Fernandina Travelers

Back Home in Florida

2010-09-11T16:46:00.003-04:00

My brief blog during our trip to Washington state last week was – brief
Today, I'd like to catch up a bit and provide a couple of photos from our trip.
We returned home on Thursday, 9 September. Cross-country travel by airplane was everything I remembered it to be: crowded, tiring, expensive, and boring. Fortunately we had no travel “problems” - the plane(s) left on time, arrived on time (or early), and air-turbulence was minor.
We had a wonderful time visiting our friends in Sequim and Olympia. The weather was typical Pacific Northwest – several days of sunshine and cool; several days of rain / clouds and cool. But a great break from the 90+ degree days of north Florida this summer.
While in the Sequim, WA area, we were fortunate to travel up the Sol-Duc river into the Olympics. Todays photos are from that day-trip. The Sol-Duc River is approx 78miles long and flows from the Olympic Mtns, joins with other rivers and then into the Pacific. We would like to spend more time exploring this river and of course, in the Pacific Northwest.
I will probably post another photo or two while it's fresh in my mind.
For now, we're enjoying another Univ of Florida football victory. Next week we travel north to Knoxville to watch the Gators play Univ of Tennessee. I'm not a football prognosticator, but from what I saw today, the Gators will have to play better to leave Knoxville with a victory!
Michael Spicer had a photo showing in our home last week and is having another next week (while we're out of town). If you haven't seen Michael's work, you're missing a true talent. I will post a photo or two next week of his work.
For now, we're enjoying being home. Travel is great, but home is always welcome.
Wayne

Back in Sequim

2010-09-05T19:51:00.002-04:00

No photos today. Although I have several hundred residing in my camera, I have no computer with me and no way to download.
But I thought I'd post our current situation for anyone following or trying to follow our adventures.
We are in Sequim, WA, visiting our friends, the McGuires. It has been two+ years since we've been here. And yes, it is as beautiful as we remember. The weather has been great - blue skies, lows in the 50's, and highs in the 60's. A far cry from the 51 straight days of 90+ in Fernandin Beach, FL!
We are going to visit Connie and Harold tomorrow in Olympia; then back to Florida on Thursday.
Our lives have been VERY interesting since I last wrote. We converted our downstairs to a gallery and had our first show on August 28th. I say ours, our guest artist was Michael Spicer. His work is wonderful and will be available for viewing throughout September (by appointment). I will pass along some photos when we get back.
I was going to show some of my recent work in October, but we're thinking we'll wait until November. I'll keep you informed.
In case you haven't had a chance, I invite you to see my new website and my newest photography adventure at www.WayneHowardPhotography.com
Thanks for checking in.
Wayne

New post? - After all this time?

2010-06-28T20:03:00.004-04:00

I had no idea it had been over a year since my last post. I know I made a conscious effort NOT to post because we haven't been traveling - at least not to any degree - and traveling was why we started the blog.
But the times they are a'changing (to paraphrase Dylan) and I suddenly realized that I wanted to report what was going on in our lives. That and some very positive feedback from "strangers". I say strangers because the positive comments were / are coming from folks I don't really know very well. So besides the ego-stroke, I realized I did in fact have things to say that folks might find interesting / worth-while.
So, how to summarize 12-months of life in a few postings?
In no particular order of importance:
We have been trying to sell our house since November 2009. Everyone who sees it loves it, but with the economy in the "pits", no one is getting out their checkbook. So...
The house comes off the market later this summer (assuming no one buys). Then...
We are going to start a private gallery - showing my photography and good friends photography / art over the next "years(?)"
Then there's my new photographic venture - one I'm very, very excited about. I have discovered a way to transform an "ordinary" photo into a "work of art". I am hesitant to call it a work of art because that implies more than I want. But my concept is to take an "ordinary" photo and transform it into a unique piece of art that is reminiscent of Monet and other impressionists painters. Everyone who has seen samples can't believe it's NOT a painting. Plus since I plan to transform customer's (best-loved?) photos into a painting-like object-de-arts that they can hang in their home / office, they will truly have an original piece of art that they can can take credit for. Plus it will have a unique meaning to them and their families.
I will report more on this as we go along. Plus I am starting a new web-site to host this venture with more details on how to create your own work-of-art. It can be found (eventually!) at www.waynehowardphotography.com But for the moment one can get a glimpse of what I'm about by visiting www.aMUSEingJourneys.com and clicking on Galleries / Transformations.
At the moment we are hosting our daughter / grandson for a 2+week stay. Great fun - very time-consuming.
But it is my intention to begin posting new thoughts / information here without such long gaps.
Thanks for your patience.

Fernandina Beach - Monday a.m.

2009-06-01T08:20:00.002-04:00

Before leaving the subject of last week’s travels, I thought I’d post one more with some of the other “interesting” sights.

On our return to Everglade City, we drove some of the back roads and found two vehicles being used shall we say, creatively? Many people use ceramic and plastic pots for their plants. The innovative folks at this home used a pickup truck. The Jeep didn’t have any plants growing in it (that we could see), but it was certainly handy to the back door in case of a quick evacuation. Of course they’ll need to do something about that right front tire, but maybe they have a spare.

A local restaurant also found an alternative use for their old VW Beetle – Dine here! Maybe there will be life for our Ruby Bug after its days are over?

Finally, one of the many wild life art forms – this one on Marco Island – in front of a local Italian Restaurant. A dolphin serving up some adult beverages. I didn’t get photos of all the clever animal forms / use. A lot of mail boxes in front yards used manatees (in costume), dolphins, and gators. Fun to see.

Marco Island trip - last days

2009-05-31T20:03:00.002-04:00

Thursday / Friday / Saturday – May 28 / 29 / 30

Wrapping up the Marco Island visit:
One never realizes how short a week can be until one is tied to a scheduled / planned one-week reservation – such as we’ve had on Marco Island. And the irony is that we talked briefly about cutting things short and leaving on Friday a.m. But, realizing we would be returning to a house without air-conditioning and hot water, we decided we would tough it out! Actually not a difficult decision but one we did consider briefly.

Thursday – we putted around briefly – culminated with a fine dinner at one of our favorites: Carrabba’s Restaurant (in Naples).

The first photo is of a Pandora Tree. One of the other guest said it is called a monkey tree in Hawaii – because of the root system. Not sure if he was pulling our leg or not. But the fruit – shown here – is quite unusual. The inn-keeper said she was told it was edible, but bitter. We didn’t try it.

Friday we drove back down to Everglade City. Thought we might have missed something (we didn’t); but we did take an alternate route and toured the “back-roads” of town. The red flowering trees (photo above) are called Royal Poinciana’s. There are also purple flowering trees (shrubs?) called Jacaranda’s.

We detoured into an area labeled Harmon Lake. It appeared to be a limestone sinkhole (common in much of Florida). The thing that surprised us was the large number of turkey vultures in the area. These two must have been building a nest in the palm / palmetto. But there were many more in the area – probably 50 or more just sitting around on the rocks or soaring overhead. Must be good pickings?

Saturday we headed home – back to the warm house (no A/C) but home. We noticed that the perceived temperatures in Fernandina Beach are much cooler. The reported day-time temps per Weather channel.com were actually similar to Marco Island (85 – 88 degrees). But the cooler water of the Atlantic compared to the Gulf of Mexico means the sea breezes make it feel a lot cooler in FB, FL. That, and I think the humidity is lower here, makes it feel much cooler.

Nevertheless, we spent last night (and the next 3 – 7 nights) next door in our newest neighbor’s apartment. They returned to the mountains of North Carolina last Wednesday and graciously allowed us to use their apartment until we get our A/C installed.

Saturday we drove north. I haven’t seen so much dangerous driving in years. People changing lanes when it was completely unnecessary and completely unsafe. We survived – although we did pass a car upside down (only the wheels showing) about a 100 yards off I-75 in the swamp. One police car and one wrecker were on the scene so we guessed they had already carted off the auto’s occupants. Didn’t look good, but it must have happened an hour or more before we passed.

The last photo of the day is one of the figures seen on Marco Island – this one in front of a local Italian Restaurant.

I didn’t expect to restart the blog, but when you’re out and about, there are things to talk about. (Things other than personal illness and loss of friends – things that occur with advancing age!).

Wayne

Tuesday / Wednesday - day 3 and 4

2009-05-29T17:52:00.001-04:00

Blog for Tuesday / Wednesday – May 26 / 27

Today I’ll cover two days to speed things along.
Tuesday we took it easy. Drove back to Naples to visit a book-store and replenish reading material. It had been a while since we were in a book-store – I’ve been using the library as my primary source (cheaper that way). We walked out with more than we planned and headed back to Marco.

On the way back we stopped and made reservations for a boating adventure on Wednesday – a 3-hour trip in the bay, among the mangrove islands, and a stop on the barrier island for sand / shells / and a chance for Margaret to wade in the Gulf. All of today’s photos are from this boating trip.

The boat had 22 folks aboard plus the captain and a naturalist / photographer. The naturalist was a great source of information about the dolphin habits (we saw a lot of them) and the birds spotted along the way. The naturalist works for an organization keeping track of dolphins. The dolphins are identified by the markings and shapes of their dorsal fin. We were shown a book of photographs of the dolphins they’ve seen and named! There were over 130 photos of different dolphins in the book. We were supposed to watch to see if we could find any new, un-named dolphins. Usually they were some distance away, but by the end of trip some dolphins were playing next to the boat. The most fun was when they were “chasing” the boat and body surfing in the boat’s wake.

I had the “wrong” camera for dolphin photography. By the time I saw it and pushed the button, he (she?) had already jumped / whatever and was back in the water. It was only towards the end of the trip that we found some in shallow water. These were on the surface more than they were under water. We also saw a couple rolling and playing – foreplay?

I’ve included a couple of shots of birds around the mangrove islands plus the beach where Margaret waded in.

A great outing.

Naples FL - day 2

2009-05-29T09:31:00.002-04:00

Monday, May 25th

We drove into Naples, FL, today – about 16 miles north. Even though it was Memorial Day the place was hopping with folks enjoying the holiday. After wandering around for a while on our own, we decided to take the local trolley tour. A tour is a good way to learn one’s way around an unfamiliar town while someone else drives (and tells you what you’re seeing).

Other than some very expensive looking homes and hotels, there isn’t a lot to see. The photo above of the house is one of many situated directly on the Gulf front beach. There are also many multi-story high-rise apartments / condos / hotels along the beach. Our tour guide told us as we passed one particular “exclusive” development that the minimum home size to build was 10,000 sq feet – and this wasn’t even on the Gulf!

One of the fun features we have seen in both Naples and on Marco Island are the animal figures – this gator was in front of the trolley tour depot. There are many mail box posts adorned as manatees or dolphins. More photos of these as the week progresses.

After a disappointing lunch at one of the local tourist seafood places we headed back. Our days are probably going to be a lot like the RV days we had. See stuff in the a.m. and tuck in by mid-afternoon for a nap, read, and an adult beverage. There is another reason to come in early: it is very, very hot here – intense sunlight – and high humidity. If you’re not in air conditioning, you melt pretty quickly. (It is an unpleasant thought that we still have no air conditioning at home.)

More later.

Marco Island FL - day one

2009-05-29T09:08:00.001-04:00

Sunday, May 24th

I realized this morning that the blog posting date is not the subject material date. So for now, ignore the posting date. Not the first time this has occurred but I’m definitely out of practice.

We arrived at Marco Island, FL, Saturday the 23rd for a one-week stay. We are using a week of our time-share since it was due to expire next month. Marco Island is small – even by Amelia Island standards; only 5 miles by 2.5 miles end to end. And 40% of that is water – mostly canals for boats (yachts?) tied up behind folks’ homes. Looking at a map of the area, it is obvious that except for the main beach itself a barrier island, most of the island is man-made.

Sunday morning we headed south along US 41 – also known as the Tamiami Trail. We learned that the Tamiami Trail is NOT an Indian name; but rather a nickname for the first road to connect Tampa to Miami. Makes sense but if I knew that (growing up in Florida I should have), I’d forgotten. My memorable moment on the Tamiami Trail was back in my senior year in college. The band was playing for a football game in Miami and I decided to drive down. Unfortunately, it was the middle of the night and I ran out of gas in the middle of the Everglades. Might not have been so bad if I’d have been alone, then no one would have known. But unfortunately, I had a car full of band members! Oh, well.

We drove as far as the Big Cypress National Park. Our goal was to visit the working studio of photographer Clyde Butcher. Mr. Butcher is famous for large (really large) format black and white photos of the Everglades. I had seen an interview with him and was really impressed with his methodology, i.e., he wades into the swamp and puts his view camera / tripod down in the muck. His business card shows him almost waist deep in the water with camera! Given the various kind of wild-life in the Everglades, it’s not something I’d want to do. But he’s been very successful and appears to still have all appendages.

On the way down, we stopped at the Big Cypress National Park visitor center. Had a nice chat with one of the rangers. The rainy season is June through October (coinciding with the Hurricane season) so the water table in the swamp is low. But we did get to see some of the local alligators in the canal next to the visitor center. The boardwalk looked to be several hundred yards long and about eight feet above the water. Today’s photos show a couple of the local residents. Except for reptile zoos and the ilk, this was the most alligators I’ve ever seen at one time. Some were on the bank others were floating (or swimming). I have to believe the rangers must feed them otherwise the gators would seek better environs – other than an occasional clumsy tourist, there wasn’t much in the way of wildlife / food for the gators to eat.

Lot’s of clouds build in the Eastern sky every afternoon, but so far it hasn’t rained along the coast where we are. The cloud photo above is from our time-share balcony.

Returning to blog posting!

2009-05-28T17:04:00.001-04:00

During my last post, I observed that I would not be doing more posting since we were no longer traveling. And reporting about “normal” doings around the home-stead couldn’t possibly be very interesting. I didn’t mean it as a complaint or that normal life was dull. However, the UNIVERSE and GOD(DESS?) must have misunderstood ‘cause things got interesting very quickly.

That and the fact we’ve been away from home now for almost a week (yes, traveling, but not in an RV), has prompted me to take up the keyboard. Maybe not as much to let folks know what’s happening, but more almost as a dear-diary for myself – something to look back on in my dotage and wonder “did-that-all-really-happen?”.

To bring everyone up to date: The contractor finally finished the east wall of the house. I intended to show photos show the work being done (with scaffolding) and after it was finished (without scaffolding). But since I am using Margaret’s computer, I find I don’t have the photos with us. We are pleased with the work outside – it looks like brand-new (which it should since it is!) The work inside is also pretty much done. Work remains on the south wall (some miscellaneous bad planks) and the front (repainting the trim and deck).

But the UNIVERSE must have smiled and said, “Not so fast, humans.” Sunday afternoon (May 17th) while Margaret and I were sitting on the front porch watching a severe thunderstorm approach, there was a flash / bang – yes, the house took a lightening hit! Although it wasn’t a direct hit in the true sense of the word (no fire and house was / is still standing), it did blow all the circuit breakers. The surge took out: two air-conditioners (heat pumps); two tank-less hot-water heaters (one exploded, dumping water until I managed to get the water turned off); two televisions; one computer; one printer; and a variety of “little” electronic things. There may be more damage, but until we get some of these things up and running, we won’t know about other things (things like DVD player, external hard disk drives, etc.)

At least the weather for the next few days was mild enough we were able to survive without air-conditioning. Our neighbors were generous enough to let us shower in their home.

So after getting various contractors and repair crews busy estimating repair costs for the insurance company, we left town! Our departure had actually been planned for several weeks before the lightening event – we used a week of our time-share to travel to Marco Island, Florida – just south of Naples – the southwest coast of Florida.

As I stated at the start, being on the road again prompted the blog-bug to bite. So I will be reporting on our activities and some of the things we’ve seen on the trip.

The photo of the day is from a local Fernandina Beach cemetery – named Bosque Bello. There are numerous photo ops there and best of all, you can return again and again and find it pretty much the same as before! Guess no lone is leaving?

Florida wildlife

2009-02-09T11:29:00.002-05:00

Today’s photos were taken locally at Egan’s Creek (marsh). There is a walkway along the creek and on this day we found Mr. Gator sunning himself (I guess it was a he – I didn’t do a gender check!)

The last few weeks have been busy, that is busier than normal, even for us. I had thought I’d be on the road this week heading to Houston to put the RV on a consignment lot. Well, a lot happened before I left. A local RV consignment lot made me an offer – cash – which I accepted but then they couldn’t come up with the cash. Realizing there were other possible opportunities, I contacted another RV dealer locally who was willing to take the unit on consignment with terms that were similar to the Texas folks. So while a local lot won’t have the potential buyer universe as the Texas lot, it was a whole lot easier to go local and avoid the drive. If it doesn’t work out, I can always do the Texas thing.

Our cold weather finally abated. The weather today and for the next few days at least will be in the low to mid-70’s with nothing in the way of frost or hard freeze. We were getting tired of the cold weather. The local weatherman said that Feb 16 is the record date for last freeze of the winter. So maybe we’re finished with cool for this season. Since it began getting cool-ish back before Thanksgiving, it’s about time for “winter” to be over. Of course now comes the heat (and hurricanes!).

We have moved a selection of prints into a local gallery – Slightly off Centre. The collection is different than we had in Dec / Jan. Some of the same pictures, but in larger sizes. The larger prints in the Dec / Jan show didn’t fit in with the new gallery display space. I also have a series of note-cards from local shots. We’ll see if those move.

Finally, we think the contractor will start on the repairs to our outside walls. They were damaged during FAY (storm) last year and it’s taken all this time to get the paperwork completed and collect the insurance. Hopefully the repairs will be completed before the next round of storms!

Since we won’t be traveling as extensively as in past years, I’ll cut back the blog posting(s) to monthly. I thought that every other week would be good, but even that tends to come around much too frequently. Plus I’m not sure anyone reads these when we’re not on the road. If no one is reading it now, then I probably should just cut it off and not worry about it until something changes.

I have found a way to collect and print blogs (in a book). Maybe I’ll do that so we’ll have a record / hard-copy for posterity. If so, and if it turns out decently, I’ll let you know so if you want, you could get a hard copy.

Winter in Florida?

2009-01-23T15:58:00.005-05:00

Have you ever wondered why girls / women keep a diary and men don’t, at least none that I know of. Unless your job requires daily writing, most of us don’t; but what a great way to keep up with your life. If not for your own edification, then for your children and their children.
Why the musing about such a mundane subject? I’m not sure but it’s probably because we are getting close to sale of the motor home. Unless someone knocks on my door in the next two weeks, I will be off to Houston, TX, to hand over the keys to PPL, one of the largest consignment RV dealers in the country (at least that’s what they say). Although I’m not sure I’d want to write every day for myself, when we were traveling, it was a great way to recap events of the day.
Even now, when I’m assembling photos for the show and others, I often refer back to the daily blog to make sure where we were when a certain photo was made. Fortunately, in the digital age, the camera keeps track of date and time. I read that some newer cameras even have a GPS to record long/lat so you really know where the picture was taken. I probably don’t need that, but it’s interesting to think about.
We had our most serious cold weather this week. According to the local weathermen on TV, it is the coldest in three years. Inland Florida got down to the teens; we were in the mid-20’s for a couple of nights. The photos above shows the icicles on our plants in the front yard. Today (Friday) it is back into the mid-60’s with Sunday scheduled to be in the mid-70’s. That’s Florida winters for you.
We had a nice visit early this week from Teddi and Bill. Teddi does catering in Macon, GA, and has two cookbooks published. Margaret helped edit the first one back when we lived in Warner Robins, GA. Teddi and Bill also bought two of my photos from the show. What nice people! (They’re nice if they didn’t buy any!)
As I mentioned last time, my web-site (http://www.aMUSEingJourneys.com) is up and running. Still not perfect – don’t know that it will ever be, but at least folks can go there to see photos. At the moment it’s mostly the photo show, but I think I’m going to need to cycle a wide variety of shots to keep up the interest. If you always see the same photos, you’d probably stop going. So keep checking in.
The internet magazine that Carol (our daughter) is works with (http://www.Dystopiamagazine.com) has used several of my photos and want more. So I’ll probably add their link to my site.
Finally, the photo show ends in its current location at the end of January. We have found a local gallery that wants to hang my photos. It’s a small gallery, but we’ll probably be able to hang 8 or 10 plus a bin for smaller prints. I’m also working on local photos for note-cards that they can carry. Folks usually don’t want large prints, particularly if they’re traveling, but a small note-card (postcard size-ish) might work. I’m also thinking about assembling some of the photos into a self-published book that might interest some folks. Never a dull moment.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-12T14:31:00.006-05:00

It is hard to believe how fast the time slips by. The last posting was right after Christmas. Now it’s the second week in January in a new year. Yes, I’m a little tardy (per my every-other-week promise), but things fill the days.

In case you haven’t heard, my alma-mater squeaked out a football win over Oklahoma for the BCS National Championship last week. First time in a long time I stayed up past midnight! Whew! Superman (Tim Tebow) just announced he’s returning for another year at Florida, so they should be pretty good next year, too.
We continue to get positive feedback from the photo show last month. Out of the 30+ photos hanging (not counting the small ones in bins), we’ve sold 10 so far and people say they’re going to revisit. Of course this is after the Christmas shopping, so I’m not holding my breath. But the important thing is, folks enjoyed the photos and had a good time at the show.

Now, for those of you who couldn’t make it (or would like to see them again), my web-site is finally up. Not perfect, but at least you can look. I continue to tweak the contents and I’m still not totally comfortable with pricing, but that is work-in-progress. http://www.aMUSEingJourneys.com
A local gallery has tentatively agreed to give me wall space. I’ll probably try to utilize more local subject material since that’s what folks want to see when they wander into a local gallery. But at least with the web-site up, we can advertise for that destination.
I’ve included a couple of local photos including one taken in the early morning mist of the marina.
We have decided to cut back on travel in 2009 and depending on the economy, will probably put our motorhome up for sale. So if you know someone who wants a good unit (and good towed-vehicle), send them our way!

New Year's Eve Eve

2008-12-30T11:54:00.003-05:00

It’s nearly the end of 2008; only one more day. Although there were notable successes and achievements in 2008 (the photo show comes to mind with all the friends that came), I am looking forward to 2009 and the start of financial recovery for many including yours truly.

We had a quiet Christmas after the hectic first two weeks in December. Our week at Fort Clinch in the RV didn’t quite work out as planned. We anticipated a quiet, lay-low week with occasional jaunts to the house to take of miscellany. But last-minute prep for Christmas and various other tasks resulted in being out of the park for most of every day; returning at dusk. To simplify things, we ended up eating most meals away from the RV (less clean-up; fewer things to move in/out). Suki-the-cat did not make the trip! He ran every time Margaret tried to corral him. Probably for the best since we were gone so much and it was not a good place for him to roam outdoors.

A benefit of our short stay was we did get to walk the beach in the early morning and late afternoon. Besides the obvious enjoyment, I learned / discovered “beach” photography! That may sound strange but my thoughts on “beach” photography was there was nothing to take a picture of! Why, you ask? Other than the early morning sunrise / late p.m. sunset, photos of surf and sand can be pretty blah!

Well, as luck would have it, we had several mornings of fog which made for some interesting stuff. That plus some fun shapes / patterns discovered along the way. I now believe I have “local” photos to add to my portfolio of mountains et.al. We’re still in the thinking stage, but several of these (and their ilk) are possible candidates for local postcards and note-cards that could be offered in the local tourist “traps” and a gallery (if we ever find / decide on one for my photos).

Finally, the snags of getting my web-site up and running have been “solved”. Specifically, I signed up with one web-site company but they weren’t aimed at photography and I could never get the pages to accept my stuff. So I found another photography-oriented company. It has taken nearly a month to resolve the issues of domain name ownership and transfer to the new company. The new company (www.photobiz.com) says I should be up by the end of this week (Jan 2nd). But I’m taking that with a grain or two of salt since I’ve heard that before. Keep your fingers crossed.

Photo Show - a success!

2008-12-13T08:19:00.004-05:00

What a wild ride! Since I last wrote, our daughter Carol arrived, we had the photo show, unexpected friends came from California for the show, and Carol went home. We are beginning to recover and understand and appreciate what happened.

To begin, the show was a great success. In numbers, we hung 30 large prints plus another 70+ smaller prints (matted and mounted, unframed) in bins along the wall.

We had pretty much standing room only. Since we didn’t sell tickets (ha-ha), we can only approximate how many came. We know of 50 friends that came plus a good number of walk-ins; probably close to 75 total. Everyone seemed to have a good time. I received many very nice comments about the photos. And the icing on the cake: we sold three off the wall, two more are spoken for, and several folks said they’d be back. There are also two more that the individual wants in a different size.

The wine shop where the show was held has asked me back to meet and greet. So we’ve let folks know that there would be another showing (smaller this time) today. So between 4 and 6 this afternoon, I’ll have another opportunity.

A big surprise was the arrival of Carolyn and Harry from Los Angeles. Margaret and Carol knew about it, but I sure didn’t. It wasn’t until Thursday (4th) before the show that I was escorted to the front door and told Margaret needed my help. There was Carolyn and Harry walking up to the front door! They were staying at a B&B in the next block. What a wonderful surprise. They went home Monday so we were able to catch up on old times and share some good food and wine.

Another surprise was our friends, Rasa and Arunas, drove up from Palm Coast (about 60 miles south of here). We hadn’t seen them in years; 60 miles seems a little far through all the traffic. Plus they are busy with family and work. It was great to see them again.

The photos today are from the show including a really, really young art patron; Rasa and Arunas enjoying the wine; and the front of the store showing the flyer announcing the show, Harry guarding the door, and Gator wine. Something for everyone.

Tomorrow we’ll move to Ft Clinch in the RV for a week of recreation and relaxation.

By the way, if you have tried unsuccessfully to access my new web-site, it’s not up. Well, actually it was up for a few days. I could never get it the way I wanted. It (the web-site design) wasn’t meant for large photo displays. So I’ve cancelled that arrangement and signed up with a photo web-site company. It will be the same name (www.aMUSEingJourneys.com) but won’t be up until I can finish switching to the new company. I’ll let everyone know when it’s ready to go. My first effort is putting all the photos from the show on the site.

Until next time (after Christmas!), have a wonderful holiday season.

Almost December - Fernandina Beach

2008-11-29T15:54:00.002-05:00

Another two weeks has passed and it’s time for another posting. The last two weeks have seen a flurry of activity around our place. To bring everyone up to date I’ll highlight happenings.

1. As I have reported, we have been preparing for the Photo Show here in Fernandina Beach. The art that had been on display in the Intercoastal Wine Company store was to have been up through Thanksgiving. Thus we would have had only one week to get everything hung. Although we were sure we could get it done in that time (almost all prints were made and framed), it would be have been a busy time. As it turned out, the previous artist took her stuff down the week of November 11th, so we had almost 3 weeks to work with. Good thing as we were tweaking (rearranging) right up until Wednesday (27th). But we’re good to go – only 6 days from now!
2. Our daughter Carol will be arriving Wednesday (Dec 5th) to help with the show and visit with her web business associates in Orlando while she’s here. She will drive down for the day on Sunday – we may or may not go with her.
3. As I reported last time, Margaret had a good report from her doctor regarding her neck / nervous situation. She has now been on the new medicine for almost two weeks. So far / so good.
4. Although we didn’t have company for Thanksgiving dinner (we ate at a very nice restaurant on Amelia Island – Horizons), Margaret has been busy cleaning up (still) from the mess made by the protracted repair activities. At the moment we’ve decided not to proceed to repair storm FAY’s damage until after the new year. A chance to live in our house without noise, disruption, and workman going and coming.
5. We put up our Christmas tree today. It’s one of those made-in-China, artificial jobs with the lights pre-installed. We’ve had the same problem we had last year. We can’t find all the right plugs from the different sections – so we still have one whole row of unlit bulbs. It should be easier than this; can’t figure out why it’s so hard!
6. Finally, in the middle of all this, I have been trying to get a web-site up and running. It was supposed to be easy – at least that’s what the company told me. I’ve been struggling with it for several months now and it’s still not what I want. But I had to press to get it “UP” because I have been labeling all my photos with the web-site name. You’re welcome to visit but I have to warn you it’s not what I was expecting or what I want. I hope to “FIX” it so it will do what I want. If not, I”ll have to pull the plug and try something else. Oh yes, the web-site is: http://wwwaMUSEingJourneys.com.

We are looking forward to another busy two weeks. After the photo show, Carol will return to California on the 10th. A few days later we will move the RV to Ft. Clinch for a week of beach camping. Wish I’d of thought of this earlier. I’ve mentioned several times how close Ft. Clinch State Park is to our home. The distance is measured in miles (less than 2 miles); but in terms of atmosphere and ambience, it’s world’s away. It will be a chance to relax and get out of the house before diving into Christmas.

Today’s photo is miles and years away. It is one of the photos I am showing. It isn’t nearly as impressive on the web as it is in a 16x20 print; matted and framed to 24x28”. We took it back in 2006 during our first visit to Banff / Jasper. The waterfall is located on the Icefield Parkway about 20 miles (or so) north of Lake Louise, AB. While we were parked at the falls (taking the picture), a couple approached us and asked if we were Florida Gators (saw the license). They were and wanted to meet us. Small world.

Ft Clinch State Park - beach views!

2008-11-17T18:24:00.004-05:00

It’s Monday and I missed my Saturday “dead-line” for getting out another blog. But I have a good excuse, at least I think so. Margaret and I spent all day Friday and Saturday hanging photos for the show. Although the “show” will be on Friday night, Dec. 5th, the photos will be hanging for two months. Originally it was to be just December and January, but the previous artist pulled her stuff out last week on Thursday so we were able to begin putting pieces up on Friday. Fortunately we were almost ready to start. Glad we didn’t have to wait until the last minute to begin.

I had concerns about the “size” of our hangings. Although a 16x20 print, matted and framed in a 24x28 frame seems large to me, when it hangs on a dark, brick wall that is over 10 feet high, the piece seems tiny; well at least too small. Part of that is because most painters feel comfortable spreading paint on a larger surface. They don’t have to worry about “sharpness” or pixels. Getting a large photo from a small image is a daunting task. But we’re happy with the results.

We had really good news today. Last week Margaret spent a couple of days in Jacksonville being poked and prodded for the same symptoms she had seven years ago. Those symptoms resulted in neck surgery for her; surgery that required a neck brace and 4 months of pain and discomfort. Anyway, today she met with the neurologist and he said that after looking at all the test results, he felt they could combat the symptoms with medication. The medication doesn’t fix anything, but it allows Margaret to suffer less. The problem may get worse and eventually require surgery, but for the moment, it’s two pills a day! Margaret is very happy and relieved – me, too.

We had an inspiration last week. After we return(ed) from our RV adventures the last 3 years, the camper sits in storage for 4 – 6 months before our next outing. As I have mentioned on several occasions, we enjoy visiting Fort Clinch State Park. While it’s less than a mile from our house, when you’re back in the trees or on the beach, it’s another world. So we are going to try staying in the RV monthly for a week (more or less) at the beach. It will be like having a beach house – but one that cost just over $10/day (not counting the RV itself which costs no matter whether we’re using it or not!) – and is only a 10 minute drive away! Our plan is to live “normally” during the day, but retire to the RV for the night and enjoy the evenings and mornings at the beach. Should be fun!

The five photos are from a recent outing to Ft. Clinch beach – the beach that is beside the river flowing from Cumberland Sound to the Atlantic. Margaret loves looking for shark’s teeth. I like finding the interesting shapes of driftwood. Plus a few ripples and a passing sailboat. Now you see why we like going there!

November already?

2008-11-01T11:33:00.004-04:00

It doesn’t seem like two weeks have gone by, but time does go quickly when you’re busy. I thought retirement would be quiet with nothing much to do. But depending on how you measure it, we have been “retired” for about 5 years and if anything, we’re busier now than ever. Lots of fun (usually).

Today, Nov 1st is the annual Univ of Georgia and Univ of Florida football game held in Jacksonville. Located so close to Georgia, Fernandina Beach is the destination of choice for many of the Georgia Dawgs (football fanatics for those of you unfamiliar with Geogia football). We try to grin and bear it – it is only once a year.

After thinking about the last posting, I decided to include some more photos of cars – and trucks – from the Amelia Car Cruizer’s show from two weeks ago.

We are in the final stage(s) / countdown to the photography show to be held on Dec 5th. I realize most of you couldn’t come because of the distances and other commitments but please accept this note as a firm invitation. I’d like to see you there but I appreciate your thoughts and best wishes.

For those keeping score, we are in between house-work / repair. We had damage from tropical storm FAY (back in late August) and have filed an insurance claim. Based on preliminary comments, we are optimistic that some of the repairs will be covered. Another wait and see, but at the moment the East wall of our house (2nd and 3rd floors) is covered with TYBEK (a plastic tarp-like substance) to keep more water out. Will it never end?

I received a call last week from the Amelia Island Chamber singers. They are short of tenors so even though I have missed most of the rehearsals, I have agreed to give it a go. Fortunately, I have sung 8 of the 10 pieces they’re doing – of course it’s been almost 20 years since the last time! Should be fun. The concert(s) are on the weekend we were going to take the RV to St. Augustine for a Holiday Rambler club outing, so that had to be canceled. Maybe another day.

There are lots of things to report, but better to leave them for later.

Amelia Cruizers Car Club weekend

2008-10-18T15:37:00.011-04:00

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

2008-10-05T21:06:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-03T18:06:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-10-03T07:18:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-02T07:21:00.004-04:00

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.

20 miles west of Williamsburg, VA

2008-09-29T18:12:00.003-04:00

A short drive today brought us to the shores of Chickahominy River (or Chickahominy Lake according to some maps) – roughly 20 miles west of Williamsburg, VA. The only difficulties encountered today were: a) finding a source of diesel fuel and b) the campground. Both were short-lived due.

The exit sign on I-95 said there were three stations selling diesel. But the sign failed to mention that half the free world was driving on the cross road (US 17). Yes, it was lunch hour but where did they all come from? A quick scan of the first station on the right showed that even if we managed to get into / out of the station, we’d still need to head away from the interstate and find a place for a U-turn. A station on the other side of US 17 looked like a better bet (needing only a right-turn with a break in traffic to access the highway and the interstate). But we still needed a U-turn to get to it.

For those of you (most of you?) who have never piloted a 36-foot vehicle towing an automobile, making a U-turn, particularly in traffic, is no small feat. Anyway, at the next traffic light we spotted a gas station (not selling diesel) that was commodious and managed the maneuver that returned us to the diesel station (and the correct side of US 17 to get back on I-95). After we were finished and leaving, we noticed a traffic light that, with a judicious left-turn earlier, would have put us in the station without the need for “maneuvers”. Such is life of the RV-er.

The remaining difficulty was my fault – mea culpa! After exiting I-64 and onto US 60 heading East, I thought it was a short jaunt to the campground exit. Well, we drove and drove – no campground in sight. Finally we stopped to figure out what was wrong. As it happened I pulled up to a hot-dog stand. I don’t like asking local for directions because they are frequently as lost as I (plus many don’t speak English). Anyway, this hot-dog stand had a sign in the window, “NOTARY PUBLIC”; it was a small town. He had actually heard of the campground and said, “Seven miles down the road.”

Sure enough, there was a sign. After exiting US 60 and traveling the requisite 1 ½ miles (per my computer), there was a sign for the campground. But it didn’t say, ENTER HERE, or TURN HERE. Instead it looked like a welcome sign for a town. So instead of turning, we kept on. In about two miles, we decided we had erred (again?), pulled into a church parking lot, unhooked, and came back. Once in the campground we had to find site #340. When I made the reservations yesterday, the lady said they didn’t staff the campground on weekends(?) but to pull into site #340.

Well, anyway, here we are. There is a lot of water to the west (either a lake or the river).A “do” is planned for the weekend, white tents are popping up and a stage is decorated. They are expecting a crowd. The weather is toasty, hot and humid. Oh, to be back in Vermont. Both air conditioners are running full-tilt and we are cozy.

On a political note: looks like Congress shot themselves (and most Americans) in the foot today. Wonder what tomorrow (on the national scope) will bring? For us, tomorrow we’ll head into Williamsburg and points east. Thursday is Margaret’s appointment. Friday we’ll head south.

No photo ops today. But we did see some “interesting” signs, strange and wonderful signs. You wonder what were they thinking. For example: “Chili Dogs and Night Crawlers”; Antiques: New and Used; and the town of Goldvein, VA, with the requisite museum of mining; flying circus airport (small print).

Today's photo is beneath US 15 at Point of Rocks, MD. The bridge is across the Potomac - one of the few crossing this river. Part of the bridge (concrete pieces) were flaking off. But they just repainted the steel so I guess all is ok?

Sunday evening – last day in N. Virginia

2008-09-28T21:33:00.004-04:00

Although we weren’t able to accomplish all intended / planned activities, it was a full day. The heavy rains last night prevented the planned fox hunt. When we heard, we thought it might be because the ground would be too wet and treacherous – dangerous for horse and rider. But after chatting with Kathy we learned that the wet ground could be seriously damaged (dug up) by the horses and the riders didn’t want to inflict this on the property owners. (The hunt is on property owned by consenting owners.)

Instead we had brunch in a beautiful restaurant constructed of reconstructed Pennsylvania farmhouses – disassembled and moved to northern Virginia. The first photo is representative of the fox-hunting atmosphere in this part of the country. Although every room was designed in a different motif, our attention was captured by the giant grasshopper over the bar. An omen of sights to come.

After breakfast, Gary and Kathy drove us to a ferry-crossing north of Leesburg. This ferry is guided / restrained crossing of the Potomac – Virginia to Maryland. Motive power is by a small diesel-powered boat attached to the side of the barge. Sounds kind of hokey, but apparently has been in operation for many years. More impressively, it is a key route for commuters on their way from Maryland into the D.C. area – DAILY. The only time it doesn’t operate is at flood stage or when there is too much ice in the river. The two photos show this “contraption” in operation.

We stopped at several points along the Potomac where folks can fish, put boats / canoes / kayaks in the water, and generally enjoy a day at the waterside. One of the most impressive stops was the Chesapeake & Ohio aqueduct / canal crossing the Monocacy river in Maryland. Build in 1833 and used until 1934 to carry barge traffic. Today it is a bike path / hiking path. Hurricane Agnes almost destroyed it in 1972, but it has been restored to it’s present state.

Following our tour along the Potomac, we said good-bye to Gary and Kathy and returned to the motor-home to welcome Jay and Carla. This was a first-time in a motor-home for both. Considering they are both over six-foot, four inches, it was a tight squeeze. Actually they could both stand erect inside. Jay had to duck to avoid light fixtures and air conditioning vents. But this didn’t deter from our enjoyment of the White Star champagne. After our appetizers and catching up on our various life-experiences, we headed off to the Bonefish Grill in Gainesville (that’s Virginia, not Florida, not Georgia).

While showing Jay and Carla around the motor-home, we found this praying mantis laying eggs on the electrical outlet post next to the motor-home. Wonder if they’ll hatch.

The final photo is of Jay and Carla in front of the unit.

A great week in northern Virginia. Tomorrow we head south towards Williamsburg / Norfolk for a few more days before heading to Florida. Next Sunday this time we should be back in our house - hopefully one that all repairs are completed.

Virginia - Day 6

2008-09-27T17:59:00.002-04:00

The rains let up so we took the opportunity to find a Trader Joe’s and stock up -- after stopping at Micky D’s for an egg sandwich. No yellow arches here, simple architecture and lots of windows, and a steady stream of customers. All three cash registers were operating and the drive-up window line snaked around the building.

The Trader Joe’s Two-Buck-Chuck wine is $3.49 / bottle, but it’s still a good deal. It’s fun to watch the clerk react when I roll up to the register and casually order 10 cases of wine. That order had to be repeated between clerks three times, as if in disbelief. I can’t think we’re the only ones who order in cases vs. bottles. Other staffers remarked about coming to our place for the party. Great fun. Other chats about hurricanes (they needed the rain and were grateful) and travel.

Then back to the motor-home and rearrange all the underneath compartments to make room. Ah, the challenges of RV living in a rolling wine cellar.

Tomorrow promises to be another fun day. We start early (8:00) for the classic northern Virginia Fox hunt – courtesy of Kathy and Gary – followed by a buffet lunch. No, I don’t think we’ll be having fox.

In the afternoon, Jay and Carla are driving out from their home in Alexandria to see first-hand the wonders of RV living; the experience enhanced by a bottle of Moet-Chandon White Star champagne, the favorite of all four of us. Then off to one of Leesburg’s finest restaurants – The Lightfoot. We hear it’s situated in an old bank building. Should be fun; hopefully, delicious.

Then Monday we head south. Our plan is to camp just west of Williamsburg, VA. Margaret has an appointment on Thursday. So, will take Tuesday and Wednesday to visit Williamsburg, possibly Virginia Beach as well. Friday we will head south and hope to be home by Sunday (October 4). Wonder if our house repairs will be finished? All they had to do was paint two rooms. We are ever hopeful.

As we were heading out this morning, the local cows (Greenville Farm) were dining by the roadside so we stopped for this photo op. A couple backed away from the trough, others ignored the interruption, and a couple looked up to assess the danger.

While we were having dinner this evening, the owner / farmer decided to start shooting. We could never figure out what he was shooting at (or why). He was too far away to see what he was using, but it was not a hand-gun, and the barrel was pointing in the air. I hope it was a small-gauge shotgun and he was shooting at crows or the ilk. The area is too congested for him to be shooting a rifle, the projectile of which can carry a long way.

Friday – Virginia Day 5

2008-09-26T19:44:00.008-04:00

W: Although Mother Nature wanted to interfere with our plans, we went ahead. Ahead being a trip to Chesapeake Beach, MD – the western shore of Chesapeake Bay – with Kathy and Gary to visit their boat. We had initially planned to go sailing but the various tropical storms / low pressure areas made that unadvisable.

The drive was through a variety of cloudy skies, light mizzle and drist, and heavy down-pour to reach the Chesapeake Bay.

Checking out their boat – a 34 foot catamaran sail-boat – convinced us we had made the right choice to forgo boating for RV-ing. Climbing aboard the boat – even while in its slip, was a challenge – but easy for the young(?).

We then moved to a local dining establishment where Margaret had the local crab cake and crab soup.

The photos today are from the day. Although the “storm” is still south of us, the wind was enough to keep the gulls grounded. Not too many boats were seen on the Chesapeake. Although as you can see, the gulls were grounded.

Virginia - Day 4

2008-09-25T19:40:00.005-04:00

W: Today was a good day despite the threat of rain. Although cloudy, temperatures were mild and the rain held off until afternoon when we were snuggled down in the RV.

We tried to visit several Virginia wineries but were frustrated at every opportunity. The first didn’t open until 11:00 – we were there at 10:30. The second and third ones were only open by appointment. The last was only open on Sat and Sun. So we quit trying and enjoyed the drive.

Our first stop was in Aldie, VA. Almost everything was closed (antique stores, museum, and county stores); only open on Sat. & Sun. Guess it must be a seasonal thing. But we walked around the Aldie Mill (see photos). According to the info signs, the road (US 50) was a link between had been macadamized (paved) at the time of the civil war and the site of one of the earliest battles between Union and Confederate forces occurred on that road in Aldie – June 17-21, 1863. Although it’s usually difficult to imagine what it was like because there are so many changes, the fact that the road was paved at the time, the mills was operating, and the many stone farm houses and stores were as we saw them today, made it was easy to visualize cavalry and troops fighting along this throughway.

The mill itself was built in 1807 by Charles Mercer and is the last standing gristmill in Virginia with tandem overshot waterwheels. It uses water from the Little River. Located on the Little River Turnpike (US 50), the road connected Aldie with the port of Alexandria, VA, to transport flour from the wheat fields of the area to the east coast of the USA and overseas.

As an aside, Margaret and I were discussing how the USA has changed. We are in the middle of what was the heart of the industrial revolution (albeit in the early 1800’s). Harpers Ferry was manufacturing guns with machinery, railroads and canals were revolutionizing transportation, Aldie mill was transporting flour overseas, etc. Today, industrial giants and centers of capitalism are in New York, Chicago, St. Louis, etc., while the once bustling central and northern Virginia hills are home to gentlemen farmers and horse ranches. We wonder if the Civil War had not occurred, how different our geography and history be.

Leaving Aldie we headed west along US 50 to the town of Middleburg, VA. Boy, did we feel out of place! Almost every shop was oriented to horses, hounds, and fox hunting. Margaret ventured into a high-end antique shop she didn’t feel welcome. Across the street was a “liquor” store. Since we had been unsuccessful at visiting wineries, I thought I’d check out the wines. This “liquor” store didn’t have many; mostly “hard” liquors. When I asked where to buy wine, I was sent to Safeway or, if I wanted “gourmet” wine, to a wine cellar around the corner. Then the three guys continued talking horses and hounds.

There were several photo ops. One of the fun stores was a dog treats store. The owner, a retired carpenter, had a great sense of humor. Check out the store front with its BOWSER BEER, the BEAGLES (rock group), and HAIRY’S BARK AND GRILL: PAWS DOWN, THE BEST WHINE IN TOWN.

After the time on the parking meter and our interest in Middleburg had expired, we headed north into the back country. By this time we were both hungry. Miss Priss, our faithful GPS companion, had nothing to report in the way of food stuff within 20 miles. As we rounded a corner (lots of them on back roads), we found the community Philomont – and the local general store. When I say, General store, it really was. They had a General Delivery window for mail, all manner of sundries, and fresh sandwiches. They were also quite cordial.

So we ordered Texas pulled pork BBQ, topped with coleslaw; a side of potato chips, drinks, a Belgian “sweet” beer (she promised me it was great even though I couldn’t drink it on their premises), and a Chardonnay from her vineyard / winery. We sat on the front porch and enjoyed our lunch and talking to the local residents who came and went. We enjoyed the sandwiches immensely; Margaret said the BBQ was as good as any she’d had.

While we were sitting on the front porch, a gentleman arrived (for his mail?), and was leaving when he spotted the Univ of Florida license plate on the Saturn. He did a double take, came back and we were engaged in a friendly conversation. He had lived in Florida and had a son at the U of F (another at Auburn – which made for spirited family reunions). He and his wife are headed to Amelia Island for Thanksgiving this year. He said it was easier to get the family together in Florida than in Virginia. And perhaps we’ll see him on Centre Street for the morning after Thanksgiving sale – where one must be wearing pajamas to get the discount.

As we were leaving, the local volunteer Fire Department siren went off. Since we were sitting right beside the station, the siren was quite loud. We thought it was a test, but then one of the fire engines roared out with its siren and horn blaring. The blasts from the siren alert the community volunteer firemen that there is a fire and they are needed immediately -- lot of excitement at an American cross-road. The firemen in Wagon 8 waved as they went by.

Northern Virginia - day 3

2008-09-25T08:19:00.004-04:00

W: Tuesday was another one of those errand and busy-ness days. Started the morning with a prescription run to Wal-Mart. After filling out the on-line forms and picking a store in Manassas, off we went. Only one problem, it was the wrong store. But a short drive later we were at the right store and medications picked up.

A quick trip to the Costco for foodstuffs, it was back to the RV and company. Kathy and Gary came for dinner last night – salmon on the Barby – along with a couple of bottles of Virginia wine. A nice evening.

Wednesday, Kathy and Gary drove us to Harpers Ferry, VA. I have to admit my deficiency in American history and the events of the Civil War in northern Virginia. Harpers Ferry is a fascinating place, even without historical events. The Shenandoah and Potomac rivers join – the Potomac then flows eastward to Washington, D.C. and the Chesapeake Bay.

Reading the history of Harpers Ferry is like a who’s-who of American history. Among the notables visiting here: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, Robert E Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Gen. Stonewall Jackson, George Custer, Gen Philip Sheridan, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and W.E.B. DuBois (helped start the NAACP). Of course the most famous “visitor” was John Brown who tried to capture the arms and ammunitions at the arsenal in his fight to abolish slavery. He was hanged in Harpers Ferry.

The Chesapeake & Ohio transportation company built a shipping canal along the banks of the Potomac. Lock #33 (across the Potomac from Harpers Ferry) seemed so small in comparison to the Champlain Lock we visited just a few weeks ago. The tow-path beside the canal is now a bike / hiking path.

Today’s photos (of 157 taken!). Our first stop was a local farmer’s market with a beautiful display of pumpkins and a bundle of corn stalks.

The in street / shop photo is High Street in Harpers Ferry. The church over-looking the Potomac is of St. Peters Roman Catholic. The last is of the C&O rail bridge across the Potomac to West Virginia. There is also a pedestrian walkway across the river which we took.

Lots of photo ops. Hard to pick a few, so I’ll probably include some more in the coming days.

Thursday morning – it is supposed to rain (and storm?) today and tomorrow – the front of the system (currently off the coast of NC) is about 100 miles south-east of us and moving this way. So we’ll try to do some sight-seeing this morning in a little “antique” town close by and hunker down this evening.

Greenville Farm Family Campground

2008-09-23T09:20:00.004-04:00

W: We’re back in Virginia – smack in the middle of a working farm – about 20 miles south of Leesburg and 30 miles due west of D.C. This farm – with a corner set up as a campground – appears to be mostly cattle (confirmed by last night’s aroma) with some crops. The area, however, is pretty much dedicated to the equine field: riding stables, equine doctors and science, polo, and fox hunting.

We had dinner last night with Kathy and Gary, our friends from childhood. Kathy and Gary visited us in Fernandina Beach last month. They live in Leesburg.

The drive down yesterday was uneventful with the bonus of reasonably smooth roads. We had been concerned about wasting a lot of time searching for a propane source, but luck was with us – the third exit after getting on I-78 was home to a rather large RV dealer. So after some difficulties get getting them into action, we drove on with 30 gallons of propane – exactly the size of the tank!

M. Before saying farewell to the rolling fields of central PA, we stopped a meat market down the road which offered an amazing display of fresh meats from beef to wild fowl, from pork to sausages, sweet breads to tripe to rocky mountain oysters, lamb to goat to veal, etc. Event inch of the hog was smoked/ cured/etc. from snout to spiral tail.

A table displayed smoked products ranging from the entire hog’s head to a football-shaped bologna to scale with cross stitching on the hide. The kids could play with lunch, and then eat it – and the samples were delicious. One could buy pheasant, capon, quail, duck, hens (even chicken feet), goose, and the everyday market eggs, chicken, bacons, turkey, etc. Nothing was wasted, and what was considered inedible, was available as dog treats.

The two photos, while similar, show the variety of products available. (double-click on the photo for a larger view)

More than you wanted to know? Yeah, well. That morning we had stopped for breakfast, as Wayne said earlier, and the specials of the day read: shepherd’s pie, chicken and dumplings, and pig stomach. My favorite soup of childhood was peppery pot, which I loved until I found out what was in it (diced tripe).

There were racks of pickled vegetables, salads, eggs, unknown things, and horseradish -- all home processed. A jar of pickled beets, of course, for me and a slice of shoo fly pie which was fresh and delicious! We cooked out our last evening in PA, the meat we had bought, vegetables wrapped in foil (as we had no gas), wine, and shoo fly pie under a pink and gold sunset. It was a fitting end to PA.

And Wayne just figured out how to swivel the front seats! Looks like a living room. It’s only been two years in the unit!

W: In addition to the aromatic morning, there was the sound of jets heading west out of Dulles airport.

Day 2 in Kutztown, PA

2008-09-21T14:11:00.003-04:00

M: Again, this part of the country tugs at us not to leave. ‘Tis another glorious day, after the- not- so-cold night that had been forecasted. The sun is hot, the breeze cool and very pleasant. Suki is outside, ever alert for an approaching canine, luxuriating in the cool grass, eating some which he promptly throws up.

Last night we ran out of propane which meant no heat or stove. We drive into Emmaus to dine at a wonderful Italian restaurant, Italiano Delite – mobbed. We sat outside in the covered patio, eating (eggplant parmesan for me and crab stuffed veal and seafood pasta for Wayne) too much and people watching. Vow of the day: go for lunch or split a dish, there is just too much food one a plate for one person. We brought home food enough for another two or three meals – leftovers!

On returning to the unit, we discovered our neighbors were having a luau complete with lanterns, leis and grass skirts – the bodies were broader than the grass panels could cover, so the theme was only Hawaiian from the front. Thankfully, normal clothes concealed the rear.

Odd things we saw: pork and kraut dinner on Oct. 4 at Mt. Zion Lutheran Church in Krumsville, and a spaghetti suppers at the Moravian Church in Emmaus; fund raising fairs all around. The unit next to us houses a bird and a dog.

W: After a more normal-sized breakfast (we passed on returning to Letterman’s Diner), we tooled around the local country-side looking for a potential propane seller – didn’t find one. But we did find - Ta-Da! Another cemetery! Who’d a thunk it? Lots of old, eroding markers, and a unused church. But the cemetery is still active. I even found the out-house for the cemetery!

We found another covered bridge, this one across Maiden Creek near Lenhartsville, PA. As roaming the back-roads, you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere, but round a corner and there are 2 or 3 homes; some quite nice, others old and need of repair. But all wonderful secluded nooks for getting away from the big city grind.

More beautiful hills and farm land. Most of the corn is turning yellow now, but the farmers are letting it stand. From my limited experience on my uncle’s farm in my youth, I believe this corn is allowed to dry out. Then it is shucked and shelled for feed. The corn plant itself is cut down and ground up, again for cattle feed.

So we didn’t make it to D.C. today. Nor did we find propane. As long as we have electricity, we have a functional refrigerator, microwave, hot water, and TV. Last night we used a combination of a small electric space-heater and an electric blanket. As Margaret said above, it wasn’t as cold as they had predicted. We were toasty warm. Tonight should be even warmer. Tomorrow’s high is supposed to be close to 80.

A beautiful afternoon to sit by the RV and bask in sun and cool breezes (and slave over a hot computer writing and editing photos).

Saturday – Sep 20 – Kutztown, PA

2008-09-20T16:51:00.003-04:00

Following our exhausting drive yesterday, we elected to lay low today. This decision was an easy one given our experience after breakfast. We thought we’d head over to Allentown / Emmaus. We had just started the trip on a beautiful, limited-access, divided highway, when it ended; went to one lane; and traffic stopped as far as the eye could see. So as soon as we could, we came back to the RV, me for a nap.

Although not as cold as Vermont last night, the heater ran frequently and was nippy this morning. It was supposed to get to 69 degrees today, but the breeze is cool. It was clear, blue sky with scattered clouds all day. The verdant green is gone fading into gold and brown.

Breakfast this morning was a repeat visit to Letterman’s Diner in Kutztown. At about 10:00 a.m. the place was packed. Every stool and every table was filled with folks waiting outside. As we may have mentioned from our last experience, the food is good with huge quantity. Most of the folks seated at the counter were “substantial” in size. Margaret tried to capture the effect with today’s first photo. We imagined what it would look like in the dead of winter with everyone bundled up, squeezing in to fit. We really needed a wide-angle lens, but I think you’ll get the idea.

I’ve included a shot of the menu specials of the day. I can’t imagine what the New Orleans omelet would taste like (or how I would digest it!). Being a weekend, there were three waitresses – all from the local Kutztown Univ. They looked too young to be working, but that happens as you age.

Following breakfast and our ill-fated attempt to go for a drive, we stopped in at a local cemetery (surprise!). Most of the stone were so old they were illegible. To avoid sitting in the car this time and because it was such a beautiful day, I took camera in hand and took some photos. The church – Lutheran – was new, pretty, and in a lovely, leafy, hilltop setting.

We have noticed that the green hills and corn of three weeks ago (early September) is gone, and browns and yellows are now the prominent colors. But the trees have not yet begun to change as they had in Vermont / New Hampshire.

You see many things in campgrounds these days. I just saw a lady wearing a grass skirt and leis. Guess they must be having a luau at their site.

Friday – Sep 19 – Kutztown, PA

2008-09-19T20:14:00.003-04:00

Yes, we’re back in Pine Hill RV park, just north of Kutztown, PA. To paraphrase the old saying, “The best laid plans of mice and men…”. As I reported yesterday, we consulted the Auto Club (and our local computer) for the best route from Littleton, MA to Washington, DC. As it turned out, while traveling through Hartford,CT, we realized we were in the midst of the Friday exodus. After a quick glance at the map, I did a quick mid-course adjustment (always questionable), and we headed back to the north via I-84, over to the New York Thruway.

So here we are tonight, just north of Kutztown, PA, in the RV park we stayed in earlier this month. We asked for, and received, the same site – nice view of the hills and I-78. It is somewhat isolated and Margaret feels good about letting Suki out to roam.

Although our “normal” mileage is 200 miles per day, and today I had thought we’d do maybe 150 (so as to split the trip into 3 equal days), we ended up driving almost 330 miles. Yes, it was all Interstate, but parts of it (usually when Margaret was driving) were rough.

We will likely stay two nights – maybe three – before heading south to D.C.

A benefit of the “detour” was I-84 from Waterbury, CT over to the New York Thruway. The Hudson River Valley (going through Newburgh, NY) is beautiful. Margaret was busy reading about the local NY wineries. We may have to stop here next year. But then there are lots of places we’d like to stop next year. Fortunately, those are all next year’s decisions.

We arrived at 5:00 p.m. and after a few adult beverages, we’re both feeling somewhat normal. Tomorrow we plan to hit Letterman’s Diner in Kutztown and revisit the Italian restaurant in Emmaus (both visited early this month).

Photos tonight are from Gloucester (remember I promised (threatened?)). The first is from the harbor / marina, the next two are main street- downtown. The last brought to mind the biblical saying, don’t build your house on sand. These folks heeded that saying and built “on a rock – big time.”

Thursday night – Sep 18 – near Boston

2008-09-17T20:35:00.006-04:00

W: After driving all day Tuesday and much of yesterday, we decided to not drive so far. We were able to visit a local Auto Club to get some maps and advice on how to get from here to Washington, DC without driving through NY, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. They were very helpful and understanding, plus they pointed out that several possibilities were off-limits to RV’s due to the no-propane rule (in tunnels). So we will end up back on some of the roads we came up on, but there aren’t that many options.

After visiting the Auto Club offices, we headed down to a Wal-Mart to pick up a prescription refill for me. On the way we checked out a potential restaurant for tonight. We’re meeting our friends, Jane and Tom. They lived on Amelia Island for several years. I met Tom while we were both singing in the Amelia Island Singers. Margaret met Jane through her work with the Amelia Island Chamber Music Festival.

There were reports of frost tonight, but I just checked the local forecast and they’re saying 42 degrees. Not too bad; warmer than last week in Vermont.

Not sure where we’ll stay tomorrow night. I can’t find a campground along our chosen route – at least not north of New York environs. And I refuse to tackle the New York thruway northbound on Friday night in an RV! So we may end up in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Stay tuned.

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but Margaret and I took over 177 photos yesterday during our visit to Cape Anne and Goucester. So we have several to use when there are days we don’t photograph.

All three shots were taken in Gloucester. The old house with vines on the entry gate was pretty. One of the church spires (one of many) was fun. And the entry door for the Live Lobsters to enter tickled our funny bones. Of course only lobsters name Capt Vince could enter.

Wednesday – Sep 17 – Gloucester, MA

2008-09-17T20:35:00.002-04:00

W: No, the above photos are not from Littleton; nor are they from Boston. They are from Gloucester / Cape Ann, Massachusetts. Like many things in life, experience is what happens when you were expecting or planning something else.

It was our intention (yesterday’s thoughts) to take the subway and venture in to downtown Boston. According to the campground brochure, the nearest subway stations were 45 minutes away. Although not sure of the transit times for the subway into town, we figured it must be at least another 45 – 60 minutes. Thus we were looking at almost two hours each way.

So instead, we opted for a trip to Gloucester, Cape Ann, and the Atlantic Ocean. (Yes, it was a one-hour+ drive, but it seemed easier.)

Anyway, we prowled Gloucester and had a late lunch. I had a “LOBSTER ROLL” and fries; Margaret had roasted eggplant salad. I wasn’t sure what a lobster roll was, but saw it advertised on several local restaurants. Since I knew I had to have at least one serving of lobster while in New England, I ordered it. (Photo above.) The restaurant (Sugar Magnolia) called it lobster salad served on a roll. I’m not sure what went into it except lobster chunks; large chunks – the size of your thumb, and fresh, including a piece of cartilage in the first bite! The lobster was mixed with some kind of remoulade or Russian dressing sauce, but nothing else. It was ok, but I probably won’t order it again (and yes, it was expensive – at least for a sandwich).

Gloucester itself was similar to Fernandina Beach –touristy shops, antique shops, with stuff to buy you don’t need. Several restaurants at the waterfront and on Main Street. After doing downtown, we drove out to the end of the North American continent (at least in this area – not counting Cape Cod). Beautiful homes, whether palatial or not, nestles among boulders and trees. The tide was out but the homes and hotels on the coast were still spectacular. I’d love to see it when there is a storm (or icy) – but I’ll leave that experience to someone else.

We did discover a wonderful little beach / cove – called Good Harbor Beach. Several of the photos are from this idyllic spot. Being probably the last warm days of summer, folks were really enjoying it.

There was one potentially troublesome event. A young boy was learning to paddle a kayak but had trouble understanding his parent’s directions from the shore (right vs left hand). As a result, the river / tide was rapidly carrying him towards the ocean. After floating under the boardwalk, he managed to get close enough to the shore for his parents to grab the kayak. M. I was standing at the steps of the boardwalk when dad went by on the rescue mission. I said, “Looks like you’ll be getting wet yet.” He grinned and hurried on.

The watercolor painters were out in force. I bet this house on the hill is one of the most painted houses in this neck of the woods – sort of like the Bailey House in Fernandina Beach. It was certainly a spot I could return to with a camera over and over in all kinds of weather, different times of day, and various seasons of the year. Today’s photos don’t really do it justice.

Littleton, MA Tuesday

2008-09-16T15:34:00.002-04:00

To quote the famous bard, “On the road again.” So tonight we are in Massachusetts – Littleton – about 28 miles from downtown Boston as the crow flies. But knowing the traffic and drivers in Boston, the crow didn’t fly, he took the subway. Which is what we plan to do tomorrow.

Our Boston friends, Jane and Tom, are busy tomorrow (he’s out of town and she has a new granddaughter to look after!). So we extended our stay here for an extra night and plan to have dinner with them Thursday.

Margaret got a call from the Red Cross last night asking about her availability. After several back and forth telephone calls (ah, the wonder of cell phones), they decided they had it covered – for now. She might get a call tomorrow or next month; you never know. Folks on assignment may suddenly leave due to personal emergencies. But they know where Margaret is and how to reach her, so we’ll play it by ear for the moment.

Today’s photo was from our lunch rest stop in New Hampshire. Margaret took a short snooze and I was sitting there looking at the facilities. I thought, this seems incongruous – a state liquor store and a state safety rest area – side by side. Maybe it’s just me, who knows.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) we plan to venture into Boston and be plain tourists. The campground folks gave us maps and subway schedules, so we’ll see how it goes. Tune in tomorrow.

Weather today, although cool in the morning and looking like rain or snow all day, turned out fairly mild. They are forecasting warmer weather for the rest of the week with no rain. So we’re in good shape.

The drive down today (a short day by our standards, about 190 miles) was through the Green Mountains of Vermont along the Connecticut River and through the hills of southwestern New Hampshire. Pretty country. It reminds me of parts of the Northwest USA; lots of evergreens, lakes and ponds, and driving along feeling like you’re on top of the world. By that I mean, the clouds seem low in the sky. You feel like you’re driving in them and could reach out and touch them.

Our fellow campers at Lazy Lions in Barre, VT, came out to see us off this morning and wish us a bon voyage. Nice folks. Surprisingly, most of them were from Vermont. One couple across the way is from Lake Wales, FL. We compared notes on routes from Florida to Vermont, avoiding the bad roads and traffic!

We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s sightseeing. Lots to report then.

Monday night Sep 15

2008-09-15T17:45:00.009-04:00

Today is our last day in Vermont. Tomorrow we’ll head south. Depending on developments, it is our plan to stay for a couple of days just northwest of Boston. With luck, we’ll get see our friends Jane and Tom. Also I intend to visit the repair shop and pick up my laptop (which has been there 5 times). I hope it’s fixed and I get a chance to “beat” up the repair guy (just kidding – sort of).

Today’s weather has been mixed. About once an hour it looks like it’s going to rain, then the clouds race away and it’s sunny. But it is about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday afternoon. On the way back from seeing Burlington (and the nude), the car’s thermometer read 78 degrees – in mid-September!

Margaret has been doing domestic chores today. Catching up on laundry, ironing, and running errands in town.

Although I didn’t take any photos, there were a number of interesting signs spotted in the last few weeks.
1. A state yellow road sign located on curves that is usually spelled “HIDDEN DRIVES AHEAD” was spelled “HDDEN DRIVES AHEAD”. Spell checker didn’t catch it?
2. An American Red Cross sign was posted in downtown Barre this afternoon. It said, “BLOOD DRAWING TODAY”. I thought about stopping to put my name in the pot to see if I could win some blood.
3. The QUACKERS Diner had two large ducks mounted on the roof. Not sure what they were made of, but it was cute.

M: Other odds and ends:

1. They have bears here! One that visits the park, and a mom with twins down the road.
2. Suki “disappeared” last night, turning up at last, but made us wonder – he’s snack size for some of these creatures
3. Still no moose.

The photos tonight are a local Montpelier phenom - scrap bicycles made into "art". Some are clever; others are "mmmmm......" An acquired taste?

An aside: note to Shell; something you could do withe unused bikes?

Last full day in Barre, VT

2008-09-15T10:08:00.003-04:00

Sunday evening – Sep 14

W: Where to begin. It was a day like any other, except…
1. It was my birthday (yes, 68 years completed, another XX to go?)
2. We saw and experienced things we’ve never seen or experienced.

So where to begin? Let’s start with breakfast. Have you ever had eggs-in-a-bag? No, neither had I. On Sunday morning (at least this Sunday morning), the campground owners sponsor a “brunch”; sort of a covered-dish-supper but for breakfast.

Margaret cut up fresh fruit (honeydew, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, cantaloupe, and oranges). Other campers brought just-baked cinnamon rolls, blueberry buckle, and muffins. Others cooked sausage on the grill, potatoes and onions, and toasted bread. But the piece-de-resistance was: eggs-in-a-bag.

So what is (are) egg-in-a-bag? I would guess it’s a carry-over from tent-camping / campground days where one doesn’t have a gas range or microwave oven. In a nutshell: you take a large pot of water boiling; break your serving of eggs into a freezer-proof ZIP-Lock bag along with your choice of ingredients (today’s included: red and green diced peppers, onions, and Jalapeno peppers). Other options might include cheese and mushrooms.

Once the eggs and ingredients are in the bag, you seal the bag (getting out all the air you can) and then “mash” / mix the ingredients. Pop the bag into the boiling water for 5 (up to 9) minutes. Voila! You have instant omelet! Actually pretty good. The eggs are cooked perfectly. The eggs and ingredients are all hot (as hot as the boiling water). Plus no leftover dishes to clean up; it just slides out onto your plate. And anyone can do – even yours truly.

Add to that hot coffee and mimosas. Yum. Today’s first photos are of this process in action.

Next? Weather. We expected (forecast) rain, wind, and thunderstorms as IKE makes its way north. But guess what; at 4:30 this afternoon, there were blue skies, scattered clouds, light breezes, and 78 degrees! In other words, beautiful weather.

It had been our plan to make a shopping run to Costco and then finish the birthday at one of the local fine-food-emporiums. But as so frequently happens as you age, we both ran out of steam about 3:00 in the middle of the feeding-frenzy at Costco. I thought I’d been in busy Costco’s before, but this one (in Burlington, VT) was madness. Folks crowding the aisles, pushing and shoving to get to the displays, and with their carts blocking any semblance of order. After 15 minutes of this, we looked at one another and said, “Let’s get out of here. And let’s go back to the RV and hide.” So we did.

But the day was not without additional surprises. On the way to Burlington (about 40 miles west of here), we were tooling along I-89, enjoying the scenery. Roads and interstates in Vermont cut through some hills with impressive outcroppings of granite and stands of firs, birch, and elms. Coming around one curve I looked up and about 30 feet above the road, a person was clamoring down through the roads and ended up standing upright, facing the oncoming traffic. Only one small problem: he (definitely a HE) was stark naked! Yes, I’m talking full frontal nudity!

I kept my cool and casually asked Margaret did you see that? At first she wasn’t sure what she’d seen. I then confirmed what she’d seen. Unfortunately the camera was not at-the-ready, so we’ll never know the nude’s identity. At first I thought it was someone trying to climb down the rocks to the roadway; but after examining his personal parts (so thoughtfully displayed), I decided he was just exposing himself to modern interstate traffic.

So how does one top that? Well, one doesn’t. But in order to not lose the day’s experiences, we continued west to Lake Champlain (just past Burlington). Unfortunately, there were lots of clouds and haze, but the wind surfers were out enjoying themselves and we saw the lake and lots of islands.

Just before entering Burlington, there is a sculpture beside I-89. The tails of two whales (?) rising from the ground. Very clever; a very brief look as you fly by at 70 mph.

I had thought to drive back to the campground via the surface roads (instead of the Interstate), but after getting somewhat lost on the campus of the University of Vermont (very pretty campus), we jumped back on I-89 as soon as we stumbled on it and home to a fresh insalata caprese and more to follow.

Monday a.m.
W: Thought I’d get this out early, but I wanted to add a couple of photos. The first is the entrance to the campground – Lazy Lions. We really have enjoyed our stay here – the folks are nice. We think we’ll probably return here at some point in the future.

The second photo is of a house across the road from the campground. Although Fall has not yet arrived (either by the calendar or the weather), the leaves are starting to change. We’re not sure why but there are individual trees whose leaves have changed; yet, the rest of the grove is still green. Is that because of a fault of tree? Is it a early / late bloomer? Bad genes?

The other photos are from our eggs-in-a-bag breakfast from yesterday.

We were supposed to get rain and wind from IKE, but so far (at 10:00 a.m.) we’ve got mostly blustery breezes although it is trying to mist. Sort of like the northwest weather: mizzle and drist.

Saturday evening Sep 13

2008-09-14T07:39:00.003-04:00

W: We started out this morning to make a shopping trip to the Costco in Burlington, but didn’t get there. Instead we revisited the farmer’s market in Montpelier. Afterward we walked around Montpelier. The weather cooperated with lots of sunshine and warmth – in fact we were overdressed and decided to call it a day.

Maybe it was the weather; maybe it was my week of photography immersion; or maybe it was just the right time, but I found lots of photo ops in Montpelier. In less than two hours, I had over 100 shots; many of which were very interesting. I can’t do justice to the processing process without PHOTOSHOP which is on my home computer (plus a large, calibrated monitor) -- things to look forward to when we get back to Florida.

Although there was supposed to be rain today and this evening, as of 9:00 p.m., we haven’t seen any yet. Tomorrow and Monday are supposed to be rainy, with the remnants of IKE arriving. So we have extended our stay here until Tuesday when we’ll head south.

The first two photos are veggies from the farmer’s market. All the vegetables and other displays were very colorful. I will probably use many of these in my Dec show.

After leaving Montpelier, it was our intention to return to the RV, but we decided to follow our noses on a back-road. Fortunately we had a local map of the roads and were able to find our way back. What was amazing was, here we were in the middle of the woods, miles from “civilization” and around every turn there was another house / farm, a lake or pond, and stores, churches, and vistas. We actually passed a number of cars. I don’t know how many of those folks live there year-round, but it seemed that a number do, based on the piles of wood stacked up to provide heat from wood-burning stoves.

The red brick building is the Kent Tavern. It was built in 1837 and served as both a home and a stage-coach stop between Montpelier and Canada. The family made shoes and boots, ran a brickyard and a sawmill. Louise Andres Kent, author of “Mrs. Appleyard” book series convinced her uncle, A. Atwater Kent (radio inventor), to purchase the family home and restore it to a museum in 1930. And here is stands – in the middle of “nowhere” – bypassed by modern civilization and population.

The white church popped up in front of us as we rounded a bend in the road. Most of the roads in this back-country area were unpaved. Unpaved in Vermont would be a pretty good paved road in a lot of the country. I don’t know if it’s the hard / rocky soil underneath the surface or if they used pulverized granite like we would use oyster shells or gravel. In any even, the road surface was pretty good and not very rough.

M. The RV campground owners hung Christmas lights this afternoon. They are quite cheerful in the dark.

Saturday a.m. Sep 13 – Barre, VT – day 8

2008-09-13T08:14:00.001-04:00

W: Where to begin? Well, for starters, my photography workshop / class is over. My mind is still reeling from information overload. The best thing to say is the workshop greatly exceeded my hopes and expectations. I learned something new every hour including rethinking things I thought I knew, but actually were incorrect. Many of these ideas that got reversed, reworked or rethought, were things that are generally accepted as gospel in the various books, magazines, and web-sites. It will take me a while to integrated the things I learned.

If anyone reading this is ever inclined to take a photography workshop that is focused on printing (both color and black and white), go directly to Cone Editions (http://www.coneeditions.com/workshops.html ). Larry Danque was my teacher / instructor / guru at Cone editions. There must be knowledge that Larry doesn’t have about photography printing but I couldn’t find it! Every question I asked, and I asked a lot of questions, Larry answered clearly, completely, and demonstrated the techniques thoroughly.

Now if there facility was more just more convenient! The first day I asked why they chose East Topsham, VT. Jon and Cathy Cone (owners) were from New York City and were looking for a place to raise their kids and get away from it all. Well, I haven’t been everywhere, but I can vouch for East Topsham, VT, being “away from it all”.

Now to get back to Florida and begin applying what I’ve learned. First we have to dodge IKE (currently headed towards us by way of Arkansas, Ohio, and Pennsylvania)! We will probably stay in Vermont an extra day so that we’re not driving in IKE’s remnants.

We have not finalized our route back to Florida. I know we’ll be stopping in the D.C. area to visit several friends and once in the Norfolk, VA. area to let Margaret interview the game rep / agent. From the Norfolk area, we can probably make it home in two days without too much trouble. So at the moment, we’re still thinking it will be the second week in October before we’re in Fernandina Beach. Like much of our travel, this will evolve with time and events.

Weather in Barre, VT, is cloudy and they are expecting scattered rain through Monday. So we’ll lay low and begin preparation for our departure next week. Other than the one morning of 38 degrees, temperatures have been moderate: upper 40’s at night and mid 60’s during the day. Very pleasant.

The three photos today were taken on the road from Barre to E.Topsham – the road I drove every day last week. The “builder” of the bird houses came out to talk while I was taking the photo. He makes the houses as a hobby. He professed at having no plans to work from; just looks at the wood and builds the house that is appropriate. I haven’t quoted him accurately, but the way he said it reminded me of the famous quote attributed to Michelangelo – “I look at the marble block and know what image is in there.” I did not buy any because I thought Margaret wanted to and would do the selection. It’s not far from here, so we might drive back so she can make her purchase.

The leaning silo is not particularly unusual along back country roads, but this one seemed to be still in use. Not sure how long it will last.

And finally, the large barn. Again, very typical of farm structures in the country side, not only in Vermont, but in Pennsylvania, New York, and probably anywhere in the USA where there is (or was) an operating farm.

Barre, VT - day 7

2008-09-11T17:44:00.003-04:00

Thursday

M: Crisp, cold night has transformed into a sparkling, sunny morning. I doubt that it got to 35 degrees as predicted, but then I slept in and missed whatever frost there might have been.

Excitement of the morning: four guys (the two owners plus two advisors) of varying ages and conditions investigating a site across the road. Activity has included crawling around patting the ground and scanning the area as if looking for a missing contact lens. Finally, a dowsing rod came out and bobbed once. Then, a guitar. Go figure. I assume there is a leak somewhere or a natural spring. No shovels yet, but the eldest member of the group is back, walking a pattern, looking.

Yesterday after dropping Wayne off, I grocery shopped and did laundry -- after driving through the famous Hope Cemetery here in Barre (pronounced Barry). The town was bustling with activity, the cemetery, not.

The granite monuments were locally created and expressively carved. The more famous ones include: a retiring couple sitting up against the headboard saying goodnight, their bodies resting under individual stone covers; an inscribed cube balancing on one corner; a race car; a soccer ball, couple planes; two pyramids with the inscriptions directing the reader what to read of the matching stone; and touching memorials to loved ones. There were hundreds.

Each was individual. Each lovingly told a story in stone about who the person was in life. For instance, at the base of a family stone under each name was a picture of that person’s accomplishment or activity in life. Ex.: a scale representing legal, a pair of scissors, a snow board for a child, a grand piano, a portrait, an open book, a physician’s staff, etc., or a panorama showing what they loved or how they lived. Another had the family tree etched on the back – many more branches, yet unfilled.

Every stone was individual, creative and wonderful, the workmanship incredible from lace, to leaves, to roses, to orbs and twining braids -- truly living stone in every sense of the word. And, there so very many. Family names were Italian mostly, the stone carving families of the old world come to America; Irish, French and English. But none of the names I was so accustomed to seeing. The earliest birthdates I saw were the mid 1800’s. Quite impressive.

Above mystery solved. The older fellow lost an ivory turner from his guitar, so he and friends were scouring the area where they had been sitting and strumming last night. How the dozing rod could have help …

W: I returned early today. After two days of class, my mind is filled with new ideas and concepts. At about 3:00 p.m. today, I decided was in overload. Since we were in the try-out-ideas-on-your-photos mode, I asked to be excused. Tomorrow is our last day and will be devoted to printer maintenance and “loose ends”.

There were originally three other students scheduled for this class, but two cancelled. The instructor said they used to cancel classes when there was less than four, but they found that many people were making airline reservations and couldn’t get refunds. So they will now hold a class even if there is only one person.

I’d like to report more on the class, but there is much to report, I need to have some time to let everything settle and reflect on what I’m learning. I would like to report that I have now printed (a black & white) photo that I would be willing to put up against almost anyone. I’m very happy!

Photos for today are from Margaret’s cemetery crawl.

Vermont, Day - day 5

2008-09-09T19:14:00.005-04:00

Monday, September 08, 2008, quarry visit

M. What a interesting place, the Rock of Ages, with a great tour to the open-pit granite quarry, the processing center where slabs are finished/carved/etched to order, and the welcome center for a movie about the process. Even a souvenir piece off the old block! Fascinating and they are so proud of their product.

The current pit is 600 feet deep -- which is as far as the crane can reach to lift out slabs. The granite vein runs some 8 miles deep under a 5 acre surface area. They can continue removing granite for the next 4,500 years at the rate they are going.

The pit workers / crew arrive at 7:00 am and are lowered in big yellow buckets to the quarry floor where they work until lunch, come up for a break, then back down to continue work until three. They are paid $20-30 an hour, or as one man said looking into the pit, “You couldn’t pay me enough.” In case the bucket lift isn’t working, there are stairs zigzagging up the cliff face; at present, only a 400 ft climb up. The pit is worked ten months of the year weather permitting.

It was a dizzyingly sharp drop with no soft landing! The men in the pit measured less than 1/4” between my fingers, they were that far away. While we were watching, a slab was pulled up by one of the cranes and even though I knew it was huge, I had a hard time discerning it from the cliff face -- it looked so relatively small. The tour guide said it weighed 250 tons.

The tour ended at the process site. No small building in itself, it measure the length of two football fields plus. Inside was a buzz of activity from artists carving out intricate designs, to clients approving a work in process on the main floor, to overhead cranes moving pieces from place to place or turning them, to polishers, to cutters, and knappers. What a fascinating business.

The quarry is one of several they own in PA, VT, NH, NC, SC, one out West, another in Canada, and one in Russia. Stone removed from each site is different in color from white, to gray, to rose, to black.

W: After the quarry, we continued east to check out the site / location of my class this week. The attached photo is of the post office in East Topsham, VT. Now that’s a small town. We arrived via 5 miles of dirt road. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long week.

After checking out the facilities, we drove eastward, stopping at a truck stop in River Wells, VT, for lunch. Margaret had a slab of meatloaf, mashed potatoes (scrape off gravy), pickled beets and a yeast roll hot from the oven and the size of Vermont – the day’s special; I opted for an elk burger. Actually it wasn’t too bad. Better than bison or venison. We crossed over into New Hampshire just east of I-91. Saw our first New Hampshire covered bridge. Built in 1869 (before our house), it was in good condition though it was closed to all but foot traffic in 1999. The arched trusses were 16 ply and the “nails” holding it all together were the original wood pegs, no worse for wear after all these years.

M. Odds and ends: Overheard a man saying he was laying a trap line that. I asked the guys what they could be trapping. “Bear.” “No, bear hunting season is later.” You eat bear? “They do, as the Indians once did.” Taste? “Had it once -- very greasy, so best eaten hot. Wouldn’t do it again, but I had to be polite.”

We’ve seen lots of moose-crossing signs, but no moose; deer, a flock of wild turkeys dining in a harvested field, geese, ducks, but not very many birds; lots of trees, some showing the first blush of fall, luminous against the green. There are rocky streams and rivers. Towns boast houses of various vintages and conditions and even the dirt back roads are populated.

W: Tuesday p.m.
Had my first day of photo class. Guess what? I’m the only student! Actually not completely true. I was the only student, so to spread the “wealth of information”, they invited a local charity group to send one of their instructors to learn along with me. But the curriculum is patterned after my “needs”. Super!

The class is being conducted in the middle of “nowhere”. I asked how they happened to end up there; their response: We wanted to get away.” Well they did. It is 30 miles from our RV site, but only if you take the “short-cut” via a dirt road (5 miles of dirt). When I arrived this morning, it was raining to beat the band, so I took the long way (paved) and added about 15 minutes to the commute.

The good news, it was everything I had hoped for and more. I learned enough today to pay for the class and there’s 3 days to go!

The photos are from several days. The first is the original quarry in Barre – started in 1812. The second is the quarry. The depth of the quarry is ONLY 400 feet deep.

The third photo is the working quarry – 600 feet deep, although the photo only shows the first 300 feet (long walk up!).

The fourth photo is inside the processing building with a stone worker carving. The buyers appeared later to review his progress. The fifth photo is a view down the building ½ of the building equivalent to 2 football fields.

The sixth photo is the post office near where my class is being held. To say it’s a small town is a true understatement.

The last photo is a covered bridge we found in New Hampshire, just over the state line from Vermont. It was built in 1829 and was used until 1989. Obviously pretty new and in good condition.

Maple Sugar time

2008-09-08T09:42:00.005-04:00

My last day of “freedom” until Saturday. My photo class starts tomorrow and I will be fully occupied for the rest of the week.

Fall has arrived. We threw on a blanket last night and set the heater thermostat. It didn’t run continuously so it wasn’t that cold but it did cycle regularly so I know we were in the low 40’s – possibly even in the high 30’s. I’ll ask the locals who know the facts and figures. The Weather Channel on TV shows weather for Montpelier, but it is in a valley while we’re on a hill. Not a big hill – elevation here is about 1,600 feet – but definitely not a valley.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a busy day. We started off with our “weekly” Wal-Mart run. Margaret needed a prescription refilled. That was more difficult than it should have been. Some kind of computer glitch in Fernandina Beach Wal-Mart wouldn’t allow the local pharmacist to access the prescription history. He ended up on the phone with the Florida store to get it straightened out. When he finished, we had an nice conversation with him. He was Canadian, from Quebec, working in the USA. I asked if there was no need for pharmacist in Canada. His response, No, there is a health care crisis in both countries and pharmacists are desparately needed in both places. Although he never said, I would guess the pay was better here?

The pharmacist said he’d been to Florida by bus, plane, train, and driving. He loved it there. His first encounter with a Florida winter was fun. He was staying with friends. They asked if he wanted a portable heater for his room. He said, no, he was a Canadian and used to cold weather. He was also a “tough guy” (his quote). He about froze to death; said he’d never been so cold. So the next night he used the heater.

While in the shopping center, we picked up a light jacket for Margaret (not Wal-Mart; JC Penney). In the confusion of getting out of Florida (and in the heat), Margaret neglected to bring any cool weather gear.

Our campground has a number of seasonal residents (snow-birds), several of whom grew up in this area and know each other. They have befriended us and want to include us in their activities. Yesterday afternoon we went for Sugar On Snow at Morse Maple Sugar farm just north of Montpelier. There were a dozen of us. Everyone else had grown up eating Sugar On Snow – we Floridians had no idea what to expect.

They take regular maple syrup – the kind you’d use on pancakes – and cook it further at 234 degrees until it is thicker. A small bowl is filled with snow – but in the summer they used shaved ice, sort of like a snow cone. You pour the maple syrup onto the ice in a thin drizzle. It doesn’t soak in (unlike a snow cone). Instead, it congeals(?) and you pick it up with a flat stick and twirl it round the stick and pop it in your mouth. They served it with do-nut holes, coffee, and dill pickle slices (to cut the sweet). It sounds weird, but everyone loved it and had seconds, thirds, until I lost count. Margaret loved it too, but stopped after two servings. A couple of the photos will show the group and the appearance.

In addition to the tasting, there was the usual gift shop stuff and a working maple syrup “farm” showing the tools and processes of olden days. We could have spent more time there getting some of the photo ops, but the group was ready to leave. We may go back if we have time. I’ll let Margaret add some thoughts and observations either today or in a later posting.

Today, we plan to visit the Rock of Ages granite quarry. We’ve hear a lot of stories about its size and facts / figures, but we’ll report on that after we’ve been there. It’s close by. In fact, the village the campground is in is Graniteville, VT. There are several granite processing / carving operations in the area. There is a cemetery (surprise?) that is reported to have some of the most spectacular / unusual tombstones around. Margaret is going there this week and give us a report.

Sunday a.m. - Barre, VT

2008-09-07T10:23:00.005-04:00

Saturday, September 6 - afternoon

M. The farmers’ market in Montpelier is wonderful, and much larger than it looks from the entrance. The fresh vegetables and flowers; meats, fresh and cured; breads; dairy products;knitted or woven items; jellies, honey and maple syrup; flowers and plants, jewelry, soap, etc. Everything was organic, homegrown or handmade, nothing commercial. Lots to eat: wood fired pizza or fresh corn from the grill; Pakistani, Philippine, African, Chinese, Middle Eastern food (I bought a Pakistani fried “envelope” that was delicious and contained potatoes, celery and red beans with a mild sweet sauce – it had quite a kick for mild; also bought homemade biscotti and a baguette.) One could sample from this or that and enjoy the music. It was very colorful, the people having a great time, looking healthy and happy.

W. While Margaret was in the market, I slaved over a hot computer and was able to catch up on mail and stock market. Afterwards, I wandered over to find the missus. She was busy taking photos including the “sword” fighting exhibition. I will try including a few seconds of video in another blog to see if it works.

In addition to the usual fare (mentioned by M: above), there was a wine stall. Naturally I stopped in to sample the wares. The gentlemen said that in the hills of Vermont, the FRONTENAC grape does best – they had white and red from the grape – so I tried the red. Maybe it’s an acquired taste? I asked about shipping and he replied he’d deliver FREE anywhere. So after leading him on, I finally told him he’d love Florida in the winter. He winced and said he should have seen that coming – and me with a U of F Gator hat on!

After the morning in Montpelier, we asked Miss Priss for a PETSMART location to buy Suki litter and stuff. The closest store was in Burlington, about 29 miles, so off we went. Turned out to be a huge shopping center including Home Depot, Circuit City, and, ta-da, BEST BUY. Margaret enjoyed the Ben & Jerry Ice Cream store the best. There was also THE CHRISTMAS TREE store – which was more of a Pier One / World Market with a mix of everything from pasta to wicker baskets. So we got some stuff including a new house for Suki when we’re on the road.

As a side note for any wanna-be techies: Margaret’s laptop has seemed like molasses when doing anything. I got to wondering how much RAM memory it had. From prior experience I knew that too little can really slow a computer down. So when we found the BEST BUY, I took in the laptop to have them check. Ouch, there was only 1 gigabyte of RAM, hardly enough to run the operating system, much less any serious program. Fortunately they had one package of 2 – 2 gigabyte (total of 4 gbyte) RAM. Back in the camper and 20 seconds later, we now have a fully functional and normal-operating-speed computer. Glory be.

When we came out of the store, it looked like a fog had moved in. That’s what it looked like until you walked into it, then it was all wet. Not really a rain, but more like a very heavy mist. Margaret said it looked like it was snowing, but at 71 degrees, that was unlikely, but the mist just danced like snow. We got intermittent rain all day with clouds hugging the hilltops along I-89.

Vermont, at least in this neighborhood, is pretty much as I expected to be, one continuous panorama of hills, valley, streams, and lots of heavy forestation. Given the similarity in Latitude and closeness to an ocean, the growing conditions and foliage are very similar to the northwest USA. Lots of ferns on the forest floor, big evergreens, and green, green, green everywhere you look; except of course for the huge granite outcroppings popping up on hill sides and along the highways. When the sun comes out (it does come out, doesn’t it?), I will try to capture this feeling in photographs – I love a challenge!

The weather marked what I believe is the start of fall. As I mentioned earlier, they are forecasting lows in the low 40’s by Thursday. Could we see snow yet? The locals say it can and has snowed in every month of the year.

Since Margaret did most of the photography, I will let her pick out a couple of shots and tell you about them.

M. Market stuff. More about the Shire of Panther Vale Chapter of the Society for Creative Anachronism (SSCA). This is “a non-profit educational organization dedicated to the study of history, culture, and the arts and sciences of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. It is a “living history” movement and members of this chapter study the Middle Ages and Renaissance by recreating aspects of life from that period.” See www.sca.org or www.panthervale.com.

Members “wear historically accurate clothing, eat food prepared as it would have been, play music and dance the dances, and practice the firms of fighting in pre 1600 AD Europe. Research included spinning, weaving, needlework, jewelry, brewing, herbalism, heraldry, games, juggling, calligraphy and illumination, leather and metal and wood working.”

I watched a fighting demonstration which included explanation of the protective clothing, etiquette, and moves. Strikes were “calibrated” for strength, and when someone received a blow of a defined strength, they then fought as though injured. A father was training his son who was armed with a claymore against a sword and shield. The claymore was heavier and longer, the sword quicker and the fighter, agile. Each got his blows in. Will let a couple photos tell the tale, but fascinating. I’d enjoy joining this group. They had fun, their kids were excited and involved – had a sense of community, behaving “as if.”

W: p.s. I asked Margaret to pick out 3 or 4 shots to use; she comes up with 8! I told her it wasn't easy sorting the wheat from the chaff!

Saturday - Sep 6 - Vermont

2008-09-06T10:42:00.003-04:00

Friday morning – Cambridge, NY

M. This is the quietest place we’ve stayed. There was a rush this morning, 8 people and three dogs. It’s sunny and the map promises a short drive through beautiful scenery.

Thursday, we drove to Glens Falls, Hudson Falls, Kingsbury (where Wayne added that paragraph from the town square), and Queensbury. We stopped at the Milkhouse diner (photo above) along the road for breakfast, sharing a table with two local fellows and chatted about the local area, Florida, hurricanes, kids, etc. While we seated, someone went out and slammed the door. A sign with today’s menu was hanging on the door and promptly fell off with a bang. The guy seated next to us, without pause, said, “And here’s your sign.”, which is the tag line for Bill Engvall’s stand-up comedy routine. That broke the ice and how our conversation started. One gentleman inquired where we were going. Glens Falls. “Don’t expect much.” Well, we never found the “falls,” they must have been pre-canals, dams, and reservoirs, but we found the towns bustling with people and beautiful buildings.

Our route paralleled the Champlain Canal, sometimes discernable as a canal and at other times, broad lakes or rivers. The photo above is of the last lock before joining the Hudson River. The lock itself is 45 feet wide by 300 feet long. When there is a lot of traffic, they can handle up to 15 pleasure boats at one time.

W: Expecting a boat, the operator was in the process of opening the lock to the River. When he finished we were able to talk with him (I’m sure he doesn’t get a lot of company). He had worked for the NY Canal system for over 40 years. I asked about the amount of traffic coming through. He said that in years previous, they had roughly 2,000 boats come through (and they’re only open for 8 months; the other 4 months the canal is frozen). Because of the high fuel costs, they have only had 1,000 boats so far this season. He mentioned that folks will come through from Canada on their way to the Bahamas for the winter. From this lock, it is 8 hour trip down the Hudson to Albany; then another 8 – 9 hours to Manhattan.

It is amazing to me how much navigable water there is in this part of the country. I knew about the Great Lakes, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and I remember (briefly) the Erie Canal from school (and song). But when you see some of it in person and talk to someone who’s worked in the system for 40+ years, it takes on another aspect.

The largest boat / ship to come through were the oil tankers carrying jet fuel to the USAF base that was once at Plattsburgh, NY (when I was at Lockheed Aircraft back in the late 60’s, I worked with a gentleman that was stationed at Plattsburg AFB). These tankers must have been built for just this assignment since they barely fit.

The gentleman told us there were “barges” or craft for rent in Troy and a larger vessel which could accommodate a number of people who were bussed to nearby towns and hotels for the night’s passage, then returned to proceed along the canal. Where once traffic was busy, it had slowed to a leisurely pace.

Saturday morning – Vermont

We arrived early afternoon Friday. A moderately easy drive mileage wise, but the twisty, up and down, narrow back-roads in Vermont are challenging. If we were the only folks on the road, I wouldn’t mind slowing to 40 – 45 mph, but there’s always someone in a hurry behind me, so it was a constant challenge to find a place to pull over so the backlog could get by. But we (and they) survived.

I haven’t cracked the nut on Internet access in this campground. They have Wi-Fi, but even though the computer says I’m “connected”, it doesn’t seem to be “working”. My access card doesn’t work here (maybe Spring doesn’t exist in New England?). We’ll drive into town(s) today and see if we can get this out and check mail.

Margaret took a couple of photos of me in the Kingsbury town square typing, so I took one of her checking her e-mail. In the background there is a small cannon dedicated to the memory of George Washington and the revolution. The marble slab said it was dedicated on July 4, 1976.

After a sampling of local fine dining (MacMuffins at Mickey D’s), we drove into Montpelier, the state capital of Vermont. Sitting in the car in front of the local Federal Building / US Courthouse / US Post Office, I now have total Internet access via my Sprint card – it LIVES! Margaret is visiting the local famer’s market while I’m doing my computer thing. We had a light rain this a.m., more is predicted for tomorrow, then starting Tuesday next week, they are forecast lows in the low 40’s. Is this a sign of Fall? I expect it is. Last night some of the locals told us they can have frost and snow in each of the 12 months of year – and they were suffering in the high 80’s of yesterday!

While I think of it, I’m not sure how much, if any, of the blog I can do next week. My workshop starts at 8:00 a.m. and runs until 5:00 p.m. Plus it is at least a 30 minute driver from the RV park. So I think my time will be pretty filled next week. Maybe Margaret can do some?

Thursday morning - Kingsbury, NY

2008-09-04T11:05:00.004-04:00

September 3 – Wednesday

One of the joys of retirement is that unless you want to, you don’t have to do anything, even what you thought you were going to do. When we rolled out of bed Monday, we looked at one another and said, “Why were we going anywhere today when the rest of the world is headed home after Labor Day?” So we didn’t do anything. No, not even a Wal-Mart run or cemetery crawl.

Instead we basked in the cool breezes of the Pine Hill RV Park (perched atop one of the many ridges and hills in Central Pennsylvania). I did a couple of chores; Margaret read some more in prep for her game presentation next month; and of course, the afternoon naps, outside dining, and star and firefly watching. Suki roamed about, guarding the perimeter.

The only downer was my DIY repair job on the crown / cap failed during dinner. So the first order of business Tuesday was to find a dentist. Once again, the Internet came through; specifically YELLOWPAGES.COM. And wonder of wonders I was able to get an appointment at 11:40 a.m.

So we drove into Kutztown, PA, and dined (again) at Letterman’s Diner. What a nice treat. M. I chose the special of homemade blueberry waffles. The waitress asked short or tall stack. What’s the difference? Answer: 2 or 4. Two, please. Delicious!! As was the coffee. A sign over the pot said, “Drink coffee, do stupid things faster and with more energy.” The menu was extensive and varied, including apple or corn fritters, 10 for $3, or fried pickles 4 for $3.75. When another flat of eggs was needed from the back the cook called, “Huevos.” Eggs, were delivered.

Luckily, the dentist I picked from the phone book was excellent. He took a number of steps preparing and installing the wayward crown / cap that I hadn’t thought of. It feels comfortable now. He said because of the location (last molar in the back), it was hard to make a crown / cap stay on for more than 3-4 years. This one had been on since the root canal back in 200? So I guess I can’t complain.

Tuesday was another cemetery day. Found several new ones, but we passed by several more. (Phew!) I will include a couple of the more photogenic shots but rest assured, there are hundreds more that Margaret took that you will not share. M. Names and dates.

Lest you feel pity for yours truly, sitting in a sweltering car in the middle of a cemetery(s), driving in rural PA is a joy (when you can avoid the traffic). At first it seems like miles and miles of corn and soy-bean fields, but then you “turn a corner” and you’re in dark and peaceful hardwood forests, dappled sunshine, with the road running beside a babbling brook. At least we thought they should be babbling – we stopped and rolled the windows down – no sound! It was a cheerful thought anyway. And beautiful homes, tucked away in the forest, some with ponds and arboretums.

We did stumble on our first (and only) PA covered bridge. I anticipate finding many more in the next two weeks of Vermont.

Today (Wednesday) we drove further than planned (275 miles instead of 200 miles). We got an early start (for us: 9:30) and were just south of Albany, NY, at 3 p.m. We decided that we should press on. Unfortunately, as we headed for Vermont, we found ourselves miles from civilization (and RV parks). We were lucky to find one in Cambridge, NY (about 15 miles from the Vermont / NY state line). From here it’s only 125 miles to Barre, VT, where we have a 10-day reservation, while I take my class and we sight-see VT. We plan to stay here (Cambridge, NY) for two nights and then make the run north.

For the second time on our trip, there is no Internet access in the RV Park, so we will drive into a nearby town today for sightseeing and get our e-mail and this blog out.

Today’s photos include a B&B in downtown Kutztown. A lot of color is used in many Pennsylvania homes and shops; not so much the big surfaces, but much of the trim is painted a contrasting and usually bright color. Nice.

The church at the end of the road, the SALEM UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, was the site of the cemetery where Margaret did a lot of walking around (both in the rain and in the hot sun). It was interesting that this large cemetery was spread across the grounds of two churches; right next to the Church of Christ was the CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH.

Cemeteries often are home to a variety of names, although there are many common names in rural areas. Don’t think I saw one Smith or Jones in the lot! But one thing you don’t see frequently was a decorated tea-pot with a red, plastic cardinal sitting in it. I’d like to know the story behind that.

While we were visiting one cemetery, we looked across the next hill, and there was another church and cemetery, very typical scenery in this neck of the woods. No, we did not go prowl that cemetery; even Margaret had enough (more importantly, she had what she came for and what she needed for her genealogy).

Thursday 10:43 a.m.

Since we didn’t have any Internet access in the RV park, we tooled up the road in search of civilization. Although there aren’t any “huge” cities in central / eastern NY State (Albany is the largest we’ve seen), there are many small towns with population evenly scattered between the towns. So you’re never far from houses or farms. It’s very picturesque.

I’m now sitting in the central park / town square of Kingsbury, NY. No electrical power for the computer, but 5 bars on the wireless PC card!

Margaret just returned from visiting the Catholic Church across the street. The sign sign says that George Washington reviewed the troops here in the summer of 1786 – probably in the very square I’m seated in. M. Maybe, even this very bench!

September 1 – Labor Day – Pennsylvania

2008-09-01T09:15:00.003-04:00

After two day’s of driving, we elected to lay low yesterday and rest. That said, we did make a short drive to a Wal-Mart in Allentown (about 15 miles from here).

Wal-Mart seems to be the shopper’s destination of choice. This one was a Wal-Mart Supercenter with a huge parking lot – which was full right out to the access roads. Every time we see this we ask ourselves what is Wal-Mart doing right? For travelers like us, the answer is easy: Wal-Mart’s are becoming pretty ubiquitous, hard to go anywhere and not have one close by. More important, when you are traveling in unknown areas, you don’t know the stores or merchants so unless you stumble on one by luck or word of mouth, you need a reliable source for the supplies needed to live day to day.

But it’s not just travelers. We were one of the very few out-of-state license plates in the parking lot; we did see one from California. Their prices are reasonable, the have adequate selections, and there’s not much that they don’t carry.

Enough on that subject.

Weather yesterday was beautiful. Warm (upper 70’s) with a light, cool breeze out of the North (a sign of fall on the way?), and not a cloud in the sky. Evenings are cool (upper 50’s) – great sleeping weather.

One neighbor, retired Navy, is from Punta Gorda, FL. He and his wife have family in this area, so they leave their trailer stored in this RV park for 6 months to return to FL. Then spend the other 6 months here. The park gives him a good monthly rate on both storage and occupancy. Certainly a cheaper way to go than driving up every year and cheaper than buying a house locally.

Over the last three years, we notice that everywhere we go there is usually a small contingent of transient workers. I call them transient because like the other term, migrant workers, they work where their skills are needed and then move on. The RV (trailer usually) goes with them as a home with their personal items. Beats moving into a house / apartment in a new neighborhood and setting up the utilities, etc.

We are probably going to revisit the cemetery that we were last in, when Margaret got rained on. It’s not far and now that we know the way (and it isn’t raining) it should be an easy outing.

Today’s photo is from our visit to the Redneck Festival in Weissport, PA. I wish we could have spent more time to give us a chance to taste his BBQ, but we needed to move on. Margaret observed that she had never seen more tattoos in one place at one time than at this festival. Also a lot of pierced ears, noses, and whatever.

(M) Wayne cooked out. We dined well -- a (WalMart steak), PA potatoes/onions/garlic, PA nectarines grilled for desert with a little whipped cream, oh, and yes, PA wine. Delicious. We ate out enjoying the weather and sights. Suki investigated the area, watched the people and dogs go by, and ate his share of the whipped cream.

There was a wreck on the highway which we can just see. One car was towed away, but there were two ambulances, paramedics, police and pedestrians in the center divider. Traffic was down to one lane, passing slowly.

Sunday - Aug 30 - Pennsylvania

2008-08-31T08:29:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-30T08:38:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-28T18:05:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-27T20:45:00.002-04:00

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

2008-08-26T21:06:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-25T17:51:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-24T19:52:00.001-04:00

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

2008-08-23T18:22:00.001-04:00

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

2008-08-23T18:19:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-22T17:42:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-20T18:08:00.003-04:00

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

2008-08-19T17:28:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-16T15:43:00.005-04:00

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

2008-08-14T09:07:00.000-04:00

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

2008-08-09T15:06:00.002-04:00

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.....

2008-08-07T12:09:00.003-04:00

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

Thursday in soggy Fernandia Beach

2008-07-30T15:53:00.002-04:00

A quick update on events. Our friends – Alan and Carolyn (above photo) – arrived in Jacksonville yesterday. But there was a problem with scheduling et.al. at Mayo, so their plans have changed and will probably not be staying with us. We drove down yesterday and had dinner with them at one of our favorite restaurants – Carraba’s. Turns out it is one of their favorites also.

House work / repairs continue to drag out. What was supposed to be finished by this Friday, may not be done until a week from Friday – the same day our next visitors are scheduled to arrive. We have our fingers crossed but are not optimistic given the history of contractors scheduling / estimates.

We continue to have afternoon downpours. Today is the fourth day in a row. The weather pattern is such that there is a strong flow from the southwest – from the Gulf of Mexico that sweeps across the state from the bend of Florida to the northeast section, hits the cooler Atlantic air and bang – major rain. But we need it and it cools us off.

So far we’re still on schedule to begin our RV adventure a week from this coming Sunday. Hopefully there will be no surprises to upset that apple cart.

By the way, for those of you that might be interested. I read an article today by a gentleman in Oregon who did a quick analysis on traveling by RV vs driving. His was a 2,000 mile and 30 day trip. He found that it was over twice as expensive to drive (family sedan) and stay in hotels, et.al. as it would be to drive his 45 ft RV and stay in RV parks. As he said, his was not an exhaustive analysis but it confirmed what I said earlier that the “direct” costs of our two week trip to Seattle would just about pay for the diesel fuel to drive from Fernandina Beach, FL to Seattle, WA and back!

Tuesday July 29 - Still in Florida

2008-07-29T10:08:00.002-04:00

First the photo. It’s been a long time since I wandered in a large city with camera in hand. It seems like everywhere I looked there was a photo op. These legs / shoes were over a bar (at least I think it was a bar and not something else). Besides the graphic design, the colors were eye catching – not to mention the pigeon poop!

As the Chinese saying goes, “May you live in interesting times.” We are definitely living in some of those times. Besides the on-going saga of house repairs (will it ever end?) and preparing for our 2-month RV trip (starting on August 10th), we have learned that we will have two sets of company before we leave. Not sure where everyone is going to sleep if the house repairs don’t get done. Fortunately our neighbor, Deborah, has graciously offered room in her home if we need it.

The first visitors, Alan and Carolyn, are both childhood friends. They married about 3 months before Margaret and I. They currently live in Tennessee and are arriving tonight. The first few nights they will be in Jacksonville and staying near the Mayo clinic where they will have some medical testing performed. I’m not sure, but I think they will be with us either Friday or Saturday. We haven’t seen them for several years so it will be good to catch up on news and common acquaintances.

The second couple, Kathy and Gary, are also childhood friends. They married one year after Margaret and I and currently live in the Washington, DC area. He is still working for Lockheed (I think) and expects to retire this year. Their pastime is sailing out of Chesapeake Bay. We have a standing offer to sail with them if we can ever get our schedules together. They are expected here the night of August 8th.

We made our first “packing” / organizational trip to the RV yesterday. Although the 10th is still several days away, there is so much happening we decided it was best to start organizing now rather than try to do everything at the last minute.

Finally, what else are we doing with our “spare” time? Because of house repairs, we are relegated to three rooms. Everywhere else is covered with brown paper, tape, or fresh plaster / paint! At my urging, Margaret is reading the Kim Stanley Robinson trilogy; a fictional account of living during global warming and how folks might deal with it. The three books are: 1) Forty Signs of Rain, 2) Fifty Degrees Below, and 3) Sixty Days and Counting. To use the cliché, she can’t put it down is nearly correct. Once Margaret gets into a book she likes, everything else is secondary! (When do we eat?)

For myself, I am learning to print Black and White (again). My photo class in Vermont in September is Black and White printing. I’m trying to get as much first-hand experience before going to the class so I can better understand what the instructors are talking about. I don’t know about anyone else, but when I attend a class without knowing at least a little about the subject, I have a hard time assimilating what I hear. This usually means I remember very little when I finally get home and try the things myself. I have had this happen more than once when I attend a Photoshop seminar and then try to duplicate what I heard the next week!

Thursday evening, July 24, 2008 – Fernandina Beach

2008-07-24T21:53:00.003-04:00

We are back in Florida after a wonderful visit to the northwest and the trip from purgatory on our way home. Many would refer to it as a trip from hell, but since we got home safely (with our luggage), the trip was merely unpleasant, not terrifying (or worse).

Our flight from Seattle departed at 07:00 a.m. meaning we were at the airport at 5:00 a.m. (rising at 4:15 a.m.). The two-hour wait wasn’t so bad. The view on Mt. Rainier on the way out was spectacular – disappointed that I didn’t have a window seat for the photo op. The jet-stream was with us; the 5 hour flight to Seattle from Atlanta took only 4 hours and 20 minutes. Bumpy at times. We arrived in Atlanta at around 2:30 p.m. The connecting flight to JAX was scheduled to depart at 5:50 p.m. A 3 hour layover isn’t too bad in this day and age. But a thunderstorm moved in and the airport closed down for almost 4 hours. We finally took off at 10:30 p.m. This included a aircraft malfunction light that required taxiing out, taxiing back, and taxiing out again. We arrived home at 11:55 p.m. Safe but tired.

Carol (our daughter) had a wonderful experience at the Writer’s Conference. Plus we had two days of exploring Seattle and environs. The weather was cloudy / overcast in the a.m. but cleared shortly after noon. We had a great time. Carol had contacted the folks at the Pike’s Public Market in Seattle for a ghost tour Sunday evening. Monday, we did a quick visit to Gig Harbor and a ride on the Bremerton – Seattle ferry. Carol and Margaret visited the Mysterious Places in Seattle Museum in the University district. Carol has lots of new material to write about back in Los Angeles.

It’s hard to believe that we’ll be leaving in 17 days for our RV outing to Vermont. We just learned that our friends, Kathy and Gary, will be in Fernandina Beach the 8th of August for a short visit. Kathy and Gary were the Maid of Honor and Best Man at our wedding – 45 years ago (the 27th). They married a year after our wedding. We’re looking forward to seeing them both.

Both photos today are from down-town Seattle. I bought a new camera – the Canon G9 - during the trip and had fun trying it out in a city environment. Although I like my DSLR (Canon 5D), it’s nice to carry a point-&-shoot for wandering around.

Seattle, Friday, July 18, 2008

2008-07-18T22:27:00.006-04:00

It’s been a busy week that found us packing and relocating from Sequim to Olympia on Monday and then Olympia to SeaTac on Wednesday, We are now settled into the Hilton across from the SeaTac Airport while Carol is attending her Writer’s Conference. The weather this week has been for the most part wonderful; blue skies and mid-70’s. Yesterday and today we had overcast (we called it sea fog when we lived in LA) that keep temperatures cool and damp in the morning but burns off by 2:00.

The first photo above (logging truck) is a common sight in the Northwest. The logs are much, much bigger than the ones in north Florida / south Georgia. The drive from Sequim to Olympia (approx 105 miles) normally takes 2+ hours. Monday was a work-day on US 101 along the Hood Canal. Every 5 miles or so, traffic halted in one direction so crews could work on road maintenance. Some of the delays were quite lengthy, so the usual 2+ hour trip took nearly 3 hours. But it is a beautiful drive on a beautiful day. We followed this logging truck much of the way.

The second and third photos are from lavender farms in Sequim. Sequim’s climate and soil is quite beneficial to growing lavender. In fact, Sequim is having its annual lavender festival this weekend. They are expecting 30,000+ visitors. We are happy to have seen the lavender farms before the “other” tourists arrive. Margaret really likes the various shades of purple.

Yesterday (Thursday) we took the ferry from Steilacoom over to Anderson Island, roughly 5 miles across Puget Sound. Julie (Margaret’s friend from Red Cross days) and her husband Les (retired General Major, Army medical) live there. We had a nice chat and lunch in their beautiful home by a lake on the island. Anderson Island is roughly 2 x 4 miles and is located in the southern part of Puget Sound. We returned to the hotel in time for dinner with Carol.

Time is passing quickly. More than once have I realized why I prefer traveling by RV. Other than the long distances involved in crossing coast to coast, I really like sleeping in the same bed every night, having my clothes (and other stuff) where I can find it day-to-day, and finding food in the refrigerator when I’m hungry (without going out to eat). For the cost for this two-week trip: air-fare, hotel room(s), and rental car, there was enough money to buy fuel coast to coast – ROUND TRIP! (Not counting the cost of campgrounds.) And that’s true even at $5.00 / gallon diesel! (And before anyone takes me to task for this simplistic view, that I am not including depreciation or the cost per mile of operating the RV, I’m just saying that even at $5.00 / gallon, traveling in an RV is not completely out of the question and in some ways, comparable to the alternative travel methods.)

We’ve had some great meals, seen some pretty things, and enjoyed visiting with friends. The Northwest is still spectacular – on a clear day, with the mountains and the water. The late spring this year resulted in a larger than normal snow cap, even this late in the year. There was snow on the Olympic mountain range, even in July, and it’s only 6,000+ feet elevation.

Sunday, we will be going into Seattle for a ghost tour of Pike’s market. Monday, we will try to do the Underground Seattle tour and maybe the Space Needle. Tuesday we fly out at o-dark-thirty (or in non-military terms, 7:00 a.m. – arrive at the airport at 5:00 a.m.). Back in Fernandina before dark Tuesday (hopefully).

Greetings from Sequim, WA!

2008-07-11T14:33:00.004-04:00

After a long day Wednesday (9th), we arrived in Seattle. I had forgotten how small airline seats could be – it’s been so long since I was on a airplane. A lesson learned: if you have to change planes – and it’s tough to fly these days without a plane change unless you happen to be flying between “hubs” – it is better to try to arrange the trip so the plane change is half way. Our route was a 45 minute flight to Atlanta, a 3-hour layover, and 5+ hours wedged in a crowded plane (aren’t they all?). Has anyone flown in recent times where the plane wasn’t crowded?

The good news was there were no “incidents”; not even rough air. I was hoping for at least a rough landing so I could ask the captain, “Did we land or were we shot down?” But she did a good job. Yes, as far as I could see, everyone on the flight deck was female. And no, I’m not against female pilots. After all, I see them driving on the roads every day, bouncing off curbs, putting on lipstick, et.al. ()

Weather in the northwest is gorgeous. Although it was in the high 70’s when we arrived (at 9:45 p.m. P.D.T.), it is quite a bit cooler in Sequim. You’ll recall Sequim, WA, is on the north end of the Olympic peninsula overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The wind was blowing “briskly” down the straits and off the Pacific. With the temperature in the low 60’s, the wind chill (in the shade) made me wish for a coat, at least something other than short sleeves.

This morning the wind has abated and it is clear blue sky. Should be a great day to go exploring.

Some folks have asked what we were doing in the northwest (all the way from Florida). When we told them we were visiting friends, they’d ask, “But what are you going to do?”. They found it hard to believe we’d travel 3,000+ miles just to sit and chat with friends! They couldn’t comprehend we wouldn’t spend the two weeks driving and sight-seeing. Sometimes it’s great getting older so you can do the things you want to do without having to do the things that other folks think you should be doing!

We’re staying with our friends Shell & Lynn in Sequim, WA. They lost one of their cats early this year, but the remaining cat (Sweetie) has come out of her shell and is now lady of the house with lots of rubbing and being “cute”. Margaret was sitting on the sofa this morning and suddenly Sweetie was rubbing her body over Margaret’s hair. Guess there must have been a scent from the shampoo that the cat loved. Naturally the camera wasn’t close by so I missed the photo-op. Earlier a buck had come by to eat the corn that Shell and Lynn put out for the birds. Missed that photo-op too, but he’ll be back.

Monday afternoon we’ll head over to Olympia to spend a couple of days with Connie and Harold. Our daughter, Carol, arrives Wednesday for her writer’s conference and we’ll head back to SeaTac for the conference and spend some time with her.

The first photo today is of some driftwood along Ediz Hook in Port Angeles, WA. Across the water (Strait of Juan de Fuca) is Canada - Victoria and Vancouver Island to be exact.

The second photo is waiting for the Washington State ferry to unload in Edmonds so we could board to cross part of Puget Sound on our way to Kingston and Sequim
Hope everyone is well and happy.
Wayne

News on the Fernandina Beach Homefront

2008-07-01T13:52:00.003-04:00

The last week has been filled with life’s “adventures”. It has been said many times, that experience is what happens when you were expecting something else! And that pretty well sums up the last seven days.

A friend collapsed last Saturday in our home and was taken to the hospital. Sunday, we were told it was critical and he might not make it. Fortunately he improved later in the day. And while he remains in ICU, the outlook is brighter.

Then a good friend’s mother was reported to be near death, requiring the son to fly back from Colorado. Although she had been ill for some time, it is always disquieting to have life’s mortality thrown in your face when you don’t expect it.

On a less serious(?) note, both of my computers died last weekend. I’m preparing this on Margaret’s computer while she’s out shopping. My laptop has been in the process of dying and being repaired for over two months now. I return it to the repair shop; they “fix” it and return it; then within 3 days, it dies again. This time was the fourth death – I’m becoming frustrated with the probability it will never be useable again. And this is too bad because it’s less than two years old and was a “state-of-the-art” machine when I bought it. I won’t bad-mouth Toshiba although this is the latest round of problems I have experienced with their computers. Maybe I’ll go back to Dell?

Then while using my new desktop to do research on the Internet, I must have clicked on a “bad” site, because the next thing I knew, I was getting “virus” messages on the screen. Even though I had an anti-virus program installed, this one apparently slipped through. The machine is now in a local computer repair shop. I expect to lose everything on the hard-drive – which of course means reinstalling everything. More worrisome is whether or not the external hard drive with all my photos was affected. I won’t know the answer until the technician diagnoses the problem. Although I have the last two year’s photos on CD / DVD, the Photoshop processing I have labored over would be lost. Sigh…

All news is not bad, however, our local contractor has joined forces with another local company and now has a crew of eight (instead of two). We are somewhat optimistic that this will break the log-jam on our house repair(s) and we might actually see progress. Our hope and goal is that all will be finished before Thanksgiving (this year)!

Tomorrow is Margaret’s birthday. I wouldn’t want to say her age, but she will now be on the Medicare rolls and our taxpaying friends can begin help paying her medical bills and prescriptions. I thank you in advance!

We head out to Seattle next Wednesday (9th) for a visit with Shel & Lynn, then on to Harold & Connie’s, ending up at SeaTac for a couple of days with our daughter as she attends the Writer’s Conference. We head back on the 22nd for a few weeks to get ready for our fall trek.

We will spend a few days at Fort Clinch State Park beginning on August 10th and get the motor-home ready for the trip north. We should be able to head out on the 14th. The only “dead-line” is my photo class starts on 9 September in Vermont. I’ll report more on that as we progress.

I keep promising a treatise on Fort Clinch, but without my primary photo source and my “big” computer, it will have to wait. In the meantime, today’s photo is from our trip to D.C. Feb. 2008. There are many photos of the front of the White House across the lawn, but not many from the rear – which is where the primary entrance(s) are. Not a great shot, but I like to have something on the blog besides just words. Boring!

Wayne

The Start of Summer in Florida!

2008-06-22T18:29:00.003-04:00

As they say, “I’ve got good news; I’ve got bad news.” In this case there really isn’t any bad news. Only that my goal of a weekly blog is falling on hard times. But there’s a reason that I’m happy to share.

It’s Sunday – not even Saturday – and I have yet to publish this week’s blog.. After thinking about it, I have decided that until such time as we’re in the RV for our next adventure, I need to settle on doing a blog when I can – hopefully, bi-weekly (since weekly hasn’t worked out very well!).

I can hear some of you asking, “Why is this? What does he have to do – being retired et.al.?” Between now and December 10th, there are only 181 days – of which we will be out of the house for 81 days – leaving only 100 days to get ready. Ready for what? Surprise! We are going to have a photographic art show in Fernandina Beach on December 10th!

Margaret and I met with the folks at Intercoastal Wine store on 2nd street. In addition to selling wine, they allow local artists to hang art on their walls for three months. Our timing was impeccable – Dec, Jan, and Feb are open. So we signed up!

So between now and Dec 10th, I have to finish printing the “good” stuff, deciding on titles, pricing, organization, presentation, and all the things that go with having a show. Fortunately, Margaret has practical experience from her days in California, owning the Frame Game, in preparing artists for shows. And I know she knows her stuff. Every time I come up with an idea, she steps in and sets me straight!

Anyway, it promises to be challenging and hopefully, a lot of fun. I know I’m having fun printing (and critiquing) my photo collection from the past 4 years. The challenge is finding photos that are not only technically correct, but are artistically interesting. On a personal note, I am finding that to print or not to print and then critiquing it after it is printed is helping me grow artistically – at least it seems to be helping!

Last time, I said I would be doing a series of blogs on our local Fort Clinch State Park. Thinking about Fort Clinch the last week made me realize it isn’t fair to dash off a few thoughts and a random photo or two. Living so close to Fort Clinch State Park – it is 1.5 miles to the entrance and 3.0 miles to the Fort itself – we almost take it for granted. During our frequent outings for coffee and breakfast, we often swing in to Fort Clinch State Park to enjoy the woods, river – ocean – and marsh views. In fact, thinking about writing about the park, I realized that there are so many aspects to the park, that it would do an injustice to gloss over the big picture.

For those of you that haven’t been to the Park, there are at least six different aspects. And these are not simply facets of a single feature. Each part is unique. I really want to do it justice, thus I will do my best to cover each part in a separate session.

First off, if you’re not familiar with the Park, you might wish to visit their web-site - http://www.floridastateparks.org/fortclinch/ . It will give you an over-view of the Park and activities. I will try, in these blogs, to give you our perspective as a frequent visitor.

I will end this rambling with a photo of the day. There is a new attraction in Fort Clinch – a viewing platform overlooking Egan’s Creek, including the Fernandina Beach lighthouse. I will write about this in the future. The photo is of a tree “stump” on the way to the overlook. As I said in the last blog, I enjoy seeing “things” in trees. Part of the fun is that it is different every time I look at it. Enjoy!

Wayne

Photo Credit - where Credit Due!

2008-06-16T20:04:00.002-04:00

Taken to task by the "unknown" photographer!
The photo taken of Margaret and myself in front of the Signorello Winery in Napa Valley (posted 9/26/07) was obviously(?) not taken by me. We were with Carolyn and Harry. She took the photo. Thanks to her - it's one of the best ever taken of the two of us!

Feel better now, Carolyn?

Wayne

Images in trees!

2008-06-14T10:31:00.004-04:00

Here it is, Saturday. Where the time goes when one is retired, I’ll never know. Maybe someone can explain it to me! It is my intention to put together a weekly blog to let folks know what’s happening. I thought I’d do this on Thursday but one thing and another and now it's two days later!

We are in the final stages of preparing for our trip to Seattle in July. Unlike traveling in an RV, preparation entails lining up hotel room(s), rental cars, and calendar dates with friends. It may be too early to sigh a sigh of relief but I think we’re about ready. Now as long as the airline doesn’t do something untoward (like cancel our reservations!), we’re ready.

Thinking about my closing comment last time, about finding “interesting” things in nature, above are a few photos from a class I took at FCCJ early this year. Although the class wasn’t what I had hoped for, and significantly different than expected, the first assignment was challenging and interesting. In a few words, he said, “Get as close as your camera will allow. Don’t worry about the setting or technique, just get as close as you can.” Well, I didn’t quite follow his instructions – well, I did to a degree, getting as close as I could. But I couldn’t help “improving” the shots in Photoshop! I’ll leave it to the viewer to decide what they’re seeing. Sort of a Rorschach test! By the way, these photos were taken at the local Bosque Bello cemetery, here on Amelia Island.

I’ve also decided to do some blogs on one of our local state parks – Ft. Clinch. There are enough different aspects to the park that it will take me a few weeks to cover it. Stay tuned!

And just in case I didn’t have enough to do – what with house repairs, preparation for summer / fall travel, I signed up do to a web-site. I should have done it years ago, but I don’t think the technology nor my motivation was ready. Turns out there is a lot do, think about and decisions to be made re: descriptive words, photos to use, and why-am-I-doing-this. I’ll keep you informed when it’s ready to go.

Ichetucknee Springs State Park

2008-06-05T14:41:00.006-04:00

One outing from O’Leno State Park was to Ichetucknee Springs State Park – about 12 miles west. Ichetucknee Springs is one of the large, fresh water springs in Florida. Not as large or as famous as Silver Springs, it is a great getaway in the heat of summer. As the Florida State Park web-site describes it:

The crystalline Ichetucknee River flows six miles through shaded hammocks and wetlands before it joins the Santa Fe River. In 1972, the head spring of the river was declared a National Natural Landmark by the U. S. Department of the Interior. From the end of May until early September, tubing down the river is the premier activity in the area. In addition to tubing, visitors can enjoy picnicking, snorkeling, canoeing, swimming, hiking, and wildlife viewing. October through March scuba diving is available in the Blue Hole only (you must be cave certified). White-tailed deer, raccoons, wild turkeys, wood ducks and great blue herons can be seen from the river. Picnic areas, equipped with tables and grills, are available throughout the park.

There are two spring outlets in the park – one surfaces at what is called the Blue Bottle because the cave exit is shaped like a bottle. The other, larger spring (shown above) has a small beach. I don’t know what the water temperature was but it felt quite cold to touch. I sure didn’t want to go in the water and I sure as heck didn’t want to go down in the caves under water. People do it and love it; but people also get themselves killed down there!

If you’re interested in more information on the cave system and the folks that dive, check out http://www.alex-warren.com/OldBellamy1999-2002/Article-DOB/Article-DivingOldBellamy-CB.asp

I’ve never seen a detailed map of central and north Florida showing the various caves – mostly fresh water – but I know it’s extensive. I’m not even sure anyone knows the extent of the systems. Since they’re all limestone formations, I just hope that none collapse anytime I’m in the vicinity!

After visiting the springs, we drove on west to the Suwanee River in Branford, FL and had lunch. There were a lot of cars in the lot at the restaurant (no, I can’t remember the name) so we pulled in. Turned out it was a lunch buffet (I usually avoid buffets), but since it was the only place in town and we were hungry, we tried it. Good thing. All Southern style cooking and delicious. We didn’t go hungry!

After lunch we headed back via Lake City, FL and down I-75. A nice day’s outing. Margaret wants to go back someday and kayak down the Ichetucknee Springs river. We’ll see.

I have to comment on one photo. While walking through the woods we passed a tree with a protruding trunk - the local elephant plant? But then I get a lot of fun in seeing "things" in trees, roots, and bark - things that "aren't there"!

Until next week,
Wayne

O'Leno State Park Outing

2008-05-30T10:30:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned in the last blog, I will be giving reports on our adventures in 2008. Although we elected to not spend another 4 – 5 months on the road this year, we are trying to get out more for shorter trips.

One such trip was to O’Leno State Park. O’Leno State Park is located just off Interstate 75, about half way between Gainesville and Lake City, Florida.

Descriptive quote from Florida State Parks Web-Site: O’Leno State Park: Located along the banks of the scenic Santa Fe River, a tributary of the Suwannee River, the park features sinkholes, hardwood hammocks, river swamps, and sandhills. As the river courses through the park, it disappears underground and reemerges over three miles away in the River Rise State Preserve. One of Florida's first state parks, O'Leno was first developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The suspension bridge built by the CCC still spans the river. Visitors can picnic at one of the pavilions or fish in the river for their dinner. Canoes and bicycles are available for rent. While hiking the nature trails, visitors can look for wildlife and enjoy the beauty of native plants. The shady, full-facility campground is the perfect place for a relaxing overnight stay.

Our choice of travel date was to coincide with the annual Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival – May 3rd and 4th. Not that we don’t like the Shrimp Festival, but after you’ve seen it several times, you get tired of the crowds and disruption to the normal pace of life. So we decided it would be a good time to get out of Dodge!

O’Leno State Park is roughly 115 miles from home and less than a 2 ½ hour drive. We took the “back” roads down but decided to take all Interstate coming back. Although the motor-home is not hard to drive on 2-lane roads, sometimes it’s just easier on big roads.

We did have two bits of “excitement” on this, our first outing since January. The first was when I pulled the fuse from the Saturn (to allow towing) and dropped it into the engine compartment. You’d think it would fall straight through, but no, it had to lodge in an unreachable spot. Since it had to be “out” anyway, I gave up trying to retrieve it and drove on to the state park. None of my spare fuses would fit (too small!), so I borrowed a fuse from a different circuit and drove to the auto parts store to get a replacement. Yes, I did buy a couple of spares.

Then while checking in to the campground, I noticed the tailpipe on the motor-home was flopping around badly. Inspection found the tailpipe hangar strap fastener bolt had rusted through. I bought a new hangar strap at the auto parts store (while there for fuses) but there was no where to fasten it. So I borrowed a page from a friend of yore – a friend we camped with back in the mid-70’s while working at Hughes. He worked for the phone company and always had a pocket-full of cable ties which he used to fix everything. So I bought some of these at the auto parts store and jury-rigged six cable ties into three different loops which I then wrapped around anything I could find. It looked funny, but we got home without it falling off. (I had a more permanent solution performed while having the rig serviced at the Cummins / Onan shop last week.)

Today’s photos are from the O’Leno State Park. The first and most memorable was the Don’t Feed the Alligator sign posted beside the swimming hole! The river is the Santa Fe River mentioned in the Florida State Park web-site. It does go underground close to the park and re-emerges under a motel / lodge just outside High Springs, FL. (I’m not exaggerating – the motel is built right on the bank above the river’s “cave”.)

In my next blog, I’ll write about some of the other things we saw (things beside doing repairs).

It's 2008! Time to start blogging!

2008-05-25T13:22:00.003-04:00

It would be fun to start with something like, “By overwhelming popular demand, I am restarting our BLOG.” But that would be stretching the truth. In fact a few folks have wondered when we would start the again. Not that ours is a boring life, but writing a daily blog of life on Amelia Island would make for a dull read!

Now that it is nearly the end of May 2008, I thought it would be good to start again. At least so folks will know that we’re posting – at least occasionally – and let everyone know what’s been happening and our plans for the rest of the year. Scary, isn’t it, to have plans for the next 6 months!

The photo is of the courthouse in Forsyth, GA. Those of you with good memories will recall a similar photo of the courthouse taken last year (almost a year to date!).

In mid January, we took the RV to Forsyth, GA for 4 nights. It was a chance to play golf with my old golfing buddy, Rick. Needless to say, I played as usual – poorly! Because Forsyth is north of Macon, we were relatively close to Atlanta. We took the opportunity and went for the day, starting with a visit to IKEA where we picked up a desk for Margaret. Then off to Trader Joe’s and serious wine shopping!

Although there are six Trader Joe’s (as of mid-January) in Atlanta, there are none closer in the southeast. We asked a clerk if he knew of any plans to “invade” Florida – like Orlando or Tampa. But he had not heard of any such plans. So we stocked up – fortunately the Saturn VUE has a roomy storage area (with the back seats down). We put in eight cases of Two-Buck Chuck (six Cabs and two Chardonnay). After the staff helped load it, I realized there was room for three or four more, but I decided to stick with what I had.

An amusing footnote to this wine story. The next night we had dinner with friends in Macon. The server announced their liquor license renewal hadn’t been renewed. For once I had not only a bottle of wine – I had eight cases! At first they didn’t want to let me bring it in, but after we made motions to leave, the manager relented. I offered him a bottle for his trouble, but he refused.

In mid February, we drove to D.C. via Wilmington, NC. The purpose was for Margaret to meet with various Red Cross folks regarding her on-going project. We elected not to take the RV because we wanted to stay downtown in relative proximity to the Red Cross headquarters. While there we had an opportunity to have dinner with some old friends from our California days.

I will be posting for a few days, trying to catch up on what we've been doing and where we've been. Particularly, I want to devote a separate post to our most recent RV outing to O'Leno State Park in Florida.

Regards to all our "loyal" readers. As the guv would say: "We're Baacckkkk."

Wayne

Wednesday – September 26, 2007 – Home Alone

2007-09-26T17:31:00.001-04:00

This afternoon I feel like the summer “vacation” / “adventure” is over. I took Carol to the airport this morning for her 12:45 flight back to L.A. and there is no one to talk to for the first time in four months! Don’t rush to call with condolences, I’m not complaining, it’s just different.

Weather in Fernandina Beach is hot, humid, with scattered showers. Between showers, the sky is a beautiful blue with gentle breezes out of the east.

Suki-cat seems glad to be home – at least the outdoor part. He hasn’t been inside for 10 minutes during the past 3 days; content I guess, to wander the veldt, hunting for lizards!

I appreciate the kind comments about the blog during the last four months. I too, will miss them, but when you’re living the “routine” at home, it’s difficult to come up with new stories and/or photos. Last year, I tried to post something at least once a month to let everyone know we were alive. Looking back, I don’t think I was very successful.

In case you were wondering, Carol and I had a wonderful trip across the US of A. It’s something everyone should try to do with a significant other or in this case a father / daughter (or equivalent). We learned a lot about each other, enjoyed the scenery, laughed at each other’s jokes, and winced whenever we hit one of the many potholes / cracks / bumps in the road, and “yelled” at the other drivers when they did something really stupid (some days we got a lot of yelling done!).

I wanted to close with a photo that captured the feeling / mood that Margaret and I shared this summer. There were so many beautiful places that it’s hard to pick one that was the “best” or even symbolic. Instead, I chose the above photo taken outside the Signorello winery in Napa. It wasn’t the best wine of the summer (although it was good), it wasn’t the best winery (although it was nice), the people there were very nice to us, and it isn’t the best technical photo of the summer. But it captures a happy couple enjoying their “golden” years – and happens to be outside a winery! What a combo!

A salute to all readers and thanks again for allowing us to share our adventure with you.

Wayne

Saturday, September 22, 2007 – Pecan Park RV – Jacksonville, FL

2007-09-22T19:46:00.000-04:00

A note to let everyone know we arrived safely. I guess we were anxious to be here because we were both up and ready to go at 7:30 CDT this morning. Even after stopping for a hamburger, we still arrived at 3:00 pm EDT.

After setting up, we took a load of laundry and several boxes of pre-packed stuff to the house – along with Suki-cat and cat food. We figured he’d had enough after 4 months locked up in this rolling cage and wanted to begin his attacks on the lizard population at the house. At first he was a little confused, but soon regained his poise.

We picked up Ruby Bug – thanks to David and Carol – and headed over to a local Japanese restaurants for a quick meal.

In case you’re wondering, we drove the motor-home 7,705 miles this summer. We left the house on May 22nd and arrived back here on September 22nd – exactly four months to the day. I’m not sure, but I think we drove the Saturn an additional 6,000 miles. It was a busy four months of driving.

Other than a gazillion bugs on the windshield this morning – driving through the panhandle of Florida – it was a pretty uneventful day. Florida roads, at least this section of I-10, was quite smooth – a welcome relief after the last two days of Louisiana highway experience.

We’re glad to arrive safely. The week (7 days exactly) passed quickly. I enjoyed having Carol along to share driving and relate past life experiences. Thanks to her.

Carol’s Addition : Yes, friends and neighbors and faithful readers, we have arrived in Jax. Was a good day of good roads and good conversation. Though we were on the losing end of the battle with those damn little black bugs out on the road, it was a smooth day. I am not sure whether the bugs had a death wish or were flirting with their reflection in the wind-shield right before the ….SPLAT!

My Dad and I are thoroughly exhausted. My body is screaming “Okay, Chickie, I got your funky-butt here in one piece… Now I QUIT!” Sleep will feel ever so good tonight.

So, I guess this will be my last addition to my parents’ blog. Have thoroughly enjoyed the journey, except for that stretch near East Texas and Louisiana….ugh, it was horrible! Anyhow, I am left with a feeling of accomplishment, a renewed closeness with my dear father, and memories that I will forever cherish.

Thank you for letting me come along… Blessings to all and Happy Motoring…..xoxoxo

Friday, September 21, 2007 – Milton, FL

2007-09-22T07:50:00.000-04:00

What difference 24 hours makes! Yesterday a.m., we were in San Antonio, in warm, sunny climes. Last night it was still warm and sunny in Iowa, LA. Tonight – Friday – we are at ground zero in Milton, FL, for Tropical Depression Ten (we didn’t even rate a name!). At the moment (6:33 pm – CDT) it is misting with a light breeze. The Weather Channel is saying we could have gusts 15 – 25 mph and up to an inch of rain. But the “storm” is moving NW from here, so tomorrow we should drive out of it as we approach Jacksonville, FL.

After yesterday evening’s rough roads, we elected to take an alternate route this a.m. – specifically, US 90 through southern Louisiana – paralleling I-10. That actually worked pretty well. For about 1 ½ hours we followed a two-lane road through farms and small “villages” with pretty homes. Just west of Lafayette, LA, we rejoined I-10. Fortunately the road surface improved and we motored east-ward.

We had our first real glitch of the trip. I was mentally locked into following I-10 east and forgot that I needed to take I-12 to skirt New Orleans and go north of Lake Ponchatrain. As a result, we ended up crossing parts of the lake and going almost through New Orleans. We were able to avoid the actual down-town by taking the I-610 by-pass.

Unfortunately, we found some more really rough roads in New Orleans, probably due to being under water two years ago. Lots of potholes and dips that had us airborne a few times. It’s a wonder we didn’t lose any parts or break anything. At least we haven’t found any pieces or have anything fall off.

The “benefit” of getting lost – and I use that word loosely – is we got to see first-hand the effects of Hurricane Katrina two years after the event. As Carol observed, it looked like something out of a science fiction novel where the houses and shops look ok, but everything was deserted with weeds growing in the streets and driveways. With a few exceptions of obvious damage and destruction, many of the homes and apartments looked livable – but were deserted. And this went on mile after mile. Shopping centers were vacant, car sales lots were empty, even churches and hospitals were closed.

I-10 crossed the lower end of Lake Ponchatrain where we saw the sections of I-10 bridge that had been washed away. Traffic was flowing on both spans, but the damaged portion was being held together with steel trusses. There were tall pilings paralleling the bridge we were on, but no road surface. We never could tell whether it was a new bridge under construction or the remains of the previous bridge destroyed by the hurricane.

All in all, it was an eye-opener and spooky. We’ve all seen the newsreel footage of the damage, but to actually see the after effects – two years later – is scary.

We did see some homes being repaired and lived in. After stopping for lunch in Slidell we took another wrong turn out of the parking lot (how can that happen?) and ended up touring a relatively new subdivision. Nice homes, but only 1 of every 5 looked occupied and several had a big letter ‘C’ on the front indicating condemnation.

Saturday morning. I wasn’t able to finish this last night, so I got up early this morning to work on it. The “storm” was a non-event in this area. We had periods of heavy rain, but no wind – at least no wind that was noticeable in the motor-home. It has sprinkled most of the night, but no gully-washers.

We are roughly 300 miles from Jacksonville, so we should be able to make today if we don’t encounter any serious weather delays. At the moment it is raining “big” drops (making a lot of noise on the roof) so I will probably have to get wet in order to break camp. Maybe I’ll shrink?

Thursday, September 20, 2007 – Iowa, LA

2007-09-20T19:00:00.000-04:00

After successfully negotiating San Antonio during late rush hour (9:30 a.m.) we headed east on I-10. Unlike our earlier adventures on I-20 in east Texas (last year), I-10 was a relatively easy drive. I decided not to burden Carol with driving through Houston (after she had done Phoenix and El Paso). We were going to take the I-610 bypass, but when we reached the exit, I couldn’t merge, so we continued through down-town Houston on I-10. It turned out for the best. Other than a few tight moments through the construction zone(s), we came out the other side in east Houston no worse for wear. The by-pass (I-610) we had planned to take was backed up due to an accident.

The remainder of the trip through east Texas was easy. After the first 12 miles in Louisiana, the road surface on I-10 turned really bad. Carol was driving and had to slow down to 45 mph to avoid bouncing us and the motor-home to death. As it was, she was really tuckered after an hour of the rough road.

We exited in Iowa, LA – east of Lake Charles / west of Lafayette, Louisiana – and found a campsite.

Today’s photo is of some of the units in the RV park: mostly FEMA trailers and refugees from Katrina last year; probably not the best RV park we’ve found. We plan an early start tomorrow and attempt to reach better road conditions.

We are currently 727 miles (approx) from Jacksonville; reachable if pushed in a day. But I anticipate being in a RV park tomorrow night in west Florida, probably just east of Mobile, AL. Unless we have an unexpected event, we should be in Jacksonville some time Saturday. We plan to stay in the motor-home until we have moved some of our stuff to the house in Fernandina – probably moving out (in?) on Sunday.

It has been a continuing adventure and I’m so glad Carol decided to accompany me – it has been great talking and laughing with her.

Wednesday, September 19, 2007 – San Antonio, TX

2007-09-19T21:07:00.001-04:00

Carol and I were up at the crack of dawn this morning, so we folded our tent (proverbially speaking) and headed for San Antonio. We pulled out of Ft. Stockton, TX, at 6:45 am. Being on the west side of the Central Time Zone, it was still pitch black; so we got to see the sunrise!

We arrived in San Antonio during lunch rush hour. Like many big cities, several of the freeways are being repaired / upgraded, so driving was difficult. And like many big cities, everyone else was in an all-fired hurry to get where they were going. I let Carol drive and I navigated. She was a little frazzled when we finally pulled into the RV park. The rest of the trip should be a little easier.

The RV park we picked out of the book advertised itself as the closest to downtown. I can’t certify that claim, but a city bus route stops right in front and was only a 10-minute ride to the RiverWalk / downtown. At $1 each, it was cheaper than parking. Plus we didn’t have to unhitch the Saturn; one less thing to do tomorrow morning.

Today’s first photo is of Carol and the RiverWalk in San Antonio. After walking for a little bit, we stopped at Casa Rio restaurant and had a bite to eat. We then boarded one of the river tour boats and had a tour of downtown.

The weather cooperated. Other than being a little warmish in the sun, it was clear and pleasant with a nice breeze. Also, being a Wednesday afternoon, there were no crowds.

After the boat ride we walked to the Alamo. Unfortunately it was after 5:30 pm closing time so we could only look at the outside and stick our heads in the adjoining garden before they threw us out. But at least Carol got to see it in person. I was trying to remember the last time I was in town. Margaret probably remembers better than I do, but I think it was in 1966 during a trip to Denver. Margaret was pregnant with Carol on that trip, so Carol has actually been here before. But she didn’t remember any of it! Wonder why?

The second photo was taken by Carol during a walk around the RV park. It is a swing for kids made from tires and tire scraps. Very inventive. The last photo was also taken by Carol during the boat tour. The faces were on the side of a building and were put there by the builder to ensure prosperity and good fortune. The building costs $3 million dollars and was completed in August 1929. Two months later the stock market crashed. The building eventually sold for $27,000. The building also had gargoyles around the top to protect it against evil spirits. Guess they didn’t help either.

Tuesday, September 18, 2007 – Ft. Stockton, TX

2007-09-18T21:12:00.000-04:00

Wayne: Yes folks, we made it into Texas. Actually, we elected to stop earlier than anticipated. After reviewing the various RV park maps at our disposal, we decided that there wasn’t anything convenient between Ft. Stockton, TX and San Antonio, so we stopped.

I believe it was a good decision. There is a Wal-Mart in Ft. Stockton which enabled us to re-provision supplies that were running low. From here, it’s 310 miles to San Antonio. If we get away tomorrow at 7:00 (or 8:00) a.m., we’ll be at the San Antonio RV park by noon (1:00 pm at the latest). That will give us almost all afternoon to explore the River Walk.

The couple next to us (in Ft. Stockton – KOA) is from Naples, FL. They have been in San Diego and are on their way home. He is on his third wife and first RV. After talking with him briefly, I’m not sure which will last the longest!

We had a brief rain shower this p.m. which was welcome. Fortunately it isn’t very hot – high 80’s / low 90’s. Clouds are pretty.

No excitement driving today. Carol and I swap off driving about every 2 hours. We stop at a rest stop (or fuel up) and change.

We are having a great time.

Carol’s Addition: Yes, my father can still fog a mirror! Hee Hee…Just kidding, we are having a great time and we yet to become irritated with one another. We pulled out of Deming, NM early this morning, determined to put some miles behind us.
Now, I’m sure some of my parent’s faithful blog-readers are fully aware of the frightening possibilities a public-RV-park Shower can offer. I had to laugh this morning, (fortunately I was alone in the shower room when I did so)…. There was some impossibly loud twangy-country music being piped-in to bathe-by. Now, I’m not sure what was louder, the chorus of “The Cow Died and You left Me,’ or the sound of the family of crickets that lived in the ladies shower who were attempting to sing harmony. Well, at least I got a good laugh…
We are off to San Antonio tomorrow, hoping to arrive earlier in the day. Am looking forward to some good Mexican food and a few hours away from the RV and Suki’s pleading cries to go outside. The cat is getting plenty of love, but I think is more than ready to be home and chasing lizards.
Until our next blog….happy motoring….

Monday September 17, 2007 – Deming, NM

2007-09-18T09:21:00.000-04:00

A quick note to let everyone know how we are progressing. We arrived in Deming, NM, at 6:15 pm MDT and stayed in Little Vineyard RV Park. Saw several signs for various wineries coming into town. Too bad we won’t have time to visit them, but it’s probably just as well.

Some excitement coming through Tucson. All road signs clearly said to move to the two left lanes on I-10 for east-bound traffic; right lane was exit only. Sure enough, just as we passed the exit, some guy in a mini-van realized he was in the wrong lane and tried to merge left. Unfortunately, we were already there; not just behind him or even with him, but several feet in front. Luckily he didn’t try to argue with me or force me (no where for me to go). We’re not sure if he actually hit the barricade / pylons, but he did make a full stop. A little scary.

Later, just before reaching Deming, they had one lane closed and had pylons up marking the edge of the lane. But the got sloppy towards the end of the detour, and the pylons kept getting more and more into the traffic lane. I didn’t hit any, but I did have to drive on the left shoulder to avoid them. Another “fun” driving experience.

But it wasn’t all bad. The road surfaces in Arizona and New Mexico are quite nice – compared to some we’ve been on this summer.

Tomorrow – Tuesday - we’ll be in Texas. From Deming, it’s only 100 miles to El Paso. I’m trying to plan the drive for the next two days so we can be in San Antonio for a little R&R on the River Walk. Carol has never seen it. And try to find some good Tex-Mex food.