Monday, 3 December
BULL RUN REGIONAL PARK — CENTREVILLE, VIRGINIA
TEMPS: LO 41F / HI 71F (5C / 22C)
Up early this morning (haven’t mastered sleeping in yet, but give us time), we finished off our bread pudding French toast breakfast treat (post here) and went to work. Not the 9 to 5 kind of work, but household chores that one must take care of whether in a stix & brix or in a house on wheels. The two biggies were shampooing what little carpet we have in the coach, and getting the trikes loaded back into the toad in preparation for tomorrow’s departure from BRRP.
(The photo to the right shows Mui’s creative solution for making sure neither of us accidentally went into the bedroom while the carpet was drying!)
In between the two chores, we made our last run up to Winchester to take the TV and a few other things to storage. Despite the overcast that crept in soon after we left the Centreville area, it was a nice day for a drive, and with the morning rush over, there was no traffic to hamper us. Instead of doing the usual I-66W to I-81N route, we detoured onto US-17N/US-50W for a shorter drive (by about 12 miles [19 km]) through the countryside.
I could not pass up the reflection photo op at the Paris Farm store & Sanctuary in the
Crooked Run Valley Rural Historic District. In addition to ponies and llamas grazing
in the fields, there was an …
 |  |
… emu of all things patrolling the fence line!
We arrived in Winchester shortly after 11:00a, giving us plenty of time to drop off the boxes at the storage unit before meeting up with friends, Jack and Jean, at the nearby Ruby Tuesday. Jack was my boss at DCS until his retirement from the company four years ago. You know how it is when you meet fellow RVers and bloggers — the camaraderie is instantaneous and there’s never a lull in the conversation. Even though it’s been four years since we last saw them, it was the same when we got together with Jack and Jean today.
Thanks for the conversation, laughter, and treating us to lunch!
A quick stop at Lowe’s after lunch wrapped up our visit to Winchester. We arrived back at BRRP around 3:30p and immediately went to work getting the toad ready for tomorrow. With the unseasonably warm temps this afternoon, doing chores outside was actually fun.
Though this would have been a good night weather-wise to get out and photograph the holiday cheer of Bull Run’s Festival of Lights, after careful consideration, we decided to stay in. There are way too many guide wires, electric cables, and whatnot lying in wait to trip the unwary visitor wandering around on foot in unlit areas. But fear not ...
Bull Run Regional Park Festival of Lights 2012
[photos for the collage courtesy of the BRRP website]
We have a short run down to the Richmond area on the agenda for tomorrow. Mui wants the Winegard people in Ashland to take a look at the satellite dish. What we do afterwards will depend on what the tech needs to do to make sure the satellite locks on to signals without any manual adjustments by Mui.
Let the jello-plan days of our new lifestyle begin ;-)
Reconnecting with old friends is always so much fun! Being able to travel gives you more opportunity to do more of the same. Good luck with the satellite tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteMui has one creative mind...hehe
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely photo of the farmhouse!
We need to head down to Houston at night to catch some of the decorations. We haven't seen many yet this year.
Chores?=Fun?
ReplyDeleteTake an aspirin, delirium has set in ;)))))
yet another productive day!! good for you!!
ReplyDeletegreat shot of the farmhouse!!
I liked that Emu close up, and the farm photo is lovely. Much nicer that the scenery along the interstate, I bet.
ReplyDeleteI'm beginning to think the word "relax" is not in your retirement vocabulary. ;c)
ReplyDeleteGood thing there was a fence between you and that Emu, it didn't look too friendly. :cO
So...I notice Mui has things all wrapped up...his thumb. Get a little too close to that emu?
ReplyDeletenah ... nothing so exotic ...just a deep scratch from something or another!
DeleteEnjoying seeing what the life is like. Thank you for sharing! PS The bread pudding french toast has been on my mind since I read it. Sounds too good!
ReplyDelete[via e-mail]
ReplyDeleteI know the route 17/50 byway very well. When I was a kid we drove this 100’s of times. My mother called it “Peaceful Valley.”