On the Road Again!

The view from our deck down to Baby's usual spot. We're finished with digging her out and careening down the driveway!

Our little tree down by the pond 
looks quite wintery and sweet.

After Michal and our 5 grandchildren left, we had five days to pack and get the house ready for the winter (without us, but with expected visits from our kids and friends). I did yeoman's duty at Pierce's, working there (volunteering) running the store 4 hour shifts on 3 days! We left January 2nd from Exit 1 RV in Fairhaven, VT where we have been storing Baby since late October. We had only a sprinkling of snow there. But we had around 8 inches at home as you can see from the photo! The truck was packed as we are gone for almost 5 months. 

Scott at Chez Pierre in Gansevoort, NY near the Saratoga
RV Park. This was a favorite spot of Brian Armstrong and
myself back in the 1970's. It's still run by the same family!

From there we drove an hour and a half over to Saratoga RV and spent one night before a long day driving down to Washington DC. We can't use the tunnels in Baltimore because we carry propane tanks, so had to drive right through the city. After 2 nights there visiting our son James and his family, we hightailed south again to try and get out of the coming snowstorm. We got as far as Ashland, VA and spent one night there. We didn't escape the snow though, as we woke up to several inches of snow and slush. It took several hours of careful driving before we left the snow line. The temperatures however didn't go up.

The view out our RV window at the Americamps
RV Park in Ashland, VA in the morning.

Walt & Honoree in their kitchen

Our next stop was our yearly visit to our old traveling buddies, Walt & Honoree, at their beautiful home in Carthage, NC. Baby's spot on the edge of their pond is one of our all time favorites. We had a great time as usual with cold but clear sunny days. Some great walks, meals, card games, and conversation! One wonderful surprise too. They have volunteered to keep Baby on their property while we are away in New Zealand and Australia! We're flying out of Raleigh, about an hour away. This will save us a lot of money in storage fees and we'll get to visit them again in the spring!

Now we're off for another visit with old friends, Stephen & Kate Kelley in Pawley's Island, SC. But that will be covered in my next post!

That's Baby in her favorite spot at Walt & Honorees home in Carthage, NC

 

Heading Home!

The best view from our window since the Santa
Rosa RV Park where we were on the beach!

The pond was small but evidently had good fishing
as several people were busy at it. 

Entering Virginia felt like we were in the last phase of our trip, with only 9 days left. I had read about the Walnut Hills Campground a year before on one of our RV site reviews and planned it as our last stop before returning to the Bar Harbor RV Park in Maryland where we've stayed at every year near my sister's. It's a beautiful setting in the hills just outside of Staunton with a small pond and meandering streams. Our site was right on the pond and the view from our dinette was lovely. 

Several pretty streams wandered around our
campground.

We enjoyed a big breakfast lunch after our hike at
Kathy's Diner in Staunton. 

We saw several deer on our hike: they were not at
all worried about us. 

We had two nights there. On our one full day spent the morning hiking around a local park.. We thought we were ascending a small hill to a viewpoint over the mountains but got the wrong hill! Oh well, it was still a pretty walk with several glimpses of a herd of deer. That worked up our appetite, which was a good thing as the brunch at Kathy's Diner was enormous. 

"The Manse", Woodrow Wilson's birthplace in Staunton, VA

Wilson's 1919 Pierce-Arrow limousine was
completely restored and very beautiful.

The "interactive" replica of a WWI trench is in
the basement of the museum.

I love these old kitchen's. This one reminded me
of my grandparents' in Canton. They still had 
their old wood stove when I was young.

The historic downtown features many beautiful homes and buildings all perched on a series of hills! The streets are narrow and steep. Luckily we got to our next destination, the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Birthplace just before it opened. So we were able to get a parking space in the small lot. 

We spent the afternoon touring the Museum and Birthplace. "The Manse" is called that as it was the residence of the Presbyterian Minister. It was built in 1846 and the Wilsons moved into it in 1855 just before Woodrow was born. They only spent 3 years there, Woodrow only 2, but he continued to go back for visits all his life and somehow thought of it as "home".  His widow Ellen (his second wife) bought it after his death in 1924 and along with his friends and the city, created the Birthplace Memorial. 

He was the 28th President of the Untied States and served two terms from 1913 to 1921. Before that he had been Governor of New Jersey and President of Princeton. Although though as Governor he broke with party bosses and instituted several progressive reforms, during his presidency he instituted segregation within the federal bureaucracy and opposed women's suffrage.. But he later came to support the women's right to vote and if his dream of creating the League of Nations after WWI had worked, we might have avoided the even more disastrous WWII. 

On Monday night we celebrated Passover with a simple Seder ceremony with Paula. She converted to Judaism many years ago and has been a very active member of Temple Adas Shalom.  

The next day was an easy drive briefly through West Virginia and then into Maryland. Baby was settled into her site at the Bar Harbor RV Park by 4 PM and we drove right over to see my sister Paula. She has settled right into the long term health care facility close to her old apartment. Sterling Care Riverside is also right near our RV park so it's easy to run back and forth. We bring her breakfast in the morning (a cheese & pepper & onion omelet and coffee) and then dinner in the evening. The first evening I made her dinner but after that we got Indian and Chinese takeout - fun for all of us. 

We woke up on our first morning to this - a very
high tide due to the winds and a full moon. 
Scott had to wade out to our truck to move it.

The staff knew enough to empty the sites right on
the water. We were just beyond the worst of the
flooding but had to pick our way to dry land from
our RV.

On Thursday we drove down to Washington DC for a 3 night visit with our son James, our daughter-in-law Morgen and 5 year old grandson Kolya. That will be my next blog entry!

Song of the South

 

Sunny but cool - in front of the Capitol in 
Washington with the Mall behind me.

My sister Paula and ourselves take a selfie.

After a wintery freezing start to our trip, the song of the south beckons us onward with warmer, sunny weather. Right now we are in South Carolina and it was 70 degrees yesterday with clear skies! My last post finished with our arrival at my sister Paula's for a visit. We spent four days with her and enjoyed some holiday meals and lots of conversation. Then we drove back to the RV park to repack for our visit with our son James and his family in Washington DC. We basically left the RV at the park, staying with first Paula and then, James 

The traditional Pavlovic dessert on Christmas Eve,
a Strawberry Pavlova. 

Scott and Grace, Morgen's niece. 

Our grandson Kolya with James and Morgen's
father Karl in the background on Christmas
morning at Morgen's sister's home.

This was our second time celebrating Christmas with Morgen's family. Her sister Claire and brother-in-law Bill have a home just blocks from James and Morgen on Capitol Hill. They have 2 girls, Grace and Nora. We had Christmas Eve and the next day with them, along with both of their parents. Morgen's family have traditional meals at this time. The first is Cheese Fondue and Salad followed by a Strawberry Pavlova. On the day itself, a big brunch followed by Spaghetti and Meatballs, Salad and Christmas cookies. With three children you can imagine there were tons of presents. 

The weather stayed cool but several days it was clear. One day we went to the Arboretum to see the toy trains race around a world wide landscape out in the garden area. Four trains wound around tiny towns representing countries from all over the world.  Inside it was beautifully decorated for Christmas. 

Our next stop was Colonial Williamsburg for two nights. We'd been there twice before when the children were young. The first time we exchanged homes with the Vice President of Williamsburg and lived in their home right in the center of the historic district for a week  We had glorious weather - 65 degrees with bright sunshine. Visits to the craftspeople and conversations with the "townsfolk" were highlights. That evening we had dinner and then attended a organ recital at the 1715 Episcopal Church in the center of town - marvelous!

We had a great visit in the Carpentry shop and learned about the Apprentice program and careers in the crafts at Williamsburg.

On December 30th we continued on to our close friends Walt & Honoree Cooper in Carthage, NC. We first met them in 2006 in Trinidad and Bonaire. Since then we traveled together in Peru for 2 months, France & Italy for another 2 months and more recently a week in Amsterdam and a 2 week cruise up the Norwegian coast to above the Artic Circle. We spent 3 nights with them, celebrating the New Year with their neighbors and attending their New Year's Day pickle ball party. They are avid pickle ball players and constructed a beautiful court on their property. 

That's Junior and Baby across the Cooper's pond - what a lovely spot!

Here's the view the other direction near sunset from our RV.

We are now spending 3 nights with our former Brookline neighbors and friends, Kate & Stephen Kelley. They have a second home in Litchfield By The Sea on Pawley's Island, SC. It's a beautiful area and the beach here is endless! We've parked our RV in the Huntington Beach State Park right next door. This is the location of Atalaya, which was the winter home of the industrialist and philanthropist Archer M. Huntington and his wife, the sculptor Anna Hyatt Huntington. They donated 2,600 acres including the castle and Brookgreen Gardens, a showcase for Anna's sculptures and others. We spent hours walking around admiring the beautiful landscaping and works of art. 

Scott, Kate, Heather and Stephen. 

Today, Thursday 1/5 we continue on to Skidaway Island State Park outside of Savannah. It promises to be another beautiful day!

I loved the small lovely vistas around 
Williamsburg

Walt & Honoree's Pickleball Court in action..

Watching the fierce competition

Walt & Honoree with ourselves

The gorgeous wide endless beach at Pawley's Island where Kate & Stephen have their vacation home

We had breakfast with Stephen's mother Rives one morning

One of the beautiful statues at Brookgreen Gardens

Blue Ridge Parkway Day Five and the Skyline Drive

 We left the Franklin County Distillery in Boone's Mill after a lazy morning (cell coverage for a change) and rejoined the Blue Ridge Parkway just east of Roanoke. It was another gorgeous day. Our first stop was the Explore Park, a 1,100 acre multi-use recreation area run by the Roanoke County Parks that has ropes courses, biking trails, kayaking and canoeing, summer camp, horseback riding, and several campgrounds. We walked around but everything was closed, then went down to the river access on a narrow road that luckily we didn't meet anyone coming in the opposite direction!

Explore Park has not only multiple campgrounds but this Tavern (not open of course). 

We didn't have far to go this day as we had reservations at the Peaks of Otter Winery, which is just off the Parkway. We had the leisure to stop at every look out and hike several short trails. The Appalachian Trail runs along this section of the road and crosses every once in awhile. We saw a number of through hikers and some section hikers. Our son James hiked from the start of the trail in Georgia to the end of the Blue Ridge Parkway in Waynesboro before stress fractures in his feet caused him to abandon his plan to finish hiking the whole trail that season. Later that summer he did another section up in New Hampshire and Maine. 

Doesn't this entrance to the AT look inviting with its picnic table?

The Peaks of Otter was another beautiful spot and our campsite looked out at an apple orchard with one of the 3 Peaks of Otter beyond. This is a fruit winery and although we enjoyed our tasting, we're not as fond of fruit wines as grape based wines. We did buy one bottle of apple wine. Your stay at Harvest Host locations is free for one night but they ask you to spend at least $20 there on their products or services. That's never hard and in fact, we always spend much more!

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The view out our dinette window at the Peaks of Otter Winery in Bedford, VA. That's Flat Top Mountain in the distance, one of the 3 Peaks of Otter Mountains.

The next morning was another lovely day and we left earlier as we had a long day ahead of us. We had 85 miles to finish the Blue Ridge Parkway and then planned to do another 40 miles on the Skyline Drive before exiting to spend a night at the Brothers Craft Brewery in Harrisonburg, another Harvest Host member. We stopped at the Falling Water Cascades for a brief hike and then the Apple Orchard Falls, passing the highest point on the Parkway in Virginia (3950 feet vs the highest point in NC which was 6053 feet). 

I love these yellow flowers as I've said before and this photo actually is pretty accurate for a change. The parkway is so lovely in itself interspersed with distant views.

A very interesting stop was the James River and Canal. We walked over the bridge and saw a small section of the canal which was started in 1785, half-completed in 1851, and abandoned in favor of a railroad route. This River, before it was damed several times, was a major route west for settlers. Another 60 miles later we completed the Parkway and started immediately on the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. We wanted to finish the Skyline drive the next day before continuing on to Washington DC to visit our son James, daughter-in-law Morgan and grandson, Kolya. We really want to return one day and spend more time here hiking and camping. Although we did see a lot, one week is still rushing through the area. A more leisurely visit, later in the season when evrything is open would be great. 

One of the locks on the canal is still visible here next to the James River.

The Skyline Drive felt very different from the Parkway. It isn't manicured and is left pretty natural. The Parkway verges are mowed and have various fences and stone walls. The Skyline Drive has many more Visitors Centers, Hotels, Restaurants, and Campgrounds and they were almost all open. We exited on Route 33 and drove 21 miles to our next overnight stop, the Brother's Craft Brewery. We shared the parking lot with 2 other RVs and despite being near the road, it was pretty quiet at night. They brew a large collection of beers right on the premises and sell beer retail as well as at the bar. They do not serve food but our bartender helped us order pizza, which was delivered hot in only 20 minutes and we ate it sitting outside on their terrace enjoying several beers. It was excellent! Scott had a board ZOOM meeting for Rights and Democracy that night and happily, there was plenty of cell service.

I love these gnarly trees and they frame the distant mountains so well.

The next day was overcast and cool but we soldiered ahead on the Skyline Drive. The distant views were not as nice but the road itself is always lovely. Still, it took a while for the 70+ miles and we then ran into construction delays on the highway to Washington. It was later than we hoped getting settled into our next stop, Cherry Hill RV Park in College Park, MD. Our trailer will stay there for 5 nights while we visit our son James and his family in Washington. More on that in my next post,

We often saw farms just off the road, here hay has been rolled up and left for pick up.

We hiked down to Falling Water
Cascades and looked up to the 
parkway bridge overhead

Falling Waters Cascade

OK, I'm a sucker for trees in the foreground.

The AT leads invitingly off the Parkway. We would love to do some more hiking here one day.

Just one lovely view after another.

The wine tasting room at Peaks of Otter Winery

There were a number of lakes along the road.

White Rock Falls

This was an inviting start to a trail

We followed it for a while until it petered 
out in a maze of rocks.

A view up the James River from the bridge,.

White dogwoods bloomed along both the Parkway
and the Skyline Drive everywhere.

I believe these magenta small trees which were
also common are redbuds.

Here's a closeup of one.

Views along the Skyline our last day.

It was quite overcast for most of that drive but
still beautiful.