The Ghost Train to Blue Heron

We hope that everyone had a wonderful weekend and was able to get out and enjoy the wonderful weather. Where did you go? What did you do? We'd love to hear all about it. Did you get out for a hike, go camping, or just hang out doing yard work? Luckily for us, most of all the home buying work has been done so we had a free (for the most part) weekend to do what we wanted.

In Memory of Tom, KK4TA

As you know from our post last week, we had the Ten-Tec hamfest to attend on Saturday morning to sell gear for our friend who lost her husband to cancer earlier this year. We really couldn't have asked for better weather. The turn out was a lot bigger than in previous years thanks to the gorgeous weather. Robin and I arrived just before 7:00am and were swarmed by "old men" (don't worry, that's what they're called in Ham Radio) wanting a chance at the sweet gear we brought to sell. By 11:30am we had sold all we were going to sell (nearly everything!) and it was time to pack it up and head home to prepare for our next event of the day.

Hamfests and Ghost Trains

This weekend looks to be a busy one for us. First thing early Saturday morning we have a Hamfest to attend. For our hiking friends, a Hamfest is an event where amateur (ham) radio operators gather together to sell equipment, check out and buy equipment from radio vendors, attend classes, seminars, and demonstrations, and hope to win a cool door prize. Not much different than an Outdoor Retailer type event, just on a smaller scale. The biggest thing about these events however are the food and fellowship amongst other Hams. Anyway, this weekend is the Ten-Tec Hamfest in Sevierville, TN. We will be up there early in the morning trying to sell some Ham gear for a friend of ours who's husband went SK (silent key, aka passed away) earlier this year. There's plenty of good radio gear to purchase and you'd also be helping out a fellow ham/widow with some of her expenses. So be sure to come out if you are in the area and are a ham or even want to be a ham. They give amateur radio exams during the hamfest, too.

Courtesy of BSFNRRA

The next big thing on our plates for this weekend is the First Annual Ghost Train up at Big South Fork NRRA and Big South For Scenic Railway. The scenic railway is located in Stearns, Kentucky and takes groups down to the Blue Heron mining community in the Big South Fork for tours of the area.