Tuesday. October 3th, 2023 – And the déjà vu continues.

We are in Marion, Virginia at the Hungry Mother State Park, and seriously, yes, that’s the name.  The story, as I (and Google) remember it, was that a small child was found wandering in the woods and all she could say is, “Hungry mother.”  And, alas, when the mother was found she was dead.  The mother was Molly Marley, and she and the child had been captured and then escaped from some raiding Indians.

The déjà vu part is that I stayed at this park when my buddies Tim and Guy and I rode down the Back of the Dragon from Tazzewell, VA to right here in Marion back in 1970-something.  Me on my 1970 Triumph chopper, Guy on his (year?) BMW, and Tim on a (year?) Ducati.  At least I think it was about then.  I actually have some mini-audio tapes of that trip somewhere.

The Park is very nice, and I don’t remember anything about it. I expect it has changed a bit over the past 50+ years.  As have I.

Brother Greg met us here in Marion as his house in Sparta, NC is only about 90 minutes from here.  That was nice to have one last “good-bye” for the trip.  Goodness only knows when we will see each other again.  Or any of my other brothers or my sister Natalie.  The backside of the getting-old-mountain is getting steeper and slipperier.

BTW:  Marion, VA is named after Francis Marion, the “Swamp Fox” of Revolutionary War fame.  And, if you didn’t know already, my Great-grandfather, Francis Marion Angelo, was named after him also.

My, his fame do get around.

BTW:  There is a lady named “Jane Butler” buried in the graveyard at Georgie’s birthplace home (not Mt. Vernon).  Someone should look her up and see if she is related to the Butlers and Yancys and Stringfellows on my mother’s side of the family tree.  Wouldn’t a link to Georgie Washington’s family be neat!

That’s it.  See you on the flip.

Rusty Pistons