Sunday - Aug 30 - Pennsylvania

To the sound of crickets and the smell of a campfire, I’ll (M) start the day’s diary.

We thought we’d wander about, see what we could find. Besides traffic and getting lost, Wayne visited a winery, and we meandered across rolling fields of corn and potatoes, dotted with red barns and stone houses. Beautiful.

In Emmaus, to gather our thoughts and sort out where we were, we stopped for an Italian lunch. Sat outside and enjoyed white pizza and Greek salad with anchovies, feta cheese, olives, and dolmas. We brought most of the pizza home.

We decided we had enough driving, but thought we’d make just a small detour on the way home. When we reached Weissport, we parked and joined in the town’s Redneck Festival in the town square.

What is a “redneck?” This is an offensive description which insults someone’s rural background and prejudices, and his or her level of intelligence, education or sophistication. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy has made a career of redneck jokes and maintains it is not a description limited to the South or to farmers (whose necks are red from the sun after days of plowing fields), but is instead an attitude that exists at all levels of society. “You may be a red neck if, ….”

Activities included: ugliest pick-up contest, junkman’s contest, Daisy Duke and Mr. Redneck, pie eating contest (no hands), redneck wedding, chariot race, lawn tractor race, tug-a-war, armpit serenade (that would have been a favorite of our grandson), and watermelon seed spitting contest. Jeff Foxworthy may want to rethink that “all” levels of society.

We watched the junkman’s contest which consisted of four contestants who, one at a time, raced their pick-up truck backwards to a pile of junk (refrigerator, stove, and smaller items), jumped out of their truck, loaded the items into the back, got back into their truck and fastened their seatbelts. This was timed.

The first contestant (he also won the ugliest pick-up contest – it certainly was the dirtiest) fumbled with how to do it. Leaving the refrigerator for the last meant lifting the heaviest piece of junk higher and tossing it on top of everything else -- only to have it slide off. His opponents learned from his mistake, but they had the additional problem that the large appliances began to break apart -- so it took longer to pick up all the pieces. The winner used his head. He loaded the stove, then filled the frig (now door-less) with the smaller pieces before putting it in the truck. Efficient, he won by 15 seconds.

The winner walked away with a large trophy, a Budweiser mirror, a dozen rolls of toilet paper and a bucket. Appropriate prizes!

We missed the chariot races but you can guess that the chariot rider sat atop a toilet on wheels which his partner had to steer through an obstacle course. The redneck wedding is tomorrow. Couples must produce a valid marriage license. Mayor Hagenback will officiate at the ceremonies. The prize for the best dressed couple is a honeymoon weekend at a “resort” hotel. And me, without my marriage license!

W: Now that Margaret has pretty well summed up the day, let me add the photos with miscellaneous comments, all of which are about the Redneck Festival. Although we got some nice shots of grapes at Vynecrest Winery, you’ve all seen grapes. But you may not have seen a Redneck Festival (I’d bet!)

First off, the introductory banner with various articles of clothing hanging to dry on a clothes line was a cute way to announce the festival. Pretty self-explantory.

Next the toilet float (now there are two words you don’t often see together). We didn’t see any other floats but this one must have won – maybe it’s a yearly winner?
M. I think it is also a chariot race vehicle!

The dirtiest pick-up with a full load. He didn’t win the timed contest. (On a side note, I forgot until the contest was over that the little camera can also do short videos. That would have been a good time to try it out.)

And last the Church of Christ entrance with sermon title. ‘Nuff said.

Saturday morning – Pennsylvania day 4

Since I missed the daily blog yesterday, today’s will be a little longer with a couple of extra photos. I had wanted Margaret to write the next blog to report on her genealogy research, but after watching her in action yesterday and thinking about what she could say, I decided it was better to write a synopsis with M’s comments as italics.

Weather-wise, yesterday (Friday), started out like the previous days, partly cloudy and mild. But by the time we got back around 5 p.m., it was raining heavily. Guess FAY must have found us finally after looking across Florida. Given that it was the start of the Labor Day weekend, the rain made the driving all the more difficult. I grabbed a shot of the traffic while we were inching along. We’ve seen a lot of this in Pennsylvania. Don’t know where they’re all coming from or going to. Guess it’s just a high population density area. Something we’re not used to.

Our first stop was in Kutztown to pick up forwarded mail (thanks, Deborah), see the town, and grab a late breakfast. Although few eateries were open at 10:30 in the morning, we did happen on a bit of Americana – Letterman’s Diner (check Internet site). The diner itself was fashioned after one of the old railroad dining cars, with an wood slat arched ceiling, although it was made specifically to be a diner. Built in NJ in 1925, and after years of use as a diner, it eventually found its way to Kutztown. There were 15 stools and 5 two-person tables. During the hour we were there, every one of the stools and tables was filled at some point. The waitress attributed it to the start of the K’town University, but no students were there. With one waitress and one cook, they were hopping. And yes, the food was excellent – large quantities. Margaret had a meal from her childhood – eggs, potato cakes, and SCRAPPLE. Her parents were from Pennsylvania; Margaret hadn’t tasted it in years. (M: Don’t remember that taste! Nibbled at the crunch bits but it was too mushy and sage-y for me. Ketchup helped a lot, probably did years ago as well!) I tried a taste and it was ok. (And no, I’m not interested in what goes into it!) (M:But if you are, check it out on the Internet.)

It’s hard to describe the ambience. I would label it as a blue-collar, hail-fellow / well-met, convivial atmosphere. People are relaxed, joking, and happy; talking in boisterous voices to the cook and waitress, friends and to strangers alike in friendly banter. (M: Everyone was called by their name; families asked about, local news and jokes traded.) If you’ve ever seen the movies and TV shows like Invincible (Philadelphia) or Cheers (Boston), you’ll have a sense of the camaraderie we saw in Letterman’s Diner.

Walking down Main Street after breakfast, we spotted a number of interesting items. The local Democratic headquarters office was similar to any other political office except how many have you seen that have a Pennsylvania Amish HEX symbol or a kicking mule pulling an Amish buggy.

In the bath and boutique window was a rubber duck bathing happily in a tub -- modesty prevailing with two discretely placed sea-shells.

The rest of the day was spent in various cemeteries – four in total: Kutztown, Reading, Kempville, and Oley. Even it though was raining, Margaret was oblivious and enthralled; wandering through each cemetery like she was alone in the world. After 100+ photos, I convinced her to come in out of the rain; that we could come back later. She was able, however, to visit / photograph members of her close family (paternal grandparents buried in Reading, PA) and a number of relatives, critical to her genealogy work. It was a successful, if damp, day.

(M: I was also able to show Wayne my discoveries of the previous day, a cemetery in K’town I turned into on impulse only to discover I was surrounded by previous generations of family.

Then we drove on to Reading (father’s home) which had been my destination the day before, then stumbled onto the cemetery where they are buried (having only been here once, I was incredibly lucky or memory served better than maps). Staff pointed us in the right direction. It was a beautiful, large (120 acres), rambling old (1846) place. Wayne took the photo show of a family plot (not mine). So many tombstones were exquisite – the modern brass plaque doesn’t do justice to this tradition of tribute, love and craftsmanship. Credit where credit is due, Wayne was a trooper.

From there to the Oley Valley were, generations ago, the first stone cabin was built by a stream. Got to show Wayne that, the farmhouse (also stone and still occupied; the land still farmed; the corn plentiful), places I remembered visiting – all by just following my nose. Cemeteries, again, the drizzle changing to rain – when my good-natured husband finally threw in the towel to end the fruitful, if wet, adventure.)

The day ended on a down note for me at least. We stopped in an ice creamery along the way. I made the mistake of buying an ice cream with hard crunchies. Sure enough I bit down on one the wrong way. I knew it wasn’t right – you know how all of a sudden your bite doesn’t feel right? About 20 minutes later while sitting in the car, watching Margaret wander the cemetery, a crown / cap fell off.

On the way back, I searched every little town we passed, looking for a dentist that might be open late on a Friday night, Labor Day weekend. Yeh, right! I did not relish the idea of three days without solid food, although it might be a good weight-loss program. When we got back to the RV Park, I asked the manager if she knew of a local dentist I might contact. Unfortunately, she has only been in the area a few months and had no idea. But she did suggest getting a “repair” kit at a local drug-store. Which I did. After several days of gluing and repairing RV cabinet doors that have sprung from the rough roads, I got to glue and repair a crown / cap. Not my idea of fun, but maybe it will hold long enough to find a real dentist.

Anyway, that was yesterday. Wonder what today will bring? At least it looks like we’ll have sunshine for a while before more rain moves in.

Kutztown PA – Thursday

Margaret is off exploring the local area – on her own. I elected to stay home and take care of some maintenance chores; nothing critical: washed the windshield / front to get rid of the bugs and grime; glued some cabinet doors that tend to come apart during the rough roads; and other miscellaneous tasks.

Carolyn wrote me a nice note thanking me for the blogs. As I told her, preparing these are a lot of fun when we’re not overloaded with busy-ness. One of the hardest things is picking out the photos to include. And while Margaret is out wandering, I thought I’d catch up on a couple of shots I really liked but were “left on the cutting room floor”.

The first and second photos are from Columbia, PA. As a small, once booming town, now on the wrong side of the growth curve, it presented a wonderful palette of photo ops. I’m sorry now we didn’t spend the day there, just prowling with cameras.

The first is the first red, white, and blue hydrant we’ve come across. Not a spectacular photo, just interesting.

The second is of a once prosperous manufacturing plant, right down town. Now a derelict with ivy claiming the walls and broken windows.

While we were in Seattle last month (just last month?), an article came out about the benefits of eating celery to help brain functions and memory specifically. While we were in the Lancaster Central Market Tuesday, what should we find but a seller of celery – nothing else, just celery! I’m sorry to report we didn’t stock up; but we should have.

More tomorrow when Margaret reports on her adventures – alone in Pennsylvania!

Kutztown - Day 1 - Wednesday

Today was a laid-back day. We pulled out of the KOA campground (near Elizabeth, PA) at 11:00 and were settled in Kutztown, PA, by 1:00 pm. Not a long drive by anyone’s standards (80+miles) but we knew we needed to find a spot for the Labor Day weekend and be close to Margaret’s destination. So here we are. I told the lady at the campground that we wanted 6 days; she said the 7th day was free, so we will be here through next Tuesday (Sept 2).

Our drive up took us through Hershey, PA – yes, home of Hershey chocolate; and also home to Hershey Park (amusement park with lots of rides). It was interesting that route PA 743 threaded its way through the amusement park, including several stop signs. As a result we got to see (and hear the screams) of the various roller coasters.

The first picture was taken through the RV windshield – not the best photo op, but you take what they give you. Every light standard along Chocolate Blvd was topped with a chocolate kiss – both aluminum wrapped and unwrapped chocolate kisses. The observation tower was also adorned with chocolate kisses.

There were a variety of roller coasters: corkscrews, vertical hairpins, and a set of double roller-coasters – constructed of WOOD! Since the traffic was crawling, we had a chance to take some photos and listen to the screams as they went by. Not sure I’d want to ride any of these, but they were visually interesting.

Tomorrow, Margaret is heading into Reading to work on her genealogy and research the local history. Her father grew up in this area and she is anxious to wrap up some loose ends by contacting local historians.

The local area is different than where we’ve been the last few days. The best news was that we are less than ½ mile from a local winery! I visited them this afternoon while Margaret was napping. The Pinnacle winery has won a few medals in California wine tastings, so I was encouraged to buy a case of varied wines. Since we will be here a week, it will give us a chance to taste all their wines – possibly buying more bottles for “storage” and the long trip home.

Other than the noise of the near-by Interstate I-78, we are in a quiet, top of the hill RV park. Quite picturesque and yet different that our previous 5 nights. Tropical storm / depression FAY has finally tracked us down; we expect rain tonight and tomorrow, but nothing more serious. The twilight was long and cool, the steak delicious. And the local wine – Pinnacle Winery Vertas 2005 – was quite good; may have to buy some more.

Lancaster, PA - part deux

It’s my turn to describe the day as Wayne took me to all the places he saw yesterday. Indeed, it was a good day in Lancaster.

We started at the town square; the Heritage Center Museum was wonderful. The section on the Amish culture was fascinating.

I learned that their decision to isolate themselves from the modern (English), on how a change would influence their community. For instance:

In choosing not to have electricity in their homes they have not shunned modern appliances such as a washer or refrigerator. Instead, these appliances operate on natural gas. They have the convenience without the intrusion electricity brings (TV, radios, computers, internet, etc.) and endless connection with the outside world.

They can ride in a car but not drive one. Amish teens can own and drive a car. This pleasure is given up when they are baptized and formally enter the religious community.

Dress is plain in color (dark blue or black), identical in material and simple style. Women all wear their hair the same way. No one wears jewelry. Married men grow beards, single men do not. Children are educated to grade 8 in reading, writing and math. Then school stops. Why? Further education is not needed and would be another thing that would set the individual child apart.

A second main exhibit was on politics, housed in what was once the 1780’s Masonic Lodge. It was fun. The pictures tell the story. I love the “Ike” dress.

The third floor was an operating print shop, a step back in time to demonstrated a working print shop prior to and after the industrial revolution. Bob, a volunteer, demonstrated the techniques and equipment, and we even printed our own sheet of paper.

Did you know the origin of the terms “upper case” meaning capital letters and “lower case” meaning non-capitals? Simple enough, the capital letters were kept in the upper trays, and the lower.... You get the idea. “Hot off the press” referred to the wet ink (and sometimes paper) that took hours or more to dry. Paper was hung or laid in racks near the ceiling where the air was hotter.

The City Market was operating, crowded with customers deciding what to buy: fresh meats, seafood, vegetables (there was even a celery stand), ethnic foods (Amish, Thai, American, and Mexican), flowers and herbs, soaps and candles, soups and salads, and delicious looking desserts. We opted for hotdogs and people-watching on the center square.

From there we went to the Quilt Museum and a display of Amish quilts from the 1800-1900’s. The workmanship was incredible, the colors mostly dark, the material usually wool. Many had never been used. The point was made that quilt making was the Amish woman’s opportunity to express her individuality in design, colors, and workmanship. Quilts are treasured.



By this time, our feet hurt and we had absorbed as much history as we could for the day. However, on the way back there is a sign for Ephrata. So one more thing…

The Ephrata Cloister was started in 1732 by Conrad Beissel. He came to this remote forested area in search of solitude, peace, and God. Followers joined him in a regimented daily life of labor, meditation, and prayer. By 1750, Ephrata had nearly 80 celibate men (brothers) and women (sisters) known as the Solitary. Our guide said that the last surviving Sister has died just a few weeks ago. The Order is no more.

Then “home” for dinner and a beautiful sunset. We’re leaving tomorrow for Reading, my father's birthplace. Want to show Wayne the beautiful Oley Valley filled with family neatly tucked into the ground. The original de Turk homestead is still standing, a stone cabin.

My genealogy is done -- fitted it all together finally. Am looking for a professional genealogist to put everything in order, fill in the documentation holes, and make out the paperwork for application to the Huguenot Society. They insist I reapply as me, though I have the family membership documents. OK, so I will. Then I'm done with that.

Alone in Lancaster PA - on foot

Today was work day. Margaret stayed home and did cleaning, laundry, and worked on her genealogy. I went into Lancaster to have some more work done on the Saturn.

Once again, I walked off without any of my cameras – when will I learn. Actually the reason I took no cameras is I anticipated spending the day in the service department waiting area. But as it turned out, luck stepped in and I was able to prowl downtown Lancaster, PA until my feet wore out.

When I first learned they wouldn’t even look at my car until 4:00 pm, I thought I would need to rent a car ‘cause there was no way they’d get it done today. So I wandered over to the nearest available coffee (Turkey Hill gas station – now there’s a name for a gas company). While sitting there pondering what to do, a city bus pulled up almost at my feet. So why not; off to down-town.

Again, I had my cell-phone camera. I found quite a few interesting spots. The down-town area is quite compact – roughly 6 blocks by 3 blocks – so I was able to see most of it the first two hours. Lots of historical things, so we are going to stay in the area another day and Margaret and I will go back – with real camera(s).

Among the things seen today were a number of really old churches – usually with one or more members of the Continental Congress as members of the congregation. One, the St. James Episcopal Church, had George Ross as a member. As the sign says, he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Bet you didn’t know that!

In the small cemetery behind the St. James Church, there were a number of elaborate tombstones including one to the founder of the Pennsylvania school system. What I found interesting though, was this small, simple tombstone to a 1-year old baby who died in 1805. There was nothing to indicate his importance, family, or history. Yet here was a tombstone sitting next to “important” people. I may have to do some more research into this – if possible.

The last photo is one of many colorful doorways found in this part of the world. I will probably have to assemble of photos of interesting doors found in our travels.

As I said, there were lots of interesting things to see and learn in downtown Lancaster. I will leave some of these until tomorrow’s blog and let Margaret report what she saw.

Sunday pm in Elizabethtown PA

At first we thought it was just us, but as the day wore on, we realized we have been isolated from the throes of traffic, vacationers, and tourist in touristy areas for many years. We kept asking, where did all these people come from and why are they on the roads / in the museums / in the restaurants / and in general “in the way”? Thinking about it, we haven’t been out among the unwashed masses in years – probably at least 15 years. Between work and a desire to avoid crowds, we took our vacations in the off-season and going to less popular places.

Anyway, today was spent fighting traffic – really bad on the one-lane roads with frequent traffic lights. We started off taking a “back road” that followed the Susquehanna River south to Columbia, PA. Columbia has an interesting history. It fell one vote short in the US Congress of becoming the Capital of the USA. During the late 1800’s, it had many iron ore processing mills. Much of the traffic across the Susquehanna River came through Columbia – first on ferry service, later on various bridges built to replace the ferries. Today, it is almost a ghost town with population back to where it was in the late 1800’s. Many of the buildings remain as they were then, but with many of the new buildings being constructed attempt to recreate the style of the past. The first photo is of one of these new row-housest.

Another Columbia facet is that it is the home of the College of Horology. What in the world is that, we asked? It is the study of watch and clock repair. There is a museum of watches and clocks; but being Sunday morning it wasn’t open and we didn’t stick around to see it. One of the above photos was of a local watch repair business, complete with dragon adornments.

The next two photos are also of various home fronts and doors along Columbia streets.

We crossed the river headed south to York. Didn’t see much of “historic” York. Although it surrendered to the Confederacy in the Civil War, our route didn’t take in much of that. Instead we found ourselves in the modern industrial complex, including the Harley Davidson Manufacturing plant. See above for yours truly mounted on a trusty steed. (Only time in my life I’ve ever sat on a Harley.) Unfortunately, being a Sunday, we weren’t able to take the plant tour.

From York we headed southwest to visit Gettysburg. Here, we ran into major crowds. We had anticipated a leisurely drive through the battlefield; instead we ended up in the battlefield museum where everyone had their hand out – at least it seemed that way. We asked about the diorama – it was closed for restoration; but we could see a film (made by the History Channel). When we arrived at the entrance to the film, we were told it wouldn’t start for another 10 minutes and by-the-way we needed tickets (back at the place we’d gone originally to ask about the diorama!). By this time, we were tired (actually we were tired when we got there); it was another hour+ back to the camper; and the crowds weren’t thinning. So we threw in the towel and headed back.

Most of the drive back was on limited-access (US 15). But then we hit three traffic lights and traffic ground to a halt. We were not happy campers at that point.

Our conclusion was when we need to visit an historic site, we need to: a) read up ahead of time, b) arrive early in the day, and c) be rested when we arrive and plan to make it an entire day. You’d think we’d have learned these lessons when we were young, but I guess that’s part of growing old(er).

We are supposed to have semi-serious rain / thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow. At the moment the sky is clear and it’s in the mid-80’s. Not as cool as earlier nights in Virginia. Must be the altitude or lack of it.

Tomorrow, I will spend the day in Lancaster, PA, having some work done on the Saturn – work that should have been accomplished in Wytheville, VA, but wasn’t. Maybe I’ll complain to GM?

Saturday afternoon – 23 August

Our first full day in Pennsylvania, and a beautiful one at that. Determined not to miss anything, we headed out early. A quick stop for breakfast in Elizabethtown, then onward to the Amish countryside.

Unfortunately, whoever they hired to make tourist maps of the area, lacked some basic map-making skills. No matter which road we tried, no matter what the highway number said, we found ourselves heading off in directions other than what we wanted. (By the way, if you wonder why Miss Priss – our GPS stalwart – didn’t help yesterday or today, it’s a long story. If you don’t have the exact coordinates of your destination – either address or city – it’s difficult to tell her where you want to go. Yesterday the RV park was in the middle of nowhere; today, we just wanted to see the countryside. Sigh…)

As we finally got straight and headed in the right direction, I realized I’d left my camera(s) – yes, all three of them – in the motor-home. Not much of a photographer I’m afraid. But it was too far to turn back, so we decided to just enjoy the scenery. Having said this, you might wonder how I got the above photos. Ta-Da! New cellphones with built-in cameras. Not the best quality, but better than nothing.

Our winery stop was in: Intercourse, PA (sign above). The town was originally called Cross Keys. Why in the world they changed the name, there are several theories, is beyond me. The town’s claim to fame was the movie, WITNESS, with Harrison Ford, was filmed there. We didn’t know this when we were there, but we actually went into a couple of the buildings they used in the film. Have to watch the movie again. The fight scene was on the main street, and the police station is now an Amish furniture store.

You see lots of “interesting” signs when traveling. We saw one today, Kosher Jewelry. Not sure what they sell. Gems blessed by the Rabbi? Lots of motorcycles. How does one wear his beautiful silver belt buck when one’s tummy hangs too low? Well, you slide it around to the side, of course.

What else did we see interesting? Went to the Saturday morning farmers’ market in Bird-in-Hand. Very crowded with tourists (bus stops here), but we purchased a metal star for the front of our house, three Pennsylvania-Dutch hex signs (good luck, etc.) – my family was PA-Dutch -- some pickled beets, preserves, jellies, smoked meats, etc. As with most tourist places, the people and the quantity of stuff gets over whelming. And it was Saturday. What were we thinking?

The good thing about it being Saturday was that the farmers were busy getting things done as well. Horse-drawn buggies were clip-clopping along the roads (and at a good clip at that). Parking lots accommodated cars and buggies, side by side. Gentlemen were dressed all in black with suspenders, straw hats and flowing white beards; boys in dark blue shirts and black pants held up by black suspenders; and girls had their hair drawn back in buns and attired in black jumpers (only the older girls and women wore the sheer caps).

Laundry was hung on the line to dry at every farm house in the basic black and blue theme, sometimes with a quilt or two adding a splash of color and design. Fields of corn looked like a green, swelling ocean covering the hills in every direction. Every farm had an enormous barn and three silos. The fields, the building, the homes – all looked abundant and immaculate.

Saturday a.m. – August 23 – Elizabethtown, PA

Yesterday, Friday, was one of the toughest days on the trip so far. Although the Interstate roads have been quite good (compared to last year’s travels), when we left Virginia, the road surfaces turned rough.

I was surprised traveling north on I-81, when we left Virginia, we found ourselves in West Virginia I had thought we’d go directly from Virginia into Pennsylvania. But no, not only did we cross some 30 miles of West Virginia, but then 12 miles of Maryland. A quick glance at the map showed a strange contour of state lines in that neck of the woods. West Virginia pokes eastward and almost cuts off Maryland.

Anyway, the roads in WV, Maryland, and Pennsylvania were quite rough, no doubt due to the heavy traffic. It was a jarring ride accompanied by fellow drivers who were either overly slow and cautious or downright reckless. I know it was a Friday afternoon, but it was the most traffic we’ve seen so far.

After stopping at the Pennsylvania visitor’s center where only direct questions were answered, no additional information or general knowledge dispensed, we had our first RV camping surprise of the trip. Our intended destination was the general area of Harrisburg, York, Lancaster, and Reading. This is the Amish / Mennonite farm land of Pennsylvania; an area Margaret has visited briefly several years ago and was anxious to re-visit.

Alas, none of the RV parks we called had vacancies. Apparently, the last week of August is the busiest time of the year. Who knew? We finally were able to find a KOA just south of Elizabethtown. Just on the edge of the map and not exactly the epicenter of Amish-land, but better than Wal-Mart. The second surprise was the price. We’ve become accustomed to the $25 – 30 per night RV park rates or less (that’s with full hookups). The KOA was $52/night. I did get the KOA discount of 15% with their membership card, but it was still a surprise. It is a nice KOA, very clean, services, pool, golf, basketball, a shuttle, etc., hence the price.

Our last surprise of the day was the road / map directions to the RV park were less than stellar. We overshot as the turn to the KOA which was reached via a short connecting road that was indicated but not named on the map. We ended up on some narrow, scary back roads amid tight turns and corn fields with no idea where we were (including frequent detour and bridge-out signs). By seat-of-the-pants navigation, we managed to circle around to where we had first gotten lost, called the camp-ground and received precise directions. When we pulled in just before 5:00 pm, we were exhausted. Glad every day isn’t like that.

A couple more photos today from Staunton, VA, taken down-town.

Friday a.m. August 22 - Staunton, VA

Today, we head north into Pennsylvania. Not sure where we’ll end up but expect to spend several days in the south-central part so Margaret can do some exploring and possibly some genealogical work.

Yesterday, Thursday, we spent the morning in Staunton, VA. I knew nothing about it before yesterday. Turned out to be quite an interesting place. Among other facts, it was the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, 28th President; Mary Baldwin College; and the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind. The town was incorporated in 1871. From the paintings and pictures in store fronts, it appears much of town hasn’t changed in the 137 years. And that’s not a slap, it was quite picturesque and quaint.

We visited the Sun Spots glass blowing gallery and watched the gentlemen make “watering orbs”. I’m not sure that’s the exact title, but you’ve seem them on TV – you fill the orb with water, then invert it in your potted plant and it delivers the “appropriate” amount of water over time.

After strolling Beverly Street (one of the main drags) and waiting for Margaret to do the requisite antique shop crawl, we had a bite at the Coffee on the Corner. Actually there were several good looking restaurants in town but we weren’t that hungry (late breakfast).

I’ve included a couple of photos of the more interesting buildings along Beverly Street. I don’t know if it will show up in the photo, but the owners / residents have a flair for unusual colors in paint.

After lunch we drove west (almost to West Virginia) through the George Washington National Forest – quite pretty. This part of the country hasn’t had a lot of rain this summer so most of the creeks and streams were dry.

The elevation here is about 1,500 feet above sea-level. So we have been blessed with cool evening and mild day. Most of the day time, it is in the mid 70’s and evenings are in the upper 50’s. A far cry from the 90+ days in Florida (and elsewhere in the US of A). Our RV park neighbors are from Destin, FL, and plan to return here for a 3-month stay next year. There is certainly a lot to see in the area; but not sure I’d want or need three months.

In retrospect, I had a writer’s block this morning. Nothing I typed in sounded very good (of course, that may happen more often than I realize!). But in the interest of getting this out, I’ll go with it.

A side note. I’m not sure why, but there are more motorcycles on the road than I remember from past years. Is it the fuel crunch, shorter trips in the East thus more cycles, or is it my memory fading? While we were having lunch on the Blue Ridge Parkway three days ago, I watched an older gentleman getting ready to mount his Harley (they all have Harley’s). The MACHO guys tie a bandana. He had a ready-made skull cap that looked like a tied-bandana. Isn’t that cheating?

Staunton, VA - Day 2

I’m not sure if it’s age or just forgetfulness. I believe I said in yesterday’s blog that we had traveled some of the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs from northern Georgia to Pennsylvania. I must have been thinking about the Appalachian Trail which runs along the Appalachian Mountains from northern Georgia to Maine.

Today we elected to explore a section of the Appalachians just east of Staunton VA. As it turns out, when we exited I-64, we found ourselves at the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway and the beginning of the Skyline Drive. The Blue Ridge Parkway runs south from here for 470 miles and the Skyline Drive runs north for about 100 miles, ending at Front Royal, VA, just west of Washington, D.C.

Like the Blue Ridge Parkway, the Skyline Drive runs right along the crest / spine of the Appalachians with frequent overlooks. Like the Blue Ridge Mountains, this section of the highway has a fair amount of haze, so the distant ridges are bluish. I believe the only time of year this isn’t the case is in the winter – maybe spring.

We decided we would take a “short” hike at Blackrock Summit along the Skyline Drive. It was only 0.9 miles round-trip, but a fair climb up and down-hill returning. The photos above are from that hike. We can now report that we have hiked a portion of the Appalachian trail (yes, only 0.5 miles) but we were there! Margaret didn’t like any of the photos I took of her, but this one proves she was on the Trail. The capital A with a T imposed is on a series of concrete posts along the trail so folks will know where they are.

We are staying in an RV park called Walnut Hills RV Park. Not fancy, but close to the interstate and Staunton, VA. We’re not sure what we’ll do tomorrow. Probably worry about Tropical Storm FAY, but there’s not much else we can do, is there?

p.s. If you happened to read this blog earlier and notice a change. Margaret insisted on pain of death that I take out her picture. She didn't like it. sigh...

Tuesday - Staunton, VA

One of the better things I’ve done with computers recently was to install a digital clock / calendar. I know that Windows has the time in the lower right corner of the toolbar and if you click on it, you see a calendar. But the application I installed is constantly “UP” and you see at a glance the date and the day of the week (in addition to the time, which I don’t need).

Why is this important you may ask? When you’re traveling, particularly in an RV, it’s easy to lose track of the day of the week (sometimes even the month, although I can usually remember that!).

Anyway, it’s Tuesday, 19 August. After several “interesting” days, we decided to stay in one spot for 3 nights and explore the countryside rather than push north. At this point, we still have nearly three weeks before we are to check-in to the RV park near my photo class in Vermont. So we’re in pretty good shape time wise.

My last posting was Saturday (in Wytheville). By the way, it’s pronounced withville. Really.

Sunday, we drove east to the Blue Ridge Parkway and south; getting off at Boone, NC, then over to Johnson City, TN, where we visited our friends, Alan & Carolyn. You may recall they were in Florida just a few days back. Funny, we hadn’t seen them in several years, and now we’ve seen them twice in just a few weeks.

Tonight (Tuesday) we’re just outside Staunton, VA. Because of some car problems (my fault – but only to be revealed over a tall, cold one), we didn’t get away from Wytheville until almost noon. Margaret was concerned we would drive straight through the “pretty” part of Virginia. So we stopped at the first RV Park we found (after 137 miles) and plan to stay for the three nights whils’t we explore.

As I mentioned, Sunday we drove a short distance down the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those of you not familiar with the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s one of the prettiest drives in the eastern US of A. If memory serves, it was built as a public works program under FDR and follows the spine of the Appalachians from northern Georgia to northern Virginia.

The first photo, not a spectacular photo, but one that shows how the Blue Ridge Mountains got their name. When you’re in the Blue Ridge, what you see is ridge after ridge receding in the distance. It’s seldom clear, and the haze (from rotting vegetation) is omni-present. So what you frequently see is a series of blue ridges.

A fascinating stop off point was the Brinegar Cabin. Built in 1889 (yes, the same year as our home in Fernandina!), they raised three children. The park ranger lady was dying wool using local herbs and plants. A natural spring provided cooling for milk, butter, and cool water for the family. A garden has been planted showing the types of plants the Brinegar’s had – including corn, pumpkins, plus flax for making linen thread. Margaret spent quite a bit of time with the park ranger and can give more details.

Saturday - August 16 - Wytheville, VA

Once again, we couldn’t find an Internet signal so today’s blog will be in three parts:

Part 1 -Thursday, August 14 evening – Kings Mountain SC State Park

We are in Kings Mountain South Carolina State Park (hereafter abbreviated KMSCSP). Before leaving the RV park in Walterboro, SC, we attended to various chores. Margaret took her coffee to the omni-present wood park bench, where she was “accosted” by a local. Since it was “our” camp-site, there was no graceful exit, so Margaret gracefully accommodated the lady.

As you know, I managed to post the blog. Unfortunately, at our current site (KMSCSP) there is no internet access. The Sprint USB key says I have 10% signal (or less – it varies), so there won’t be a posting tonight.

Although we got away before 11:00 a.m., the roads were rough and enough traffic to keep one’s attention. Road quality was bad enough (not down to Louisiana standards) to make 60 mph more comfortable than 75 mph which is what most of the traffic was doing.

Arriving at the “campground” was another adventure. Although we had reservations, we missed the small sign (down a narrow winding road) announcing CAMPGROUND / DAY USE ONLY. After driving to the main Kings Mountain National Park visitor’s center, we were told the campground was two miles back the way we came. Sigh…

Winding through the woods (quite pretty actually), we found ourselves in a parking lot with no obvious way out. Unhooking and exploring with the Saturn seemed the best option. While in the process, a van pulled up with the cavalry (would you believe a couple from Jacksonville, FL!) and said we were in the right place. Who’d have known?

We finally found our spot – Margaret leading the way in the Saturn. It was a pull-through (sort of). A little tight, not very level, but we got in. Blocks under the right side for the hill-side tilt and we were in. We expect to see some wild-life tonight as we’re right up against the forest.

I can see the drop-off in RV travel due to the high(er) oil prices. Not only did we not see many RV’s on the road, when we pulled into a Flying J for diesel fuel, we were the only ones at the RV pumps. In case you haven’t visited a Flying J, they have a special island for RV’s. Got to keep the riff-raff away from the commercial truck lanes, and the upper class in their Caddy’s and Lexii (plural for multiple Lexus?). But, the diesel fuel was only $4.029 / gallon – South Carolina is currently the leader in low gas prices – better than Georgia.

When we finally arrived at the campground (KMSCSP), we found we were almost the only folks here. And this is mid August. Thinking about it now, I realize a lot of schools have started. Bodes well for finding empty campgrounds the rest of the trip.

The first photo is of the split-rail fence at the entrance to the park. Unless one is on foot hiking through the woods, it is a challenge to find a photo-op. Margaret took this one at the entrance while I was hooking up the Saturn.

Friday – August 15

Today we visited some of my remaining relative(s) in Shelby & Cherryville, NC. We met Staci, Travis and Zachary at iHOP for breakfast. Zachary is just over one-year old. Travis’ great-grandmother and my mother were sisters. Not sure how many cousins removed that is. But I know there are nine levels of relations between our grandson Ryan and Zachary. Mind-boggling! After seeing Travis and Staci’s home, we drove over to visit one of Travis’ sisters, Brittany, and her little girl, Lilly (same age as Zachary). Didn’t get to see the third sibling, Ashley, but we’re told she is expecting her first any day. They are turning into a large family.

After a short search for wi-fi or an Internet signal for my new USB key, we gave up and returned to the RV. After our afternoon siesta, we ventured to the Kings Mountain National Military Park (adjacent to the KMSCSP).

Although we had visited the Military Park years ago, I had forgotten the history. We watched a video documenting the battle of Kings Mountain during the Revolutionary War. (The documentary was made by the History Channel so you might catch it some night on TV!)

If you’re not familiar with the Revolutionary War or the Battle of Kings Mountain – I wasn’t – it is interesting how divided the patriots and loyalists were over creating the US of A. I guess I always assumed that everyone was for breaking away from King George. According to the documentary, there was a lot of local fighting between neighbors. In fact, the battle of Kings Mountain was credited (per the documentary) of turning the tide of battle against the loyalist and the King’s armies. Even though Gen Cornwallis didn’t surrender to Gen Washington until Yorktown, VA, the battles prior to Kings Mtn had been won mostly by the British and the loyalist militias.

That’s probably not a very good synopsis, but it was interesting. Check out the facts at Wiki-pedia or your local encyclopedia Britannica.

Saturday – August 16 – Wytheville, VA

Today was a short drive day – only 165 miles – but we wanted to find a full-service RV park to catch up on e-mail, news, laundry, and possibly see our friends Alan and Carolyn who live just down the road in Johnson City, TN. Don’t know if that will work out or not.

The drive today took us in the Appalachian Mountains. After cruising most of the day at 1,200 feet altitude, Interstate I-77 took us over the first row of mountains at over 3,000 feet. Not high by western standards, but significant in the east.

Weather is partly cloudy and warm, but not hot – at least not at 3,000 feet!

We will be here for at least two nights so maybe we’ll do some sightseeing tomorrow.

Thursday, Aug 14 - Walterboro, SC

It’s Thursday, August 14.
For “completeness”, this blog will consist of two parts. First, the blog I wrote on Monday thinking I’d be able to get it out. But the new, wireless Internet access USB key I bought wouldn’t work at the north end of the island in Fort Clinch.

More significant, I couldn’t get the USB key installed / initialized. A trip back to the Sprint store Tuesday afternoon where the young lady was able to talk to the Sprint techies and get it working. But it still wouldn’t work at Fort Clinch. So I will post this today with two day’s thoughts.

Monday August 11.

We are ensconced in Fort Clinch. Last night (Sunday) evening was spent in the RV. Thinking we’d escape the noise and confusion of “home”. And although it was a quiet - we were able to sleep in until 8:00 a.m. – the night wasn’t completely restful; too much going on in our minds. You know the drill, you wake in the middle of the night and all you can think about is what needs to be done.

In retrospect, we probably needed to start getting ready, including loading the RV, about a week ago. We have one more day in “town” and tomorrow is already booked. Adding to the challenge is the weather. Once we get past 9:00 a.m., it is too hot to do a lot outside. One can run errands in the air-conditioned car(s), but working on outside RV storage, fighting sand gnats and heat, is more than I want to tackle.

As I anticipated in the last blog, unexpected events occurred to delay / complicate our preparation. Yes, we will pull out Wednesday a.m. regardless of how “ready’ we are. But that’s the way it is when you live the wild, mad-cap life of an Rv’er.

For those interested in the challenges of portable computing, my Toshiba laptop died – again. This is the 5th time. When I reported this failure to the “repair” company (in Massachusetts), they agreed that if the failure is the same as the previous four times (duh!), they will replace the computer – whatever that means. So for the next 60-ish days, I will be using Margaret’s computer (also a Toshiba, but newer!).

And that brought up a new (unexpected did I say?) twist. My “old” laptop (less than two years old which tells you something about the pace of technology) has a standard PC card slot into which I used a Verizon wireless access card. I’ve had it for the last two years and it has worked pretty well and pretty consistently during our travel. Well, Margaret’s “new” computer uses a PCI-Express slot, and yes, the “old” PC card won’t fit. No adapters available, so off to find a solution. While running one of today’s many last-minute errands, I happened to find myself in front of a local Sprint store. On a whim I stopped in to see what they might have. Turns out, they recommend (and had) a USB wireless access card. Since my Verizon two-year contract expired last month, I walked out with a new Sprint access card – which will work, thank you, in any “modern” computer (at least for a while).

On a side note, the Sprint-store lady said Dell has come out with a new laptop with a new PC-card configuration – not compatible with anything out there. Sprint’s tech manager even called Dell and asked what were they thinking. No report on the answer. All of this is a wake-up call to any of you out there who might be thinking about portable computing: don’t buy any device that isn’t USB-compatible (as an example, the techie clerk in the local Staples told me a lop of the cheaper laptops have NO PC card slot – but they all have USB ports).

Between the heat and unfinished errands, it’s beginning to look like I won’t get any new photos while here in Fort Clinch. Too bad. Last night, when driving out on another errand, we saw a fawn and an armadillo crossing the road. The armadillo is usual, but a fawn sighting is rare on this island.

Since we’ve been to busy for photos, I’m including one of the deer taken in Sequim, WA, while with Shell and Lynn in July. At least there’s a connection in subjects.

Thursday – August 14, Walterboro, SC

As we feared, unexpected difficulties arose at the last minute. Instead of a leisurely Tuesday and early departure Wednesday, things happened.

First, as mentioned, the Internet access USB key wouldn’t work so no e-mail, et.al. Second the heavens opened up Monday nights and continued all day Tuesday. So we couldn’t get any outside work done, at least not effectively. Then we found a wet carpet next to the bed – leaking around the slide-out seal. Then water standing in a plastic tray in the closet – leaking around the vent pipe from the bathroom. Sigh…

We discussed briefly cancelling the trip, but decided to press on as far as we could and see what develops. So Wednesday a.m., after coffee and croissant, Margaret headed out with the car to run more last minute errands and I drove the RV over to the repair shop. The tech got up on the roof and caulked the entry points around the stand-pipe and the ventilator. He determined that the gasket around the slide was deformed and needed to be replaced but didn’t have one in stock. So we will sleep with the slide closed if it rains / looks like rain at night. Not the end of the world, but an inconvenience.

We left Florida shortly after noon. Stopped in Georgia (exit 6) and topped up with diesel fuel ($4.179 per gal), had lunch in the parking lot and headed north. Ran through some heavy rain which tapered off by 4:30 when we pulled into the RV park in Walterboro, SC.

It’s less than a 3 hour drive to our next spot – King’s Mountain South Carolina State Park – so we’ll hang around here this morning to catch up on mail, get this posted, and allow time for the “other” repairs, including closet door catch (broke), replace the entry steps cover (torn), and maybe wash off some of the bugs on the windshield (from last September’s trip coming from California). No I’m not lazy about washing the rig, it’s just about impossible given the storage lot doesn’t have water and not having a convenient spot at home to park / wash. Guess I’ll have to find a do-it-yourself place that allows an RV maneuvering room.

Don’t know if we’ll have any kind of Internet access at the next spot. Have to wait and see. That’s it for now.

Getting ready to travel

Our friends, Kathy and Gary (from Leesburg,Virginia), arrived yesterday afternoon in a driving rain complete with lightening and thunder. But we had no outside activities (tourist things) planned so we stayed in and enjoyed talking over what we’ve been doing.

Gary retired earlier this year from Lockheed. Like most retirees, he had thought he’d have lots of free time to pursuit various activities including sailing, but like most of us, things continue to happen that take our attention and efforts. Kathy’s a retired nurse and spends a lot of her time with her horse(s?) riding et.al. when she’s not on the boat sailing with Gary.

We are in the final count-down for our trip. We plan to pick up the RV from storage tomorrow a.m. and park in front of our house (the street is usually pretty empty on Sunday mornings) and pack. This is easier than loading the Saturn, driving to the unit, and unloading. Then tomorrow evening we’ll stay in the RV at Fort Clinch State Park.

Unless something unexpected comes up on Monday / Tuesday (days we are scheduling to permit dealing with the unexpected), I will try to do some more photos in the Park and possibly even get around to writing my blog narrative that I promised many weeks ago.

Then Wednesday morning, we’re off. Not sure where we’ll stay Wednesday night. Thursday and Friday we have reservations at the Kings Mountain State Park in South Carolina. The park is close to Shelby, NC – home of my remaining relatives (on my mother’s side). We plan to visit with Travis and Staci, but he works night shifts and she works days, so I’m not sure how much time we’ll have with them. We’ll see.

Then on Saturday, we head up the road to the Appalachians – not sure where but maybe as far as western Virginia.

At home (still), but counting down.....

A quick update on travel status. Today, Thursday, we are only 3 days from picking up the RV and locating to Fort Clinch. It will be good to get out of the mess and chaos that has been the condition our home for longer than we care to think about. And no, the contractor won’t be done before we leave town. We can only hope they will be done before we return in October. Of course this is the 5th time we have left on a trip hoping they will be done when we return – and it hasn’t happened yet. Maybe this time will be the charm.

Our current visitors, Kathy and Gary, are set to arrive tomorrow afternoon. Since we don’t have an extra bedroom at the moment, they will stay across the street at Deborah’s house. Thanks, Deborah.

Today’s two photos were taken almost seven years apart. The pelicans shot, was taken in 2001 when we visited Fernandina Beach. It was made with my very first digital camera, an Olympus C2100UZ with a whopping 2 megapixel sensor! My cell phone camera has more resolution than that! But surprisingly, if one doesn’t try to do too much enlarging and one isn’t too critical, some of the photos from that camera still look pretty good today. It did have a pretty fair zoom which helped.

The second photo is with the newest camera in the arsenal – a Canon G9. With a 12.1 megapixel and a 210 mm (equivalent) zoom, plus many current digital camera features, it is pretty good for most photography and photos can be enlarged when needed. The sunset is across the Fernandina Beach marina following one of our many days of rain last week. Now if we could only get some more rain and knock down these high temperatures. Ok, so 95 degrees isn’t high for some folks and certainly not like the desert southwest of the middle east, but with the high humidity, it can be unpleasant particularly if one is out in the sun.

A bit of trivia fluff for those with a weather inclination. One of our local TV weather men – Tim Deegan, to drop names – was responding to a write-in question. The question: Why aren’t temperatures forecast / reported taken in the sunlight? Answer: weather temperatures are taken in the shade. So when you think it’s a lot hotter than reported and you’re standing in the sun; that’s why. He went on to elaborate on Heat Indices (how it feels) and how much hotter it could be in the sunlight. The value he quoted was 12 – 15 degrees hotter in sunlight than in the shade. For example, yesterday’s high temperature reported for Waycross, GA (about 65 miles NW from Fernandina Beach as the crow flies), was 99 degrees (in the shade); the heat index was about 110 degrees, and in the sun, it was close to 125 degrees! Now that’s uncomfortable!

And finally, for those following the saga of my various computer(s) and their ills. The desktop that got infected a few weeks ago, is working fine now and I think I have all the right protection software in place. The laptop, unfortunately, has a new problem. The display, which had been failing regularly since early this year, seems to be ok. But when I added an external hard drive (a place to store all my digital photos for the trek north), it put my laptop to sleep and I can’t get it to reboot. So the laptop is currently in the shop, again. Sigh…

More later.
Wayne