June 19 - June 25, Visit with Anica's family and home.

 On Sat, June 19th, we went to see Quinn's (age 7) last soccer game.  No masks, all outdoors.  We brought our camp chairs, and enjoyed watching the groups of girls chase the soccer ball.  It ended with a game of parents against the girls.  

   After the game, we went over to a local Mansfield park, that had a very nice pond, river and shaded picnic areas.  We all brought our picnic lunches.  Elana Davidson joined us as well.  I haven't seen her since Shutesbury, probably 15 years ago, or more.  Elana and her sister, Llani, were close friends growing up with Anica and Tamara.  So it was nice to catch up a bit.  I spent some time with Quinn and Owen over at the pond, discovering trash buried in the sand and stones, and throwing rocks into the water.  It's always a delight spending time with their family (and any of my other kids' families). 

   Sunday, June 20th was Father's Day, and Peter spent most of it with his daughter Kaitlyn.  This was the first time he has actually seen her in person since before we headed out on our summer of 2019 trip out west.  Covid hit, and . . .  Now we are all vaccinated.  So, he enjoyed the day.  Happy Father's Day to all of my sons and son-in-laws with kids.  

   I am starting to listen to some docuseries -- one about the gut biome and diet, and one about how to cook vegan meals by a high-end vegan chef.  Not that I want to become vegan, but I do cook a lot of basically vegan meals (I don't mind adding real cheese instead of vegan cheese) and want to add to my repertoire.

  I am continuing to put together the last 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle that Lois sent to me.  This one is actually the hardest, and is taking the longest.  But, slow and steady wins the race.    I also spend some time in my little side-of-the-condo flower garden.  Adding some annuals and perennials.  

Visit with Anica's family photos:

Elana Davidson photos:

Condo flower garden photo:

Father's Day photos:

  

June 17 & June 18 -- home again

   While I was driving the RV home, I noticed that the front windshield was cracked in the bottom right corner.  And, the crack was growing longer.  So, when we got home, I called the insurance company, and found out that my RV insurance covers glass replacement, with a $125 deductible.  And, the glass company comes out to the house to do the replacement.  So, they came out today.  The front windshield in an RV is BIG, and I ended up standing there watching them as they removed and reinstalled the glass.  I learned a lot --about how they do it, how glass is fixed into place in the first place, that all Mercedes Sprinter windshields of that model have built into them the connections for the camera and the rain sensor, and how to remove the windshield wipers.  All very interesting.  

   Unfortunately, while standing in front of the RV looking at it, I noticed that the driver's side headlight plastic cover was cracked.  I asked the glass guy if they replace those, and they said definitely not.  That is the Mercedes dealer, and that you don't just pop the plastic cover off and replace it with a new one, you have to dismantle the whole thing (whatever that entails).  So, a call to Merecedes and another call to the insurance company.  The Mercedes dealer said $2,100 to replace it, and the insurance company said I had another $125 deductible on my collision policy.  So, now I am waiting for the insurance adjuster to come look at it before having it fixed.  Yuck.

Removing and replacing the RV windshield photos:

June 15 & June 16 - final leg of trip home from VA

   The trip back to our campground in Pennsylvania was a good 6 hours -- fairly easy, but long.  This campsite is nestled in the woods, with each campsite surrounded with nice shady trees.  We set up, and walked the loop road around the grounds.  Then, just relaxed for the rest of the evening. 

  We got a fairly early start the next morning, but the trip home ended up being over 6 hours long.  We ran into three different traffic jams, where you just sat in place, or moved at 5 - 10 mph.  Usually, we try not to travel more than 4 hours per day, as it is really hard on my back and very tiring.  Oh well, we made it home.  

Hemlock Campground, Pennsylvania photo:

Home again photo:

Flowers in bloom at our condo photos:

June 14 - Front Royal, VA and the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park

   Our trip to the Front Royal campground was only 3-1/2 hours, so we arrived in the early afternoon and set up the RV.  It was really HOT, so I decided to go for a swim in their Olympic sized pool, only to discover that it was closed on Monday and Tuesdays!  How can a family oriented campground have the pool closed for 2 days during the hot summer?  So, I decided to take a drive up the nearby Skyline Drive.  This road is part of the Shenandoah National Park, and runs the ridge along the northern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It runs for 100 miles, with 75 pull outs to stop at and appreciate the views.  Since it is on a narrow ridge, there are views on both sides of the road, with pullouts on either side, depending on the view.  I decided to drive about 20 miles, and then turn around and come back.  So I did the pullouts on the west side going south, and on the east side returning north.  And what views they are!!  Peter needed to stay at the RV working on his computer, so I went at a leisurely pace, and enjoyed the views.

Skyline Drive photos (just a few of the ones I took):

Front Royal campsite photo:

June 13 - Colonial Williamsburg, VA

   We started a walking tour of Colonial Williamsburg at 8:30am.  Mark Schneider, the tour guide working here and a member of the AFL gave us a personal tour.  He emphasized sites associated with Lafayette, Rochambeau, and the French Army.  The tour ended at lunch time.

  After lunch, we had time to explore, so we found a little park in the nearby William & Mary College, on a river.  Then we took the Colonial Parkway, that runs along the York River, and stopped at a nice beach-type spot.  Then back to the RV to relax for the evening, before heading home the next day.

Overall, a very interesting, educational and enjoyable weekend spent with the AFL group.

Colonial Williamsburg photos:

William and Mary College Park photos:

Colonial Parkway York River beach photo:

June 12 - Suffolk, Portsmouth, Somerton, VA AFL tours

 June 12th AFL tours -This was a big tour day.  We explored some of the sites that Lafayette visited when he was here during the revolution years, and the return trip that he made in 1824 and 1825.

Suffolk, VA - We toured the historic district which included Riddicks Folly, a very expensive mansion for the times, where Lafayette dined on his way through.  Heard a lot of the local history, told to us by the local historian, Bill Cole.  

We then caravanned over to the nearby historic village of Somerton, where we were given a tour of the earliest surviving building in Somerton, which is the former Washington Smith Ordinary (tavern).  Lafayette did stop here to dine.  The  house is now owned by the descendants, but the costs of renovating it to its original splendor have been prohibitive.  They would need an historic non-profit willing to invest in it, and the location is really very isolated, and not good for attracting tourists.  So, it was interesting to see and we appreciated the family opening it up for us.

 Lunch back in Suffolk and then on to Portsmouth, VA.  This was a really fun, interesting and educational historical walking tour of Portsmouth, VA.  It was led by an educational/entertainment group that were dressed in historical clothing, and sang many historical songs as they led us on their tour.  We started the tour with the Mayor of Portsmouth welcoming us to their city.  We were divided into smaller groups, led by two members of the group, and later all joined up again to end at the Marquis de Lafayette Park.  Interesting sites, history, and people.  

We then had dinner at the historic Hornsby House Inn located in Yorktown, across from the Battle of Yorktown Monument.  At the dinner, there was a Lafayette impersonator that came and gave a short speech.  It happens that this was the same man who did the Lafayette impersonator for Peter's Lafayette event in Charleton a few years back.  Again, a nice evening.

Suffolk, VA photos:

Somerton, VA Washington Smith Ordinary photos:

Portsmouth historical tour photos:

Hornsby House Inn and Yorktown Monument photos: