Dave Taylor's Great Adventure

[Dave Taylor]

Hi all,

I apologize for being late to my own party here, but I'm been pretty busy preparing for my "great adventure". On Saturday I spent the day with Bob Cook at Bryantown Tavern getting a tour and the chance to admire his magificent collection of books. Bob was also kind enough to lend me a bowie knife similar to the one Booth used to attack Major Rathbone. We were also on the look out for a set of field glasses and a canteen that Bob had used when he did his own "adventure" rowing across the Potomac and camping at Nanjemoy Creek. We came up empty finding those, but it was a great time viewing his personal museum. When I got home from Bryantown Tavern, Lindsey presented me with the crutches Rick and Patrick so generously made for me. They truly are impeccable and fit me perfectly. I'm so thankful to the two of them for going through all the effort to make me such a fine pair of crutches in the same manner in which they would have been made during the Civil War era. I spent a good deal of Saturday night and Sunday practicing to walk with them. I still haven't decided if I'm going to use both crutches or just one, because, like Rick, I'm not exactly sure how many Booth had. I also feel that it would have been a challenge to carry a crutch while on horseback, let alone two. But I'm bringing them both regardless.

On Sunday I dragged Lindsey out to Loyola and led her into the woods so that she could see where I was going to make my camp. I'll send her the GPS coordinates as well so that she can more easily find me and bring me food, water and newspapers like Thomas Jones.

Yesterday I spent my time after work packing up all the materials I will be bringing with me. While I am trying to be as true to Booth's experience as possible, I do have some extra gear that he did not have. For instance I have a video camera, regular camera for stills, camera gear, tripod(s), emergency first aid kit, emergency flashlight, a small Civil War tin lantern and candles so that I can do some filming in the dark, pages of research, and a copy of American Brutus to consult.

I will be on the Surratt Bus tour on Saturday and so I will be doing some filming at Ford's, Surratt, and Mudd's, before departing the bus at Loyola, never to return. Due to this, I've packed up the various things that I won't need until I get to these specific places. I have pieces of wood for a splint (sadly not the remnants of a band box but it is of approximate thickness) and cotton strips with which the wrap and tie it, a couple of wool blankets and a saddle blanket for my time in the woods, and replicas of the mysterious pistols that showed up on Booth at Dr. Mudd's house. Then, of course, there's the smaller items like my diary, pocket knife, compass, etc. that I put into my coat pockets.

While I will have my cellphone with me in case of an emergency, I am going to keep it turned off. I *might* ask Lindsey to post updates on my Twitter account when she comes to visit me but I haven't decided yet. Even after I'm done, however, it will still take me a while to edit the footage and assemble a proper video of the experience. I'll be posting it on my blog after all that is done.

So, to make a long story even longer, I'm really looking forward to this experience (even though there's rain in the forecast). I know this adventure will be educational for me, and I hope it will be for others as well. I'm so grateful to have so many generous and supportive colleagues like you all.