Traveling Hat!!!!!

[RBH]

... except the package was missing one of the DVDs. ....

Did you watch the film C?
I loved it!!!!

 

[CRH]

Did you watch the film C?
I loved it!!!!

Actually, I had it on while doing chores around the house so I didn't follow the plot very close. My wife was getting a total kick out of it though!

Some very cool Panamas (Bakus ?) in there. That alone is worth a look.

 

[Spats McGee]

. . . . Dont know if Craig told you or not.. but punch that thing out. And put your own crease in it.
By the time it gets to the last post, it will be 'broke' in.

I mentioned rebashing it, and despite my best assurances, my wife was unconvinced that I'm allowed to do so. lol For the moment, I just hung it on my wall, bashed as I got it, but I am going to recrease it.

I've got some ideas as to where we can take it in LR, but I'll keep those to myself until I post the pics. I haven't watched the DVD, but I really enjoyed reading the diary.

 

[Spats McGee]

I've now had the Traveling Hat for 8 days, so I'll put it in the mail to the next gent on the list on Monday. I hadn't intended to keep it more than a week, but I didn't get around to getting any pictures until today.

When the TH arrived, it had the telescope bash that CRH had put in it. Using distilled water, I popped it back to open crown then let it dry. It took me a couple of days to get around to reshaping it, but when I did, I put it in a teardrop. This is a nice piece of felt. I had always thought the Squatter was too much brim for me, but I've sure enjoyed this one. I might have to rethink them.

​

Anyway, between work and chores and family, I just didn't have time to get any pictures taken during the week. After seeing CRH's pictures, I considered taking the Traveling Hat to the Clinton Library. I thought it might be a nice touch. You know, give the TH some continuity on its journey. Then I remembered that the Clinton Library looks like a big ol' double-wide down on the river . . .

My daughter had come home all excited about the Nature Center that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission runs down in the River Market district of Little Rock, so we decided to go there. It's air conditioned. It's been over 100*F in Little Rock, so a/c was a must for wearing fur felt. So, hat on head, camera in hand, off we went.

​

The Nature Center was very interesting. It had everything from live (& large) catfish to interactive maps on the habitats of alligators in Arkansas. For those of you unfamiliar with Arkansas, two of our big outdoor sports are fishing and duck hunting. There were some old pictures of fisherman at the Nature Center that I thought I'd share. I had to take the pics through glass, but I think they turned out OK.

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(I don't know why the last picture was entitled The Woods of Maine.)

Here's an old picture of Claypool Reservoir:

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I've never seen ducks like that myself, but I sure would like to!

One of the other exhibits at the center was a trapper's shack. There's not a lot of trapping here any more, at least not to my knowledge. They trapped bobcat, coyote, fox, all sorts of stuff, including:

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This was the first time I'd ever handled a beaver pelt. Wow! No wonder they were highly prized. The fur was unbelievably soft. (My wife thought I was going to get us arrested by trying to sneak it out of there.)

To be continued in the next post.

 

[Spats McGee]

Now, this is Arkansas, so you had to know that we'd trap:

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I betcha could make hats outta that, too . . .
After the Nature Center, my wife suggested that we take a trolley ride, so off we went:

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Little Rock and North Little Rock (two cities separated by the Arkansas River) started up this trolley system a few years back, but I'd never been on them before. They use either restored trolleys, or some that are just made to look that way. I don't know which, but they're really, really cool!

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Fortunately, they're also air conditioned. It cost a grand sum of $2.50 for Mrs. McGee and our daughter to ride one loop on the route that the trolley takes, which goes from the River Market, north over the river, loops through the old section of North Little Rock (formerly Argenta), and back into Little Rock.

We had a great time, and I was grateful to have a nice hat to wear. Maybe we'll watch the DVD tonight, but it's time for the Traveling hat to move along.

 

[Neophyte]

Very cool! I've always enjoyed this thread!

...I know what you mean about the brim, though. My Squatter used to be too much brim for me, but:

Enjoy that hat, and good luck to you all. I live vicariously through this thread!

 

[RBH]

Thanks for the photos Spats!!!
Enjoyed the trip !

 

[CRH]

Great times, Spats! I really dig the old photos of the fish'n fedoras. There were a few old fedora photos on our little outing too.

Not too much brim for you, I think. :eusa_clap

Next stop for the Traveling Hat is Ohio for a rendezvous with Tango Yankee.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Looking forward to it! :eusa_clap

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Spats McGee]

Tango Yankee,
The Traveling Hat is 10-8 to yer 20.

Wear it in good health.
Spats

 

[Tango Yankee]

The Traveling Hat has arrived in Southern Ohio!

It was delayed somewhat at the post office. The rural carrier who delivers on Saturdays brought it to me. She said she was told it had been there for a while, which they knew was unusual. Normally they expect me to be ringing the doorbell on the back door the next morning before they open up to pick up my package! Apparently the carrier who first brought it out to my house forgot to put a package slip in the mailbox after coming up the drive and honking to see if anyone was home.

But I have it! I was a bit surprised at how many people the hat has visited--I was under the impression it was more than it actually has been. It is a bit large on me but not appreciably so, possibly due to the usual Akubra sweatband tendency to shrink a bit. I'll measure it to see what size it is currently before sending it out again.

I will probably have it for a bit over a week so that next weekend my wife can take some photos of the hat and I together. I'll wear it as I go about my duties as an IT field technician in the meantime. I'm tentatively planning on taking photos of the hat at a house Roy Rogers lived in for a while as a boy on a road called Duck Run (same road our current governor lived on when he was growing up) and the statue in the Roy Rogers Esplanade and in front of the flood wall murals, specifically the one with Roy Rogers depicted.

So that's the plan... oh, and to watch the DVD as well!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[RBH]

Cool news Tom!!! :eusa_clap
Look forward to seeing it in action in O-HI-O !!!!

 

[Tango Yankee]

Wore the Traveling Hat to work the last two days, so it's been to our campuses in Jackson and Chillicothe. Tomorrow it will see the New Boston campus and Friday it might see the Lancaster campus. (Hmmm... I should have brought a camera with me to work to get photos of it outside of each campus! :eusa_doh: )

Didn't get any reaction to it until today, when one of our students commented with "Nice hat!" Of course, they're all used to seeing me wearing hats so it's just a routine sight for them.

I just measured the hat using a hat measuring tool (two different ones, actually) and one comes up with it as being slightly larger than a 7 3/8 and the other puts it at 7 3/8 / 59. I didn't think it fit me like a 60 should!lol

My wife is up in Huron County doing an audit, but last night told me we needed to make a day of it this weekend to go out taking pictures.

We're going to Charleston, SC on vacation the week of Labor Day, but the hat should be long gone from here by then!

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Neophyte]

Hmmm...I'm a size 59...hmmmmm

 

[theinterchange]

I wish I had signed on for this, it looks like a ton of fun. Really enjoying the pics, guys!

Randy

 

[Tango Yankee]

Well, the time I'd planned to spend driving around with my wife to the various sites and taking photographs didn't pan out weather-wise--it was dumping down rain as thunderstorms rolled through. Tomorrow I won't be able to leave the house and my wife will again be out of town during the week. So, with everyone's kind indulgence, I will retain the hat for another week so as to be able to obtain the photos next weekend.

In a related note, I was looking over the hat a bit more closely when I realize that there is a bump on the right side of the hat under the ribbon. It's round. I looked on the other side, and sure enough, peaking over the center of the bow is a grommet. It still has the bit of felt in the middle of it. I'm going to guess that this is for a stampede string. Does anyone know for sure?

Regards,
Tom

 

[Wildblue]

Interchange, I don't know if it's too late yet. Read the original post for instructions, and you might be able to still contact the powers-that-be to get in on this.

If nothing else, I'm going to be in Orlando myself in the first 2 weeks of January, and would be happy to get the hat either to or from Randy at that point, if we worked him into the rotation.

Specifically, it would work very well to pick up the hat from him in Orlando at the beginning of January, and bring it back with me overseas.

 

[CRH]

Interchange, I don't know if it's too late yet. Read the original post for instructions, and you might be able to still contact the powers-that-be to get in on this.

If nothing else, I'm going to be in Orlando myself in the first 2 weeks of January, and would be happy to get the hat either to or from Randy at that point, if we worked him into the rotation.

Specifically, it would work very well to pick up the hat from him in Orlando at the beginning of January, and bring it back with me overseas.

I see no reason not to get Randy in on this if he's interested. The powers-that-be can be contacted at [email protected].

Objections can be voiced here or at the powers-that-be.

So, has anybody seen the hat lately? Tango Yankee? MCrider?

 

[MCrider]

The Traveling Hat hasn't made it to the mountains of West Virgina yet. But I keep waiting by the mailbox for something good!

 

[Tango Yankee]

On it's way soon!

Working on getting it into the mail, MCrider!

Thought I'd be able to go out and about last Saturday to have my wife take photos of the hat and I, but unbeknownst to me the social director had made plans for us to have two of our granddaughters over the weekend, plus more family showing up Sunday for the oldest granddaughter's birthday part. Result was a bit of a rush to get some photos Sunday evening after dropping off the girls.

Portsmouth, Ohio, is the county seat of Scioto County. It's primary tourist attraction is a floodwall with a series of murals painted on it, commemorating great events or great people associated with the area. Due to lack of time we only took a few photos of myself wearing the traveling hat in front of the wall.

The three men portrayed in the photos are Roy Rogers, Branch Rickey, and Jim Thorpe. Branch Rickey is the man who signed Jackie Robinson to play baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The side of the mural to the right of the Jim Thorpe mural talks about Portsmouth's football team, the Spartans, which later became the Detroit Lions. The Spartans and the Brooklyn Dodgers played the first night football game in the NFL.

The Ohio and Erie Canal used to pass in front of our house. Here are a few photos of the remains of a lock a ways down the road from us.

I still need to print these out and put them plus comments in the journal, pack up the box and get it to the post office over the next two days--in the mail by Friday at the latest! Saturday we're leaving on vacation.

Cheers,
Tim