Enjoy - Summer on the Spring

Paul McCartney at Bennett Springs

Sir Paul McCartney has shunned expensive hotels in favour of camping.

The former Beatle was cruising on the infamous Route 66 - which stretches from Chicago to LA - when the couple stopped at a Circle K to get gas and use the restrooms. A car full of local young guys on their way to St Louis for a Cardinals game yelled out "That looks like Paul McCartney!" One yelled "Hey, Paul!" and Paul answered in his distinctive Liverpool accent.

The excited guys got to talk with Paul and he posed for the above photo with them.

The 66-year-old musician is currently on a US road trip with girlfriend Nancy Shevell, and the pair decided to spend a night under the stars when they arrived at Bennett Springs State Park in Missouri last weekend.

"He came in and asked for directions to Bennett Springs (state park)," said secretary Mary Jane Cushing at C & D's Quick Stop. "He was driving an older green car. He gave our employee an autograph on a piece of notebook paper. It says, 'Cheers to Kay, Paul McCartney '08.' She compared it on the Internet and it is his signature."

A fellow camper said: "It was incredible to see one of the world's richest musicians going back to basics.

"They didn't seem to have a care in the world as they laughed and joked with each other." After spending the night in their tent, the couple further amazed onlookers when they set off on a hike in stifling heat. A source explained to Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper: "It was nearly 30 degrees but the heat didn't slow them down at all. "They were like two teenagers on a first date - it was really sweet. "They were seen tucking into sandwiches. Paul even had a cheeky bottle of stout which he had packed away."

von Behr or Loch Leven

Brown trout (salmo trutta) are not native species to North America. The first documented introduction of brown trout was on April 11, 1884, J.F.Ellis stocked 4,900 brown trout fry(von Behr strain) into Michigan's Pere Marquette River. After this initial distribution in 1884, distribution of brown trout was swift and wide. The first North American introduction of Loch Leven trout, Salmo trutta levenensis (a lake form), appears to be made in Long Pond near Saint John's, Newfoundland, in 1884. The sea run strain (S. t. trutta) was also introduced around this time but, the only currently known strain exists in Nova Scotia and Massachusetts. After the first North American introduction of the Lock Leven trout occured in 1884, brown trout were introduced into every province except Prince Edward Island. Incredibly, there was little or no attempt to keep the Lock Leven and the von Behr strains isolated or distinct. Goverment and private fish distribution records listed both types, but widespread shipment from one hatchery to another (crossbreeding), and the introduction of both strains into the same waters apparently resulted in the merging of the original distinguishing characteristics.

The von Behr trout, (S. fario) lived in small streams, were brightly coloured, and rarely exceeded the lenght of 12 inches. In contrast, the Loch Leven trout, (S. levenensis), was a lake-dwelling form, silvery gray with black spots, reaching a size of 18 lbs. If, as reported, the von Behr and Loch Leven strains have been widely interbred and broadly distributed, and if the brown trout has a plastic genetic ability(polymorphic), I'm not surprised that North American brown trout are, in appearance and life history, similar to practically every form originally described in Europe.

One things for sure it was isn't sea run brown ! This Brown measured approximately 23 inches and estimated weight of 5 - 6 lbs. It was released unharmed.