tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18942412219045960702024-03-05T13:53:15.044-08:00Kibitka EscapeKibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-59133177556093847222013-10-07T16:37:00.001-07:002013-10-17T14:18:44.766-07:00Badlands National Park<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">29, 30 September 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From Custer State Park, we headed to Rapid City for Mass, had a quick stop at Wall Drug for ice cream, and then drove on to Badlands National Park. We camped one night in the free Sage Creek Campground, which is a single loop, remote and undeveloped except for a horse corral area, pit toilets, and picnic tables with attached windbreaks. I learned that the gravel road into this campground varies from year-to-year in the degree of washboarding. This year it wasn’t too bad, but it would be a good idea to call ahead just in case if you’re thinking of coming.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Although Great Husband was suffering with a migraine, I had a great time here. First thing in the morning, there were bison passing through the campground. One was giving himself a hearty scratch on a picnic table and then they both pawed at the ground and rolled in the dust to take a bath.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I loved the general isolation here Sage Creek Campground, combined with meeting some very friendly fellow campers. Across the loop was a curious, dark gray, boxy, truck-topper-type of camper, which had very military-appearing heaviness to it. Great Husband noticed that it had German license plates and started calling it the Panzerwagen! Although I consider myself on the shy side, I could not resist calling out “Hallo!” to these people and it led to a very interesting visit, a little bit of German usage on my part, and a tour of the Panzerwagen. Yes, this couple was from Deutschland, and the inside of their camper was absolutely stylish and efficient. They had bought the vehicle empty, designed and built the interior themselves, travelled throughout Europe in it, and then shipped it across the Atlantic. It was so creative inside—full of terrific sliding storage bins, and classy stylistic touches. They even had a massaging mattress, something similar to what you might use at the chiropracter's office. The Germans had just completed four months touring in Canada and were starting a full year of touring in the United States. We even talked a bit of politics. Alas, Germany is being illegally overrun with Turkish Muslims and the German government will do nothing about it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Leaving the Panzerwagen, I encountered a man dressed in a cowboy hat and looking very western, but he turned out to be from Wisconsin. He and his friends brought ten horses to the Badlands and had “circled the wagons” (trucks and campers) down by the corral. The purpose of this formation was to protect their gear from the bison which might come through. The man told me that he raises horses back home on his farm, not to earn a living, but for the sheer joy of riding. He was enthused to be back here in this area where they could all ride as far and as long as they wanted without encountering any boundaries other than the Indian Reservation. I walked down to the corrals with the man and he told me about the various horses and ponies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When Great Husband arose from his sick bed, we took a hike up the hill west of the campground. I was going strong and leaning into my walking stick, but when I took a break to breathe, I suddenly realized just how steep the path was. For fear of falling, I just could not lift the next foot to get back into the rhythm of climbing. Great Husband helped me with a push from behind and got a good laugh out of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We moved on to the east end of Badlands National Park later that afternoon and set up in Cedar Pass Campground. It was to be the last night of this week-long trip before heading home. We had been following news of the probable government shutdown and feeling sorry for fellow campers who told us they were on a big trip toward the national parks of the west, all to be shut down now on October 1. As we left Badlands National Park, orange cones were blocking all the scenic pull-offs. Seems to me that they could just lock up the visitors centers and restrooms and let the public continue to use the national parks unimpeded, even if there are no staff working. Bah humbug.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Towing note: After about six hours now heading east on I-90, we are averaging 16.9 miles per gallon.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Total miles this trip: 1257</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCMuVqqtqbDxvF4EPZ95W2TqwdKXT-wUv3bmkXT7NA3RpSYq85kyO_q85CRUO1HnOGJfHKkvd_VxcqSjyMkoM9UZBOnETfowFwkA2xd7dRweLlXY5evAlZkHIKqGgj-HU0h9PEfrt4X0/s1600/DSC05376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUCMuVqqtqbDxvF4EPZ95W2TqwdKXT-wUv3bmkXT7NA3RpSYq85kyO_q85CRUO1HnOGJfHKkvd_VxcqSjyMkoM9UZBOnETfowFwkA2xd7dRweLlXY5evAlZkHIKqGgj-HU0h9PEfrt4X0/s1600/DSC05376.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sage Creek Campground, Badlands National Park<br />
See the little Escape on the left side.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQab6JH9Rhyphenhyphenm1Rft0u17uvzgMcnQ2OrA_f4W0TVKh4tiWeDYh8TzBNKb2M_ePcZPid3yNqT4R-O7VwmPAdLd4qhYI82_wGlTc_C6l5dqqr-J_54o6XAoMm_25P8l_Q8q29l8fD03lo8bQ/s1600/DSC05377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQab6JH9Rhyphenhyphenm1Rft0u17uvzgMcnQ2OrA_f4W0TVKh4tiWeDYh8TzBNKb2M_ePcZPid3yNqT4R-O7VwmPAdLd4qhYI82_wGlTc_C6l5dqqr-J_54o6XAoMm_25P8l_Q8q29l8fD03lo8bQ/s1600/DSC05377.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">While the Wisconsin cowboys were out riding, we climbed<br />
the hill and took this pic of their wagons in a circle.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37rU9i53hL3UNvBR5kNEi0UgT_hnR0NodedF4LArRXtgzPpWZBegwxP5g2sTVCkb2nqqD1F4AKhrfclbkDCAaXKsfoNQSs5TMV7T_Ie1IRJ6FeAf3HPofT_cdra2XAn4S00l4i3EoAOg/s1600/DSC05379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37rU9i53hL3UNvBR5kNEi0UgT_hnR0NodedF4LArRXtgzPpWZBegwxP5g2sTVCkb2nqqD1F4AKhrfclbkDCAaXKsfoNQSs5TMV7T_Ie1IRJ6FeAf3HPofT_cdra2XAn4S00l4i3EoAOg/s1600/DSC05379.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Badlands National Park</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5CFZBlUqHi6OOj2H5KXloaAurZbsTWbBrl2hc-WSRfDA_7336ul9KjhKt5COqoDdBAtoz20PQxlqUxxaskND3hONkcFpJBlKTHUBpfIrKLoLGUmiKkpWyMfdQMZkanexuHDjvqOLGi-Y/s1600/DSC05380.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5CFZBlUqHi6OOj2H5KXloaAurZbsTWbBrl2hc-WSRfDA_7336ul9KjhKt5COqoDdBAtoz20PQxlqUxxaskND3hONkcFpJBlKTHUBpfIrKLoLGUmiKkpWyMfdQMZkanexuHDjvqOLGi-Y/s1600/DSC05380.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Badlands National Park -- beautiful wrinkles</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90ZqKgwj3vwJ70i1OkbjasvIwpb7ghxNHytein30wua-4vfedxW-Gc14sSifMgNWyjscVwz2ObFJxh4T2Th10vy0qEjW1-aQXZJFWKBVJ4ElbcvttyVTbrmWmC6i0-_xSLRSzRF6AFG4/s1600/DSC05388.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi90ZqKgwj3vwJ70i1OkbjasvIwpb7ghxNHytein30wua-4vfedxW-Gc14sSifMgNWyjscVwz2ObFJxh4T2Th10vy0qEjW1-aQXZJFWKBVJ4ElbcvttyVTbrmWmC6i0-_xSLRSzRF6AFG4/s1600/DSC05388.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One day before the cones</td></tr>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-52791404968006969722013-10-07T16:36:00.000-07:002013-10-22T06:57:01.999-07:00Custer State Park <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">25-28 September 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">True to our decision made last year at the Black Hills, we
did return this year and timed it for the annual Buffalo Roundup. Last year we
checked out every campground available in Custer State Park, so we knew exactly
which one to choose this time around--Stockade Lake Campground North. We think
it is the nicest campground in the entire park. I was determined to have some
down time on this little trip rather than chase around playing tourist too
much. All worked out perfectly for that goal. Thursday we relaxed, shopped for
T-shirts for the grandkids in the Legion Lake store, and took a walk around
Legion Lake. We were surprised how uninhabited and peaceful the Legion Lake
area was, despite the buffalo roundup which would the next day attract
something like 14,000 people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Later that afternoon we thoroughly enjoyed meeting another
Escape 19 couple, whom we had met on the Escape Forum—Paul and Janet and their
son Peter from Wisconsin, also camping at Stockade North. Janet offered us wine
while we toured their 19 and talked camper details. How nice! Their 19 is from
2010 and looks as good as new. It is for sale since they now have a 21 on
order. For the first time we have met somebody who keeps their camper as tidy
as we like to keep ours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thursday evening we had a campfire using scavenged wood from
the park. We also cooked hamburgers over the fire, and this gave Great Husband
a chance to get disgruntled over the smoky coals and his attempt at grilling.
In the end, the food turned out fine but the process did include rinsing off
the meat and some griping by the grillmaster!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friday we were determined not to get swept up in buffalo
roundup mania, which for many people involves heading toward the viewing points
at 4:00 a.m. We decided this was lunacy and rolled out of bed around 5:30, not
too hard for us, and had our normal cooked breakfast of oatmeal with
blueberries and granola on top. We left the campground at 6:30 a.m., heading
for the south viewing area. By then the sun was up and the drive was spectacularly
beautiful. We got to see some cowboys who were already rounding up a few bison
to steer them in the desired direction. Traffic really wasn’t too bad at all,
other than one or two full stops for 5 or 10 minutes each, which we really
didn’t mind due to the beautiful views. Otherwise, the traffic moved at a
moderate pace the whole way to the parking area, and we had no complaints about
the two-hour drive. Well-chilled volunteers directed the filling of the parking
field. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nobody in that crowd was there to participate in a beauty contest,
that’s for sure. We were all bundled up in layers of sweatshirts and coats. We
saw one insane woman with bare feet and flip-flops, but she did have gloves on.
It was a picturesque group, many with the weathered faces that I think come
from living out west in the dry and windy climate. But others came from all
over the United States for this event. The earliest arrivals had their bag
chairs set up against the fence to claim what they thought would be the best
viewing. We were several rows back from the fence, but in the end did not have
anything to regret in this regard. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We barely sat down, but instead spent our
time chatting with an amiable couple (Ken and Janet) from the Cedar Rapids,
Iowa area. The two-hour wait until the bison appeared on the distant ridge went
very quickly while we talked it up. Great Husband had his binoculars, and for
the first time ever, I found binoculars to be advantageous instead of blurry and disorienting. As the bison ran, we followed along, never
staying at one point very long. The most entertaining bison action was from two
very independent ones who decided to turn upstream and go against the general
tide. A cowboy chased one down to the delight of the crowd. The other wayward
bison escaped without ever being caught, which was also a fun turn of events,
worthy of cheers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The roundup of the bison took only about an hour. Then Great
Husband and I went to have lunch in the car, out of the cold. Shuttles were taking visitors down
to the corral, and we had a great time down there after lunch. We sat on
covered bleachers with some truly hilarious people sitting behind us! They were
from Spokane and just too full of clever commentary for me to even describe!
The bison calves were being split off and sent for branding. We could see the
smoke and smell the burning, but we didn’t hear any bellering. The older cows
headed down another set of chutes, being checked for pregnancy and given
inoculations. The staff considered each animal while her head was trapped in the
headgate, and after calling out the number from her ear tag, he shouted either
“Sale!” or “Herd!” and then released her toward the appropriate corral to match
her destiny. The bison to be sold will be auctioned off in November.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After all the bison fun, we drove to Bluebell Campground and
stopped to introduce ourselves to Bob and Linda from Indiana, another couple we
encountered on the Escape Forum in advance of this trip. Their Escape 19 is a
2013, so this gave us a chance to see in short order the types of changes that
have been made to the 19s in the last few years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Saturday there was a big arts and crafts fair in Custer
State Park. We wandered through all the booths, easily resisting any purchases,
even though there was a nice variety of stuff available. I thought Great
Husband came up with the line of the day when he said the merchandise reminded
him of that song from “Beauty and the Beast” about the brute Gaston: “He uses
antlers in all of his decorating.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Two activities at the festival were the most fun for
us—watching Indian dancers and sitting in on an auction of art. It was so
fascinating to listen to the auctioneer as he tried to move the prices up. Being
an artist myself, I found some of his descriptions of the art and the
likelihood of increasing value over time just laughable. Good entertainment,
however!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5zKt_r85sDP02TuU_5B6A1TIvt6aYasaI17qxOu-x44coOOnw9blTU4uvLKgAbgWm3WLP1vFWYJlOlUJ8a_96POnXDrpH2NkA69fXIAT7Pv1INg-Yz3k4k7a8wBKCND3vWq7sue18QU/s1600/DSC05327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_5zKt_r85sDP02TuU_5B6A1TIvt6aYasaI17qxOu-x44coOOnw9blTU4uvLKgAbgWm3WLP1vFWYJlOlUJ8a_96POnXDrpH2NkA69fXIAT7Pv1INg-Yz3k4k7a8wBKCND3vWq7sue18QU/s1600/DSC05327.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Site 2E in Stockade Lake North Campground</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Legion Lake<br />
I would have liked to get some of these cattails for <br />
the grandkids, but they were beyond reach.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful drive on the Wildlife Loop Road,<br />
headed for the Buffalo Roundup</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cowboy volunteers</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remember where your car is, folks!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIZuZgkSVMy58QMhwR1zRz8C-qx0k_Vec9XX7BfZgW9oTltWZUAKo-4CUhBxsP6AMgyXPe-Wu9PsSyFx3RYRLSm0Z_43gc68Au06R9Wsr0MzLUe7e2HpA40IiQXxXsZZuZyJOd_Kwm-8/s1600/DSC05343.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVIZuZgkSVMy58QMhwR1zRz8C-qx0k_Vec9XX7BfZgW9oTltWZUAKo-4CUhBxsP6AMgyXPe-Wu9PsSyFx3RYRLSm0Z_43gc68Au06R9Wsr0MzLUe7e2HpA40IiQXxXsZZuZyJOd_Kwm-8/s1600/DSC05343.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Herding the bison on horseback and with trucks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvXvD1rY6-xTPzBcSx1fy4B38U7PRYoWG3j3FdVg77EmfFZL9L2JR1KngXGZfY7JC1IJc2uyvfECvMDVhylxgws99yDXNBMehcJjhykEPDq8l7AnBKlgHgARMcNb2MkMOX9efhbGgdow/s1600/DSC05348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcvXvD1rY6-xTPzBcSx1fy4B38U7PRYoWG3j3FdVg77EmfFZL9L2JR1KngXGZfY7JC1IJc2uyvfECvMDVhylxgws99yDXNBMehcJjhykEPDq8l7AnBKlgHgARMcNb2MkMOX9efhbGgdow/s1600/DSC05348.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bringing the bison through a sequence of chutes</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">She got her checkup while confined by the headgate.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvNHj6zcqcDJJN_JvQ8ogCZowIO6AU5ZvaVUl_R6C6DB2Ve_WR_hPy8F3PTAIk43V_2EWANHma6ya9VJSZq403JevnIcIA2N6zrXNrVhYX4pDeFoXSAm2NDPdpA1RnIjiwsiXTt3c6Kx4/s1600/DSC05357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvNHj6zcqcDJJN_JvQ8ogCZowIO6AU5ZvaVUl_R6C6DB2Ve_WR_hPy8F3PTAIk43V_2EWANHma6ya9VJSZq403JevnIcIA2N6zrXNrVhYX4pDeFoXSAm2NDPdpA1RnIjiwsiXTt3c6Kx4/s1600/DSC05357.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian dancers</td></tr>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-58792816286946945432013-10-06T14:47:00.002-07:002013-10-07T07:30:13.906-07:00Post-Trip Comments<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">10 September 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The LED light over the sink has failed. We really miss it. We're still under warranty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We should buy a funnel to help us in manually pouring water into the Escape fresh water tank.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It is quite possible to sleep four adults in the Escape 19! We gave our sons the queen bed and didn't hear any complaints about that. Great Husband and I slept on the dinette, which is 42 to 44 inches wide depending on how you measure it. This isn't that much wider really than a single bed. Great Husband huddled against the front wall and I stayed carefully on my own 20" of turf, even when rolling over. The dinette seat cushions are too firm for great sleeping, but we adjusted over time. The old bones didn't suffer too much. I think we had more minor conflict over the proper sleeping temperature and the cold wind from the air conditioner than over anything else.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The secret to happiness in a small trailer is keeping it as clean and uncluttered as humanly possible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We used the air conditioner overnight several nights, mainly due to high humidity, but it is definitely noisy. When the compressor is running it's too cold in the trailer, but when it's not running, it's too humid. Great Husband wishes the air conditioner had a lower fan speed. Low is not very low.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The refrigerator fan (installed under Dometic warranty behind the refrigerator) isn't coming on and there is no evidence that it has run at all since leaving our driveway. It died a very quick death, didn't it? We never got to truly give it an extended test, other than a drive to Fremont, Nebraska a few days before this trip and back without anything in the fridge. On that drive, Great Husband thinks the fan was working, but even so the fridge warmed up rapidly while on the road. We don't think the new baffle on the outside of the Escape is doing anything, and we wish the repairman had not installed it. Great Husband is agitating for removal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We drove home to Omaha in just two legs, stopping first at a KOA east of Columbus, Ohio that was too expensive and not that nice for the money. Since our refrigerator was dead on the road and nearly empty anyway, we just turned it completely off and drove the whole way from Columbus to Omaha on the second day, arriving home just after midnight. Counting gas stops and other breaks, that took us 17 1/2 hours. There was a nice lightning display coming west across Iowa.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Total miles this trip-- 4037 </span><br />
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<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-75319118720034556002013-10-06T14:18:00.000-07:002013-10-22T06:50:46.921-07:00Washington DC, Part 3<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">7, 8 September 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">From Little Bennett Regional Park, we made two more trips into Washington DC. On Saturday we drove to Shady Grove Metro Station and rode the subway from there to the Smithsonian Stop, right on the Mall. We found the locations of the metro stations somewhat elusive and not necessarily accurately marked on maps; otherwise we might have found the Smithsonian Stop earlier in this vacation, and used it more. Oh well.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">American History Museum Whistling Son wasn't impressed with this. Maybe it was a bit too random in its offerings. We saw the original Kermit the Frog, made from an old green coat that had belonged to Jim Hensen's mom. And I enjoyed seeing the kitchen of Julia Child because the counters and walls seemed very cluttered with pots and pans and all her other equipment, and it was far from the pristine look of magazine kitchens. I'm sure it met her needs.</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">National Museum of Natural History With not enough time to see all the possibilities in the various Smithsonian museums, we did a quick job on the National Museum of Natural History and were there to close it down. We saw the Hope Diamond (there's no curse), lots of other gems, minerals, and rocks, and then had a little time amidst the Egyptian mummy displays, including mummified cats and baby alligators.</span></li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6iVbcMjF6RuZboC4RIkDlaEaRBwk5seZhic3WGPr9c-vMFK0ollDs5VTj82i9i2TGGUKs1Zpj3kx8WklRPJv90Lci2J3rdMSpC2Cb1x4e00I_b9ZXNhghzkwmqq0h_B4Z2xwvhdiZkg/s1600/DSC05305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd6iVbcMjF6RuZboC4RIkDlaEaRBwk5seZhic3WGPr9c-vMFK0ollDs5VTj82i9i2TGGUKs1Zpj3kx8WklRPJv90Lci2J3rdMSpC2Cb1x4e00I_b9ZXNhghzkwmqq0h_B4Z2xwvhdiZkg/s400/DSC05305.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It ain't easy being an old green coat.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14pIjap_GKQHKeG3I2DnCCMBCuVsfetdFRb1PD8jiQOW8qj-9Ga9icv_1Bs3j5g4Pu3GWNnJCEm-Hs4r3GmATzOZrzMFAcmDqIq5A73FzUdtO5JUqTnUTjXw40EZc1UKfU62_PeFOqiY/s1600/DSC05303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh14pIjap_GKQHKeG3I2DnCCMBCuVsfetdFRb1PD8jiQOW8qj-9Ga9icv_1Bs3j5g4Pu3GWNnJCEm-Hs4r3GmATzOZrzMFAcmDqIq5A73FzUdtO5JUqTnUTjXw40EZc1UKfU62_PeFOqiY/s400/DSC05303.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Julia Child's kitchen</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Early on Sunday we drove our own car boldly into the heart of Washington DC, following the Cabin John Parkway adjacent to the C & O Canal, which was very scenic and had little traffic at the time. We had no parking nightmares, partly because we found our first spot before Mass at 9 a.m. At church we happened to meet a man and his wife who have a Nebraska connection--he is the legislative director for our Senator Deb Fischer, and he formerly worked for Senator John Kyl of Arizona.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After Mass we were unintentionally swept up in traffic that took us to Arlington National Cemetery. Arlington was much larger than I would have guessed, plus very hilly. It took a lot of walking to get to the Tomb of the Unknowns. Great Husband was especially moved by the changing of the honor guard, and the visit of a large group of WWII veterans in wheelchairs. Interestingly, there is no longer a soldier of the Vietnam era among the unknowns buried at Arlington because those remains were disinterred in 1998 and identified with modern methods, and then returned to his parents in Missouri.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After Arlington, we drove down Constitution Avenue, happened across Georgetown by dumb luck just so we could get a taste of it, and finally found parking by the DC Court of Appeals so we could walk to see the National Archives. The founding documents can be seen there but they are so faded that they are unintelligible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was sad, but we knew we were counting down the last minutes of our big trip with these two sons. We soon had to drop off Whistling Son at Union Station to take a return train to Williamsburg, and then had to drop off Tall Son by Gallery Place Metro Station to head for his flight at Reagan Airport. After that, because we were in our own car, we got to drive northwest out of the city and saw a lot of interesting places that we wouldn't have seen on the Metro--many handsome, enormous and expensive-looking apartment buildings, followed by very posh houses in Chevy Chase, MD. There must be money there!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We spent one more night at Little Bennett, before heading west for home. Our fire ring looked so forlorn without the boys!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_yYyOTSFnqLk4Bapmgz1Cr574T0Vi9v23yjUHpqvavOWZ3qbb_NsFBZkcdu0ZCHilzfxLss8LNieOoz3tDDGrYAKONY5uy7M8S8kCoJBjnMa8Pz8UO7ZkZRILChq0GVp7AwZK87fB3s/s1600/DSC05313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_yYyOTSFnqLk4Bapmgz1Cr574T0Vi9v23yjUHpqvavOWZ3qbb_NsFBZkcdu0ZCHilzfxLss8LNieOoz3tDDGrYAKONY5uy7M8S8kCoJBjnMa8Pz8UO7ZkZRILChq0GVp7AwZK87fB3s/s1600/DSC05313.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Veterans visiting the Tomb of the Unknowns</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13dXBv5F-5A-Am5HDvApxzjnDAiRCZuh2vjqo_qwLjGymdUlpEwaRRz-l6WC9DREDIpbpkWt8XG5v8pniqMg-eqrvXIdzJV9c9NqLtyn2JU8Rt-gn0zp4omS1-27j5rB71gzORqr-Ls0/s1600/DSC05314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi13dXBv5F-5A-Am5HDvApxzjnDAiRCZuh2vjqo_qwLjGymdUlpEwaRRz-l6WC9DREDIpbpkWt8XG5v8pniqMg-eqrvXIdzJV9c9NqLtyn2JU8Rt-gn0zp4omS1-27j5rB71gzORqr-Ls0/s1600/DSC05314.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arlington National Cemetery</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arlington National Cemetery</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert E. Lee home in Arlington National Cemetery,<br />
confiscated by the Union at the time of the Civil War, but<br />
his family was ultimately paid for the property.<br />
This house was oddly pink and ugly on the outside, and<br />
we didn't have time to go inside.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our campsite at Little Bennett Regional Park</td></tr>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-3698626070904059482013-10-05T17:47:00.002-07:002013-10-06T08:47:55.867-07:00Gettysburg National Military Park, PA<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">5, 6 September 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Gettysburg National Military Park is the very best of the Civil War sites run by the National Park Service. The newish visitors' center is a major improvement over the old one. We started with the introductory film, saw the Cyclorama (a painting of Pickett's Charge, 27 feet high and 359 feet in circumference), and then took a ranger tour of the peach orchard and wheat field. There we heard </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">the story of the disobedient General Sickles acting against General Meade's orders. </span><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdAOx2DctlNfRwKQg-9oW7FG7teP_I5AbGpScqkCI1p1ajIrXVqRMhxSM9uAUmBN2wbhy8hHJrDzfT7gkuuL3kOFx8U5AyzOc-xg6zr-IrTCTu_PrUipRFaPpk1pLD7Zx8MEP-Zb-Dzg/s1600/DSC05272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXdAOx2DctlNfRwKQg-9oW7FG7teP_I5AbGpScqkCI1p1ajIrXVqRMhxSM9uAUmBN2wbhy8hHJrDzfT7gkuuL3kOFx8U5AyzOc-xg6zr-IrTCTu_PrUipRFaPpk1pLD7Zx8MEP-Zb-Dzg/s1600/DSC05272.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A section of the Cyclorama<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhs5A1DjQ6OvAk_93ml2SGfpre0frD3aEbxwmSV126ZVbTxjsGxuqcc3Gc6KczRGwZRWeDxJUkP21bSYX1YNKkIQn5ijh-XLTXA8wBcjMY8i_pKKzD-dzYPyNDPQN9-GAgbZ__n4utoiw/s1600/DSC05276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhs5A1DjQ6OvAk_93ml2SGfpre0frD3aEbxwmSV126ZVbTxjsGxuqcc3Gc6KczRGwZRWeDxJUkP21bSYX1YNKkIQn5ijh-XLTXA8wBcjMY8i_pKKzD-dzYPyNDPQN9-GAgbZ__n4utoiw/s1600/DSC05276.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Cyclorama -- props on the floor blend into the painting on the wall.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rEtTlGxeIHvPAGW-SfwyidemXYJNZj72DSVcXE3Ij2tVw4QHlB28h24WOuApP4iAfqKqUihIOJoiqle3xbJ2YwdcBu4b0LVFC9V5TJnzr2PE9W4PaL80oemzu2Ep-iVngC_JKS0Olzs/s1600/DSC05279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-rEtTlGxeIHvPAGW-SfwyidemXYJNZj72DSVcXE3Ij2tVw4QHlB28h24WOuApP4iAfqKqUihIOJoiqle3xbJ2YwdcBu4b0LVFC9V5TJnzr2PE9W4PaL80oemzu2Ep-iVngC_JKS0Olzs/s1600/DSC05279.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">General Lee's bed and field desk</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thursday night the boys made a campfire. It brought back wonderful memories of family camping in the past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friday we returned to Gettysburg, roughly an hour's drive from Little Bennett Regional Campground, and went to another ranger talk. This one included a stop at Meade's headquarters in a little white house. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This ranger was a stitch, always quick with a clever observation. To quote him, "On Seminary Ridge you get religion. On Cemetery Ridge you find out if it's true." </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcckvhKO2jGEdfubbfPStzBevHmP7-vNeinw-ZieUtWg2ChwnXYtc6LXaoYDTBUHTci4LKc6qRSTun0uMdjOJt1oqS4iBbJw5ea86dbgkHWRa9MBOXk2K2ry0dehF-Dr-PTjyQ99LXHmY/s1600/DSC05285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcckvhKO2jGEdfubbfPStzBevHmP7-vNeinw-ZieUtWg2ChwnXYtc6LXaoYDTBUHTci4LKc6qRSTun0uMdjOJt1oqS4iBbJw5ea86dbgkHWRa9MBOXk2K2ry0dehF-Dr-PTjyQ99LXHmY/s1600/DSC05285.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Headquarters of General Meade</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Later we split up for more ranger talks, with the guys going to Devil's Den and Little Round Top, while I chose two talks, one about Civil War soldiers and the other about medicine during the Civil War. That one included grisly but interesting details about amputation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">That evening we ate at the Dobbin House Tavern, which was a sudden walk back into the Revolutionary Period. It was extremely crowded and I thought it was too expensive for the light fare. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Earlier in the day in the visitor center computers I had been able to find several Civil War soldiers with our uncommon last name. One died in a Confederate prison camp and another was killed in one of the Civil War battles. It was getting dark after supper, but we made a last dash to the Pennsylvania Monument and were able to find some of these names, who are quite likely our relatives, on bronze plaques. It was so late that we had to use a cell phone for light.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXnoeKJuWEiH1jLKbL03nLcvat1mKd_z5afA1rHYK5ZXz5UjojvSDfG_KZK0erOGLVmwghgtHE2mztDre8WlbQFnO-EM_s7QiRCbbRdSrRXe41AAz9ib4t2GjffPx6GH56QjR9nkLKO0/s1600/DSC05295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXnoeKJuWEiH1jLKbL03nLcvat1mKd_z5afA1rHYK5ZXz5UjojvSDfG_KZK0erOGLVmwghgtHE2mztDre8WlbQFnO-EM_s7QiRCbbRdSrRXe41AAz9ib4t2GjffPx6GH56QjR9nkLKO0/s1600/DSC05295.JPG" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pennsylvania Monument</td></tr>
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<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-77196452978876257842013-10-05T14:41:00.001-07:002013-10-06T08:50:08.180-07:00Antietam and Harper's Ferry, VA<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">4 September 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We wanted to camp away from the city with Tall Son and Whistling Son, so moving on to Little Bennett Regional Park near Clarksburg, Maryland was part of our plan. The park was nearly deserted, and although it's not really out in the sticks by any means, we could still feel like we were doing some real camping. We used Little Bennett as a home base to go see Antietam National Battle Field and Harper's Ferry the first day, and then drove to visit Gettysburg National Military Park each of the two following days.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For us Harper's Ferry was rather a Twilight Zone. The oldest part of the town was almost entirely shut down by the time we were there looking for dinner at 6 p.m. It's an incredibly steep town with tiers of buildings, and lots of steps to climb from street to street. Finally we gave up on the old part of town and found dinner at a good place called the Anvil--cheeseburgers and fries. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fDOZ0qCqzxMzWhUgbNB_5e1jsvMnpgCBwYwBrZV4yLXrsSjXb9dPyhHZruZ0tY7NV9GZclK4ve9DsPFgaHooxe_yZagu3Z7e6h2R-rxEw6LUDY0nmsOb5EA2tizV0cY3xwQpWtUC2SA/s1600/DSC05252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6fDOZ0qCqzxMzWhUgbNB_5e1jsvMnpgCBwYwBrZV4yLXrsSjXb9dPyhHZruZ0tY7NV9GZclK4ve9DsPFgaHooxe_yZagu3Z7e6h2R-rxEw6LUDY0nmsOb5EA2tizV0cY3xwQpWtUC2SA/s1600/DSC05252.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antietam Battlefield</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUDyZs5Al6rFap84ne3s2zBB4h7nqM639No79VjVj4v0s6977asZBFqpplVpGkdwioXoaw9wDbW9tLYNNZOG_KS06_qB-ZwcF_eI_AX_BBgzxZ78iW0eHT5AP6y6FrN7gnbQJdS9v1Nw/s1600/DSC05254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsUDyZs5Al6rFap84ne3s2zBB4h7nqM639No79VjVj4v0s6977asZBFqpplVpGkdwioXoaw9wDbW9tLYNNZOG_KS06_qB-ZwcF_eI_AX_BBgzxZ78iW0eHT5AP6y6FrN7gnbQJdS9v1Nw/s1600/DSC05254.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Bloody Lane" at Antietam</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlXxUgLI-jbx4NF7gVbd5ZanBowZDhzstUlR5RyOkxcMAn10O18TAn3F9KAZG-16uaHuXEFCShSd19cjtaHpv9hHhxpBcEo934QhxDAg4llv0Irs2KtjYLrDf_53yziKzRloZHPkTcqI/s1600/DSC05258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBlXxUgLI-jbx4NF7gVbd5ZanBowZDhzstUlR5RyOkxcMAn10O18TAn3F9KAZG-16uaHuXEFCShSd19cjtaHpv9hHhxpBcEo934QhxDAg4llv0Irs2KtjYLrDf_53yziKzRloZHPkTcqI/s1600/DSC05258.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Antietam from the tower</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBE0YhNY-TaUxdfEFvXxmjEsjJ_LuH0OeDaKLMirTWLvJtNVL0sZF6thenckmWRwwREjkuxG-ceZ4N4ORU18HfJNtpokPgw9Cu5P6yNAeGdDE1Eo2IWE_u44GdxzdPcmS-j0pnGHhSE0/s1600/DSC05260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBE0YhNY-TaUxdfEFvXxmjEsjJ_LuH0OeDaKLMirTWLvJtNVL0sZF6thenckmWRwwREjkuxG-ceZ4N4ORU18HfJNtpokPgw9Cu5P6yNAeGdDE1Eo2IWE_u44GdxzdPcmS-j0pnGHhSE0/s1600/DSC05260.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Burnside Bridge at Antietam</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The nastiness of the "shutdown" strikes again--I just went to the website for Antietam National Battlefield and found it shut down, too! I can think of no earthly reason to shut down the National Park Service websites except for pure spitefulness.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtP8oO4O2o5Vo9Wy-eULjeZkIujXCnD5WnSeetSd3Z5zVUkUZQwHO1OwGrqszWgeP2BRxVTy7q1tS5XTsDsJWzubQzJdkXwH8lsJ6r0A3vYEHrmtPhRpwlLPnRDaI8tZLB_tNTz19q9I/s1600/DSC05265.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOtP8oO4O2o5Vo9Wy-eULjeZkIujXCnD5WnSeetSd3Z5zVUkUZQwHO1OwGrqszWgeP2BRxVTy7q1tS5XTsDsJWzubQzJdkXwH8lsJ6r0A3vYEHrmtPhRpwlLPnRDaI8tZLB_tNTz19q9I/s1600/DSC05265.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harper's Ferry, but it's steeper than it looks in this picture</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjiKrzCWDq2n0TGCOyvTDnE_w99QPFohEZBOkOhUNGk5nyHfVLjC0pX7yNCg8qxiIeT-Mujlco99lsiEOQtV56b90SIiU7b47IdkNGPHgJ6zqwG6ay01T-cPzAyLV_l13nG2dc2ASOVs/s1600/DSC05267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUjiKrzCWDq2n0TGCOyvTDnE_w99QPFohEZBOkOhUNGk5nyHfVLjC0pX7yNCg8qxiIeT-Mujlco99lsiEOQtV56b90SIiU7b47IdkNGPHgJ6zqwG6ay01T-cPzAyLV_l13nG2dc2ASOVs/s1600/DSC05267.JPG" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We wandered inside here to search for dinner, but the sole employee<br />
was overwhelmed, trying to take orders, cook and serve.<br />
I bet the couple seated on the front porch are still waiting.<br />
We fled.</td></tr>
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<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-31396565837106236682013-10-05T14:03:00.001-07:002013-10-06T09:25:18.209-07:00Mount Vernon, VA<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">3 September 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As I belatedly write this blog and try to get caught up on it, now a month after this trip, I appreciate having seen Washington DC and Mount Vernon and other historic sites such as Gettysburg before the government "shutdown." What a nasty business that has become--with the National Park Service (under orders from the Obama administration) unnecessarily closing down open air monuments with barricades and even trying to close the parking lot at Mount Vernon, despite the fact that Mount Vernon is privately owned. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It wasn't very crowded at Mount Vernon on the day of our visit. We drove the George Washington Parkway to get there, toured the house without a wait, and then relaxed on the back porch, overlooking the Potomac. A different Martha Washington was in residence here, but there wasn't much time to listen in on her presentation, as I was anxious to be part of the tour on the topic of slavery at Mount Vernon. A lady in our group unfortunately felt compelled to give her two cents throughout the tour, including telling our tour guide that she should not use the word "slaves", but instead say "enslaved people." I asked the lady just what the distinction was, but didn't get a good answer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mount Vernon has an absolutely terrific visitors' center. It's a nice mix of displays and video presentations, including a clever one about George Washington and espionage in the days of the Revolution. There is even a film with shaking seats (during the battle scenes) and snow falling on the audience. We enjoyed that visitors' center so much that we ultimately were the last ones to leave at the end of the day.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzKpPfH9aZjHeR4H2ucX1irNLR_buByqoSXnWXkD3FJJU-ZhSqnD7GAGl3THtj7YydlQYkiQv3PmRbTv3QVA5vHX_gNHP1dt5zIuNN5yTCFLBbIP-CfgkF9TVV6xYErcvAi-Emmg8uK4/s1600/DSC05238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizzKpPfH9aZjHeR4H2ucX1irNLR_buByqoSXnWXkD3FJJU-ZhSqnD7GAGl3THtj7YydlQYkiQv3PmRbTv3QVA5vHX_gNHP1dt5zIuNN5yTCFLBbIP-CfgkF9TVV6xYErcvAi-Emmg8uK4/s1600/DSC05238.JPG" height="88" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Washington's back yard with the Potomac River</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-D8cG8wPLaAk92hMP0qo9szjGwpEsqxyOfSBeRLKsyMZ3Fa7ZHCxYOyzqq-sh03ylAxsJUW_4Gxi9pbW9o6O7f9ofcZ1vwYnN1UojrLYbz-GQ1UdEVAUbRsfB-qgiHpDCmUb7PWn_Ia0/s1600/DSC05241.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-D8cG8wPLaAk92hMP0qo9szjGwpEsqxyOfSBeRLKsyMZ3Fa7ZHCxYOyzqq-sh03ylAxsJUW_4Gxi9pbW9o6O7f9ofcZ1vwYnN1UojrLYbz-GQ1UdEVAUbRsfB-qgiHpDCmUb7PWn_Ia0/s1600/DSC05241.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mount Vernon</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After Mount Vernon, we went to check out Old Town Alexandria and ate at the Mai Thai restaurant there, where we could watch some sailboats from the second floor window. The menu was marked with little chili peppers to indicate how hot each dish was. I chose something called Ka-Pow with three chilis after asking our waitress, named Boom, if it would be terribly hot. She said it was hot, but "not crazy hot." Well, it WAS crazy hot, but I enjoyed it anyway, and plenty of ice water. Perhaps I should have known to be more cautious, considering that Boom was serving me Ka-Pow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We walked around Alexandria after the sun went down, and tried to match the old buildings to their historic owners. We found the home of Henry (Lighthorse Harry) Lee, father of Robert E. Lee. Lighthorse Harry is famous in his own right for his role in the Revolutionary War, and also as the man who eulogized George Washington as being "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." </span><br />
<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-14375164568986713302013-10-05T12:54:00.001-07:002013-10-17T14:46:31.016-07:00Washington DC, Part 2<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">1, 2 September 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Fortunately there is Latin Mass in the heart of Washington DC at St. Mary Mother of God Church. We came on the subway Sunday morning and then walked from there to do more touring.</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">National Gallery of Art, East and West Buildings </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Take me back here—I need more time! Delightful, and they
let you take pictures! </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The modern half of the National Gallery (East building) was disappointing,
however. I did enjoy seeing gigantic portraits by Chuck Close. Chuck has Facial Recognition Disorder (Prosopagnosia) so he divides his source photo into squares and paints enormous portraits one square at a time.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Museum of Air and Space </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">My feet and legs ached so much from all the previous day's walking that all I could really do
was sit and rest. Whistling Son joined me while Great Husband and Tall Son
enjoyed the museum.</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-BofchvLDsgCN2nlCUe2u2M1wnv6K42SXYiZH-Rhqi_7Tuq97bSrHF0h34tbP1bdEy9txI1PBYdhvQaXL8zfexuyQji4Goq4vymotLnIYiCkmlvj_wV8ZzLF1ffcy4UsTKGB1vD9Ct4/s1600/DSC05194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja-BofchvLDsgCN2nlCUe2u2M1wnv6K42SXYiZH-Rhqi_7Tuq97bSrHF0h34tbP1bdEy9txI1PBYdhvQaXL8zfexuyQji4Goq4vymotLnIYiCkmlvj_wV8ZzLF1ffcy4UsTKGB1vD9Ct4/s1600/DSC05194.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">National Museum of Air and Space</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Supper was from one of the many food trucks that serve
the National Mall. We had Greek food, did people-watching on the Mall, and then
went to a great Labor Day symphony concert on the West Lawn of the Capitol. It was the
National Symphony joined by three string musicians called Time for Three.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjjzAKWQA5lQUHbeCNFdRRRiPBKaRnhNx-roXn94qja8BYnd1dDWn6S4a30xGNpSR_vg1eIzg3oQqaXHu96otP5J_abgqGshw9OjMynP5EEeVPI5F6qvLc1Hxlh0MKU_jAyqXZ-1uPz4/s1600/DSC05207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVjjzAKWQA5lQUHbeCNFdRRRiPBKaRnhNx-roXn94qja8BYnd1dDWn6S4a30xGNpSR_vg1eIzg3oQqaXHu96otP5J_abgqGshw9OjMynP5EEeVPI5F6qvLc1Hxlh0MKU_jAyqXZ-1uPz4/s1600/DSC05207.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">The Capitol seen from the West Lawn at concert time</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the concert, Great Husband realized he had lost his
glasses out of his shirt pocket. We returned to the West Lawn in total darkness and got the
assistance of the Capitol Police with their flashlights in searching for the glasses, but without any
luck. The rest of the story happened the next morning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">First thing on Monday we returned to the West Lawn and got
permission to do more searching for the glasses. The four us formed a search party at arms
length from each other so that we could cover the ground in an organized
fashion. It looked like the grass had been freshly mown, so were we ever
surprised to successfully find those glasses! They looked terrible! One lens was popped out of the frames and mashed into the dirt. The ear pieces were splayed out, and overall the glasses really looked beyond hope. But once back at the camper at the end of the
day, Great Husband was able to bend them back into shape and we all rejoiced
that they were wearable!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Monday's activities:</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tour of the Capitol Building This tour starts by entering the visitors' center under the plaza on the east side of the Capitol. It is a very nice visitor's center but it would have been nicer to be able to enter by climbing the original steps, thus getting oriented to the layout of the building by relating it to the outside. For the tour we were given headsets so we could hear the guide easily. Unfortunately we did not get to see either the House chamber or the Senate chamber since they were not in session.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tour of the Library of Congress This building is stunning inside! (Admittedly, all the decor is devoted to the secular.) I thought the impact of entering the Library of Congress was much greater than the impact of the Capitol Rotunda. We took a great tour and got to see the Gutenburg Bible and the hand-made Giant Bible of Mainz, the big reading room where the public can request materials to study, and the Thomas Jefferson library, moved here from Monticello.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We walked to Union Station and took the Metro to the
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> Conception This is just an enormous place, with many niches and sculptures devoted to Mary, but mostly too edgy to satisfy me.</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpo-GMm7uab7k1d7lufpg5O63FNrkPurBi-vMcLKnfj_2On-XCvUtGqizdSbUZiPRZ_COgy6XTIIsFlirzWwZbbxmEe45F_CIXxvGl6I5q1WPHBRXptm5fgiI6QlADzx-FY0whepNfs2Q/s1600/DSC05215.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpo-GMm7uab7k1d7lufpg5O63FNrkPurBi-vMcLKnfj_2On-XCvUtGqizdSbUZiPRZ_COgy6XTIIsFlirzWwZbbxmEe45F_CIXxvGl6I5q1WPHBRXptm5fgiI6QlADzx-FY0whepNfs2Q/s1600/DSC05215.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Plaza on the east side of the Capitol</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGx9WRpAIlY-N7Tyq0uO_UpmI140argDrg6CU79BVD8mixDy0scDZNWEi5vhFGaSjqQzO-G11s-WCLlBZ_HPHjRqEj6U5f5KdhellptNac3xfGJAn-Gf1JjHHU42FhKRQCAYRVrIjZx5g/s1600/DSC05227.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGx9WRpAIlY-N7Tyq0uO_UpmI140argDrg6CU79BVD8mixDy0scDZNWEi5vhFGaSjqQzO-G11s-WCLlBZ_HPHjRqEj6U5f5KdhellptNac3xfGJAn-Gf1JjHHU42FhKRQCAYRVrIjZx5g/s1600/DSC05227.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every inch of the Library of Congress is decorated.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbYPFQKMLImcXQbejy_C20Ce7ysrCaAbetm8EJ4mPwFaAQ6-jEB9V-KagAqfyLL_nOZ8ttaYFCYzrm5c1g_QtZY9bzpy2QaSgbOVmt1lUfXUrLZaeDE6OOmIaQSuQya9tHgS0BwvjfCU/s1600/DSC05229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbYPFQKMLImcXQbejy_C20Ce7ysrCaAbetm8EJ4mPwFaAQ6-jEB9V-KagAqfyLL_nOZ8ttaYFCYzrm5c1g_QtZY9bzpy2QaSgbOVmt1lUfXUrLZaeDE6OOmIaQSuQya9tHgS0BwvjfCU/s1600/DSC05229.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reading room in the Library of Congress<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2RWBZzzL4ZXzrvWVa9XNjeTEa0hS6-oB4ukRbfC2yRdnwtVPCUdlryHucoizsDc9BGYH7XLNsYQnl6KOuVVi44xugbgrJAHL6JxgFcfNo7dTTCGfqKQAxbn7eVnJhRag8ZMvloY1bae8/s1600/DSC05188.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2RWBZzzL4ZXzrvWVa9XNjeTEa0hS6-oB4ukRbfC2yRdnwtVPCUdlryHucoizsDc9BGYH7XLNsYQnl6KOuVVi44xugbgrJAHL6JxgFcfNo7dTTCGfqKQAxbn7eVnJhRag8ZMvloY1bae8/s1600/DSC05188.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">A small portion of a triptych -- I liked these ladies at the<br />National Gallery of Art<br /><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE-lNDJlgawLFy1Mb9gd4ybFsNhFa7Aog9-23LBevF-SB3f-lGteyFf5Pz8kFz2Xmn6YO07vRB16B6HVE-AxabJTQ-iIwyuEUaIpwGTbtLh9g1iYHwfOZ7H3E1VIsSlH3DoVtj98Y9j0/s1600/DSC05191.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnE-lNDJlgawLFy1Mb9gd4ybFsNhFa7Aog9-23LBevF-SB3f-lGteyFf5Pz8kFz2Xmn6YO07vRB16B6HVE-AxabJTQ-iIwyuEUaIpwGTbtLh9g1iYHwfOZ7H3E1VIsSlH3DoVtj98Y9j0/s1600/DSC05191.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">from the National Gallery of Art<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-4755670945852408832013-10-05T11:31:00.000-07:002013-10-06T08:59:46.515-07:00Washington DC, Part 1<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">31 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sometimes we rely just too much on our GPS to lead us into
new locales. On our drive into Washington, DC, after dark, it chose to bring us
right through the heart of DC. Disadvantage: a maze of streets and tons of
traffic encountered at night while towing the camper. Advantage: Seeing the
Jefferson Memorial lighted at night.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Recommended campground which worked great for us: Cherry
Hill Campground in College Park, Maryland. Well run, very nice facilities,
computers available for your use when Great Husband’s laptop goes kaput,
friendly staff, late check-in by staff in a kiosk. Can’t say enough good things
about this place, especially considering it is in the city. From Cherry Hill,
we drove a very short distance to the College Park Metro Stop, parked the car
for free (on weekends and Labor Day) and rode the Metro into National Mall
area. We were able to buy our basic Metro Passes at Cherry Hill and then add
value onto them at the Metro Station, using credit cards. Cost was about $64 a night for 4 adults, including AAA discount.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As for the Metro, we had been told in advance how nice it
was, but we thought it was well-worn and the stations could never have been
considered attractive. Signage is not adequate, and on weekends they were doing
various repairs that meant certain stations were closed down. All this was a little difficult to figure out. Free shuttle buses were provided to fill in the gaps in
service, which was nice. Even with four sets of ears, we typically couldn’t
understand a word of the announcements that were made on the Metro cars. If you
work for the Metro, even if you’ve made the same announcement a zillion times,
you need to speak clearly for the sake of the rest of us. Otherwise, the Metro
is a great system for moving vast crowds of people around the city.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Highlights of DC, Day 1: </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Ford’s Theater, where Abraham Lincoln was shot, and
Peterson House, where he died</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">White House and protestors outside, whom we watched while
eating our lunch in Lafayette Park. The protest was against Obama’s planned
attack into Syria. We could see the White House well from the north side but they've got us regular citizens blocked from getting anywhere near it on the south side. And of course, Obama is trying to punish the American people during the sequester by closing all tours inside the White House. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">So petty.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Walking tour of the monuments, which I’d guess might have
been about ten miles all considered. I wish one of us had been wearing a pedometer. Reviews of
the hop-on hop-off trolleys spooked me with stories of overcrowding and long
wait times, which is why we chose to walk. I really expected the Mall area to
be clean and well-manicured, but it is certainly not. Trash bins were full and
overflowing and trash was blowing around liberally. I would like to say our
nation had put forward a better image here. The place was teeming with
foreigners.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">World War II Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Vietnam
Memorial, Korean War Memorial, FDR Memorial, Thomas Jefferson Memorial Saw the name of a relative on my mom's side on the Vietnam Memorial, which led to an interesting reminiscence by Great Husband about those days when he and the rest of the draft-able young men lived on edge. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qa8Ajta5LtdcKvFC-eM40nxBRtYvjqKPHkOapjKKPUidqdcBy6JYhhfJ2e4YSl4aioT5oS0la83d02SMvOkQOjoADHi0ryp7yo5aU2YwEwUPV3Y_reSRF5l4IDWuxGgQjYmV96UjoMY/s1600/DSC05160.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4qa8Ajta5LtdcKvFC-eM40nxBRtYvjqKPHkOapjKKPUidqdcBy6JYhhfJ2e4YSl4aioT5oS0la83d02SMvOkQOjoADHi0ryp7yo5aU2YwEwUPV3Y_reSRF5l4IDWuxGgQjYmV96UjoMY/s1600/DSC05160.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lincoln box inside Ford's Theater</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJJ1KISSZCbl0gq1izNpXAFG-BW22Rk-pegRaPlRTWvFf77X9R5f3_bhvjNy1Hyu_fFaPLOnux_0A2O5dW-GsJQraQi69Z5VdQIOtrt9CL59D8uD0FwtBcdqjjDx66e3MwpG1v42ogeg/s1600/DSC05162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhJJ1KISSZCbl0gq1izNpXAFG-BW22Rk-pegRaPlRTWvFf77X9R5f3_bhvjNy1Hyu_fFaPLOnux_0A2O5dW-GsJQraQi69Z5VdQIOtrt9CL59D8uD0FwtBcdqjjDx66e3MwpG1v42ogeg/s1600/DSC05162.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Petersen house, the bedroom where Lincoln died--<br />
this is across the street from the Ford Theater.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5GlMHSDJkXDaO-HtsoRVDFOz60ImqfjKBaAyCpzDb4Qk3_TUWcZD8WminVdRm_O6j5u3FUWVaDuPUcx7z8fInSnOVTlYs4dcnPw6TvNrG010SZ9YH5I1Z2YIa7olxDh0VCIdDqccs20/s1600/DSC05166.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr5GlMHSDJkXDaO-HtsoRVDFOz60ImqfjKBaAyCpzDb4Qk3_TUWcZD8WminVdRm_O6j5u3FUWVaDuPUcx7z8fInSnOVTlYs4dcnPw6TvNrG010SZ9YH5I1Z2YIa7olxDh0VCIdDqccs20/s1600/DSC05166.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The People's House?????</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yXybrbdrHB-hCZMoiINeO_GHM0U0X6aeM8IvKrNm_Ia2bxwTk5wZoVkm1_gn7OJwRhhtTSOhvAGD91pCcMj82Td9AGTEP8Wfy-6jjGwRvUMGbWtLvUg4IJxHPkisyBkgpmFHVWsiwS0/s1600/DSC05167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yXybrbdrHB-hCZMoiINeO_GHM0U0X6aeM8IvKrNm_Ia2bxwTk5wZoVkm1_gn7OJwRhhtTSOhvAGD91pCcMj82Td9AGTEP8Wfy-6jjGwRvUMGbWtLvUg4IJxHPkisyBkgpmFHVWsiwS0/s1600/DSC05167.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Protestors on the north side of the White House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSL0vM-ILD3r4R9wrrT-DCZaZsSL5aiWKPJjI9fOk_J397KLja8NUnVtWlYfgm_yV1rd0FglUbnsEPn9xqAdO0yp8-sIsyt3q9bP29XX_VHfXxKlo0EPUnU-itTKRnojKxoYl80wc6Zc/s1600/DSC05170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCSL0vM-ILD3r4R9wrrT-DCZaZsSL5aiWKPJjI9fOk_J397KLja8NUnVtWlYfgm_yV1rd0FglUbnsEPn9xqAdO0yp8-sIsyt3q9bP29XX_VHfXxKlo0EPUnU-itTKRnojKxoYl80wc6Zc/s1600/DSC05170.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">World War II Memorial</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyEuv8cVL2pHdamDOyi5hpjO65UCbcg1KMY6x96pP2Qp8G_8uyc1zU7nlFyP89CyJ537zCOziXxshnCm6sFSbwc3cB4ePmMrH63K140688Cpvxa5Hn4lE14wDjKJ-1_gfxcrJrjnpyhEE/s1600/DSC05172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyEuv8cVL2pHdamDOyi5hpjO65UCbcg1KMY6x96pP2Qp8G_8uyc1zU7nlFyP89CyJ537zCOziXxshnCm6sFSbwc3cB4ePmMrH63K140688Cpvxa5Hn4lE14wDjKJ-1_gfxcrJrjnpyhEE/s1600/DSC05172.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lincoln Memorial</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Gig0SiZOj_0aR9pyN6nOQP6uRWOlouuB9oZhOmFxOmxahDGUOdLQeFmOqnOCmki7Txh0dteue9s6dWb75slo1syeuv1Cslv3urFo5EpovRVZrZYUtkrlv_SEZ_QosgGsE82Ig1Gr3Ik/s1600/DSC05177.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Gig0SiZOj_0aR9pyN6nOQP6uRWOlouuB9oZhOmFxOmxahDGUOdLQeFmOqnOCmki7Txh0dteue9s6dWb75slo1syeuv1Cslv3urFo5EpovRVZrZYUtkrlv_SEZ_QosgGsE82Ig1Gr3Ik/s1600/DSC05177.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Korean War Memorial</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ni6n3hzVnLSLRL04rIowVtmvIFSrxtmog9JZMlc49z5lYNF9Zcej1E8IzB3NediWinBhD5NkEsEg07Vf54-K9xyP7rRq__aDh5-fyAQZ3yIkpJckGys8F_Y7IIbOcIJ4UZngyBb7jTM/s1600/DSC05179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Ni6n3hzVnLSLRL04rIowVtmvIFSrxtmog9JZMlc49z5lYNF9Zcej1E8IzB3NediWinBhD5NkEsEg07Vf54-K9xyP7rRq__aDh5-fyAQZ3yIkpJckGys8F_Y7IIbOcIJ4UZngyBb7jTM/s1600/DSC05179.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jefferson Memorial across the Tidal Basin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz3xZAeTEYYhammYiX9IccH3xbuJq_KR5O7be2qMxMM5elrDTGLTnKgIbwX749tcF20LIg3ot-h4Vpe6B59tZXY4Fem6O7UAtaLHR7lD4wdrlcL8p73NkuJnflPOYL5-BjNFY5fzznn8/s1600/DSC05180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZz3xZAeTEYYhammYiX9IccH3xbuJq_KR5O7be2qMxMM5elrDTGLTnKgIbwX749tcF20LIg3ot-h4Vpe6B59tZXY4Fem6O7UAtaLHR7lD4wdrlcL8p73NkuJnflPOYL5-BjNFY5fzznn8/s1600/DSC05180.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jefferson Memorial</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></li>
</ul>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-16852161741509429902013-10-05T11:06:00.000-07:002013-10-06T09:00:52.179-07:00Williamsburg, VA area, Part 4<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">28, 29, 30 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Tall Son joined us at Colonial Williamsburg Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday. We tried to cram a lot into every day and I became
convinced that Tall Son is bitten by the same touring bug that afflicts Great
Husband. Gotta see it all! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Early on Wednesday we went to see Martha Washington at the
St. George Tucker house, and she was absolutely fabulous! We cannot imagine a
better rendition of Martha or a more knowledgeable person portraying her! </span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9SPCvTFHmaPN18MLoJGALSnNFBoJiyKVN0nTuE7uSVyEwpoFKXekup7_0pYDtKDTKTeI1WHfHuJE7eRRe6yMzGRcIAhEp6Z74Q2ctEK25N005ZOuk1NgABbJbkcIzXjEvEvIzPhVyp4/s1600/DSC05143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk9SPCvTFHmaPN18MLoJGALSnNFBoJiyKVN0nTuE7uSVyEwpoFKXekup7_0pYDtKDTKTeI1WHfHuJE7eRRe6yMzGRcIAhEp6Z74Q2ctEK25N005ZOuk1NgABbJbkcIzXjEvEvIzPhVyp4/s1600/DSC05143.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lee Ann Rose portrays Martha Custis Washington</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We also had tickets to see a delightful concert performed
entirely on glass instruments – the glass armonica invented by Ben Franklin (no,
we didn’t go insane), glass bells, a glass violin, and another
instrument/sculpture made of glass and other materials by two very elderly
brothers in France. The musician taught us about each of the instruments and
his performance was “simulcast” on a screen above the stage so his hands and
the instruments could be seen. We were amazed that he could play that full
scale of glass bells without accidentally clanking them together and shattering
them!</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNhr45g7kTAQ3ZxZklgFLIo3Tdy4GrA52LAiIMv8ZiEPy2zahUsbhax_thdt_6K4zOQEgrUcoqnJ3ZoPf1cnrIcryJMB4vqkBgxHxTvM8i-WMSt9VIIKKah3MhEqmfLHwjadNUcr4e7I/s1600/DSC05144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNhr45g7kTAQ3ZxZklgFLIo3Tdy4GrA52LAiIMv8ZiEPy2zahUsbhax_thdt_6K4zOQEgrUcoqnJ3ZoPf1cnrIcryJMB4vqkBgxHxTvM8i-WMSt9VIIKKah3MhEqmfLHwjadNUcr4e7I/s1600/DSC05144.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glass armonica</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We were anxious to play RevQuest that same day, a game developed
by Whistling Son and other Colonial Williamsburg staff, this year titled “The
Black Chambers.” RevQuest includes online portions and on-site portions,
solving puzzles and ciphers, and talking to characters on the streets of the
Revolutionary City to gather the information needed to aid the Revolutionary cause.
We began by thinking we could simultaneously tour</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Colonial Williamsburg while solving the
challenges of RevQuest, but after a while we realized that RevQuest would
require our focused attention, and we were just barely able to solve it by the
end of the day. The game was incredibly fun and plenty challenging. We
encountered other families who were taking it quite seriously, including a
husband who said of his wife, “She’s obsessed with it!” When the plot of
Revquest took an unexpected twist, and a large group of us suddenly encountered
the enemy—British redcoats--we thought we had failed in our mission. A little
girl was so upset, perhaps thinking this was all real, that she started to cry!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Bravo to Whistling Son for his efforts on RevQuest! We look
forward to playing the new version in 2014.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Thursday highlights in Colonial Williamsburg:</span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Period music at the Raleigh Tavern—harpsichord, violin, and
viola di gamba</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Order in the Court at the Courthouse—audience members
volunteer to play the roles of the accused and the magistrates. The woman who
was accused of “singing bawdy songs uncomplimentary to the king” had Great
Husband and me in stitches! She had such an indescribably hilarious voice that
if she is not soon hired as cartoon voice talent, she is missing her true
vocation!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tour of the capitol building and gaol (pronounced jail, but
the letter “j” did not exist back then)</span></li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FSGRtx6q1IkvJSIChtrj10kR6e_gDzFnifFnHPRafFXp856Vbi7QNQxm9sFIeq-m7Ne_vwodx615iAOSfzg_aWyV7hyaYJyl50KNy3kWiQ7smQIxE8tYInS0NsbNgsuRPmjTAmTAObc/s1600/DSC05152.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6FSGRtx6q1IkvJSIChtrj10kR6e_gDzFnifFnHPRafFXp856Vbi7QNQxm9sFIeq-m7Ne_vwodx615iAOSfzg_aWyV7hyaYJyl50KNy3kWiQ7smQIxE8tYInS0NsbNgsuRPmjTAmTAObc/s1600/DSC05152.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here are tourists being trained to join the revolutionary forces!<br />
It was hilarious -- they had trouble obeying orders,<br />
including much mixing up of right and left, and failure to keep<br />
up with the proper rhythm. Sticks were used as rifles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friday highlights in Colonial Williamsburg:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Small group chat with Thomas Jefferson at the St. George
Tucker House</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Display of spinets and harpsichords at the Dewitt Wallace
Museum</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Speech by the Marquis de Lafayette at Dewitt Wallace</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Tour of the Governor’s Palace presented by a “servant” in
the palace, shortly after the British stole all the gunpowder from the
Williamsburg magazine, and after Governor Dunmore and his family escaped into
the night in fear of the colonists</span></li>
</ul>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywUJ2E8Ch7WqGdmbe2Ny4kQi2dNk4g5MbprfCSUIxnfjLy2TSGwZZglC7d3ZaTo4HYJxGPUIJLTxoBvLjYsqLkf0R7k6W_hHnsFyS_xwmwDNWas-S1MG3N3fT2A6CkwoAbeYQd02MxnQ/s1600/DSC05156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjywUJ2E8Ch7WqGdmbe2Ny4kQi2dNk4g5MbprfCSUIxnfjLy2TSGwZZglC7d3ZaTo4HYJxGPUIJLTxoBvLjYsqLkf0R7k6W_hHnsFyS_xwmwDNWas-S1MG3N3fT2A6CkwoAbeYQd02MxnQ/s1600/DSC05156.JPG" height="400" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Jefferson as portrayed<br />
by Bill Barker</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After he finished his work day, we picked up Whistling Son,
toured his office and met his boss, Lisa. Then we headed for Washington DC.</span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-83574992304900141902013-10-05T10:36:00.001-07:002013-10-06T09:01:03.389-07:00Williamsburg, VA area, Part 3<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">27 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We headed to Virginia Beach on Tuesday, a significant drive
to get our windshield repaired before the crack could spread. Why go so far? We
found this place called Jody’s Windshield Repair on the internet, and Jody’s
specialty is repairing significant cracks (up to five feet long!) in lieu of
doing replacements. We ended up having so much fun at Jody’s that a mundane
task became a good time! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Jody and her husband Dale repair windshields out of
their home. Imagine pulling into a stranger’s driveway. Good-natured Dale greets
you and invites you to pull into his carpeted garage, complete with bar stools
and big-screen TV. Dale got right down to business on our “coke bottle” crack,
and soon Jody appeared as well. She whipped out her I-pad and launched into
showing us various websites on oddball topics of interest to her, followed by
photos of complex windshield repairs she had accomplished. </span><br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On the driveway sat Jody’s golfcart, not used for golf, but
for cruising the neighborhood. The golf cart was decorated with colored
circular stickers, and somehow I was reminded of the Dating Game décor. While
Jody regaled Great Husband with more I-pad stuff, Dale told me about their
little dog, named Lucki. Lucki was found on their doorstep during a difficult
emotional time for Jody, and having Lucki join the family was able to bring
Jody out of her depression.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Soon Jody jumped up and said, “Look at this!” She hopped
into the golf cart and Lucki jumped into her lap. They headed off down the
street. When they came back Lucki was driving the cart! And we
got all this entertainment plus a windshield repair for only $75. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSsjWH7SCvW6bhJCBlDC0PTunK8m16ip2tJafUNgIEHzJoTB0l2wj6a2-gu6i9c6WeTtZ6-gpAtinPJ7NV8wOwNpOj9fgO1YyvcAMRi5hR9X3_LmXNq_CmLOQRe6gCnxVBzfwFZ4Vgpc/s1600/DSC05081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbSsjWH7SCvW6bhJCBlDC0PTunK8m16ip2tJafUNgIEHzJoTB0l2wj6a2-gu6i9c6WeTtZ6-gpAtinPJ7NV8wOwNpOj9fgO1YyvcAMRi5hR9X3_LmXNq_CmLOQRe6gCnxVBzfwFZ4Vgpc/s1600/DSC05081.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;">Jody and Lucki</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In the afternoon we went to the Nauticus (maritime museum)
and Battleship Wisconsin, and took a 2-3 hour harbor cruise (Victory Rover Naval Base Cruises) on the Elizabeth
River. Out here, rivers are not like rivers back home. Our rivers flow one
direction, narrow and fast. Our here, they are miles wide and flow
indistinguishably from one body of water into another. I’ll let Great Husband
give you his impressions of this afternoon:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“There was far more to see at Nauticus than time allowed.
Exhibits covered a wide range from ocean creatures to navy warships to merchant
shipping. Some of the most interesting exhibits deal with container ships,
appropriate since Hampton Roads is a major port for these ships. The highlight
was the self-guided tour of the Battleship Wisconsin. Many spaces below decks
are open, and the ship has been nicely restored, complete with teak deck. Our
river cruise took us past Historic Portsmouth and the U.S. Navy base. We were
fortunate to see the aircraft carrier Eisenhower, which was in port at the
time.”</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe_nBknhj5MJu7CYsh2M-F2pdSu2UFHoOKPE4Nm77BshQP81L4Rkbc3qgLiuZk_XYtzapNEPJIZDgoByCGGjupvOab5rYVuW4xKj4TJNssJ46f_uyfL8kHgLifGMwhoTa2Vstc0daAA4/s1600/DSC05097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTe_nBknhj5MJu7CYsh2M-F2pdSu2UFHoOKPE4Nm77BshQP81L4Rkbc3qgLiuZk_XYtzapNEPJIZDgoByCGGjupvOab5rYVuW4xKj4TJNssJ46f_uyfL8kHgLifGMwhoTa2Vstc0daAA4/s1600/DSC05097.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On deck of the Battleship Wisconsin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGSDwiRX19K_44YoslGgZLSs9E7CKpKbYfBAs3_8wU6DrQ2DD43pRjO_-y34vcZnrbu06zfV-Lct4CT_Zm8xaf3ZR0DwYKV2CeW3zKaLluTx-BM2GxMksGxuN066iLjCNBOUcM0Qe9kM/s1600/DSC05104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOGSDwiRX19K_44YoslGgZLSs9E7CKpKbYfBAs3_8wU6DrQ2DD43pRjO_-y34vcZnrbu06zfV-Lct4CT_Zm8xaf3ZR0DwYKV2CeW3zKaLluTx-BM2GxMksGxuN066iLjCNBOUcM0Qe9kM/s1600/DSC05104.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We enjoyed learning about container ships.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Wisconsin</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Officer's dining hall inside the Wisconsin</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We ended the day by picking up Tall Son from the airport in
Richmond so he could vacation with us and Whistling Son. It was quite a day!</span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-68809460183349657232013-10-05T10:09:00.000-07:002013-10-06T09:01:17.167-07:00Williamsburg, VA area, Part 2<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">26 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">While Whistling Son was at work, Great Husband and I spent our
Monday at Colonial Williamsburg. We never tire of it. I’ve probably written
that before. As a side benefit of donating to the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, we get to
attend special events in the St. George Tucker house. (St. George is Mr.
Tucker’s rather unusual first name.) These events are small-group meetings with
famous people who were in Williamsburg during the Revolutionary period. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyeIonYyrOrw-ohnUbJAJ-eUgGOM1G4ESU26pteXBHa8I_0k_dCBrJrgqCcyA7NhKOmXj0j1sCW6bu_HU9paRgZmMl2hES6nzgRhyphenhyphen8vd2oDyiWbHqi3HY2gEIgg2-lyVUqtMV3OU8Tss/s1600/DSC05071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAyeIonYyrOrw-ohnUbJAJ-eUgGOM1G4ESU26pteXBHa8I_0k_dCBrJrgqCcyA7NhKOmXj0j1sCW6bu_HU9paRgZmMl2hES6nzgRhyphenhyphen8vd2oDyiWbHqi3HY2gEIgg2-lyVUqtMV3OU8Tss/s1600/DSC05071.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. George Tucker House in Colonial Williamsburg</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Monday’s
famous person was the Marquis de Lafayette, as portrayed by Mark Schneider, and what a dynamo he is! Mark is an American whose mother is French, so
he is fluent in the language and to us his English with a French accent
certainly sounds authentic. Great Husband has also noticed that Mark uses excellent
French mannerisms. For part of each program at the St. George Tucker house, the
actor speaks in the historic time period only. After that, he or she exits the
character and speaks as him or herself, answering any questions that the small
audience wishes to ask. We always find that the audience is very knowledgeable
and asks excellent questions, and the actors are amazing in their expertise on
every particular about their characters. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The actress who portrays Martha
Washington could even tell us where Martha purchased the bourbon for her
Christmas cake!</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLPANpZsoJILXjmXQxf7L99Vm-gNgtZRkN89hDKa-R_6NEpzrR2YHJIAetZiGibJpweCfeAbOT1myQPMZroR9EzDEDINlAfzepHVlC4jDW-mkeH8c77DP1vfDYPs9ynPW6fAKuZVkKZI/s1600/DSC05072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLPANpZsoJILXjmXQxf7L99Vm-gNgtZRkN89hDKa-R_6NEpzrR2YHJIAetZiGibJpweCfeAbOT1myQPMZroR9EzDEDINlAfzepHVlC4jDW-mkeH8c77DP1vfDYPs9ynPW6fAKuZVkKZI/s1600/DSC05072.JPG" height="640" width="360" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dynamic Marquis, as portrayed by the dynamic Mark Schneider</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">As annual pass holders, we also qualify for various tours
behind the scenes. Several times we have taken the special tour that starts at
the former Bruton Heights School and moves on to the conservation center where preservation and restoration
of all sorts of artifacts are done. Once again we toured the paper conservation
studio and then we got to see the workshop where the antique furniture is cared
for. It is important that whatever is done to the furniture be reversible, so
this group has developed very specialized techniques, including a method to
reupholster furniture without adding any additional nail holes. The man who
heads this department started as a maintenance man at Colonial Williamsburg some
45 years ago, and when he saw historic furniture and bolts of upholstery fabric
being thoughtlessly discarded, he got this group started to preserve such
things. He is old enough that he would like to retire but there is no one with
his expertise to replace him, so he has written a book to pass along his
knowledge.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Historic furniture being conserved in the upholstery shop</td></tr>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-37839103613955227052013-10-05T09:58:00.000-07:002013-10-06T09:01:32.227-07:00Williamsburg, VA area, Part 1<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">23, 24, 25 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was time to visit Whistling Son once again! We arrived in
the rain at the Williamsburg KOA on Friday night and the site was muddy, which
made us doubly thankful to set up quickly and settle in so much easier than in
the pop-up days.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When we visit, Whistling Son doesn’t like to spend his time
with us at Colonial Williamsburg, since he works there every day, so we spent
an easy Saturday with him, taking a beautiful drive to Berkeley Plantation, family
home of several generations of famous Harrisons, as in President Benj</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">amin Harrison and President William Henry Harrison (aka Tippecanoe). A neighboring plantation, which we didn’t get to visit, was the home of President John Tyler. Thus, when you hear of “Tippecanoe and Tyler, too”, you can picture them not only as running mates but as their families being neighbors. A cannonball from the Civil War is lodged in the upper story brick wall of one of the plantation buildings. But don’t be too impressed. That cannon ball was actually found somewhere on the ground and deliberately mounted there in the wall to show it off.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkAvyxfK7ZvdRcQN-VwFnCYgdnjZV1LPKlLX0eGl4xqLkhTSC75VhkUkWvGJhWfCeGzKCiDz46eFu9eMcqmLV502VoKWQIqbGEWxHM706gY_DdGGh62EsGWPmYqpHz4S2ygEsvv5-vzc/s1600/DSC05052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGkAvyxfK7ZvdRcQN-VwFnCYgdnjZV1LPKlLX0eGl4xqLkhTSC75VhkUkWvGJhWfCeGzKCiDz46eFu9eMcqmLV502VoKWQIqbGEWxHM706gY_DdGGh62EsGWPmYqpHz4S2ygEsvv5-vzc/s1600/DSC05052.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main house at Berkeley Plantation</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi668L7V-nDvVHfyIJ7Nc69EVxBHU7eYlBnVrEWvMBDR6lyBMg_LD6IVBUKonFjadAsdNhLeMzgaZyhyphenhyphenLKuAGaCRDdCb1P5s2IbXxURsitlLrsfhTvTN5RlElzUB1kJ-3XmfvavQXbWxXw/s1600/DSC05051.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi668L7V-nDvVHfyIJ7Nc69EVxBHU7eYlBnVrEWvMBDR6lyBMg_LD6IVBUKonFjadAsdNhLeMzgaZyhyphenhyphenLKuAGaCRDdCb1P5s2IbXxURsitlLrsfhTvTN5RlElzUB1kJ-3XmfvavQXbWxXw/s1600/DSC05051.JPG" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adjacent house with cannon ball in the wall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNdNn-lzPlwKO5CH1lj1ReuquQK_vhwtxjSbgzAQIEGQwKLbbhS6c-PwUZ28g1y_xFhgHvRemCsuxejHJGTIdbdxPpOQzuo4TrK0aqFqcE8gvDkNFhl8Rv5Epa3XJCM9SmrXLPnRytws/s1600/DSC05050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdNdNn-lzPlwKO5CH1lj1ReuquQK_vhwtxjSbgzAQIEGQwKLbbhS6c-PwUZ28g1y_xFhgHvRemCsuxejHJGTIdbdxPpOQzuo4TrK0aqFqcE8gvDkNFhl8Rv5Epa3XJCM9SmrXLPnRytws/s1600/DSC05050.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the fraudulently-mounted cannon ball.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back yard at Berkeley Plantation -- nice!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Sunday Whistling Son drove us all to Mass in Chesapeake at St. Benedict’s (FSSP). It takes about an hour and a half to get there, and the return drive can land you in a traffic jam even on a Sunday. In the late afternoon we went to Yorktown and enjoyed hearing the Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps and walking among the Revolutionary War cannons. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yorktown Fife and Drum Corps</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Afterwards we went to hear a performance by a musical group called Poisoned Dwarf, advertised as being held in the church yard of the Episcopal Church. It was quite a surprise to see that the church yard was actually a cemetery and that the audience was settled in among the graves with their picnic suppers and bag chairs. Inappropriate? Great Husband saw to it that our chosen seating spot was not amidst the headstones, but off to the side. The music was fantastic! The guys played a wide variety of instruments, and toward the end of the concert a young lady jumped up and did some very skillful dancing in the style of Riverdance. It couldn’t have been easy, dancing in her socks on the grass!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">At the same event, Great Husband met a car guy named Steve, who has owned many MGs. Not only has Steve owned MGs, but he has had over 300 cars in 30-some years. He was quite the character.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4IWjO2cvFG-L3QVkjoy32t-mYe135wWL0K12z3KdcpR4aB7G7jJRrHxKk7_oeE_yXCncDENNx1PpucMrDi7l35BDO7tZdrWb5KlvbMxB9ylajt8ENqUbkhM8VPCMObEt9H951ATLg3Q/s1600/DSC05060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi4IWjO2cvFG-L3QVkjoy32t-mYe135wWL0K12z3KdcpR4aB7G7jJRrHxKk7_oeE_yXCncDENNx1PpucMrDi7l35BDO7tZdrWb5KlvbMxB9ylajt8ENqUbkhM8VPCMObEt9H951ATLg3Q/s1600/DSC05060.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poisoned Dwarf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdtLBPi6T-CU50ZF3vMMNJKdxtJ7BF8KxE_lR9LgVsvlNUJwskQLAwG6uc6OvZQh6ucmFjtj5yIr_xkr9DtfhTQ59MO2uwR59gpBQRkzomX_f6CX5_KScFk2uzjYl2zFte3EEJiV72As/s1600/DSC05062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDdtLBPi6T-CU50ZF3vMMNJKdxtJ7BF8KxE_lR9LgVsvlNUJwskQLAwG6uc6OvZQh6ucmFjtj5yIr_xkr9DtfhTQ59MO2uwR59gpBQRkzomX_f6CX5_KScFk2uzjYl2zFte3EEJiV72As/s1600/DSC05062.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graveyard seating</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-49760978375695183082013-08-24T08:28:00.003-07:002013-10-06T09:01:53.495-07:00Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">23 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We had a fabulous time touring the Biltmore Estate here in
Asheville. It is definitely important to devote a whole day to seeing this
impressive place. Biltmore was built by George Vanderbilt, youngest son of the
third generation of wealthy Vanderbilts. The house, in French chateau style,
was completed in 1895 when George was 32 and still single. It has 101 bedrooms,
43 bathrooms, and 4 acres of space under its roof. Imagine that much house for
one single guy. He did marry not long after (how could such an eligible
bachelor escape for long?), but he and his wife only had one child, a daughter
named Cornelia, born in 1900, and George died suddenly at age 51 when she was
not quite 14.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxsT5fIGUWKx5YZDiqPXT3fKC9i0baZsl4QgBbaOWqV8w9r-k-AJlkQMKiSAM-8u_1j3vzU0fsaYkwQynLjVb3IvwHkiJxvp8v_vhMwV_CkTPQNH65ctFQEjGHA7DpyykzBYGTmzzWNE/s1600/DSC05034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVxsT5fIGUWKx5YZDiqPXT3fKC9i0baZsl4QgBbaOWqV8w9r-k-AJlkQMKiSAM-8u_1j3vzU0fsaYkwQynLjVb3IvwHkiJxvp8v_vhMwV_CkTPQNH65ctFQEjGHA7DpyykzBYGTmzzWNE/s1600/DSC05034.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">The property includes vast gardens, and we walked them
first. Then we took a multi-hour walk of the house, using rented audio players
that give great information about the house, the furnishings, the art and
tapestries, and the people who lived there and visited there. The audio players
are well worth the extra $10 it costs to use them. The house is absolutely
amazing, and it’s the best house tour we have ever had. One of the wonderful
things about touring here is that you are completely able to move at your own
pace and you never feel hounded. Most rooms are monitored by friendly and
knowledgeable hosts, there to answer any questions you have. The estate has
1800 employees to keep this whole operation going.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">One cute story on the audio player was told by a
preservationist who works at Biltmore. He had completed a restoration of George
Biltmore’s bedroom, which involved new gold leaf on the walls and across a door
to George’s private closet. With the new gold leaf, the closet door would not
close properly, and in an attempt to close it, the preservationist went inside
the closet and pushed the door shut from that side. It was then that he
discovered that there was no doorknob on the inside. He called out for a long
time, hoping one of the tourists strolling through the bedroom would hear him
and get him out, but the closet was too soundproof and everyone passed by.
Finally a little child heard his cries for help and with difficulty convinced
his mother that someone was trapped in the closet. As the preservationist was
finally released from the closet, the gathered tourists applauded. Now that
closet door is left permanently ajar.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Descendants of George Biltmore own the property still, and
continue to work on preserving the house and making it available to the public.
If we ever get a chance to return, we would enjoy touring Biltmore again and
taking one of the specialized tours, such as the Butler’s Tour or the
Architect’s Tour, which cover other rooms and additional information from
behind the scenes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Right now we’re on the road toward Williamsburg, Virginia.
We took a couple of damaging hits to the Flex’s windshield once again, and hope
that it will be repairable without replacing the whole thing, which cost $500
last time around. My theory is that because we are travelling at 60 mph, we are
sitting ducks to the many semis who pull around us and kick rocks at us.</span></div>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-67010305943612500562013-08-24T08:26:00.000-07:002013-08-24T08:26:45.069-07:00Asheville, North Carolina<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">21 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">It isn’t easy to transition from staying in a beautiful
national park to a commercial campground, and this time the experience was more
unpleasant than usual. This campground in Asheville, North Carolina, which
shall remain nameless, has a filthy registration office and a very rude
proprietor. After we backed into our site, our neighboring campers, Mike and
Heather, however, quickly greeted us, which dulled the sting from the nasty
proprietor’s behavior. They’re from Texas, a homeschooling family with four
kids, with plans to be on the road for at least a year, maybe two. Of course,
as homeschoolers ourselves, we felt an immediate affinity for them. Mike owns a
stuffed animal business in Dallas which does not need much attention from him,
plus a business as a “social media consultant”, work which he can do on the
road.</span></div>
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</span><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This campground sits on the French Broad River, which looks
like a smaller version of our Muddy Mo (Missouri River) back home. The
campground has constant traffic noise, although that isn’t too unusual for
commercial campgrounds. They often seem to be situated on any leftover piece of
available ground, squeezed in next to a busy street.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Now, on to some of the great things about Asheville!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Asheville has a thriving artists’ district, and we had a
great time touring a few of the galleries. Our favorite was owned by Daniel
McClendon, who paints bold abstracts with animal themes. His gallery is a
former biscuit factory and a wonderful space for a gallery and studio!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">For dinner, we chose a funky, colorful restaurant called the
Mellow Mushroom, with a big outdoor patio in front. What a perfect evening to
eat outside! No bugs, no wind, and the perfect temperature. We ordered Holy
Shiitake pizza and it was fantastic—several kinds of mushrooms, several
cheeses, and caramelized onions. We observed that Asheville is full of free
spirits, many with purple or green hair. Our new friends who appear in the next
paragraph call these hippie-types Nature Muffins!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Before leaving home, the Escape Forum led us to connect with
Barbara and Kevin, who live near Asheville, and who have an Escape 19 on order.
They came to see us in the campground and to soak up some Escape 19 atmosphere
last evening. They brought wonderful banana bread to share with us, and Great
Husband made coffee. In April Barbara and Kevin will be going to Chilliwack to
get their new trailer and then plan to travel for 60 days in it right away.
They are so excited and we are so excited for them, too! </span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-72394816679574102432013-08-24T08:17:00.004-07:002013-08-24T08:22:22.097-07:00Great Smoky Mountains NP Part 3<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">20 August 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Today we drove the Cades Cove Loop, a longer one-way scenic
drive through forests and meadows. People of European descent settled in the
area roughly between 1820 and 1920, with a maximum population of 280 farming
families at one point. The population dwindled as the states of Tennessee and
North Carolina purchased their properties for the purpose of creating Great
Smoky Mountains National Park. A number of family cabins and churches remain
and can be visited.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIi8igudfTBbvmETZeNmGX_VsDDSZsyzStpdoylN-8Q-yeUbmhrqPL0oZjMYuKG8npMqBw997Lu1YMDYAc28MIj08RThf0_bwiozA8efakPkHCINn8mkSTQqmtVZe-7jOYbNJSh8mPo4/s1600/DSC04972.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfIi8igudfTBbvmETZeNmGX_VsDDSZsyzStpdoylN-8Q-yeUbmhrqPL0oZjMYuKG8npMqBw997Lu1YMDYAc28MIj08RThf0_bwiozA8efakPkHCINn8mkSTQqmtVZe-7jOYbNJSh8mPo4/s1600/DSC04972.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oliver Cabin</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdxLLXFIoqTxbLEdEImL6cdvSezQqT2e9i188g63uUMLPtnOVOesFEFKZmbVCjeVGGAqTlM3ZlNoHUKwPoDLg__TgbB20PxrIMua0jJ11TSGKsICHykH7mn1ku2PyDbWOf83yqtDbKNc/s1600/DSC04974.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdxLLXFIoqTxbLEdEImL6cdvSezQqT2e9i188g63uUMLPtnOVOesFEFKZmbVCjeVGGAqTlM3ZlNoHUKwPoDLg__TgbB20PxrIMua0jJ11TSGKsICHykH7mn1ku2PyDbWOf83yqtDbKNc/s1600/DSC04974.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous view from the Oliver Cabin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrqQ4XjER1dQVuteEpvNmA9yCBc1zlGKeJMc74Am5CLSbsBtP7CefBhXN7Op3sFltENmL301ynNJulFxxb-sIWsFxZSVjevMWUBmp0IAD_FwliSZzev7AY9VWV_qUd_WN2UCSkklP1qs/s1600/DSC04981.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrqQ4XjER1dQVuteEpvNmA9yCBc1zlGKeJMc74Am5CLSbsBtP7CefBhXN7Op3sFltENmL301ynNJulFxxb-sIWsFxZSVjevMWUBmp0IAD_FwliSZzev7AY9VWV_qUd_WN2UCSkklP1qs/s1600/DSC04981.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our second sighting of a black bear</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1MoaT6RhCTPKb8k78tHHtKZx4TiWsZn_55kZMs7RQXfhJHAcEResyzrz41n0GPVuIkR40thnyF5mc99fQdqY6imgWodNjoPluKTycgGvhx-Hhkw9ergOmrIC6HZ00O1CUifAtZzKQnY/s1600/DSC04986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp1MoaT6RhCTPKb8k78tHHtKZx4TiWsZn_55kZMs7RQXfhJHAcEResyzrz41n0GPVuIkR40thnyF5mc99fQdqY6imgWodNjoPluKTycgGvhx-Hhkw9ergOmrIC6HZ00O1CUifAtZzKQnY/s1600/DSC04986.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Primitive Baptist Church</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Luckily for us, we made three more black bear sightings, all
in the Cades Cove area. The best of the sightings was a large juvenile in a
tree. The assembled crowd got to watch that bear climb quickly down the tree
trunk and as he did we all dashed back over a low fence and to our cars. Only
the slowest guy got eaten.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Besides many cabins along the route, we thought the
highlights of Cades Cove were the old mill in operation at the Cades Cove
Visitors Center, and the Primitive Baptist Church, where a park volunteer told
us about the beliefs of the Primitive Baptists. The sect, still in existence,
believes in predestination, literal interpretation of the King James Bible, and
“holding people accountable.” They do not believe in missions, which accounts
for the existence of a separate Baptist Church in Cades Cove, called Mission
Baptist Church. Ministers of the Primitive sect are not supposed to go to any
seminary for education, and they become pastors instead by “feeling the call”
and subsequently being accepted by the elders. They are not supposed to give
prepared sermons, but just speak “what the Holy Spirit tells them to say.”
Since there were three or four ministers at any one time in the congregation,
and each could speak as long as he wanted on Sunday, the combined sermons could
go on for hours and hours.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxQYR5hP_Xv4p6x0gfKVKtiWzC-3bJJfpFJsQkXlfc39fLrPu4wK5ffwqg6NtU8cf7KjiZbY4x4wWQHMWYUjWdwR1DcqlYZVmAalZDo-MhqoQQjANvcwhArmOhoEG89zX1u7q9VihhAc/s1600/DSC04990.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxQYR5hP_Xv4p6x0gfKVKtiWzC-3bJJfpFJsQkXlfc39fLrPu4wK5ffwqg6NtU8cf7KjiZbY4x4wWQHMWYUjWdwR1DcqlYZVmAalZDo-MhqoQQjANvcwhArmOhoEG89zX1u7q9VihhAc/s1600/DSC04990.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cades Cove meadow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQI_rh9kakhfP95gZu2CyioqnB0twtqp2PWb8p2Jb_hNN-mepVAbVZBs9qongxQEYR3Zi2y6Wa-uO8abKATRCYVyi7omHk4VtlshMKXebWP67Ra0p_Xqm3BeRgxIXONEqt0yInWpib5E/s1600/DSC04999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifQI_rh9kakhfP95gZu2CyioqnB0twtqp2PWb8p2Jb_hNN-mepVAbVZBs9qongxQEYR3Zi2y6Wa-uO8abKATRCYVyi7omHk4VtlshMKXebWP67Ra0p_Xqm3BeRgxIXONEqt0yInWpib5E/s1600/DSC04999.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The mill at the Cades Cove Visitors Center</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzKgDcF-ulIOa6kJWffqRFJ4KlvITuyFW9IlSX0bQGxRELFyoiQpg_T7HdENdR_zn0bQQCtCIkomBGx6bxJnGbqE_py6b0IWYuMyNrc61FFOJSB0B_D46FluPWUQvSse9YuPyQcXSEbU/s1600/DSC05004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHzKgDcF-ulIOa6kJWffqRFJ4KlvITuyFW9IlSX0bQGxRELFyoiQpg_T7HdENdR_zn0bQQCtCIkomBGx6bxJnGbqE_py6b0IWYuMyNrc61FFOJSB0B_D46FluPWUQvSse9YuPyQcXSEbU/s1600/DSC05004.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Run! He's coming down!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">While we were in the Cades Cove area, we took a drive
through the campground there. We did not like it nearly so well as Elkmont
Campground, where we are staying, especially with our stream-side site.
Surprisingly, both campgrounds have many empty sites right now. The weather has
been off-and-on rainy with mild temperatures--perfect camping weather. Here’s a
caution for future visitors here--we have been really dismayed by the poor lane
discipline of many oncoming drivers on the turning and twisting roads inside
the park. Beware of that big motorhome speeding toward you in your lane!</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">One of the great things about camping is meeting fellow
campers. Owners of Fiberglas campers especially seem to seek each other out.
Tonight we met Robert and Debra from Minneapolis, who have a 15-foot Trillium.
Despite having two 12-V batteries for it, they run out of power in just a day,
so Robert and Great Husband were consulting about what might be wrong, and we got
a tour of the Trillium. It had interesting features such as jalousie windows
and snap-in carpeting. The door didn’t fit at all as received from the factory
so Robert had to do lots of modification to make it fit. They also don’t like
the three-burner stove, which may have three burners, but which can’t possible
handle three pots at the same time because the burners are so close together,
intersecting actually. Robert and Debra chose not to have a bathroom in the
Trillium, which makes it seem remarkably spacious inside. We enjoyed seeing
their shower hut outside, which is a tent for one person to stand inside. They
fill a bucket and use an immersion heater hooked up to their generator to heat
the water. A 12-volt water pump feeds the hot water up to a shower head. They
stand in a kiddie pool inside the shower hut so they are catching all the water
to later dump back into the bucket to be disposed of properly as gray water.
Wow! </span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-37598527220030042122013-08-24T07:59:00.001-07:002013-08-24T07:59:52.244-07:00Great Smoky Mountains NP Part 2<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">19 August 2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">This afternoon
we headed to the Sugarlands Visitor Center, watched the 20-minute park video,
and toured the museum displays, devoted to the plants and animals of this area.
Usually the text with such things is painfully dull, but this time it was so
entertaining, written in colorful first-person by Robert G. Johnsson, the
author of “A Naturalist’s Notebook.” The accompanying sketches from the same
book were just as charming. About a third of the displays also included stuffed
critters and preserved plant specimens.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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</div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We got a
tickle out of a conversation we overhead in the museum. A girl of about 10 was
trying to find the display for a particular insect called a bald-faced hornet,
so she could answer a question in her Junior Ranger book. A park volunteer was
trying to help, but didn’t know offhand where the display was. “To me it’s just
another bug that should be killed,” said the volunteer. That attitude was so
refreshing! But we’re afraid her attitude will get her signed up soon for
mandatory retraining to get her back on the official National Park Service
script!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">From the
visitor center, we headed into Gatlinburg, a terribly touristy town we learned
to detest from a previous trip here 14 years ago. The Roaring Fork Motor Nature
Trail, which is part of the national park, starts out from Gatlinburg or we
would have avoided this town. The motor trail is a one-way scenic drive of five
miles, with many stops to see old cabins, an old mill, and meandering creeks,
all enjoyable.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">
</span><br />
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</div>
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</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We also
hiked the Laurel Falls Trail which is 1.3 miles one way, fortunately uphill
when you’re feeling fresh and downhill when you’re not. Another hiker, more
nature-aware than we are, spotted a mother black bear and three or four of her
cubs below us in the forest. As the mama bear came gradually closer and closer
to the trail, Great Husband decided it was time for us to get out of there, but
the mama bear must have had the same idea about then. We caught one last
glimpse of a cub climbing awkwardly over a fallen log as both the humans and
the bears departed.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3BIsOjXZH_g_YDsur2YaNtrOjgWTgLAn1NmZwM5_c2FGGDLrDjgW8Oq1ak9e3k97fRK7RNQ9ESYDR6H3H0hfxSo2VA4RDpZjNVADswjS2ISE6FwW66YCnGMUATcQW-xQIJO9o1hFU_8/s1600/DSC04918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJ3BIsOjXZH_g_YDsur2YaNtrOjgWTgLAn1NmZwM5_c2FGGDLrDjgW8Oq1ak9e3k97fRK7RNQ9ESYDR6H3H0hfxSo2VA4RDpZjNVADswjS2ISE6FwW66YCnGMUATcQW-xQIJO9o1hFU_8/s1600/DSC04918.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cabin along the Roaring Fork Nature Trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aXnl3FIMjTnQEW39LFXyI0pT1QujWtqU5jXZkEa90u1Fe_Z3XCM7P6_DP_kI9MntvBVGbKNL7u_aA73SJuNluULY-aAn5qJnBBO3GW7Oe-Ymu7dLl8ziN6mc9z2YgtxQalpHe7AoR2g/s1600/DSC04941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4aXnl3FIMjTnQEW39LFXyI0pT1QujWtqU5jXZkEa90u1Fe_Z3XCM7P6_DP_kI9MntvBVGbKNL7u_aA73SJuNluULY-aAn5qJnBBO3GW7Oe-Ymu7dLl8ziN6mc9z2YgtxQalpHe7AoR2g/s1600/DSC04941.JPG" height="87" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhAHkM9ocD1Q2WHd5gTY5sdhKB7bfUACHNOUWh9GoF-gsSLMUhHSoSVf8BF56K02ZP6jvNO-30wYlu2A0HupqvU-G-J9NrGoay8VMJP1HZ8W-vZutLE8eQQCLRrNES7xZogPMiIIl3us/s1600/DSC04956.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhAHkM9ocD1Q2WHd5gTY5sdhKB7bfUACHNOUWh9GoF-gsSLMUhHSoSVf8BF56K02ZP6jvNO-30wYlu2A0HupqvU-G-J9NrGoay8VMJP1HZ8W-vZutLE8eQQCLRrNES7xZogPMiIIl3us/s1600/DSC04956.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laurel Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UQgRVZBa8MwpwKWTzQqwxkcB_bcVuuLURlRD4Iyok8x3aNSk7beJmgWiEpGrPdmB4aD3pgEFtrSvh4ajOUcGNDlNoPWzGnXvZtv4xdmWE7QHmpWA_nsACVl4IoqyYanCG53ywujuGkk/s1600/DSC04967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UQgRVZBa8MwpwKWTzQqwxkcB_bcVuuLURlRD4Iyok8x3aNSk7beJmgWiEpGrPdmB4aD3pgEFtrSvh4ajOUcGNDlNoPWzGnXvZtv4xdmWE7QHmpWA_nsACVl4IoqyYanCG53ywujuGkk/s1600/DSC04967.JPG" height="87" width="400" /></a></div>
</div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-61309620352976932372013-08-24T07:42:00.004-07:002013-08-24T07:42:46.579-07:00Great Smoky Mountains National Park Part 1<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">18-19 August 2013</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Our second day was another long driving day. We timed it to
arrive for 12:30 Latin Mass in Nashville, Tennessee at Assumption Catholic
Church, in the historic Germantown area. We were enormously impressed with the
very elderly priest who said Mass and gave a no-holds-barred sermon. His pain
was palpable--over the state of the Church, the papacy, and the failures of his
fellow seminary graduates to stand up for the Faith. Of his class, he is the
only one still living, and he asked us to pray for his deceased classmates. He
also asked us to pray for the suffering Catholics and Christians of Egypt right
now, who are the descendants of the Egyptian people who cared for the Holy
Family when they hid from Herod during the Slaughter of the Innocents. The
congregation at Assumption Catholic Church was predominately young families and
the choir (all men) was excellent. You know a really good choir when they are
not a distraction to the Mass but a suitable supplement.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">As a prelude to the next paragraph, let me explain that
Great Husband has a longstanding fear of librarians. He considers them
“terrible profilers” and he is an innocent victim of their profiling. Even when
he is well-behaved, he imagines they’re constantly keeping him under a watchful
eye, and he is at all times at risk of incurring their wrath. Sooner or later a
librarian will descend upon him, wearing a scowl, to tell him what rule he is
violating.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Although we made tracks, we didn’t arrive in the Great Smoky
Mountains until nearly dark. We had a reservation at Elkmont Campground, on a
site that backs up to the stream called the Little River. It is an absolutely
beautiful setting. What we didn’t know in advance was that the only place to
get water for the camper was six miles away near the Sugarlands Visitor Center,
and we did not enter the park from that direction. We were fortunate that we
arrived with about a third of a tank from home. In the morning we found a
spigot in this campground and were putting some more water into our tank when
along came a stern park volunteer, materializing out of thin air. She was
probably a former librarian. Somehow it is against the laws of Tennessee to get
your water there at the water spigot. Great Husband was trying to distract the
librarian with questions about the policy before finally getting around to
turning off the water, but it didn’t work. She was savvy to his wily ways. So,
be forewarned if you camp in this national park, fill your water tank on the
way in. We did figure out that we can also get water right here in the campsite
by repeatedly filling a cooking pot and pouring it into the side of our camper
using a curled up plastic cutting “board” as a funnel. It’s one of the fun
aspects of camping—finding solutions with whatever you have on hand. But beware
of librarians.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Overnight there was a steady light rain. This morning we
have enjoyed relaxing under our canopy to avoid the still-dripping trees, while
sipping hot coffee and watching some kids swim in the cold water.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk58gO7cuaZkGel-1b5XInZ8asy6Oi74MTMTMscMaIFjs4_Kfw0Dq3aH4fedjuoDIJhzTlm_dr0_ASWFFtJYJ-9SozOT7sA2V_ZqAno8MwrwRUuWerJqW8R9WSZSq_TONqnW5pnb9SVec/s1600/DSC04906.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk58gO7cuaZkGel-1b5XInZ8asy6Oi74MTMTMscMaIFjs4_Kfw0Dq3aH4fedjuoDIJhzTlm_dr0_ASWFFtJYJ-9SozOT7sA2V_ZqAno8MwrwRUuWerJqW8R9WSZSq_TONqnW5pnb9SVec/s1600/DSC04906.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elkmont Campground, Site G3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qs3iXXs114RMhQNp8NHOQDrD6G-2_4Y1tRDkicu9U7gwTuuwbCk0JEJfJIy4B_JE0sh6a4UgVaP9TUoKvlGS_CtgB7V0mnPJmMwBpxwqTAxWi0nKMtx4eqHYKHhQ95_yCuTa03MgJuM/s1600/DSC04907.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8qs3iXXs114RMhQNp8NHOQDrD6G-2_4Y1tRDkicu9U7gwTuuwbCk0JEJfJIy4B_JE0sh6a4UgVaP9TUoKvlGS_CtgB7V0mnPJmMwBpxwqTAxWi0nKMtx4eqHYKHhQ95_yCuTa03MgJuM/s1600/DSC04907.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little River behind our site</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n6d1q7UKJBioTi0h4mnz-yQx1qF2HL18OgiwklbURsvV3lRKHBaumS9qVyi9x7GRAFFZaEEqdQaRkP1WM0GRTqYr3PR9tT5jXbiZh-I4v7IpCBfBAMXDgGHSqvnMcUTF2Cy0KZY43EA/s1600/DSC04908.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7n6d1q7UKJBioTi0h4mnz-yQx1qF2HL18OgiwklbURsvV3lRKHBaumS9qVyi9x7GRAFFZaEEqdQaRkP1WM0GRTqYr3PR9tT5jXbiZh-I4v7IpCBfBAMXDgGHSqvnMcUTF2Cy0KZY43EA/s1600/DSC04908.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These kids played for hours and hours in the cold water.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Jze5RwTAiA45W3Qe-xPLMp68lCT0TcpKtho2l0cenJwhk1H_bX-uqMRS5ylIav0j2UlQnT3jf6XThe2XsDkfhMP6r3SNhc9-uOwhn4b5OuHUWyt9p4UbLywJFitIP1hxHVhPtZyQn7w/s1600/DSC04910.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_Jze5RwTAiA45W3Qe-xPLMp68lCT0TcpKtho2l0cenJwhk1H_bX-uqMRS5ylIav0j2UlQnT3jf6XThe2XsDkfhMP6r3SNhc9-uOwhn4b5OuHUWyt9p4UbLywJFitIP1hxHVhPtZyQn7w/s1600/DSC04910.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Looking from the stream up to the Escape</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-89550866531427243882013-08-24T07:34:00.003-07:002013-08-24T07:34:53.903-07:00Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park, Illinois<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">17 August 2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We’re off on another grand excursion, having left Omaha on
August 17 with a planned return on September 11. We’ll be going to Great Smoky
Mountains National Park in Tennessee and North Carolina; Asheville, NC;
Williamsburg, VA; Washington DC; Gettysburg National Military Park in
Pennsylvania; and whatever else strikes our fancy. For part of the trip we’ll
be joined by Tall Son and Whistling Son, which means we’ll have four adults
sleeping in the 19. It will be cozy.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">One of the wonderful benefits of these extended trips is
that beforehand we accomplish a lot of tasks at home that would otherwise be
easy to procrastinate about. This time some items got piled onto our list that
we didn’t anticipate. A contractor, installing new sliding glass doors at our
house, accidentally kicked over a can of dark brown paint onto our white carpet
in the living room. We didn’t have time to replace the carpeting in the two
remaining days at home, but lots of other good stuff got done.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We always meet some true characters on our travels. On our
first day on the road we were stopped at a rest stop when an Airstream pulled
in next to us. The owner struck up a conversation with us while chomping on a
big roast beef sandwich and spitting bits of it at us as he talked. He was one
of those people who is only interested in the talking side of a conversation
and not at all in the listening side. He was trying to sell us on the delights
of group RV tours, which he and his wife have taken frequently. The company he
likes is called Fantasy RV Tours, and we’ll look at their website when there is
time, although we are too independent to ever consider going with a tour group
that way. As the man yakked, we could catch little glimpses inside his
Airstream, which was a total pit! His wife did not emerge, but we could see her
eating a sandwich of her own in the depths of the Airstream. We decided that
this was probably her big chance to be free of her husband’s endless chatter. I
got into the Flex and turned on the engine to give the man a big hint that we
wanted to leave, but he still kept jawing at Great Husband. Finally we escaped
with the man still in mid-sentence, and had a good laugh about the whole
episode.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our site at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eB2pHwetGIuPL9F5adl4J3KWtno6h_jZinMD_P8Kib5WjnKXxF4EPz_IKHIeg2wXIVQpb0YtNCo0KrPlY_Ju-rUhcD75NrgGHjx1ZYLApxUGfndDD001xBRdURkOZF_RhH2qKA3c13c/s1600/DSC04905.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8eB2pHwetGIuPL9F5adl4J3KWtno6h_jZinMD_P8Kib5WjnKXxF4EPz_IKHIeg2wXIVQpb0YtNCo0KrPlY_Ju-rUhcD75NrgGHjx1ZYLApxUGfndDD001xBRdURkOZF_RhH2qKA3c13c/s1600/DSC04905.JPG" height="225" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mother deer and two spotted fawns were wandering the campground,<br />
but I was too slow at grabbing the camera.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">We spent the night at Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park, a little
bit south of Mount Vernon, Illinois. We had stayed a couple of times before at
a commercial campground in Mount Vernon, but this state park was far nicer, not
far from the interstate, and we recommend it. Reservations were not available
but we didn’t have any trouble finding a site. If you arrive before 8:00 p.m.
there will be a camp host ready to sign you in. The camp host we met was very
personable and enthusiastic. With her high-pitched, sing-song manner of
speaking. I suspect she was a retired kindergarten or first grade teacher. FYI,
sites have electricity, but not water.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Wayne Fitzgerell has an enormous lake and the campground is
laid out in fingers of land that edge the lake. We enjoyed the beautiful scene
at sunset and then the frogs sang us to sleep.</span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-49800070368256981722013-08-24T07:24:00.000-07:002013-10-05T09:21:02.197-07:00Rock Creek Station State Historic Park, near Fairbury, Nebraska<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">At the end of May, 2013, we camped at Rock Creek Station for
three nights so we could attend Rock Creek Station Days, a special event which
commemorates three American stories which all occurred at this location—the
Pony Express, the Oregon Trail, and the famous shooting by Wild Bill Hickock of
McCandless and his friends. We walked still-existing Oregon Trail ruts here,
rode in a covered wagon, ate buffalo stew, and watched a reenactment of the
Hickock shooting, the details of which remain a mystery since there were
conflicting contemporaneous reports of what actually happened. We chatted with
Civil War reenactors, one of whom was an expert in Civil War era medicine.
Other experts demonstrated crafts, such as making apple butter, biscuits, and
rope. We really enjoyed this brief camping getaway not far from home. The
campground is very nice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-26604768559398940562013-08-15T14:09:00.002-07:002013-08-15T14:10:35.052-07:00Baffled Again<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's the latest baffle experimentation for curing a refrigerator that won't cool on the road. <span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">It is a piece of white aluminum custom-fabricated by our Dometic service representative to fit our Escape 19. The theory is that air may be entering the top vent at highway speeds, preventing the warm air from leaving the refrigerator coils. This baffle is meant to redirect the air away from the vent and create a wake (low pressure zone).</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> </span></span></div>
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<br />Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-53130867839671161282013-03-28T14:17:00.002-07:002013-03-28T19:33:29.490-07:00Heading Home<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">25, 26, 27 March 2013</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The time came to abandon the original plan for this trip
entirely since our intended route to get home would have taken us through snowstorms and really
cold temps. So we left from Williamsburg on a more southerly route
which took us through Durham and Asheville, NC, Knoxville and Nashville,
TN, Paducah, KY, St. Louis, and Kansas City. The change added miles to the journey but we prefer not to know how many. Even on the southerly route we frequently drove through snow flurries and along the way we needed to re-winterize the camper to defend it against freezing temps.The best part of the change was that on short notice we were able to have lunch with my brother in Kentucky and on the last day of the trip, we were able to meet Tall Son once again at a Panera in the Kansas City area. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The odometer shows that we covered 4745 miles. Even though we know better, most of the camping felt like it was free because it was paid in advance when we made the reservations. There were no calamities, but we did come home with a cracked windshield on the Flex.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also came home with lots of ideas for future journeys. It was a great trip!</span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-20985892679758770282013-03-28T14:00:00.002-07:002013-04-08T06:59:52.487-07:00At the End of the Trip and at the End of One Year<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">These are random impressions while driving home, both about the five-week trip we're finishing, and about owning the Escape for nearly a year now:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Realizing that our Escape is soon approaching one year of
ownership, we have just counted the number of nights we’ve spent in the Escape
19 so far. The answer is very surprising—94! Even if we’re off here and there in the
count, we have spent over 25% of the last year in the Escape! That comes as a big surprise! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The essential simplicity of the Escape continues to be an
appealing feature. No slide-outs, for instance. And small enough to tow all over the kingdom and fit in any campsite. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">There are always issues,
however, which require the attentions of Great Husband, and which tire him out,
especially if it’s late in the day. This must be the nature of the beast (camping, I mean, not the husband). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I didn't want to do winter camping!” complained Great
Husband on our last night when he had to do just one more essential task that involved going out
into the snowy cold.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If you can, keep some kind of open container under the
kitchen sink. Twice now we've had leaks there. The first one was on the maiden
voyage -- the trap was inadequately sealed and needed to be disassembled and
the threaded joints sealed with Teflon tape. On this trip, Great Husband
discovered more water dripping under the kitchen sink, due to a crummy calk job we
think. We’re hoping if we re-calk around the drain (in the sink basin) that will be the cure. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of all our camping days so far in this first year of Escape
ownership, we recall using our air conditioner only 3 days, but we still think
we’ll be using it a lot in the future. I cannot imagine summer camping without air conditioning.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On this trip, we only used the propane furnace three times
and then only briefly. Once the Escape interior got up to a comfortable
temperature with the propane, our little electric space heater had no trouble
keeping up all on its own.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Remarkably, on this lengthy trip, we never once had to use
any leveling wood. That made life just a little easier and we rejoiced a bit each time we found out that our new site was level.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We had electricity everywhere we camped. We used the
microwave every single day. We also brought our Nutri-Bullet and made smoothies
almost every day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">One of our best decisions in ordering this camper was adding
a two-way water heater (electric and propane). We ran the water heater on electric the entire
trip and probably saved a lot of propane. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It would be better if the switch for switching over the two-way water heater was on the inside of the camper, not the outside.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Make sure you turn off the water pump before travelling
because if you forget, the system won’t stay pressurized and the pump will run continuously.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Keep the latch on the trailer hitch well-lubricated and
exercise it every time before trying to hook up to the tow vehicle. We found
that ours binds and can be difficult to latch. If you fail to exercise the
latch as part of your hitching routine, it’s impossible to tell whether the
latch won’t close on the hitch ball because your alignment is poor or because
the latch is binding.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Once the tongue is settled on the ball, if the latch doesn't close easily right away, pull the tow vehicle ahead a half inch, and then try
again to close the latch. That usually solves things.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">If there’s any chance it’s going to get below freezing, disconnect
the fresh water hose to be on the safe side. Ours froze one night, but without
apparent damage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The original shower curtain is too stiff, too long and too
wide, and one of the hanging holes tore through. We’ll be in the market
for a replacement and trim it for a custom fit.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We only put the awning out once very briefly on this trip.
After a whole year, we’re still waiting for perfect awning weather.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We also had zero campfires on this whole trip! I guess we
could say we’re also waiting for perfect campfire weather.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Great Husband got an ice water “shower” one time when he
opened the bathroom vent and snow melt fell on his head. Poor guy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Cold weather has one special positive effect—no insect
issues.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Despite the negative of carrying the extra weight, it’s
really nice to carry some water in your fresh water tank at all times for the
convenience of drinking, washing dishes or hands, and flushing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We're glad that trust is still alive at privately-run campgrounds in
America. Knowing we’d arrive late, we've called ahead and been given
instructions on where to set up our trailer and how to pay after the office had closed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The Escape tows very nicely, perhaps partially because of
the tandem axles. There is minimal impact from cross winds. It tracks very
well, and often it isn’t even noticeable that it is trailing along behind us. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Early in this trip, we decided to move under-utilized items
out of the Escape and into the back of the car to see whether we missed having
them at hand. One of the first items to go was the insert for the sink, the
one intended to create extra work space at the kitchen counter. We didn’t miss
it enough to ever retrieve it from the car, and I don’t think we’ll take it on
the next trip at all. There are some big advantages to removing the sink insert.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">the faucet always drips during travel, and now it
drips directly into the sink without any wet mess</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">no more will the sink insert be jumping out of
the sink while we’re driving </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">the sink insert isn't cluttering up the bed while we wash the dishes</span></li>
</ul>
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">In previous posts called “Baffled”, we described how our refrigerator was not cooling at all when the Escape was in motion, but worked well when stationary. This was the first trip with the new baffle and fan installed under warranty by a Dometic service center. We are reluctant to declare victory until we take a trip in hotter weather, but on this cold-weather trip the refrigerator worked great at all times.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Nebraska is under-appreciated as a home base to see the
nation on road trips. We are right in the middle of everything and can find
a great trip in any direction. We wonder if we lived closer to the coasts, whether we might
consider the rest of the country just too far away. </span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-56763174164266443342013-03-28T10:20:00.000-07:002013-03-28T10:20:31.378-07:00Williamsburg, VA<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">18-24 March 2013</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">By the time we left Augusta, I was suffering from a bad cold
which affected my oomph for the next phase of the itinerary—Williamsburg, VA.
Still, we spent several days at Colonial Williamsburg (our fifth time there)
and had a fantastic time. We got to see Thomas Jefferson for the first time,
loved hearing Patrick Henry speak behind the Governor’s Palace, and had a
private audience with George Wythe at the St. George Tucker House. George Wythe
is likely unknown to you, but he was an essential character to the nation’s
founding because he was the barrister who taught young Jefferson and several other
founding fathers, helped found the College of William and Mary, and invented
the moot court system. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">For the first time we got to tour Bassett Hall, the house of
John D. Rockefeller, Jr. and wife Abby, who were the money behind the
restoration of Colonial Williamsburg, starting in the 1920s. John D.
Rockefeller, Jr. devoted his life to spending as much family Standard Oil fortune as he
could, including paying for the restoration of the Palace of Versailles after
World War II. The last living child of this pair is David Rockefeller, who is
now 98, and who still comes occasionally to visit Williamsburg, saying, “I love
to visit mother’s house.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Another interesting tour was behind the scenes at Bruton
Heights, where conservation and climate-controlled storage of all sorts occurs--furniture, fabrics, paintings, paper documents, etc. This time we learned about the delicate art and science of paper conservation on a tour of the paper conservation lab.
One of the young interns was working on a contract signed by Thomas Jefferson, and one of the first things checked was whether the ink is oil-based or water-based. If oil-based the document is permanent enough to go undergo various baths and treatments. The intern was applying narrow strips of Japanese paper to the document, using fine wheat paste, and the purpose is to repair and strengthen the document.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Whenever Whistling Son was not busy with his work at
Colonial Williamsburg, we spent our time with him. Unfortunately we missed by
just one day the opportunity to play RevQuest, which has been an essential part
of Whistling Son’s work at CW. RevQuest is an interactive game in which
visitors solve clues about the Revolutionary Era, and interview reenactors on
the streets of CW in the process. A new version of RevQuest comes out each
summer. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Most evenings, we played the card game Quiddler with
Whistling Son in the Escape or at his apartment. I’ve learned that my spelling
skills are in serious decline. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Saturday we went to the Mariner’s Museum and Monitor
Center in Newport News. It’s an amazing place, and enough to fill a whole day.
For the time being I’ve got the iron-clad ships the Monitor and the Virginia
(former Merrimack) straight, but I don’t promise it to last. In contrast, Great
Husband remembers everything!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">On Sunday we went to Richmond for Mass. Fr. Novokowski,
formerly assigned to our parish in Omaha, is now pastor at the FSSP’s St.
Joseph’s Parish there. After Mass we went on an all-day driving tour which included
the Petersburg National Military Park (siege and battle here critical to ending
the Civil War), historic buildings in Petersburg itself (lots of potential
here), Chippoke’s Plantation State Park (cancelled from our original camping
plans due to my cold), a ride across the James River on the free ferry (takes
only 20 minutes), and one hour at the Historic Jamestown visitor center. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a cold rainy day, and shortly after we returned to
the camper, the rain turned to sleet and then to snow which accumulated on the
grass, on the campers, and on the picnic tables. For many hours into the night,
sloppy wet snow patties fell from the trees onto the roof the camper, startling
us again and again as they landed. This is all in keeping with the theme of
this trip—cold weather. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0G_haYoE3NZEScAKffxifnQlh9eyUUsscrAEsMY3orzdbGRAjha216ZN0DJd7NgygSQ3A9AsE6vTDtda10oLhafP5gAKVfIiF9scUfEq1UjHYfIJba62RqYQSkAb4D2SHbRY7etWgW0/s1600/blogDSC04479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu0G_haYoE3NZEScAKffxifnQlh9eyUUsscrAEsMY3orzdbGRAjha216ZN0DJd7NgygSQ3A9AsE6vTDtda10oLhafP5gAKVfIiF9scUfEq1UjHYfIJba62RqYQSkAb4D2SHbRY7etWgW0/s1600/blogDSC04479.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the Dewitt-Wallace Museum, there is a terrific exhibit of spinets, harpsichords,<br />and pianos, with listening devices so you can hear many of them played.<br />This is a spinet, which in contrast to a harpsichord, plucks only one string at a time.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CrRx2YpyE_bvbrLA3nHBG3HcxmSBfoUvfoPei_HCQ4cTpxIhlbhBJiO-rkU7VQr4LVWiMhqaeQV64TBm4rvmjOlSfVj_7Z2jQhQlvZAmYJy2Au32OwOyqrueFUpb0vp5ESzdWy3fMcw/s1600/blogDSC04501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3CrRx2YpyE_bvbrLA3nHBG3HcxmSBfoUvfoPei_HCQ4cTpxIhlbhBJiO-rkU7VQr4LVWiMhqaeQV64TBm4rvmjOlSfVj_7Z2jQhQlvZAmYJy2Au32OwOyqrueFUpb0vp5ESzdWy3fMcw/s1600/blogDSC04501.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patrick Henry</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFa9a2lwagTDExdFkW1fwe6EQRsccLLGFqCinkCXduQY2majsi5S4eti5JERizpyCQD6DDnoq3vWF6VtioraMdrwRn9V6xMfq0Y4RPG8QhNFsq5HS9zJhv1hTY6hjfLX9xOOabZDn_c4/s1600/blogDSC04499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcFa9a2lwagTDExdFkW1fwe6EQRsccLLGFqCinkCXduQY2majsi5S4eti5JERizpyCQD6DDnoq3vWF6VtioraMdrwRn9V6xMfq0Y4RPG8QhNFsq5HS9zJhv1hTY6hjfLX9xOOabZDn_c4/s1600/blogDSC04499.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooking in the Colonial days.<br />That's beef tongue in the lower right.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyrBpY66YY0VpBpWXpGtTRTfsrIzIn0zzMHdht2YvjN4sznLfPa0DA8_U81yw9ky9SbmUROCsjYUQHg_-sVz1nnqDTYBcEyFGGtQtUh9wAjDN9BxjPWI6UrlNSnwZLQeRFUg9In3vY0g/s1600/blogDSC04514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLyrBpY66YY0VpBpWXpGtTRTfsrIzIn0zzMHdht2YvjN4sznLfPa0DA8_U81yw9ky9SbmUROCsjYUQHg_-sVz1nnqDTYBcEyFGGtQtUh9wAjDN9BxjPWI6UrlNSnwZLQeRFUg9In3vY0g/s1600/blogDSC04514.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bassett Hall.<br />Furnishings are eclectic and just as left by the Rockefeller family, down to a hairbrush.<br />The dining room table is set for the soup course, and the bowls are full of "mushroom soup",<br />accurate to historical records (as is everything at Colonial Williamsburg).<br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyGM8EHDovYov-xsCOLXgmwtwu62KkwR33mH8xizPQ6QbJc-aNBDnM_w2cu8ku56NncqC94NcQWYUvXoAgSf2o_YKEaUcm7ahbU978EKuMVpSvID6yWKuorJf6mePRlWy8t97YVl2O0c/s1600/blogDSC04508..jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyyGM8EHDovYov-xsCOLXgmwtwu62KkwR33mH8xizPQ6QbJc-aNBDnM_w2cu8ku56NncqC94NcQWYUvXoAgSf2o_YKEaUcm7ahbU978EKuMVpSvID6yWKuorJf6mePRlWy8t97YVl2O0c/s1600/blogDSC04508..jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bassett Hall.<br />Unlike what I expected from the outside, the house is quite small inside. <br />The servant's quarters are at least as spacious as the part occupied by the Rockefellers.<br />The servants were a Swedish couple who lived here year round,<br />but the Rockefellers came only in April and October.</td></tr>
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Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1894241221904596070.post-69917149846689125072013-03-28T09:17:00.002-07:002013-03-28T10:22:49.501-07:00Augusta, GA<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">13-17 March 2013</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Some people have been watching this trip to see if such an elaborate
scheme could be executed according to plan. Up until this point in the journey,
almost everything has been in synch with the spreadsheet. When we arrived, however, at Fort Gordon,
Georgia, to visit Java Daughter, things started to slip in minor ways. We planned
to camp on the military base at Leitner Lake (no reservations available), but
that campground was entirely full with long-termers and others who set themselves
up a whole month early in anticipation of the Masters Golf Tournament in
Augusta. We couldn't</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> have predicted that. I</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">nstead Great Husband found us a spot
at Heritage Mobile Home and RV Park in Augusta. It's a very basic place, no shower house even. We
paid $25 per night with full utilities, but the sites go up to $100 during the
Masters.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Our granddaughter, who is four, nicknamed Blondie for this blog, camped
with us three nights, always enjoying the amazing conversion of the dinette to become
her bed. Blondie is already establishing a camping routine that must not be
varied, playing with the same games and toys in the camper each time she is
with us. “I never forget anything," she said. "Did you bring the crackers with
letters on them?” She was referring to Scrabble Cheeze-Its imprinted with the alphabet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As Blondie was settling in one night on her table-bed she observed Great
Husband and me in the queen bed and said, “It’s ridiclious for two people to
sleep in the same bed.” "Ridiclious? Why?" asked Great Husband. Said Blondie, "One might push the other one out!" </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Blondie marched in a St. Patrick's Day parade at preschool, but she was a little confused about the saint. "Was he a leprechaun?" she asked.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The seashells collected on all the Florida beaches of this trip were a great hit with Blondie and her younger brother "Charmer." They washed them over and over, sorted and resorted, and tried to identify them according to the "map" we had brought from one of the parks. Charmer would have taken his seashells to bed if allowed. Since we are not grandparents who buy the kids lots of toys, seeing all this did my heart good.</span></div>
Kibitkahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06845095001749736261noreply@blogger.com0