Staying at McIntosh Lake Campground in Townsend GA Leaving Pocahontas on the Monday before Thanksgiving, we were well aware of the warnings to keep our distance, so family gatherings were not in the plans. Instead, we said our goodbyes at Pocahontas and made a leisurely trip south to Jacksonville. Although we arrived on Thanksgiving Day, we greeted friends from a distance, and ate our Thanksgiving dinner alone. A small sacrifice for the privilege of having many Thanksgivings together with friends and family in the future. It’s good to be in our southern “home” again, where we’ll stay for the next few months. (Hopefully, not quite so long as the last 2 years.)
Wood stacked for winter storage Cabin Work Week 2020 – Clean-up
We had 2 days before the rain was coming. Two days to pick up, sort out and stow the supplies scattered over 3 group cabin sites. The good news was the added help we had this year from several volunteers who joined us for this clean-up week after the Cabin Work Week ended. We managed to clean out Appamattuck, and all but one cabin at Chickahominy on the first day. But there was this large pile of wood. Despite moving a large load on the last day of the project, there were still 2 more loads to move down to the indoor storage at the Swift Creek Well House. The wood was still damp, heavy and the space to stow it already crowded. With the dump truck unavailable on Monday, we had to scramble on Tuesday to move and load as much wood as we could before our weary backs cried uncle. That left us unloading the final pieces in the rain on Wednesday morning.
We had 2 days before the rain was coming. Two days to pick up, sort out and stow the supplies scattered over 3 group cabin sites. The good news was the added help we had this year from several volunteers who joined us for this clean-up week after the Cabin Work Week ended. We managed to clean out Appamattuck, and all but one cabin at Chickahominy on the first day. But there was this large pile of wood. Despite moving a large load on the last day of the project, there were still 2 more loads to move down to the indoor storage at the Swift Creek Well House. The wood was still damp, heavy and the space to stow it already crowded. With the dump truck unavailable on Monday, we had to scramble on Tuesday to move and load as much wood as we could before our weary backs cried uncle. That left us unloading the final pieces in the rain on Wednesday morning.
Mary and Angie put finishing touches on Weyanock Lodge Over the next couple of days, the work continued. At the Well House, Joe built shelves and we created drainage to make a new storage room usable and mostly dry. At next year’s cabin site, Weyanock, Mary and Angie finished painting the lodge, while Marguerite and Fred repaired some severely damaged screens and shutters on one of the cabins. Both efforts will give us a good head start on 2021.
New Chimney cap on Chickahominy Lodge We spent our last week stowing the remaining items from Weyanock to their spots all over the park, finding tools that were left behind by a few volunteers, and preparing reports and post-mortems for the project to help with next year. There was one significant task to complete at Chickahominy. Steve has crafted an amazing chimney cap to keep water and creatures out of the lodge. With Fred and Dave’s assistance, he installed it one morning. It looks great and will be a template for similar repairs at the other cabin sites.
Dave, Fred and Steve on roof of Chickahominy lodge installing chimney cap By the end of the week, we had done all we could and left the park feeling we were in good shape looking ahead to next year’s project. If any one is interested in signing up for next year's project, it will be held Nov. 1 - 12, 2021. You can sign up by emailing us, and we'll get the process started.
Adam and Dave plan the electrical layout on his bus turned RV Family Time
With the project behind us, we managed to spend more time with Adam, helping him transform his school bus into the RV he is envisioning. Dave spent several days with him working the AC side of the electric and starting on the DC side before we ran out of time. We got to celebrate Droz’s birthday as well, which is a benefit of hanging around Virginia later into November. After one more visit with Bonnie’s family (on turkey harvesting day as it happened), it was time to pack up and head south.
With the project behind us, we managed to spend more time with Adam, helping him transform his school bus into the RV he is envisioning. Dave spent several days with him working the AC side of the electric and starting on the DC side before we ran out of time. We got to celebrate Droz’s birthday as well, which is a benefit of hanging around Virginia later into November. After one more visit with Bonnie’s family (on turkey harvesting day as it happened), it was time to pack up and head south.
On the Road Again
Having deployed the “skirt” around the RV and the heaters underneath as a defense against freezing temperatures, we knew we were ready to head south again. We stopped at 2 different campgrounds along I-95 – Bass Lake in Dillon SC and McIntosh Lake in Townsend GA to slow our trip, allowing the campground at Faith to free up from the current Nomad project. Both were very quiet and scenic, despite their close proximity to I-95. We used our downtime to create a Scavenger hunt for our granddaughter on Goosechase. We both had fun over the Thanksgiving holiday as she took photos and videos for the various hunt items. Almost 15,000 points later, we had promised to do another for the Christmas holidays.
Having deployed the “skirt” around the RV and the heaters underneath as a defense against freezing temperatures, we knew we were ready to head south again. We stopped at 2 different campgrounds along I-95 – Bass Lake in Dillon SC and McIntosh Lake in Townsend GA to slow our trip, allowing the campground at Faith to free up from the current Nomad project. Both were very quiet and scenic, despite their close proximity to I-95. We used our downtime to create a Scavenger hunt for our granddaughter on Goosechase. We both had fun over the Thanksgiving holiday as she took photos and videos for the various hunt items. Almost 15,000 points later, we had promised to do another for the Christmas holidays.
One new tool we took advantage of this trip was the “WeighMyTruck” app, which allows a much easier experience weighing the truck and RV at any of the numerous CAT scales along the highway. It was pretty easy. Cathy added the app to her phone and set up an account that allowed us to pay through the app. When we arrived at the scale, we entered the location code from the intercom and aligned the truck and RV on each of the scales – one axle per scale. Once positioned, we told the app to process the weight. The app communicated with the weighmaster at the location, and we received our weight through the app and an e-mail with the official document. It was pretty cool! Except we realized that we had less “headroom” than we had hoped. Time to start jettisoning that extra clutter. (And stowing the minibots in the truck when underway. That’s 50+ lbs of weight loss.)
We certainly left the cold behind us. After a couple of chilly nights, we pulled into Jacksonville on Thanksgiving with a near record-setting 80+ degree day. That made for a hot, sweaty set-up process. Nothing like going from heat to AC in 24 hours. Don’t you love Florida? Still, it’s good to be back.
We certainly left the cold behind us. After a couple of chilly nights, we pulled into Jacksonville on Thanksgiving with a near record-setting 80+ degree day. That made for a hot, sweaty set-up process. Nothing like going from heat to AC in 24 hours. Don’t you love Florida? Still, it’s good to be back.
Jahaziel and Rigo Parting Shot
We have been gradually reconnecting with our friends here at Faith. But we had an unexpected treat in getting to see Pastor Rigo and his family who were visiting the day after Thanksgiving. It was great to see them, and know that they are doing well.
In the meantime, we are starting to prepare for our January project here at Faith. There’s always something to do.
We have been gradually reconnecting with our friends here at Faith. But we had an unexpected treat in getting to see Pastor Rigo and his family who were visiting the day after Thanksgiving. It was great to see them, and know that they are doing well.
In the meantime, we are starting to prepare for our January project here at Faith. There’s always something to do.
