The Carolinas and Virginia

Man, I really need to blog more often, and definitely take more pictures.  After Savannah, we headed north one state to South Carolina to visit good friends Dave and Karla.  Dave’s been stationed at Shaw AFB the past few years working security cooperation and foreign military affairs.  I met Dave at CENTCOM, and we’ve been family friends for almost 10 years now.  He’s retiring and moving back to Tampa, so we’ll see them more often in the winter from now on.  We spent two days in the woods at Poinsett State Park, very nice, before moving on to Virginia Beach.  I didn’t take a single picture!  It was great to meet Stephanie’s beau Kevin, and Laurie got a special Mother’s Day meal prepared fresh in the kitchen.  Kevin and Steph do a lot of cooking with organic, fresh ingredients, so we came back the next day and mooched another meal.  Steph and Kevin are great together.  After Virginia Beach, we had a very narrow window of opportunity to see Keith and Abby up in Dahlgren, VA.  We met them when Keith was working with CENTCOM a few winters ago, and I posted a picture of them in my Winter 2015-2016 post.  Of course, they’ve had another baby and I didn’t take a single picture!  They live on the Potomac, and were courteous enough to buy a house we could park behind.  We stayed two nights and had a wonderful visit before moving on to a couple nights of serenity at a lakefront spot on Kerr lake at a Corps of Engineer park.  Bliss!  However, we were just waiting a couple days before moving on to Raleigh to see John and Phyllis.  We had a great visit with them, and left them a parting gift of a giant hole in the yard when I found the only soft spot left after days of constant rain.  A little drama, but an hour and an assist from the tow truck later we were on the road.  Sorry about the crater guys!  They always take such good care of us.  After Raleigh, we moved to a very nice campground, Cherry Hill RV Park, just outside Washington DC in Maryland.  We haven’t spent a whole lot of time on the national mall, having visited before, be we were fortunate enough for several reunions.  Joel and Jenny were neighbors in Japan and great friends, and they hosted us for World Famous Homemade Pasta at their house in Alexandria.  Dan and Marlee were friends from way back in California at Vandenberg.  He’s now a project manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.  We met them for dinner one night.  Jeff Styers was able to come to the motorhome, but unfortunately Peggy is in Canada.  Poor planning on our part.  It’s been raining almost every day since we arrived in Virginia Beach weeks ago.  I’m sick of it!  It’s great seeing people and the green trees are great, but I think this is why we tend to spend summers out west.  Here’s some pictures of the last couple weeks:

Poinsett Park camping spot.  We love state parks.

Missy is getting bigger, exploring absolutely everything she sees and hears.

Keith and Abby let us park in the back yard, plugged into electricity.  So nice when friends have RV parks at their houses!

Lakefront on Kerr Lake in Virginia.  The dam is just out of frame to the left.

This was at the North Carolina agriculture expo we went to with John and Phyllis.  I asked a fellow standing outside if he'd hold my clothes while I went in.

They were running a lawn tractor pull at the expo, great fun in the mud.

Rich Canfield, Phyllis, Laurie, John, and me.  Rich is an old friend of the Perrys, but a friend of ours too for years now.

I didn't spin the tire or anything, just sank into the one clay area in the Perry's front yard.  Whoops!  A tow truck winched us out no problem.  It's always something...

We went to the National Archives to see the founding documents, really cool but they're really faded.

A selfie with the Schmicks.  Joel and Jenny were across the street neighbors for years when we lived in Japan.  Great folks.

Us with Dan and Marlee Franzen.  Dan and I were young co-workers in California in the late 90's.  Both just old retired guys now!  Marlee runs maintenance at the water department.

Chillin' Sumter style with Dave and Karla.  We had a couple days of good weather for this visit, so you take advantage.

Savannah, GA

Our first stop on this year's trip north was Savannah, GA.  As long as we've lived on the east coast, you'd think we'd have seen Savannah before, but for whatever reason we just never stopped in to check it out.  What a cool historic district!  The founding fathers did a great job laying out the town, with little parks (squares) every couple blocks.  We took the tourist trolley tour on Saturday, walked along the river walk, and had dinner on the patio.  The next day they were having a "Doggie Carnival" to raise money for the Humane Society.  They had food trucks and lots of fun games for the dogs and people to play.  Missy did really well among the mayhem, and it was cool seeing so many beautiful dog breeds.  Lots of puppies to pet as well, and Missy got her share of attention.  She's doing just great getting socialized and used to life on the run.  We're leaving with a great impression of Savannah and plans to stop again some day.  The weather has been perfect, which always improves your impression of a place.  Our camp spot is pretty relaxing too.  Here are some pictures.

Lots and lots of puppies in the park

Missy won a pumpkin based treat served in a tiny martini glass.  Yum yum.  Laurie's holding it down with her foot, not offering toes for desert...

All dressed up and ready to hit the carnival

River Street, Savannah

City Hall 

Nice, big, shaded spot at Savannah Oaks RV Resort.

Winter 2016-2017

Winter 2016-2017

Wow, I really need to start blogging over the winter.  6 months goes by pretty fast.  This was our 5^th winter season in the motorhome, most of it at MacDill.  It was a really pleasant, warm and dry winter.  We’re paying for it now as Florida has 106 wildfires burning per the news this morning.

We arrived in FL in early November, staying a week in the panhandle on the beach, right near the FL-AL border before heading to MacDill.  We had a great spot, 109, with afternoon shade near the beach and Seascapes, surrounded by friends we’ve made over the past 5 years.  It really is like coming home (only every year the neighborhood shifts around and you don’t know who your neighbor will be).

I got a few projects done on the rig.  I actually installed a new TV antenna myself, pretty proud of that, and Mom and I busted out the industrial sewing machine to repair the door awning.  Late in the season, the combo clothes washer dryer died, so we got a new one installed.  I had to be the apprentice when John from American RV arrived to install it.  Those things are heavy.  Other than that, the motorhome is in fine shape for this summer’s trip.

We had a few visitors and made a few side trips to keep things interesting.  I got to visit with Paul Lambeth.  Paul and I were Lieutenants together when we lived in Albuquerque.  He and Jan have hosted us at their house in Belgrage, MT twice now on our trips out west.  He was in Orlando for a convention so I went over to see him.  John and Phyllis came down from Raleigh so we got to visit with them for almost a week.  We got hotel rooms on St. Pete Beach and also stayed out at Universal Studios so they could ride the roller coasters.  Stephanie came down for a visit from Virginia Beach.  We drove up to Arkansas for Christmas, and Steph was able to fly in and join us.  We made our annual trek to Key West, this time with full time RV friends Kris and Yancey.  They stayed longer than we did, but we enjoyed our 2 weeks on the island. 

Meanwhile, Laurie had been looking for a new puppy.  She’d been surfing shelter websites for months, and also looking at puppies from breeders.  She found a breeder of mini Australian Shepherds in the Tampa area, so when we got back from Key West we went over an picked out a little cutie.  Laurie deliberated over several litters of puppies and picked out the cutest little black and white tri-color female.  We named her Missy and she instantly became the bell of the ball at the RV park.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a puppy get socialized to both dogs and people so quickly.  She’s growing like a weed, 6 months old now and seems to really enjoy the lifestyle.

Our son Eric moved into the house with brother Brad, making it much easier to visit them both.  Brad finished up his associates in citrus production, so we and Mom attended the commencement.  The boys babysat Missy while we took a cruise with friends from Newfoundland Fred and Loretta and Danny and Marlene.  It was just a quick 4 day jaunt out to the Bahamas, but we had a good time.  Fred’s down in his back, so we’re hoping he finds some relief. 

We also got to visit the growing tribe of former MacDill folks that have bought houses in The Villages, up near Ocala.  They helped me celebrate my 53^rd birthday in style.  Larry and Teresa, Roy and Nan, Eddie and Lois, and Martin and Wanda are all living it up zooming around on their golf carts, playing golf, and enjoying the good life.

Life at MacDill was pretty sweet.  I played a lot of guitar, and our trivia team was in the money most weeks.  This summer’s goal is a trip up the east coast again, same basic route as our first summer in 2012, but this time we’re hoping to go all the way up to Newfoundland.  Fred and Loretta are also motorhomers, and we’re looking forward to touring the island with them in July and August.  We’ll return to MacDill again in November to begin the fun cycle all over again.

We actually got all 3 grandkids together for Thanksgiving 2016

Christmas in Arkansas

Kris and Yancy, New Year's Eve

Probably getting closed to the ball dropping, judging by the smiles...

Missy, probably the day we brought her home

The Graduate

With John and Phyllis at Universal Studios

This is Laurie with Gerd Rube.  Gerd's a German dude who moved to Key West and is one of the local fixtures.  We've been listening to him every visit for years now.

Larry and the CoolMobile

Who me, 53?

I took this on a morning walk in Key West.  They're everywhere on Key West, and pretty unafraid of humans

Trivia teammate Kevin

Paul Lambeth and me 

Laurie and I celebrating the opening of my very own coconut stand on Grand Bahama island.

Mother and daughter, around Thanksgiving on St. Pete Beach

Cruising to the Bahamas with our Newfie pals

Victoria, BC

Victoria is the provincial capital, down at land's end on the southeast coast of Vancouver Island, right across from Vancouver (the city) and the Seattle megaplex.  It's the biggest town we've been in for a while, a little crowded, but very scenic and clean.  We spent a couple days there, no where near enough to see all they had to offer, so we'll be back.  We drove took a couple scenic drives, and visited two landmarks: Butchart Gardens and Craigdarroch.  Butchart Gardens was created by the wife of an industrialist within a rock quarry near their home.  What a transformation.  They had before and after pictures from 100 years ago until now and she was a visionary (with help from landscaping architects).  It's one of the nicest gardens we've ever visited.  Craigdarroch (kreg duh roke) is one of those large stone Victorian mansions that were built at the height of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century.  This one reminded me a lot of the Oliver Mansion we visited in South Bend, IN.  He's the guy that got rich inventing a better steel plow.  It wasn't, but it easily could have been the same architect.  Craigdarroch was built by a Scottish immigrant that made it big in coal on Vancouver Island.  He died before it was finished, and when his widow died the estate sold pretty much everything in it.  They're gradually buying back all the auctioned possessions as they find them.  Victoria's waterfront district and China Town looked awesome, but we only saw them as we were driving to the ferry landing.  We took a choppy 1 1/2 hour ferry ride over to Port Angeles, WA.  That's our last boat ride for awhile.  We took 5 total ferry rides with the RV this summer (Yukon River, Haines to Juneau, Prince Rupert, Port Hardy, Port Angeles) after having only done it once before when we crossed Puget Sound back in 2013.  It was an interesting way to travel and it cuts off a ton of miles, sometimes allowing you to go where there's no roads or bridges.  Here are a few pictures from Victoria.

The fireplace in the foyer  at Craigdarroch.  Hand carved stag clock was original.

They let people park too close.  I had to get a close in panorama to avoid them.  Craigdarroch had fallen into disrepair when it was renovated to original condition in the 60's.  It had been used as a wartime hospital in the 20's, a college, the school district HQ.  They did a great job on putting back to close to original condition and putting in a lot of period correct, if not original, furniture.

The Sunken Garden at Butchart Gardens.  This was once a completely barren limestone quarry.

Dancing Fountain

There's a large Asian influence in this area, reflected in the design of large portions of the Garden including this dragon fountain.  We heard more Chinese being spoken by tourists here than English.

Woo pig sooie!  This isn't an Arkansas Razorback, but it might as well be.  Rubbing the nose for good luck keeps it nice and shiny.

Campbell River and Ucluelet

The hits just keep coming.  After Telegraph Cove, we headed a little way down to coast to the big city, Campbell River.  I say big city because they have not only a Walmart, but a Canadian Tire.  We were lucky enough to reunite with new friends Ray and Linda who we had met briefly earlier in the summer in Prince George, BC on Canada Day.  Ray gave me his card and said look them up when we get to the island, so we did.  He'd been feeding me advice on Vancouver Island since before we arrived at Port Hardy.  They very graciously took us for a tour of the local area on Saturday, then came over for steaks on the grill at the RV on Sunday afternoon.  It was so nice seeing them again and cementing our friendship.  After our 2 days in Campbell River, we crossed the island to the west coast to see the Pacific Rim National Park.  It's awesome over here, a lot like coastal Oregon.  Along the way to Ucluelet, we stopped and saw the Cathedral Grove and its ancient Douglas Fir trees.  Over here, the giants are Sitka Spruce, Red Cedar and Hemlock trees, 10 feet thick and some 500 years old.  In the morning we're headed for the provincial capital, Victoria, where we'll catch the ferry over to Washington State on Saturday.  Here are some pictures from central Vancouver Island.

Ray and Linda have lived in Campbell River for years and shared their local knowledge with us.  The first cool thing was taking the free water taxi to April Point Lodge on Quadra Island instead of paying for the ferry.  In the short ride over, we saw yet another humpback whale.  This is Painter's Lodge, where we caught the ferry.

Lunch with Ray and Linda

These are wooden water pipes, probably 10 feet in diameter, carrying water from a nearby reservoir to the power generating stating.  The rings are stays, like they wrap around a barrel to keep it from exploding.  We saw one leak spraying a little jet of water up about 2 feet, so they were full of water under pressure.

Elk Falls

Ray's a hotrod enthusiast.  He built this 427 Cobra kit himself.  What a ride!

Our campsite in Campbell River.  That's Ray's other hotrod, a lowered '49 Ford pickup, in front of our RV.  Nice trees.  We really got lucky with the weather too.

On our way from Campbell River to the coast, we stopped and took a nice loop hike around Little Qualicum Falls Provincial Park.  This is one of the many cascades you see on the trail.

Lower Falls on the Qualicum River

Another stop we made was at a place called Cathedral Grove.  It's a nice loop through some old growth Douglas Fir trees, the oldest and biggest was 800 years old.  Here's one I photographed in vertical panarama mode.  The tree's probably 10 feet thick, I don't know how tall but it was way up there.

This was a cool little pull off.  The attraction was a diving pool in a neat little rock canyon, but there was a fence with a thousand or so locks attached to it.  I asked somebody and they're "love locks."  You profess your love and then lock it away.

http://kaitsquirks.com/2015/love-locks-on-the-pacific-rim-highway/

In Ucluelet, there are a lot of hikes through old growth and wind-tortured trees.  Here's Laurie in a natural archway formed by one of the trees closest to the water.

Giant Red Cedar

Just a nice view through the rocks at Schooner Cove in Pacific Rim National Park

Telegraph Cove

Our next stop down the coast was Telegraph Cove.  We stayed there a couple nights.  It's a tiny protected cove that at times has been a lumber mill, fishing camp, and telegraph station.  They took it over for WWII, like pretty much everything else around here.  All the waterfront buildings were bought by a resort company that uses them either for vacation rentals, restaurants or shops.  There's also a whale interpretive center at the end of the boardwalk.  Their largest display was the skeleton of a fin whale (like we saw in Seward, 2nd largest only to the Blue Whale) that had been rammed by a cruise ship and stuck between that big bulb and the hull.  Killed it of course.  They saved the skeleton for display.  It's a cool little area, great stop for a couple days.  We're now in Campbell River (a Walmart town!).  Here are a couple pictures from Telegraph Cove.

Begonias?  I just thought they were pretty.

A tree tumor from a 500+ year old Sitka Spruce.  They've cut pretty much all the big, old trees on the island.  We stumbled upon the largest burl in the world.  I always thought it was Burl Ives, but I was wrong.

One of many lumberyards we saw.  Some of the trees were 6 feet thick, but they must be way up in the hills because we never saw them.

The RV park overlooking Telegraph Cove.  That's our motorhome at the very top of the park, near the cliff.  Nice view.

I downloaded this picture from the Internet.  It shows a dead fin whale still stuck in the cruise ship. I'm not positive it's the one in the Telegraph Cove museum.   Apparently this happened more than once, I'm seeing multiple stories on the Internet.  Gives you a visual of what happened, though.

Another downloaded picture.  This must have been taken from the air.  Telegraph Cove Resort owns all the buildings to the right.  The whale interpretive center is in the big red building in the lower right corner.  Our motorhome would be just out of frame to the left.