrote:

      jimmyjam wrote:

      socks wrote:

      odd man out wrote:

      just finished the new biography of the Wright Brothers by McCullough. Great story. Before that I read the definitive guide to Tajikistan and Pamir Mountains so I'm all set to go trekking there. By all accounts it among the world's most spectacular, remote, and undiscovered hiking destinarion.
      that wright brothers book is on my wish list, I've been trying to get to kitty hawk for years, maybe this'll be the year.
      If you do go, after you tour the museum, take a hike up to the top of Jockey's Ridge (giant sand dune) for a 360 degree view and to see the hang gliders fly. Then if you have time go to Cape Hatteras and climb the light house. If you still have time take the ferry from there to Ocracoke Island to get out of the crowds.
      Thanks for the itinerary, always nice t have some idea of what and where to go. Were only about 40-50 miles up the beach when on Vaca, so I'm hoping it'll happen this year (but it's difficult to get 10 of us on the same page) if not, have a friend who just bought a house in the area, so better than good odds for me to come back to the area for a visit.
      years ago we rented a beach house on the outer banks for vacation. If you want quiet there is a lite section in the middle of Hatteras island that is a small community of rental properties. It's about half way between Kitty Hawk to the north and Hatteras to the south with only undeveloped National Seashore in between.
      We used to rent a cottage in Rodathe. There are Waves, Rodathe and Salvo, Right in the middle of the island. That was in the early 70's however!
      Those towns are still there
      Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory.
      Dr. Seuss Cof123
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      I'm thinking about reading the Genghis Khan series by Conn Iggulden. Has anyone read it?
      I've read two from his 'Emperor' series.

      Just finished Nelson Demille's 'Up Country'. I enjoy the biting humour displayed by his lead characters.

      Lest we forget.....



      SSgt Ray Rangel - USAF
      SrA Elizabeth Loncki - USAF
      PFC Adam Harris - USA
      MSgt Eden Pearl - USMC
    • Toli wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      What are you reading right now?I'm listening to All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's set in WW II and is really good.I'm also reading Marriage Can Be Murder, an entertaining, English mystery also set at the beginning of WWII.


      Check out "Billionaires Vinegar"...
      Some of y'all might appreciate this. From The Billionaires Vinegar;

      "(Thomas) Jefferson felt North Carolina had come the furthest in developing as a wine producer, and that its Scuppernog grape had yielded America's first 'exquisite wine, produced in quantity'."
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      What are you reading right now?
      I'm listening to All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's set in WW II and is really good.
      I'm also reading Marriage Can Be Murder, an entertaining, English mystery also set at the beginning of WWII.
      WWII stuff for me too. Just got a load of used books from Amazon, among them Prisoner #7 Rudolph Hess and Spandau the Secret Diaries. They give me an overwhelming urge to get outside.
    • Harry Turtledove's latest, Bombs Away: The Hot War.

      Alternative history if you haven't seen me mention Turtledove before. In this most recent novel (not sure if it's the beginning of a series or a stand alone), Truman nukes the Chinese shortly after they jump into the Korean War. Things escalate quickly.
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • If you like history, I think you'll enjoy his work. He'll change one event in history and go forward from there.

      A stand alone novel (many thought it was part of/a forerunner to another series but it wasn't) that was my first exposure to him is Guns Of the South.

      The first series I read was The Great War series (which became the first in a series of series all with the same storyline continuing--I never got the purpose of breaking them up but I didn't really care), which began with How Few Remain.

      Link to the series in order:

      goodreads.com/series/49227-timeline-191
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • I finished Bombs Away a few days ago. Up to par with Turtledove's usual quality storytelling. It is MOST DEFINITELY the start of a series.

      I just last night finished W.E.B. Griffin's latest (book 12) in his Badge of Honor series. Deadly Assets is the title. As usual with Griffin it kept my attention even with the innerwebz staring me in the face. Knocked it out quickly. Sadly it takes a LOT for a book to do that now, which says a lot about this one that it held my attention. Usually those damned shiny squirrels get me.

      Last night I tried yet another alternative history novel by a guy named Billy Bennett. The title was By Force of Arms. Don't bother. I deleted it from the Kindle before I even got fully through the setup for the main story. It's another one where the Confederacy wins its independence. That scenario can be made to seem plausible and can be done very well, as Turtledove proved. Mr. Bennett, not so much. So many things wrong with it, it would pain me to list them all. Just don't bother.
      Do your duty in all things. You cannot do more, you should never wish to do less. - Robert E. Lee
    • Foresight wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      I'm thinking about reading the Genghis Khan series by Conn Iggulden. Has anyone read it?
      Since you like audio books do yourself a favor and go to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast and download the five part "Wrath of the Khans" and listen to that instead.
      Downloading now. I decided the Conn Iggulden books weren't for me.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • After listening to Wrath Of The Khans, I need something light so I'm going to read the latest Ruth Downie book. She writes a mystery series about a Roman army medic.

      If you like that sort of thing, Lindsey Davis also writes a series set in Ancient Rome that I really like.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • I'm trying to read The Journals of Lewis and Clark on my Kindle. It's really difficult to follow. It seems that paragraphs are in the wrong place. Here is the end of one paragraph and the beginning of another:

      "This delay was Napoleon's second gift to American expansion.
      Page xxxix
      which Mackenzie expected to become the route between the beaver country and the Pacific."

      It doesn't make sense

      I'm also reading Larry McMurty, Anything for Billy. A fictionalized account of Billy the Kid. Normally, I like Larry McMurty but I'm having trouble getting into this book. It's mostly inaccurate and the situations and characters seem over-exaggerated and unbelievable.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      I'm trying to read The Journals of Lewis and Clark on my Kindle. It's really difficult to follow. It seems that paragraphs are in the wrong place. Here is the end of one paragraph and the beginning of another:

      "This delay was Napoleon's second gift to American expansion.
      Page xxxix
      which Mackenzie expected to become the route between the beaver country and the Pacific."

      It doesn't make sense

      I'm also reading Larry McMurty, Anything for Billy. A fictionalized account of Billy the Kid. Normally, I like Larry McMurty but I'm having trouble getting into this book. It's mostly inaccurate and the situations and characters seem over-exaggerated and unbelievable.
      If you have not already read it, you might find Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West / Stephen E. Ambrose easier to follow.
      The road to glory cannot be followed with much baggage.
      Richard Ewell, CSA General
    • Astro wrote:

      TrafficJam wrote:

      I'm trying to read The Journals of Lewis and Clark on my Kindle. It's really difficult to follow. It seems that paragraphs are in the wrong place. Here is the end of one paragraph and the beginning of another:

      "This delay was Napoleon's second gift to American expansion.
      Page xxxix
      which Mackenzie expected to become the route between the beaver country and the Pacific."

      It doesn't make sense

      I'm also reading Larry McMurty, Anything for Billy. A fictionalized account of Billy the Kid. Normally, I like Larry McMurty but I'm having trouble getting into this book. It's mostly inaccurate and the situations and characters seem over-exaggerated and unbelievable.
      If you have not already read it, you might find Undaunted Courage : Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West / Stephen E. Ambrose easier to follow.
      Thanks, I plan to read it. I decided to read the Journals first but may have to skip it until I have the physical book.
      Lost in the right direction.
    • Undaunted Courage is number three in the que. I have a sci fi/fantasy book on hold at the library that sounds entertaining. It's called The Blade Itself.

      "The Blade Itself features reluctant heroes, black humor, and breathtaking action. Seemingly a novel of contrasts, The Blade Itself is defined by its cast: a philosophical Barbarian who hates to kill, a dashing hero afraid to fight, and a crippled torturer with a heart of gold." :)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • TrafficJam wrote:

      Undaunted Courage is number three in the que. I have a sci fi/fantasy book on hold at the library that sounds entertaining. It's called The Blade Itself.

      "The Blade Itself features reluctant heroes, black humor, and breathtaking action. Seemingly a novel of contrasts, The Blade Itself is defined by its cast: a philosophical Barbarian who hates to kill, a dashing hero afraid to fight, and a crippled torturer with a heart of gold." :)
      I love this book already. Here's what he says about his cookpot;

      "There was a tattered blanket snagged on a branch, wet and half caked in grime. Logan pulled it up, and grinned. His old, battered cook pot was underneath...It felt safe, familiar, dented and blackened from years of hard use. He'd had that pot a long time...They had all cooked in it together, out on the trail, all eaten out of it...'It's just you and me now', said Logan...Just the two of them. Him and the pot. They were the only survivors." :)
      Lost in the right direction.
    • I'm reading The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. It's a sci-fi series. Different, it's an earth based sci-fi with witches and talking bears and at a time when people are behind us in their technology, but it seems to be in the future.
      "Dazed and Confused"
      Recycle, re-use, re-purpose
      Plant a tree
      Take a kid hiking
      Make a difference