Two to Travel's Phaeton Journeys

Blast From the Past: 23 Nisan

2012-02-25T11:58:00.001-08:00

Saturday, 24 February

I’m processing photos from my 2010 trip to Turkey, which coincided with a national holiday celebrated on April 23 to commemorate the date of the first meeting of the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1920. In 1929, Atatürk dedicated the day to children and the date became known not just as National Sovereignty Day, but as Children’s Day as well.

The photo below pre-dates my 2010 trip by many, many, many years. In fact, it goes back to when I was in grade school in İzmir, Turkey. I’m pictured at one of the events focused on not just the children of Turkey, but the children of the world. As you can tell from my costume, which was red satin trimmed in black, I was dressed to represent Chinese children.

If you’d like to see some of the photos I took at a preview parade I encountered by chance during my April 2010 trip, click here.

The Rolling Home Has VOIP Phone Service

2012-02-24T07:18:00.001-08:00

Friday, 24 February

For most RVers, a good cell phone plan is probably sufficient to stay in touch with family and friends while they’re on the road. If our families were in Canada or Mexico, we could probably get away with just having cell phones as well. But that’s not the case — our families are in Turkey, and cell phone calls are prohibitively expensive regardless of who initiates them.

At the condo, we have Vonage VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone service. A flat, monthly rate gives us unlimited domestic and international calls without worrying about by-minute charges. And there’s no contract; always a good thing.

Our plan all along has been to take Vonage on the road with us, provided we could have a reasonably reliable internet connection. We resolved that requirement with our Millenicom aircard and CradlePoint router (post here). I imagine that there will be some places where we might not have internet, but they should be few and far between.

We were pretty sure this plan would work, but wanted to test it anyway. So, last weekend, we took our Vonage modem to the motorhome and Mui set things up in a jiffy. Since the modem was there only temporarily, we didn’t bother putting it in the cabinet where the whole set up is eventually going to be installed.

We have phone service!
The aircard and the Vonage Modem both plug into the CradlePoint router;
the phone plugs into the Vonage Modem.
The laptop’s there to make sure the phone set up doesn’t interfere with the wi-fi connection.

One more thing has now been checked off our ‘getting ready to go on the road’ to-do list. It feels good :-)

When’s a King not a King?

2012-02-22T13:22:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, 22 February

A king is not a king when it’s a Sleep Number^® bed in a motorhome. No wonder the king size mattress pad and sheets we initially bought for the Phaeton didn’t fit the way they were supposed to — even after we washed them in hot water!

Stupid us! We didn’t measure the mattress before shopping for bedding. After all, a king is a king. Right? Wrong!!! Even the sales people at the Sleep Number® store we went to at Fair Oaks Mall weren’t aware of the ‘custom king’ mattress. At 72” x 80” (1.8 x 2 m), the mattress in the motorhome is 4 inches (10 cm) narrower than the standard king — that’s Eastern, not California. That’s enough to make all the difference in the fit of the bedding.

Thanks to MBZ, friend and fellow Phaeton owner, who gets to have her rolling home parked next to her stix & brix home, we didn't have to make a special trip out to the coach to measure our mattress. Not only did she do the measuring for us, but she provided a link to Camping World to confirm the custom size. Who knew that CW sold Sleep Number® beds! As well, MBZ pointed us in the direction of right-sized bedding, which we ordered from Amazon.

These Sleep Number^® products didn’t work for the Phaeton bed, but we’re keeping
them for when we buy our Eastern King after we’re done with our nomad lifestyle.

Ah, yes; these work beautifully. Just the right size.

The linens are washed and the bed is made up, complete with the tea-dyed matelassé
cover we prefer to the bedspread that came with the Phaeton.

Finally, sheets stretched taut and not a wrinkle, crumple, crinkle, or bump in sight! No Princess and the Pea experience for these two campers, thank you very much.

President’s Day 2012

2012-02-20T09:41:00.001-08:00

Monday, February 20

President’s Day is one of those holidays that often goes unnoticed, except for all of the sales ads one might see in newspapers and on TV.

At my company, President’s Day is a floating holiday. What that means is that I can either take today off, or I can ‘save’ the day to boost my available vacation days when I really need it. I’ve opted to do the latter and plan to use my ‘free’ day when we go on our spring trip with the Phaeton.

Even though I am working — I have a big project on my plate — I do want to recognize this holiday. In some ways, President’s Day is intended to honor all US presidents (let’s not get into politics here), but in particular, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln — one the father of our country; the other the man who reshaped our country.

Notes:

The background image is a screenshot from Madame Tussaud’s President’s Gallery website; the images of Lincoln and Washington are from the public domain.
I created the collage with PhotoTangler, an app Kate mentioned in her blog this morning — thanks for the tip, Kate. I downloaded the Mac app for the grand price of $1.99; there is a Windows/PC version as well.
The special effects are compliments of Picasa; the final processing was done in Lightroom.
And lest you think it took a lot of effort to create this collage; it didn’t. Finding the photos was the most time consuming part; the rest was a piece of cake.

Let There Be Motion-Sensored Light

2012-02-18T13:15:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 18 February

A high of 61F (16C) when we left the lot where we store the Phaeton sent a twinge of guilt through us for not being out and about, exploring somewhere new to us. In our defense, the temperature wasn’t expected to rise that high, and the clouds were supposed to move in for the afternoon. So much for the weather forecast! We had gorgeous blue skies with plenty of sunshine through the day — I even got a touch of sun-color on my face.

That’s not to say we didn’t have fun at the coach; we did. And it was a productive day to boot. We took care of a few things inside during the morning when it was slightly more chilly; then we moved outside. I’ll focus on the latter in this post.

As you might imagine, with such a beautiful day at our disposal, we just had to have an al fresco lunch before tackling the day’s ‘sorta big’ project. Pulling out our camp chairs, we even made ourselves comfy.

After lunch, I managed to sneak in some downtime while Mui worked! Of course, that was in between documenting the project on which he was working.

First a bit of web browsing …

… then catching up on the news.

Every stix & brix home we’ve lived in for the past 20 years or so has had a motion-sensing security light above the front entry. Why should our condo on wheels be any different. That was our thought when we put replacing the exterior light above the door on our list of coach mods.

This wasn’t a project that was on the front burner — that is, until I read Mark’s post on Phaeton Place. I sent the link to Mui. He liked what he read on the blog and the RV Upgrades website, and placed an order for the same light — a Star Light Black Smart 1000 Porch Light. Thanks for doing the research for us, Mark.

Although this light has a bigger footprint than the one that was originally installed, it blends in better with the body of the coach because of the transparent lens. I also like that it is LED and more energy efficient. As well, the light is designed to cease functioning when it senses that the house batteries have dropped below 11.5 volts. That’s a really good thing :-)

See that little orange light above the door? That’s the topic of today’s mod project.

In his post, Mark had noted that the installation looked easy. Mui can confirm that it is. It took just minutes to remove the old light and clean up the residual caulking. Then, it was a matter of five minutes or so to connect the new light to the existing electrical wires; fill the hole with some caulking; affix the light plate to the body of the coach with a couple of self-tapping screws; run a bead of black silicone caulking around the edges; and finally, place the clear lens cover to finish up the install.

Here’s the light still in its packaging.

First things first; let’s check out the instructions … just in case!

The old light comes off …

… and the new light gets installed.

Et voilà … the finished project.

In broad daylight, the motion sensor doesn’t work. That too is a good thing. However, the little blue light that indicates the sensor is working did blink when we tested it, so we have no reason to think the light won’t work as expected. Kudos on getting another project under your belt, Mui!

Mui's Turn to Take a Bow

2012-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Friday, 17 February

There’s this Homeland Security …

… as the t-shirt states.

And then there is the Department of Homeland Security, which Mui joined at the time of its inception on March 1, 2003.

During his nine years with DHS, he has served in various positions in the procurement organization. His most recent role as Industry Ombudsman carries with it the responsibility for organizing an annual Industry Day, which has an attendance of over 2,700 — in person and online.

The event held on 26 January was the last one he’ll be putting together before he retires at the end of the year. In announcing this to the industry attendees during the opening session, his boss also marked the occasion by presenting Mui with a pewter tray stamped with the DHS logo. What makes the tray special is that the signature of his current boss, along with those of his former bosses, are etched on the back.

This was the first time someone took photos at the event … so, I’ll share a few here. After all, it won’t be often — or perhaps ‘ever’ is a better word — that you’ll see Mui in a suit and tie once he retires ;-)

Scenes from Mui’s last Industry Day event.
The group shot is of Mui with his interns; the top right photo shows Mui joking around — he
likes to do that a lot — with Chris, the Deputy Under secretary for DHS.

The pewter tray; alas no good way of photographing the finely etched signatures on the back.

Word Verification Turned Off

2012-02-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Thursday, February 16

Blogger has changed the word verification feature. The problem … these ‘supposed’ words can be far more difficult to decipher. (Usually worse than the ones in the screenshot to the right.)

I’ve turned off the feature on this blog and will monitor what happens with the spam comments. If I start getting a whole bunch of them, I may revert to comment moderation in lieu of the word verification.

In the meantime, I’ve read a few comments on other blogs where some have noted that they aren’t sure how to remove word verification. Here are the ‘how to’ steps — if you are using Blogger’s new interface, you will have to temporarily revert to the old interface first.

Open your blog in your dashboard; I do it by clicking Design as shown below

On the far right of the dashboard, click the gear icon; select Old Blogger Interface

Once you see the old Blogger dashboard:

Click the Settings link

From the second row of tabs, click the Comments link

Scroll down and find Show Word Verification for Comments? and select the No radio button

Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click the Save Settings button

That’s all there is to it.

And if you want to revert back to the new interface, you can easily do so by clicking the ‘Try the Updated Blogger Interface’ link at the top of the Old Blogger dashboard.

CradlePoint: 2 Minutes and We’re Up

2012-02-12T14:38:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 11 February

No kidding! That’s about how long it took us to set up a wi-fi network using our Millenicom aircard and the CradlePoint CBR400 compact broadband router Mui ordered from B&H last week. (Our timing was good; the price has gone up $30+ since we placed the order.)

Now Mui and I can share the 20GB data package our Millenicom aircard offers.

We did the initial network set up at home after turning off our existing wireless network. The Quick Start Guide was right on the money, and soon we were both connected and surfing away at speeds equal to that of our home network. Adding my iMac, which is in the office upstairs, was just as easy and did not impact network performance at all.

Since we bought the CradlePoint to use in the Phaeton, our next step was to go to the storage lot and test everything there. Piece of cake. Thanks to the work we’d done at home to set up the network, the laptops connected instantaneously.

Happy campers computing away on the new network!

We have our phone service through Vonage and plan to keep it when we’re on the road. So our next step will be to connect the base phone to the router to see how it works out. Also, the CradlePoint will boost any campground wi-fi connections that are available; one more thing to test … maybe when we go on our spring outing in April.

Stormy Weather

2012-02-10T05:17:00.000-08:00

Friday, 10 February

Storms … bad weather days … the nemesis of every RVer. If we pay attention to weather forecasts, we can avoid the worst. If we have enough warning, we can move out of the way if we happen to be in the path of a storm. That’s the beauty of having a home on wheels.

But what about those sudden-onset storms that show up when least expected? Like the one that hit last spring while we were in the Outer Banks. We monitored the radar on our computer — luckily we had an internet connection; we spoke with the staff at the campground office to confirm that they were monitoring the imminent storm as well; and we were prepared to move to a cinderblock structure should the sirens go off. In the end, the storm passed to our west and north, and we just bore the brunt of some wind and rain. Those in mainland North Carolina and nearby states were not so lucky.

Being forewarned is being forearmed. So, a few weeks ago we ordered a Midland WR300 digital weather/all hazards alert radio. I won’t go into the features since the website (linked above) lists them all. (We bought it on Amazon for less than the stated price on the website.) Mui got the strobe light as well since I sleep with ear plugs.

We set up the radio at the condo and dialed in the appropriate county code. Now we wait. Don’t get me wrong. We’re not wishing for a storm or anything; that’s the last thing we want. But if the radio doesn’t go off with an alert, how do we know it’s working? That’s the dilemma!

The Sewer Hose Has a Home

2012-02-06T05:02:00.000-08:00

Monday, 6 February

Actually, the hose has had a custom-built home for a while, but I neglected to write a post at the time.

We were storing the sewer hose in a clear plastic bin with a lid, but it took up too much room in the basement. Before that, we kept the hose in a trash bag in the sewer connection bay, but that was before Mickey’s cousins stopped by for an uninvited visit and built a home inside the hose. Needless to say, they were evicted — home and all.

We looked at the usual storage options — you know the tubes sold at places like Camping World. We even bought one and brought it back to the Phaeton only to find that we’d have to remove the collar from the hose if we wanted it to fit inside the tube. Back to Camping World the tube went.

After surfing the web for ideas, I suggested to Mui that he build his own hose housing from a vinyl fence post sleeve. After thinking about it, off he went to Home Depot to get a 4” x 4” x 8’ sleeve, a couple of end caps, a few shims to slightly elevate the sleeve, and some mounting brackets to keep it all in place.

A bit of sawing to shorten the sleeve; a bit of drilling to put ventilation holes in the end caps; a bit of screwdriver action to mount it all in place … et voilà — for a fraction of the cost of one of those tube things, we have something that meets our needs and fits nicely along one side of the small basement compartment adjacent to the sewer hook-up bay. (The compartment in question is marked with blue lines in the photo to the right.)

I wasn’t with Mui when he went out to the coach to build the sewer hose housing, so I’m afraid the documentation of the project is a bit on the ‘lean’ side.

We saved money and the sewer hose is happy with its custom housing.

It’s good that Mui’s such a handyman! I see many more Phaeton projects in his future :-)

Blast from the Past: I Didn’t Just Cross-Stitch

2012-02-04T06:50:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 4 February

My ‘craftiness’ hasn’t been limited to just cross-stitch projects.

I’ve sewn a few things — never got good at it; probably because I didn’t much care for sewing. And still don’t. Ask me to hem something and you might as well ask me to jump in a lake somewhere!

I’ve done quite a bit of knitting — one of my first projects was an evening gala outfit consisting of a halter top and a floor-length tube skirt in a fancy pattern (I’ll have to see if I can dig up a photo); I also made the usual scarves, shawls, and throws. I still knit on occasion; mostly when mom is visiting and we can share the hobby.

I tried my hand at crocheting — I still use the spider web shawl I made in the 1970s; I also made an afghan or two, and a granny-square footstool for my father. I gave up crocheting as I found it to be too repetitive.

When we were living in Salt Lake City in the 1980s, I gave ceramics a whirl. Now, don’t get the idea that I threw pottery or anything. Nope, the wheel was not for me. I simply painted and decorated unfinished forms at a local studio; the firing of the finished product was included in the price of the item. Boy did I make a lot of things — for us and as gifts for others. What few I kept are already packed up for storage, but I found a few photos from way back (mostly of the gift items I made).

Left: nursery Lamp; gift when my brother’s first son was born.
right: gift for my brother; he was interested in native american culture.

Gift for Mui; for his basement office
(sadly this was broken in the move from Utah to Virginia.)

Gifts and a few items for us.
I made the chicken (or is it a duck) for mom’s kitchen (yes, it traveled to Turkey). the nativity in the bottom corner was for one of my aunts; the orange cornucopia was for another aunt. the three other items were for us; some fell victim to accidental breakage while others found good homes elsewhere when we moved from Utah to Virginia.

Award winning ceramics projects.
the wreath decorated our home for many years; the color in the bottom photo is truer than the one above that shows the wreath decorated with dried baby’s breath. (I wish I had a close up of this one; the detail was amazing.) The deer sat by our fireplace for many-a-Christmas before one of them broke at the neck. The Christmas candy dish was a gift; as was the Halloween spook light.

I wonder what other treasures the photo-scanning project is going to uncover :-)

Pat on the Back

2012-02-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 2 February

I'm not one to pat myself on the back — normally.

This recognition, received a few weeks ago, was for a project I completed at the end of 2011 to replace a COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) application we were using for tracking business development opportunities with a custom application using Microsoft SharePoint. It meant teaching myself the basics of SharePoint before I could even begin the first baby steps of development (with some support from our IT geeks). Now that it is launched, the new application is being used company-wide. I have to admit ... I'm proud of myself for this accomplishment.

A Nice Day to Get the Wheels Turning

2012-01-29T06:32:00.001-08:00

Saturday, 28 January

A 50F (10C), blue-sky day offered the perfect setting to take the Phaeton out for this newbie to ‘earn her wheels.’ Seeing as how I’ve not ever driven anything bigger than my Toyota Highlander, taking the Phaeton out for a ‘traffic-less spin’ was quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself.

We did my first coach-driving test at the special events center, located not far from where we store the Phaeton. The site offers a big gravel lot, as well as a second lot that is used for event parking. And the bonus — a three-lane, slightly curvy road with little to no traffic on non-event days.

In fact, we didn’t encounter any vehicles and there were only a couple of speed-walkers cutting through the site on their way to a nearby regional park. Since Mui told me I didn’t get extra points for knocking them over, I left them alone to continue their exercise :-)

After we ran through the dashboard- and controls-recognition portion of the lesson, I took the coach out of its parking spot, thus completing my first turn without hitting any of the other stored vehicles. After Mui was comfortable with my maneuvers, I asked him to leave the coach and help me run through some turns by giving me directions using the two-way radio. In the parking lot, I practiced tight turns, zig-zagging between the lanes. Then it was time to get on the three-lane road and head towards the gate. The curvy-road was good practice for using the mirrors and staying between the lines when not on a straight-away.

You will have noted in the video that there are no shots of me making turns or doing other maneuvers. Mui was rightfully paying attention to what I was doing instead of running the camera :-)))

All in all, I’m pleased with the results of my practice session. I still need to better understand (feel?) where the tires are and when to start making my turns. On one of my turn-maneuvers, I recognized that the tires were going to go off the pavement if I continued. With Mui’s concurrence, I backed out of my predicament by putting the coach in reverse — something that had not been on the agenda for today’s lesson! A few more practice sessions and I’ll be ready to try a real drive on a straight-away with traffic.

By the way, you might have noticed in the video that the air vents are taped-down with masking tape. It’s part of our mice-deterrence system. You see, Mickey’s cousins have stopped by the coach quite a few times since we put the Phaeton in storage. They’ve all fallen for the traps Mui set up around the driver’s seat, however, so none have been wandering around the coach or building nests (and the basement is rodent-free as well).

Since the traps laid out around the rest of the coach have been undisturbed, we figured the mice might be coming in through the vents. We haven’t had any visitors since we taped them down. Is it the closed vents or the cotton balls dipped in peppermint oil that have kept the mice away? We can’t say for sure. But it doesn’t matter as long as they keep their ‘partying’ outside our home.

After I had my fill of driving the coach, Mui took over the driver’s seat and we went to Fannon Petroleum to top off the diesel, and to give the wheels a real chance to turn. We put the coach into storage with a full tank, but Mui’s been exercising the generator every two weeks, so we needed about 15 gallons to fill ‘er up again to protect against algae build-up. (The price has gone down .05 cents to $3.79 since our last fill-up in September. Keeping fingers crossed the downward trend continues.)

Once Phae was tucked back in, it was time to eat our snacks. It was simply too nice to sit inside the coach. We didn’t, however, feel like taking out our patio chairs and we didn’t want to go find a picnic table somewhere (too hungry). Instead, we practiced the ‘sundowners’ approach we enjoyed in the African bush when we went on our photo safari — we used the hood of the Highlander as a makeshift table.

I guess we can call this our ‘snackdowner’!
No alcoholic beverages, though; we still have some driving to do.

On the way home, we made a detour to check out a park Mui had found when he was running errands one day. The Ellanor C Lawrence Park is managed by the Fairfax County Park Authority and is on land donated by David Lawrence, founder of US News and World Report, in honor of his wife. In addition to hiking trails, the park offers historic ruins, a pond, a restored mill, and much more.

We parked at the Walney Visitor Center, which is housed in a restored 1780 farmhouse. The building was closed, so we didn’t see the interpretive exhibits. Instead, we went for a walk, starting at the trail that winds around some historic buildings and ruins before heading through a heavily forested area to reach the pond at the other end. It was a light, bright setting for a walk through the woods today, but when the trees are leafed-out I bet the canopy keeps out most of the light. We enjoyed our brief time at the park, but it would probably be more interesting to visit when there are interpretive programs available.

Clockwise from top left: Illustration of the outbuilding with an inset of the foundation; what remains of the outbuilding foundation today; illustration of the ice house (nothing but a stone-lined hole remains today); interior shot of the smokehouse; the Walney Visitor Center; and the smokehouse (rebuilt by the park service in the mid-1990s).

There was no signage here. I can only guess this is the site of the kids’ program
entitled: “American Indian Life in Fairfax County”.

As this winter’s ‘yo-yo weather’ continues, we’ll try to find some more fun things to do in the coming weeks.

X-Stitch: Gifts

2012-01-27T10:55:00.001-08:00

Friday, 27 January

Back in the days when I was still doing cross-stitch, I didn’t just make things for our home. I embroidered many gifts as well — tea towels for housewarmings, fingertip towels to decorate powder rooms for the holidays, throw pillows to add color to sofas, bibs for toddlers, birth and wedding announcements to celebrate momentous occasions.

At the time, I didn’t think to photograph most of my projects. But while was I scanning old photos, I came across two that I did take pictures of — most likely to show mom my handiwork.

The first — a birth announcement. What’s sad about this one is that I have no recollection for whom I made it. Certainly there’s no one in my immediate circle who has a daughter named Peyton. The date doesn’t ring a bell either. So perhaps it was for a co-worker; or maybe as a gift for someone Mui worked with.

The next one I have no problem connecting with the recipient. I embroidered this for my cousin Tom when he and Michele married in 1995. I was feeling a bit poorly, and Mui and I did not make it up to Massachusetts for the wedding. But, mom, Aylin, and Hakan were there to share in the joyous occasion. Too bad I didn’t take some detail shots, but at least I have the end product after it was framed.

Blast from the Past: In Another Life Perhaps?

2012-01-19T11:00:00.000-08:00

June 1982

Look what I found while I was scanning our pile of photo albums and loose photos? (Actually, what I found was the original, which I thought was long gone.)

No, it's not 1882 ... it's 1982.
And no, that’s not our grandparents.

Go ahead, laugh all you want — we collapse into giggles whenever we catch a glimpse of this one.

We've always had the ‘travel itch’. Long trips, short trips — the length never mattered. Back in 1982, we didn't have much spare cash, so most of our travels consisted of day trips. Usually we drove to our destination — at times 300 miles (480 km) each way — just to explore someplace new.

On this occasion, we splurged a bit and took a day trip on the Princess Marguerite II, a ship that used to ply the Salish Sea between Seattle, Washington and Victoria, British Columbia before it was taken out of service in 1989. This photo was taken aboard the PMII on our way back to Seattle. What made us do it? Who knows; it’s not like our budget allowed for something so frivolous. But I'm glad we did as it shows that we do have a playful side that we let out every once in a while :-)

If you'd like to see more from our trip to Victoria, click here. We sure packed a lot into that one day!

George’s Birthplace

2012-01-07T12:22:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 7 January

We were enjoying a quiet breakfast at home, chatting about our plans for the day, when the words “…reaching 65 degrees (18C) in most places” caught our attention. Hmmm, how could we not take advantage of such unseasonal temps — there was also something said about it being 20 degrees above the norm. So, we scrapped our plans to take the Phaeton out for me to practice driving it on the road near the storage lot (a good thing in hindsight; the drive-thru Christmas light displays were still up at Bull Run Regional Park and blocking my turn-around access). Instead, we came up with a new plan that took us 90 miles (145 km) south to the George Washington Birthplace National Monument.

The beauty of being early risers … we were able to switch gears and still be on the road shortly after 9:00a. The temp was already up to 54F (12C) and showing every indication of rising to the forecasted high for the day. Traffic cooperated as we made our way down I-95 S. That alone was something to be grateful for, but when combined with the beautiful day … well, it was just fantastic. It was also reminiscent of the on-the-spur day trips we made when we lived in Tacoma, Washington back in 1982. At the time, we thought nothing of driving a couple hundred miles — each way — just to explore someplace new. Fun but tiring. Aaah … the energy of youth!!!

We didn’t dally along the way, making one pit stop at the rest area near Fredericksburg since we didn’t have our ‘own facilities’ with us. We did notice several signs for places of interest en route, however, and made note of them. Who knows, a bit of research may send us back down the same way on future outings.

“Virginia is for Lovers” — at this rest area, visitors are encouraged to take a photograph
with the ‘Love’ sign and upload it to Twitter and Facebook.

Arriving at the site, we were greeted by the 50-foot (~15 m) tall granite Memorial Obelisk, a 1/10th replica of the Washington Monument in DC. At first we thought that was it. But no, there was plenty more to see.

The friendly NPS ranger who greeted us when we went into the Visitor Center a few minutes later explained that the obelisk was erected in 1896 by the War Department on the presumed site of the birth house. It was moved to its current position at the end of Popes Creek Road in 1930. A nice way to greet visitors, but perhaps a bit misleading as to what all there is to see here. (It’s apparently not unknown for some visitors to just drive around the obelisk and leave without seeing everything else.)

(By the way, we offered up our America the Beautiful Pass to the ranger, but it wasn’t necessary as the site is now free to visitors.)

It was such a beautiful day that we were surprised at how few visitors there were, but we didn’t question our luck. After checking out the small exhibit, which provides a bit of history about the forebears of George Washington (GW from now on), we watched the short, on-demand documentary video. The quality of the film wasn’t the greatest. And there was one very fidgety girl that was very distracting — all of five people in the audience, and the family of three had to come and sit in front of us in the otherwise empty auditorium! Nonetheless, the information presented helped us gain insight into what we were about to see, so I’m glad we took the time to see it.

I did say that there is more to the National Monument grounds than just the obelisk.
[Scanned from the NPS brochure; click for a larger version]

When we exited the theater, the ranger on duty told us that a few more people had arrived and so she’d arranged for her partner to give a tour of the Memorial House at noon. With 45 minutes to spare, we headed in that direction, exploring the grounds along the way.

View of Popes Creek looking towards Burnt House Point — from the Visitor Center deck.
[the lack of an apostrophe in ‘popes’ is not a mistake.]

the Memorial House
What we would consider the back of the house today was the front back in the day.
It faced the creek and provided easy access to the house for visitors and delivery of goods.

John Washington, GW’s great-grandfather, was the founder of the family in Virginia. He emigrated from England to the Virginia Colony in 1657. He married Anne Pope, the daughter of a wealthy plantation owner. They had three children — one of whom was Lawrence (GW’s grandfather). He married Mildred Warner, with whom he had three children — one of whom was Augustine (GW’s father).

Unlike his father, who was more politician and lawyer, Augustine was a farmer. It was during his time that Popes Creek Plantation was purchased and the house in which GW was born in 1732 was built. When little George was just 3½ years old, Augustine moved his family — first a short ways upriver; then to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River. Thus it was that by the time the mansion burned down on Christmas Day 1779, GW was no longer living there. In fact, the plantation had been inherited by his cousin William and renamed Wakefield by then.

The Memorial House and the Colonial Kitchen
At my feet is the crushed oyster shell outline of the house where George Washington was born.
The intent had been to build the memorial house on the footprint of the birth house. It wasn't until
more than 30 years after the memorial house was built, however, that excavations unearthed
the actual site and brought the mistake to light.

At noon, we met up with Ranger Alan and three other couples — one of which was the parents of the fidgety girl, but luckily she was better behaved this time. NPS ranger talks and tours are always informative, and this one didn’t disappoint either. We started off at the oyster shell outline of the birth house, then continued on with the kitchen (unlocked for anyone to visit), and eventually moved on into the Memorial House (locked except for ranger-accompanied tours).

My virtual tour is going to be in reverse order. (To limit the photos I post here, I’m going to make use of some collages. If you’d like to see full-size images, visit my online gallery.)

As there were no drawings or images available of the house that burned down, this one was built in
the colonial revival style that would have been typical of an upper-class home of the period.
There is a strong resemblance to Gunston Hall, the home of George Mason, one of the
architects of the nation’s Bill of Rights.

Entering through the back door, the hallway leads to the front door with a view of Popes Creek.
[I cheated; the scene outside the door was blown out, so I created a collage with
a separate photo I took inserted in the center portion of the image to show the view.]

Four rooms open onto the hallway: Dining Room; Withdrawing room (AKA Drawing Room);
Master Bedroom; and Guest Bedroom.

The Memorial House is furnished with pieces authentic to the period. Only two of the items
are from the house that burned down: (1) The ceramic bottle that was unearthed during the
excavations of the birth house; and (2) the tilt-top Queen Anne table that survived the fire.

there are Four more rooms on the second floor; all set up as bedrooms.

The Colonial Kitchen was added to enhance the visitor’s experience at the living memorial
to George Washington’s Birthplace.

Half the building represents the kitchen; the other half the slave quarters (which would
have been above the kitchen). Brick floors were common, but dirt floors were preferred
as pits could be dug in the dirt when the hearth was insufficient to meet the family’s
cooking needs (perhaps for a special event).

After touring the two buildings, we went on a meandering walk around the colonial farm. The cattle were out grazing, but the Ossabaw Island hogs were nowhere to be seen. The sheep were out in a distant pen; with lambs we were told. But they were too far away to get any photos. We didn’t really care as it was such a gorgeous winter day and we were having a ball. And by this time, all of the other visitors had left and we had the site entirely to ourselves. What more could we ask for!

A peek into the farm workshop.

A glimpse across one of several livestock pens.

It was 1:00p by the time we were finished enjoying this gem of a place. Time for lunch. After consulting the map, we decided to head over to the picnic area, located a short drive away. Peaceful, quiet. There was one couple trying to photograph the tundra swans that were resting on Popes Creek following their migration from the Arctic (too far away, so I didn’t even attempt any photos); and there were a few people who parked and headed off on the one-mile nature trail. That was it. We had our pick of the 20 or so picnic tables and chose one at the far end as it was the closest one to the water. Our meal was simple; the scenery was wonderful; and at 66F (19C) the temperature was perfect for our al fresco lunch.

A ‘no-jackets-needed’ January day for a picnic. Now that’s special.

After lunch, we headed off to pay our respects at the family burial ground near the spot where John Washington (GW’s great-grandfather) first settled in 1664. Thirty two graves were found here, including those of GW’s great-grandparents, grandfather, father, and half-brother. (His grandmother is buried in England, and his mother is buried in Fredericksburg.)

The cemetery today bears no resemblance to the cemetery George Washington visited durinG his
youth. In 1930, the Wakefield National Memorial Association constructed the wall around the
grounds, consolidated the graves into a single casket, and interred the remains in a rebuilt vault.

Three generations of George Washington’s forebears are interred here.

Our last stop was at the beach just a bit further down from the cemetery. Despite the sudden onset of clouds that obscured the blue skies and sunshine, we were hoping to walk on the beach and enjoy the views of the Potomac. Well, we enjoyed the views, but the beach we found was decimated. According to a few locals who were hunting for shark teeth (illegal by the way), two storms that came through the area in recent weeks have wreaked havoc on the small beach, rendering it even smaller and making a walk of any distance impossible. A shame, but perhaps efforts will be made by the NPS to restore the beach once the winter season is over.

Before the storms I understand it was possible to walk across here.

On that note, we decided to call it a day and head home. It was already 3:00p and we had a 2-hour drive ahead of us. But we didn’t end the day with clouds to dampen our mood — not that they would have since we’d already had a great day. No sooner were we on Popes Creek Road that the sun came out again — and stayed out all the way home.

George Washington’s birthplace is just up the road from Westmoreland State Park, where we camped in 2010 (post here). There are several places of sightseeing interest in the area, so we just might make another trip to Westmoreland this year. And maybe this time we’ll go hunting for fossils!

Can’t Resist a Colorful Sunrise

2012-01-06T04:37:00.001-08:00

Friday, January 6

I woke up around 4:00a, and after tossing and turning to no avail, I got up. I’m an early riser anyway, but this was ridiculous. Oh well; gave me a chance to catch up on some reading.

When I went up to my home office around 6:30a, I caught a glimpse of a rainbow of color through the slats of the plantation shutters — a beautiful sunrise was in progress. The camera was handy, so click went the shutter.

Nice color foretells the forecasted temperature warm-up.

X-Stitch: Pull Up a Chair and Relax

2012-01-04T13:26:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, 4 January

It’s cold here in Virginia today. In fact, at 32F, it’s downright freezing. But it is winter, and we’ve been lucky thus far with our temperatures, so we can’t really complain much. That’s not to say that we can’t dream of a warm seaside location where a couple of Adirondack chairs invite us to sit down and relax.

Aaaah, yes … those chairs sure do look inviting.

Maybe I should go see if I can find an Internet special for a flight to somewhere warm :-)

(P.S. For those who might have missed the earlier posts, this is a continuation of the series featuring my counted cross stitch art … most of which is now packed away in preparation for full-timing.)

We Start the Year …

2012-01-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 1 January

… as we intend to finish it next December 31 — with a fun outing.

When we were living in Salt Lake City, we started a tradition of going on a New Year’s Day outing. It didn’t matter if it was short, or long. It didn’t matter if it was near, or far. It didn’t matter if it was a walk, a hike, or a drive. As long as we were out and about, that’s all that mattered. The idea was that if we started the year off right by doing something outside the house, the rest of the year would follow suit with travel a-plenty.

I have to admit that we’ve seldom had as nice a day as we did today for our traditional outing. It was comfortably warm, with the temps in the mid-50F (13C) range when we left the house just before noon to head to Great Falls Park. Though it was a bit cooler than yesterday, we had plenty of blue skies and sunshine for most of our two hours in the park.

Great Falls Park overlooks the Potomac River. Here, the river tumbles over jagged rocks, gathering speed as it forces itself through the narrow Mather Gorge. It’s not often that we come here at mid-day, but we wanted to give the day a chance to warm up so we could enjoy our stroll. And our picnic. Yes; as we did yesterday, we packed a simple lunch — PB&J sandwiches and grapes — to enjoy at one of the many picnic tables near the visitor center.

Simple food on a beautiful, un-winterlike first day of the year.

After our al fresco meal, we joined the throngs of visitors checking out the falls from the three overlooks. We’re not used to sharing the sights and sounds of Great Falls with crowds as we’re usually at the park in the wee hours of the morning, well before the gates are even open. But share them we did for a little while.

At Overlook #1 we’re closest to the falls.

A slightly different perspective, but still from Overlook #1.

overlook #2 (top right) offers a view of most of the falls.

The best view of the falls is from overlook #3.

One thing we found surprising today was the volume of water roiling and tumbling, capped with white froth. It’s been a fairly dry winter thus far, so we were expecting a rather puny showing, but the falls delivered on the promise of spectacular views. Of course, the water level was nothing compared to how much the river can rise.

This pole shows the high water marks from past floods.
To give you perspective, I'm 5'2" (~1.57m)

proof that the river can wreak havoc in the park; this photo is from the 1996 flood.

As the clouds moved in to obscure the blue skies and sunshine, we headed away from the overlooks to walk the Ridge Trail. Here too we paid the price of our mid-day visit; we actually had company on the unpaved trail that is usually deserted in the early morning. In places, it’s more of a rock scramble than a walk, which can be a deterrent as well. There are no views of the falls, but if you’re a little daring you can catch glimpses of Mather Gorge and the Potomac. Of course, there is a difference between being daring and being stupid; we maintained a safe distance from the edge, though in some of the photos it may not seem so.

By the time we returned to the car, the skies were really heavy with clouds portending rain. You could say that the front that will be bringing the forecasted winter chill on Tuesday was sending a warning shot across our bow. No problem; seeing as how we were heading home, we didn’t mind the light rain that accompanied our departure from the park.

You might have noticed all the photos of Mui and me in this post — yeah, I know; hard to miss. As I noted in a previous post, I’ve been scanning our pre-digital-era photos for several weeks now. In looking at them, we were struck by how many of those photos included one or both of us in them. Well, I guess we were inspired :-)

Who Would’ve Thunk …

2011-12-31T15:55:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 31 December

… that on New Year’s Eve day we’d be able to sit on a park bench in Washington DC and enjoy an al fresco lunch?

Well, we must have been hoping that the forecast for near 60F (15C) temps and sunshine would hold true, because we packed some sandwiches, baby carrots, and apple slices when we left the house shortly before noon today.

The Destination: Washington DC.

The Plan: take the metro to the Rosslyn Station; walk across the Key Bridge from Virginia to DC; stroll along the C&O Canal tow path; have a picnic lunch somewhere along the way; and wander through Georgetown before returning home.

By the time we got into DC, however, the clouds had moved in and there was a stiff breeze. The walk along the tow path was no longer appealing, so we scrapped that part of our plans. Instead, we found a bench at the Francis Scott Key Park near the entrance to Georgetown and enjoyed a picnic lunch while the sun played hide and seek behind the clouds. Then, we strolled through Georgetown, which was unusually quiet and crowd-free, and stopped to get some Belgian chocolate-chocolate ice cream at the Häagen-Dazs shop that happened (!!!) to be on our way to the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. Yummm … brings back great memories of our 1999 trip to Cancun; but that’s a story for another time.

a beautiful winter day with fall-like temps.

So, our plans didn’t work out as intended. So be it. We had fun anyway … and we got out of the house for a couple of hours to boot.

Blast from the Past: In the Spirit of the Season

2011-12-31T02:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 31 December

After Mui finished his basic training with the US Air Force, his first assignment was at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.

In the eight years we were there, one of our favorite places to visit during Christmas was Temple Square in the heart of Salt Lake City. Decorated with twinkling lights galore — 215,000 of them to be precise — it was definitely the place to go for a bit of holiday cheer.

As we round out 2011, it seems appropriate to post this picture from 28 years ago to wish one and all a fabulous 2012.

TIMELESS HOLIDAY CHEER
THE sALT lAKE tEMPLE, CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS — uTAH
(scanned from photograph)

Beware … Blasts Are Coming to a Blog Near You

2011-12-29T09:38:00.000-08:00

Thursday, 29 December

In 2010, as a step in downsizing for getting on the road, I started scanning the zillion photographs we had — and still have, for that matter — in albums, journals, and file boxes big and small. The plan is to scan and post the images in a blog so that we can revisit past memories when and where we wish, and get rid of the clutter at the same time.

I opted to start with 1982, the year we made our permanent move to the US and continue through the years to the date in time when we moved into the world of digital photography. In one year, I made reasonable headway. I got through 1982, ‘83, and ‘84, and most of ‘85. The blog is here if you want to have a peek. The photos are good for a laugh or two! Aaah, how young we were!

Anyway, between the sale of the house, the move into the condo, and our trips near and far, the scanning project came to a screeching halt mid-year. Oh, and yes, we upgraded to Mac’s Lion operating system and our 10-year-old scanner stopped working! That made an impact on progress, too.

A month ago, we gave up on finding an upgraded driver for the old scanner and bought a new one instead — a CanoScan 9000F. We’re thrilled with the results thus far. Mui’s been scanning up a storm of articles — travel ideas for when we’re full-timing — and I’ve gotten back into the swing of things with my photo scanning. In the past week alone, I’ve finished up 1986 through 1988, and 1989 is all sorted and waiting to be scanned. I should be moving into the ‘90s soon :-)

I have given up on the idea of posting the scanned photos in our Blast from the Past blog. Not permanently, mind you. I still plan to get back to that, but with less than a year before we start full-timing, I’m going to just get the photographs and other memorabilia digitized and saved on an external drive first so I can continue with the downsizing of “stuff.”

I’ve already cleared out two shelves filled with photo albums; now I just need to get
through all these journals and loose photos.

All of this is just a preamble to warn you that I will be posting a few of our memories from those past years in this blog. Don’t say you weren’t warned!

We Almost Had No Christmas Cards

2011-12-27T11:52:00.001-08:00

Tuesday, December 27

When we sold our townhouse and moved into the condo in May, we dutifully contacted the post office to change our address and have our mail forwarded. As requested, we completed the online application and then sat back to wait for envelopes with yellow forwarding stickers to show up. During the first week, a few envelopes were delivered. And then … nothing. Mui stopped by the post office and talked to someone at the counter to verify that our request was on file. It was and he was assured we’d be getting our mail.

It’s not like we get a lot of snail mail anyway, so when there wasn’t much in our mailbox during the subsequent weeks, we weren’t too concerned. Until, that is, the woman who bought our townhouse sent us an email to let us know that she was still getting mail for us at our old address. Another trip to the post office; more assurances that the problem was resolved.

Fast forward through summer, fall, and winter. There were plenty of envelopes showing up in our mailbox, so we assumed all was well even though the yellow-stickered ones were few and far between. Which is at it should be, right? After all, each time we had a piece of forwarded mail, we contacted the sender to change our address. Well, we were wrong; all wasn’t well.

The day before Christmas Eve, we received an email from the owner of our former townhouse saying that she had a stack of what looked like Christmas cards for us!!! A trip to pick them up from where she left our mail on her stoop was followed by another visit to the post office. Apologies, assurances, and whatnot … but it doesn’t matter anymore; we simply don’t believe them.

Almost missed out on having any cards this year.

With service like this, is it any surprise that we have curtailed using snail mail? Even that description doesn’t apply anymore … it’s more like “disappearing into the black hole of the USPS mail.” From this point forward, we’ll be using the US Postal Service only if alternative options are not available.

Of course, our problem isn’t nearly as bad as Paul and Marti’s mail-forwarding woes (post here). Lesson learned … we’ll be switching our mailing address to our South Dakota domicile well before we get on the road. That way, we’ll still be here to resolve any issues that crop up with getting our mail forwarded to Alternative Resources, the service we plan to use while we’re full-timing. We’re also going to personally contact any person/company of importance and provide them with our new address ourselves. Hopefully, we’ll thus avoid any major headaches. What’s that adage about an ounce of prevention? Perhaps we can make it work for us.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T01:17:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 25 December

Merry Christmas and a Happy & Healthy 2012 to all

Holiday Cheer: ZooLights

2011-12-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

Friday, 23 December

We took advantage of unseasonably warm weather — talking in the mid-50F (13C) range, with no hint of snow — to do one more “holiday cheer” outing before Christmas.

Rather than fight the traffic and the parking crowds, I took the metro into DC and met up with Mui for a quick bite to eat at Cosi. Then, our tummies sated, we hopped on the red line train to the Woodley Park/Zoo Station. A short 5-minute walk from there put us at Zoolights at the Smithsonian National Zoo.

It was still light out, so we opted to wade through the growing crowd and walk the main path through the grounds to the far end of the zoo first. By the time we reached the lion enclosures, it was dark enough to enjoy the shimmering lights.

As might be expected from a light display at the zoo, the theme was “animals.” From elephants, to pandas, to lions, and tigers; from an anteater snacking on its favorite critters, to a leaping frog, to cuddling monkeys, and a prairie dog popping in and out of its hole — there were electrified animals around every corner. Real animals, though, were already tucked away in their bedrooms and nowhere to be seen. We knew that would be the case, but from the whining we heard from the kids and adults around us, many were disappointed that they were not included in the festivities.

Here’s a glimpse into the sights and sounds of holiday cheer that we enjoyed as we made our way through the zoo.

Eventually, we returned to where we started and slipped into the visitor center to check out the miniature train exhibit. Since that was too much movement for my camera, I focused on the ceramic Christmas village display and the entries into the “Gin-GRRR-bread Habitat” contest instead.

Admittedly, after having enjoyed the Garden Fest at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond (post here) and the fabulous Longwood Garden lights and fountain show (post here), ZooLights was not as impressive. But that didn’t stop us from having a really good time; and it was free to boot.

Wildlife … Not; But We Have Murals

2011-12-17T10:16:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 17 December

It was still dark out when we woke up — yeah, I know … no surprise there; we’re early birds. We dallied in the room until the sun began its day, using the time to pinpoint a few places to check out on our way home. By the time we left to grab a bit of breakfast at the Manhattan Bagel shop down the street from the hotel, the skies had brightened to a brilliant blue, but the sun wasn’t much help warming the temp up from the 32F (0C) that we woke up to.

(1) Wyland Wall and 9/11 Tribute mural in Wilmington, Delaware; (2) Russell W Peterson
Urban Wildlife Refuge; (3) Wyland Wall in Baltimore.

I love murals, and when I know there’s one not far from where I am, I try to seek it out. When I was with my former employer, I was a regional manager for the Mid-Atlantic Region. That meant making quite a few trips to our offices in Baltimore, Philadelphia and environs, and Wilmington. Amtrak’s Metroliner service was my best friend back then, whisking me to these offices at least once a month. (Trust me, I am not missing all that work-related travel.) One of the sights I saw from the train window was the Wilmington Wyland Whaling Wall. When a search of the internet revealed that the wall was just a short detour from our hotel, it was a no-brainer to stop by for a closer look-see.

Here’s how the foundation’s website describes Wyland’s whaling wall project:

In 2008, twenty-seven years after Wyland’s quest began, the artist and the Wyland Foundation completed the monumental goal of painting 100 life-size public marine murals. These murals were painted in life-size dimensions to increase appreciation and understanding for aquatic habitats and the life within. Perhaps, most importantly, they have reshaped attitudes about marine life conservation.

“We know now that water connects all the countries of the world,” Wyland says. “Our goal with these projects over the last three decades has been to convey the urgency of conservation issues to the public. The health of our oceans and waterways are in jeopardy, not to mention the thousands of marine animals and plants that face extinction if we do nothing.”

The completed Whaling Wall campaign is one of the largest art-in-public-places projects in history, spanning 5 continents, 13 countries, and 79 cities around the globe.

Photographing whaling walls is not easy as they are painted on public buildings, often overlooking a parking lot. This time, I lucked out with no cars blocking the mural, but I couldn’t do much about the tree branches on the right side of the building. Nor could I photograph the entire wall as that would have put me in the middle of a busy, multi-lane road.

WW 44: “Delaware Marine Mammals”
dedicated 2 August 1993.

The bonus for making the detour — another mural just down the street from the whaling wall. This one, painted as a tribute to the fallen firefighters of September 11, decorates the side wall of Wilmington’s Fire Station No. 1. Because of the fence and the wall in my way, it wasn’t easy to photograph the mural in its entirety, but here’s a look at it anyway.

a "patriotic tribute to the fallen firefighters of September 11."
dedicated November 2007.

More information about this mural can be found in the blog post here.

Our next stop was pure happenstance — and a very pleasant one even though there was little to see in the form of wildlife except for a few sparrows that were flitting in and out of the tall grass. I guess the smart ones have migrated to warmer climes. Can’t say as I blame them.

(Lest you think the image to the left is of a “real” bird; I am going to disappoint you and tell you that it’s a sculpture that is part of the sign welcoming visitors to the refuge!)

We found the Russell W. Peterson Urban Wildlife Refuge when we followed a sign that pointed to the “Riverfront Walk.” We were thinking it would be a walk like the one at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor — it wasn’t. But the detour was not for nought. When we spied the sign for the refuge, we just kept driving until the road dead-ended in a parking lot with a building nearby. It turns out that the building is the DuPont Environmental Education Center (DEEC). It was too early to participate in any educational programs planned for the day, or view the exhibits, so we just wandered around the boardwalk instead.

Left: A refuge-appropriate mural at the industrial plant outside the gates.
Right: the refuge is named after a former governor of Delaware who gained international
recognition as an environmentalist, scientist, activist, and public servant.

The refuge overlooks the Christina River with the Wilmington skyline in the distance.

Collage of images from the refuge.
A flyover bridge leads visitors from the parking lot to the DEEC Building and the boardwalk.
(Yes; I couldn’t resist doubling my pleasure with a reflection shot!)

A wise old owl gets ready to swoop down on ...

… the invading red jackets.

By the time we left the refuge, the clouds had moved in. Hoping the blue skies would reappear as we approached Baltimore, we headed south on I-95. There was quite a bit of traffic, but it flowed smoothly. Alas, it was still overcast when we reached “Charm City” as Baltimore is known. As it was rather breezy and chilly as well, we had no incentive to take a walk around the Inner Harbor. So, we made a quick detour to photograph another Wyland Whaling Wall, and got back on the interstate heading home.

WW 46: “Extinct Atlantic Gray Whales”
Dedicated 16 August 1993.

We ran into a traffic jam exiting from I-95 to the beltway heading west. Rather than sit in the back up, we quickly switched plans, and took the beltway in the other direction. Yeah, it took longer to get home; but at least the traffic was moving. I’ll take long over stationary anytime! Twenty four hours after leaving the condo, we were back home … just in time to eat the sandwiches we had prepared but forgotten to take with us for an “on-the-go” early dinner yesterday!

Holiday Cheer: Lights-a-Twinkle and Dancing Water

2011-12-16T10:09:00.000-08:00

Friday, 16 December

Our quest to enjoy the holiday decorations that others have labored to put up continues. This time, we drove north to visit Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.

We drove up I-95N to Wilmington, DE and then to Kennett Square, PA via rural routes.

Longwood requires timed admission tickets, so we bought our tickets online last week for the 5:00p entry slot ($18/person non-peak rate; increases to $25 pp for weekends; once inside, you can stay as long as you want.) To ensure that we’d get there with plenty of time to spare, we left the house at 12:30p. Traffic was heavy getting out of DC — no surprise — but at least it flowed at interstate speeds. Past the I-270 cut-off, the number of vehicles dwindled down considerably and we made good time driving the 126 miles (202 km) to Wilmington in 2½ hours.

Why Wilmington, you ask? Because that’s where we booked our overnight hotel. With limited accommodations in Kennett Square, we figured we’d have better luck with Priceline bidding for a hotel in a larger city. We were right; we got the Doubletree for $50/night … a 49% savings. And yes, Priceline came through again with a very nice, clean room with a bonus — scrumptious chocolate chip cookies still warm from the oven when we checked in!

Room 358 — a nice, quiet room for an overnight stay.
And the chocolate chip cookies — well, you had to be there to taste how good they were!

The one mistake we made after checking in was our decision to grab a bite to eat before continuing on to Longwood Gardens. It wasn’t that the restaurant didn’t deliver on a good meal. In fact, the crab cakes we scarfed down at Harry’s Savoy Grill were really good. No, it was that we didn’t have a chance to enjoy a leisurely meal, because I started stressing about the time it would take to get to Longwood for our 5:00p admission. It wouldn’t have been so bad had I not left the pre-printed admission tickets in our hotel room!!! Duh!!!!

A 10-minute detour to pick up the tickets and rush-hour traffic added about 30 minutes to what is usually a 15-minute drive from the Doubletree to Longwood, but we made it just as the clock struck 5:00p. (Yes, Mui, I know you said we’d be OK!) By the time we parked, bundled up in our layers (it was already 41F [5C] and dipping fast), collected our camera gear, and stopped at guest services to drop off the tripod permits we’d pre-completed, it was well past our entry time, but we made it through the doors before 5:30p so we were golden.

Welcome to Longwood Gardens!

This wasn’t our first visit to Longwood Gardens, but it was our first time during the holiday season. All I can say is WOW; the gardens delivered on the holiday spirit in spades. From the twinkling lights … to the dancing water show at the Open Air Theater … to the festive decorations at the Peirce-du Pont House … to the miniature trains … to the yummy gingerbread spice hot chocolate we picked up at the Terrace Restaurant — it was all an “A+” experience. But the Conservatory … well that was the pièce de résistance of the entire evening.

The elegant grandeur of Longwood can’t be described in words, so here are some photos to start out with …

The Holiday Fountain Show from the trail that runs behind the Open Air Theater.
[Sorry about the two spotlights that resemble eyes peering back at us.]

Left: The Wildlife Tree is decorated with edible icicles, suet bags, and citrus cups
filled with bird-seed, dried flowers, and Indian corn for wildlife winter treats.
right: inside the peirce-du Pont house.

The Conservatory shines like a golden oasis on a cold winter night.

No holiday decorations, but on this very impressive “Green Wall” 47,000 vibrant plants
sprout from floor to ceiling — the largest indoor “Living Wall” in North America.

lights and reflections across from the Music Room in the East Conservatory.

Trees of Light

I tried to select for this post some of the scenes that are not included in Mui’s video below. If you’d like to see more of my pictures, feel free to browse my online gallery; you can adjust the speed of the slideshow in the top left corner. The tripod was definitely worth its weight in gold.

Now for Mui’s perspective of our visit — complete with Christmas carols and dancing water. Enjoy!

We wandered around the grounds until closing time (9:00p) and took our time walking back to the visitor center to let the traffic dwindle a bit. With the parking lot at near capacity when we arrived, I expected that getting on the road might be a bit of a challenge. Surprisingly, it turned out to be a piece of cake. I guess not everyone stayed until the last minute! The drive back to the hotel took all of 15-20 minutes, with no traffic back ups along the way.

The gardens were certainly crowded; especially the conservatory — and that was on a non-peak evening. Highly recommend an in-week visit. Not only will you save on the admission, but you’ll be able to take your time touring the enclosed spaces. Dress warmly in layers that can be easily removed when inside. The conservatory was comfortably warm without our jackets, but the rooms in which the historic exhibits are displayed at the Peirce-du Pont House were sauna-warm and we didn’t linger long although there was much to see there.

And on that note, time to snuggle under the comfy duvet for a good night’s sleep. We have no set plans for tomorrow, and didn’t see any signs on the drive north to give us any ideas on things to do as we head back home. I guess we’ll just play it by ear.

A Stroll, a Park, and a Shrine

2011-12-10T10:14:00.000-08:00

Saturday, 10 December

After an excellent night of rest, we were up and at ‘em just before 7:00a. It was another 30 minutes before it became clear that we were in for a beautiful, blue-sky day filled with sunshine — albeit a slightly more chilly one thanks to the light breeze that added a wind-chill factor, which we didn’t have to deal with yesterday.

A quick bite to eat at the Starbucks attached to the Omni and we were ready to get rolling. But first, a quick stroll around historic downtown Richmond.

We started off by wandering over to the Virginia State Capitol. As luck would have it, they were doing some work on the grounds. We heeded the yellow tape blocking entry and changed our plans, strolling in the opposite direction towards the canal instead. (Photo above from the 18th floor elevator lobby at the Omni.)

From the ALCOA Pipeline Overlook — the James River is a muddy cauldron of rapids.
Bottom Left: There’s good reason for the floodwall that was constructed by the
Army Corps of Engineers; just look at the size of that flood gate!
bottom right: the Christopher Newport Cross, which overlooks the canal, is Dedicated
to a 1607 Expedition that explored the James River to the falls.

The James River and Kanawha Canal was built to move passengers and freight by water between
the western counties of Virginia and the coast. It was surveyed by George Washington.

In the absence of a city history tour, here’s a virtual one by way of a mural at the Omni.
Top Left: The Virginia state capitol houses the oldest legislative body in The US.
Top right: East Main street, c. 1940’s.
center left: Picnic in Richmond, C. 1905-1910.
Bottom left: The Richmond Main Street station was originally built in 1901.
bottom right: mrs Neale and mrs trevillian on trolley, c. early 1900’s; Richmond had the
first successful electric-powered trolley system in the us (introduced in 1888).
bottom far right: statue of robert E. Lee; erected in 1890.

Be forewarned; there’s “deer porn” in the collage of daytime images of the James Center; I’m guessing it’s the result of some “mischievous” visitors who stopped by to check out the holiday cheer last night.

The Boatman’s Tower at the James Center Plaza features a 25-bell carillon and cast
figures of bargemen and mules that rotate every half hour. It was designed as a
tribute to canal life in 1785-1879.

And on that note, we began our return trip north. Initially, we thought we’d stop at Montpelier, President James Madison’s home, to see the results of the renovations we’d chanced upon when we visited in 2005. Those plans changed, however, when I spied two road signs on our way to Richmond yesterday — one for a park and another one for a shrine.

Our first stop on the way back to DC was at Lake Anna State Park. The place has been on my list of “long weekend Phaeton getaway ideas” for a while. Since it was on the way (sort of) we thought this would be a good opportunity to check out the campground. Well, the best laid plans of mice and men … the campground is apparently closed December thru February!

(You can click the map to the left for a more legible version.)

We did gather some intel for a future visit from the ranger on duty at the campground office (there are cabins for rent, so the office is open year round). I think we’re going to plan a Phaeton trip here for early May before the camping season gets into full swing around Memorial Day.

While at the park, we took the time to check out the day use area, which includes a wading beach and a lakeside picnic area. There are hiking trails also. In other words, plenty to keep us occupied for a couple of days. The route to get us there from Richmond followed secondary rural routes (red line on the map), but coming south from DC, the access will be quite straightforward.

After a quickie lunch at a Subway shop in a small town en route from the park to I-95, we headed to our second stop of the day — the Stonewall Jackson Shrine, a site managed by the National Park Service (NPS); free (donations gratefully accepted). I think it’s a “small gem” that probably gets overlooked by all but Civil War buffs. Which, by the way, we’re not … but we do enjoy visiting places of historical significance. The NPS ranger who greeted us and told us the story behind the shrine certainly added to our pleasure in the visit, which took all of 30 minutes out of our driving day. For most, it would be a much shorter stop, but you know how we are :-)

This is the plantation outbuilding where Stonewall Jackson died on 10 May 1863.

Stonewall Jackson was a beloved Civil War general and much-loved son of the Confederacy; almost as well loved and known as General Robert E. Lee. He was accidentally shot by his own troops during the Battle of Chancellorsville. The three musket shots with which he was hit shattered his left arm, which had to be amputated at a field hospital. As with other Confederate wounded, the general was then moved to Fairfield Plantation near Guinea Station (26 miles [42 km]), a supply base close to the rail tracks to await train transport to Richmond.

Collage of photos from signage at the shrine.
clockwise from top right: Last photo of stonewall jackson; taken two weeks before his death.
Fairfield (the plantation house) and the farm office (right) where the general died (photo c. 1911).
Mrs jackson (shown here with her daughter) never remarried and wore mourning clothes
for the rest of her life; she became the most revered civil war widow.
Mourners at stonewall Jackson's grave in Lexington, Virginia.

Sanitary conditions during the Civil War were less than optimum and little was known about infections. Surgeons did not wash their hands before or after surgery; nor did they sterilize their equipment between patients. What they did know was that if a patient was put in close proximity with other wounded and sick, there was an increased chance of death.

At Fairfield Plantation, it was determined that a patient with a contagious disease was already inside the main house. So, the surgeons put Stonewall Jackson, who had a non-life threatening injury, in what was the farm office instead. At this point, it was expected that the general would survive to fight another day as other soldiers who had lost a limb had done before him.

Stonewall Jackson arrived at Fairfield on 4 May 1863. By then, the plantation was a vast
camp, crowded with thousands of Union prisoners and Confederate wounded.
[from signage at the shrine]

In the end, it wasn’t from his wounds that Stonewall Jackson died 8 days after being shot; it was from pneumonia. As noted on the signage at the shrine:

News of Stonewall Jackson’s death stunned the South. … Union soldiers felt both joy and lament. “I rejoice at Stonewall Jackson’s death as a gain to our cause,” wrote Union Gen. Gouverneur Warren, “yet in my soldier’s heart I cannot but see him the best soldier of all this war, and grieve his untimely end.” … Jackson’s death fell heaviest on Gen. Robert E. Lee. … With Stonewall gone, Lee would never again achieve the success he had gained at Chancellorsville.

On 4 May 1863, Stonewall Jackson was placed in this bed and covered with the blanket
folded at the foot of the bed; he would not leave it alive.

Dr. McGuire noted that Stonewall Jackson died at 3:15p by looking at the clock that
still sits on the mantel of the room where the general passed away. It was oddly eerie
to hear the same tick-tocks that Jackson must have heard before he took his last breath.

This room, adjacent to the one where Stonewall Jackson died, was used as a
conference room by the physicians and the general’s staff. It was in this room that the
doctors informed Mrs. Jackson that her husband had just a few more hours to live.

After touring the two rooms on the ground floor (pictured in this post) and the two upstairs, we left the premises to head home. Had there been more time, we would have driven to another site to pay our respects at the gravesite where Stonewall Jackson’s amputated left arm is buried. Yes, you read that right! A true story, I swear … you can read more about it in this article.

Though he died here, Stonewall Jackson’s body (all but the left arm) is buried in
Lexington, Virginia. His amputated arm is buried in orange county. (If you missed that
bit of trivia in the above paragraph, scroll back up for the link to an article on the
story behind this unusual burial.)

All in all, I’d say we had a very satisfactory weekend outing that included holiday cheer and a step back into history. We’ve got plans for next weekend, but I’ll keep them a surprise for now.

Holiday Cheer: Garden Fest of Lights

2011-12-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

Friday, 9 December

It’s 10:00p and it’s about 40F (4.5C) outside. After having spent several hours wandering around in cold temps, we’re now tucked in cozy and warm in Room 1812 at the Omni in Richmond, Virginia. Why are we here? Because we wanted to enjoy some holiday cheer at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (LGBG); a change of pace from the usual Christmas light displays we’ve enjoyed in DC in the past.

National Christmas Tree — Washington, dc (2008)

Lest you think we pulled the Phaeton out of storage for this outing … no, we didn’t. With the coach all winterized, we have no intention of going anywhere in it until the temps warm up considerably. But, Mui and I talked about our various blogs, and decided that with less than a year to retirement, we’d start posting our local adventures in Phaeton Journeys. So, here I am.

What a splendid evening we had with thousands of lights glittering and shimmering all around us.

That said, the start to our adventure wasn’t so great. We left DC around 2:45p and all was well at first. The sky was blue; there were interesting cloud formations; the temperature was a “balmy” 57F (14C); and traffic was flowing. Then we hit I-95 South and found ourselves in bumper-to-bumper traffic that was moving slower than molasses. No, there wasn’t an accident; it was just the usual daily exodus from the city. It seems rush hour starts earlier and earlier around here. It took us over two hours to drive the 60 miles to Fredericksburg. Ugh! After that point, however, traffic picked up nicely, and with an average speed of 70 mph (112 kph), we traveled the remaining distance to Richmond in about an hour.

It was crowded at the LGBG; more so than I thought it would be. In fact, the reason why we braved the Friday afternoon traffic was because we hoped there would be fewer visitors as compared to Saturday. We were especially surprised at the number of children — school groups, it seemed like to us — that were roaming the grounds. Most of the kids were well-behaved and seemed to be enjoying the colorful lights around them. But each group had the requisite few who were “up-to-no-good” with their loud, pseudo-enthusiastic appreciation that the teachers seemed to have difficulty controlling. Oh well; until we retire and can sightsee at our leisure during the week we just have to deal!

I’m going to share just a few of my photos here. I was lazy and didn’t take my tripod. I should have known better, but I was hoping the monopod would suffice. It didn’t. I ended up using an ISO setting higher than optimum and that introduced more “noise” than I like to see in my pictures. I have no one to blame but myself, of course. And yes, I’ve learned my lesson!

Fear not; for those who would like to see more of the festive lights, here’s a short video from Mui. Ascribing to the “KISS theory” — keep it simple … you fill in the second “s” word of your choice — he took only the Canon S95 point and shoot still camera, leaving his video equipment at home. He got really good footage with that little camera; handheld and in HD, no less. Maybe I should just chuck all my SLR gear and just get one of these cameras myself!

We left the LGBG shortly after 9:00p. Despite the cold temperature — it was down to 43F (6C) — we really enjoyed our three-hour stroll. Of course, it helped that we were bundled up in the expedition parkas we received this summer when we went gallivanting in the Norwegian Arctic. What would have made the garden fest better? Music. There were no carols being sung; nor was there any music broadcasted around the grounds. Some Christmas audio cheer would have put the finishing touch on the festivities.

One last glimpse of holiday cheer — from the Conservatory towards the Visitor Center.

A short drive from the LGBG put us at the Omni Richmond Hotel for our one-night stay. Whenever we find ourselves in need of a hotel room, we tend to use Priceline to bid for one. It’s a great means for getting a really good room at a discounted price — provided you do your due diligence first. We’ve not had a bad room yet! And in every instance, we’ve gotten a hotel with a higher star-rating than what we bid on. It was no different this time; for $85 we got the Omni, located in the heart of the historical district and just steps from the Virginia State Capitol! Even better, when we reiterated our request for a quiet room, they upgraded us to the Club Floor at no additional charge. Not a peep can be heard from outside, so we’re happy campers :-)

The hotel promises “southern hospitality.” So far it’s delivering on that promise.

After checking in and dropping off our overnight bag in the room, we went back out to briefly enjoy the holiday cheer at the James Center, which is adjacent to the hotel. The small outdoor plaza was a-twinkle with white lights and deer … and there was even some music to add to the festive atmosphere.

Not only is there holiday cheer on the grounds outside the Omni …

… there are Christmas decorations in the indoor plaza as well.

All in all, a very satisfactory outing and well worth the 120-mile (192 km) drive down from DC. We have fluid plans for our return trip back north tomorrow … we’ll see what the day brings.

The Countdown Begins

2011-11-30T18:08:00.001-08:00

Wednesday, 30 November

365 days from today is “R” day … RETIREMENT DAY!

And that’s all I have to say on that topic!

Do I get an award for my shortest blog post ever?

1 December Update ... I had to come back and insert this link to a tribute post from a friend recognizing our "R Day." Thanks MBZ.

Thirty Years … Already?

2011-11-26T01:50:00.000-08:00

Sunday, 26 November

You bet. Although it doesn’t feel like it, we were married thirty years ago today, and have been living in the US for just as many years. Time since the day we said “I Do” has flown by on speedy wings; a sure indication that we’ve been having fun!

Presented below is a video of some of the still shots from our life together. The romantic that he is, Mui tried to keep it a secret from me. But, smart gal that I am, I got suspicious when he started asking me for pictures. In the end, the video turned out to be a collaboration … just like so many other projects that we’ve tackled in our years together.

Here’s to 30 more years of sharing all that life has to offer … at least some of it in our condo on wheels :-))))

Practicing for Thanksgiving on the Road

2011-11-24T15:00:00.001-08:00

Thursday, 24 November

We debated going away for the holiday — with or without our condo on wheels. Unfortunately, I have a major project wrapping up and a training session to deliver on Tuesday, so that put the kibosh on taking any time off, except for today. Instead, we stayed home, did a few things around the house, and went for a walk around the neighborhood on a short-sleeve-warm day with plenty of sunshine. Sure doesn’t feel like winter is around the corner.

Would like to have practiced for Thanksgiving on the road in the Phaeton, but we don’t have power at the storage lot. And somehow, running the generator for several hours in that setting didn’t appeal. So, Mui made Thanksgiving dinner in the kitchen of the stix ‘n brix condo instead. His conclusion: definitely doable no matter where his kitchen happens to be situated in the future.

Simple … easy to fix … our semi-homemade Thanksgiving with a Phaeton-size
Turkey breast as the centerpiece was plenty tasty.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our American friends out in Blogland!

Domiciling: Decisions, Decisions

2011-11-19T07:21:00.001-08:00

Saturday, 18 November

The Phaeton is winterized and tucked away for the next several months. We’ll go out every couple of weeks to check for mice and other critters, and run the generator. Maybe even take her out for a spin so I can practice driving it, but it’s doubtful that we’ll be going on any motorhome trips until next spring.

So, we’ve turned our attention to retirement planning and preparing to fulltime — if not permanently, at least for a considerable number of years. The planning calendar is up on the wall; colorful stickies with notes to follow.

We’re just 12 DAYS FROM THE ONE YEAR MARK TO RETIREMENT! Mui’s date is tentatively set for 30 November 2012. I’m planning to go part-time sometime during the year and will retire the same day as Mui.

We’ll likely sneak in a longer-than-our-usual-two-weeks trip to Turkey to visit family post-retirement. A trip to Camp Freightliner in Gaffney, South Carolina and a complete physical at “Tiffin Hospital” in Red Bay, Alabama are part of our plans as well. When it’s all said and done, I imagine it will be close to spring 2013 before we really find ourselves on the road in our condo on wheels. Where will we head first? What will we do? Well, all of that’s up in the air at the moment. But that’s OK. After all, isn’t retirement all about being flexible with jello plans?

In the meantime, in addition to the daily grind at work, there will be plenty to keep us occupied. We downsized a bit when we sold the house this spring, but we have a long ways to go before we’re right-sized for life in a motorhome.

Add to that the need to select a domicile. There’s nothing to keep us in Virginia after we retire, so we might as well find a retiree- and RV-friendly state to call home. Mui’s been doing his research and at the moment we’re leaning towards South Dakota and using Alternative Resources in Sioux Falls while we’re on the road. But we still have time before we need to make a final decision, and who knows what might come up to change our minds.

Did you have to choose a domicile state? If so, we’d love to hear where and why … leave us a comment or drop us a note at the email address published in our profile.

Chapman’s Mill

2011-10-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 9 October

This is not a Phaeton Journey, but somehow it seemed appropriate that I post about today’s outing in this blog. After all, had it not been for a recent Phaeton getaway to Winchester, we probably would never have ventured out to explore today’s site.

Taking advantage of glorious blue skies, brilliant sunshine, and comfortably warm temps, we packed a picnic lunch and headed west on I-66 this morning. Our destination: ruins that we’d glimpsed where the interstate edged up to trees and bushes.

Reminiscent of the bombed-out shells of buildings one might see in war movies, our curiosity was piqued by the stone walls that stood forlornly by the roadside. We had no idea what they were, how we would get to them, what we would find once we got there — or if we would be able to even get near, let alone get inside. Well, we got lucky — the October 2 edition of the Washington Post Magazine ran a short article that answered all of our questions.

Corn and wheat. War and peace. Each pair played a significant part in the formation and disintegration of Chapman’s Mill, the hollow stone structure along Interstate 66 West near Haymarket.

Those opening words of the article whetted our appetite to learn more about the mill, which was built between 1737 and 1742 by a family named Chapman. And so we took off around 7:30a to go exploring. The morning was quiet, there was little traffic to contend with, and the day was perfect for an hour-long drive. Well, it would have been an hour or so, except that we didn’t trust the directions we’d written down from the website of the organization dedicated to turning the site into a historical park. Word to the wise — follow the directions; if you don’t take the right exit, it will be a while before you find another one to turn back!

Anyway, we finally arrived at the mill site to a tiny bit of disappointment. No, it wasn’t crowded; far from it. We were the only ones there — except for the men dismantling tents and folding tables and chairs. Obviously we were there on the morning after a special event.

Neither the tents nor the honeybuckets add to the ambiance of the mill.

Darn! What to do? Well, patience usually wins the day, so we decided to explore the inside of the hollow mill building in the hopes that enough of the work would be done so that I could photograph the exterior without any detractions later. I won’t keep you in suspense. The picture above was taken about an hour after we arrived on site, and as you can see there was still plenty of work to do. But we got lucky, the van next to the small house had to move briefly and that was my cue to grab a couple of nice shots of the mill. It’s all in how you work the angles, you know :-)

Chapman’s Mill and the Mill Store (foreground)

The Turn the Mill Around Campaign website has done a good job of providing a brief summary about the area and the mill, so I’m including their words here with the photos I took — I see no reason to recreate the wheel, so to speak :-)

Thoroughfare Gap is a narrow gap between Bull Run and Pond Mountains, through which Broad Run flows as it descends 87 feet. The Gap was used by migrating buffalo and traveling Indians long before it became a transportation corridor for grain and goods between the Valley and the Atlantic. Mention of the Gap was first recorded in 1697, by a group of Marylanders passing through in search of a band of Piscataway Indians. Later Tidewater planters used the Gap as a route to the rich Shenandoah Valley.

Mui’s playing the role of the storekeeper today.

During wartime its use became even more strategic: it was an escape route during the French and Indian War, during the Revolutionary War it was the route east to join the army, and during the Civil War, it was a strategic passageway for both armies. At the time of the Spanish-American War in 1898, 10,000 American troops were stationed at the Gap to avoid a typhoid epidemic in Alexandria.

Built in 1937, the mill store was where flour and cornmeal were sold.
Later, it was used as a post office and a gas station.

Chapman's Mill was built in 1742 by Jonathan and Nathaniel Chapman, a father/son partnership from an enterprising, well-connected colonial family. Enlarged in 1758, the mill became a prosperous gristmill that fostered the development of the Shenandoah Valley as a wheat and corn producing region for the next one hundred years. Due to the mill's location between the Valley and the city of Alexandria, corn and wheat could be transported efficiently by wagon to the mill, ground into cornmeal and wheat, and then shipped from Alexandria to ever-expanding markets in Europe and South America.

Chapman’s Mill is also known as Beverley mill after the family that restored the mill in 1876.

In 1759 Fauquier County was created from old Prince William County, and the related documents noted that the boundary between the two counties passed through the mill, as it does today. The prosperity of the mill was enhanced when, in 1852, the Manassas Gap Railroad was completed, passing beside the mill and reducing the travel time to Alexandria. In 1858 the Chapmans enlarged the mill, raising it to a total of seven stories and making it a model of agricultural technology. Chapman's Mill has ground cornmeal and flour for American troops during seven wars: The French and Indian, the Revolutionary, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, and World War I and World War II.

Clicking the shutter once and checking the picture twice.

The Civil War: By July of 1861 the Confederates had turned Chapman's Mill into a meat curing warehouse and distribution center. Herds of cattle and pigs were enclosed in large pens, and more than two million pounds of Confederate meat were stored on the site. Confederates, leaving after the First Battle of Manassas, burned the meat and the mill to keep them from the advancing troops.

Efforts are underway to stabilize and restore the mill.

What Mui’s doing is called “bench exploring!”

On August 28, 1862 Union General Ricketts was ordered to occupy Thoroughfare Gap to prevent Generals Lee and Longstreet from marching through the Gap and joining Confederate troops gathering for the Second Battle of Manassas. Historians say that if Ricketts had prevailed at the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, which took place in and around the mill, the Second Battle of Manassas would never have taken place.

I'm going to take a stab at guessing that these gears were important to the mill operation.
[above and below]

During much of the Civil War, Col. John S. Mosby and his Raiders traversed Thoroughfare Gap as they sought to disrupt the movement of Union provisions to their armies in the South.

By 1876 the Beverley family had restored the ruins to a very successful milling operation and the mill took on their name.

A treasure-trove of rusty equipment is hidden in the trees on the far side of the mill property.
Don’t you think that piece on the lower right looks like porky pig?

The mill continued to operate under various owners until 1951. In 1998, the building fell victim to arson — which explains the reason why there are ruins for us to visit today. For most people, the site is perhaps a 15-minute stop; we spent about two hours. Yes, we’re slowpokes when it comes to exploring, but we had reason to dally as we waited for the work crew to clear out so I could get the photo I’d come to take. It was worth it!

The top center photo was taken on 19 October 1998, just three days before the fire.

We’d planned to have our picnic lunch at the mill, but it was still early when we finished exploring the site. Using the GPS, we searched for nearby parks and came up with what we hoped would be a gem — Waterfall Park. Hah!!! After a long drive on a winding road that took us through rural areas fragrant with eau de cow and residential neighborhoods trimmed with white picket fences, we were skunked. It turns out, this was not a park, but a subdivision yet to be built!!! That’s OK, had we not been lost on the back roads of Haymarket, we would not have come across another park that served nicely for our simple al fresco meal.

Not gourmet; but certainly healthy.

What’s so funny, you ask? We forgot that the camera was set to burst mode when we put the timer on; this is about the 6th picture it took of us when we really only needed one.

OK, so we had a few mishaps along the way, but we had a fun and interesting day nonetheless. I bet the mill site is really beautiful with fall foliage, but that will have to wait for another year. We’ll be overseas visiting family when the colors turn this year.

You Want ‘shrooms; I Got ‘shrooms

2011-10-04T10:04:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, 4 October

Not that it has anything to do with mushrooms, but I just have to share this image first — after all, I did roll around on the ground to capture this slowpoke crossing the road at Bull Run Regional Park …

Wikipedia describes a mushroom as:

… the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source. Like all fungi, mushrooms are not plants and do not undergo photosynthesis. The standard for the name “mushroom” is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word “mushroom” is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing. lamella) or pores on the underside of the cap.

We’ve been to Bull Run Regional Park many times. I’ve seen the occasional mushroom while wandering the grounds, but never in the numbers or varieties that I saw them this past weekend. After all the rain we’ve been getting the mushrooms had … well, they had mushroomed.

My fascination with mushrooms started with these funnel-shaped fungi on our campsite;
the one pictured in the two photos on the left has an 8½-inch (~22 cm) diameter.

There were big ones, small ones, tiny ones. There were white ones, pink ones, yellow ones, brown ones, orange ones, black ones. There were even mildewed ones that looked a little green around the gills. Some looked like they were covered in velvet; others looked like they were gilded in gold. The variety I didn’t see was the kind you see featured in cartoons — the red caps with the white dots.

Every time I saw a new variety, I had to stop for a closer look. Of course, the shutter went click each time, too. If you’ve not photographed mushrooms, trust me when I say that one must be a contortionist :-) And you can’t be too fastidious — I have two pairs of slacks to prove that I wasn’t!

I have no idea if the mushrooms were edible or not — and I wasn’t about to find out. I kept my hands to myself and just let the camera provide a cornucopia of fungi to enjoy. Someday, when I have spare time on my hands (yeah, right!!!!) I’ll do some research to find out more about the mushrooms that were such a source of fascination to me. In the meantime, if you’re into mushrooms and can identify them, please leave a comment here or in my online gallery (link at the bottom of the post).

(The photo in the lower left is the same mushroom after the Saturday night deluge.)

Not sure if this is a variety of fungi, but I liked the brilliant orange-yellow and couldn't resist clicking the shutter.

If you’ve not tired of the mushrooms featured here, or you’d like to see individual versions of some that went into the collages, feel free to visit my online gallery here.

Weekend at Bull Run Regional Park

2011-10-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 2 October

I hope a rainy start to the month doesn’t mean that we’re going to have soggy weather for the next 29 days. We had plenty of rain in September and would like a bit of sunshine now, please. Fall-like temperatures would also be appreciated. With 48-52F (8-11C) daytime temps this weekend, it felt more like we had skipped right over October and gone into November. At least we were cozy inside our condo on wheels.

Thursday …

We checked into site 23 (50 amp; electric only) at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP) Thursday afternoon. Located on the outer loop that we favor, this site requires a tad more effort to level. Next time, we’ll ask for site 21 instead. It was very humid and very buggy, so we didn’t do much more than go for a walk around the campground before we retreated to the coach. An early dinner, followed by a Netflix movie — The Crossing (featuring George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River; by all accounts, the turning point in the fight for independence) — and we were set for a quiet night at home.

Google Maps aerial image of Bull Run Regional Park; the red arrow points to the
approximate location of our site on the outer loop.

Site 23 is our home for the weekend.

Friday …

Friday was a work-from-home day. We were both kept busy with project work for our respective employers, although we managed to sneak in a few walks around the campground to give ourselves a breather, and also entertained fellow-blogger Paul (R Sanity RV Adventures) when he stopped by to introduce himself.

When the workday drew to a close, I went for a long walk that was frequently interrupted by photo-ops. In the end, I didn’t get much exercise, but the photo rewards were great. (More about that in another post.) While I was out and about, Mui took the opportunity to test his new rotary polisher. Turns out that this one more or less vibrates in place, so he’ll be replacing it with a different model. It was another quiet evening at home for us; this time with The Count of Monte Cristo (based on the Dumas père novel by the same name) to keep us entertained.

The polisher at work; does a good job, but Mui will be replacing this one with another model.

Saturday …

We woke up to drizzly weather and cold temps at BRRP Saturday morning. The forecast for Winchester, an hour away, called for the rain to end around 9:00a, with dry weather to follow until late evening. Plenty of time to get a few things from Camping World; go to Rinker Orchards to pick some more apples; and maybe visit the Civil War Museum in Old Town.

We should have known better than to believe the forecast. It was still raining when we pulled into Camping World around 10:30a. An hour later, when we made an impromptu stop to pick up some corn at a roadside market, it was still drizzling. By the time we arrived at the orchard, liquid sunshine was replaced with a peek-a-boo sun that was mostly hidden behind thick clouds. A stiff breeze cut through our layers, but we braved the chill to pick what is now our favorite apple variety — the Nittany. Oddly enough, we’d not heard of this variety until last year. Developed at Penn State, it is described as a cross between a Golden Delicious and a York. It is crisp and juicy, and slightly tart. Incredibly tasty; and long lasting, too. We came away with two bags full of apples.

Back in the car, we rehashed our plans to go to the museum and decided we wouldn’t be doing it justice. So, we programmed the GPS to take us home via the Shenandoah River State Park. Even though it was raining again, we wanted to take a quick peek at the campground there to see if it was a viable short-weekend alternative to BRRP. The short answer: yes, it will do very nicely. The only problem is that since there’s no internet (except at the Visitor Center), we can’t do this one as a work-from-the-coach Thursday-Sunday trip. Since our vacation days are already spoken for, we may not make it there this year, but it’s definitely on the list for a trip or two in 2012.

View of the Shenandoah River from the Fish Trap.

Mui’s laughing because we brought the cheese and the dip, but left the crackers
at the coach. This will be one odd picnic!

Off-and-on rain accompanied us back to BRRP, where a cup of hot tea and cookies warmed us up and tided us over until Marti and Paul (R Sanity RV Adventures) stopped by to pick us up for dinner. It turns out that everything I’ve read about meeting fellow-bloggers is true. It’s like meeting old friends that you haven’t seen in a while. We had a great evening at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, with conversation about selling homes, full-timing, and travel in general flowing smoothly. And yes, there was plenty of laughter to punctuate the conversation.

[click the image to link to the Carrabba’s website]

We returned to the coach comfortably sated, with the taste of the miniature chocolate coconut mousse dessert lingering on our palates. With the rain coming down hard, the pitter-patter on the roof was nature’s symphony, accompanying a quiet night of reading.

Sunday …

If the rain stopped at all overnight, I didn’t notice. It was raining when I went to bed; it was raining anytime I woke up through the night; it was raining when I rose from bed Sunday morning. It rained off and on all day, but at least the sun graced us briefly for a few minutes at a time. During one of the longer sunny interludes, I took a walk on the White Trail that runs along the perimeter of the campground. I followed the trail in the direction of the camp store. Mother Nature tried to throw a barrier or two in my way, but I managed to get around them. The walk took me past the maintenance yard, the Atlantis Waterpark, and the disc golf course to connect to the main road for the return leg back to the Phaeton. Next time, I’ll check out the trail in the opposite direction.

The white trail follows the perimeter of the campground.

this and that from my walk.

A bit of color adds cheer to a gray day.

While I was out exploring, Mui finished inspecting the slide-out seals, and lubing and spraying, and doing a couple of chores before making a trip back to Winchester to return a few things we had picked up from Camping World that didn’t work out. Yeah, it was a distance to drive, but cheaper than mailing it all back. I stayed behind to process photos for the blog, and had the pleasure of entertaining Marti and Paul, who stopped by to say hi. I hope we get to meet up with them again, but as I noted on their blog, that presumes they are still in the area. I know they are anxious to get on the road, so I’ll just wish for future meetings on the road instead.

The red cans are for the seals; the blue can is for the mechanical parts of the slide.

We had late check-out, but soon after Mui returned, we decided to pack up and get going. An electric-only site meant that we didn’t have much to take care of outside. Still, it was well past 3:30p when we pulled out. By the time we dumped our tanks, drove to storage and put the Phaeton to bed, stopped at a super market to pick up some groceries, and finally got on the road home it was already 5:00p. Oh yeah … a quiet evening at the stix & bricks rounded out our camping weekend.

Want Apple?

2011-09-18T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 18 September

Our weekend getaway to Winchester is over and we're back at the stix & bricks. Today was pretty typical of our Phaeton departure days. We spent the morning relaxing before running our departure checklist to make sure we were all set to leave by the noon check-out deadline. Mui squeezed in a quick trip to Costco before we left Candy Hill Campground, thus saving himself some shopping time when we returned home. The drive back was uneventful, and after a detour to fill up at Fannon Petroleum ($3.84/gallon for diesel), we had the coach back in storage by 3:00p.

Seeing as that short paragraph would be the start and end of a very boring post, I’ll share with you some of the fun stuff we did over the weekend.

Friday …

We made the most of the short time the sun was out Friday afternoon to wander around Old Town Winchester. Once Shawnee Indian camping grounds, the area was settled in 1732 by Pennsylvania Quakers. Surrounded by orchards, the town is appropriately nicknamed the Apple Capital. In fact, it was apples that had brought us here, but that’s a story for a bit later.

It was a quiet Friday afternoon in Old Town. The restaurants, pubs, and sidewalk cafés lining the pedestrian mall were all but deserted; the shops had just a few patrons. We figured the area would be humming once the workday came to an end. In the meantime, we enjoyed the opportunity to have a quiet stroll.

We are in the Apple Capital after all.

It’s not just the cat that curiosity kills. It also kills my time. A click of the shutter button often leads to extensive Googling time when I get home. The apple sitting near the pedestrian mall was no different. I just had to find out why these five men were chosen to decorate the apple. Here’s why “I” think they were chosen:

Confederate General Jubal Early (far left) – his troops were instrumental in defeating Union defenders in Winchester and opening the Shenandoah Valley to General Robert E. Lee’s forces.
Judge John Handley (far left) – an Irish immigrant from Pennsylvania, in 1895, he bequeathed $1.6 million to the city for the “education of the poor.”
George Washington (middle) – came here in the mid-1700s to survey the lands of the Sixth Lord Fairfax; built Fort Loudoun during the French and Indian War; and was elected in Winchester to his first public office as Frederick County’s representative to the House of Burgesses.
Admiral Richard E. Byrd (top right) – Medal of Honor recipient and polar explorer (claimed that his expeditions were the first to reach the North Pole [not] and the South Pole [true] by air), was born in Winchester.
Confederate General Stonewall Jackson (bottom right) – following the Battle of First Bull Run, he commanded the Valley District, headquartered in Winchester.

See, this is why my blog posts grow like weeds. Curiosity. It’s a good thing; it’s a bad thing!

The court house (1840), now a civil war museum, was used as a hospital, barracks, and prison by both sides during the War. The statue in front of the building is dedicated “in lasting honor of every confederate soldier from Winchester and Frederick County who faithfully served the south.”

“I went to the court house; the porch was strewed with dead men. Some had papers pinned
to their coats telling who they were. All had the capes of their coats turned over to
hide their still faces; but their poor hands, so pitiful they looked and so helpless.
Soon men carried them away to make room for others who were dying inside.”
Cornelia McDonald, after the First Battle of Kernstown, 23 March 1862.
[from signage near the museum]

A few notes about the collage, which includes two photographs of images from nearby signage. The image on the left depicts James Taylor’s sketch of Confederate prisoners held outside the court house after the Third Battle of Winchester, 19 September 1864. The top right image depicts graffiti inscribed by a Union prisoner on an interior court house wall.

Clocks in tandem.
(Left: Old Court House; right: Rouss city hall)

First Presbyterian Church

Hill’s Keep is an early 19th century building that was relocated here in 2004.

A short outing; lots of fun nonetheless. We liked what little we saw of Winchester; we’ll be making a return visit to further explore the town.

Saturday …

It all started with an apple that a colleague gave me last year. A Golden Delicious to be precise. It was so goooooooood; crisp, and sweet, and juicy. One bite … and I had to have more … a lot more. My colleague told me the apple was from Rinker Orchards in Stephens City, so on a beautiful, blue-sky Saturday, we drove up to pick our own apples. We returned home with 90+ lbs (40+ kg) of the most delicious Goldens, Nittanys, and Yorks. When that same friend brought me another Golden Delicious this year, we decided to combine apple picking with weekend camping.

Oh, Golden Delicious!

We woke up to overcast skies on our apple picking day. We weren’t concerned. After all, there was no rain forecasted. Yeah, right!!!! Just as we were getting ready to leave for the 10-mile (16 km) drive to Stephens City, the skies opened up in a deluge. So we sat back down to wait it out. An hour later, the rain was over and we were on our way.

Finding Idared, and Golden and Red Delicious apples ready for picking, we decided to concentrate on the goldens. Just two bags this time. I’m guessing that’s about 45 lbs (20+ kg); should last us a while.

From trees to bags … plenty of golden deliciousness.

We’re going to try and drive up for the day in a few weeks to pick some Nittanys; they’re our favorite of the Virginia apples. And if we can’t get back to Rinker this year, at least we will have had our fill of the Goldens.

Last year, we concluded our apple picking with a picnic lunch at the orchard. The wet grass and cool temps did not invite us to do so this time. Instead, we returned to the coach for our noon meal. Afterwards, we headed out to the Apple Harvest Festival at the Jim Barnett Park in Winchester. En route, we made a quick stop at the local Loft, one of my favorite clothing stores, so I could take advantage of their 30% off sale. Three pairs of slacks, a blouse, and a sweater later we were on our way to the festival. By the time we arrived, it was after 3:00p and the admission was waived. I’m actually glad that we didn’t pay to get in as we were quite disappointed in what we found. There was no sign of all the antique cars the flyer said would be there … surely the two we saw weren’t the ones the organizers meant! Oh well, you win some, you lose some.

“Apladay” is one of two Whitehouse antique vehicles at the festival.

Despite the ups and downs of the day, we had a good time. We have apples galore to enjoy at home; the apple pie ice cream at the festival was good; I have clothes to see me through the fall-winter season; and the sweet corn we bought from the roadside market on our way back to the coach was a great addition to our barbecue shrimp dinner.

Bang Goes the Water Filter

2011-09-16T10:40:00.000-07:00

Friday, 16 September

Today’s a work-from-home day for us. But we’re not at the stix & bricks in Vienna; we’re at Candy Hill Campground, in Winchester, Virginia, about 80 miles (128 km) away. Ain’t it great to be able to telecommute :-)

An easy drive puts us in Winchester, near the Virginia / West Virginia / Maryland state lines.

We left the house around 1:15p yesterday. An hour later, the toad hitched up, we were on the road in the Phaeton. Google Maps’ driving time estimate was spot-on. With the traffic flowing smoothly, we made good time, arriving at Candy Hill Campground shortly after 4:00p. Even the weather cooperated — sort of — and the rain that accompanied us part of the way fizzled into a light drizzle, allowing us to set up in relative comfort.

This is our first time here. It’s a nice enough campground, with plenty of trees and lots of grass, but the sites are packed close together and share water/electric pedestals. Cozy is the word that comes to mind. This is not the place to come if you’re looking for privacy. Since we don’t plan to “stay home” Saturday — our one day to play during this trip — we’re not bothered by the close proximity of neighbors. Not that anyone seems to be out and about anyway. Besides, with sites in our section of the campground alternating back-to-front, we have some semblance of privacy where we are.

We’re in F9 (circled in blue on the left); the office-lounge-arcade building is
actually across from us and not offset as shown on the map.
[map courtesy of the campground website]

We were initially assigned site B9 (the one in red in the lower right portion of the map), but asked to be switched after seeing its proximity to Route 37. Instead, we were given F9, another 50-amp, full hook-up, premium site. At $50/night (plus 10% Good Sam discount), this campground is not inexpensive, but we’re used to that in this part of the US. Cable is included (26 channels); Tengo-provided wi-fi is available for a price. Our Millenicom aircard works just fine, so we won’t be availing ourselves of that service.

Settled into site f9.

We’re butt-to-butt with the sites to our left and right, so there’s a bit more privacy here.

By 5:00p, we were parked, jacks down, slides out, hook-ups complete. While Mui dumped the black and grey tanks from our Bull Run stay, I vacuumed and Swiffered the floors before unrolling the rug to make our home nice and cozy. Then it was time to explore the campground.

We’d just returned from our walk and were talking about getting dinner on the table when a really loud BANG startled us. What on earth???

At first we thought our neighbor must have accidentally dropped open the door to their toy hauler. To be safe, we stepped out to investigate. Oh, oh! There was water flowing out from under the coach. My first thought was that our fresh water tank had somehow ruptured and I envisioned a disaster on our hands. It turns out that it was just the water filter. The bottom had split off from the rest of the canister and water was gushing out all over the place. Shutting the spigot at the source immediately stemmed the flow. BUT we now had no water coming into the Phaeton.

OK; no big deal. We have every RVers best friend — duct tape. Mui dries the canister and tapes it up real well. It doesn’t look pretty, but as long as it holds, who cares! He screws the unit back in place and turns on the water. Problem solved, right? Nope; water gushes out like a geyser, though a smaller one now.

OK; no big deal. Camping World is just down the road a bit. But wait; it’s closed for the day. No problemo. Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot are all a short drive away. They’re bound to have what we need. Right? WRONG! None of them have a canister to match ours. There are other brands, but it’s already dark, and it’s cold, and Mui’s not in the mood to install a new system.

OK; no big deal. Waterproof epoxy should work to temporarily secure the bottom of the canister. “Sure, that will do the trick; I used it for my truck’s fuel pump,” says the helpful young man in the orange apron. $5 nets us a tube of PC-Plumbing. Back home, Mui starts kneading the Play-Doh like stuff until it’s a uniform color. Soon, the bottom of the cartridge is attached with a ring of epoxy around it. It doesn’t look pretty, but as long as it works, who cares! While the epoxy sets (60 minutes the instructions say), we have dinner and watch a show on TV. Then Mui goes out to install the filter. “BANG,” I hear, but assume it’s the basement door being closed. Nope; the filter has blown it’s bottom again. Nothing to do until morning; a couple of buckets of water from the spigot outside and we’re good to go for the night.

Plan A and Plan B don’t work.

And thus we brought yesterday to a close. Mui headed out to Camping World first thing this morning and picked up a replacement. Our plumbing is operational again. We have no idea why the filter canister blew like it did. Perhaps there was a hairline crack that finally gave under pressure. At least it happened while we were at home.

Plan C successfully restores water to the Phaeton.

After such an eventful evening, a quiet day at Candy Hill was in order today. We spent most of the day indoors since we both had work projects requiring our attention. The cool temp — 58F (14C) at noon — didn’t encourage spending time outside anyway; nor did the overcast skies that quickly replaced the beautiful sunshine we woke up to.

Shortly after 3:00p, our work-day having drawn to a close, we drove into Winchester for a look-see around Old Town. At least the sun came out briefly and there were patches of blue sky while we were out having some fun. But that’s a story for another post. Dinner is over, the dishes are loaded into the dishwasher, and Mui’s got the second disk of John Adams (HBO mini series) cued up and ready to go — time to enjoy a quiet evening at home.

Lee Plays a Nasty Trick On Us

2011-09-09T07:21:00.001-07:00

Friday, September 9

Don’t know what it is with these hurricanes and tropical storms named after friends of ours. Instead of quietly passing through, they’ve been staying a while and dumping on us. REALLY DUMPING on us since Wednesday. Such rude guests don’t deserve to be invited for a return visit. If possible, Lee has been worse than Irene in terms of the water it has dropped on us.

Coming home yesterday, I had one of my worst commutes ever. A drive that normally takes me 15-20 minutes, took me about 1½ hours. And that was after I bailed off the Beltway to use side roads to get home. Luckily, Mui called me just before I turned off to Prosperity to warn me that the road I would have normally taken was flooded. Otherwise, I might have been up a creek — literally.

The immediate area around the condo turned out to be fine; wasn’t expecting it to be otherwise. But I did see side roads en route that had been made impassable with standing water. And the parking lot of one apartment complex was under water — with muddy water topping the wheels of the vehicles. The images on the newscasts are not pretty at all; hard clean-up work ahead for a lot of folks.

Lee’s real impact on us is the cancellation of our plans to go to Pohick Bay this weekend. Last time we went there, it was pouring hard and the site was a muddy-mess. Not wanting to repeat that experience, we decided to postpone our trip. I think it’s the right decision! After all, this isn’t the view we want to have …

… through the windows of the Phaeton!!!

P.S. We called Phaeton’s storage place; all’s well there. There’s no water swirling about her skirts. For that we are grateful.

BRRP: “No Labor” Day

2011-09-05T12:37:00.000-07:00

Monday, 5 September

That’s right … no labor for us on Labor Day! Up early, we had breakfast, went for a walk around the campground, and when we returned to the coach, sat our butts down in the comfy chairs in our screened shelter, and just chilled — again. If you know us at all, you know this is far from normal. There’s something about RV’ing, however, that seems to bring out the relax-mode in us. No complaints! After all, we’re going back to work tomorrow.

It’s another dull, grey day. So far, there’s no sign of the forecasted rain; apparently the front has stalled a bit. Keeping our fingers crossed that the wet stuff will delay until after we leave. It’s quiet; the crack, crack of shots that normally issue from the nearby firing range are silent. Squirrels chasing each other rustle the leaves every once in a while; crazy critters. Otherwise, even the birds are quiet.

We were expecting that the campground would be full over the holiday weekend, and perhaps more than a bit noisy with some campers in party-mode. We were pleasantly surprised with respect to the latter. I think it helps that the campground staff are on constant patrol at BRRP. Add to that a Fairfax County police cruiser driving through the loops once or twice a day, and that seems to have helped to keep down the noise factor. Not that people have not been out enjoying themselves. I’ve gone for several walks around the campground these past days and have seen lots of people having a good time outside their camping vehicles (or tents). But they were doing it quietly, respecting their neighbors. Win-win all around.

We’re past the 11:00a check-out deadline. The exodus of campers has slowed to a trickle. The only ones left in the campground are those who are here for a longer stay and those who have paid the $10 fee for late check-out (7:00p). We fall into the latter category, but we’ll be leaving well before the deadline. After all, we have a workweek ahead of us and a few things to do around the house before tomorrow rolls around.

So, nothing newsworthy from today. But I was thinking ahead to that yesterday when I decided to postpone sharing our outing to the Manassas National Battlefield Park (MNBP). The two battles — First and Second Manassas (aka First and Second Bull Run) — were fought early in the Civil War that saw brother fighting brother; friend fighting friend. Until the Battle of First Manassas, people had this odd little idea that the war would be over after a couple of skirmishes. Maybe a day or two; maybe a week tops. The heavy losses during First Manassas pretty much wiped away any such thoughts, and the Civil War lasted for many bloody years (1861-1865).

we explored the area circled in red.

Yesterday’s short outing was not our first visit to MNBP. We’ve been to the area around Henry House (near the visitor center) many times to stroll the grounds and check out good ole Stonewall bronzed for eternity. We’ve walked some of the longer trails, and most of the shorter ones. We’ve been to Stone House; and to Stone Bridge as well (post for the latter is here). These are some of the best preserved Civil War landmarks in the area, and also the ones that see the most visitors at the park. The canons strewn about the grounds are especially popular with families.

Henry House and the monument to "Patriots who fell at Bull Run — July 21, 1861.”
(April 2006)

This time we went to a section of the park that sees fewer visitors. When we visited this area in 2006, there wasn’t a soul around. When we pulled into the parking lot yesterday, we found the situation pretty much the same. There was only one other vehicle, and the driver, a heavily-tattooed gent from Tennessee, headed up to the 14th Brooklyn Monument atop the hill after chatting with us briefly.

Mui captures the photographer ...

... photographing the entrance gate and the landscape beyond.

And here's the other half of the gate, completing the words: "5th New York Volunteer Infantry."

The park brochure explains as follows:

On the afternoon of August 30 [1862], seeing the Union lines in disarray following the repulse of Porter, Longstreet pushed his massive columns forward and staggered the Union left flank. A brief, futile stand on this ridge by the 5th and 10th New York Regiments ended in slaughter. In five minutes the 5th New York saw 123 men killed, the greatest loss of life in any single infantry regiment in any battle of the Civil War.

Somehow, we ended up going neither up the hill to the monument, nor into the tree line where we knew there was a memorial to Duryée’s Zouaves (5th New York Volunteer Infantry), as well as a trail to other parts of the MNBP. Not sure what distracted us and sent us in a different direction, but here are a few photos from 2006 to show you what I might have stopped to photograph had we gone that-a-way.

Left: the memorial to the ZOUAVES was erected in 1906.
right: image from signage depicts the slaughter of the 5th New York Volunteer
Infantry on that fateful day in august 1862.

Leaving the car in the parking lot, we walked a short distance up Lee Highway (Rte 29) and crossed the road to visit the Confederate cemetery instead. But first, we continued a little ways up from the cemetery to the Lucinda Dogan House, described in the park brochure as: “The small, white frame house ... all that remains of the wartime village of Groveton and one of only three Civil War-era houses remaining in the park.”

Originally built as an overseer’s cabin, the house became the Dogan family’s primary
dwelling after the main house, “Peach Grove,” burned down in 1860.

Confederate General Longstreet was a dinner guest at the Dogan House.

Backtracking from the house, we headed over to the Groveton Confederate Cemetery. Established by the local women two years after the Civil War ended in 1865, the cemetery contains the remains of 260+ Confederate soldiers, all but two of which are unidentified. It is an example of one of the earliest efforts to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and mark the general locations of battlefields.

Unknown or not, at least these men received a proper burial. As noted on the park signage outside the gate, “Hundreds of soldiers received no burial at all.” In most cases, battlefield graves were unmarked, or simply identified with sticks, headboards, or branches.

As the signage further explains:

Heavy fire often kept either side from claiming the dead, and after both battles [First and Second Manassas] the armies had to maneuver quickly. Some of the wounded lay for days in the blistering sun.

After the fighting, burial details dug shallow, unmarked mass graves. The process took weeks. Autumn rains soon washed away the thin cover of soil, exposing the remains.

[collage of historic images from nearby signage]

After visiting one such mass grave, a Harper’s Weekly correspondent wrote:

In the long, luxuriant grass one strikes his foot against skulls and bones, mingled with the deadly missiles that brought them to the earth. Hollow skulls lie contiguous to the hemispheres of exploded shells.”

The obelisk was erected in 1904 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Detail from the obelisk that stands in the center of the Confederate Cemetery.

There are only two headstones at Groveton — one for each of the identified remains. For the rest of the 260+ men buried here, a ring of markers bearing the names of the 13 Confederate states serves as a collective remembrance.

Left: A portion of the markers that ring the monument.
Right: James Jerman palmer, from Charleston, South Carolina, was only
22 years old when he died during the battle of second Manassas.

The second identified headstone belongs to a 20-year old Virginian.

And that’s the story of yesterday morning’s brief outing. As is usual when I get going with photo processing and blog writing, time has flown by. Mui’s calling me to lunch. More later ...

P.S. For those interested, this post from 2009 has a link to a pictorial journal of a visit to the oft-visited areas of MNBP.

... Later: At Home

The rain showers, which should have come through overnight and this morning, began just as we were taking down the screen shelter. But of course the weather got soggy — Mother Nature was crying because it was time for us to pull up stakes and go home. We waited a bit for the rain to let up, but it was still drizzling when we finished the last of our departure preparations. By 4:30p, the Phaeton was tucked into storage and we were on our way home. With surprisingly little traffic on the freeway, we made it home in no time, stopping to grab a quick bite to eat before we pulled into the garage.

A short workweek is ahead of us. Then, we go back out Friday afternoon. This time we’ll be heading to Pohick Bay. The weather forecast is for isolated and scattered t-storms. What’s the difference anyway; either might ruin plans for outdoor activities. Oh well; we’ll make the most of whatever Mother Nature dishes out.

P.S. We didn’t have to wait until we’re at a full hook-up site next week to test the dishwasher. With 25% of the tank still empty, we decided to use it last night, and again today. Not only is the machine operational once again (thanks, Mui), but it uses less water than I do when washing the dishes by hand. Output increased the grey water by just 4-6%, depending on the cycle used. That’s a good thing!

BRRP: Half & Half

2011-09-04T16:41:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 4 September

We spent half of today sightseeing in rural Manassas; a fun change of pace. We spent the other half of the day chilling at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP); that was fun, too. If this is what we can expect of fulltiming — when those days get here — we’re in for a treat. Actually, we know it will be even better, because we’ll be exploring not just places we’re familiar with, but brand new horizons as well.

We were up early. It was still dark out; and looked even darker with the daytime shades covering the windows. We know that if we want to go exploring, we can’t dally long around the house — or the motorhome, as the case may be. No browsing the web; no checking emails; and definitely no reading blogs. With that in mind, we had a simple breakfast and prepared for a morning of sightseeing. Even without any dalliance, though, it was 8:00a by the time we made it out the door. The temp was comfortable, but rising with increased humidity. Overhead, a canopy of thick white clouds screened out the sunshine. The light was dull — too dull for good photography — but we didn’t let that deter us.

The drive from BRRP to Manassas National Battlefield Park was short, and soon we were strolling around one of the less-visited areas of the 5,073-acre (20.53 sq km) park. I’m going to do a separate post on this portion of our morning, but in the meantime …

The Groveton Confederate Cemetery was established in 1867,
two years after the end of the Civil War.

Since I’m not sharing any other photos from the battlefield in this post, here are a few from unexpected finds and encounters we had this morning.

Stonewall Memory Gardens

Friendly horses pose for Mui.

Out for a Sunday morning ride.

A bit of color on a dull September day.

By 10:00a, the humidity was high enough to make strolling about uncomfortable. After a quick drive to the Manassas post office to drop off the Netflix DVD we watched last night, we returned to BRRP for an afternoon of doing absolutely nothing. (Except for a quick trip to a nearby pharmacy to pick up some Benadryl for the sudden-onset of itchy hands I developed while processing photos. I’ve had this happen before, and a dose of antihistamine quickly takes care of the problem. Already, the itch is all but gone.)

Before I end this post, here’s a bit of a coincidence that struck me as odd. I took the pictures after the rain passed through yesterday, but since that day’s post was already long, I thought I’d wait until today to post these.

The sites behind us are occupied by dark-colored Class A RVs ...

... The sites ahead of us are occupied by white fivers.

Dinner time is at hand — French bread pizza (frozen, I’m afraid; keeping it simple) and a big salad is on the menu. But first, I’m going to take advantage of the cooling temperature to go for a walk around the campground. The sky is overcast and the clouds look heavy with rain, but so far we’ve not had a drop of the liquid stuff forecasted for today. We’ll see how tomorrow’s weather shakes out.

BRRP: Sofa Out; Desk In

2011-09-03T18:41:00.001-07:00

Saturday, 3 September

The sun is out and there are plenty of blue patches in the sky — now. It’s nice summer weather. That wasn’t the case for most of the day. It’s nearly 4:30p, however, and we’re much too relaxed to be thinking of doing anything but sitting inside our screened shelter, reading and blogging, and just plain lazing about. We don’t do this often enough, so we figure we deserve to do it for at least one day.

That we woke up to skies thick with grey clouds didn’t stop us from going for a walk around the campground before breakfast, or eating our meal al fresco when we returned. While Mui took care of a few chores on his to-do list, I read through a portion of my blog list, and then went for another campground walk.

One chore Mui took care of was to secure the step ladder we keep inside — useful when I need to reach into the overhead cabinets and Mui isn’t around to lend me his superior height. We found the ideal space for the ladder between the shower and the vanity, but there was a small problem — a 3” high wood block in the rear half of the narrow slot. So, Mui cut a matching piece, painted it, and placed it next to the existing block to make a level surface. Then, using a couple of screw eyes he created a means to secure the ladder in place with a bungee cord. Don’t need that thing flying about when we’re in motion!

While I’m at it, let me show you something Mui took care of earlier this year. When looking for places to store things around the motorhome, one needs to think outside the box. Mui’s good at that — too good sometimes. Anyway, we needed a place to store our Swiffer wet mop. What better place than in the shower, a place that gets used just for a short bit of time each day. One of those command strip removable hooks did the trick for this simple project. Not once has the Swiffer popped off the hook when we’re tooling down the road.

You might recall that earlier this year we bought a rug for the living area. Once we determined that we liked the way it looked in the Phaeton, we ordered a twin for the dining/kitchen area. We’ve been rolling them up individually and storing them under the dining room chairs when we’re in motion. We no longer have to worry about two separate rolls. Using single-sided carpet seam tape, Mui turned the two rugs into one. And while we were at it — yes, I helped — we added some Rhino Grip non-slip rug strips to keep the rug in place on the ceramic tile it sits on. Now we have our own “yellow brick road” — OK, multi-colored rug path — leading us through the coach.

With the chores on Mui’s list checked off, we decided to go for another walk. This time we headed in the direction of the park’s entrance to repeat the walk I did yesterday. We should have heeded the near-continuous thunder booming in the distance and delayed for a while. The rain held off until we returned to the coach, so we didn’t get wet — but only because we heeded the ever-darkening skies and gathering storm clouds and cut our walk short. Oh well, it was time for lunch anyway.

Since we didn’t do anything remotely newsworthy today, how about I regale you with one of Mui’s projects from earlier this year instead. This was something we knew we would be doing at some point, but the timing was moved up when we sold the house in April. Living in a condo with no workshop or garage, Mui had no choice but to get this one done sooner rather than later.

Some of you might have noticed in the picture above that we no longer have two sleeper sofas in the living room. That’s because we removed the driver-side sofa to make room for a proper desk for me.

This reno idea was not in anticipation of any consulting work that might come my way once we become fulltimers — although it would come in handy if that were to happen. I do all the accounting and other paperwork-driven stuff now, and anticipate continuing to do so when we’re on the road. As well, I much prefer my desktop iMac for photo processing, and intend to take it on the road. Besides, I like working at a desk with everything at my fingertips.

At first, we were going to have a custom desk installed in Red Bay, Alabama — the birthplace of our coach. Then, I had the bright idea of using the desk in my home office. With the bookcase that sits atop it removed, it was the perfect size to fit into the spot occupied by the sofa. Sure it was a creamy white color, but that could easily be remedied with a coat or two of paint. My only real concern was the weight — it weighed a ton (or so it seemed). Well, no sooner did I pick up my end of the sofa we were taking out of the coach that those concerns were put to rest. The sleeper weighed two tons (or so it seemed).

It took some strong arming to get the sofa out the door, but we managed to do so after we removed the arms and the back.

Getting the sofa home was a piece of cake. The bits and pieces fit into the trunk of the Highlander nicely. (Yes, Mui — I’m glad you convinced me to get the Highlander instead of the Prius!)

Next came the process of dismantling the desk to take it down to the garage to be painted. Like I said, it weighed a ton (or seemed like it did), and there was no way we could manhandle it down three floors. Luckily, it was all held together with lots of screws, and there was no need to bring out the saw. Soon, amid the donations and sale items that were piled up in the garage as we packed and downsized for our move to the condo, Mui was busy sanding and painting the desk parts.

And from these bits and pieces, the desk got put back together in a matter of a couple of hours (in situ at the coach). Of course, before Mui could do that he had to wait a week or so for the paint to cure.

A little shorter and a little narrower than the sofa it replaced, the desk makes our already spacious living area seem even more so. Secured to the floor of the slide with L-brackets, the desk ain’t going anywhere when we’re on the move. Mui also came up with the means to secure the chair in place with a couple of screw eyes on the sides of the desk and bungee cords running across. (Forgot to take a picture of that; sorry.)

I got to use the desk for the first time a few weeks ago, and again this weekend. I’m thrilled to have a place from which to write many-a long blog posts. (Oh no, they say, as a collective groan issues from the readers.)

As to what happened to the sleeper sofa — it’s in my home office, and it matches the rug perfectly! We’ll probably put it in storage when we go on the road. You never know; we may change our minds at some point and want to put it back in. As for the bookcase that used to sit on top of the desk … Mui cut off the backboard, added a custom top and a couple of stubby legs, and voilà — a credenza was born. Waste not, want not!

I’ll try to have a more interesting blog post tomorrow. We have plans to do something fun — provided the weather doesn’t turn soggy too early in the day.

BRRP: Civil War Winter Quarters

2011-09-02T19:36:00.001-07:00

Friday, 2 September

Although we’ve started our long weekend camping holiday, today was a work day for us. Mui and I both work from home on Fridays; I also work from home on Mondays (lucky me). To tele-work, Mui just needs his Blackberry. My requirements are a bit more complicated, as I need to be able to connect to my company’s network and stay online for the duration of my work day.

Today’s successful test has proven that with the Millenicom aircard I can do everything I would otherwise do at home or in the office with no one being the wiser to the fact that I’m in a campground (not that I’m trying to hide anything). What this means is that we may be able to do some 3-day camping trips now. Just one more day; but it makes taking the motorhome out even more attractive to us. It also opens up the possibility of consulting after we get on the road fulltime. Neither of us wants to work on a regular basis once we retire, but we’d not dismiss the idea of an occasional project that adds to the coffers.

So, back to today. We were up early as usual. I went to hook up my company laptop to begin work at my usual 6:30a. Oh, oh! Where’s the power cord? At home; that’s where. Being just 16 miles (25.5 km) from home, Mui offered to drive back and get it for me. “I’ll shower while I’m there to conserve water,” he said as he walked out. OK. No problem. I can work for two hours on battery power.

By 7:30a, a couple of projects under my belt, I turned off the laptop and went for a walk. I often do this while I’m at the office — take advantage of the cooler morning temps to get in a bit of exercise. Timing things well, I managed a 2-mile (3.8 km) walk to the park’s entrance and caught a ride back to the coach with Mui, who drove up to the gatehouse just as I was turning back.

And so, the day was spent mostly working, but it was a pleasant one nonetheless. In between answering emails and returning calls, Mui managed to bucket-wash the rear of the coach, which was covered with thick dust, and put on a coat of 303 UV protectant/wax all over. He had hoped that his tall ladder would be in by now so he could finish the project this weekend, but the upper half of the coach is going to have to wait until another time.

How thick was the dust? The tow-bar cover is supposed to be black; not gray!

Once I called it a day at 3:00p, it was time for me to play. That means processing photos and writing a blog post or two. So, I grabbed my MacBook Pro, made myself comfortable inside the screened shelter, and got down to work. You see, I really did have something interesting to write about — a replica of Civil War winter quarters that I came across near the entrance to BRRP.

[photograph of a sketch from nearby signage]

It turns out that the two structures — one representing Confederate quarters; the other representing Union quarters — were built as part of the recent 150th anniversary re-enactment of the Battle of Manassas (Battle of Bull Run). We had plans to go to the re-enactment, but it fell on the weekend when we had temps “that felt like 110F (43C).” I can’t imagine how the re-enactors survived those temperatures in their period-specific wool uniforms.

Confederate Winter Quarters near Centreville, Virginia.
[photographs of images from nearby signage]

Here's how the signage explained what I was seeing:

During the American Civil War (1861-1865), soldiers from both the Union North and the Confederate South built huts known as "winter quarters" to live in during the winter months when fighting and troop movements were usually minimal.

Union Winter Quarters at Wolf Run Shoals.
[photographs of sketches from nearby signage]

The Bull Run and Occoquan rivers, forming the southern border of Fairfax County, were an area of great strategic importance during the Civil War. During the winter of 1861/1862, southern forces occupied the Centreville area and lived in winter quarters. For the remainder of the war, except for a period right after the Second Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) in July/August 1862, the northern Union Army was the dominant force in this area, with large encampments and fortifications along the Bull Run and Occoquan rivers. Winter quarters were a large part of the experience of thousands of soldiers that called this area home for some period during the Civil War.

South and North … side by side.

Confederate winter quarters were mostly all built out of wood. The Union Army, which was better supplied with tents, most often built a log base and used their tents to make the roof of the hut. Both sides often built fireplaces and stoves into their huts since this was the only source of heat.

Example of Confederate winter quarters.

Living in very confined and overcrowded spaces, with poor hygiene and limited medicine, resulted in high rates of death from disease in Civil War camps.

Top left shows a glimpse of the interior of the wood hut, which was difficult to photograph because of the dirty Plexiglas just inside the door. Bottom Left shows a corner of the interior
of the tent hut; there was nothing but straw in the rest of this hut.

The hardships mankind is willing to endure in fighting for their beliefs — right or wrong — never fails to fascinate.

By the time I finished drafting my post, dinner time was at hand. Mui lit the charcoal grill (each site has one) and put the steak and shrimp on. I did my share by setting the table for an al fresco dinner under the canopy. Later, we finished the Endurance documentary we started watching last night.

A day of work and play draws to a close.

By the way, we uncovered the reason why our dishwasher has not been functioning. Our unwanted “guests” — those four-legged varmints that took up residency for a while — had apparently chewed through some wiring. Darn critters! Mui managed to replace the wires, and the machine now turns on. We’ll have to wait to test it fully when we’re at a full hook-up site next weekend. In the meantime, I’m off to do the dishes the old fashioned way!

BRRP: Back for Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

Thursday, 1 September

We’re baaack! Back at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP), that is.

With the long Labor Day weekend extended by leaving the house Thursday after work, instead of Friday, we did consider going to a more distant campground at first. Then we remembered how horrid traffic can be around here, especially during a long weekend. So, here we are just about 16 miles (25.5 km) from home instead.

We left the house around 4:30p, and two hours later we were all set up in site 21. This is a 50-amp electric-only site (jurisdiction rate of $32.50 + tax) on our favored outer loop. It’s even better than our usual spots further back on the loop; here there are no campsites on the other side of the road. We have plenty of privacy even though the sites before and after us are all occupied for the holiday weekend.

Once set up chores were completed, we brought out the table that forms the base of the trunk of our CR-V and dined al fresco. Nothing elaborate; a couple of frozen spaghetti Bolognese entrées were quite satisfactory. Then, we sat outside and watched a BBC DVD entitled, Shackleton: A Voyage of Endurance. The story of this Antarctic expedition gone terribly wrong, yet deemed a successful failure because Shackleton managed to bring everyone back alive, was just as enthralling this time as it was the first time we watched the documentary. (There’s an excellent animation of the two-year saga here.)

The makings of a good “soft camping” weekend.

This was our first opportunity to watch a show on the TV built-into the exterior of the coach. I was really happy about the way the sound was directed straight towards us and could not be heard at all when I walked to the front and back of the coach. Good; no possibility of bothering our neighbors.

Let the long weekend begin!

Goodbye Irene and Good Riddance

2011-08-28T10:12:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 28 August

The speed with which news gets on the internet never fails to amaze. Hurricane Irene — now Tropical Storm Irene — has not finished wreaking damage. Yet there is already a Wikipedia article on it!

As anticipated, we were lashed with rains and tropical storm strength winds here in northern Virginia. The outer bands arrived mid-morning on Saturday. By noon it was raining non-stop. The storm did not really hit the area until around 6:00p, however, and was evidenced by strong winds, with gusts that caused trees to quiver, shake, and sway. The rain kept falling. It was an otherwise normal-like day for us at home.

It wasn’t until 2:00a or so that we lost power. We were fast asleep by then and wouldn’t have known that we no longer had electricity if not for the irritating beeps issued by the UPS (uninterrupted power source) that keeps our computers running for a few additional minutes when the power goes out to allow us to shut down normally. The beeps were easily silenced; not so the drunken fools somewhere outside at the height of the storm, laughing like banshees. What can I say — no cure for stupid is there?

Anyway, we were up around 6:00a this morning. Still no power. Nor internet. Nor phones (we have VOIP). No problem. Using our Millenicom aircard and the TruPhone app on Mui’s laptop, we were able to touch base with family to allay any concerns they might have about our safety. Then, Mui fixed us a pancake breakfast (oops, no photos) and we settled down to read for a while. Just before 9:00a, I made an off-hand comment that the power could come on now. Like magic, a few minutes later there was light. It’s nice to have divine powers :-)))).

We’re in the clear!
[image courtesy of the National Weather Service website]

Another hour saw the rain end and the winds diminish. With the sun peeking through the thinning overcast and patches of blue appearing in the sky, we walked over to a nearby store to pick up a newspaper and see what damage there might be in the area. None! Just some leaves and thin branches littered the streets. We got off easy, I know. We are grateful.

And so, life returns to normal for us. No offense to my friend Irene, but we’re glad to see her namesake gone! For those who experienced the heavier impact of Irene, we wish them good luck as they begin the process of cleaning up after the storm. For those still in the path of the storm … hang in there.

Call Us Chicken!

2011-08-26T06:26:00.001-07:00

Friday, August 26

Yes, we know we’re not in the bull’s eye of Hurricane Irene. Yes, we know we’re at the far edge of the area designated for a tropical storm warning in northern Virginia. Yes, our location means that the effects of the storm would be greatly diminished. But what’s to say Irene won’t wobble again and shift a tiny bit further east in the next day as she continues her path north.

Call us crazy, or call us chicken, but somehow going to a heavily forested area where the ground can become saturated from rain and increase the threat of trees toppling over from sustained strong winds didn’t seem like a good idea to us. We don’t need dents — or worse — on the roof of our condo on wheels.

Even the campground manager at Bull Run said it was probably smart that we were cancelling this weekend’s camping reservations. Well, not really cancelling, since we’re now booked to go back the first weekend in October.

the yellow flag shows the approximate location of bull run regional park.
[collage of images from ABC7 WJLA weather website]

This is what Irene looked like from space as she harassed the Caribbean on 22 August.

Even though this weekend’s plans have now been postponed to October, we won’t have to wait that long to go out in the Phaeton. We have reservations to camp at Bull Run over Labor Day weekend. (Marti and Paul: here’s hoping we have occasion to meet up at another time.)

Shaken, Not Stirred

2011-08-23T14:10:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, 23 August

At just before 2:00p today, the Washington DC area experienced something quite unusual. An EARTHQUAKE! Not just a little temblor, mind you; but a rather strong Magnitude 5.8 earthquake. I won’t use the word panic, but to say that fear ran rampant for a while would not be much of an exaggeration.

I was in a meeting at work when I sensed a slight movement. I didn’t give it much thought at first. Such movements are not unusual in our building, which seems to shudder a bit anytime a big rig goes by. In the next second, the movement seemed to gather a bit more momentum. Then, I heard it. The slow, deep rumbling that grows ever-louder as it travels from the underground in parallel with a quake. That’s when I knew for sure that we were in the midst of being shaken by an earthquake.

One of the worst aspects of being in an earthquake is the confusion. If you’ve not been in one before, you’re not sure what’s happening. It’s difficult to comprehend the movement and sound as being a force of nature. Having grown up in an earthquake-prone area, I had an advantage over others in the office. I knew what was happening. As the shaking grew steadier and stronger, I grabbed my co-worker and pulled her to stand under the door jamb with me. As others came out of neighboring offices — some more calmly than others — I told them to either stand under door jambs or crawl under desks.

[collage compiled from images from the USGS website]

I don’t know how long the quake lasted, but it seemed like an eternity. I’m not embarrassed to admit that by the time it was over, my hands and legs were shaking in a mini-quake of their own. Just because I’ve been in earthquakes before doesn’t mean that I’m used to them. Or that I wait them out calmly. Just ask my mother how I railed at Mother Nature, shouting “Enough already,” when a particularly strong quake we experienced when I was in high school was followed by what seemed like un-ending aftershocks.

Following today’s quake, we were evacuated briefly while the engineers checked to make sure the building was structurally sound. By 2:30p, the all clear was given. I returned to my 5th floor office to finish the last half-hour of my workday before heading home.

As I unlocked the door to the condo, I wasn’t sure what I would find. Would all the breakables be on the floor, shattered to bits? I had not used earthquake putty to secure them to the shelves on which they were displayed. Why would I? We weren’t living in an earthquake-prone area. A few minutes later, I had my answer. The damage was minimal. Yes there were items strewn about. Yes, some things had fallen off shelves and out of cabinets. But only one thing was broken — a pottery cookie jar that was a gift from my mother.

No; I'm not in the habit of leaving drawers and cabinets open!

Left: Good thing the soil was dry; easily cleaned up with the vacuum.
Right: Ouch! That knife could have done some damage.

the skewed and the fallen
one of the oddest sights to greet my eyes was the “evil eye” on the wall; somehow
it managed to flip itself over during the quake without falling to the floor.
(the inset shows the way the evil eye should have been hanging.)
and what about my Elephant candlestick leaning drunkenly on the mantel!

shattered to pieces, the cookie jar was with the other items on top of the cabinets,
some toppled over, while others remained upright.

In a not so pleasant coincidence, 26 years ago today, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake hit China, killing over 70 people, injuring 162, leaving 150,000 homeless, and destroying 85% of the buildings in the Wuqia-Shufu area.

Considering the destructive power of this force of nature, our earthquake experience today was just a little shake, rattle, and roll. Something for which to be grateful.

Phae is So Modest

2011-08-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 21 August

We’re home from Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP), but not for long. We’ve made reservations to go back the next two weekends. The first one will be another short visit; but the weekend after that includes Labor Day. It will be nice not to have to pack up and go home after just two nights.

Anyway, as anticipated we had a quiet morning. Actually slept in until 7:00a. So unusual for us, but with the chores completed, well-deserved. The temp was climbing quickly, and the usual summer stickiness was back. Since the campground was far from being at capacity, I walked over to the camp store to see about doing a late check-out. As luck would have it, our site was booked, so we had no choice but to leave by the 11:00a deadline. Still, we had time to enjoy an al fresco breakfast under the canopy and relax for a bit before we had to pull up stakes.

As I noted in yesterday’s post, Mui completed one more project yesterday — installing modesty panels for Phae. She’s so shy, she doesn’t want to show her legs in public :-). She also wanted some protection from the harmful UV rays that the sun sends her way day in day out as she sits in storage.

Yes, you know what I’m really talking about is wheel covers. After doing his research, Mui ordered a set from MCD, which conveniently arrived just before we left for our weekend outing.

Installation of the “Glide-Trac” rails was a piece of cake: clean the inner lip of the fender wall; put adhesive on the back of the track; eyeball the center of the fender lip; gently arc the flexible track and apply to the rim, pressing firmly as you gradually move from center to bottom; using the guide handle, align and install the track for the other half of the fender; repeat for the other wheels; let cure for 24 hours. If kinking occurs while installing the tracks (inevitable in the highest fender curves), MCD suggests using a couple of screws, which Mui did. I think the entire installation took 30 minutes; maybe less.

Another easy-peasy project!

Hindsight being 20-20, I realized too late that I should have taped Mui installing the glide tracks. Well, no one can say I don’t learn from my mistakes; here’s a short clip showing the installation of the vinyl panels after we returned the coach to storage. Though it may seem like the video has been sped up; I assure you it’s in real time – 30 seconds from start to finish.

[click the arrow to start the clip]

Forgive the wrinkles!

Doesn’t she look pretty!

And on that note, we turned off the lights and headed home, leaving Phae to rest a few days before she goes out again.

BRRP: A Bit of Work; a Bit of R&R

2011-08-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 20 August

We — or rather, mostly Mui — did chores today, but we did manage to carve time out for some well-earned R&R. Now, before you chastise me for not helping Mui, you should know that I not only did my own share of work around the Phaeton, but I also offered to help Mui. His response: “These aren’t chores; I’m having fun.” Far be it from me to get in the way of his idea of fun! Methinks that in the absence of the maintenance work that comes with a stix & bricks home, he’s enjoying the maintenance that comes with owning a home on wheels.

We were up early and Mui was raring to go. At check-in yesterday, he’d gotten permission to bucket wash the coach and do a hose rinse-off. He was anxious to get started, but at 6:00a, it was still too dark to do anything. Finally, at 7:12a, he was out the door with his little red bucket in hand, and a promise to keep it quiet so as not to disturb the neighbors.

Since he didn’t want me underfoot, I took care of the breakfast dishes and a few chores inside before heading out for a walk around the campground. It was just getting on towards 8:00a, and there were only a few other souls out and about. The only sounds were those of the birds chirping in the trees. The sunlight was streaming through the canopy in a golden shower that just begged to be photographed … click, click went my little Canon G-12.

Finishing one lap around the campground, I headed towards the camp store. Before I could get far, however, a rusty piece of equipment near the entrance to the maintenance facility caught my eye. With the morning sun bathing the scene in a golden hue, I couldn’t resist … click, click went my trusty G-12. Later, I asked one of the park volunteers if he knew what the equipment was. “I don’t really know, but I think it might be an old mower of some kind; it just appeared there one day,” was the answer. If you know what it is, please chime in with a comment.

The perfect lawn ornament for a maintenance facility!

I may not have gotten an answer to my question, but I didn’t leave the camp store empty handed either. The colorful flowers at the entrance stopped me for a while … and yes, you guessed it … click, click went the G-12 once again.

Continuing down towards the Bull Run-Occoquan trail, I was charmed by the little red bridge that marks the trailhead — a little worn perhaps from all the feet that have tread upon it, and needing perhaps a fresh coat of paint; but eye catching nonetheless. The entire trail is 17 miles (27 km) in length; a bit more than we’d want to bite off, but maybe we’ll hike a short portion of it next time we find ourselves at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP). In the meantime … click, click went the G-12 one more time.

This scene begged for selective-color processing; so I obliged.

By the time I returned to the coach, Mui was nearly done with washing the Phaeton. The Gel-Gloss RV wash and wax had done a great job of removing the streaks of dirt, but now we had another problem — spots from the campground’s hard water. No problem; his goal this time was to get rid of the grime so that he could do a dry wash using the highly-touted The Solution. The sections he tested the product on are looking shiny-clean, so we’ll have a brand-spanking-new looking Phaeton after he finishes the rest of the coach. But that will have to wait until the tall ladder he ordered online gets delivered.

Next up for Mui was a project he’d been thinking of for a while — installing mesh screens over the furnace vents. Easy-peasy as the commercial says. The screens went up in minutes and Mui put a check mark next to another one of his to-do items. We don’t think this was the entry point for the mice, but if it was — lo siento, you little buggers. Nope; not really sorry about plugging the holes, but it seemed like the thing to say :-) ….

Check off one more project from the list.

Although it was now late morning, the temperature was still surprisingly comfortable. There was little humidity, so the usual summer stickiness was non-existent. A perfect opportunity to try out a handy little addition to our motorhome accoutrement — a canopy! More specifically, a Coleman 10x10 instant screened canopy. Mui had picked it up for a bargain price on one of those occasions when he had to kill time at Walmart. Although we had tested the quick set-up claim, we’d not had occasion to use it before. We can vouch that it does indeed go up in a jiffy — under 3 minutes as the brochure says. (I’ll try to remember to take a video of the process next time we put it up.) I like that it provides a fairly bug-free environment, but more so, I like the UV protection it offers for those times when we won’t have a tree canopy to filter the sun’s rays.

A nifty spot to enjoy our outside time at a campsite.

Of course, with the canopy set up, an al fresco lunch was a no brainer. The campsite picnic table was still wet from the overnight rains, otherwise, we would have placed the canopy over it. No problem; our portable picnic table came to the rescue.

When not in use, the table and its attached benches collapse into a box.

Mui took care of one more project after lunch, but I’m going to write about that tomorrow since the last part of documenting it won’t happen until we return the coach to storage. Besides, it will give me something to write about tomorrow. We have to vacate the site by 11:00a and won’t have time to do much more than chill before we return to the rat race.

Although we snuck inside for a couple of hours when the mid-afternoon heat got to be a bit much, we spent most of the rest of our day relaxing inside the canopy shelter. Thanks to our Millenicom aircard, we took turns checking email and browsing the web. I drafted a few blog posts for our Arctic adventure; now I just need to process photos so I can get the uploads completed. Reading was the other activity that kept us occupied thru the afternoon hours.

(We picked up Cold Recall from the Fram Museum in Oslo. It’s an excellent, quick read that tells the story of the race to the South Pole in Amundsen’s own words. The pictures are all from the slides he used during the lecture circuit that followed his return after achieving the Pole.)

Dinner, of course, was al fresco. By the time we were done with our lasagna and Caesar salad meal, the light was failing and it was time to move inside. Looks like some kind of a camp light may have to be added to our shopping list.

Enough with the pictures; the food’s getting cold!

Aaah! this is the life! Simple. Satisfying.

Uninvited Visitors

2011-08-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Friday, 19 August

While we were on our Arctic Voyage in Svalbard, a family — or two — decided to make themselves at home in our condo on wheels! How dare they!!! Especially since they were visitors of the MICE variety!!! Don’t they know that they belong outside and not inside?

When we first learned of our uninvited guests, we looked high and low and found no sign of any nests. Just droppings everywhere — both in the basement and upstairs. Mui tried a variety of traps, making the 34-mile round-trip drive to the storage facility every other day to check on them. Finally, a week later, the tried and true peanut butter and snap-trap caught an adult. Then, following his nose, Mui found the rest of the family nesting inside our sewer hose. He evicted the family without further ado, relocating them to a distant garbage bin.

Then the monitoring started to make sure we were rid of the little critters. With the basement and upstairs vacuumed, Mui made twice-weekly forays to the Phaeton. One more adult caught in a trap; and no more droppings. More monitoring. Finally, three weeks after the first hint of the invasion, there were no more signs of mice in the coach. It was time to declare a tentative victory in the mice war and proceed to the clean up phase.

We had plans to go to a campground last weekend, but they were forestalled by a work project that required my attention both Saturday and Sunday. While I was working, Mui went out to the coach, emptied the basement, and shampooed and disinfected everything. Then, he went to work upstairs, shampooing and disinfecting the carpet and the sofa. Finally, he plugged whatever obvious entry points he could find with copper wool. Thanks to his efforts that weekend, our post-mice clean-up this weekend at Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP) has the makings of being more than just “all-work and no-play.”

It’s pretty much a straight shot from our house to BRRP.

We took off around noon today, picked up the coach, and headed to the campground. Normally, we prefer the electric-only outer loop as it affords a lot of privacy. This time, we knew we were going to need plenty of water, so we opted for a 50-amp, full hook-up site on an inner loop — #113. At a jurisdiction rate of $41.50 (+ tax), BRRP is not inexpensive, but in our neck of the woods, we don’t have many choices for just a weekend outing. Besides, we like it here, and don’t mind coming back. In fact, if the commute from here to work wasn’t such a headache, we’d stay here for a week or two and pretend like we’re already full-timing.

The parallel-to-the-road sites offer a degree of privacy.

By 1:30p, we were hooked up, leveled with the slides deployed, and ready to get going with our cleaning project. With the slides closed, we’d been unable to have a good look-see inside the closet, so that’s where we started. A few droppings; less than we could count on two hands. No less work, though. Everything on the shelves and hangers went into a bag to be washed at home, and I went to work on shampooing the carpet inside the closet.

Next, flashlight in hand, we peered into the mostly-empty overhead cabinets and the tightly-shut drawers. Good; no mice signs there. Using the freshly laundered linens we’d brought from home, we made the bed and put a check mark on getting the bedroom ready for human habitation. From there, I moved on to the bathroom and Mui tackled the tile floor in the living room.

By 5:00p, we were dead tired, but everything was once again shiny clean. With no evidence of mice in any of the overhead cabinets in the kitchen/living area, we decided not to wash everything that was stored in them. But the decision to wash the dishes and silverware anyway led to an unpleasant discovery. Not because we found out the dishwasher wasn’t working, but because there were dead mice — looked to be newborns — behind the single-drawer dishwasher. They were long dead and easy to clean-up — or so says I who wouldn’t touch them with a 10-foot pole. Thanks for being the undertaker, Mui!

An hour later, with the chores finally completed, we went for a walk around the campground. It was hot and humid, and we were tired, so we didn’t stay out long. I did manage to take a photo or two while we were out, though.

The Red-Spotted Purple butterfly is a species of the North American brush-footed family.

Dinner is over; the dishes are washed, dried, and put away. Mui’s surfing the TV channels, but the only one that is not pixelated is Al Jazeera English. Call me crazy, but somehow listening to Qaddafi’s crazy rants, which is all they seem to be reporting on, is not my idea of good entertainment.

For a while it looked like the forecasted rainstorm would be passing above and below us, but the heavens just opened up. It’s really coming down now, but there’s no wind and no dangerous cells nearby, so I’m actually enjoying the rat-a-tat-tat that’s pounding on the roof. A good-weather day is predicted for tomorrow. We still have some chores to do, but we should be able to carve out some time to relax and enjoy ourselves as well.

Plans Interrupted

2011-07-23T06:23:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 23

We had plans to go out this weekend. Not to explore or do anything exciting, but just to relax in our condo on wheels. And maybe take care of a few — and I stress the “few” part of that statement — chores around the motorhome.

And then the “heat dome” happened. If you live in the US, you’ve heard of this since it’s blanketing a huge portion of the country. If not, the heat dome is a large high-pressure system in the mid- to upper atmosphere that is pushing warming air to the surface and holding it there. I’m telling you, this is no fun.

Local weather forecasters on TV came out en masse this week, doing all kinds of things outside to prove to people that it is hot, hot, hot … they cooked frozen macaroni and cheese on the pavement, baked a frozen pizza on the sidewalk, and fried a couple of eggs on a cast iron skillet sitting in the sun. By late afternoon yesterday, the 102F (38C) high was officially declared as “feels like” 122F (50C) with the heat index.

this says it all!

With more of the same kinds of oven-hot temperatures and bad-air-quality warnings forecasted over the weekend, we decided to not leave the sticks and bricks. I’m using the time to get blog posts up for our recently-concluded Arctic expedition voyage. I haven’t quite gotten to the glaciers and icebergs portion of our trip, but hop on over to our travel blog and join us for a virtual cool trip (pun intended). The 50F (10C) temps of our pre-voyage days in Tromsø feel awfully good right about now. All of the posts associated with our Arctic adventure will be in the July archives; for background, start here.

P.S. I will return to finish up our North Carolina trip … no worries.

Welcome to the Condo

2011-06-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

June 2011

Time to close the loop on the townhouse sale and move to the condo.

After we accepted the offer on the townhouse on 22 April, our minds immediately turned to the next step — finding a place to live for the next 19 months. Our preference would have been for a small house with a long enough driveway to park the Phaeton. We knew that was a pipe dream though; especially since we had one major criteria for our temporary home — the commute to work had to be equal to or better than our commute from the townhouse. So, we turned our attention to apartments and condos instead.

Finding a place didn’t take us long — just a week. Some might wonder why we rushed into signing a lease. After all, we had all of May before we closed on the sale. We wanted a reasonably priced place, with at least two bedrooms (one bedroom and one den would have worked), assigned parking, storage — and the deal breaker: it had to be on the top floor. We absolutely did not want anyone living above of us. When we found the place that met all of our requirements, we jumped on it.

We’re on the third floor at the far end of and on the backside of this building.

OK, so if you counted the number of floors in the pictured building, you know that there are four not three floors. What happened to our requirement to be on the top floor? Nothing. You see, the condo is a duplex with the main living space on the third floor and the bedrooms on the fourth floor.

This is the side of the building we’re on; corner unit on floors three and four.
the small balcony is a bonus we weren’t expecting to find in a rental.

Secure, underground parking with two assigned spots comes with the condo.
no more snow shoveling to clear the driveway!

We’ve never had the luxury of extra time to move from one place to another. Always before, the transfer happened right around closing. With a month on our hands on this occasion, we took our time. After our cleaning lady did a deep-clean, we started to take the small stuff over to the new place. Whatever we took to the condo was immediately unpacked and put away to reduce the number of boxes that would be laying around once the movers brought the furniture and heavy boxes.

Main Floor — Kitchen and Living / Dining Rooms

Master Suite

Guest Bedroom / Study

The distance from the door of our condo to the elevators is 98 steps (the pedometer did the counting). That’s a lot of steps going back and forth when you’re moving! But we did it. And we achieved our goal of having everything unpacked and in its place by the end of the month.

Is the place perfect? No, but we try not to notice the askew column in the living room, or the other construction details that would not be acceptable were we buying the place. I’m going to miss having color on the walls, but I can live with the contractor egg-shell blahness knowing that we won’t be here forever. It is all temporary. In the living room, we have two too many pieces of furniture, but it beats having to rent off-premises space to store some of the pieces we’re keeping for our “after we’re done being on the road” home. I’m not one to place furniture around the edges of a room and leave the center empty, but that’s what I ended up doing in the guest room; so be it, at least all the computer cords and cables are hidden from view (and the layout gives me space to do my ironing).

Main Floor — Kitchen and Living / Dining Rooms

Master Suite

Guest Bedroom / Study
(note the sofa — we took one of the two sofas out from the phaeton;
a story for another time and blog post.)

Laundry Room and Upstairs Foyer

So what about the storage requirement we had for our new place. The condo came with a separate storage room located near the elevator on the third floor. Mui quickly filled it up with his tools and gadgets. But fear not, we found plenty of space around the condo for the rest of the stuff. It pays to be creative (wink, wink)!

We’ve never been “tub people.” So, Mui built a heavy duty platform over the tub in the master en suite, put up a few posts, and voila. Hidden behind the shower curtain, no one’s the wiser to how we re-purposed the area.

We also found space in the over-sized powder room. We put foot-wide shelves in the 13-inch (33 cm) deep niche that runs along one wall, hung a couple of shower curtains, and voila — the perfect place to store paper towels, extra TP, cleaning supplies, and the vacuum cleaner.

Now you see it; Now you don’t!

All settled into the condo, we're ready to make it our home as we continue the countdown to retirement.

X-Stitch: Swans a-Swimming

2011-06-10T16:18:00.001-07:00

When I look at this cross stitch project, I almost always start singing the Twelve Days of Christmas …

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

OK … OK, I know there are only two Swans a-Swimming in this piece, but what can I say — my mind has a mind of its own.

This was one of my earliest projects. It was also the one that took the longest to complete. Not because it was an overly difficult pattern, but because I got bored with the repetitive nature of the leaf trim. Finally, in 2009, I found the kit tucked into the corner of a drawer and decided to just get it over and done with. I buckled down and in less than a week I was taking the finished work to the local crafts store to get it framed.

The colors of this piece would actually work great in the kitchen/dining area of the condo, but alas there is no wall space big enough there. Since the rest of the walls are filled with other projects, this one has been wrapped and placed in storage for now.

Those little butterflies in the corner — they’re my addition to the pattern. Somehow a few small stains had developed on the fabric (probably from being stuck in a plastic bag with some colorful floss). It was either find a way to cover the spots, or toss out the completed project. I think they worked out nicely with the swans and lilies.

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered

2011-05-31T14:55:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 31 May

A few hours ago, we closed on the sale of the townhouse. We signed the paperwork and handed over the keys and garage door openers to the young woman who is now responsible for making the mortgage payments. Our portion of the pay-off amount should be in our bank account by COB Wednesday. We’re anxious to get our hands on that money since we already have plans for it — a chunk of it will pay off the mortgage on the motorhome, thus rendering us debt free. That’s a good thing.

Over the years, we’ve owned three homes … all townhouses. We bought the first one in Salt Lake City, Utah, where we lived for eight years. In 1991, when Mui accepted a government position in Washington DC, we made the cross-country move and eventually bought our second townhouse in Vienna, Virginia. Our third townhouse was supposed to be an investment, but somehow Mui convinced me that we should live in it instead. Although we moved just a short mile away on that occasion, it was enough distance to put us over the city line and we ended up in Fairfax, Virginia.

Selling a home is always bitter-sweet, but each time we did so, we knew we were making the right move (no pun intended). This time, our exciting retirement plans for rollin’ around North America to see and experience new places, and revisit favorite haunts, temper any feelings of sadness.

I know we’ll one day want to look back, so here are photos of the place we called home for the last seven years. (Sorry for the distortion in the photos; the only lens I had handy at the time was my ultra-wide angle.)

I posted this collage before, But I forgot to take a picture of the exterior of the house,
so until I can find a better one, this one will have to do.

We’ll start in the basement … this was Mui’s “man cave,” so to speak … only because I always found the temperature down there a little too cold. Hmmm; now that I think of it, maybe that was on purpose!!!

A closer look at the map to the right of the cabinets in the center bottom photo above.
Over the years, we’ve annotated this world map to show the places to which we’ve traveled.

The main floor had a relatively open floor plan … the living and dining room (which, I’m sorry to say, was seldom used) …

… and on the other side of the wall, the family room and kitchen/breakfast nook … all of which got plenty of use. The family room was dubbed the “travel room” as it held many of our cherished travel memorabilia. (There used to be a sofa where the two chairs are in the picture; it was “downsized” before I thought to take these pictures.)

Finally, on the top level … two guest bedrooms (one of which served as my home office) and the master suite.

And that completes the tour of 2994 Thompson Park Lane. Join us at another time for a tour of our digs for the next 19 months as we continue to plan and prepare for retirement.

Blogger Commenting: Could This Be the Answer?

2011-05-31T10:35:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 31 May

We've all been having intermittent problems commenting on posts. Sue (from The MoHo and Other Traveling Tales) and I may have hit upon the potential solution.

Earlier today, I went into Blogger to change my comment settings from embedded to pop-up window. Coincidentally, I received a note from Sue that she'd been able to comment on some of the other blogs, but not on mine because the embedded comment box was not editable. When I mentioned that I had made changes to my settings, she did a couple of tests for me. Success! She was able to comment using both Chrome and IE.

Now, neither one of us saying that this is the answer, but perhaps it is ... and only time and more commenting activity will tell.

If you'd like to check your Blogger comment settings and are not sure what you need to do ...

In your dashboard:

go to the Settings tab
click the Comments tab
scroll down to Comment Form Placement to see which radio button is selected
select the "pop-up window" button
scroll to the end of the page and save your settings
ask someone to send you a test comment (be happy to oblige)

Hopefully this is the answer to our frustrations ... and if it isn't … well I guess a lack of comments on this post will tell the story.

Salute to Memorial Day

2011-05-30T07:10:00.001-07:00

Monday, 30 May

Although we’re still in the midst of settling into the condo, we managed to find and hang our flag to honor Memorial Day.

Here’s a bit about the genesis of Memorial Day from a website I came across when I was researching the history of this special day, which was first observed on May 30, 1868.

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings, with over two dozen cities and towns laying claim to being the birthplace of Memorial Day. There is also evidence that organized women's groups in the South were decorating graves before the end of the Civil War: a hymn published in 1867, “Kneel Where Our Loves are Sleeping” by Nella L. Sweet carried the dedication “To The Ladies of the South who are Decorating the Graves of the Confederate Dead” (Source: Duke University's Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920). While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day. It is more likely that it had many separate beginnings; each of those towns and every planned or spontaneous gathering of people to honor the war dead in the 1860’s tapped into the general human need to honor our dead, each contributed honorably to the growing movement that culminated in Gen Logan giving his official proclamation in 1868. It is not important who was the very first, what is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all.

Click here for more information about Memorial Day, including the story of how a poem entitled In Flanders Fields brought about the tradition of wearing red poppies to honor those who gave their lives in the service of their country.

Move to Condo √

2011-05-23T09:39:00.000-07:00

Monday, 23 May

We’ve had three sleeps at the condo and so far so good. No distracting sounds from neighboring condos; no street noises to interfere with a good night’s rest; no fire alarms going off at 2:00a (that was a problem at the apartment building we lived in when we first moved to the DC area).

As scheduled, the moving company that we contracted with arrived bright and early on Friday. We’d already done quite a bit of work to prepare for this day, grouping and organizing all of the stuff we wanted Quality Moving Services to transfer to the condo. Our prep work paid off — nothing got left behind; nothing extra was moved. The three guys assigned to our move were professional, courteous, and careful. They did a good job wrapping the furniture to ensure nothing was damaged during the move. We had only one breakage — a glass shade on a floor lamp; no biggie as far as we’re concerned.

Good prep work … smooth move.
(I moved what little was left in my walk-in closet, leaving the big stuff to the big guys!)

The guys pow-wow their move strategy.

By the time the movers left on Friday, all of the furniture was placed as we had directed, needing just a few adjustments here and there. Boxes were stacked out of the way, ready for us to unpack. Saturday started early — like 5:00a early. By the end of the day, we were dead-tired, but felt good about our progress. We even managed to restore our connection to the outside world by getting the phones and computers hooked up. (No thanks to our cable company; plenty of kudos to Apple Care!)

In reasonable shape by Saturday afternoon.

Sunday was another day of hard work. I am pleased to report that most of the boxes the movers brought are unpacked. We’ve put the few boxes that we didn’t get to in the storage area we created for ourselves … you’ll laugh at our ingenious solution when I post a picture (later). Time will tell if we have everything in the right place or if we need to re-arrange a few things. For now, it feels good to have no boxes cluttering our living space. (Sorry, no photo from Sunday; I was dead on my feet and didn’t feel like getting the camera out.)

We still have some stuff to bring over from the townhouse — plants, knick-knacks, my cross-stitch artwork, and the like. No worries; we have all week to do that. Actually, we have through the end of the month since closing is scheduled for 31 May, but we’re getting the carpets cleaned on the 27th, so we’d like to get everything out before then.

More to come … including photos of the new place. This is all I can manage on my lunch hour today.

Making Headway on Retirement Plans: Step 2 √

2011-05-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 10 May

Step 1 towards “goin’ a rollin’ around North America” after retirement was buying the motorhome. That was accomplished in May 2010. Here we are a year later, and step 2 is also accomplished.

The earliest Mui can retire is December 2012, so we really weren’t planning on selling our townhouse this early. Our plans changed when we went for a neighborhood walk one Sunday morning in late March. Nothing unusual about that; it’s something we do frequently for exercise. Except that this time we deviated from our usual path and found ourselves at the site of a brand new subdivision going up not far from us. Hmmm!

Construction was still in the start-up phase, but the way buildings go up like Lego toys these days, it wouldn’t be long before the market was flooded with new builds. So, we called the real estate agent who helped us sell our previous townhouse seven years ago. When we determined that there were no other properties even remotely like ours on the market, we decided to test the waters, so to speak, and put the townhouse up for sale. That was on 30 March.

Fast forward to April 22. On the last day of our vacation in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, our agent called to tell us that we had an offer on our townhouse. We countered. The buyer countered back. The second offer was acceptable to us, so we signed the amended contract. We don’t usually travel with our scanner, but we had brought it along with us this time — a premonition perhaps! Thirty minutes later, the paperwork was on its way to our agent. Ain’t technology great!

Pleased with how things had worked out, we celebrated the impending sale. No, not with a bottle of bubbly; but with something even better …

All of the inspections are complete; the t’s are crossed and the i’s are dotted. Closing is scheduled for 31 May. In the meantime, we’ve rented a duplex condo not far from where the townhouse is and we’ve started taking small stuff there already. The heavy furnishings for the condo are tagged; movers are scheduled for 20 May.

Weeding down to fit into 1,500 sq ft (139 sq m) from nearly 3,000 sq ft (279 sq m) is progressing smoothly. We’ve sold stuff on Craigslist; donated a bunch of things to charity; thrown out a whole lot of stuff that served us well, but which we no longer need; and set aside a pile of things that have sentimental value to go into storage. Even as I’m writing this post, an estate sales guy is downstairs packing a bunch of knick knacks we no longer want. You know the saying — one person’s trash … Yup; things are on a roll!

Now you know why my “in the spotlight” series for our OBX trip has been derailed. I’ll eventually get back on track. Until then, I’ll leave you with something sweet …

No, you’re not seeing things. In the midst of the controlled chaos of the sale and the move, Mui somehow managed to find time to make strawberry jam. Twelve jars of it to be precise. Crazy? Perhaps; but it’s because he does things like this that he’s the chef in our household and not me.

X-Stitch: Patchwork Pillow

2011-05-06T10:24:00.001-07:00

Most of my cross stitch projects hang on the walls around the house. On occasion, however, I’ve made baby bibs, birth and wedding announcements, fingertip and kitchen towels, tablecloths, and even throw pillows. Most of those were gifts that I’ve long since given away and I don’t have pictures of them — except for this one pillow, which I kept.

The loveseat, currently in the master bedroom, is one of the items we’ll be selling as we downsize for retirement; I’ll have to find someplace else to put the pillow.

Back at the Stix & Brix Home

2011-04-24T06:04:00.001-07:00

Sunday, 24 April

We arrived from the OBX to our stix and brix home yesterday. Our projected 6-7 hours on the road turned into 10 hours of at times stop-and-go, stop-and-go driving, so I was in no mood to turn on the computer and post to the blog when we finally pulled into the driveway around 7:30p.

The drive was uneventful; it was the traffic that threw a wrench into our day. There was quite a bit of it from the moment we left the campground, but at least it was moving. Then, shortly after we hit I-64W, our trucker’s GPS sounded a heavy traffic alert and re-routed us to Route 460W. No problem; it added length to our trip, but again, the traffic was moving. All was going well until we hit I-95. This highway always has major traffic congestions unless you’re driving against traffic. Yesterday was no exception. The GPS once again sounded a heavy traffic warning, but once committed to I-95N, there were no good alternatives until we reached the junction and jumped onto Route 1 near Fredericksburg. It seemed to take us forever to get through the first couple of miles through the city, but after that it was smooth sailing with 55 mph (88 kph) speeds to our final turn-off onto SR 234N.

The red lines show our detours, which added about 20 miles to our original routing.

Lesson learned. If our travels include I-95 in the future, we won’t dally at the campground; we’ll leave early, early, early. Normally, we do that anyway, but knowing that a particularly hectic month of May is ahead of us, we found it difficult to leave the relaxing pace of our vacation behind.

Before putting the Phaeton to bed at the storage lot, we topped off the diesel at Fannon Petroleum Services. Their price of $3.94/gallon had not changed from the time we last filled up on 10 April, and was a heck of a lot better than the prices we saw in the OBX (ranging from $4.05 to $4.19). We ended up buying 72 gallons, which means we got 8.75 miles to the gallon on this trip. Not bad for a 40-foot beast with a toad following closely on its heels … (or should that be wheels).

As promised, I will be posting separate entries with photos of the places we explored. But as noted above, the days ahead promise to be quite hectic, so the blog entries may be a bit slow in coming. Have patience please :-) …

A Quiet Day Leads to “Nights in Rodanthe”

2011-04-22T18:51:00.001-07:00

Friday, 22 April

It was another beautiful day in the OBX even if the temperature was on the cool side. We woke up to a breezy 54F (12C), and it stayed around that range throughout the day. At least the skies were blue and filled with sunshine.

Around 7:00a, we went for a 5-mile (8 km) stroll on the beach fronting the campground. When we set out on our walk, the beach was completely deserted. It was too early even for the birds that we usually see scavenging for tidbits in the sand. By the time we returned to the coach around 8:30a, we had company on the beach – mostly anglers casting their lines into the wickedly churning ocean … the roughest we’ve seen since our arrival a week ago.

The shoreline is trimmed with sea foam.

I was curious about all the sea foam we were seeing today, so when we returned to the coach, I did a bit of research. Here’s an excerpt from a Q&A that was published in The New York Times:

… “Like a bathtub full of bubbles, sea foam needs two ingredients,” said Dr. Elizabeth L. Venrick, a marine ecologist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif., “something to decrease the surface tension of the water, like bubble bath, and something to froth it up, like water running into the tub.”

In the ocean, the “bubble bath” is usually dissolved organic material, she said, and strong surface winds or the breaking of waves on the beach stir up the water with air to make bubbles.

“The organic material comes from a number of sources, usually a concentration of biomass, like the phytoplankton bloom that causes red tide or a fish kill,” Dr. Venrick said. (A bloom is an increase in the numbers of some species or complex of species that then die or are eaten, releasing organic material.) The material can also come from sewer spills and other terrestrial runoff, she said.

In addition, there are a number of mechanisms that concentrate the foam, which is commonly blown up on the beach, for example. …

It's not just sea foam that the waves have brought ashore.

The main reason our walk was so long this morning was because I wanted to reach the Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station from the beach side to capture the buildings in the soft, morning light. Since there is an admission charged for the museum, I respected the no trespassing signs and still managed to get a couple of decent photos.

The buildings in the photo on the upper right are (from L to R): The 1911 Station;
the 1874 Station; the 1892 Cook House; and the 1907 Midgett House.

A quick note about the “wreck pole” in the pictures, it was used by the crew to hone their skills for the “Breeches Buoy” rescue. More on that when I post a separate entry about Chicamacomico.

The anglers are out to try their luck.

We debated going sightseeing after breakfast, but decided once again to stay home and relax. That turned out to be the right decision. Because we were at home, we were able to receive some documents that required our signature and fax them back without delay. Ain’t technology great! Of course, dealing with the paperwork meant cutting our afternoon stroll on the beach short, but as hard as the wind was blowing, that was probably for the best anyway.

A lone windsurfer and ...

... a slew of kite flyers take advantage of the strong winds.

Overall, it was a quiet day at home. The one time we ventured out was to get a treat from the only place serving hand dipped ice cream that has opened its doors for pre-season visitors. The place is next door to the campground, so we decided to walk over there. Along the way, however, we were given a tip that changed our plans. Mui grabbed the car and we drove the short distance to get pictures of Serendipity … better known as the Inn at Rodanthe. Yes, the same place featured in Nights in Rodanthe, the movie starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane.

made famous by a movie, I imagine this place is quite popular as a vacation rental.

Scenes from Nights in Rodanthe.
[photos courtesy of various sites on the web]

Serendipity was damaged by an honest-to-goodness storm in the summer of 2008 and was later condemned. In 2010, the property was saved from the wrecking ball. It was moved to a location a little further inland and restored by the new owners. (Center top photo shows the house the day that it was moved.)

If you haven’t seen it, Nights in Rodanthe is a nice romantic movie (perhaps a bit of a tear-jerker, too) … perfect for date night.

By the way … a bit of personal trivia. Rodanthe is the second place we’ve been to where there is a connection to Richard Gere. Coincidentally, we were on another camping trip … of a much different kind (don’t laugh when you see the pictures in the link provided) … when we visited the first place. Click here to read about our “blast from the past” from Fort Worden State Park where scenes for An Officer and a Gentleman were filmed.

And so, our vacation comes to a close. We drive home tomorrow, catch up on stix and brix chores on Sunday, and go back to work on Monday. We had a great time here in the OBX. We enjoyed exploring places of historic significance and strolling on a very small portion of the more than 70 miles (112+ km) of beaches that is the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. We look forward to someday returning here (in the off-season, of course) to visit the wildlife refuges and everything else we missed this time around.

Word of caution to future visitors … especially those driving relatively high-profile vehicles. Drive carefully and be aware of wildlife … feathered and furred. We’ve seen more dead birds and other unidentifiable creatures on and alongside the roads here than we have anywhere else in our travels. In particular, gulls and pelicans fly at near-vehicle levels around the bridge into (and out of) Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Bear in mind that we’re visitors to the land these creatures call home.