A wonderful couple of days and nights dancing in the NW woods of N. Carolina at Camp Seratoma. It was 'Spring Dance Romanace' weekend and the lineup for the dance could not of been better. For music there were two top tier bands playing, both Hotpoint String Band and Notorious are near the top of most peoples lists, add in that each one of them had Pokey sitting in on percussion and they both become even better. On the calling side you have George Marshall and Diane Silver sharing the duties and it is hard to find two better callers anywhere. So from the first dance on Friday night until the last one a few hours ago it has been a great weekend.

    I got there early on Friday afternoon and parked the rig out on the highway and walked in to see about a new place to park it for the weekend. Lucky for me I ran into the camp caretaker who said it would be fine for me to park along side the road just inside the gate to the highway. Plenty of room to pull off there and not to far of a walk to all the activities. It only took a short amount of time to set up and get everything ready for the weekend. I had a guest staying with me this weekend, Cathy, from Nashville, had asked if it would be okay if she stayed in the trailer instead of the cabins because the cabins leave a lot to be desired. So she got the usual deal I give to anyone who wants to stay, she got the bed and the front part of the trailer and I rode the couch for the two nights of the dance. By the way, that's the same deal everyone gets, unless you're a guy, in which case I get the bed and you get the couch. Which is actually quite comfortable since I take a lot of naps there on it.

    The first night started out hot right from the first. Lots of people at the dance that I have met over the years, so it was fun to see and dance with all of the women and say hello to all the men. A bit of an after dance party, but most people are usually pretty tired on Friday nights so it didn't last much past 1:30 in the morning.

    I slept in late on Saturday and Cathy and I had a pleasant brunch there in the trailer. Spent some time wandering around in the afternoon and took a few pictures of the 'squares' session that was going on. But mostly I just read my book and took another really nice nap.

      Saturday nights dance exceeded so many expectations. Hot music and calling and dancers that were having so much fun. The first 3 hours went by way to fast even though my feet, legs and lower back were starting to wear out by the end of that session. Afterwards they had a techno contra that went on for another 2 hours and then some 'Blues Dancing' after that. I didn't stay for most of that opting instead for a more traditional after dance party of alcohol and conversation. Lot's of wine and beer and even a bit of Steven's home brewed Bourbon. He has found a way somehow to make what looks and tastes like 15-20 year old bourbon in less than a year. It is really good stuff and he is nice enough to share a bunch of it with everyone when ever he goes to a dance. It is certainly potent though.

     It was nearly 3:00 a.m. this morning when the last of the party finally broke up. It didn't take long to walk back to the trailer and curl up on the couch. I was out like a light in less than 5 minutes. Would of been a great sleep except that somewhere around 6:00 the propane alarm started it's infernal screeching. I knew there was no propane leak having had this problem once before. Instead it goes off whenever the batteries get so low that there isn't enough left for anything in the trailer to work. Unfortunately the only way to get the alarm to stop is to charge up the battery, ie, go out and turn on the truck. As it was cold, dark and raining I refused to go out there in my skivvies and slippers so I opted for Plan 'B'.... throw all the clothes, blankets and assorted other things I could find on top of it and try to drown it out. It actually worked well enough to let me get back to sleep, but it was annoying enough that I didn't sleep very late.... that though was probably a good thing anyway.

     Some cereal and hot tea/coffee for breakfast and it was time to go up for the last dance session of the weekend. Both bands joined forces for the whole 3 hours and it was a truly amazing amount of music. It is hard to believe how fast the time went as we were having so much fun. Today was one of those days when everything just clicks. The music is fast and intense, the calling is tight and the dances flowing and the dancers are just functioning on pure energy. Brain cells were probably dieing by the millions as we were all so tired, but the endorphins had to be flowing through everyone at such a rate that we all just kept having fun until the very last note of the very last dance was played. Even the band members were up there on stage dancing and singing and playing like demons.

    Totally drained afterwards of course and even a bit of a let down. Hard to say goodby to some good friends whom I may not see for some time again. The nice thing though is knowing that eventually I'll run into them all again and once again be able to dance and have fun with them all.

  Right now though it is time to get back on the road again. Will only go until the next rest area because I'm pretty wiped out right now. A couple hours of reading maybe and then some much needed sleep. Will head on to Fayettville sometime in the morning where I'll check in to my usual RV park and start getting ready for the next dance. Lot's to still see in that area also, so I'll be looking for new things to do while there.