Amelia Cruizers Car Club weekend

It is my intent to post every two weeks when we’re not on the road. This will accomplish two things: a) give me an objective to stay current on activities, and b) let everyone know what we’re up to and what’s happening in our neck of the woods.

This weekend, the world came to us. At least the Amelia Cruizers car club had their biannual showing. In the fall and in the spring, Fernandina Beach closes Centre Street from the marina to 8th Street and the Cruizers and car lovers flock to see the bright, shiny wheels. Everything from a 1925 fire-truck to hot-rod coupes to “regular” family cars – all lovingly cared for.

For those of old enough to have had driver’s licenses in the 50’s, many of these cars bring back memories including: did I actually drive one of these? Who’d thought that it would be collectible 50 years later? And occasionally, what was I thinking when I bought this?

But everyone has a good time. At least once a year (when we’re in town) I venture forth with camera to see if I can get any good / interesting / memorable shots. So today, I will share a few with you.

One thing that strikes me every time I see these – the manufacturers of the day sure didn’t have any idea that one of their cars would be painted in some of the colors seen. As Henry Ford offered in his Model A’s and T’s: “You can have it any color you want, as long as it’s black.”

The first photo is looking East to give you an idea how the cars are packed in.

The next shot is a Hudson Terraplane. YOu don't see many of these on the road anymore.

The fake dog gave everyone a laugh. Many of the car displays use the Cabbage Patch kids to spark up their display.

The fire truck's plumbing is on a 1925 fire truck labeled with Jacksonville, FL. It is in the show just about every year and is a real crowd pleaser.

The next is from a Chevrolet - one of the colors that I'm sure Chevy never envisioned!

The next is a "classic" dragster. I'm sure it's never been to the track - but is someone's idea of what a dragster should look like!

Finally a classic Packard with lots of curves and flare. This one might have been painted yellow in the begining - who knows. Sure a beaut!

I took many photos of "whole" cars, it's just the parts are often more visually interesting.

Home again – Sunday evening

Because of the marginal wireless access last night at the campground, we weren’t able to post a blog. But I wanted to let everyone know we did arrive home safely. Actually the last two nights / three days on the road were quite pleasant. Both KOA campgrounds (in Fayetteville and Point South) were very nice – we’d like to stay there again.

By the way, if you have never heard of Point South, S.C., I hadn’t either, and I’ve been up I-95 past exit 33 more times than I care to think about, and I don’t remember ever seeing it. But there were two adjacent campgrounds – both looked nice. Our primary reason for picking this area was it is only 170 miles from home – an easy jaunt which got us in shortly after 2:00 p.m. We missed the cleaning crew(s) and yet were able to park on the street in front of the house, unload, and get the RV to storage before dark.

As you have likely noticed in reading the blogs, I almost never have pictures of the campgrounds we’ve stayed in. Usually they all look alike or are boring at best. Last night however was different. Right behind us was a very large, very nice Airstream Trailer. Parked next to it was this blue Mini-Cooper – from California – with no hitch! I know the Cooper didn’t tow the Airstream, but where was the tow vehicle and did the young lady really drive the Cooper all the way from California?

The other eye-opener was the RED trailer. In all our travels, I’ve never seen a red one. I went over to ask the folks about it. They said it was a standard model from ROADMASTERLLC.COM and had a cargo compartment in the rear for their Harley. As it turned out, they were from Lee County Florida (near Fort Myers). They had not only heard about Fernandina Beach / Amelia Island, they had just bought a lot at Oyster Bay – just off Amelia Island. One of our friends is a salesman for Oyster Bay. Although these folks hadn’t bought through Lou, they knew his name from the brochure. Small world.

I saved the bad news for last. Our contractor has not finished the house repairs. Worse, Hurricane FAY drove some water in through ??? and created new damage. Will it never end? Sigh…..

For those of you that have followed our blog for the last couple of years, you’ll recall that upon returning home, the blog STOPPED. This Spring several folks asked me to write even though we weren’t traveling. My thoughts were that not that much happened (we lead a boring life?) when we weren’t on the road. But this Fall promises many new adventures here in Fernandina Beach. So I will attempt to keep everyone posted. Probably not every day, maybe not each week, but at least once every two weeks? By the way, don’t hold me to that if I fall down on the job.

We do have another outing scheduled next month. There is a monthly Holiday Rambler club outing somewhere in Florida each month. We’ve never been to one, but we did join in hopes of picking up some valuable tips about the rig and meet some new folks. The one in November is in St. Augustine – roughly 80 miles south of us. If we go, it will be something to report on.

Friday evening - outside of Fayetteville, NC

W: Just outside of Fayetteville, NC in a very nice KOA. KOA’s are funny animals. Some of them are a little seedy while others, such as this one, are quite nice.

We are roughly 400 miles from Fernandina Beach. We’re not sure how far we’ll travel tomorrow. Although I thought the house would be finished by Saturday night, we’ve just learned that the cleaning crew is coming on Sunday – so it wouldn’t be good to arrive too early on Sunday – let them finish! What a treat that will be, our own house, finished, cleaned and more importantly, empty!!!!

Weather today has been beautiful in the Southeast – upper 70’s with brilliant blue skies. We had fair amount of traffic, but not too bad. I know Margaret has been making notes of sights seen so I’ll let her add some before we post.

M. Odd’s and end’s: the campground we left was a buzz of activity for tomorrow’s Scottish Fair. Tents were going up, platforms and stages being constructed, food being delivered, and vendor plots being measured and outlined with chalk into the mowed grass. There was a van that opened on the side to offer Scottish family trees, heraldry, crests, etc. Looked like fun.

Passed a florist shop called A Wild Bunch, a road named Henpeck Road, and Chickahominy Creek (it still sounds like a strange Southern cooking dish). I-95 in North Carolina was ablaze with red and white flowers planted in long strips so it appeared as a waving flag; wildflowers in the medians; and cotton fields ready for picking. Also saw three large tom turkeys foraging in a harvested field. Their tail feathers were displayed and they were puffed up and strutting! Must have been some hens around I didn’t see.

The days are warmer, but the air is cool in the shade. Summer is fading. I’ll be glad to get home!

W: I thought I was done, but before posting I received notice of the on-line auction in Brattleboro, VT

http://auction.insight-photography.org/12.shtml

I don’t recall mentioning it, but while at the photo workshop in early September, there was a young man (Stephen Dybas – Program Director) attending from Insight-Photography (home page http://www.insight-photography.org/1/index.shtml). Insight-Photography teaches disadvantaged youth about photography and seeing the world differently. It was interesting that they do not use digital photography – costs for computers for the quantity needed are too high – so they use film (how quaint) and chemical darkroom.

Every year they have an auction to raise money for the organization. After seeing some of my photos, Stephen asked if I would donate a print for the auction, which I was glad to oblige. The first link above is to the web-site for the auction and the details. My photo is #113 on page 12. The second link is to their home page. You may enjoy reading about what they’re doing.

Unfortunately(?), the photo on the web doesn’t do it justice. But hopefully folks attending the Gallery Walk in Vermont will appreciate the original print. And for those of you not planning on going to Vermont for the auction – I will be having my very first photo show in Fernandina Beach starting on 10 December 2008. The print being auctioned will be included with many others taken over the last four years. Margaret and I haven’t decided yet on how many to show, but when we left home in August, we had over 120 printed, matted, and mounted. And I have more from this trip. I doubt we’ll use them all at the show, but who knows what kind of reception they will receive.

Speaking of photographs, allow me to thank all of you who have told me how much you like the photographs used on this blog. On those days we have been fortunate enough to be in a “target-rich-enviroment”, it’s been a challenge to choose which photos to use – and that’s good. Other days, the camera(s) don’t even get turned on. What’s wrong with us?

Our photo for the day was taken outside Clyde’s Willow Brook Farm at Broadlands, VA. You may recall we had brunch there Sunday morning (Sep 28) with Kathy and Gary when the fox hunt got canceled due to wet ground.

Virginia - Departure Day!

Thursday - October 2

M: We leave for home tomorrow morning after a successful, sunny day. The Scottish Folk Festival starts at the campground tomorrow afternoon and from the looks of all the preparation, they are expecting a crowd.

I made a list of odds and ends so let me start with those:

Forgot to say the Wild Hog had a nice wine list and extensive list of beer – as well as the old Southern stand-by, sweet tea…. Folks in this area eat a lot or pancakes and hotdogs, hopefully not at the same time. There are pancake houses within blocks of each other, our favorite sign being Pocahontas Pancakes. Little and large hotdog stands are tucked here and there… On the way to Virginia Beach there is an arena. If you can imagine an origami folded building, white and pleated and concrete, you have it…. One of the hotels on Virginia Beach was hosting a Little People’s Convention…In the evenings we hear the geese honking as the skim over the lake. We also hear the train going by frequently. Odd how one sound is lovely, the other not.

While in Virginia Beach today, we stopped at the Edgar Cayce Visitor Center (aka A.R.E.) Cayce, also called the Sleeping Prophet, left a legacy of readings done for many people over many years. He was not only gifted but prolific. One can go there for research, meditation, and reading.

Friday – October 3, 2008

W: Once again, the Internet wireless access is unpredictable (at our current location). Even when you’re connected, it is intermittent. Very unnerving when one is used to high speed, reliable access. Ah, the sufferings of the RV’er!

As Margaret mentioned, we’ll be heading down the road today. Being the end of the trip, we’re both kind of anxious to be home, but it’s just a little too far to try and make it in 2 days. Plus we don’t care to arrive on Saturday because we know that the house won’t be finished. That’s not as bad as it sounds. We’ve actually talked with the contractor several times this week and he has arranged for a cleaning crew to be in the house on Saturday which means the “work” should be complete. We’ll see.

The photos today are from yesterday’s visit to Virginia Beach. While waiting in the car during Margaret’s appointment, I noticed this turtle sitting on the log. Just after taking the shot, he decided he didn’t like me so close and went into the water. But he didn’t gracefully slide in or dive in; no, he fell in – upside down! Never seen a turtle do that. But he swam away so I guess it was ok.

The second photo is of the Hog Wild restaurant. We liked the pink pig on Bourbon St.

The last two photos are from the Edgar Cayce library. The bookshelf contains the readings done by Cayce. Each page is typed using a manual typewriter (I sampled a few pages – written in 1927). The second – with Margaret reading – is of the general library in the Center. Fascinating place to visit, but more so if one was doing research into Cayce’s life and works. I wanted to visit simply because we were so close and we have read many stories about his life and the readings he did. (Having done this, I don’t have to do it again!)

Eastern Virginia - near Williamsburg

After two days of successful Internet access, we have suddenly lost our signal in the campground. So we’ll have to wait until we move; or until Sprint fixes the cell-tower that was working fine until yesterday. So for the moment, I’ll summarize Tuesday / Wednesday. (Now, Thursday a.m. the signal is on again / off again, so I'll try to get this out while it's on again!)

An editorial note: in looking back at several of the blog postings, I realize that the “photo-of-the-day” is seldom from the title/heading/date. So it is somewhat misleading at first to see a photo taken in North Carolina with the heading – Day 3 in Virginia. I hope everyone understands that every day is not necessarily a good photo-op day and there are usually photos taken earlier that there wasn’t space for but I wanted to share.

As an example, today’ photo is from the junction of the Monocacy and Potomac Rivers in Maryland. The small boat in the photo is heading up the Monocacy River and was taken from the Chesapeake & Ohio barge canal aqueduct over the Monocacy River.

We haven’t had the time or opportunity to do much photography in our current location.

Tuesday.
Our day started fine with a short errand run that filled several needs. Around noon, we headed out for a fun-filled afternoon, starting with lunch at a local restaurant called the Wild Hog – A Southern Tradition. Thinking it was only a BBQ place, we were surprised to find the menu a cross between Virginia Traditional, Southern Coastal and Cajun. Margaret had a pulled pork sandwich and black eye peas; I had jambalaya and collard greens. Sweet tea, a Southern tradition; everything was excellent. This unimposing eatery was written up in the Richmond eating guide. We then headed for Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Not to be.

As we pulled out, a nice young man started yelling and running after us, waving. So we pulled off the road. Turned out we had a flat – a major flat. Before I could place a call to the Auto Club, he had the spare and the jack out, and was busy jacking up the car. During the process we learned our good Samaritan’s name was Dorsey and he was a retired Army Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Margaret and agreed that he didn’t look old enough to be retired; but that is our age showing. What a gracious young man.

Anyway, after he finished replacing the flat with the spare, we thanked him profusely and headed off to find a replacement. He had recommended Wal-Mart as the closest tire place of choice. Since I had just made a Wal-Mart-run, I thought that was a reasonable suggestion as I knew the way. Bad choice.

I won’t bore you with the sordid detail. Let’s just say that after 30 minutes of watching the Wal-Mart tire department people running around, not sure what to do; one fellow deciding to take his lunch break in the middle of writing up my order; the supervisor walking off; and the remaining employees were romantically involved -- we left. Off to Costco – another 20 miles on the do-nut spare.

I couldn’t believe the cost quoted by Wal-Mart (later confirmed by Costco) for one tire – a tire for a 3,000 pound Saturn. I mean, we’re not talking about a Lincoln Navigator for goodness sakes! After struggling with this information, I decided to replace all four tires. Now this wasn’t truly a spur-of-the-moment decision. During our travels last year, a Les Schwab tire fellow in Sequim, WA, had told me we would need new tires in another 5,000 miles. So I was ready to replace them – not just one, although I did not foresee the flat. So now we have four new Michelin shoes for the baby. Now for new brakes…..

We left Costco at closing (almost 6:00 p.m.) and headed to scope out the location of Margaret’s Thursday appointment (we both like to get the lay of the land before the time / date of any meeting). A sudden rain-storm slowed traffic on the local highways to a crawl – plus it was rush-hour. After successfully locating the site, we headed for dinner at a steak house we passed that boasted many awards. A beautiful rainbow even arched above it. We weren’t all that impressed.

Wednesday.

In the midst of everything else, I developed a recurrence of a respiratory “disease” I suffered two years ago in Idaho. In a nutshell, I couldn’t breathe comfortably when I went to bed. When this occurred two years ago, a local doctor diagnosed it as a sinus infection. Since this had gone on for 3 nights in a row (I didn’t get to bed until 3:00 a.m.), I decided it was time to search for local help. It took us most of the morning to find the local Urgent Care center, and then a local pharmacy. All’s well that ends well. The doctor made the same diagnosis as the doctor made two years ago (small variation – minor bronchitis rather than sinus infection); same prescription: antibiotics and an inhaler for the congestion.

The rest of Wednesday was spent in the RV while Margaret prepared for her meeting tomorrow.

As mentioned earlier, our campground is beside Lake Chickahominy / River (there’s a small dam / pumping station creating the lake). The campground is huge, i.e., there are hundreds of sites, plus many permanent and semi-permanent living abodes – a mix of RV’s and cottages. Plus the requisite boat ramp and marina. And there are permanent pavilions for concerts. There is a Scottish Cultural Festival this weekend. Sorry(?) we’ll have to miss that. They are expecting to fill the campground.

We have had rain in some amount every day since arriving. So much for the clear and sunny forecast. But the temperature has moderated as a result. Highs only in the low 70’s.

Tomorrow we head out for Margaret’s appointment. Keep your fingers crossed.