2019 David and Cathy's Journey

Late December - "Home" for the Holidays

12/31/2019

We traveled north from Jacksonville for 2 weeks for the holidays, covering over 2000 miles in the first week alone. We visited friends and family, had Cathy’s last infusion in Frederick, and got our teeth checked out. We experienced snow, ice, rain and temperatures ranging from the teens to the 70’s. And we closed out the year once again at Raleigh’s First Night festival watching the “Family” acorn drop at 7pm, a more civilized time to bring in the new year, before boarding our return train to Jacksonville to end our holiday and begin the new year. So, we weren’t in our home for holidays, but we were certainly made to feel at home wherever we went.

View from Pittsford Dairy

Let it Snow?

It was an odd time to start a trip – 11pm on a Monday night. But that was the time the train headed north, and we had to make tracks (pun intended) to get to Cathy’s infusion on Wednesday afternoon. Amazingly, the train pulled into Raleigh right on time, and by 10:30, we were in a rental car headed north toward I95. Despite the near constant rain, we made it to Reston by late afternoon and enjoyed an evening and leisurely morning with Cookie and Jerry before heading out for Frederick. We weren’t far down the road before the snowflakes were starting to fall.

Traveling north through PA

Cathy’s infusion went smoothly, and after submitting the paperwork to transfer care to Jacksonville, we said thank you and goodbye as this was our last time stopping here for her care. Our destination that night was Williamsport PA. We should have made it before dark, but this day the weather didn’t cooperate so much. Our first warning was travel advisory signs describing sudden squalls and whiteout conditions ahead. By the time we were north of Harrisburg, the snow was beginning to stick. We experienced black ice on one stretch where cars were spinning into the median and turning 90 degrees as they tried to stop. Dave slowed down, which pushed our arrival in Williamsport after dark. When we were only 30 miles away, we got news that I-80 west of us was completed closed due to a mult-car accident. Luckily we were going east on I-80. However, we passed mile after mile of semi’s parked along the side of the road with no way to get further west. We were very relieved to pull into the hotel that night.

Mmm. . . Rum cake

Although we saw lots of snow over the next few days, the worst travel conditions were now behind us. We made good time to Rochester, arriving early enough to get some Pittsford Dairy ice cream before sitting down in the dentist’s chair. That night we were staying with our friend, Carol, before heading out early the next morning for Whitehall PA. We couldn’t leave town without picking up a couple of Savoia’s rum cakes. They were a hit in 2 states.

Facing a traffic backup on route 22 near Dave’s mom’s house, we opted to take a back road through the hills to get there. About 5 minutes into the route, we found ourselves behind a row of cars stopped by an overturned fuel delivery truck that was blocking our lane. After a few cars made it around, we found ourselves stuck on the wrong side with an endless flow of cars going the other way. To avoid staying here indefinitely, Cathy got out, stopped the traffic on the other side and motioned Dave forward. Once around, she got in the car and we headed out. Her life as a traffic cop was short-lived.

Santa and Mrs. Claus alternative mode of transportation

During our stay in Whitehall, we witnessed an early visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, whose sleigh was surprisingly being pulled by an ambulance, not 8 reindeer. Who knew? After spending a couple nights with Dave’s mom, Diane and Pam, we made our way further south on Sunday to Bonnie and Troy’s home in Jarratt. The snow disappeared soon after we left Whitehall, and the temperatures were slowly rising.

Dave's gift from Bo

Slowing Down

By the time we reached Jarratt, we were ready to slow down a bit, and our schedule was cooperating. We would be putting fewer daily miles in over the next week. On Monday, Adam, Droz, Trinity and Maria arrived to gather for a family celebration that had lots of food and lots of fun. Dave’s surprise gift from “Bo” (the family dog), was a big hit. Who knew Bo had such a good sense of humor? Bonnie and Troy have an extensive menagerie of animals, which has expanded recently to include bunnies. These were a big hit, although they are not being raised as pets, if you get my drift.

Claire learns how to greet Uncle Dave.

By Christmas Eve, we were back in Raleigh, having returned our car, and now being shuttled by others. We would spend this night with Cathy’s sister Grace and her husband John. After Christmas eve services, we joined our nieces and their family to enjoy the Christmas eve excitement of a 4-year old putting out hay to feed the reindeer, and a 1-year old learning to high five and head butt with Uncle Dave. Christmas Day dawned late without little ones to wake us. Around noon, we made our way to Winston-Salem and Cathy’s mom’s house for Christmas dinner. We would spend much of the next week in Winston before returning to Raleigh and our train ride home.

Acorn in place for First Night

Our Last Night is First Night
With another night-time departure by train, we decided to arrive New Year's Eve in the afternoon to be able to spend time at Raleigh’s First Night festival, held only a few blocks from the beautiful new Amtrak station. We wandered through the street vendors, through the park around the Capital, and began touring the NC Museum of History until we were flushed outside by a (false) fire alarm. We sampled some of the festival’s food, tried to get on TV behind the WTVD news team filiming on the street, and had a celebratory margarita at Jose and Sons. At 7pm, the acorn dropped for the families with small kids and those of us who had no plans to be up at midnight. We made our way to the train station and boarded the train, which arrived early. Our new year would begin once more in Jacksonville.

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Early December - Preparations

12/16/2019

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Having arrived in Jacksonville just after Thanksgiving, we had a relatively short time before we were to return north again, since our lives are ruled for the time being by Cathy’s 3-week infusion schedule. So, we tried to make the most of our time before we turned around.

Carolers from Faith entertain the residents at Heritage Crossings Assisted Living

Christmas is Coming

Singing Christmas carols. Making cookies. Christmas parties. Visiting family. These are some of the things we associate with Christmas. And so it was with us. Our first Sunday back, Cathy joined the group from Faith that serenaded a nearby assisted living group with Christmas carols after church. On Wednesday, we boarded the church bus to head downtown for Jacksonville’s first Christmas in the Cathedral festival. Six of the downtown churches had opened their doors and there was music, an outdoor market and fellowship. It could have used a little more food though. (We never did see the food trucks that were promised.)

Cathy and Wendy help out her pre-school class with a Christmas craft

The 2nd weekend found us west in Bradenton with Dave’s sister Wendy and family. Although biking is not usually an activity one associates with Christmas, we took advantage of the warm weather there to do just that. Wendy once again scheduled an exciting Christmas craft for her pre-school Sunday school timed with our weekend visit. Nothing like 2 more “skilled” adults to guide little hands. And, of course, Cathy shared in the cookie decoration (and eating) at Wendy and Janelle’s Cookie exchange party, while both Daves and great nephew Jack made their way through the labyrinth of The Cave video game. It was all good fun, and a great time together.

Brass band plays for Christmas in the Cathedral at downtown Jacksonville.

While at Wendy’s, we missed a few church get-togethers back at Faith, but we were sure to make the Sunday School Party at Evalyn’s. (Since we were consulted when the date was set, we had better show up!) There was great food and company in a beautiful setting, topped off with several exciting games of Left Right Center. Several charities benefited from the results. In preparation for the Lessons and Carols service and dinner on Advent’s 3rd Sunday, we spent much of the Saturday before grilling dozens of chicken drumsticks. Dave’s homemade Spiedie marinade was a big hit. And the service of Lessons and Carols was a blending of cultures, with an African-inspired, “Jehovah has the Final say” to a beautiful interpretive dance by a young lady from the Spanish congregation. Afterward, we took a bike ride to Dairy Queen for ice cream. It is Florida after all.

We are only midway through the Christmas season, but we have enjoyed it so far, and are looking forward the next 2 weeks.

Fred consults on our lighting problem.

Lights Out

At first, the RV lights just dimmed. But it took only a few seconds more before they were out. Since the AC circuits were still working (TV, Microwave, outlets), we didn’t suspect a problem with the power coming to the RV. It appeared that all of the lights in the main part of the RV had stopped working. The only exception were those in the slide, which luckily provided enough light for the living room.

Dave checked the fuses and discovered the one that controlled the lights was alarmingly hot. Rather than diagnose the problem in the dark, we decided to pull the fuse and take some time to diagnose it the next day. We weren’t done with power problems though. About an hour later, the TV flicked off. Now the AC power had shut down. Was it just us or the entire campground? A quick check of the power pole confirmed it was just us. Since we had repaired a circuit on the pole earlier in the summer, we decided it was better to switch our connections to another pole and have Ron, the electrician, look at it when he returned later in December. What next?

It's gotta be one of these fuses . . .

The next day, with Fred’s help, Dave stepped through the circuit to find the source of our light problem. It seemed to be isolated to a wire that branched off to feed the 2 lights over the rear sofa. By removing this from the circuit, the other liights lit, and the circuit tested OK. We checked the fuse over the next day and found it wasn’t overheating, so the temporary fix became more permanent.

So, now we just need to find a way to run a new wire to the sofa lights. Hmm . . Maybe we can use some stick on lights there.

Our crew at Christmas in the Cathedral.

Good Company at Work

It was good to be back at Faith after our few months in Virginia. In addition to the church family, Don and Bobbi preceded us there. Herb and Peggy stopped in for a few days as well. And we were excited to see Pat and Fred in person after a longer time apart.

Buddy stands guard over Fred and Dave as they work on the heating unit.

Fred was up on the roof shortly after his arrival, as he and Dave worked to solve a problem with the heat in Wesley, the church’s fellowship hall. (Didn’t he say he would never go up there again?) While Pat worked to clean and organize parts of the kitchen (an endless task), Cathy wandered the campus to recreate the list of tasks that might need attention over the next season. Don started working on re-keying locks for the church, and Bobbi picked up her paint brush to help out Beyond 90 who were occupying another room in the church’s education building. And just before heading out of town again, Dave was researching the warranty and replacement alternatives for the hot water heater in the Spanish pastor’s residence. He was able to pick up a replacement under warranty, which saved some money for the church.

New Year’s Preparations

The new year would bring the start of our roofing project and a return to Jacksonville for Cathy’s treatments. That meant different kinds of preparations. We had visits with insurance agents and appointments to make at MD Anderson in Jacksonville. For the project, we worked with Barry to understand how the roofing work would be balanced with other high priority tasks. Cathy took an inventory of the paint supplies and Dave worked on campground and team assignments.

By the 16th, we were packed and ready to board our train to head north. We changed out of our shorts and packed winter coats and hiking boots. We would be making a lengthy circuit of friends and family, with the first objective being Cathy’s treatment in Frederick – the last there before returning to Jacksonville in January.

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Late November - Time to Head South

11/30/2019

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What is that white stuff?

With the end of the formal Cabin Work Week event, we started thinking about what we needed to do finish up before heading out for Jacksonville at month’s end. Since our days were not so strictly scheduled, we had a little more free time at our disposal. We continued to clean up loose ends at the group cabin site, attend to some personal projects and say our goodbyes. With freezing temperatures becoming more of the norm, we were becoming more motivated to move a little further south.

Finished nurse's cabin with new cedar roof

Cabin Work – Finishing Up
Of the loose ends left at the end of this year’s Cabin Work Week project, the most anticipated was putting the final courses of cedar shakes on the Nurse’s Cabin. The shakes had run out too soon to finish, so once they arrived, Dave was joined by Christa from the park staff and Dan, a Cabin Work Week volunteer who had returned to serve as the new Park Host. Over three days, each row of shakes were cut to size and nailed in place, until the ridge was reached. The final step was to lay the ridge cap along the top. Once fitted, it was nailed in place and the crew stepped back to admire the job.

Fitting the boards on the cabin deck

Other than the roof, there were a myriad of smaller tasks – painting, shutter and screen repair, some siding replacement and storing supplies. One more significant task that hadn’t originally been “on the list” was to replace the porch deck on one of the cabins, where the wood was not in good enough condition to stain. Dave, Christa and Tom, a volunteer who had stayed on another week, installed the new deck in one day. Since Dan would be staying well into December, he was continuing to work his way around the cabins, with an eye to getting a start on the next cabin site after finishing up in Appamattuck.
On colder days, Dave welcomed the opportunity to finish up some reports on this year’s project and begin the application process for next year’s grants. The follow-up meeting with Park Management went well and provided ideas for next year.

Replacement screens for the yurts

We managed to squeeze in a couple of projects outside of the group cabin work. Cathy began making replacement screens for the yurts. And Dave was up early on a cold Saturday morning helping an Eagle Scout remove and install a split rail fence near the park office.

Eagle Project newly installed fence

How Cold Is It?

Waking up on a frigid morning, we were unsettled to see the temperatures were sitting at 21 degrees. We had anticipated some cold temps, but not that cold. Dave had scrambled the evening before to place small heaters by the exposed holding tank drains. Cathy had wrapped the fresh water drain in rags to insulate it as well. So, despite the unexpected hard freeze, all was well. Or was it? Cathy opened the fridge to find it unusually warm. Reading up on this in Google, she confirmed that the cold had stopped the refrigerant from circulating, shutting down the refrigeration.

The good news was that, since it was so cold outside, it was pretty easy to keep the contents cold until we thawed things out. Cathy turned the fridge off, and then we opened up the outside compartment. exposing the coils to a small heater, which warmed them up, so that they could cool the fridge down. It does seem a little upside down. However, we needed a longer term solution. The heater was too big for the small compartment, as was any heater we could find. We finally opted for a single plug and a small 15W appliance bulb. That kept everything warm (outside) and cold (inside) for the rest of our stay.

But we needed to do more for the drain pipes as well. The space heaters were too small to focus on the large drains. We decided to make a “skirt” for the RV. Using a large, but inexpensive tarp, Cathy sewed it into one continuous 3 foot panel that would surround the lower part of the RV down to the ground. Sewing a bungee in a channel around the top, we managed to make it tight enough to stay up. Our blue “dust ruffle” stayed in place for next few weeks. As one more precaution, we poured antifreeze in the drains after each time that we dumped the tanks. The combined efforts worked and we managed to keep all drains running well.

Trailer connected on its original hitch pin

Level Again

Since purchasing our new truck last fall, we knew we needed to make some adjustments to correct the way the RV rode on the hitch in the, now higher, truck bed. Also, we no longer needed the speicalized Sidewinder hitch pin that moved the RV’s pivot point back on our original short bed truck. The solution was to re-install the original hitch pin, which Dave had cleaned up and painted over the winter.

Original hitch pin

About a week before leaving Pocahontas, we hooked up and took the trailer and the original hitch pin over to Southern RV. The hitch pins were quickly swapped out, and the RV rides much more level. While we were there, we also had the wheel bearings greased, since it had been 5000 miles since the last time that had been done.
With the original hitch pin back in place, hooking up was much less sensitive to how precisely straight the truck and trailer were. And the trailer seems to disconnect pretty easily. However, we had one more purchase to make. There is circular plate that sits between the hitch and the pin, called a lube plate, that makes the RV ride more smoothly and disconnect easily. As its name implies, it takes the place of grease on the hitch.
We also took the time to ensure the truck was ready for the trip, rotating the tires, changing the oil and fuel filters as well.

Thankful Things

On Thanksgiving morning, we hooked up and headed out of Pocahontas for the final time this year. We would be spending the day with Bonnie and Troy at their Thanksgiving table. We had spent the last couple of weeks saying our goodbyes, enjoying farewell dinners, enjoying some Cinncinnati chili with Rich and Stasi, and wishing everyone well as we slowly exited the park. We had squeezed in doctor’s appointments and shots and had a great birthday dinner with our grandson and his girlfriend. Adam hiked into the park to meet us on a beautiful fall day. It was a wonderful end to our stay.

Having spent so many Thanksgivings traveling over the last 15 years, it was a rare treat to spend this one with family. Good food and good fellowship were treasures to add to our many reasons to give thanks.
Heading south on Black Friday, we weren’t sure a Wal-mart would be the best place to spend the night on the road. However, pulling into the one in Walterboro SC was pretty easy and not too crowded, although the story was a little different inside the store. By noon the next day, we had crossed into Florida, but were disappointed that there was no juice at the Welcome Center. Oh well. We were set up at Faith shortly after and greeted with hospitality as warm as the weather. Great to be back.

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Late October / Early November - Cabin Work Week 2019

11/8/2019

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A year of planning and preparation led up to the 2nd annual Cabin Work Week at Pocahontas State Park. With a mix of last year’s alumni and new volunteers, this year’s project was expanded to 2 weeks and was a great success. This year’s project centered on the Appamattuck Group Cabin site. There were 5 cabins, a lodge and an outbuilding that used to be a shower that took much of the time – painting, repairing screens and shutters, re-roofing, repairing siding. We also included a newdar shake roof on what used to be the Nurse’s cabin.

We wrapped up on Friday evening, Nov 8th with a potluck, including thank you’s from the Park management and Cathy’s video to recap the week. Take a few minutes to watch via the link below and see what we were up to the last few weeks.

Cabin Work Week 2019

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Early October - Getting Ready

10/19/2019

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Cathy embraces our new "pet" who graces our site for Halloween

Park After Dark, Pocahontas State Park’s fall festival, falls only 8 days before the start of Cabin Work Week. So, while we continued to get ready for Cabin Work Week, we spent several days helping with Park After Dark preparations as fall finally arrived in central Virginia.

Flyers for the local elementary schools

Park After Dark

Park after Dark is a big event for the park, attracting families for hay rides, Trunk R Treat, s’mores, face painting and lots more. More than 2000 people attended last year. It’s not a fundraiser, but a community event. To promote it, in addition to the posts on social media, we distribute flyers to the nearby elementary schools. As in past years, 6000 flyers were ordered. We contacted 8 nearby schools to get their requirements for class sizes and how the packs of flyers should be broken down. Typically, they are in numbers of 20 to 35. The goal is to deliver them in time for the schools to pass them out one week in advance. To speed the re-packaging, we were told the flyers would be delivered separated in groups of 25. That would make the process much simpler.

However, due to communications difficulties, the flyers didn’t arrive in the park until Thursday afternoon of the week they were supposed to be delivered to the school. For most schools, that meant we would be delayed a week in getting them out. But they would still get out before the festival. Not too bad.

When we opened the box mid-afternon on Thursday, we were surprised to see the packages shrink-wrapped into 25’s. That was great for a school that wanted 25 per pack, but what about the school that wanted 38 packs of 30 or 20 packs of 20. Cathy scrambled to break open the shrink wrap and re-assemble the packages as required as Dave drove from school to school and delivered the packages. With our late start on Thursday, we only made 6 of the 8 schools. Friday morning we delivered the last 2 and reported back to the park with the remaining flyers.

However, Owen from the Friends group happened to meet us at the Park Office and was concerned about the schools we didn’t get to. After a bit of discussion, he decided to order 3000 more from a local printer for the 3 schools remaining, one of which needed 50 packs of 25. When Owen told us the printer was going to separate them by 100’s, we realized we had a ton of work on our hands, counting out packs of 20, 25 and 30. This was going to take most of the day. On Monday morning, we stopped by the printer early to pick up the flyers and get started. But we found that they hadn’t started the order yet, but were perfectly willing to separate them into the quantities each school required. To our delight, we arrived to pick them up a couple of hours later with them packaged by school with separators in the quantity needed for each school. What would have taken all day took only about an hour. But now, with all of these flyers out in circulation, the likelihood that the attendance would increase dramatically was pretty great.

Uncle Adam with Troy and Taylor in costume at Park after Dark

Our responsibility last year during the event was driving the tractor for the hayride. This year, we were just going to be backup drivers, giving the main driver a break when needed. To do that, we needed a refresher on the tractors. We met on a cold Friday morning the day before the festival to run through our paces. After finishing up, we met back at maintenance to help Dick from the Friends group fix one of the warning lights on the tractor. What we thought might be just a bad bulb led to a 5 hour job to re-wire the light and re-mount it to the tractor frame. One of the fuses actually melted in the process. The good news was that the lights worked great when we were finished.

Taylor with her spider face painting

By Saturday night, all was working well. Adam and Droz’s girlfriend Trinity headed up the face painting team. Droz kept order at the Bounce House and recruited floaters for stations needing a break. Dave relieved the tractor drivers (no accidents this year), and Cathy handed out over 1000 bags and glow bracelets. Bonnie and the kids made the rounds of the activities. The rain from the tropical storm held off and, as expected, attendance grew to 2700. Wow! Another great year for the festival.

Dave re-wiring golf cart

That’s Our Ride

With 2 park hosts for the month of October, the regular golf cart was already being used. We were given permission to use the golf cart typically reserved for the park shuttle. This cart had some long-deferred maintenance required, which Dave set out to remedy. The first problem was the wiring for the headlight, which had been replaced over the summer. However, the wire had been run over the hood and attached to the hood by electrical tape. Dave’s first project was to route this inside the dash. Next he started diagnosing the tail and signal lights, none of which worked. He was quickly able to power up the tail lights, so that they came on with the headlight. In the process, he managed to get the lighted switch that powered them to light up by simply attaching the ground wire.

However, the turn signals required a new switch. Also, the required flashing yellow light for a slow-moving vehicle was missing and there was no rear view mirror. These would require some purchases.

The first item to arrive was the switch for the turn signals. Once installed, it now displayed a lighted arrow to show which signal was engaged. No more hand signals for making turns. Once the yellow warning light arrived, he mounted it to the roof and, using some split conduit, ran the wires down the frame to the ignition switch. The light would now go on and off when the key was turned – as it is required to.

Finally, the rear view mirror arrived. It was a generic rear view mirror that would need to have a custom bracket made. Working with Ed in Maintenance, he found an L bracket that could be modified to work. Ed cut it to fit, drilled holes to align with the frame and smoothed the rough edges. Once painted, Dave was able to mount it to the frame and the mirror to the bracket. Now, driving the slow-moving cart down the road, we could see traffic approaching from behind and get out of the way.

Wanda prepares for duty at Park after Dark in her spiffed-up shuttle

All the changes were greatly appreciated by Wanda, who normally drives the shuttle for concerts. When she arrived at Park after Dark, she shouted in delight to see she had a rear-view mirror and working lights.

Appamattuck Cabins

More Host stuff
As you can tell, our host duties have us doing lots of different tasks. We continue to scrape and paint the cabins to get a jump on Cabin Work Week, although the other park host Joe is making the more steady progress. We focused our efforts on the lodge where the team will gather to eat lunches. By power-washing and staining the deck, this work would be out of the way when the building would be most heavily used.

One Saturday afternoon, we were asked to pinch-hit for an event happening that evening. The Crimesolvers 5K “Light the Night” run needed some extra hands. We found ourselves positioned at the half-way point 1.5 miles into the woods, handing out cups of water and encouraging the runners on their way. On a Friday afternoon, Dave labeled and positioned buckets at the various firewood kiosks to allow campers to “measure” their wood purchases in time for the weekend “rush”.

One day, during a meeting with Hali, the volunteer coordinator, we found the Park Host sign we had made a couple of years ago. It was in sad shape, so it wasn’t being used any more. Cathy took it and replaced the letters, re-painted the whole sign and then applied several coats of polyurethane to make it better able to handle the elements. Since our sign was showing similar signs of age, she made the same upgrades to it as well. The results look good and will hopefully last much longer.

Grandpa and Taylor in the hammock

Downtime
We took time out from host duties to get together with friends for dinner, which included Steve and Linda as they passed through, former volunteer coordinator Andi and her husband Max, and our fellow hosts in the campground. On one of these occasions, we had cake and ice cream to celebrate Cathy’s birthday.

Grandma and Taylor

And then on Park After Dark weekend, Bonnie and Troy and the kids camped in the park. We enjoyed spending a beautiful fall day with them and enjoying some dutch oven cooking before we headed off to work the event. It was a great time.

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Late September - Making the Rounds

9/30/2019

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As September ended, we made the transition from our Camp Host role to Park Host, finishing up our campsite cleaning duties and looking forward to focusing more on park projects. During our days off, we made a couple trips to see family and celebrate a momentous birthday.

A Devil of a Time

While making rounds at the campground, we continued to meet interesting people and make new connections. One of the more unusual was a crew assembled to film commercials for Devil’s Backbone beer. We were invited to share some of their dinner and afterward watch as they shot a 10 second scene over and over and over . . .

Carolina watches over Joe's preparations of the group cabins.

When not circling the campground, we continued advancing Cabin Work Week plans and ensuring the cabins were ready for the volunteers arriving on Public Lands Day, Sept. 28. With all the prep done by fellow host, Joe, major progress was made in painting 3 of the cabins. There is more to do, but we are well-positioned to have them all painted by the end of Cabin Work Week in November. With our camp host duties behind us, we can now focus on this effort even more.

Four generations together for the youngest's birthday

From One to Ninety-One

We took advantage of our proximity to NC to share in our great niece’s first birthday celebration. The chemistry themed birthday celebration was complete with periodic table, science experiments and petri dish and test tube treats. But the biggest treat was time together with family and the surprise visit of Cathy’s mom to the party.

James Stockman Cancer Institute in Frederick MD

North Again

After completing another of Cathy’s treatments in Frederick, we headed a little further north and east to meet up with Dave’s mom and sister Diane at the “world’s largest buffet” in East Earl, PA. After a satisfying meal, we dodged dozens of well-lit Amish buggies along the road en route to our hotel in Strasbourg. We enjoyed a leisurely morning together the next day before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the park.

It was great time together.

Diane, Mom and Dave in Strasbourg

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Early September - It's Like a Job

9/16/2019

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Spending our first 2 weeks in the role of Camp Hosts at Pocahontas State Park, we have a new appreciation for the role, and a stronger conviction that we prefer our time spent as Park Hosts. This is a little too much like a real job. But we certainly stay busy and, more importantly, we have had more interaction with campers and the office staff, which is a good thing. Being in the Richmond area, we’ve seen more of our kids and grandkids as well, which is one more reason why we like to be here.

Dave checks out the park's ice machine, which is amazingly familiar

Be Our Guest?

When we arrived at the park on Labor Day, we had wanted to stay as much as we could in order to do more on-site coordination of the Cabin Work Week preparations. We also offered to help out as we could on anything the park needed. Our first day, we went to help the pool concession staff deep clean the kitchen now that the pool was closed. Discovering we had a unique skill to offer, we spent half the day de-scaling the ice machine. But before we could get into another project, we were surprised to hear a proposal that solved a few of our logistical problems, taking us in a slightly different direction.

One of the current camp hosts was also a Red Cross volunteer being called up to respond to Dorian. Could we take over their hosting for the rest of the month of September? After discussing one scheduling conflict with the other host, we decided it was easy to say yes. That would allow us to spend time in the park getting ready for Cabin Work Week and within range of Frederick for Cathy’s treatments and the kids living nearby.

Giving directions to the hiking trails

A day in the life of camp host follows a particular schedule. Rounds through the campground with reports due at 9am, 3pm, and 7pm. Clean the sites of any trash, including micro trash (e.g. twist ties, cigarette butts, plastic straws, etc.), and empty the fire pits of any ash and partially burnt wood. The ash gets dumped into a collection spot. (Hopefully once it is cool. Cathy found herself driving down the park road with flames coming from some logs that weren't as cold she thought.) On Sundays, we have to clean any of the 4 yurts that were rented. So far, that has meant all 4 every weekend. And, in case you may not have guessed, most people camping this time of year come on Friday, burn all weekend and leave on Sunday. Our 2nd Sunday in the park, we cleaned 51 campsites and 4 yurts. We dragged ourselves home that night. We kept thanking our lucky stars that it was not the heat of July or August. We also secretly get excited when we see campers that don’t build campfires.

However, we have a good time teasing our fellow camp host and getting it back in spades. One time we came back from our day off to find a list of sites showing everybody leaving that day. What? A Sunday on a Friday? We found the correct sheet tucked away, with only a handful of sites to clean. It goes back and forth and makes the “job” more fun. We’ve also hand lots of opportunity to talk to campers and have started building the ranks of the volunteers for Cabin Work Week in October / November. The recruiting had stalled over the summer, so it is encouraging to see it start to pick up.

Richmond Philharmonic Concert

We get 2 days “off”, when we can cram all of our non-host activities, such as Park after Dark meetings, Cabin Work Week preparations and brief forays out of the park for groceries etc. This Is like a real job. Our complaining is mostly pretty mild, we are happy to be in the park and enjoying it in spite of it all. We broke away from host duties to fill in at the Contact Station and to drive the shuttle for the Richmond Philharmonic concert. But we managed to skip Zoso, the Led Zeppelin cover band. Thanks, but no thanks. Our son enjoyed it while we spent the evening cooking a peach cobbler over the fire with our daughter’s family.

We have 2 more weeks before we shift into our Park Host role for October. At least when we’re asked to help out a Camp Host in the future, we won’t need any training.

Cabin Work Week
We had not even been here a day when we started recruiting for Cabin Work Week. A conversation with a fellow camper who recognized us from last year, a volunteer arriving at the contact station, another camper here to get out of Dorian’s path, and so on. Not all of the connections resulted in sign-ups, but enough did that the slots in both weeks are starting to fill.

To generate more conversations, Dave created a flyer to post around the park and hand out to those interested. He also worked with the office to pin down which sites are reserved and ensured they had enough space on either end of the 2 weeks so that folks could stay into the weekend after work ends. With this information, he started getting campsites assigned to the volunteers based on their arrival and departure information. He met with Rich about the work to be done and started positioning supplies for the upcoming Public Lands Day, which will focus on the cabins as well.

So, we are enjoying our time in the park, making progress on Cabin Work Week, and enjoying time with family. The run up to Frederick for Cathy’s treatments is manageable and we are looking forward to more time here.

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Late August - Bugging Out

8/31/2019

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Tree limbs fell in the campground after a night of torrential rain

We seemed to be directly in Dorian’s path. At least that’s the way it looked early in the week before Labor Day. Given what we could see, it made sense to accelerate our departure from Jacksonville from Saturday to Thursday. Getting clearance from Cathy’s Radiation Oncologist and her surgeon that she was doing well, we firmed up our plans to leave. Where to go was the big problem. But luck was with us. Some last minute cancellations allowed us to spend a wonderful weekend at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area in NC, visiting family and giving us an easy drive to Pocahontas State Park on Labor Day.

Dave inspecting new tires before we head out

Finally Mobile Again
Staying in one place for 9 months causes all sort of “concrete” to be poured around your RV, making it harder to pick up and go. So, upon our return to Jacksonville from Cathy’s treatment in Frederick, we got into full gear dismantling and prepping to move. Although our planned departure date would be Saturday of Labor Day weekend, there was one deadline that made us get ready almost a week early.
l sort of “concrete” to be poured around your RV, making it harder to pick up and go. So, upon our return to Jacksonville from Cathy’s treatment in Frederick, we got into full gear dismantling and prepping to move. Although our planned departure date would be Saturday of Labor Day weekend, there was one deadline that made us get ready almost a week early.

Trailer on jacks awaiting new tires

Besides the general storing, cleaning and clearing out, the one prep task that had the highest priority was new trailer tires. After hearing of the multiple tire problems with our friend’s similarly-aged trailer in their northward trek in the Spring, we knew ours were on borrowed time. Dave researched the alternatives (as he always does) and settled on Goodyear Endeavor tires that were an upgrade in load rating (from D to E) over our existing tires. This would allow faster highway speeds without as much stress on the tires. Finding the best deal at nearby Discount Tire, we made an appointment for the Tuesday before Labor Day to have them mounted. So, we had to be ready to move by then.

Grill cleaned up for transport

The truck bed needed some attention as well. The hitch had been exposed to the elements for the past year, since we had only recently installed a cover. It required some sanding and grease. After cleaning out the accumulated debris in the bed, we also organized the contents so the new generator could sit in a spot in the front near the cab. That would make it easier to use to charge the batteries and run the AC when we spent time unplugged. Speaking of the batteries, they were in need of water. In the process Dave cleaned the terminals and found a frayed cable that he replaced.

Fridge handle should be a mirror image of the freezer handle, but it works.

Inside, there was one more unusual task that had a high priority. The clip on the fridge handle that kept it locked in place had broken over the winter. When the task of replacing it ran into several roadblocks, Cathy had let it slide. Now the replacement had to be found. Unfortunately, the part was no longer made. But she lucked into one for sale on eBay. When it arrived, she was dismayed to find that the seller had sold the wrong part. It was the mirror image of the one that was needed. Since there were so hard to find, Cathy tried it on any way. It fit and works fine, but just looks a little odd if you know what it was supposed to look like. The important thing is the fridge stays closed when we’re underway.

So, we were feeling pretty good about what we’d managed to get done when we pulled out to get our new tires Tuesday morning. We even got the Labor Day discount on top of the price match Dave had negotiated. The new tires were mounted and filled with air. Using our tire pressure sensors, Dave was able to detect that 2 of the tires were under-filled, a problem that was quickly corrected. Within an hour we were done and headed back to Faith . We still had 4 days to get the final checklist done. Things were going well.

Until Dorian showed up on the weather forecast.
We realized that if it made landfall in Florida, even if it was much further south, the evacuation routes largely ran by Jacksonville. We didn’t want to become snarled in that kind of traffic. On Wednesday morning, we started thinking about leaving Friday. By Wednesday night, we had decided to leave on Thursday. By noon Thursday, we were on our way north.

Boat Stuff
Leaving the boat in advance of a hurricane is a little unsettling, but we felt pretty good about it being protected from the elements under its cover. However, enough time had passed that the waterproofing needed to be refreshed. Cathy washed it and then sprayed the top half with 303 Fabricguard. Inside, a new tub of DampRid was placed to absorb moisture over the next few months. It had been working well for the last year, keeping the mold and mildew at bay.

Callie helps out in the office

Church Stuff

As we prepared to leave Faith, we had a “short list” of tasks that we needed (or wanted) to complete before we left for Virginia for a few months. One that made the list was to put more AC in Peeler Hall, where the Spanish congregation was now holding services. Since they had moved, the existing unit wasn’t keeping up with a building full of people. The solution was to redeploy a floor AC unit, but we needed a way to vent the exhaust. Using a drill, a hole saw, and a couple of trips to the hardware store, the exhaust was routed through a dryer vent hose and fitting to the outside. After all was in place with the unit on, the heat leaving through the new exhaust vent told us all was working well. The real test came that night during Bible study when all was cool!
Thankfully, given the late summer heat, there were more indoor tasks. Dave configured a computer to make a spare available in the office. He also helped Beyond90 set up their new computer classroom at Faith, installing a router and connecting to wifi. In preparation for Wednesday suppers to begin again, Cathy spent some time in the kitchen, cleaning and organizing.

Cleaning the stones in the Memorial Garden

We continued to assist Alex and Yunia on some of the maintenance tasks around the campus. We pulled out the pressure washers to explain their use and care. They tested the smaller one out by cleaning the exterior brick on the sanctuary building, but were frustrated that it wasn’t as good a tool to use on the sidewalk. That was when we pulled out the big guns – the more powerful John Deere machine, which had a floor scrubber attachment. The floor scrubber had been repaired 18 months earlier, so we hadn’t seen it used since then.

Despite the heavy rain, the work continues

It worked great , but after a break, the pressure disappeared. After testing each part of the unit for pressure loss, it became obvious that the tips were clogged. After cleaning them, it worked even better than the first time. But by this time, it was pouring rain. Thinking that Alex would stop shortly afterward due to the pouring rain and late hour, we left with him cleaning the sidewalk that was under cover. To our surprise, the next morning the entire sidewalk and adjacent Memorial Garden had been cleaned. It looked great. And Alex has a new skill.

Can you find Dave in this picture?

With Dorian approaching, we spent an afternoon trimming branches away from Wesley Hall and the sanctuary. In addition, the generators were pulled out, topped off and started. If the wind blew and the power failed, the church would be in a better position to weather it.

At our campsite at Jordan Lake

Moving North

Leaving on Thursday before Labor Day, we had few options for the weekend with so little advance notice. We decided to stay at a Walmart Thursday night in SC, putting enough miles between us and Florida to be ahead of any traffic fleeing the storm. The weekend was going to be a bigger problem. Searching through campgrounds online, there was one possibility that looked promising. Several non-electric campsites were available at Jordan Lake State Recreation Area in NC SE of Raleigh. It would be hot during the day without AC, but with the shade of the trees, we could make it work.

When Cathy went to book one for the weekend, she was shocked to see 3 electric sites available. To be sure she was understanding it correctly, she called to make the reservation and was pleased to find that it was real. Pulling into Jordan Lake later Friday afternoon, the site was pretty much as advertised. And we were able to park without the stress of a lot of Labor Day campground traffic. With the heat rising, the AC was a welcome relief as we retreated inside to cool down once settled. Electricity is a wonderful thing.

Ann and Jason check our her new home

We were also now a short drive from Cathy’s sister and her family who lived near Raleigh. We got to help our niece move into her new place, do some furniture shopping and join them for dinner Saturday night and church Sunday morning. It was an unexpected treat.

Still tracking Dorian’s now glacial pace and devastation in the Bahamas, the track kept following us up the coast. As we planned to move up to Pocahontas, it appeared possible that it would arrive while we were driving north to Frederick for Cathy’s treatments. We debated what to do, and finally opted to take our chances and stay at Pocahontas anyway, after offers to help us make it work in the unlikely event that the park shut down for the storm. So, on Labor Day we were where we planned to be parked at a campsite at Pocahontas State Park, where we will likely stay for the next 3 months.

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Early August - Boats, Planes, and Automobiles

8/17/2019

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Caribbean Princess on the dock in Quebec City

Our last update left off in the middle of our cruise to New England and Canada, as we left Boston harbor. The second week of the cruise brought some new ports of call and some cooler weather. Ater returning to Jacksonville, we found ourselves traveling north again, this time by car, only a day after our plane touched down upon our return from Canada. We were headed to Frederick MD, where Cathy will be receiving her infusions through year-end.

Twilight on promenade leaving Bar Harbor

New England and Canada
The 2nd half of our cruise took us through Maine and into Canada. We anchored off Bar Harbor, traveled up the Bay of Fundy with its dramatic tides to St. John NB, back out to the Atlantic around the southern tip of Nova Scotia to Halifax and then around its northernmost Cape Breton Island to Sydney , before ending our sail up the St. Lawrence in Quebec City.

Beef Wellington

Life on Board

Well, if it’s not all about the food, it’s mostly about the food. Cruising is not for anyone looking to lose weight, unless they have a lot of willpower. We had dinner every evening with Lili and Eddie, a couple from California. She was originally from Taiwan and he from the Phillippines. We thoroughly enjoyed their company.

Born to Be Wild cast

We spent a couple of evenings going to shows, but after struggling to find a seat and being turned away more often than not, we found other things to do. There was an excellent dance band that we enjoyed when we could. A few crew “games” were played that were fun as well. In one, the 3 participants were asked a question. One was lying and the others were telling the truth. We had to pick the one that was lying. We got it right once. We watched some movies on the deck of the ship, although after St. John, it was too damp and cold to make that attractive. We enjoyed some time in the pools as well, until the nights started cooling the water a little too much. With some coupons we received early on, we took a brief turn in the casino. Spending $20 of our money and $20 in coupons, we walked away with $25. Not our thing.

Executive Chef and the head Maitre 'd

On our last day at sea, there was a culinary demonstration and a galley tour that was fun and interesting. The executive chef prepared some dishes that would have tasted great, except for the contributions of the head maitre’d who was “assisting” him. Afterward, we got to walk through one of the ship’s galleys. Dave took lots of pictures for our grandson who is interested in culinary as a career.

Lobsters!

Bar Harbor

Our last trip to Bar Harbor had been close to 30 years earlier. And Dave had one thing at the top of his list – fresh Maine lobster, cooked in sea water. Once the ship’s tenders started running, we made our way to shore and were dropped off in downtown Bar Harbor. We wandered up the hill to an information center to get the details on the bus system. It is free, thanks to a grant from LL Bean, and runs from town to various points on and just off Mt Desert Island, where Bar Harbor and Acadia NP are located. We were headed to a point just off the island. After ensuring the lobster places were still where we remembered them, we found our bus and headed out. With almost 3000 people from the ship headed to shore, we were the only ones on our bus.

The Trenton Bridge Lobster Pound was our destination. We picked out 2 small lobsters and they were taken out to be cooked in the lobster pots outside. With bibs in place, we cracked and picked to get at all of the sweetest bits of meat. It was as good as we remembered.

Rocky shoreline in Acadia National Park

Our return trip was going to take some time to get into town, catch a bus for the park and then another that would loop through the interior. As we waited on the side of the road, we flagged down a bus headed our way. However, its sign wasn’t quite right. We discovered we had chosen the Acadia NP loop bus heading from the garage to its first stop. So, we just stayed on, and took a tour of the park.

St. John New Brunswick

St. John, NB

Although we have traveled into New Brunswick and seen the amazing tide swings of the Bay of Fundy, we had never stopped in St. John. One of its more famous sites is the Reversing Falls just outside of town. At just the right time, you can view the tidal bore come in from sea and change the direction of the rapids. We weren’t in port at the right time, but we did see what to us was equally amazing. Upon our arrival at the bridge over the rapids, there were rocks exposed and just submerged, making this a very boat unfriendly section of the river. However, an hour later, we watched 2 sailboats and a trawler approach the bridge from upstream. Were they crazy? How could they keep away from the rocks? Well, the tide had risen enough that they could motor calmly under the bridge and out to sea.

Halifax, NS

Halifax, NS

In Halifax, we spent most of our exploration along the harborwalk, which is relatively new and definitely did not exist during our last visit here several decades ago. It was a beautiful day, and we enjoyed exploring.

Cathy by the Giant Fiddle in Sydney

Sydney, NS
Sydney was a new destination for us, sitting east of Prince Edward Island on Cape Breton Island, and jutting out into the Atlantic. It is a quaint small town, that surprisingly didn’t seem overwhelmed by having 2 ships in port that day. We walked its historic district and took pictures of the World’s Largest Fiddle and bow that greets cruise ship passengers and honors the area’s Scottish musical heritage.

Statue commemorating the role of the Merchant Navy in WWII.

The town played a significant, though largely unsung, role in World War II, as the launching point for 177 convoys of “slow” ships of supplies to Europe. These were private vessels, deployed by a Merchant Navy, not designed for the ocean crossing and certainly not for defense. They were easy targets, and when torpedoed, sank quickly. The convoy could not stop to rescue the survivors. Those that were rescued by seamen from Sydney were brought to safety back in this harbor.

Quebec City, QB
The rain fell on and off all day during our last day on the ship. After watching the ship dock, spinning around in the St. Lawrence to be better positioned for its next departure, we made our way to town. In addition to checking out the historic district, just off the docks, we wanted to plan our travel to the hotel the next day. Climbing the hill to the town was a bit challenging. They don’t have many hills in Florida. But the view was impressive. Also, we were able to buy bus passes for the trip to our hotel the next day.

After spending a short night in a local hotel, we made our way to the airport at 4am for our 6:00 am flight to Toronto. While waiting, Cathy checked the weather in Jacksonville. It was disconcerting to see that the 4am temperature of 80 degrees was higher than anything we’d seen in the last week of travel. Sigh. After clearing customs in Toronto, we boarded our flight to JFK. There was a 4 hour layover in a crowded terminal at JFK, but we departed on time and arrived early. By 7pm, we were back at Faith. But we had to scramble. We had less than 36 hours before we would be hitting the road again

Cathy at MD Anderson - Frederick MD

Maryland – What’s that about?
Shortly before leaving on our cruise, we discovered a serious billing issue that seemed to be a result of our decision to go out of network on our insurance for Cathy’s care. While we were on the cruise, this issue was being researched by the provider, but we had no idea how that would play out. The biggest exposure by far was the on-going Herceptin infusions that will continue every 3 weeks until March. Since any delay longer than a week would require her to start over, we knew we needed to take some action. So, after a week with no definitive answer, we started contacting other facilities, determining their insurance status, whether they could do the infusion and what the lead time would be to make the transition. It was not encouraging. The biggest problem was trying to get the appointment with an oncologist and get the infusion scheduled within the tight timeframe. We weren’t getting back to Jacksonville until 3 days before next infusion was due.

We expanded our search beyond Jacksonville to Virginia around Richmond. Then, we started looking at facilities that had a relationship with MD Anderson. That took us to Frederick and a Network Coordinator that was amazing. Within 24 hours, she had an appointment with an oncologist and an infusion scheduled. She had my records and knew my treatment plan. When our cell phones were out of service a whole day while we were at sea, she got the additional information from my insurance card from Jacksonville.

View of the Memorial Garden from the Infusion pod

So, on Monday, August 12, we headed out for our 12 hours trip to Frederick, arriving the next morning in plenty of time for the appointment with the oncologist. The infusion the next day was uneventful, although the view is not quite as dramatic as Jacksonville. No complaints. Our plan is to move the RV to Pocahontas in time for the next infusion after Labor Day. Then the trip to Frederick will be a lot more manageable.

We were very pleased with the way the billing issue was resolved and the care taken to ease our concerns in Jacksonville. We have a lot of respect for MD Anderson in Jacksonville and Frederick. We plan to return to Jacksonville for the final treatments in January

Grandpa shares pictures with Troy and Taylor

Family and Friends

Despite our beeline trip north, we made some time to see family and friends. We had a brief visit with Bonnie, Troy and the kids on their 13th wedding anniversary. Apparently, that’s the one where you have Savoia rum cake. We were happy to share in the celebration. On Thursday, we met up with Droz to do some back-to-school shopping. It was fun helping him find out his size in dress shirts and pants.

George and Gail at home in Leland

That evening we met up with Steve and Linda and Sue and Steve in Hampton at Vancosta’s. Over some great food, we caught up with each other. After spending the night at Sue and Steve’s new home, we headed south through NC with a stop by George and Gail’s home south of Wilmington. Their daughter, Beth was visiting, as Gail recovered from her recent heart attack. All things considered, they were doing very well.

Parting Shots
The purchase had been made just before we left for the cruise and arrived while we were gone. Dave had been researching tonneau covers (truck bed covers) for the new truck for months. Deciding on a Truxedo version, we decided to install it ourselves. Unexpectedly, we had only one morning to get it done, since we couldn’t leave it in the office any longer, and we wanted to ensure all was well before the shipper’s warranty expired and we headed north to MD. Sure enough, it installed pretty quickly and looks great.

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Late July - Getting Away

7/31/2019

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Sunset off NC

The ship pulled out and made its way out the inlet from Fort Lauderdale for points north. We’d traveled over 300 miles south by car to board her, with the intention of traveling over 1000 miles north to Quebec City. The radiation was done. There were 3 weeks until the next need to see a doctor or nurse. It was going to be great to get away and enjoy some time off.

Hemingway helps as Dave unplugs the icemaker drain

But First . . .

There was not much time to take care of many tasks at Faith in the last few days before we left. We continued to take care of small items – a clogged icemaker drain, new compost bins, business cards for Pastor Alexis and the church, working with Kim to scope out a potential soccer field, and some training of Alexis and Yunia. Dave replaced the problem outlet in the RV power pedestal by our site that had caused us to move our power cord the week before. But that was about it.

Boat cover with solar panel in place

Packing To Go

Preparing to leave involved more than packing our suitcases. We were leaving the RV for 2 weeks, and the boat needed some attention as well. With the many doctor visits, and activities around Faith, and the heat, it was easy to “forget” about Orion Jr as she sat on her trailer in the church parking lot. However, knowing that we were leaving town for 2 weeks required us to ensure she would handle any storms that might pass through.

When Dave checked her batteries, they were dead. While we run a cord to a nearby outlet to charge them up, the problem was keeping them charged so they could power the bilge pump if it was needed. We had the solar panels that could do the job. We just needed a way to mount one to the boat cover. We opted for a minimalist solution. Attaching webbing to the cover where it sat over the cockpit and between the bimini bows, Dave now had something to tie down the panel. The other change was to allow the wires to pass through the cover, Cathy modifed the zipper that gives us access to the cockpit to unzip in 2 directions. The wires passed through the opening between the 2 pulls. This needs a more permanent solution for the wires, but the solar panel would now keep the batteries from being drained as they had been.

As for the RV, the preparations were mostly typical. We emptied the holding tanks and topped off the fresh water, sanitizing it with a cup of bleach. We took the added precaution of shutting down the fridge and bringing in the slide. The latter required a last minute cleaning of the slide topper, which had water collecting in a low spot that was pretty filthy. With the RV buttoned up, we were ready to head out for the ship.

Cookie and Jerry

And We’re Off

We were leaving in just 24 hours. Our plans were to spend Friday night near West Palm Beach to see Pastor Rigo and family at their new home the next morning before boarding the ship on Saturday. To our surprise, we received a note from Cookie that mentioned they were in Jupiter for July. As it happened, our hotel was in – you guessed it – Jupiter. Driving south in hours of torrential rain, we finally made it for a late supper with Cookie and Jerry. A sweet surprise.

Jahaziel takes our picture with his mom and brother at their home in West Palm Beach

The next morning, we were greeted by Saine, Magdiel and Jahaziel at their new house, but unfortunately, not Rigo. He wouldn’t return from his class in Chicago until later that evening. We had a tour, some time to visit and enjoy breakfast together, before we had to say goodbye and head on to the ship.

Caribbean Princess

By noon, we were on board and getting to know what would be our home for the next 2 weeks. The ship was huge. It holds over 3000 guests (and was full) and 1100 crew, half of which cooked, prepared, served or cleaned up from meals. With some amazing thrusters, the ship was able to maneuver into and out of docks unaided by tugs. There were several pools (5? 6?), a huge LED screen that played movies or concerts “under the stars”. And of course many restaurants, lounges, and the usual ship venues (casino, theater, spa, etc.).

Ship's Medallion Ocean Concierge display

It was also the first ship in Princess’ fleet to completely adopt its new Medallion technology. It had some great features, and some more significant start-up problems. The Medallions (which we wore on a lanyard around our neck), opened our door as soon as we approached, allowed us to board the ship, notified waiters and bartenders who we were, let us find our “shipmates” via interactive screens on every deck, and allowed us to order drinks or food through an app on our phone. (We never tried the latter feature.) The “kids” on board created avatars that would appear on one of the many screens on board as they walked by. They could also use them to play games on these screens. The ship’s activities were displayed on the same interactive screens. And using the Ocean Compass feature, you could ask it to direct you to any location on the ship and it would dynamically show you how to get there. The ship had an intranet that was supposed to allow several apps to work on your phone connected to the Medallion software. These were problematic. For the most part, we were never able to get them to work on our phone

Our trip north included 5 US and 4 Canadian ports, with 3 days at sea.

Charleston

After a day at sea, our first port was our favorite place – Charleston. Docking on the Cooper River just south of the Maritime Center, we walked off the ship and back in time to 2011 when we left last by boat on Orion Jr. Wandering the streets of the Market, the candy stores, the historic district and back to the Maritime Center, we took note of what had changed and what had stayed the same. There were still praline samples, but the taffy-making and -wrapping machine was gone. We stumbled into hot and fresh Hyman’s hush puppy samples (Dave even got a double), but the “body snatchers” (timeshare sellers) were not there to grab us this time.

Memorial outside Emanuel AME Church

Walking down Calhoun St, the Emanuel AME Church still stood between the park and the harbor, but it now had a memorial to the 9 shot there in 2015 and the district had a new name – Mother Emanuel Way Memorial District.

Jeff and Bob at the Charleston Maritime Center.

The Maritime Center still hosts the Spirit of SC and the Harbor tour boat. And Jeff and Bob still work there, although they hold new job titles. But there are no more events being hosted as plans are underway to put a museum on the greenspace. Leaving in 2011 was very bittersweet. Cathy had said although we might come back, it wouldn’t be the same, because we would never be back by boat.

Well, we came back by boat.

Names along the wall of the 9/11 North tower memorial fountain.

New York City

After another day at sea, we were docked in Brooklyn across from the southern end of Manhattan. Taking a ferry across the East River, we docked at Pier 11 and walked around the south end to the site of the 9/11 Memorial. Although we had been by the island by boat several times, this was our first visit to what had been ground zero. The memorial was sobering. We visited the nearby museum, which takes you down below ground to what remained of the structures that fell that day. You walked through the events of the day as you passed through the exhibits, transporting you back in time.

By the time we were leaving the museum, the heat and humidity were giving way to threatening skies. In the nick of time, we managed to board the bus back to the ferry terminal. However, we didn’t miss all of the rain, which let loose as we sat on the bus. Shortly after we made it to the ferry, the rain stopped, and we boarded to go back to Brooklyn and our ship. After supper, we stood on deck and watched as the ship made its way out of NY harbor, under the Verrazzano Narrows bridge toward Sandy Hook. We’d made this trip before, but let’s just say we were a little closer to the water last time.

Verrazzano Narrows bridge

Caribbean Princess anchored off Newport Harbor.

Newport
Newport was a “tender” port, meaning we were anchored outside the harbor and had to take tenders ashore. However, the ride took 45 minutes and getting 3000 passengers ashore proved challenging. We lucked into a tender ticket that got us ashore with a minimal wait. Others were not so lucky. We revisited the International Yacht Restoration School, which had made considerable, but slow, progress on restoring the yacht Coronet. (See our blog from September 2007). After a walk through town and back, we headed back early, avoiding the longest of the lines for the return tenders.

On the dock in Boston behind the Norwegian Gem.

Boston

Our apologies to the Bostonians, but we took this port as a day off, having spent several days here when we took Orion north to Newburyport in 2007. We were docked close to downtown behind a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship. Watching her back out beside us made the space between us look pretty small. We enjoyed watching the planes land and take off at Logan as we pulled out of the harbor at sunset. We had been heading north, hoping to leave the heat of Florida behind us. Although it was happening slower than we would have liked, the temperatures were moderating slowly but surely.

But wait, there’s more . . .
There is more to share about the cruise and our trip back to Jacksonville, but you’ll have to come back for more in our next update for that. See you back soon!

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