GTA
General Discussion To Gateway To Airguns => Back Room => : shadow April 15, 2010, 10:37:13 AM
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As many of you know I took a trip down to brother Gene's to absorb his and Bob's tuning tip's which were priceless along with visiting with some of my GTA brother's. Upon arriving at the bus stop in Anderson I was greeted by my brother Gene which I was meeting in person for the first time. I loaded up my gear in his Car and we were off and headed for Belton with his trusty dog Dee Dee introducing herself with some licks to the face along the way. Upon arriving at Genes spread I unloaded gear and got the layout of Genes ranch with a big back yard perfect for target shooting. Gene showed me his shop were the sweet tuning takes place and were I would be getting the inside tips on tuning. :) The day's and tunes passed by and each day it was getting to feel like home so much so that I didn't want to go back to MI. hehe. The morning's started with a cup of Java on the back deck with a beautiful sunrise, bird's chirping and a great smell in the air. We would then head to the shop and get into the tuning project's of the day every now and then taking a break to chat about tunes and check outside for Squirrels moving about. I had taken some Squirrels while down there some in the morning over Coffee and some just relaxing on the deck after a long day sipping a cold one and dropping a nutter from just about anywhere in his yard lol. We took our lunch in town at the local store, good eat's there or at the EL TITANIC and yes that's the name of the local Mexican restaurant hehe but they had some super food and the place didn't sink while we were there hehehe. I must say that Gene was a super host and I had a experience that I will remember for many years. I was treated like family and heck I was with some of my family down there. I also had the great pleasure of meeting Bob while down there and took a small drive to Bob's spread and spent some times talking tunes and checking out his squirrel rich yard hehe ask Bob about the nutter he took per the Wife's request. :o :) Bob had also made some trip's over to Gene's place to help out with some trigger work on some shooter's and we got together for pic's and hit the EL TITANIC to get a bite. Bob is another Gentlemen that was a great pleasure to meet for the first time, another golden memory for me. Another family member lives down south here and had called up to let us know that he was stopping in to meet me and I was happy to hear of his upcoming arrival. Tommy Cupples aka TCUP showed up at Gene's and had invited me to go up to his house in the mountain's, can't leave without going up there with him he said and he was right. :) By that evening we were headed up for the hill's with a quick stop by the store to pic up supplies we were headed into the hill's. Now I finally have a first hand look at what Bob and the others who had gone up to Tommy's mountain house were talking about. The dirt/rock road leading up to Tommy's place was like climbing pike's Peak at night with Tommy zipping back and forth on the switchback's and hard on the pedal to keep the momentum up as we climbed the steep grade. :o :D We made it to the top with a couple hail Marry's from me hehe and settled in for the night. Now Tommy's mountain house is something to behold just a beautiful home set up on top of the mountain and looking down at the world below. I spent a day and a half up at his spread and he took me on a tour of the wood's up there. We had camo'ed up and with shooters in hand headed for a hotspot to look for nutters along with his Dog Annie, great dog by the way. There had been a freezing rain storm that had passed through the whole area up there and had taking the top's out of all the tree's and I mean all of the tree's. The forest floor was covered in broken tree top's and limb's from this storm and made for a up and over trip as we moved through the wood's. We didn't spot one nutter anywhere not one and we deduced that the nutters had moved down to the lowland's since their food and homes were wiped out up here. :0 We did hear a Tom Turkey while hunkered down in the wood's waiting for a nutter and the Tom was close directly behind us. Abby Tommy's trusty guard dog warned us of the danger hehe and barked at the Tom and he moved on. Tommy treated me to great food and drink steak's on the grill and cold one's and some fine wine to wash down the fine food. The evenings were spent on the deck taking in nature's beauty which I never get tired of. We also did some scouting around on Tommy's 4x4 bikes and Tommy showed me some beautiful area's along wit some rare plant's.We would spend the evening's checking out the night sky full of star's and sipping some beverages of relaxation while warming the bones by the fire pit, don't get no better then that when your roughing it lol. My last day down south was kinda of a bummer since it really felt like home down there and I had the great pleasure of meeting some people that had been my family but had taken awhile to meet them. The kindness generosity and knowledge from these brother's of mine I will carry with me forever and long to return to my southern family. Thank you Gene for taking me into your home and shop and sharing your experience and friendship with me, your truly a brother of mine. Thank you Bob it was a real pleasure to meet you and gain from your experience and knowledge as well, another brother of mine. Tommy it a real experience meeting you bro, what a guy and what a place you have I had a time to remember up at your mountain house with you and your another brother that I will miss. I could go on and on about these brother's of mine and I'm truly blessed to have met each and everyone one of you. Each of you have giving me some great memories that I hold dear along with some pic's that I can look at and relive the great times. Thank you all for sharing your life with me I am a richer man for it. I now have to get to work hehe I have tunes finished and one's to be done but it sure is nice to work at something you enjoy ain't it. Her are some pic's of my adventures from brother Gene's to brother Tommy's place. Ed
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Great write-up Ed! Glad you had such a good time! I envy ya getting to spend time with the guys!
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I tell you Dave I'm a richer man for it. We come across special people in our lives and these guy's are some special brother's. I'm working on getting the Wife to head south for her vacation time hehehe. Ed
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WOW....SOUTH CAROLINA LOOKS LIKE A BEAUTIFUL PLACE. GOOD FOR YOU GUYS THAT CAN ENJOY THAT BEAUTY!!!
/GERALD
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I miss my second home already I tell you hehe. Ed
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Great account of your time in the South Ed !!!!
I'm sorry for not being able to come down to meet and greet you :o I'm just as sorry that I didn't meet Gene, Bob and Tommy !!!! What a Great family we have !!!
And thanks for the photos, real nice !!!!
Let us all know when you intend on going to Genes again so we can all try to get there and meet you !
Best of luck with you tuning business, and watch out for them squirrels :p
brother Bill
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Thanks brother Bill and it would have been super to meet you too bro. I'm already busy with some tunes hehe but it's a good thing. :) The Wife is looking at a vacation around July so I'm working on her now to head back down there. She's already been through all those states there and really likes it down there, a plus for me hehe. Ed
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Wow Ed, what wonderful account and pics thanks for sharing. Some great memories with good friends is hard to beat:) Tony.
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Hey Ed:
Glad you could make it. Annie and I enjoyed your visit. The wildflower is called Trillium - rare because it is a true three-petal flower. Come back any time!
TCups
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I had a super time Dave and Tommy I already have the wheels in motion bro. :o :) Ed
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Thanks for the Great story and pics brother Ed. I'm sure your time down south was too short. Y'all come back now, ya hear...(http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-cool.gif)
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It was great having you here Ed and we're looking forward to your return. I know that you have learned a lot in the short time that you were here and looking forward to see how you progress in the future. And of course we are always here for you ... and anybody else as far as that goes. Looking forward to your next visit.
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Thanks Dave and thank you Bob and don't be surprised if the Wife and I show up down there again hehe. Ed
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Ok, ok, ok, I give, I guess I'll have to make it out that way for one of the next shoots. Maybe I can time it just right and make it around the same time you make it again, that would be great!
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Great read,but you didn't give out any of the secrets of tuning. LOL Looks and sounds as if you had a good time.Seems that there are a great bunch of guys in S.C.
Gary
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jeez i was suprised at the size of gene, lol he is a big man !! pics with a air rifle the rifle looks like a toy lol !!! glad you had a good time , nothing like southern hospitality . david
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That was a very pleasent and enjoyable experince. All the that beautiful scenary and im out here in ny ,that mountain side was a pleasure to see. I,m glad and happy u enjoyed yourself and learned from the top best tuners around .I would love to live up there in the mountains,from my desk it surely smelled like real freedom......jorge
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Wow South Carolina looks nice. That was a good narrative Ed. It sounds like you had a good time with some good people.
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great write-up..... but WHAT !!!!! no pictures of the EL TITANIC........
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I had the time of my life down there with my southern brother's and Dano you better get down there next time bro would be great to meet you as well. No pic's of the EL TITANIC but it should still be floating on my next trip and I will get some pic's of it at dockside lol. Ed
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Great story Ed. I have had the great pleasure of meeting our SC brothers as well.. Gene, Bob and Tommy are great... Glad ya made it home safely.. I will call ya soon..
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You should have been there again bro Gene has a Rat in the stack of fencing in his backyard. Dee Dee his trusty airgun dog would take sometime each day to see if she could get it hehe. I'll be waiting on your call bro. :) Ed
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Looks like ya had a fine time. Man some mighty nice photo's and pretty country too boot!!!!
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That was a great read! Looks like a great tim was had by all. That would be a perfect vacation.Thanks for the story and pics.
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I'm still on S.C.time hehe, laid back and peaceful. :) Ed
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Great story! Upstate SC is a great place (I might be just a tad biased though (http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif)). I need to get over to Gene's and say hello, I've not met him and I don't live far away!
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Well Matt, I call this area where I retired my Paradise..:) The NC mountains block most of the harsh weather in the winter and we are so high up is SC that we get nothing from the coastal storms. Four seasons that are absolutly beautiful..:) What more could one ask for..:)
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It's like a different world down there and I loved it but couldn't get into the boiled peanuts lol sorry Gene hehehe. Ed
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shadow - 4/18/2010 5:36 PM It's like a different world down there and I loved it but couldn't get into the boiled peanuts lol sorry Gene hehehe. Ed
Don't feel bad Ed, It took me about 6 or 7 years in Florida before I liked 'em (http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif)boiled peanuts kinda grow on ya (http://../jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-surprised.gif)
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Boiled peanuts??? ... Huh, - never even heard of "boiled peanuts". - Might be great, but it doesn't sound it.