Digging Virginia part 1

Well we made our trip down to Virginia to meet up with other Dayton Diggers members that we were going to be relic hunting with. The trip down was a long one filled with more orange barrels and cones than I have seen in my intire life. And believe me...Ohio is not the only state filled with stupid and inconsiderate drivers. Road rage is an understatement in Virginia!...(and I'm referring to myself) But we made it to our destination unscathed and not one ticket (due to my lead foot lida disease! Of course if cars we equipped with ticket printers that automatically shot out a ticket every time a person cursed inside the car...well my Jeep liberty would have filled in no time! Anyway we arrived to the camp ground and were the first of few that got there early.
We found our group camp site and began to get set up. We unpacked the tent, unrolled it and then....stood there scratching our heads. I had only set this tent up two other times and one of those times was in the dark! After looking at the instructions and with the help of a few other Diggers members we managed to get it all set up. Then we were finally able to rest a bit.
It wasn't long until others began to trickle in.
Tim and his little buddy Floyd the Treasure hunting pug set up next to us. And we got the joy of meeting him and Tim. Then Doug from Middletown. Then in came Chris and his family. All the while the kids and I were mingling and watching every one get settled in.
I then got the idea that I would finally dig out the old camp stove and start our dinner.
And so began the battle... me VS. the camp stove. This stove is old mind you so It has no markings left on it for HI or LOW.
I hooked up the propane canister, turned it on, and turned on the burner. I was thinking how simple it is.....then I struck the match (oh yeah this is where AJ comes in...he is standing by the table as I go to light the burner) ....and woooosh!!! Up shoots a big flame...singing the tree branch above me and burning the hairs from Aj's arm. I got burner turned down and we started laughing at it all. Finally after adjusting and relighting the burner several times I finally managed to get our dinner fixed. After filling up on dinner of Italian sausage and Pork and beans, we did a little more mingling and talking to everyone as we waited for Steve Green (the founder of Dayton Diggers) to arrive. By that time Terry and Big Mike had arrived and were setting up camp. Nick and Suzanne had ventured over from their cabins to meet everyone. And Steve finally made it and he brought Mark and Ron. So everyone was there and all anxious to talk about the things they were hoping to find on the hunt the following day.
As Nine O'clock began to roll around we all ventured towards the meeting room where we proceeded to talk about the hunt we were going on the next day. After the meeting we went back to the camp site where some hung around the campfire, some were cooking hotdogs over the flame...me on the other hand, I was tired so I went and changed into my pj's and proceed to go to bed. Boy was that a bad Idea! I spread out my sleeping bag, unzipped it and crawled in oh so ready for a good nights sleep. I layed down and that was it right down on a pine cone. So I got back up moved my sleeping bag crawled bag in and !Ouch! another freakin pine cone....then a rock....then another rock! No matter where I put my sleeping bag I managed to lay on pine cone or rock. (all because I forgot to clear the ground before setting up the tent). I ended up laying my pillows end to end and sleeping on top of them....and I could still feel pine cones and rocks.
The next morning I awoke to the early morning call of nature. So after making my way to the bathrooms I came back to the campsite and began to fix breakfast.
Mind you I am the only one awake at this time. I got my stove all lit (without loosing my eyebrows or arm hair) and my skillet filled with bacon. As the bacon began frying the aroma was starting its creep across the campsite. I could almost see the tendrils as like in the old Scooby Doo cartoons when the aroma of a pizza came his and shaggy's way in the form of a hand beckoning them with a finger motioning them to follow. And one by one zippers on tents made their trademark zzzziiiiiiiiipppppp as heads began poking their heads out and noses where in the air sniffing the Bacon scent. Frying Bacon......the best alarm clock known to man (and woman).
Needless to say just about everyone ventured over to our campsite for a bite or two of bacon. Which was why I brought it. Chuck came over with the nectar of the gods COFFEE!!!! and I gladly excepted his offer of a cup. Brandon brought over home made snicker doodles (one of my favs) that his girlfriend sent with him. Everyone ate and yakked and then began getting geared up for the day of relic hunting.
After getting our morning under way we all mounted up with Manny in the lead to take us to the dig site. (Steve and Ron left earlier to get set up) So began our convoy to the dig site. We followed Manny for what seemed like forever until he finally pulled into a drive way.....and then he stopped and we were told he has missed a turn and so we all turned around and back we went for another time that once more seemed like forever until he turned into another drive way. At this point I was thinking yeah finally. And Aj and Lacey were getting all hyped up. And then I saw it....it was once again the wrong driveway and all of a sudden...BLAM we hit the biggest speed bump I have ever seen! This thing was big enough to have its own zip code! You guessed it we were lost. Poor Manny was not going to live this down that was for sure. He had lead us down the driveway to a gravel pit. All these workers looking at us like "who are these fools"? Finally Ben found the road with his Garmin and lead us to it and we were finally turning into the right driveway.
After getting our briefing as to where the property lines were, and the warning to make sure we had sprayed down with bug spray because of the threat of ticks...off we went to relic hunt for civil war artifacts.
My first target tone turned out to be nothing, then again nothing, finally I emerged in the clearing where the old home once sat. Everywhere I looked there was hunter orange Diggers T-shirts....seemed as though everyone had the same idea. There was room enough for everyone to hunt.
We hunted most of the day. The kids and I found a few things. I found an old chain, a brass funnel type pieces, some old square head nails, barbed wire fence, a few old bottles and some other odds and ends. Lacey found a piece of a two man saw, some bottles and odds and ends. Aj poor Aj hadn't found nothing but some old cans and fence pieces. But overall we had a blast.
There were some good finds throughout the group that were Civil War related, some 2 ring bullets, a few buttons, some buckles, and horse shoes. Manny found A colt hand gun.
Later that night back at the camp.....Lacey and I had decided to get our showers in. I came out of the shower and knocked on lacey's shower door to see if she was about done and she flung the door open and screeched "I have a tick on me!!!! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!!! eeewwwww gross!. I looked at it and found it to have dug in to her skin. So we went back to camp and told Manny and Brandon of her predicament and they proceeded to work on her to get the tick out in tact which they did. They cleaned up the bite and she and I went and sat by the campfire to relax. Then Manny came over and proceeded to instruct me on what to look for around the tick bite, and if I were to find it still bleeding or find red rings around it to get her to a doctor ASAP. All the while Lacey was sitting there listening and her eyes where getting wider and her face was that of fear.....Manny looked at her and said "I'm not trying to freak you out or anything"...to late she was freaking. Anyway in case you all are worried..Lacey is just fine no red rings or fever of any kind.
So that about wraps up the first day's hunt. Come back tomorrow to find out how the the kids and I fared on day two of Digging Virginia.