Weekend at Bull Run Regional Park

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?

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.