Advertisement
Appetizers at Tim's II on the Potomac
Kris ordered a dozen steamed clams for everyone. And EVERYONE loved them. Kim grew up eating them when we went to Maine several summers for a camp. So it was a real treat to have them again. It’s travel time again! It’s been a while since I posted any blog and several factors combined to cause me to go into a funk and not write. Last year while camping in Ohio near Wheeling, we lost our Slinky cat when she refused to come in one night. Instead of waiting up, I went to bed and she never appeared. The next day neighbors said they heard yowling and fighting and think either a feral cat or raccoon was involved. We waited around an extra day and combed the woods by the campsite but never found her. It was very upsetting and depressing.
Then, with the “new” used RV, we found we continued to have mechanical issues, mostly of a small variety. This spring we had to have a new front leaf spring installed, all the batteries went dead and had to be replaced, and the dash panel continued to slide and hang from the from the main housing and had to be refastened by taking out the panel, repositioning wiring and backup screen and finally, reinstalling. Lots of work; lots of money.
But now we are on the road, and the first trip for
Autumn enjoying dinner
Autumn loves seafood and this was her first experience with a hushpuppy. Yep, she chowed down on all the goodies. the year is to the north to see Kim, Kris, and Autumn, then to NC to see friends who recently retired near Ft. Bragg, and finally to Hilton Head to see some other friends from our childhood days. The coach is running smooth, everything is packed and off we head towards Fredericksburg, VA. Say what?! Yes, Kim has moved from WV to Fredericksburg and is living in our old house there, which we haven’t sold due to the still poor market. We had renters, but due to major malfunction last summer, we lost the renters and couldn’t find anyone new prior to school. So we were happy when Kim said she needed a bigger house since her job has moved from WV to DC and she could work from home most of the time. Kris is working for Bankers Life and this offered a bigger and more affluent market for him.
We would not be able to stay at the house because of HOA restrictions and a steep drive, but we would stay at Fort AP Hill just south in Bowling Green. We took two days to drive up, spending the first night near Roanoke, VA at a
Hey, it's both of us in a picture!
Kim took a picture of us at dinner. Plates were so big, we split an order. We had crabcake, fish, beans, hushpuppies and slaw. Perfect meal sitting on the deck watching the sun go down. Happy Mother's Day! Camping World, just off I-81. Road noise was intense as expected, but next day we got to AP Hill and found a nice site and set up. We then went in to see the kids and had fun talking, looking at all the changes they had made to the house, and a great crock-pot chicken taco dinner Kim made. The next several days were the same: relaxing at the house, visiting with neighbors, and walking around in Fredericksburg one day to see the quaint antique shops, book stores and side walk cafes.
On Thursday we drove to Ikea in Woodbridge and spent the late morning shopping (not buying much, but lots of looking) and enjoying a good meal of Swedish meatballs and potatoes. Then Kim drove us to Tysons Corner so we could see our friends Dennis and Ellen. They had left Alabama last year to move to Florida and Dennis had come up to VA for hip replacement surgery. They were staying in a small apartment in Tysons and we wanted to say hi and hear of their new home in FL. We had fun talking, sharing and wishing Dennis well on his recovery. The drive up was
Sunset over the Potomac
As we were leaving Tim's II, the sun was going down. I hurried to the shore to snap a picture of the glow with the boats pulled up close to shore. normal (for DC) but when we got ready to leave, YIKES! Traffic was backed up to a standstill from DC to Fredericksburg on I-95. Ever resourceful, Kim pulled out her smartphone, punched in the GPS app, and calculated a way back to avoid I-95. We put Trish in the back seat so she wouldn’t have to look at traffic on the way up and going home. However, the roads Kim found were country-2 lane-winding and still busy. (Obviously lots of other folks had the same idea.) It took over 2.5 hours for what is “normally” a 1.25 hour ride, but, as the die-hard commuters like to say, “At least we kept moving.” (Trish was NOT fond of the ride, speed, or twists.) Well, THAT was exhausting, but Kim did the driving.
Friday Kris took off and we spent some time catching up with all and then we went to Tim’s II on the Potomac River for an evening of seafood. Everyone really loved the food and Autumn had the best line of the evening. When the waitress came around asking if anyone needed cocktail sauce (for the shrimp) Autumn said with a straight face, “I can’t; I’m underage
Trish, Dennis, John, Ellen in DC
We drove to the heart of the beltway to see Dennis and Ellen, who were in a small apartment while Dennis recovered from hip surgery. Thankfully, Kim did all the driving. Ellen was my boss and a major factor in our deciding to look at Alabama as a retirement home. for cocktails.” We left watching the sunset on the river and got home with VERY full tummys.
Next day we rested up a bit then met our good friends, Dave and Bonnie Lodge, for dinner. We had last seen them last year at Dollywood when we camped together. (OK, I started a blog on that and as stated earlier, lost steam. I’ll revive and post later this summer.) Sunday we went with the kids to the UU church in Fredericksburg and heard a wonderful talk on music therapy and how it can help all kinds of folks with various issues. The speaker even had a volunteer come up and showed how to make spontaneous music that raised the spirit. After church we had the obligatory stop at Carl’s for delicious homemade custard cones.
Monday we drove out to Warrenton to the airport. John's former Commanding Officer, Col (R) Dave Darrah is the airport director and his wife Kristi came out to meet us. Unfortunately, between his meetings and our previous plans, we only had a small window of time to get together. But as always, it was a great time to catch up, see the improvements he is
Dave and Kristi Darrah with Trish
You can tell by the smiles that they are happy in "retirement". Kristi has grandkids near by and Dave is having fun smell AvGas on a regular basis. Both seem very relaxed and comfortable. That's good because they worked hard as a Marine family to earn his chance to relax in their fashion. making to the area and for Trish and Kristi to share some grandkid stories. I told Dave if he had gotten his job before we had bought the property in AL, I'd have been seriously tempted to retire and go to work for him. There would have been little pay involved, but just the opportunity to work on these projects and have fun again while "working" would have been nice. It was always fun working with and for him, even if at times it was tough and demanding. Bottom line: he made the work rewarding.
The next night our friend and realtor, Joyce Compton and her husband Joe and granddaughter Kati came over for dinner. We've known Joyce since we bought the house in Fredericksburg in 2005. Kati was 8 and had to sit on phone books on my computer chair in order to play games while grandma talked houses. We "adopted" Kati as our surrogate granddaughter and took her camping and to New Year's Eve celebrations in Fredericksburg. Kati is now all growed up, graduating from high school and soon off to college. sigh I fixed okinomiyaki for the crew and they all seemed to love it. Of
Joyce, Kati and Joe
We've just given Kati her graduation gift. Along with an oriental journal, we also got her a Tottoro T-shirt. Kati loves all things Japanese and especially anime. It's always a treat to be with this wonderful family. course, Kim, Kris and Autumn had eaten it before and it is one of their favorites. We gave Kati her graduation gift and hugged all around.
After Joyce and crew left, we said good-bye to Kim and Autumn and left our cat, Koko, with them for a "home stay". We were heading out the next day by car to visit a niece in Deleware in her new retirement community. It was easier (for us and the niece) for Kim to keep the cat for a few days until we got back.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.193s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0861s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Angela Herring
non-member comment
Good to Hear From You!
Hey John, glad you and Trish are up and running again. Take care, Angela