Thanksgiving

Tuesday 11/17

Gretchen and I wanted to see the our children and their families over the holiday season. So we hitched up the camper today and headed to Myrtle Beach to see the Hills.  We arrived at Ocean Lakes Campground just in time to set up the camper in our site before dark.

On Wednesday we hung out with Maggie while Kelley went to the doctors. She led us on a walk to the playground riding her very cool bike! Then we visited with the Hills at a social distance in their backyard.

On Thursday Kelley was substitute teaching and after school Maggie had dance so we did not get to see them.  On Friday, Seth, Kelley and Maggie came to the campground and we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner together!  It was a fun time and we failed to take a picture; not a good idea for this blog!  I do have a picture of the pumpkin pies Gretchen baked in the camper’s oven. A great first attempt!

On Saturday, we went to see Maggie’s dance class performance at a holiday festival. The girls did a great job!  Then we went back to the Hill’s house for happy hour. Kelley grilled shrimp that was outstanding!

Sunday we enjoyed the afternoon with Kelley and Maggie at the campground playing miniature golf (everyone got a hole in one) and walked on the beach.  Then we had happy hour and supper at the campsite with dessert around the campfire!

It was so good seeing you guys!  We’ll miss you over Christmas but it is 2020!

Monday 11/23

We broke camp and headed to NC to see the Alexander’s.  We arrived in our campground in Mebane but it was late until we set up in a really difficult campsite to back into and orient our camper! It’s site 35 at Jones Station Campground and we will not camp in that site again!

On Tuesday, Katie got off work at 2 p.m. so we headed to her house when Audrey and Henry were finished school.  Katie and Nick said they wanted to get Christmas trees, so we drove to the Smith Family Fun Farm! When we returned to Hillsborough, Henry wanted to show us his rocket launcher. It was pretty impressive and Henry had a good time showing us how it worked!

We new we would not see the kids again because Audrey and Henry were spending the holiday with David. We planned to eat Thanksgiving dinner with Katie and Nick at the campsite.  However, Katie called Wednesday and said we needed to cancel because one of her coworkers test positive for COVID and she was not feeling great and had a fever. Gretchen and I thought about leaving for home on Thursday, but it was raining in the morning when we would have to break camp so we stayed until Friday as planned.  We went to Greensboro since we never had really been downtown. We stopped at Tanger Gardens, a very nice park which is open to the public for free!

In the afternoon, we dropped dinner off for Nick and Katie on her porch and waved a Happy Thanksgiving!  Katie was tested on Friday for COVID and she was negative!!!  Our visit was short but we are so glad we got to see you guys as well during the holidays. We will miss you over Christmas but it is 2020!

Coping with the Pandemic 2020

Well, it certainly has been a year that prompted a lot of adaptations.  Gretchen and I cannot stay home very much, we like to be on the go!  We could not go on our summer camping trip to Nova Scotia so we needed to plan things closer to home.  

We camped locally, our first trip was to the Shenandoah Valley.

We did get to boat on SML!

And hang out with Captain Bender!

August 1st was our 50th wedding anniversary!  Wow, it has been a fantastic adventure Gretchen...and there is more to come!

We needed a pandemic project to give us a reason to get out of the house and change our daily routine. Luckily, with the camper we can go on trips and never enter any buildings except grocery stores.  So, we decided to do YouTube videos of Virginia bike trails.  We focused on southern Virginia trails.  We spent five weeks camping and biking. To date we have nine videos on our YouTube channel.

We decided this summer we wanted a bigger camper; one with more creature comforts for aging travelers.  Necessities included a permanent bed, dry bathroom accessible while traveling, a slide out and dual axels.  The Bishops always extol the virtues of their Lance campers, so we went to look at them.  When we looked at other campers, none compared to the Lance.  So we decided to do a pandemic purchase, a Lance 1685!

But the pandemic spending was not at an end! We needed a vehicle with a bigger engine to pull the camper.

Since September, we have gone on several week long trips to video bike trails, camped with the Bishops, our “Lance Buddies” and visited the kids and grandkids over Thanksgiving. Gretchen and I absolutely love our new camper. we highly recommend pandemic spending!

 

 

Finally, during our home stays, we were able to have socially distanced picnics with our close friends and neighbors and took day trips to local sites.

James River State Park

New Riverside Park Overlook

Tantivy Farm

Large bear at Peaks of Otter 

Picking Pumpkins at Smith Family Fun Farm

Emma, Will, Nick, Audrey, Katie and Henry

And most importantly, at this writing Gretchen and I are healthy; looking forward to a COVID vaccine and a less intense 2021!

Maggie’s Spring Break Delayed

Wednesday June 17th

The Coronavirus pandemic prevented us from going to Murrells Inlet during Maggie’s scheduled spring break.  So, this week we feel we can take our camper to SC for a safe, socially distanced visit.  After setting up our campsite, Kelley and Maggie stopped by for happy hour!  We were finally able to deliver Christmas presents from Katie!

Thursday

The first thing we did today was spend some time at the beach at Huntington SP.  There were a lot of people at the park, but the beach is so long, it was not hard to social distance.

Next we toured the Huntington’s winter home, Atalaya Castle.   They bought four old plantations to build the house in 1930. The land today encompasses the State Park and Brookgreen Gardens.  We had the absolute best guide on our tour of the 30 room castle!

We had a lovely cookout with all of the Hills at our campsite to end the day.  Alas, we head back to Virginia tomorrow but it was so great to see all of you guys!  Take care and stay healthy!

Valentine’s Day

Thursday

First, to celebrate Gretchen’s birthday, we went to the lake to celebrate with Jenny and Jeff.  I cooked for everyone so the ladies could relax and sip wine!  No better way to celebrate a birthday!

Friday

We headed to Hillsborough to be with the kids while Katie works this weekend.  It was a fun time.  We went to Al’s Burger Shack on Henry’s recommendation...and we all loved the burgers!

Following lunch, we went to Valentine’s Day with the Goats at a local farm.  It was pretty cool I’d say.

Fun weekend!!!

Oh, and the following week, the men continued our tradition of cooking for our Valentines once again!

Washington DC 2020

Friday

On our way before the sun rises via train to DC; our annual trip begins.  After checking into our hotel, Gary arranged lunch at Farmers and Distillers, one of our group’s favorite restaurants.

After lunch, we went to the new Spy Museum.  What a change from the old museum, it is a lot bigger, more interactive and very educational. We all enjoyed our visit! 

We finished our day with dinner at Jaleo, another favorite where we love the food and the owner’s philosophy!  Thanks Jinx for making dinner arrangements and getting tickets for the Spy Museum.

Saturday

First stop today was the Renwick, where Gary discovered there was an installation representing the temples built by David Best at the Burning Man Festival.  The temples are massive, intricate structures build as places for reflection and prayer; burnt at the end of the Festival.  This traveling exhibit gives you insight into the construction of the temples but perhaps not into the actual size of the structures. Note the photo of the actual 2016 temple.

2016 Burning Man Temple

A very cool exhibit was an installation that looked like sculptures of sawed off logs in a natural setting. But, the grain in each log sculpture contained the code to generate a computer image of a plant. It was a very creative artistic concept, combining sculpture with computer technology!

After lunch, we headed to the Museum of Natural History to see the new David H. Koch Hall of Fossils. It is an awesome collection of fossils depicting the evolution and extinction of animals through the eons on our ever changing Earth.  One interested in anthropology could easily spend an afternoon in the Hall.

Walking back to the hotel, we discovered David has a street named after his family.  It’s abbreviated to H Street on the signs!  Following a “Senility Break”, we walked around the block to another one of favorite restaurants for dinner, Busboys and Poets for dinner.  

Sunday

Norman and Jinx headed to the Holocaust Museum this morning and the rest of us to the Portrait Museum. After viewing the Obama portraits, we wandered around the eloquent third floor into a modern art exhibit. One piece inspired the TOF Brothers to pose for the camera!

After lunch, we spent a few hours in the American History Museum before heading back to the hotel.  Following our “Senility Break”, we set out for our evening activities.  On our way to Old Ebbitt Grill for dinner, we noticed another one of David’s relatives is lauded on the streets of Washington, DC.

We have not been to Old Ebbitt Grill, the oldest saloon in Washington founded in 1856. However, the food and the atmosphere were so good, we all agreed we might have to make it a regular stop!

Following dinner, we walked around the block to the National Theatre to see Jersey Boys.  It was a fantastic show! Thanks Gretchen for making dinner arrangements and getting our show tickets.

Monday

Alas, it’s our last day in D.C., but before we head to the train station there is more to see.  We’re going to the National Gallery of Art. Emily wanted to check out the Pastels exhibit which was very cool. There were stations that showed the techniques the artists used to draw the paintings.

We all wandered around the galleries on our own.  Gretchen and I found an artist who was in a program that allowed her to copy a masterpiece!  Also, we were lucky to see an exhibit on Verrocchio, the sculptor and artist of renaissance Florence whose students included Leonardo da Vinci!

As the light began to fade on the horizon, our train made its way across the Potomac River taking us home.  It was another great trip.  Thanks so much to Gary for his organizational work, and for the leadership he brings to our trip every year. We appreciate your efforts!

PS.

Many thanks to Emily and David for a wonderful New Years Eve party.  We appreciate your efforts! It’s sure to be a great year!