​While we knew December would start off in a flurry of activity, we had no idea just how much longer that would continue past the end of the formal Nomads project in mid-December.  However, we found ourselves in the right place at the right time, despite our best plans and good intentions to the contrary.  As the days counted down to Christmas, we were serving meals in the Red Cross Shelter that Faith had become due to a nearby high-rise apartment fire.  So much for that last minute Christmas shopping.

Finishing the project
 
The scope of the Nomads project changed dramatically as its 2nd week began.  Two new tenants – a Day Care and a refugee family from Eritrea – would be shortly taking up residence in 2 different spaces at Faith, and we shifted gears to ready the spaces for them.

World Relief had vacated a house adjacent to the main church campus in the late summer, which they had been using for office space.  However, they were seeking to rent it again in mid-December, but this time for a newly-arrived refugee family.  The house needed some repairs, some serious cleaning and some cosmetic maintenance.  However, replacing tiles in the kitchen became a complete removal, rebuilding the subfloor and laying down a new surface.  With only 6 work days at our disposal, a third of the team became immersed in the necessary repairs, finishing just in time for the furniture to arrive the day before the family.  

​The challenges in the Day Care were mostly about water.  The tenant needed 3 working sinks, and there was currently no plumbing in the rooms at all.  To tap into the closest feed, we needed to cut into a cast iron pipe.  Thanks to the expertise of the project members, the cut was made and the junction inserted without a problem.  Over the next 2 weeks, the plumbing was completed, sinks, installed, cabinets constructed and all was hidden and ready for painting on schedule.  

​The work that was originally part of the project scope continued despite the expanded scope.  New drain pipes were installed on the gym lobby roof, the Wesley eaves were painted, the many wooden decks were powerwashed, and a new closet was installed, complete with a new double-door, in Wesley Hall.  The additional space in the Pastor’s office connecting it to the bathroom was the one most delayed by the work on the house, but by Christmas, the walls were enclosed enough to protect them from the weather over the Christmas break.

​We all felt tremendously proud of the work accomplished in such a short time.  And the camaraderie was something that had many promising to return as soon as schedules would permit.

​Giving Shelter

 
After spending a weekend away visiting Dave’s sister’s family in Bradenton, we had planned a leisurely drive back to Jacksonville.  However, we were not far into the drive when we got word of more activity than usual back at Faith.  A nearby high-rise, low-income apartment complex housing mostly seniors had to be evacuated due to a fire.  Over 100 residents were on their way to Faith.  The Nomads who had stayed on after the project were enlisted to set up cots in the gym.  And once the residents began to arrive, they assisted in any way they could, from assisting with registrations, to taking blood pressures, to serving meals and giving comfort.  Over the next 4 days, we helped see to the needs of these shelter residents, from serving meals to washing clothes and towels, to assisting with language interpretation – you name it.  

​It was exhausting, but rewarding work.  And we were all filled with more than a little uncertainty as the first of the buses pulled away to take them to a hotel for an unknown number of days.  As of this writing (Dec. 31), it is not known if they have been allowed to return to their apartments. But we do stay in touch via those in the area.

​Holiday Travels

Our departure from Faith happened less than an hour before the last residents left the shelter for their next accommodations.  Instead of a leisurely drive north, we were on a schedule.  First stop was Roanoke Rapids and a visit with Serenity, Alexis and their mom.  Then to Bonnie and Troy’s for a Christmas visit.  

​On Christmas eve, we made our way north to Pennsylvania, where we would spend several days with Dave’s mom, sister, Adam and Droz.  The cold weather gave us a motivation to head further south by the Friday after Christmas, arriving in NC for a visit with Cathy’s family, where we welcomed in the New Year.  Busy as usual, but worth every minute.

As Thanksgiving approached, the pace here at Faith picked up as we prepared for the formal Nomads project to begin.  Working with Pastor Barry and the church council to understand what would be included, we prepared estimates and made lists of supplies that were needed.  The project has a large team with 15 members assisted by at least 2 church volunteers most of the time.  Needless to say, there’s a lot going on.

Project Work
 
The project has work happening in almost every building on campus.  Wesley Hall, which houses the Fellowship hall and kitchen is getting power-washed and painted on the outside and having a new closet constructed on the inside. 

Asbury Hall, used for Sunday school and smaller groups, was in need of some plumbing repairs, which Fred tackled shortly after arriving.  Pastor Barry’s office was getting expanded with a new access to the bathroom behind it.  With sledge hammers and saws, Jim and Jeff opened up the hole for the new door before framing in the floor for the addition

With demolition going on elsewhere, another team joined in the fun by attacking the Peeler rooms damaged over the summer.  Removing salvageable materials and hauling them off.  Then they turned their attention to a few of the many roof projects.  The hurricane had exposed some previously unknown leaks.  First on Wesley, which held up pretty well after all the work in the Spring.  Then to the gym lobby roof, which hadn’t made the cut in last season’s project.  It needed some drainpipes to divert the water flowing from the main roof away from the front door.  However, it didn’t take much examination before we discovered that this roof would need more than just new drain pipes.  

              
Then there were the decks.  Four of them had seen little attention in years.  So the process of powerwashing began to clean them in preparation for staining.  And of course there were a number of smaller projects that kept the team busy.  But we still found time for breaks and even an occasional campfire.  With 2 more weeks to go, it will be exciting to see how much we will get done.

​Parting Shots

 
In the midst of the preparations, we celebrated 2 Thanksgiving meals – one on the Sunday before and one on the actual day.  The fellowship was a blessing.  

We extended our stay at Pocahontas into November for a little over a week.  But when the forecast predicted a hard frost in a couple of days, we knew it was time to head south.  We pulled into Faith UMC in Jacksonville on a Friday afternoon, and soon found ourselves immersed in this community as if we never left.

Finishing Up
 
Pocahontas State Park’s annual Volunteer Appreciation party was planned for the first weekend in November, so it only made sense to stay long enough to attend.  The Sunday afternoon was chilly, so Dave and Droz lost little time building a fire in the shelter’s fireplace.  It was the hit of the afternoon, and thanks to Droz’s attentiveness, burned bright for hours.  We enjoyed spending time with other volunteers we had met throughout the summer and getting a glimpse of the many ways volunteers help make the park work.  

One of the cool activities at the party was the chance to try our hand at spear-throwing using an atlatl, an ancient hunting technique.  Some of us were better than others, but luckily no one was injured as a result of our learning curve.

In addition to the food, fellowship and games, the afternoon was also one for recognizing outstanding volunteer efforts, including 3 volunteers who had accumulated over 3000 hours of service to the park.  However, imagine our surprise when our names were called for recognition as Camp Host of the Year.   The award was an unexpected but gratifying acknowledgement of our efforts over the summer and fall.  Wow!

As we made preparations to leave for Florida, we continued to complete some small projects around the park – power-washing, disassembling picnic tables, training the new park hosts.  However, the one thing we wanted to do was help kick off the planning for a new event tentatively planned for the fall of 2018.  With the structure of the Nomads projects as a guide, Dave had helped plant the seed for organizing a group project to attract RV snowbirds who might take a detour to stay at the park and work together to complete a bigger project.  Meeting with Kevin and Andi, we talked through the ideas about everything from timing to marketing to funding the endeavor.  It’s exciting to see it start to come together.
 
Having finished our projects for this year, it was time to head out, but we are already signed up for several months in 2018.  So, for sure we’ll be back.

Starting Up 

It didn’t take us long after our return to explore the grounds to see what had changed and what hadn’t in the several months since we left Faith.  The gardens that were just being dug were now lush with vegetables.  And the crushed roof on the Peeler building was startling to see in person.  The densely packed rooms were empty, and a huge effort had re-established them in several former classrooms.  However, we hadn’t even finished our circuit of the campus when our services were being sought. “Can you drive a van tomorrow?”  Kim’s Open Door was beginning a tutoring program for refugee children and was having difficulty getting someone to drive the van to pick them up.  So, guess what Dave was doing the next morning?  And the first request from Barry?  “Could you make some croutons?”  Sure thing.  

​We were not the first Nomads to arrive at Faith – Don and Bobbi had returned and we were introduced to Mike and Barb who are new to Nomads this year.  By week’s end, Fred had returned and another new Nomad, Mark had arrived.  As drop-ins, we were already busy with projects, and Dave had prepared a multi-page list of tasks as he took input from Pastor Barry and the church council, among others.  There is never a problem finding things to do here.  We still have several days before the official project begins to get organized, which is a good thing, since we have a large group of Nomads joining us after Thanksgiving.  

RV Stuff
 
Our trip south gave us the chance to try out a new brake controller.  Dave had purchased and installed a Tekonsha Prodigy P3 Brake Controller at the recommendation of the Reese representative at the Hershey RV Show.  The controller it replaced made it difficult to stop smoothly, since every time the truck braked, the same amount of force applied is the same – whether slowing quickly or gradually.  This was even worse on the rare occasions we towed the empty boat trailer.  No adjustment of the controller would allow it to keep the trailer wheels from locking up.  This would not do if we had to travel any distance with an empty trailer. 
 
The new Tekonsha uses proportional braking, applying pressure at the same ratio as the tow vehicle.  It can also be programmed for different trailer profiles – from RV to towed sailboat to empty boat trailer.  The display on the controller shows which profile is being used and gives feedback on the voltage being sent to the brakes.  The end result is much smoother braking and a much happier crew.  

​While at Pocahontas, we were concerned that the freshwater pump was cycling when there was no demand on the water system.  This might mean a leak.  So, shortly after arriving in Jacksonville, we had an appointment at Camping World to check it out.  When we arrived at the service department, Dave’s discussion with the service technician made him think that maybe there was no leak.  We returned with the RV to Faith and began a methodical check of the water system. First we turned the pump on and left it running – something we had been reluctant to do up till now.  Although the pump cycled frequently at first, after a few minutes the intervals were several minutes long.  Checking underneath the RV through a small opening in the underbelly, all we could see and feel looked dry.
 
The next test was to connect to city water and check again for leaks.  After several hours, the underbelly was still dry.  And the same was true after several days.  All is good for now.

Parting shots
  
We stayed in Virginia long enough to celebrate our grandson’s birthday, which included a bike ride around the park in a cold drizzle.  Guess you had to be there.  And we had one more visit with our daughter’s family.  More rain, but we managed to have a campfire breakfast and some rousing games of Old Maid and Left-Right-Center before saying goodbye.

And just to reinforce the wisdom of our timing for the trip south, Adam sent us a picture of him and Droz getting trained at Pocahontas to do boundary marking.  As you can see from their clothing, it was a bit chilly.

Although our tenure as Park Hosts at Pocahontas State Park was scheduled to end with Halloween, we found ourselves hanging around a bit longer.  That’s not to say we didn’t accomplish a lot in the last half of the month, including a spooktacular Park After Dark festival that attracted a record crowd one Saturday night.  But we always seem to find more to do.

Ghosting Along
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As we continued to make progress staining the deck on last of the yurts, we made ourselves available to help with some fun activities as well.  The big event for the month was Park After Dark, a Halloween festival with hayrides, night hikes, crafts, critters and candy – to name just a few of the activities.  We were joined by Adam and Droz as volunteer “floaters”, moving between tasks as needed by the festival organizers.  By the time we arrived, Adam and Droz had helped transform the area with some well-placed skeletons and (non-native) spider’s webs along with other mood-setting paraphernalia.  While Cathy moved to the front gate, Adam took up his post doing crowd-control for face-painting at the CCC Museum.  Dave looked to fill-in where needed – from refueling the generator at the craft tent to re-supplying the candy coffers at Trunk Or Treat. 

​Bonnie and Troy arrived early in the evening accompanied by a very cute witch and a scary looking ninja.  They came to enjoy the festivities.  By the time they were making their way home, they had faces and hands painted and a bag of Halloween candy each to take with them.   When the crowds swelled to record numbers midway through the evening, Cathy moved to help make-up more gift bags, and Droz replaced her manning the front gate.  That also freed her to move to help entertain the crowds in the haywagon line with a game of “put the ball in the cauldron”. 

​By night’s end, we were pleased with how well the festival had gone, but understandably tired.  Dave stayed behind to help with the final clean-up, while Cathy, Adam and Droz headed back to get them set up to sleep in the RV.  (It was too late to pitch a tent as the clock ticked toward 11.)  But we were already talking about what we wanted to do next year.

​The next weekend we found ourselves surrounded by an invasive species and about 50 cub scouts.  (Or are they the same thing?)  We were leading Pack 38 from King George with the volunteer part of their camping weekend, helping them identify Japanese Stiltgrass and eradicate it from a small section of the park.  While the older members of the pack filled garbage cans and tarps full of raked leaves or trekked back into the woods to retrieve 28 bags of trash from the flood plain, the youngest of the pack joined us to collect 32 bags of stiltgrass.  What an amazing group of youngsters (and parents, of course)!

​When the weather didn’t cooperate with our staining work, we looked elsewhere for mischief.  That put us in the Nature Center installing a mount for the snapping turtle’s heat light, or in the now closed pool area, rigging “ramps” out of 2 x 4’s to allow frogs and other creatures a way out of the deep water that seems so attractive, but so deadly for them.  But the best job was getting trained to drive the tractor to pull the hay wagon.  It has been a number of years since either of us had to think about engaging the clutch on a vehicle, but it came back quick enough.  We managed to avoid embarrassing ourselves in most of the exercise, except when it came to backing up the tractor with the wagon attached.  With 2 pivot points, we heard it described as trying to push a noodle.  And we would both agree.  Let’s hope we only have to go forward with the wagon when we put into practice.  

And, what about the final yurt deck?  Well, the weather cooperated just enough to allow us to finish just as our month ended.  We used some of the leftover stain to help pretty up the new Visitor Center sign before stowing the last of the 8 cans back in the shed for someone else’s future project.  

Near the end of our stay, we attended the annual Volunteer Appreciation event at the park with lots of food, some games and award presentations for outstanding volunteer efforts.  Imagine our surprise when our names were called for Camp Host of the Year.   The recognition was a wonderful acknowledgement of our efforts at the park.  But it wasn’t the award that will bring us back next year, but the fun we had doing the work. 

Not More Birthday Parties!
 
The Thursday before Park after Dark, we made our annual trip to Reston for our physicals and a visit with Cookie.  (And found ourselves staining her back deck while we were there.  Good thing we are now experienced.)   Although we had a small celebration with Cookie of Cathy’s 60th, Cathy assumed the birthday celebrations were over and she was ready to move on – until we arrived back at the park on Saturday afternoon.  
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​We were expecting to meet up with Bonnie and Adam’s families who were gathering for Park After Dark that evening.  However, Cathy was oblivious to the grander plan.  First, it was just that Bonnie and Troy had brought their trailer to stay the weekend, and that there was another celebration that was unexpected.  Then, Cathy’s sister Grace and her husband John appeared.  But then they kept trickling in.  Chris.  Clint and Carolyn.  And her mom.  All were there despite recent illness and the long trip from NC.  It was amazing.  Adam caught her reaction live in this video. 

We had a lavish spread of food, and not one, but 2 cakes.  Droz had been planning to make one for a couple of months.  His was a luscious Black Forest cake.  And the NC folks had come with a coconut cake.  However, the sweetest treat was a stack of 60 “memories” compiled from friends and family that left us laughing and crying in quick succession.  Unfortunately, there were a few items that Cathy had hoped had been forgotten (such as the infamous underwear incident).   There’s no hope of that now.  We concluded with a video of pictures from the past 60 years and lots of poses of the “four girls” lined up in Sunday finery or beachwear set to music.  As we said our goodbyes, both the birthday girl and all the conspirators were happy with the success of the afternoon’s festivities.

Parting Shots
 
The park is a great place to bike ride.  While we stick to the roads or the wider trails, Adam and Droz have taken on the more difficult mountain biking trails.  Before we left, we had fun riding bikes with both of them, which gave Grandpa the chance to give Droz some lessons in maintaining his new (to him) bike.

Fall arrived along with us as we pulled into Pocahontas State Park for our second stint as Park Hosts.  We quickly found ourselves immersed in a new set of projects to help out at the park.

Project List
  
The biggest task we took on for our month’s duties was to stain the deck and rails for two of the four yurts in the park.  The yurts were new last year and the decks had not been treated yet.  We naively thought that this would be done well before month-end.  After all, we were just painting right?  We quickly became educated.  

After power washing one of the decks on day 1, we dove into the staining of yurt 4 with enthusiasm on day 2.  The instructions required us to apply 2 coats and to ensure the 2nd coat was applied before the 1st dried.  Five hours later, we had only completed 7 sections of about 25 total.  And that didn’t include the outside of the sections.  This was going to be a long process.  Rain delayed our progress the 2nd week, but we were determined to finish this deck early in week 3 so we could move onto the next yurt.  

We were saved by a combination of good weather and a visit from Fred on his way south to Florida.  We suckered him into helping us.  By the end of a long day (which happened to be Cathy’s birthday), we celebrated finally completing our first project.  And now we were onto the next one . . . 

​Our rainy day project was to construct new signposts for the campground.  As half the sites are converted to site-specific reservations, these sites will be identified by unique signposts.  To make them, we needed to cut 6x6 beams to size, cut some plywood squares to top the posts and then attach them.  We managed to construct 22 of them by the time the painting weather returned.  

​When not sawing or painting, we helped deliver several thousand Park After Dark flyers, promoting the Halloween festival and worked the “Pocaventure” triathlon race.  We also assisted with a hayride and campfire, in preparation for begin trained to drive the haywagon.  And the month’s only half over!

RV Stuff
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We keep our work clothes under the bed in the RV.  One morning, as Dave lifted up the bed to retrieve his clothes, the bed not only didn’t go down, but skewed to one side.  Apparently the hinge had snapped.  Since the compression arm that lifted the bed up had so much power, we had to screw the bed board on the broken side down to the support frame while Dave went to the local hardware store in search of a new hinge.  Once installed, the new hinges allowed the bed to operate as normal.  Since the old hinges were pretty poorly made, we are optimistic that the replacements will last for much longer.
 
In mid-October, our original Forest River warranty expired and we decided to look for a service contract to pick up where the warranty left off.  After some research, we opted to go for Good Sam’s product.  It offered the most flexibility to cancel if we weren’t satisfied and the cost was reasonable.  Any service performed at a Camping World reduces the deductible by $50, as well

​ Milestone Birthday
 
Cathy’s 60th birthday was celebrated with all the trimmings, starting on the Saturday before.  We had a visit from Bonnie and Taylor, complete with balloon, cake, and a sweet-smelling gift.  Since Cathy was walking around the triathlon with a Happy Birthday balloon tied to her waist, she received many birthday wishes from the park staff as well.  A few days later on the big day, we were joined by Adam, Droz, and Fred for a dinner out, followed by more cake.  It was a great celebration, even if it didn’t do much good for the waistline.

​Parting Shot
 
Dave decided to upgrade his bike, narrowing in on a “comfort” bike that he found at Dick’s.  Now Cathy is going to have to work harder to keep up.

​Heading west from Gettysburg, we decided to make our way to Somerset County, PA which is the site of the Flight 93 Memorial.  While in the area, we discovered there was a lot to explore within a few dozen miles of our campground.  After a week there, we headed back to southern Virginia to visit, but also to do some touring there as well.  This time it was Colonial Williamsburg.

Tragedies and Triumphs
 
Some heard the noise first.   Some saw it first.  Too close.  And then a fireball in the distance.  The rescuers rushed to the site.  But there were no rescues to be done. A wing-shaped crater.  Scorched trees.  Lots of very small debris.  All on board had perished.  Another tragedy on a day filled with them.  And for those first to respond, the question remained: How was this connected to the scenes in NY and Washington?  

​The Flight 93 Memorial takes you back to September 11, 2001 and attempts to put you inside this flight when passengers and crew decided they could stop this plane from repeating what had happened to the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon.  They could save lives, even if that meant they would lose theirs.  The most likely target was the Capital building.  The working government and the symbol of our democracy was spared.  You hear some of their voices.  You learn how the events unfolded.  How they stormed the cockpit.  How the plane plummeted to the earth.  

​It was ironic that the plane crashed at the site of a depleted strip mine.  Its road gave easy access.  Its buildings provided shelter for hundreds of workers that recovered the remains and collected evidence over the course of months.   And unlike NY and DC, the debris here was quick to produce links that could be traced to the hijackers, their funding and ultimately to the demise of Bin Laden.   And in an ironic twist, this tragedy allowed the scarred landscape left by the mine to be recovered.  It is being transformed into flowering meadows and forested slopes.   A fitting memorial to the sacrifice of the crew and passengers of flight 93.

It was only 10 months later that a different kind of drama unfolded within a few miles of the flight 93 site.  Late one night, eighteen miners at the nearby Quecreek mine were at work when water burst through a wall separating their tunnel from an abandoned mine filled with 60 million gallons of water.  Nine escaped.  Nine were trapped.  Over the course of 77 hours, tunnels were dug, water pumped out and eventually all of the trapped men were rescued unharmed.  The country held its breath, and celebrated the unbelievable triumph of the rescue.  The two events became linked.   We visited the site of the rescue and relived the events of those 4 days with some who were there.  

​The last memorial we visited was the Johnstown Flood National Memorial.  In an infamous incident of arrogance and mismanagement, the dam that held back the waters of a 2 mile long lake which was an exclusive resort for the wealthy, failed during a record rain fall in 1889.  As a result, a wall of water that reached 75 ft high at points along its path hurtled 14 miles downstream pushing debris that included huge trees, rail cars, and homes into the town of Johnstown. Over 2200 people were killed, making it the deadliest US disaster of its time.  Driving around the perimeter of what used to be Lake Connemagh and seeing the remains of the dam support, we could envision how enormous the body of water and the earthen dam that held it really was.  And although there is consensus today that the modifications to the dam made by the South Fork Club when they took over the lake for their use were directly responsible for its failure, no one was found at fault in the many lawsuits brought against them.  It was a sobering memorial.

a Back on Two Wheels
 
Striking up a conversation with our neighbors in Somerset, we heard about the beautiful biking trail nearby called the Great Alleghany Passage.  Connecting Pittsburgh to the C&O Canal over converted railway right of way, the trail was level, wide, mostly shaded and incredibly scenic.  We were eager to give a part of it a try. 

​Since it had been several months since we had used the bikes, we had to do some work on them before heading out on a multi-mile ride.  Dave had to fix a frozen chain link on his bike, and all the tires needed air.  Other than that, they were good to go.  We weren’t as sure about the riders.  

We decided to join the trail in nearby Rockwood, but which way to go? The trail heading east from Rockwood climbs steadily until it reaches the Eastern Continental Divide, where it descends quickly to join the C&O Canal trail to DC.  Heading west from Rockwood, it initially descends gradually as it makes its way to Pittsburgh.  Since we had not done any serious riding in recent months, we opted to head east and do the uphill climb while we were still fresh.   
The crushed gravel trail was a smooth ride, paralleling the Casselman River for miles.  Rest stops were easy to find, and water and restrooms were available as well.  We made our way past several mile markers, enjoying the scenery and the exercise.  Since we had to retrace each mile we travelled to return to our starting point, we were trying to decide how far to go.  There was a viaduct that looked interesting that was 10 miles from our start.  Another mile and a half was the town of Meyersdale, which had a history museum and a small store that looked interesting. 

​The Salisbury Viaduct was a long bridge over the valley below with an incredible view.  After a longer rest on its eastern side, we rode the final couple of miles with a nagging concern – did we push it too far?  The museum at the far end had interesting displays about the railroad that preceded us on this passage.  We enjoyed some ice cream and refilled our water before deciding to head back to Rockwood.  The good news is that we made it back.  However, we both agreed that we should have kept our first venture to 20 miles instead of the 24 that we actually travelled.  But it whetted our appetite for more travel along this passage sometime down the road.  

Williamsburg

After a week in western PA, we accepted an invitation to visit with Steve and Linda in Poquoson.  Arriving on a Sunday, we were able to catch each other up on our summer adventures, including their recent Bay sailing trip.  However, by Monday, Maria was raising concerns about her track.  If she headed on her westernmost track or turned late, Steve’s yard would flood and we would be in a bad spot.  We decided to pull out on Tuesday and head to Williamsburg for a few days.  

​Staying at Anvil Campground near Colonial Williamsburg, we took advantage of a deal for seniors to buy a day pass and get access to the colonial sites for the rest of the year.  Over the course of 3 days, we reacquainted ourselves with the sites and learned new stories that we hadn’t heard before.  We heard from costumed interpreters about the wealthy and influential citizens, spoke to merchants and tradesmen about their jobs, and enslaved men and women about their lives.  We listened to George Washington’s hopes for the future, and a debate between a founding father and a black preacher on the possible shape of the declaration of rights.  We weren’t just spectators.  Cathy pled her civil case before the 7 justices of the county court, which included Dave.  Unfortunately, he joined the other justices in ruling against her.   She’ll have to study more episodes of Law and Order to do better next time.

By week’s end, Maria had blown out to sea, so we headed back to Steve’s for a short visit before starting our October duties at Pocahontas State Park.  Dave got to use one of Steve’s tools (i.e. toy) to prune limbs on the driveway.  Although it has a technical name, it is probably best described as a chainsaw on a stick.  We need to get one of these for Pocahontas!

We really enjoyed our work on the NOMADS disaster recovery project in Lumberton, NC, but as it came to an end, we needed to move on. As Clint and Carolyn (Cathy's sister) were headed home from their beach house, they passed through Lumberton and joined us for dinner. The Hershey RV Show (the largest RV show in the country) was next on our to do list, but where do we stay?
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Hershey RV Show

As the Hershey RV Show brings thousands of people interested in RV's, we correctly assumed that all the campgrounds near the show would be filled. Our plan became to stay at Gettysburg, PA which would make an easy day trip to the show. We discovered that by joining Passport America for their $44 per year annual fee, we could stay at Artillery Ridge Campground for half price from Sunday through Friday. This would allow us to attend the Hershey RV Show and spend some time touring Gettysburg. This first stay with Passport America, allowed us to recoup our entire membership cost for the year. What a deal!

It's best to go to any of these boat or RV shows knowing what you hope to get out of them. In this case, we weren't interested in the RV's, but rather learning more about maintenance and travel. As always, we hoped to pick up some trinkets to give our daughter to use as incentives for her 6th grade students to do well. David's early stop was to Reese to learn more about our Sidewinder pin box. Mike, the Reese representative, had been on the Sidewinder design team and offered several ideas to try to make the system easier to use. Additionally, Mike told him about the Tekonsha P3 trailer brake controller that will make towing more comfortable and allow the settings for the RV, boat trailer, and boat trailer without a boat to be set and stored.

Meanwhile, Cathy was checking out places to travel, one of which was taking the old Route 66. We were hoping to learn more about extended RV service plans, but no vendors selling them were in attendance this year. However, a few of the new RV dealers had some recommendations. As always there were a number of vendors selling things for RV's and interesting seminars taking place. Unfortunately, 3 of the seminars that we wished to attend were cancelled, which we think was due to problems getting out of Florida due to hurricane Irma. Overall the show was a success and we did manage to pick up a few items for our daughter's class.​​

Finishing up in Lumberton

Our second week of work in Lumberton was busy, as the team tried to get as much completed on the 2 homes on our project as we could. However, we knew we would not be able to get it all done. While floors were being laid in both houses, Dave and I were charged with some more electrical projects – made more difficult by the fact that all the walls and ceilings were finished. We installed 7 hard-wired smoke detectors, which meant “we” (i.e. Cathy) had to crawl around in the attic while the outside temperature was rising to 90 degrees.
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Another project that had us fishing inside walls was the installation of a microwave outlet in both houses. By removing a now-obsolete exterior range hood vent, we managed to fish the wires behind the wall in one house to successfully install the finished outlet. In the other house, we found ourselves having to uninstall the kitchen cabinet and associated plumbing in order to open up the wall to access the wiring out of sight. However, given the difficulties, we managed to get both installed in a day.

The last significant wiring project had us moving all the ground wires within the house circuit panel to a separate bar (since the old main panel had become a sub-panel for all of you electricians out there). Once we had completed these bigger projects, we were helping with other smaller tasks – installing outlets and light fixtures or learning a bit about installing flooring. We had a great group of volunteers, all of which were working hard to the last day. Although we would have loved to have walked away with 2 finished houses, that wasn’t meant to be. We would have to pass the baton to the next group of volunteers due in the next week. The Nomads DR project was over for this year.

War and Peace

While our primary reason for traveling to Gettysburg was to attend the RV Show, we were interested in revisiting the Civil War battlefield and taking in the Eisenhower Home National Historic Site. Our campground also gave us admission to 3 of the private attractions that interpret the history of the area, so we took advantage of them as well.

Gettysburg was just one battle of the Civil War, but the scale of the battle and the fortunes that turned on it have been the focus of endless study and debate in the 150 years since it took place. Two armies comprising 165,000 soldiers almost stumbled onto each other. The ensuing 3 days of warfare saw incredible bravery and amazing stupidity. Mistakes, luck, courage, foresight, strategy, happenstance. The resulting Union victory was a product of all of these forces on both sides of the lines. Pickett’s ill-fated charge on the center of the Union line of the final day was staggering in both its ambitions and the losses from its inevitable failure.​

So, each museum, exhibit, ranger talk attempted to convey the large scope of the battle while bringing you into the experience of the soldiers in the midst of it. We visited the Diorama, where the battlefield and all of its participants were laid out in miniature as a narration took us through each day’s give and take. A “Spirit” tour attempted put us into the middle of the events. But by far the most engaging was a ranger talk on the battlefield that has been painstakingly preserved as it was back then to help us see what would have been the soldiers’ and commanders’ view of the battle as they reacted to and planned for the fighting each day.
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Lincoln is present in many ways throughout Gettysburg. From a statue sitting on a bench at the Visitor Center to a bust in the cemetery where he delivered his famous address. One of our free tickets was to the Lincoln Train Museum which attempted to recreate the trip on the train which carried Lincoln and his son, Willie, to Springfield for buri
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In the midst of the battlefield is a completely different piece of history – Eisenhower’s home and farm. In the interpretive film, the former president is quoted as saying that he always wanted to own a piece of land and leave it better than he found it. He was devoted to soil conservation and turned the land he owned into the most productive in the area. In addition, he raised prize winning steers. This was also the home where he hosted world leaders in hopes of setting them at ease before more difficult diplomatic discussions.
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However, our visit to the Eisenhower Historic Site was on a special weekend with a World War II encampment. Several hundred re-enactors were set up in the field beyond the house and barn. Infantry, artillery, airborne, mp’s, medics, nurses and chaplains were all there along with lots of equipment, large and small.
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Friends and Family

In between work on the Lumberton Disaster Recovery project, we connected with George and Gail at their home in Leland, near Wilmington NC. As always, we enjoyed their company and helped out with some projects around the house. On Sunday, we joined them for church before heading back to Lumberton. With Harvey in the news, there was a lot of interest in our disaster recovery work in Lumberton on behalf of the Nomads.​

Parting Shot

Imagine our surprise when we looked up one evening and saw this drifting over our campground. They were close enough for us to wave back at them.

After spending 7 weeks within a 20 mile radius of Pocahontas State Park, we were ready to do some serious traveling.  And as you may know, when we put our minds to it, we can put on some miles.  Within the next 2 weeks, we covered most of the east coast, from Virginia to Florida to New York to North Carolina, where we post this update, serving on our first Nomads Disaster Recovery project.
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Creating Magic
 
Disney calls them “magicbands”, and with their arrival in mid-July, our planned trip with our son’s family to Disney was starting to become real.  When our responsibilities at Pocahontas came to an end on Friday August 11th, we had one day to pack up the RV before she would go into storage for the next 2 weeks.  On Sunday, we parked RV Orion in a friend’s driveway (while they were still working as Pocahontas August camp hosts) and then packed up all necessary Disney T-shirts to head to the train for Kissimmee on Monday.  For several on board, it was their first train trip, and an exciting start to the vacation. 

Arriving in Kissimmee around noon on Tuesday, we had the next 4 days to make the most of our time in Florida, staying a night in Kissimmee and then 3 nights in Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.  With one day dedicated to enjoying Magic Kingdom, we spent the rest of the time exploring the activities at our resort, which were many and appealed to kids of all ages.  From feeding the animals, to using night-vision goggles for animal viewing, to playing African drums, we soaked up as much of the culture that we could, between trips to the pool and stints decorating cookies.  ​For our efforts, we earned a string of unique beads to remind us of each special activity. 

We spent one day in Magic Kingdom and, due to an unforeseen problem in establishing our fast passes, Disney gave each of us 3 extra unrestricted ride passes.  That meant we were never waiting in long lines for rides.  Buzz Lightyear, Ariel, Peter Pan, Brer Rabbit, and, of course, Mickey Mouse guided us over mountains, under the sea, and into outer space.  Also, we met Pooh, Captain Jack Sparrow and Belle.  We opened and closed the park, finishing with a ride around the monorail loop before heading out at the end of a good, but very long, day.​

By week’s end, we were ready to head home, boarding the train in Kissimmee Saturday evening for our trip north.  We were all now experienced train travelers, having learned a significant lesson from our trip south.  Bundle up!  Ironically, we had acquired enough blankets and warm clothes in Florida to weather the frigid A/C on the train, and as a result we all slept much better.  There was a sad note to our return trip.  We were unexpectedly delayed at a siding in Jacksonville for over 4 hours.  Our train had struck and killed a bicyclist late at night who attempted to cross after the southbound train had passed, not realizing our northbound train was approaching.  Although this was the first in all of our train travels that this had happened, it was the 2nd time in just 4 trips that this had happened to our grandson. A grim trend. 

We arrived Sunday afternoon in Rocky Mount, tired but feeling good about our time together and the experiences we shared.   

Moving On
 
Despite the whirlwind week of fun, the time to kick back and relax was not yet here.  We were up early on Monday to pick up a rental car and then pack up our grandson Jayden for the trip north to meet up with his mom in upstate NY.  We headed for Pennsylania the first night and a quick stop with Dave’s mom and sister.  This was the day of the solar eclipse, and we managed to pull out our glasses when we stopped for a late lunch in Harrisburg, PA at Arby’s.  We shared our glasses with all of the employees who were coming out to take a look up in the sky.  It was cool, but the sad thing was 24 hours earlier, we had been right in the total eclipse zone.  Man!

​On Tuesday, we arrived in Syracuse right on time and gave Jayden a hug goodbye after a great summer of camping and vacationing together.  We will miss him a lot.  Heading further west, we made our way to Rochester for a very quick visit.  It was time for our annual dental check up, followed by a lunch with our friend, Carol, before turning south to make our way back to Pennsylvania and a more relaxed visit with Dave’s mom and sister.  To our surprise, Bonnie and the kids arrived the same day and we had a mini family reunion for the weekend.  Sunday night found us back in Richmond with Adam and Droz.  This would be our last night sleeping in someone else’s bed, since we would be returning to the RV on Monday and heading out.  The question was:  where were we going next?

​Staying Flexible
 
On Sunday morning, we were still struggling with where to go on Monday.  Our rough plan was to spend September traveling, but we were having trouble getting more specific than that.  By Sunday evening though, we had a plan.  And by Monday afternoon, we were in place in Lumberton NC on the final 2 weeks of the Nomads Disaster Recovery project there.  After setting up in the campground (an abandoned mobile home park), we met the project team, and readied ourselves for work the next morning.  

​The project involved refurbishing 2 homes next door to each other damaged by floodwaters from Matthew in the fall of 2016.  With less than 2 weeks to go, there were many projects underway to bring the overall work to completion.  However, our first priority became installing a working toilet in at least one house for obvious reasons.  We moved on from there to installing a 2nd toilet, the bathroom vanity and plumbing the faucets and drains.  Although several electricians were working when we arrived, there was still work to be done after they left.  Dave helped move all the ground wires to a new bar in the subpanel, and we installed 2 new GFCI outlets.  There is still a lot to be done, but we feel we are making a contribution in the short time since our arrival.

​RV Stuff
 
A flat tire when we arrived at Steve’s.  Another just before we left at the end of June.  Still another as we were preparing to leave Pocahontas.  Same tire location, but different tires.  And each tire that is swapped out holds air without any loss of pressure after it is removed.  The only thing that this location seemed to have in common was the axle and the Tire Pressure Sensor that fed our monitoring system.  Before we left Pocahontas, Dave opened up the sensor and discovered a metal shred that was lodged inside.  After removing it, the tire has held its pressure even with the sensor in place.  Hopefully, this will mark the end of the flat tires for a long while.  

And with all the traveling we're doing, we'll need them to stay inflated.

​Our first ever stint as Virginia State Park Hosts at Pocahontas State Park has been everything we hoped for and more.  It’s been so successful, we’ve signed up for another month this October and 2 months next year.  We even have extended our stay into August to help with a youth program that extended for a couple of weeks.  (More about that later.)  But the great side benefit has been the time spent with the grandkids whom we’ve seen more of this summer than we had even hoped for .  

Working It Out

We chose to volunteer at Pocahontas State Park because of its proximity to our grandkids, and its varied opportunities for outdoor activities.  It’s also a beautiful spot to stay.  In exchange for our volunteering, we were given a campsite for the month and some complementary passes to the park’s most popular attraction – the pool.  This turned out to be a great attraction for the grandkids – even better than just spending time with grandma and grandpa.

​With July 1st falling on the Saturday of the holiday weekend, we worked with the volunteer coordinator to arrange for an early arrival so that we would be set up before the crowds arrived for the weekend.  The position we volunteered for was “Park Host”, which we learned early on was different from the typical camp host at most parks we’ve visited.  The park host doesn’t check or clean campsites, but instead provides additional resources for the maintenance staff, doing special projects that match the park’s needs with our skills.  That position was just what we liked, similar to our Nomads projects.  So, it didn’t take much time to get started.  On Friday of the July 4th weekend, we were learning how to rent boats at the lake, and early Saturday found us picking up “micro” trash (i.e. cigarette butts, bottle caps, straw sleeves, etc.) in the picnic area before most of the crowds arrived.  By early afternoon, Adam and the boys had arrived to camp for the night, so we put them to work on a hike around Beaver Lake, trimming overhanging limbs.  We hadn’t even had our official projects assigned yet.
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By Monday, we got our first official assignment – trim branches for the mowers in the campground and a gravel road used for the hay wagon rides.  So on Tuesday,we loaded some tree saws, loppers, gloves, hard hats, and telescoping pruning saws into a “gator” (4-wheel drive vehicle with a bed that can be dumped) and headed out for our first stretch of road.  Seeing as this was July 4th, and the park’s busiest day of the holiday week, we found ourselves immediately in the middle of an uproar, since the gators are used first thing in the morning to clean all the grills in the picnic area.  Oops.  We swapped out the gator for a dump truck that was manufactured just before we were married and were on our way.  Two dump truck loads later, we were done for the morning.   Pretty good start.

​Over the next few weeks, we whittled away at the limbs,balong the roads and within the campsites, realizing that we could work all month and barely make a dent.  However, there were other projects on the horizon.  The Park Manager asked if we wanted to take a break from tree trimming, we could pressure wash the 6 cabins and the camp store.  No problem.  We knew all about pressure washers from our time at Faith.  We worked with the Park Office to block off the cabins so we could do it over 2 Sundays.  Three one week and three the next.  And Cathy would work with Jayden to do the camp store.  How hard could it be?

​Well. . .  Cathy found out the hard way.  Collecting the materials to bleach the walls, the pressure washer which was stored at the pool, a hose that didn’t leak.  It took quite a while just to get started.  Then, the porch of the camp store had a large overhang that took more time to clean than the rest of the building.  Having started before 8, we finally made it back to the RV at 2.  The good news was that even though the temperatures soared over 90, since Cathy was soaked from head to toe, she was staying cool.   Needless to say, doing 3 cabins on a single day proved equally challenging.  We started at 10 as the cabins were vacated and returned the last of the equipment at 5.  We were beat.  We made sure we modified the schedule for the next set of cabins to break them up into 2 different days.  Much more manageable.

​But when we learned there were 2 youth programs taking place during our stay, we made our interest in helping out known.  The first was a Teen Volunteer Week during our 2nd week at the park.  Our grandson, Droz, was one of the volunteers.  And he and Jayden stayed with us for the week.  We helped lead them in overlook clearing and in learning to build picnic tables (9 completed in one day).  They built a new spur on a new trail and cleared overhanging branches to allow hay rides to take a new route.  Each day had a fun activity, including canoeing,  archery, geocaching and orienteering.  Unfortunately, this was the hottest week of the year with temperatures soaring into the upper 90’s each day.  But the kids accomplished a lot with a small group of 7.
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​The second program was the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC), which started the last week of July.  This was a state-wide program, with Pocahontas being one participant.  The 15 youth would work at the park for three weeks and receive a $500 stipend upon their successful completion.  While they were doing some of the same kinds of tasks (corridor clearing, building picnic tables, etc.), they took on the building of a 70 ft brick-lined path and clearing 72 bags full of invasive stiltgrass and mint.  It was a rewarding 3 weeks, but not without lots of challenges.  We are still hoping our schedule will align to repeat next year.  Although YCC extended into August for 2 weeks, we were able to work out an arrangement with the park to stay another couple of weeks to participate as volunteer leaders.  

In general, the combination of the work and amazingly supportive park staff has made this a volunteer opportunity we want to repeat.  However, we hope we will find it much cooler when we return in October.

​Family Time

Each weekend of our stay at the park, we’ve been thrilled to have visits from one or both of our kids’ families.  It’s been great.  Despite the soaring temperatures, we’ve had campfires, cooked s’mores and dutch oven specialties, made pies and roasted marshmallows.  There’ve been hikes, pool time, boat rides and mountain biking.  We couldn’t have asked for more time together.   We’ve enjoyed every minute of it.

RV Stuff

“Do you think we should get the propane tank topped off?  How long has it been?  How full is it?”
The RV has 2 30-lb propane tanks that fuel the stove, and when not plugged in, the refrigeration and hot water.  It is the heat source in winter.  But there is no effective way to tell how much has been used, which results in more worry about the state of the tanks than should be necessary.  So, Dave finally decided to invest in a tank sensor system.  A magnetic sensor placed on the bottom of the tank sends a Bluetooth signal to a smartphone app to tell how full the tanks are.  Although we’re not using much propane right now, the sensor seems to be pretty accurate.  But it still needs to be proven over time.  

The park host position being new to Pocahontas, there was no official sign to indicate that to the fellow campers.  So, we decided to correct that.  And at the same time, we made a sign for ourselves.  A trip to Michaels for some plaques and letters and a second stop at Home Depot for some surplus sample-size cans of stain.  The end result looks pretty good, if we do say so ourselves.
We’ve also had a “first” experience with something RV’ers call a “blue boy”.  It’s a container that allows us to dump our holding tank at our site and transport it to the dump station.  Since the park host spot is a regular campsite, there is no sewer connection, so we got in the habit of using the “blue boy” each week.  With the use of the park’s gator, it was a pretty simple process, but not one that you ever look forward to doing.

Parting Shot
 
Cathy saw this cutie in the picnic area when she was picking up micro trash.  No worries.  He was long gone by the time the crowds arrived to celebrate the 4th.

​A couple of months spent in Poquoson has given us the luxury of time to spend with friends and family.  We earned our keep helping with some projects for Steve and Linda, and, of course, worked on some projects of our own.   By month’s end, it was time to pack up the RV and move to Pocahontas State Park for our first stint as park hosts for the month of July.

​Family Time

From Hampton to Emporia to Wake Forest and Winston-Salem in NC, we reveled in the chance to spend time with family again.  Over the course of the month, we entertained pirates, made giant bubbles, roasted hot dogs and marshmallows, just to name a few of the outings that involved family.

​June began with a bang when Adam’s family joined us for the Blackbeard Pirate Festival in Hampton.  There were some changes this year.  With Joy’s Marina largely deserted, we instead moved our base of operations to Sue and Steve’s boat, Pretty Woman, which they had relocated to Customs House Marina in the heart of downtown Hampton.  Docked near the Carousel, they were in a central location for the festival.  Adam, Droz, Serenity and their friends from Richmond arrived early, and we spent the entire day enjoying the festival.  

​A week later, we were making our way to NC with stops in Wake Forest and Winston-Salem, giving us a chance to see all of Cathy’s sisters and their families and to spend several days with Cathy’s mom.  On our return, we arrived in time for the last day of school in Emporia.  After helping our daughter, Bonnie, move her classroom, we took Troy and Taylor home and spent the next day with them while mom finished up her final school day.  Grandpa even learned how to give Taylor a manicure, but he has a little to learn yet.

​Just before leaving town, we met Bonnie and the kids in Portsmouth at the Children’s Museum, where we had a great time doing “kid” things, the highlight of which was making some giant bubbles.  Taylor showed her skill at the cash register in the market, and Troy cashed our checks at the bank.  We spent several hours and the time flew by.  
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Enjoying the Bay

Over Memorial Day weekend, we joined Steve and Linda for a sail across the Chesapeake Bay to Cape Charles on the southern tip of the Eastern Shore.  The Old Point Comfort Yacht Club was gathering there for the weekend.  As the Down the Bay racers were completing their run from Annapolis, we picked up their wind to sail the latter half of the trip over.   We were buddy boating with Steve and Linda’s friends, Jeff and Lisa on Sailmates.  Given the tight quarters on Bay Dreamer, we made arrangements to spend the night with Steve and Sue on Pretty Woman.  They also carried our bikes over, so we spent Sunday biking around the area.  The weekend included potluck dinners and a pancake breakfast on the dock.  On Monday, we sailed back to Hampton, enjoying another good sail home.  It was a lot of fun.

Over the course of our time at Steve’s, we finally pulled the bikes off the RV and started exploring the Poquoson area in morning and evening rides.  We began to understand why the name Poquoson is an ancient Indian word for great marsh.  There is water everywhere, much of it wetlands or shallow rivers that feed the Bay.  We explored many of the fingers of land that extend into these watersheds.  

We joined Sue and several friends at a concert at Fort Monroe on the lawn by the Chamberlin which was close enough to the shipping channel, that the big ships seem just impossibly large as they pass by.  The Langley AF Wind Ensemble played while we munched on cheese and crackers and enjoyed some good company.  We said goodbye to Sue and Steve on Saturday, with a breakfast on Pretty Woman, soon to be appropriately renamed Koinonia, a Greek word that means “fellowship”. Good choice.

​After a couple of years traveling in different directions, we were delighted to hear from Randy and Sherri on Priorities, who pulled into Atlantic Yacht Basin in early June.  We took them on a tour of Hampton, taking in the VA Air and Space Center and a local fresh seafood market that we only recently discovered. 

It Can’t Be All Play

When we weren’t busy socializing, we spent time helping finish Steve’s attic room.  When we arrived, it was shortly to be drywalled.  When we left, we had helped paint, wire and install fixtures throughout the room.  It was ready for the flooring.  Cathy also made some shades out of Coolaroo to help block the sun on the porch in the early morning.  

Cathy pulled out the sewing machine to make a new helm cover for Sue and Steve.  And then she made a bike cover for our bikes as they ride on the back of the RV.   With the RV having sat for several weeks, we decided to flush and sanitize the water tanks.  We filled the tank with bleach and water and drained it twice.  The final flush removed the bleach residue from the water tanks.  

​As we prepared to head out our last morning, we had re-loaded and prepped the RV for travel.  Or so we thought.  When Dave turned on the tire pressure monitor, he was dismayed to see that the passenger side rear tire was dangerously low.  This was the same tire we had had issues with when we arrived.  So, we had to scramble to change it.  We used the same technique we had used before, raising the other tire on the same side with several boards.  The tire change went smoothly and we headed out on schedule.  But not without some sad looks from Jessica and Angus, our charges for the past few weeks.  The puppies were going to miss us.