Posts from the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Nov 3

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Well, we settled here, approaching a year now, where family has been for decades. Family names on streets and the odds that many of the folks we meet are somehow related. You would think we knew the area. Not so well it seems. It has taken company from our motorhome travels and distant Colorado friends to encourage some exploration. So, here is a quick look at Thurmont, MD and surrounding features.

Within 40mins we have several National Parks including Antietam Battle Field and Gettysburg Battlefield. Both of which should be on every one’s list to visit. The associated foundations have produced amazing films and displays that do everything but put you in the battles. A remarkable look at that piece of history.

NPS is doing a wonderful job renovating the facilities and displays at the C&O Canal, including rebuilding the aqua duct, and re-watering to float a canal boat, in Williamsport – which also has Civil War history as a hospital town.

And a walk along the tow path offers assorted photographic opportunities…

Closer to home is the Catoctin Mountain NP with assorted hiking trail (not far from Camp David). Of family interest is the now defunct mountain spring still. During prohibition in the ‘20s, local folk built a rather extensive facility capable to producing large quantities (18 500gal vats) of whiskey …. until the revenuers found them. It seems gunfire was exchange and a revenuer shot dead. A distant relative was found guilty of the murder and incarcerated for some years. The back story says the revenuer was shot in the back, and his partner (behind him) was engaged in an affair with his wife. The subsequent assumption follows that our guy was innocent, and the truth covered up. Always fun to have ‘interesting’ relatives 😊

Then came the tour of the local covered bridges, all three of which have been fully restored and have accompanying parks on beautiful streams. Anyone would provide for a beautiful picnic, and wade in the creek……

Then there is the giant slide (covered) at a local church park. Built in the early 1900s.

Throughout much of this part of the Country, the winery industry has grown. The hard scrabble ground that offers poor farming, makes for good grapes. At least three wineries are close at hand. And a stop at one gave us a great tour and explanation of the wine making process – not to mention an extended sampling of their wares. It pays to go at off times …

Oct 2

On coming Home – a sequel*

While resting on my newly acquired boat and feeling very much at home, I began thinking about the meaning of Home. What is it that draws us to a place that we feel is home? Is there some underlying biology to it? And so, from where did we come that would leave that trace?

Biologists and other scientists work to describe HOW we came to be as a species (along with all other living things). We think we’ve got it. Philosophers try to explain WHY — all absolute conjecture. Yet, seemingly buried in our DNA or elsewhere is some innate knowledge of both how and why – and from where. It’s buried so deep we are never certain, if we’re honest with ourselves, of what we profess to believe, or at least we shouldn’t be.

So, in that buried knowledge, do we have some understanding of what home means? Why are some of us driven to try to explain? Is there something profoundly important that understanding would reveal? From ‘ashes to ashes’ we simply recycle our beings. Is death the pathway to home … returning elementally from whence we came? In that sense, do we not all return home to the earth in the end?

Most likely never consider these matters, being free then to pursue their lives unhindered by the questioning and frustrations of inadequate understanding. Others choose to leave this all up to one or another god and its associated religion – and accept that dogma.

At the very end of any puzzling of this kind comes the unanswerable question of where did this universe come from and what preceded it if anything. Thus, from whence did we come? Nothing-ness, along with infinity, are concepts our brains seem incapable of grasping in any meaningful way. What do we know but not recognize or understand about this yearning for home? What is different about those of us who feel this yearning so profoundly? Are we the same ones who feel so deeply for the health of our earth?

See, it’s risky to simply sit on a boat with nothing much to do.

‘Coming home’ is a frequent expression having nothing to do with opening a door to our house. What images connote home? Why? What do they have in common? Among many singers/songwriters, Enya sings “I’ll find a way home”, Sissel sings ‘Going home’. Many people will recognize that feeling about a place that they’ve come home to – a comforting, belonging feeling. When asked to explain why, what it is about the place and the feeling, most will struggle for an adequate answer.

What prompted this rambling essay? I’m back on the water after a solid-ground excursion of a few years. It feels like coming home. For me, that’s a sense of ‘rightness’, calm, familiar, peaceful, belonging. My boat’s name Valinor is from Tolkien’s middle earth tale. Valinor is the ‘undying land’ to which the heros sailed at the end of the story – a comforting thought of going home.

All is good when sitting in a boat in a quiet back water with no demands of self except the constant conversation that carries on in our minds, aware or not, and a child’s repetitive question, why? Why does this feel like coming home?

Perhaps it’s just simply that home is the saline sea from whence we came – if the biologists are right. The philosopher’s ‘why’ question is more interesting.

*see the earlier ‘coming home’ post.

Jul 22

3 Comments

Searching…..

Almost three years ago I traded sails and house for wheels.

It was a wonderful two years traveling the Country, but now it’s time to trade back.

Motor home is gone and a new house renovated. Back in the Bay area, and almost feeling settled……..then sitting still isn’t an option. So begins the search for a new “Valinor”. She was a wonderful sailing partner, and we covered a lot of water together. This time will be a step up from her 30 feet by 4 to 6 more. Looking forward to cruising the Bay again and reconnecting with my sailing friends.

Stay tuned for the search process … have already passed on several Catalina 34s and 36s and a couple Beneteaus looking for that ideal boat – solid, clean, well equipped, 34-36ft with walk thru transom. Yes, there will be a dog on board so easy access from and to the dingy will be important.

Look forward to meeting on the water!

Mar 22

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Winter in paradise

After another wonderful season of traveling the west, we settled at a beautiful class A RV resort for the winter – lots of sun and warm! And not too bad a drive to home and family when needed.

We arrived the end of November, after the annual stop at the Tiffen factory in Red Bay, AL for some minor service. On the way we enjoyed a visit to old town St Augustine and another pleasant stay at a Harvest Host winery. (see prevous post)

RV Resort Port St Lucie West is a beautiful place with large, well developed sites and lots of amenities. Our site was especially nice and backed up to a beautiful lake with assorted wildlife…

…and gorgeous sunrises

No more were we settled than we drove the car back to Maryland for an early family Christmas. Got to see all the kids and grandkids.

Sadly, we made a second trip home for the funeral of my brother-in law. But as these events provide, it was a chance to see other family, including a nephew who flew in from Spain.

For assorted reasons, we’ve been without a dog for some time – an unusual and undesirable condition. By coincidence, my long search for a dog had produced some possible results. One was near Richmond, VA – on the way home. So, we stopped on our way north for a meet & greet, leaving with arrangements to pick him up in a week……. WELCOME to the newest family member Tacker – a sweet, 8 year-old Brittany! He settled into the house quickly…..

… and was soon after transported south to our winter digs…which it seems he also enjoys…what a great Christmas present for me!

…and always helpful !

Lots to do here at the resort to keep busy, and we’ve made good friends to do things with. An olympic sized swimming pool, Yoga (Denise) 3 times a week, Dominos, billiards, weekly happy hours (on the House), and sponsored musical and dinner events. Though we didn’t participate – Pickle Ball, Tennis, Golf, darts, card night and other fun activities. Most recently was the annual St Patrick’s Day golf cart parade…

which even the dogs appreciated…

…followed by a delicious dinner and dancing…

With Spring approaching, it’s time to begin packing up to head home.

As hard as it is to leave our new friends, we look forward to more time with family and we still have projects and work to do on the Maryland house………

…hoping the white stuff will be gone

Dec 2

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Turned the corner

After a month’s rest in southern Arizona, we turned the coach eastward with a warm winter closer to family and the winter holidays in mind. Still a long run with some great places to experience along the way.

First stop was a visit to the Chihuahuan Desert Research Institute near Ft Davis, TX. CDRI has a long history focusing on the protection and management of this unique desert environment. It’s a place I’ve known since early in my professional career but never had the opportunity to visit. They maintain a beautiful arboretum with nature trails and an amazing nursery for every species and variety of desert cacti.

A short drive off I-10 in west Texas – not to be missed.

Next stop was at our favorite Corp of Engineer’s park in Georgetown, TX (Jim Hogg). We spent some time there last year. It’s close to Austin and some good friends of Denise – so another good visit.

The sunsets over the lake are spectacular. And we get visits from the local deer population…..

It was then a short run south to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and experience the old town river walk.

We enjoyed a ride on the water around the walk… Christmas decorations were just going up …

It was time to make our annual visit to Red Bay, AL and the Tiffin service center. The list was short and assorted minor issues. It is as much an educational stop as service. The techs are always helpful and ready to answer questions and show how to do many simple repairs. The Fall is always busy there, but our expected stay of a couple weeks turned out to be just 5days.

With some extra time, we headed south to the Gulf coast and found a nice RV park at Emerald Beach

Made a visit to Gulf Island Seashore, Ft Pickens and were treated to a visit by an apparently friendly armadillo …

…and got some beach time to put our feet in the sand!

We found Captain Dave’s for a delightful evening and delicious dinner..

Some years ago I came through St Augustine – actually several times, but never saw the old historic city since those visits were by sailboat on the Intracoastal Waterway (AICW). This time I saw the Bridge of Lions from the shore instead of waiting for it to lift for passage.

Also visited the fort that is such a prominent view from the water.

It has been beautifully restored…

And our Thankgiving dinner, while not the traditional menu, was outstanding seafood … including a fine wine list and remarkable deserts of bread pudding and my favorite – Key Lime pie…..

Near the end of this part of our travels we found another Harvest Host stop for a couple days at Summer Crush Winery…. A pleasant place to park, good wines, and live music entertainment ….

Harvest Hosts offer free overnight parking for RVers. In return it is expected that at least a few wines are likely to be sampled 🙂 A second treat for Denise, after the Armadillo, was this resident alligator.

I’ts December now and time to be near family, including all the grandkids !

Postscript: These posts are brief and intended to provide friends, family and others with a look at places we’ve been. Hopefully, it gives a sense of where we are and that we haven’t fallen off the face of the earth, and perhaps a view of what full time RVing can be……

Oct 12

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Hit the pause button

October is our down time. It was a good trip since leaving Maryland the end of August with the opportunity to see some highlights of country that are all new to Denise.
Since the ‘Marathon’ post, which brought us to Cherry Creek in Colorado, we have made visits to Arches NP, Canyonlands NP, Red Rock NCA, Zion NP, Antelope Canyon and Sedona’s red rock country and vortexes – with some side trips along the way. Pix follow below…
We arrived in Benson, AZ the end of September with a planned stay for the month of October. Seems now a good delay to avoid hurricane season 😊 This is quiet time to pause and rest before circling back east. We’ll see some more of Arizona, Texas, a stop at Tiffen in Red Bay, AL, then on to tour a bit of Florida’s east coast and finally winter over again in Port Ritchie on the Gulf side. Fortunately, that area was just brushed by the hurricane.
October turns out to be not quite as restful as planned. Denise flew back to Virginia for 10 days to help out with the new born grandson recovering from pyloric stenosis surgery – all’s well, but mom and dad are tired. I’m holding down the fort (coach) and catching up with some nearby friends. Weather is beautiful. The park (Butterfield RV Park) is modern, clean and meticulously maintained.

PIX……….

Arches NP offers some of the most interesting rock formations resulting from many years of wind and water erosion.

While in Moab, we had a wonderful day in Canyonlands NP with other FT RV friends …. expect to see them again in FL..

Arches NP

Zion NP is remarkable and glad to have seen parts of it. Sadly, like many of the Country’s natural treasures, it suffers some from being loved to death. The crowds of people bring impacts to the ground and diminish the experience. Perhaps a reservations system is not so far off.

Of all the remarkable sites we’ve visited, Antelope Canyon near Page, UT is near the top of the list. We toured the upper and lower canyons, the latter with a smaller guided group. The following pix are but a few of the dozens taken. Hard to do justice to the amazing features and lighting that makes it a magical place….

Antelope Canyon

Sedona is a must stop if near this country ……… and a visit to one or more of the vortexes. These unique energy sites are worth the trip……..

Finally on a bit more personal nature…
October is the month of my two birthdays – yea, special 😊 The first was longer ago than I like to admit. The second, eight years ago today as I write this, I survived a cardiac arrest – no, don’t recall if I saw anything on the other side, but I did win the racquetball match that precipitated it! So, life is good and we look forward to more travel and fun along the way.

I did give myself a birthday present – a trail ride through some beautiful southern Arizona countryside. Thanks to the nice folks at Arizona Horseman Adventures (and Sam – the quarter horse), I got to see the country up close.

Aug 8

3 Comments

Rescue – noun, verb or both?

If one is a dog person, and lives long enough, we have the fortune to share our life with, and the love of, several dogs. The down side, given the respective life expectancies, is having to say more bitter sweet and painful goodbyes than anyone should have to bear. Yet we agree enthusiastically to that deal with every new puppy that comes into our lives. Most are inclined to forget, or simply don’t understand, the pain that our fur friends endure in the reverse situation. Their are numerous examples of mourning among our fellow species.

I’ve said my share of sad goodbyes over the years, and have reached an age that imposes somewhat different choices and obligations when deciding on bringing a new pup into our life. Do the math. What are the prospects of you or the pup having to mourn another loss?

With all that in mind, and the deeply embedded need to share time with yet another dog, comes the choice. Take on another puppy or adopt a rescue dog? So often those who adopt rescues ask the question, who rescued whom. A question I think borne of the profoundly ancient relationships between man and canine.

It’s that time again for me to choose. I’ve done the math. For none of the advertised pleas or reasons for adopting a rescue dog, I’ve made that choice. I choose to balance the odds for which of us will bear another good bye.

In fairness, I’m not sure I’m willing to expend the energy to raise another puppy 😊 I’m looking forward to a more age-equal partner – one who will adjust their pace to mine. We can commiserate with each other about the limitations aging imposes, share the joyful and the peaceful times with a fellow traveler. So begins the search……….

May 15

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Doldrums

Well, for a full time RVer, the arrival of a sticks and brick home is a mixed blessing. What to do with it, and why?

054 On the up side we inherited a 1960s home in a very nice location near much of our family. That’s the good news. On the down side, it required major renovation and mold remediation — sounds worse than it was. Well, everything is gone out to the walls…

20180208_110731

It means taking on all the responsibilities of a home owner – in addition to a motor home owner. AND, it has meant a hiatus in our travels while we oversee the renovations. Hard to sit here patiently while reading about other friends who are on the road enjoying new places and new experiences.

Meanwhile, we are close to family and Gettysburg NP, and there’s a family beach vacation in July and a new grandson due on or about August 1st — so, let me be clear about the mixed feelings. It’s not all bad that we’re stuck here for a bit!

AND, we expect to be off headed west again before the end of August. We have plans – and reservations made for Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Alabama (Red Bay), and Florida. Lots of great places to see and friends to visit along the way. MOST IMPORTANT, we can change those plans in a heart beat – the real joy of full time RVing!

Sending best wishes and safe travels to all our friends on the road. Hope to see you in our travels soon !

Apr 3

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Full Circle

March 29th 2017 , after selling our house, we headed off on our motor home adventure. On April 7th 2017 we moved the coach to The Yogi Bear RV park in Williamsport, MD. Twelve months later, almost to the day, we’re back where we began. It has been quite a ride, and an eventful year!

In that 12 months we’ve covered about 10,000 miles with stops in VA, TN, AL (Tiffin factory), KS, NE, CO, WY, SD, NM, TX and FL. We saw old friends and made new ones along the way. We saw spectacular parts of this Country, and a wide range of conditions. So, what were the highs and lows? How do I feel about the travels? What are we looking forward to as we plan to head out again — and now that we have a sticks and bricks home again? You can browse back through the previous posts to see some of the highlights. This post is about our reactions, lessons and discoveries after living 24/7 in a moving home and confined to small space and constant contact. Motor home living is not necessarily for the faint of heart!

When we began this adventure, I had been retired for 5 years and done extensive sailing, much solo, cruising the east coast. Denise only just retired as we were moving from house to motor home. Neither of us had ever owned or driven a motor home. We took delivery near Buffalo, NY and drove home to MD – 425 miles under some marginal conditions – a quick way to learn about handling a 38ft MH and tow. The next months would provide lots of on-the-road lessons which thankfully we survived and learned from.

So, what were the highs and lows…? Not easy to pick from a very long list. I loved the chances we had to meet up with old friends from my conservation career days – folks I had worked with and become lasting friends with. That clearly needs to be in my top five. Sharing some of the amazing western landscape and wildlife with Denise ranks right up there. The bison and donkeys in Custer, SD State Park were wonderful to experience, as were the Big Horned sheep in Creed, CO. I would add landing a 20″ wild Rainbow Trout in the headwaters of the Rio Grande was pretty special too!

Don’t ever miss the chance to experience the annual Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerqui, NM – despite the really cold, dark start!

Mesa Verde ruins, the train ride through the southern Colorado mountains, wading in the Gulf of Mexico, and finding great friends at our winter quarters at Sundance RV park in Florida all make the list of special memories.

Among the VERY few lows, was the incredibly sad loss of a good friend who visited and toured some of Colorado’s wonderful scenery with us. We remember those days and they will stay etched in my memory for a lifetime….

On a lesser scale, I said goodbye to Cricket who was not able to adapt to the traveling lifestyle. We become amazingly attached to these furry friends, and they are family. She went to wonderful home with good folks and other dogs to enjoy as well, but is still missed most every day….

Twelve months of travel was largely without issues – a good thing! We made two stops at the Tiffin factory in Red Bay, AL – the first on the way west, the second as we returned to Florida for the winter months. Only minor issue to address on our 2017 Phaeton 36GH as well as a couple modifications to improve handling and ride. The miles built confidence in handling the beast, setting up and breaking down at campgrounds. I can now eat breakfast before heading out after an RV park stay! And kudos to Tiffin for their product and remarkable service. An AC unit failed in Cody, WY – it took only 4 days to receive and install the new unit they shipped to the local tech!

In January Denise lost her 98 year old dad. He lived independently till the very end and passed away quietly in his sleep. It was not a surprise, but difficult none the less. So, at the end of our first year we are now parked for a few months while renovating a house. Yes, after the year’s freedom of only the coach and the travel, we are house owners again with all the considerations that brings. It is a stark reminder of how quickly ones life can change, emphasizing the wisdom of the words I try to live by – ‘Nothing is more important that this day.’

Yes, we will be off again! the first year was a great teacher, and perhaps the most important lessons were how to live together in a small space and the value of time together, the magnificence of our Country, the importance of friends, and how to manage a complex machine. Clearly there is more to learn and see. We will finish the house renovations, enjoy the blessing of having two homes, and build more wonderful memories experiencing other remarkable places and people. It was a very good year!

Sep 27

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Mesa time out

Much of the western landscape feels like home, though not raised here. We have both been enjoying our sojourn, especially through Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado, as well as visits with friends along the way.

We arrived at Mesa Verde RV Park, in the SW corner of Colorado, the beginning of the month placing us just ¼ mi from the entrance to the National Park.

We’re situated here for easy days’ excursions to some remarkable nearby places, and also close to Cortex, Durango, Silverton and Telluride. On the top of my list was a visit to the Mesa Verde cliff dwelling.

However, a first stop was to Hovenweep National Monument which provided great information about many surrounding sites – too many to see all.

But we followed the map to a few of the more interesting sites…

,..including the Hovenweep Castle and on to Lowry Pueblo. Pit homes were the earlier developments before construction of cliff and other dwellings began. It is impressive to see the stone work that was required to construct these buildings.

We also went to Painted Hand … a bit more of a hike…

We passed on the guided tour to Balcony House, but still got a nice view. I preferred to avoid the large tour crowd – and the crawl through a small tunnel to leave the site!

The adjacent Wetherill Mesa took us to Step house for a self-guided tour. The site was occupied from 600 to 1200 AD, the pit house being the earlier occupancy. A short walk, and the Park Service attendant at the site was very helpful.

At least for the novelty of it, we drove to the 4-corners where the boundaries of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado meet… fun to stand in four states at the same time.

A swing to the east on the way back took us past Shiprock which rises up out of flat desert land to a remarkable height.

…and found yet a similar example (Flat Top Rock) on the way back to Cortez.

Needless to say, the scenery in this part of the Country is unique and spectacular. The geologic and weather forces are evident everywhere you look. A few weeks visit just begins to scratch the surface, and the history of the peoples that survived in these lands is even more fascinating.

Took a day to make the drive around the ‘million dollar highway’ – miles of more spectacular scenery – and a great season to be here!

In just two days, we’ll head east to Pagosa Springs then south to Albuquerque for the annual hot air balloon fest. This marks the beginning of the turn back east after leaving home in Maryland last April – a long and eventful 6 months or so … so far so good!!

Nothing is worth more than this day ..

Posts from the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Welcome to the Neighborhood

On coming Home – a sequel*

Searching…..

Winter in paradise

Turned the corner

Hit the pause button

Rescue – noun, verb or both?

Doldrums

Full Circle

Mesa time out

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