As we pulled into Pocahontas State Park at the beginning of October, we thought we knew how the month would go. We would finish painting Hotel Pocahontas, then help with Park after Dark and then Cabin Work Week as the month ended. Well, that was the plan at least. And reality was about to hit us square in the face. By week’s end, we were on our way to NC to support Cathy’s sister and mom after the sudden loss of Carolyn’s husband, Clint. Cathy stayed, but Dave returned to Pocahontas to honor our commitment there. That was just the beginning of an eventful month.   

Holding the Fort​

With Cathy away in NC, David tackled a number of projects that were on our plate. More windows were finished and the railing on the front steps repaired at Hotel Pocahontas. But the weather and other priorities meant that was as far as he could get. For the big Park after Dark festival and Cabin Work Week, we would need several working generators. He began testing and servicing the ones that had been sitting idle for months. Over time, he managed to get 3 working reliably, although one had an unusual shut-off feature.
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 Our golf cart needed a little work done, since the flashing light had stopped working and we were missing a “slow-moving vehicle” sign. Using parts from an old golf cart that would be going to salvage, he replaced the light and added the sign to make us now legal again, and more importantly, safer. Besides helping with concerts or moving a stranded camper to a new site, he spent the rest of his time getting ready for Park After Dark and Cabin Work Week.

 Last year’s hay wagon rides at the event suffered from long lines that ran long past closing time. The solution was going to be a 3rd wagon. Dick, a Friends of Pocahontas member, lived nearby and had volunteered to modify his trailer to become the new hay wagon. Dave and he began the work early one morning to transform his trailer. By sunset, the work was mostly done. Brackets had been mounted to the trailer support the uprights, the cross-pieces installed and a channel was routed out to hold the LED lights along the side. All that was left was to install a step on the back and install the lights. A shorter second day finished it off and it was good to go.

​ There were also less strenuous activities – meetings about both Park After Dark and Cabin Work Week, phone calls and the laborious task of sorting and distributing Park After Dark flyers to local schools. For a number of reasons, Dave was the only one available to do this work, and his efforts were limited not just due to lack of resources, but the schools he was attempting to visit began closing early in advance of Michael’s arrival.   

Michael arrived with lots of wind and rain. That meant widespread flooding and downed limbs and trees. The normally routine sound of acorns dropping on the RV roof became incessant during the height of the storm and one unusually loud thump had Dave trying to look at the roof in the middle of the wind and rain. He quickly abandoned that idea. But what he found the next day meant that he would have to take some time from Park activities to work on repairing the RV.   

Did you hear something?

That “thump” Dave heard was not just a big acorn, but a 4 foot branch that had impaled itself into the roof, creating a 2-in hole. Dave put a temporary patch over the hole with a plastic bag to create some height covered by duct tape. A couple of days later, Tom from Trailer Time RV Service, was on site to fix the hole. After cleaning, filling and patching the hole, he cleaned the rest of the roof and applied a Di-Cor Roof-guard for UV protection. While he was up there, Dave had him replace the vent hatch from our bathroom, which had been deteriorating pretty rapidly. A side benefit of his cleaning the roof, was that Dave and Adam were able to clean the sides of the RV as well, something that was long overdue.

 One of the reasons we had so many acorns falling on the roof in the first place was that we had taken a site in the older section of the campground for the first time. This area is more wooded and the sites are not always as level as the new section. However, there is one significant advantage with the site that we took. With a little help from a new Wifi antenna, we can pick up wifi from the camp store. It is has been a tremendous help as we have been collaborating on Cabin Work Week and Park After Dark. Oh yes, and searching for a new vehicle. More about that later.

We Won!

​After 2 weeks, Dave came to pick up Cathy from NC in time for us both to join the closing session of the Preservation Virginia Annual Conference. After submitting the Cabin Work Week project to them as part of their “Preservation Pitch” program, we were anxious to see how the voting went. We were thrilled to hear that the project won the $2,000 grant. In a facebook live event, the winner was announced from the conference in Danville. We accepted it along with the park’s CCC Museum curator, Aaron Paula Thompson. It was a tribute to how much support these CCC-built structures at the park have.   
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 Back at the park, we worked with the project coordinator, volunteer Rich Buhrman, to assemble purchased supplies close to the job site, and to help another volunteer, Paula Labieniec, to pressure-wash the buildings that would be part of the project work the next week. Although we wouldn’t be there for the arrival of participants and the kick-off meeting, we assembled welcome packets for the office to distribute to them upon arrival.   

It’s Spooky
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Park After Dark is a festival put on by the Friends of Pocahontas for the community around the park. Growing every year, a couple of thousand people attend. There are hayrides, face painting, Trunk or Treat, Crafts, Story Telling, Raptor encounters, and much more. It takes over 100 volunteers to pull it off. It was a family affair for us. Adam was in charge of the face painting. Droz floated between assignments and we drove a haywagon. Bonnie, Troy and family camped in the park for the weekend and the kids were dressed and ready to go when the festival opened.   

 Even though there were more people than last year, there were shorter lines and less crowds due to some improvements. We added an extra hour, another haywagon and tripled the number of face painters. By all measures, it was a huge success and a lot of fun. The only down side was an “incident” when Cathy was driving the haywagon. No injuries. And once the tire was changed, it was back in service for the rest of the night. Cathy decided to step away from the tractor though for the rest of the night.

Saying Goodbye

The family gathered for the celebration of life for Cathy’s brother-in-law, Clint, on the last Sunday in October. It was a beautiful tribute to an amazing man. Clint was a talented engineer, a respected and admired leader, a loving husband, brother, and uncle, and a tirelessly effective servant of those in need. In a service that filled every seat of a sizable sanctuary, we felt the impact of a life well-lived, and a challenge to pick up the torch he set down way too early. An inspiration to all of us.

 We cut our time in Pennsylvania short so we could head south to help Bonnie and Troy replace the deck on the back of their house. That would use up the rest of our time off before heading back to Pocahontas for the next Park Host stint at the beginning of October. Heading out in the rain, we made our way through Virginia for a brief stay at Pocahontas before continuing the final hour south to Jarratt. Seventy miles and one flat tire later, we were set up in their driveway ready to begin work.

All Hands on Deck​

More than twelve years ago we had built Bonnie and Troy’s rear deck in just 2 days. The intervening decade had not been kind. The deck was sagging and it needed to be replaced. The original construction was a marathon that none of us were anxious to repeat. So, when our daughter called to schedule some time to demolish and replace the deck, we were perfectly fine with taking more time. Plenty more time.   

 We spent the morning of our first day finishing the demolition of the old deck. With the space cleared, the work began to mark the location of the new deck and the support pilings. With help of some heavy equipment, nine holes were dug, filled with cement blocks and concrete. The soggy ground was made muddier overnight by more rain, but we continued to build up the structure, cutting 3 heavy 6x 6 posts out of each 10ft board. Once the posts were placed in each hole, then plumbed and lined up, we filled the holes with gravel to set them in place.

The next step was to assemble 2 – 2” x 10” x 12’ boards into a support beam, one for each set of 3 posts. Carrying just one of these boards was an effort for 2 of us. Carrying the assembled pair required three. By day’s end, these beams were in place, and we had begun construction of the frame that would support the deck boards. This deck was not going to sag.  

The next morning, we dug 3 more holes for the posts that would line the outer edge and placed some taller 6 x 6 posts in them that would eventually support the hand rail. With the frame built, the joists were placed and hung on the frame. (Luckily Adam was there to help place the bigger posts.) The design of the decking was going to include a “picture frame” effect of 3 boards around the perimeter, so extra cross-pieces were needed in the outermost joist cavities. With these in place, the picture frame could be cut to fit around each post. The deck boards were then cut to fit inside it. Although we were making a lot of progress, it became clear that another day would make a difference, so we contacted the park to delay our arrival until October 2nd. 

Our final day, we helped cut the final deck boards, cut another 2 x 10 for each side of the frame and then began fashioning the stringers for the steps (8ft wide). More digging was needed for the outer posts on the steps and then the stringers could be hung and leveled. That was as far as we could take it, but we are anxious to see the pictures of the finished project.  ​

Food and Family
We enjoyed our time with Bonnie’s family, getting to spend time with Troy and Taylor. One night we were joined by Serenity and Alexis as well, when Christina met us in Emporia. The 4 kids had fun at the big blue chair outside IHOP and wanted to explore the race cars in the parking lot as well.  
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Our big surprise for Bonnie, Troy and Adam was a well-traveled Savoia rum cake that we had carried back from Rochester. It might have disappeared in one sitting, if we hadn’t made the decision to save some for Adam’s arrival on Saturday. As he headed back to Richmond, he took one piece with him for Droz and some Byrne dairy chocolate milk. All good stuff that’s hard to come by down here in the south.

 Although the heat followed us from Virginia to Pennsylvania, it took only a couple of days for it to start to feel like fall. And, despite the storms moving through the mid-Atlantic, our travels had us avoiding most of the rain as we visited with family and friends and did some sightseeing on our own.

Central PA Local Flavor
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Our plan for the month of September was to park the RV in a campground, which we would use as a hub for some trips without it. We found Christmas Pines in Auburn, PA, about 45 minutes west of Allentown, which allowed us to pay for just the weekends.  In return, we could leave the RV unoccupied in our spot for free during the week. (We opted to stay plugged in for $2/day.) That gave us freedom to come and go per our plan. While in the area, we explored a bit, taking in a local winery, distillery and brewery, and a chocolate factory.   

 Snaking our way up a winding mountain road back into the woods, we made our way to the appropriately-named Lost Trout Winery. Surrounded by tie-dye T-shirts and psychedelic album covers, we stepped back in time a few decades as we entered the tasting room. We could taste any of the more than 20 offerings, which was a bit overwhelming. We left with a bottle of “Dark and Disturbing”, which says a lot about the atmosphere of the winery. Legal moonshine distilleries are on the rise, and we found one in the nearby small town of Schuylkill Haven. Their array of flavors led us to choose a jar (these come in jars not bottles) of Chocolate moonshine. We were given the idea of soaking cherries in it for an ice cream topping. That we could do.   

 Further up the road was Pottsville, where the country’s oldest brewery sits – Yuengling. At the original brewery building downtown, we were given an entertaining and informative tour. This original historic structure still operates as an active brewery, canning and packaging the signature Yuengling lager. We were allowed frighteningly close to all of the brewing, filling and packaging activities, and treated to a sample at the end of the tour. Unfortunately, since we aren’t beer drinkers, that part of the tour was lost on us.   

 And then there’s that sorta famous chocolate place, which offers tours. In this case, you’re just taking a ride through a display. The chocolate making has moved out of the building. But you can bet we ate the sample at the end of this tour. We did decline to take home the World’s Largest Hershey bar.   
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Rochester and Back​

As we made our way into Rochester, we realized we had a few minutes extra before we needed to meet up with our friends. So we drove straight north, past 104, past Seabreeze, past Don’s Original to the Irondequoit Bay inlet from Lake Ontario. On this late summer day, there were beachgoers sunning themselves, and the sailboats were coming back in from a day sail on the lake. As a cormorant sunned itself on a nearby rock, Dave reminisced about coming here as a child to his grandparents’ friend’s place on the shore.  

While our primary reason for coming to Rochester was to see our dentist, we managed to squeeze in a bit more. Our friends Ralph and Joanne from S/V Whitebird hosted us for lunch and we revisited our first year cruising to the Bahamas together. We spent a few nights with our friend Carol, who took us to see a Cirque performance at the Rochester Fringe Festival.  

New York has its share of wineries, and we couldn’t pass through Finger Lakes Country without stopping by a few. In Rochester, we stopped at A Gust of Sun winery in Spencerport, followed by the Blue Barn Cidery where were tasted a “flight” of their offerings as well. Making our way back down by Seneca Lake, we stopped into a couple of wineries and a cheese tasting shop before leaving the Finger Lakes and the wineries behind.   

Visiting Family​

It had been several months since we had visited Dave’s mom and sister who live near Allentown PA. So, we took several days to catch up with them as well. On our way back to the RV, we swung by the Hershey RV Show to checkout the latest offerings from the manufacturers and vendors. Not too much that excited us this year.

Preservation Pitch Entry in Top 3​

While standing in Wegman’s, Dave got the notice that the our pitch to save the CCC Cabins at Pocahontas was accepted by Preservation Virginia as one of the top 3 pitches to be considered for a $2,000 grant. Internet voting will take place here through October 1st. The winner will be announced at their annual conference on October 19th. If it’s not too late, we welcome your vote.   

Parting Shot

After 30 years, Cathy’s engagement ring had become so thin, that it wasn’t safe to wear it any more. We found a jeweler in Whitehall who reset the ring so it will last more than 30 more years. Not so sure about the finger that wears it. But it is lovely.

 Clearing trails, staining, repairing wooden screens, planning for Cabin Work Week --- our tasks for the end of the month were varied and interesting. The work time was broken up by some fun time with the kids and grandkids as the summer drew to a close.

Fixing Up Hotel Pocahontas

One of the tasks on our list when we first arrived 2 months ago was to finish staining “Hotel Pocahontas”, a 2-bedroom furnished cabin, frequently used by state park officials when in the area. With all the work with the teens and trails, we didn’t get to start work on this in earnest until the YCC ended. It had been pressure-washed by a previous park host, who had also started staining the front, but there was a lot more to do.   

 As we inspected the work, we realized the rear deck had a hole in one board and a few others needed replacing. Also, several of the wooden screens had either rot on one or more sides or a hole in the screen or both. And many of the window sills had holes that needed filling. So, where to begin?.    

With 15 screens on the building needing painting in addition to the repairs, we decided to start on these with Brian. We helped him dismantle and repair the damaged screens, and then painted all of them in the process. We even got some help on this task from Troy and Taylor who helped by taping the undamaged screens to keep them from getting paint on them. Even rehanging the screens was not incident-free. Despite Cathy’s efforts to track which screen came from which window, this turned out to be only a guide, not a guarantee. We swapped screens between windows and changed hardware before getting all but 3 windows fitted with a snug screen. At that point, we had to trim the wood to finalize the fit. Apparently the thickness of the paint was just enough to make them too big. In the process, Dave discovered a missing board that was required to secure one screen. With Bob’s help in the wood shop, he cut a board to fit that did the trick.

We then turned our attention to the deck repairs, which proceeded quickly once the materials arrived. The next day, Dave mixed and applied wood putty to the various holes in the window sills. In one case, he had to re-build on end of the sill. With the repairs behind us, we continued with the staining work. It was obvious we couldn’t finish before we left, but we managed to put a dent in the work that we turned over to Brian and the next Park Host.  Dave did give Brian a deadline to finish the rest of the work – Sept. 30th.   

Why? Because we return October 1st!

Cabin Work Week
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At the end of October, 15 RV’s will be gathering to begin work to stabilize the group cabins originally built by the CCC in the 30’s. These cabins are unique within the Virginia State Park system and are in serious need of repair, with repairs needed to roofs and foundations just to keep them from beiing lost forever. However, the work to stabilize them will take many more years and more funding than is currently budgeted for the initial project.   

 Recognizing this, we spent time developing a fundraising video for this effort that the Friends of Pocahontas will use to help identify the need and seek ongoing funds for the materials that will make the repairs possible. You can check it out here: Cabin Work Week Fundraising. In addition, we submitted a “Preservation Pitch” to a competition sponsored by Preservation Virginia that might result in a $2000 grant if we are successful.

There will be more work weeks scheduled in future years, as well as local volunteers continuing the work throughout the year. We are optimistic that this project will be a successful one in keeping this part of history for future generations.

What Else?​

Early one muggy Monday morning, we arrived as requested at the pool. Despite the heat, we weren’t there for a swim though. The pool had closed for the season the day before to allow work to begin on the restoration of the pool house. To allow the contractor to start the next day, the fixtures inside the pool house needed to be removed and stored elsewhere. So we helped remove, move, and stack whatever we could. By the afternoon, our attention had turned to removing almost 2 dozen light fixtures that would be re-deployed elsewhere at the park. The next day, the contractor began on schedule. We’ll be interested to see the new building when it opens next year.

 And there’s always trail work. As the park prepares to open some new hiking trails, we continued the work started during the YCC weeks, cleaning up the trails rough cut by the heavy equipment. One Saturday, we joined a group of 3 dozen volunteers, sponsored by REI to cover ¼ mile of the new trail. We knew 2 of the volunteers pretty well – Adam and Droz. By early afternoon, the trail had been cleared of roots, smoothed and packed down, and the creek crossing had been “armored” with some seriously heavy stones. And the trail was one step closer to opening up to the public.   

Special Guests

Campfires, bike rides, and canoe trips. When we have that combination of activities, there must be a few grandkids nearby. We had the treat of a few days visit from Troy and Taylor and split our time between projects and some fun time. The kids were eager to help as well. And it gave us an excuse to enjoy one of the nicest days of the summer out on the water with the 2 of them. Later that week, Adam, Droz and his girlfriend Trinity joined us for an afternoon of bike riding. A last hurrah before we headed out and summer drew to a close.   

 The final 2 weeks of the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) at Pocahontas were productive and rewarding. Although Cathy was sidelined for much of it, Dave helped guide their efforts and built a relationship with many of the kids. Shortly after they graduated, Bonnie and Troy and the kids arrived for a few days of camping as their summer draws to a close.

YCC

Although the rain did its best to slow them down, this year’s YCC crew completed some big projects in their last 2 weeks. They cut a new section of trail and helped “armor” it, i.e., laying down 50-75lb stones where the trail crossed creek beds. They tore down 140ft section of fence and replaced it with a new split rail version. And in between, they removed invasive species, cleaned dining halls, and rose to any challenge given. On their field trip to nearby High Bridge and Twin Lakes State Parks, they enjoyed themselves biking and swimming in some well-deserved downtime. Graduation was a celebration of all they had accomplished. This year’s crew had bonded much more into a team than we had seen before.

 Dave also got the chance to operate a new “toy”. The Canycom machine moved the heavy stone down to their final location before the crew had to carry them to put them in place. He certainly had the easier part of the job.   

And then what?

As we freed up from the YCC, we started turning our attention to closing the funding gap for the CCC Cabin Week in October – November. We wrote and delivered letters to local businesses, e-mailed groups and businesses, and began to understand other venues like Gofundme and Kickstarter.   

 Cathy took on a sewing task, making 30 glasses cases for the new safety glasses set aside for volunteers at the park. We shoveled more gravel to remediate some low spots at a campsite, and attended our first Park After Dark planning meeting in preparation for this fun event in October. There’s always something to dig into.

Downtime?

We took some time for a goodbye dinner with Jayden before he headed north to his mom’s. And that weekend, Droz joined us for a couple of nights while his dad delivered Jayden. In return for a bed, we got the benefit of Droz’s culinary skills while he made his first pound cake. Not too bad for his first one. We look forward to the next one.

Bonnie and Troy arrived with their camper that weekend as well. We spent several days working in the morning and swimming in the afternoon or vice versa. Although the thunderstorms made it a challenge, we managed to get in at least one campfire complete with s’mores and a new treat of strawberries covered with marshmallow fluff cooked over the fire. The dutch oven dinner of chicken and roasted vegetables was yummy too.

 It’s been a fun summer, but we only have a couple more weeks before school starts and we will need to pull out for the month of September.   

​“When it rains at a Virginia State Park, what is there to do?” That was the Pocahontas State Park posting that scrolled across Cathy’s Facebook timeline on July 21st. Appropriate, but without the tips from the post, we were able to find plenty to do before, during and after the rain that accumulated in inches over the last 2 weeks of July.

Woodworking

The siding had deteriorated so badly that the insulation showed through and what remained flaked off easily in your hand. This was the condition of the bathroom building near the amphitheater at Pocahontas SP. We learned of the project just before our arrival, but it appeared that, despite the severe need for repair, the project might have to be put on hold. The problem? The rough cut cedar panels that made up the exterior siding were either not available or extremely expensive.

Dave took the supply problem on as a challenge. The possible alternative, Okoume, was more thoroughly researched for its similarity to cedar, availability and pricing. He found that the panels were similar enough to the cedar for look and wear, were available locally and could be special ordered through Lowes. Once given the go ahead, he placed an order on Friday and the panels arrived on Monday. The work that had been put on hold suddenly had a green light – and a deadline. The amphitheater was needed by a group Friday evening. Whatever progress we made, the bathroom had to be presentable and usable by Friday at 3pm.

We met Brian (who had initially assessed the damage and prepared the material estimates) Monday morning to start the demolition. The initial plan was to simply replace the lower 2 feet of the two worst sides. The worst of the existing “battens” (1” x 3” boards sitting in vertical strips every 8”) would be replaced along with the baseboard. But we had been warned by the maintenance crew to be wary. Once we explosed the under layers, we would likely find rot. And we did. Some had wicked up from the cement slab, but much worse was the lingering problems from the old skylights, now replaced, that had let moisture into the walls from above.   

 We needed to regroup. How much more material did we need? When could we get it in? What could the budget afford? Could we make enough progress for Friday? Dave worked with park staff to work through the issues and we got the green light to replace all the particle board sheathing, the cedar siding, the battens and the baseboard on the 2 problem sides. We had a lot more work to do, and still the same deadline. Although we were given some alternative stopping points if we couldn’t get it all done by Friday.

Over the next few days, the three of us worked to first demolish the rotten boards, explosing the studs and insulation. Then we fitted new plywood, vapor barrier, cedar siding. First on one side and then the other. We were pestered by some red wasps, who were unhappy with our work around their nest. The rain held off, but the heat and humidity were pretty wearying. Dave had to make 3 different runs to pick up wood for the job. We also had to rip the 20 - 1” x 6” boards into the 40 - 1” x 3” boards we needed for battens. But by Thursday, we were starting to see the light.  

 We decided to stain the battens before installing them, so Cathy began this work in earnest on Thursday. It also made it easier to roll the stain on the cedar before the battens were installed. By Friday morning, the baseboards were on both sides, and the battens started going up. By 3pm, we had them all installed, and all of our work debris cleaned up. There was still some caulking to do, and some staining on the other sides, but we were pleased with the work and so was the park staff. Brian’s expertise and time was invaluable in allowing us to get it done and have it look so good.

Youth Conservation Corps – Reprise
Breaking away for a morning during the bathroom work, we worked with the the various staff and volunteers who would be involved in YCC this year. A lot had been learned in the intervening year, and we took from the meeting a different understanding of our role in this year’s activities. Only time would tell whether this year would be an improvement on last year.

On our first full day of work, we woke up to the sound of pouring rain. Not a good omen. Our task for the day was marking the park’s boundary by painting yellow rings on trees. The leaders formed 4 teams and we made our way out along Woodpecker Road, a highway that passes through the southern section of the park. Our goal was to mark both sides of the highway before day’s end. Despite the heat, humidity and intermittent showers, the kids did great. They finished marking the highway, and along the way, picked up 12 full bags of trash. Of course, the yellow paint did get all over a few of them, and, to a certain extent, the truck bed. By day’s end, at least the truck bed was clean.

The next 2 days were spent at Henricus Historical Park, on the James River southeast of Pocahontas. A palisades fence in the recreated Indian village needed some repair work, and there was lots of weeding, trimming and removal of invasive species throughout the rest of the historic colonial village as well. We were only needed on the 2nd day, which also happened to be the day of the artillery demonstration. The kids dug into the work and made a real difference. We explored a little, and plan to return when we are not working to see more of this interesting park. Dave helped “supervise” the kids rebuilding the fence, while Cathy worked with the kids clearing growth and weeding. This would end up being a fateful decision.

 Friday of the first week started with a couple hours of archery before the kids headed to the park’s maintenance area to do a clean-up. They collected debris, picked up trash, corralled dozens of pallets for resale, removed trees. It was not without incident. We discovered a copperhead snake, 3 infestations of yellow jackets and another of red wasps. The latter was discovered because of a sting on guess who?

Let’s just say that it was not a good day for Cathy. In the morning she discovered that she had not one, but 2 tick bites from the prior day’s work at Henricus. Apparently, her attempt to wash off poison ivy had also washed off her insect repellent. The next insult was a sharp pain in her side while pulling a root up near the wood shop. That’s right. The red wasp was unhappy about her working so close to the nest in the side of the building. But the final insult was seeing the beginning signs of poison ivy on her arms. It was this that sidelined her for days as her lower arms became covered in the insidious rash.

On Monday, David helped with one of the youth teams as they did cleaning during the early morning rain. But the big task for the week began in the afternoon, as the kids began building a new hiking trail north of Swift Creek Lake. By month-end, with only 1 ½ days of trail work under their belt, they were making good progress. The park management was pleased enough with the overall trajectory of the program that they rewarded the kids with a lunch out at nearby Mexican restaurant. David, at least, got to join them while Cathy nursed her poison ivy back at the RV. That’ll teach you to be careless around the nasty vine.

Waterlogged

 As the rains came down, we continued to work on the drainage at our campsite. We had ample opportunity to study the problem. It became apparent that we needed to dig a trench or swale off one corner to drain the low spot there collecting much of the water. Dave and I started the trench. Adam and Droz widened it. And Taylor and Troy put their efforts in as well to finish it off. The next rain proved their efforts useful as the water flowed into the ditch and away from the campsite.

The rain also highlighted problems with our uniforms. Specifically, our shoes. Working briefly in the rain the first day of YCC caused Dave to study the soles of his work boots. With holes in each, it became obvious the source of his wet socks was the large holes in the soles of each shoe. He rushed out to replace them. Cathy was a little slow to discover the leaks in her boots which were less dramatic, but no less soggy. So another trip garnered her some new, dry footwear as well.   ​

Family Weekend

On Jayden’s birthday weekend, Adam’s and Bonnie’s families gathered to camp with us at the park. The rain let up enough to give us a nice weekend together, with lots of campfires, pool time, s’mores, dutch oven delights and just time together. On Sunday afternoon, the 2 of us joined Jayden for a party at Adam’s complete with half a dozen homemade birthday pies.   

 There’s never a shortage of work to do at Pocahontas State Park. Its 8000 acres are heavily used, and so it is a never-ending challenge to keep it up. That said, we started plugging away at our assigned tasks (and some that we found on our own) to do our part and earn our keep as soon as we arrived. The withering heat during the first week made it a challenge, but we managed to pace ourselves. And in between, we got some visits from family for some fun time.

Making It Work​

Our jobs at the park take many forms. Sometime it is grunt work hauling and digging and trimming. Sometimes, it’s time spent with the patrons at concerts, hay rides or campfires. Sometimes, it’s work on projects we identify. No matter which form it takes, we find it makes the days go quickly. Our first 2 weeks certainly did.   

 The park has new electric golf carts for each of the hosts, and one of them had not been retrofitted with a rear view mirror. With a little guidance from maintenance, we fashioned a bracket from a scrap piece of metal, borrowed a mirror from another vehicle no longer in service and solved the problem of the rear view mirror. Another issue arising from the new carts is the fact that the park host has no structure to house the battery charger. Since these can’t get wet, we fashioned a cloth-covered frame using wood scraps and some material left over from our boat cover. It was designed to give the charger room to breathe, but keep it dry. However, Dave had been puzzling over the charger’s output all week. He saw no indication it was charging the cart. Sure enough, the cart's low battery light came on one morning. With some consultation with the other hosts nearby, he determined that switching chargers with their cart allowed each of them to charge successfully. And, luckily our new charger still fit in the cover. Good design.

When we chose our site, it hadn’t rained in quite a while. However, there were ruts in the site from previous RV’s, indicating a pretty soggy area. That was confirmed by one of our first assignments to address the drainage on site 96. Hmm… what’s our site number? We retracted the slide and dug out the top layer of eroded dirt (a grueling job), and then hauled several gator loads of gravel to fill in the top layer. When a torrential rain arrived the following Friday, we found ourselves in a bit of a lake. While the work we had done was good, it was far from sufficient. Dave dug a little more out to create a channel for the water to flow, but we will be coming back to this if time permits.   

 We took some time to re-familiarize ourselves with the tractor and hay wagon. Making circuits around the CCC field, we started with just the tractor and then between hay rides one night, took the wagon as well. The training paid off as you’ll see later.

And one morning, we got trained by our grandson, Droz, in boundary marking. The park marks trees on its boundaries with yellow stripes or metal signs. We had a rough start finding a good stretch to mark, but once we got started, we got the hang of it quickly. We had a good teacher.  

 So, we also helped with some fun events, making it to a few hay rides, and a campfire program, but the most unique event we assisted with was a concert by a Fleetwood Mac tribute band called Rumours. We helped put on wristbands on patrons for an hour before enjoying a few sets in the amphitheater. It didn’t take long before there were lots of people dancing all around us. We had to make it an early night because the next morning we would be up early to help with Teen Volunteer Week.

Twenty Teens​

“Please, no more stiltgrass. I’m having nightmares about it.” Nothing brings drama to the table like teenagers. Teen Volunteer Week began with 21 youth and a shifting number of adult volunteers who would guide them, many for their first time working in a park. From 9 to 2 each day, we would work on a project, then follow that with 2 hours of something fun. The youth weeded the CCC Museum garden, removed invasive species (lots of Japanese stiltgrass), cleared trails, repaired a walkway and even trailblazed a mile of a new mountain biking trail. The afternoons were spent tie-dying T-shirts, learning archery, canoeing, swimming at the pool, and fishing.

For those of us planning each day, the biggest challenge was getting the group moved around in the park. This played out on Thursday as Dave put his hay wagon training to work, pulling the group a few miles to the site of the new trail and then on to the pool and back to maintenance on the highway. It went well, although the climb up a particularly steep hill had us sweating a bit. (The older truck required a change to the wheels to move to 4-wheel drive. Luckily, the park staff with us knew how to do this before the next hill.)

Over the course of the week, we got to know the kids, (which included Droz and Jayden) and enjoyed working with them as they learned how to make a difference a litte bit at a time.

Family Time

On July 5th, we had a belated holiday celebration with Bonnie, Taylor and Troy arriving from Emporia and Droz and Jayden coming to spend the night. After some pool time, we had a picnic that included (of course) a campfire with s’mores.  

​ As planned, the month ended with us pulling into Pocahontas State Park in preparation for a couple of months service as Park Hosts. We finished packing up the boat in Jacksonville, and after another round of goodbyes, made our way north. Along our route, we managed to meet up with a few grandkids for a couple of days of fun.

Making Ourselves Useful​

While our time at Faith was brief, we found our services welcome in a number of ways. World Relief and Kim’s Open Door were jointly sponsoring a 6-week summer camp for recent immigrant children that was to start the Monday after we arrived. A Youth Choir from University City UMC in Charlotte arrived on Saturday to help with the first week, and conducted Sunday’s service. We helped feed the children, including the workers every day in between some smaller projects around the campus.   

 With the torrential rain every afternoon, the water from the slab by Peeler was backing up into the newly constructed Tool room. Dave found an adjustable threshold that he installed to seal the doorway and prevent the water intrusion. Since our departure in April, Lazarus (the yellow golf cart) had stopped working, so Dave worked with Jahaziel to check the batteries (which were good). Lazarus next resurrection will have to wait for more expert hands in the fall. The internet was not working well when we arrived, so Dave did some diagnostics and found a tripped GFI by the router in the shower. He was put to work researching and ordering supplies as well. A tire swing, AC filters and an internet router, to name a few. He installed the latter as the new primary router in the office.

The 2 Sunday services had special performances by the visiting youth groups and a guest sermon by Marcia Soto, who is working on her local pastor license. Jahaziel recorded them and Dave worked with him to upload them to the church’s website. The list goes on, but you get the idea.

​ As the work to get the boat settled neared its end, we debated when to leave and head north. Although we felt useful, the withering heat and humidity were motivating us to pull out. But we found another reason to stay just a little longer. The United Brothers in Christ were having a dinner fundraiser at Faith on Saturday afternoon, and we decided we couldn’t miss it. That meant a lot of kitchen time again as we helped chop, prepare, and clean up for some of the dishes for the buffet. It was well-attended and we enjoyed some amazing food along with some uplifting music.   

 The next morning we joined the congregation for Sunday services before saying goodbye and heading up the road toward Virginia. Until November . . .

Retracing Our Steps​

After a “downtime” stop at a campground in Yemassee SC, we arrived at our next stop on Lake Gaston in northern NC mid-afternoon on Tuesday, the 24th, just a couple of hours before we were joined by Bonnie’s family. Troy and Taylor would be spending a couple of nights with us. The next couple of days we hiked through the park, played Old Maid, swam in the pool and the lake and played mini-golf. We were joined the 2nd afternoon by Christina, Alexis, Serenity and Cody. The cousins had a good time playing together for the first time in a long time. By Friday, we had to pull out, meeting Bonnie and Troy in South Hill to return our charges before we made our way to Pocahontas and they to NC for a visit with Cathy’s family.  

 Pulling into Pocahontas mid-day, we arrived just as the holiday weekend was starting to get busy. We settled in quickly and managed to say hello and goodbye to the volunteer coordinator Andi who was off for a week just after she met us. We already had a list of projects to tackle, so as the month ended, we were taking stock of them and deciding which to tackle first. Our stint at park hosts is scheduled for the months of July and August, and then again in October. It looks like we’ll be plenty busy.   

Cruisers will tell you that you never want to travel on a schedule. You’ll either find yourself traveling in weather that you wouldn’t normally choose, or you will be fretting on the dock about your inability to leave. We found ourselves in that position as we made our way back from Cape Charles and again after the Pirate Festival as we tried to decide how to take Orion Jr out some more before we hauled her out for the return trip to Florida. Ultimately, she was hauled without our making another trip. Too much wind from the wrong direction conspired with our schedule to make further sailing unappealing. So, we hauled her out and made plans to return to Jacksonville.

High and Dry​

As the tug and barge powered up the small creek past our haulout slip, Cathy breathed a sigh of relief that Orion Jr’s short trip this morning was completed just before this massive vessel motored by. Turning her attention to the final details, she grabbed a few items and stowed our lines and fenders. You don’t need those on the trailer.  

A few minutes later, the boatyard workers at Sunset Boating Center were positioning the bands under the boat, careful to avoid the depth transducer and speed thru-hull. Once in place, they tied them together to prevent them from sliding off and raised her out of the water. Before she would be placed on the trailer, we had the bottom pressure-washed. Luckily we had no barnacles, but getting the thin coat of slime off would ensure she wouldn’t start to age (i.e. smell) badly over the next few days. Once cleaned, the forklift operator swung over the trailer, slowly lowering Jr onto the bunks, with a spotter careful to ensure she was centered and straight. But transferring the boat to the trailer using bands creates a problem. The bands get trapped between the boat and the trailer bunks. Luckily for this crew it was a small problem. They simply placed the forklift under Orion Jr, allowing them to lift her slightly and slide the bands out.  

While it had taken a week to get Orion Jr ready to cruise, we stripped her down for hauling in only a couple of days. Steve stopped by to help lower the mast, and we made some changes – some intended and some not – in the way we secured the mast for travel. The furler had some serious bends in it from the way it was secured to the mast for the past 3 years. So, we made an effort to lay it as flat as possible against the mast this time. We had a difference of opinion in the moment concerning the positioning of the mast on the deck. Dave, standing at the bow, thought it was too far forward. Cathy, in the cockpit, wasn’t convinced. However, once all was secured, she had to admit, it was further forward than before. So, would the cover fit? That answer would have to come once we got it back to Jacksonville. In the meantime, once Orion Jr was on the trailer and back at Steve’s, we would continue to plow through the lockers and cupboards to ensure they were clean, thinned out, secured and recorded in our inventory. We shut down the refrigeration, emptied and sanitized the water system, gave away the excess fuel, and flushed the outboard with fresh water.  

Despite our short time in the water, we were dismayed to see that Orion Jr had acquired a stain along the water line from the stagnant water in our slip. Although pressure-washing had removed much of it, to completely take it off, Dave had to treat it with a stain remover and then wax the hull again, only a couple of months since we had done it in Jacksonville. Cathy worked her way around the upper deck, polishing the stainless steel and waxing the fiberglass. By the Saturday after we started prepping her, she was ready to move down the highway.​

Blackbeard’s Last Stand​

This was the 300th anniversary of Blackbeard’s capture, which was duly noted at this year’s Blackbeard Pirate Festival in Hampton. We met up with Adam, Droz and Trinity at the festival and spent the day together. Adam, dressed as Jack Sparrow was recruited to join the Pirate Parade and couldn’t move more than a few feet without being stopped by a someone wanting a picture. We ended the day a little early and retreated to the boat, docked nearby, followed by dinner at a nearby restaurant. Our timing couldn’t have been better, since the heavens opened up just after we made it inside.

There were several familiar faces on the docks during the festival – some we expected and some were very much a surprise. Steve and Sue were on their boat with a commanding view of the Pirate Battle. Steve even joined in with the Yacht Club’s loan of its small cannon. The noise certainly wasn’t small. We ran into Chris and Woody who used to have their trawler where Steve and Sue’s boat now sits, but before that, we all met on the dock at Joy’s. The biggest surprise was Bob and Sondra from Carpe Diem, Orion’s sister boat. They had made their way this far north from Marathon and were visiting with their daughter before continuing up to Maine for the summer. It was fortuitous for both of us, since we had some uniquely Beneteau 36cc items taking up room in Steve’s attic, and they could put them to good use. All in all, it was another great festival.

Heading South
It was going to be a slow trip south. Dave had learned quite a bit about our trailer tires after our 2 flats heading north. The trailer tires were rated only for a max speed of 62mph. Rather than push that limit, we opted to take the non-highway route through NC and SC. Even so, it was early on the second day that the tire pressure alarm sounded. The forward passenger side trailer was losing pressure rapidly. We were on a 2-lane road with a sign warning of a soft shoulder. Great. We stopped in the road while Dave walked the shoulder to ensure we wouldn’t sink in.

Once safely on the shoulder, we managed to assess the situation. The tire had blown its valve stem completely out. This tire had only traveled about 300 miles, since it was the original spare. Dave managed to find the valve stem with the tire pressure sensor a few yards behind us. Then we set about changing it. With a few boards under the rear tire, we lifted the flat tire, made the change and were on our way.

A short distance down the road, we pulled into a tire store to have the flat repaired. The repairman quickly replaced the valve stem and said the tire had not been damaged during the incident. After reviewing the other 4 tires, he assured us they looked in good shape. With that assurance, we moved on. There were no more incidents that day as we made our way to Hardeeville SC, just north of Georgia. With only 150 miles left, we decided to take I95 the rest of the way, pulling into Faith mid-day Wednesday, with no more tire issues. Reviewing the travel north and south, all of our flats occurred in NC. So, if we can just stay out of that state . . .

Nah. Don’t think so.

The Switch
Before leaving Virginia, we both knew that whatever work required to be done on the boat should be done there. Working outside in Florida in June would be brutal. And we were right. It was. It is. After greeting Pastor Barry and Susan, we had a simple task to do the first day before parking the boat – switch the repaired tire for the spare we had mounted back in NC. We moved the boat to the shade and made the switch. And it wiped us out. Drenched in sweat, we spent the rest of the day re-hydrating and planning to do all of our work early in the morning from here on out. You see, when they say, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity”, they aren’t kidding. Also, every evening we found ourselves in hour-long torrential thunderstorms.

Over the next few days, we eked out the time in the early morning to switch supplies between the truck, RV and boat, set up the boat cover frame and finally, Monday morning roll the cover onto the boat. Despite the positioning of the mast, it fit fine. Phew! And that was a good thing, too, because the trip south had uncovered another leak. Sigh. Having placed the dinghy transom under the stairs, the water appeared to be coming in by the cockpit table supports, onto the transom and running into the port bench in the Main Saloon. Once we mopped all the water up (and there was a lot), we moved the transom out, taped up the table supports holes and the leak stopped. With the boat cover in place, this should not be an issue anyway.

Parting Shots

The Saturday after our arrival, we attended the 95th birthday for one of Faith’s faithful members, Henrietta. A good time was had by all.

​ We finally cast off the dock lines early on a Tuesday morning, having completed our official duties over the previous weekend. Dave had officiated at Steve and Linda’s wedding on Saturday, and now we were joining them as Orion Jr and Bay Dreamer headed across the bay to Cape Charles.  

The Wedding
 As most of you know, May 19th was the day of the big wedding. No, not the one in Windsor Castle -- Steve and Linda’s wedding with Dave officiating. We started the day by watching that other much-covered event, while Dave took pointers on what to do and what not to do. 

While the skies were clear and blue across the ocean, that was not the case here in Poquoson. We dodged downpours on our way to the venue, and the actual ceremony was delayed in hopes of a break in the wet weather. No such luck. However, many guests reminded the couple that rain on your wedding day is a good sign.

We’re sure that will be the case, since this was truly a lovely couple and a lovely match. We were honored to be a part of their special day.  

Back on the Bay

It was an unusual plan to say the least. On Orion Jr, we would be joining Steve and Linda as they traveled on Bay Dreamer on their honeymoon. The plan was to leave on Monday after Saturday’s festivities were done and the house guests had departed on Sunday. However, Monday was going to be a late departure, since there were many post-wedding items to take care of (not the least of which was Dave’s filing the paperwork to make the marriage legal at the court). Luckily for all of us, Monday’s weather forecast was too stormy to be comfortable, so we deferred our departure to Tuesday.

Overcast skies greeted us as we prepared to shove off from our slip at Sunset Boating Center early Tuesday morning. However, there was no bad weather in the clouds, so it proved to be an uneventful trip across the bay, and that’s what we aim for. The outboard started smoothly (after Dave re-connected the fuel hose that Cathy hadn’t secured correctly), and it puttered along as we motorsailed east across the bay to Cape Charles. For the first time, we were able to use the tachometer to gauge the engine speed and compare it to our fuel consumption. There was almost no large ship traffic as we crossed the shipping channel into Hampton Roads and later the York Spit channel that angled up the bay. However, we were surprised to see almost 20 big ships at anchor off Cape Charles. It took us about an hour to get from one side of the anchorage to the other.   

 Shortly after noon, we were making our entrance into the Cape Charles channel. Steve and Linda had entered about 30 minutes before us. As we were approaching the final turn into the harbor, we heard their exchange with the dockmaster. By 1pm, we were tied up next to them on C dock, with only a few other boats for neighbors. The weather started to clear, and after checking in we decided to make our way to town in search of – what else? -- ice cream. To our dismay, the signature Brown Dog eatery is only open on the weekend, so we settled for some samples and tastings at nearby Gull Hummock Gourmet. But we were not completely disappointed, they also sold Brown Dog ice cream in pints. Needless to say, the pint didn’t last long after we got back to Orion Jr.

Our rough cruising plan for the week was to head to Onancock, further north on the Eastern Shore, maybe to Crisfield, move back to the western shore near Deltaville and back to Cape Charles to join the Yacht Club on the Memorial Day weekend. With our late start, the aggressiveness of the this schedule was starting to become intimidating. However, as always with cruising, we would just take one day at a time.  

​ Our hopes of making a hop to Onancock on Wednesday were scuttled when the forecast shifted. No problem. We decided to explore Cape Charles by visiting its Museum, where we learned a lot about Cape Charles strategic role in connecting Norfolk to markets in the north. The innovation was the ability to load RR cars on barges to cross the bay to Norfolk. Once the rails and barges were in place in the mid 1880’s, Cape Charles became a boom town. The boom lasted for decades, but ultimately the need for a freight ferry evaporated with the opening the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel in the 60’s. It took several decades since then for Cape Charles to reinvent itself and focus on tourism with a beach, a harbor, and a quaint historic downtown.   

 Our walk back to the harbor allowed us to come across Rayfields, the local independent pharmacy and, more importantly, soda fountain. Good ice cream and onion rings. Later that evening, we got together on Orion Jr to grill some burgers and share a meal with Steve and Linda. We discussed the plan to head out early for Onancock. As we made plans to make an early departure, we got a heads up from Steve. The weather again looked questionable the next day. The good news was we’d get to sleep in for the first time in more than a week. And the decision to stay put turned out to be even better when we discovered Steve wasn’t well the next day. Glad he wasn’t feeling that bad out on the water.   

Old Point Comfort Yacht Club Memorial Day Weekend at Cape Charles

Our yacht club has a long tradition of cruising across the bay to Cape Charles on Memorial Day weekend. This was the first time we had been able to join them on our own boat. By Friday afternoon, the slips started to fill up. (We had to move before they did, but it was only across the fairway.) Commodore JD and his wife Sandy arrived on Steve and Sue’s boat and much of the activity seemed to gravitate to the dock near them. “Docktails” (i.e. hor d’ouvres and drinks) were followed at sunset by the firing of the cannon (an old nautical tradition) and the playing of Taps. The next day’s dinghy races were cancelled, because nobody wanted to launch their dinghy just to participate, but they were followed by a joint potluck with the Cape Charles Yacht Club.   

On Sunday, the day stated with a fundraiser pancake breakfast prepared the Sea Scouts Venture Crew sponsored by the Yacht Club. Steve and Linda left shortly after, but the strong southerly winds made their first hour a bit of a ride. For the rest of the club that stayed behind, the day’s highlight (for some) was the Fireball Challenge (i.e., gulp a paper cup of Fireball Whiskey and jump into the water). Since temperatures were sweltering on the dock (and down below, reaching 95 degrees on Orion Jr), this was not that much of a challenge for many, who once in the water were reluctant to get out.   

 We enjoyed reconnecting with several of our friends and fellow yacht club members and meeting new ones. Dave struck up a conversation with a couple that had also arrived on their trailer-able Cal 22 sailboat and we spent some time comparing notes on the little boats and the bigger boats that were in the future for them and the past for us. We also spent some time getting to know a couple on a nearby trawler who were heading out to cruise the bay more extensively once she retired in the next year. But as Monday dawned, the exodus was quick and thorough. Near collisions occurred as boats pulled out to make their way home. We joined the crew on Sue and Steve’s boat for breakfast and then helped them stow their gear and cast off. We would be one of only 3 boats remaining for a Tuesday departure.

The weather never fully cooperated for our trip further up the bay. Our timeframe was too short, and our ability to travel long distances limited by our slow speed. Since we needed to be back in Hampton for the Blackbeard Pirate festival the following weekend and the winds were going to stay out of the south, we motored back to Hampton on Tuesday, having enjoyed our brief cruise on the bay. If the weather cooperated, we would head back out after the festival.

Boat Stuff

Where is all this water coming from? When the water in the bilge is high enough that the main saloon floor starts to get wet, you know something isn’t quite right. Is it coming from a thru-hull? No. They’re all dry. Is it coming from a leak on deck. Maybe, but we can’t find any water trail below. We did discover that one of the cowling (cover) for the starboard dorade (air vent) was no longer sitting on its base. So, we took both of them out and installed new ones, which caused us to think the deteriorated seal inside the old ones was the problem. Maybe, but the water kept accumulating in the bilge

Another theory was the fresh water system. We kept putting off looking at this. It required Cathy to get down into a small space under the companionway and stick her head into an even smaller space to look. Eventually she did, and it was a good thing. The filter cover on the freshwater pump was a little loose and was dripping water in a very small stream. Since we’ve tightened the cover, no more water of consequence is coming out of the bilge. Oh, and what about the fact that the float switch didn’t expel, the water before it got so high? We can’t figure that one out. Once we manually pumped it all out, the float switch started doing its job just fine. And Cathy visually inspected it to find no problems. Go figure.

 We took some time at Cape Charles to revise the lazy jack lines on the stackpack so that the material sagged less at the stern. The attachment point for the forward lines was raised higher and we connected the stackpack aft end to the topping lift. It looks better, but we haven’t had a chance to test it.

Our trip back from Cape Charles was made much more challenging than normal when our chartplotter’s gps failed to give a position. While using a phone app allowed us to navigate, it was far less desirable. A phone call to Garmin had us reset the chartplotter and all was well again. But it might not be so in another 6 months after no use. Only time will tell.

The good news was that with only minor exceptions, the systems on the boat worked well. We could sleep, cook, navigate, sail, entertain and even watch movies without problems. Is it smaller than the RV? You bet. But we were able to bring her back to life again, and she’s probably better than she ever was. And that felt good.