Labor Day has come and gone, but summer’s not over yet. We had our last Cabin Work Day in late August, but the next doesn’t come until the last Saturday in September. We have some big volunteer events coming in late September and all of the supplies for Cabin Work Week have to be ordered by the end of the month. We are between events, between seasons, and our work is all about preparation. Cabin Work Week is only 6 weeks away.  ​

More of the Same​

If it seems that we’re doing the same thing over and over, it’s only because we are. We wake up most mornings and head to the cabin sites. Either to the Well House, where our wood is stored or to this year’s work sites. We have a lot of wood purchased last year that has dried enough to prime and paint. So, we’ve started painting a variety of board sizes to give the carpenter’s a head start when they arrive. In the process, we discovered that much of the wood purchased this year was not drying since it was stacked without any spacers to let air in. So, we made dozens more spacers and stacked and re-stacked wood to help ensure it will be ready by the time the project starts.  

Back at Paspahegh, in anticipation of over 30 volunteers scheduled to arrive on Sept 26th, we powerwashed all of the benches and outbuildings that hadn’t been touched yet. If everyone shows up, we will need them to spread out, while still being engaged in a productive task. Having more buildings ready to scrape, prime, paint or stain will make this possible.  ​

When not working at the sites, we are planning for the project. Our Lowe’s contacts in the local store scheduled 2 “Red Vest” days which will bring their employees to the site as volunteers. This requires coordination between the store, the park, and the Lowe’s 100 Hometowns organizers. In addition, we are making still more screen trim pieces, since some of the work on that day will be to install screen and hardware cloth in the cabin vents to prevent large and small critters from getting inside.

And we are going about the business of spending the Lowe’s grant by placing another wood order, purchasing composite roofing shingles, and purchasing and staging supplies for the upcoming events.

We’ve been recruiting volunteers to work as well as those to help with lunches, and other support activities.  Recruiting volunteers is a critical part of what we do, and is made a little more difficult this year as some key volunteers have had to back out recently due to family and health issues  However, it’s all part of ensuring a successful project year. ​

Parting Shot​

Fall is coming and, with it, cooler temperatures and fall colors. It’s a lovely time to be in the park. Our grandson, Troy, is making and selling wreaths. I couldn’t resist this one. 

While we successfully avoided most of the summer heat during our travels this up north, we were not spared its full force upon our arrival in southern Virginia. Two weeks of temps in the 90’s and “feels-like” temps in the 100’s caused us to seek shade (or better yet A/C) whenever we could. And, of course, the reason we were back in the park this early was because we needed to turn up the heat on the work on the CCC Group Cabin project to take full advantage of our Lowes 100 Hometowns grant. We had a lot to do, and we were ready to dive in. ​

We lose almost no opportunity to promote the project and recruit volunteers. Whether it be a chat with a camper during our evening walk, responding to inquiries forwarded from the volunteer office or chance encounters in the park, the conversation starts with “how long are you here” and frequently ends with an exchange of contacts. Every few conversations results in a volunteer sign-up. We’ve posted flyers throughout the park, and participated in 2 Cabin Work Days as well where Dave answered questions and gave tours as requested to encourage return visits. And that is working as well. In the meantime, the cabins are getting scraped, primed and painted, the decks are getting stained and screen trim is getting painted. This will all make it easier to focus on the many repairs that take place during Cabin Work Week. ​

Shortly after our return, Jim and Jamie came for the day to review the cabins for leaking roofs and other repairs. Our review was made easier by the heavy rain that came through the day before. We identified 3 roofs that were leaking, and we gained the park’s approval of using a new composite material that will resist the moss that forms on roofs that see little sunlight. A week later, Fred joined us to walk through the last 2 untouched cabin sites – 2nd and 3rd Branch at Swift Creek – to review their state and document the needs to repair them. ​

With the assessments done, we took advantage of some hot afternoons to retreat to our computers and turn this information into orders for wood, paint and other supplies. We met the local Lowe’s store contacts, taking them on a tour of the site, answering questions about our first supply order, and scheduling 2 “Red Vest” days that will bring Lowe’s employees to volunteer at this year’s work site.  

RV Stuff
We had little time to do RV projects, but one problem forced us to pay attention. Our Watchdog power monitor / surge protector started alerting to a high voltage problem and would turn the power off to protect our rig. We discovered that we could turn off our A/C and minimize the disruptions, but this was not a solution that was easy to live with. After several checks confirmed it wasn’t our problem and wasn’t the Dominion Energy power coming in, we were about to change sites when the problem went away. Assuming it was a nearby camper that had recently left, we decided to stay put for the next few days until the end of the month, when we would be moving sites anyway. However, just a day later, the problem reappeared and we quickly decided that moving was our only recourse. Later assessments determined a problem with a breaker that needed to be replaced.
​With the impromptu move, we settled into the site where we will stay until the project is over. We were both pleased at how quickly we were able to get in and settled. Maybe all that traveling improved our docking skills a bit.

Family Time
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One of the perks of being in southern Virginia is the proximity to family. We eagerly accepted an invitation to visit Bonnie and Troy for an afternoon barbecue, in exchange for some small chores around the yard. And Adam and Droz joined us for supper one evening at the park, where we enjoyed some time catching up, showed them around the cabins, and ended by listening to Adam’s guitar-playing. ​

Work Amid the Trees

Thanks to the work of the CCC, shade is abundant at Pocahontas. On our hottest Cabin Work Day of the summer, attendance suffered from the day’s forecast, but the workers who did show universally commented that the heat was not as brutal as they feared thanks to our green covering. Unfortunately, sometimes tree limbs (and trees) fall. To our surprise, this one fell on the road near us on a calm, sunny day. It makes you keep looking up, especially on windy days.​

Thankfully, the heat that greeted us on arrival would not last indefinitely. As Ida’s remnants moved north toward us, the forecast finally contained some relief and fall seemed a possibility at last.   

Caesar Creek State Park

Floods. Our travels into SW Ohio followed the Little Miami River to the Ohio. And the repeated theme as we toured local historical sites was the devastating flooding as rivers overflowed their banks. Caesar Creek State Park was a more recent link in a chain of remediation projects by the Army COE to control these mighty waters. The park is centered on a dam completed in 1978 that transformed Caesar Creek into Caesar Creek Lake. This provided the recreation area that included our campground (holding over 250 sites), hiking trails, boat launches and an excellent Visitor Center museum.  ​

Little Farm on the River – Aurora Indiana​

By week’s end, it was time to move on. We had a short trip across the Ohio River back into Indiana for a 3 night stay at a Passport America campground called Little Farm on the River. Unlike our Caesar Creek campsite, we had a pull-through with plenty of shade and full hook-ups. Given the soaring temperatures, we appreciated the shade, but not the low-branches. We were pleasantly surprised when the park’s maintenance man pruned them at our request. Great service.  

While sampling the local fare, we enjoyed some BBQ from Babe’s, an over the top Buckeye brownie from Desserts by Rebecca, some homemade ice cream from Crank and Boom, and a signature local pizza from Joe Bologna’s. However, we couldn’t leave the area without touring and tasting some locally distilled bourbon. We found our opportunity at James E Pepper Distillery near downtown Lexington. This craft distillery resurrected a storied Lexington brand and its recipes that dated back to the American Revolution. Situated in a small portion of the original multi-acre site, James E Pepper Distilling is making some award-winning bourbon and rye whiskey. We had an excellent tour guide, whose knowledge of the history and the distilling process made for an entertaining hour. By sampling the “low wine” result of the first distillation to the “high wine” result of the 2nd distillation to the finished product, we gained an appreciation of the flavors introduced by each process. ​

Flying High (sort of)
​The bug bit back in May. After our son-in-law demonstrated his drone and how it could fly above the park and take some amazing pictures, Dave started doing research. A couple of months later, one arrived. However, the first one didn’t work so well ( and no it wasn’t just the operators). So, it wasn’t until our stay at Little Farm on the River that we had a working drone – a Holy Stone 175D. It is on the high end of the “toy” drones, but has a lot of features that the much more expensive DJI drones have.  

Roadside Park at the Port of St. Albans, WV

You might be scratching your head at the “port of St. Albans” reference. But West Virginia does have a navigable river, the Kanawha River. And this roadside park is a hidden gem along I64 . It has 3 pull-through sites with 30A electric – and they are all free. Since there are few to no campground options past this point until well into Virginia, we were pinning our hopes on an available spot. Although we did have a backup plan to boondock across the street in the old K-mart parking lot. It looked like the temperatures would stay cool enough to enable this to happen.

So, the good news was that there was one spot open when we arrived. In a lovely setting by the river, these are really lovely sites. However, the bad news was that the 30A outlet had no power. Deciding we could make do with a 15 amp extension cord for essentials like the TV and our computer outlets, we decided to stay put. However, as a courtesy, we called the town to ensure they knew about the problems with the power pole. Maybe the next camper would benefit from our having reported it. ​

To our surprise, not 15 minutes later, a city maintenance employee arrived to look at the problem. Discovering a bad breaker, he had one in his truck and was able to replace it before heading out 20 minutes later. So, we were able to use our AC again, making our stay much more comfortable. We took advantage of a Kroger across the street to stock up on groceries, and took a walk by the river in the evening.  ​

As we planned our next day’s travel, we decided to make a sudden change in plans. Tropical Storm/Depression Fred’s path was becoming clearer and was now supposed to pass between us and Pocahontas the next night. If we stopped as we had planned in southwest Virginia, we would be packing up and traveling in some heavy rains the next day. And to make it worse, our chosen spot was in a grassy park next to a river. We’d been stuck that way once before and weren’t going to let it happen again. So, we got going early the next morning and made a long day’s travel to Pocahontas State Park. Our summer vacation is over, so it’s time to get to work. ​

The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

We took the less-traveled US 12 for most of our trip from Elkhart IN to Dearborn MI, our next destination. Passing through several scenic towns, we stumbled across Randy’s BBQ, which had some great brisket “burnt” ends that hit the spot. Our destination was the Wayne County Fairgrounds, one of the few options near Dearborn that would allow us to tour The Henry Ford Museum, and that had openings on the weekend. We were given one of the few shaded pull-thru spots, and we set up camp for the week of our visit.​

The Henry Ford Museum is not just named for Henry Ford, it is literally his creation. He began collecting buildings and artifacts for Greenfield Village, an historic village that is at the heart of the museum’s property, almost 100 years ago. The Museum of American Innovation was actually constructed around one of the 9 huge generators that powered the Highland Park facility. We spent 5 different days touring the museum, the village and the nearby Ford Rouge River plant where F150s are made. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. They also had the best frozen custard we found in the area. (And you know we keep looking.) If you have some time, you can tour Greenfield Village with us and the Museum of American Innovation and Ford Rouge, each in their own video. Enjoy!

Ohio – Arrowhead Lake Campground​

From Michigan, we turned south to make our way gradually to Virginia. We still had several weeks before we needed to get back, so our progress would be slow. No need to spend too much time in Virginia’s summer heat and humidity. So, our next stop was only a couple of hours due south, still in Northwest Ohio in the middle of farm country. One of the gems we discovered during our stay was a local historic museum in Lima OH, called the Allen County Museum. This small town had assembled an extensive collection of its history – including one of the last steam locomotives manufactured in town – and had managed to display and interpret the collection in an engaging way. Explore along with us at the Allen County Museum in this video.

Arriving in Indiana just before 4th of July weekend, we had at least a week before we would need to pick up our new chairs. So, once we were unstuck, we took some time to explore the area around Bixler Lake in Kendallville and then around Elkhart – surrounded by the largest concentration of RV manufacturers in the country. Only a few miles from the Michigan-Indiana border, the locals call this area Michiana for obvious reasons.
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Approaching from the park, you hear the museum before you see it. The sound of metal gears wailing as blades spin slowly in the light wind is distinctive. We entered the museum’s “garden” of about 50 different outdoor windmills before entering the museum building for our audio tour. We started the tour with several of the more fragile specimens inside a re-assembled 1889 barn. We learned how windmills evolved to grind grain, pump water, generate electricity or directly power machinery. And how they spread across the country with the railroad, providing water for the engines along the way. Designs evolved to include mechanisms to protect them from too much wind, having a counterweight that turned the blades out of the wind when the force would overpower them.  

On July 4th, we had a front row seat for the town’s fireworks, which were shot off from the beach 100 yards away. We sat on the picnic table and enjoyed the display along with the rest of the campground.  ​

Further down the trail was the Bonneyville Mill Park, complete with a working grain mill.  ​

Krider Garden in Middlebury, had been relocated from the 1939 Chicago Worlds Fair and waspreserved even after the Krider nursery closed. (Our tour of the gardens was cut short by a sudden downpour.)  ​

In Wakarusa, we had to stop at the dime store to sample some of their oversized Wakarusa jelly beans. ​

And at the Shipshewanna Flea Market, we wandered the aisles of vendors, making a few small purchases, which included a fried pie and a soft pretzel. This is Amish/Mennonite country after all.  ​

So, of course, we also had to take a tour. Jayco was one of the few offering scheduled tours. We were taken through their plant and given an incredible close-up of the assembly process under way. This was not a “behind the glass” tour. We walked through the manufacturing line. They were building Class C motor homes. The Ford chassis’ were backed into place with the extended frame already mounted. Fitting the wheels into a cradle that allowed the vehicle to move sideways, it traveled down the assembly line, being pushed along to each workstation. ​

​Then we drove to the lakeshore to see the “Century of Progress” homes moved here from the Chicago World’s Fair in 1939. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to get access to see the dunes. There was no parking available at any of the access points we tried. Next time, we come on a weekday, preferably one that doesn’t have beach weather. 

What about those chairs?
​Anyone who asked us why we were going to Indiana got the same answer, “We’re going to pick up chairs.” When the inevitable follow-up question came, a lengthy story followed, which we’ll share with you. When we purchased our new Cougar RV, one of the big selling points was the comfortable theater seats. However, it wasn’t just the fact that they were comfortable and reclined. During last year’s Cabin Work Week, Mary and Angie had sung the praises of their Cougar’s chairs that provided heat and massage after a long day of work. The brochures spread on the table when we entered the RV proudly announced this as a feature of all 2020 Cougar fifth wheels. However, when we had the chance to try them out, we couldn’t find any power and definitely no buttons to turn on heat or massage.  

Brightly Farm Market, Hamlin NY:
 “I don’t see how we’re going to do this.” Not an auspicious beginning to our planned first stay with a member of Harvest Hosts. This organization links RV’ers with businesses, such as wineries, breweries, farms, museums etc, that can accommodate them for an overnight. The understanding is that we will spend about $20 at the business in exchange for the hospitality. We had hoped to use this membership much earlier, but the soaring temperatures in early June had made this untenable at that time. Most Harvest Hosts sites lack any electric hookup, which for us means no AC.  

We left Brightly Farms around 9am the next morning and arrived at Hamlin Beach around 9:30. However, unlike Pocahontas, it didn’t matter that our site was empty and had been for several days, NO ONE is allowed to check in before 3 – well, maybe 1:30. Since we had nowhere else to go, we parked the RV on a large, empty day use parking lot and went for a walk – first along the lake and then into the campground to check out our site. And it was a good thing we did.  ​

​We spent the next 11 days reconnecting with friends and family, and getting our teeth and eyes checked out. More about those adventures a little later. While we initially planned a longer stay to comply with the Covid regulations we knew about in March, we were pleased to be in NY as they crossed the 70% vaccinated mark and lifted the state of emergency restrictions. You go guys!  

As effortless as the last 2 days had been, our arrival at Bixler Lake Campground in Kendallville IN was anything but. It was supposed to be an easy day. We only had 75 miles to travel, putting us into the campground around 11am. After stopping for fuel, we got within 20 miles of Kendallville, when we saw a disturbing sign, “Road Closed”. After taking a detour that added 20 miles to our journey, we finally pulled into the campground closer to noon, with the grey skies and thunder sounding. The campground manager showed us to our site quickly so we could set up ahead of the storm. And, we might have made it, except . . . ​

“LF Jack Error”. This cryptic message brought our set-up to a screeching halt. Our “landing gear”, i.e., the 2 jacks that support the fifth wheel in front when it is not attached to the truck have to go down to disconnect. This error was telling us that the left front jack wasn’t budging. We tried forcing it, by pressing and holding the retract button. A jerk and nothing. Cathy tried manually extending the front jacks. The right moved, but not the left. Dave checked the voltage on the connections. All was good. Oh, and did we mention that by now it was pouring? Cathy took a time-out, used her phone to look up a youtube video on the problem, but it offered no new advice. So, we called Lippert. Just as they were telling us what to do, the call dropped. Our conversation was centered around a voltage drop, so Dave took some pictures and we emailed them to our contact, and called back. We got someone else who confirmed that it wasn’t an electrical issue. There was nothing more they could do over the phone, we would have to take it somewhere nearby. Cathy called the closest service location and the service tech agreed to check with Lippert and call us back. When he did, he agreed to step us through some of the same checks to help us avoid the trip in. Cathy fired up the Ground Control pad and discovered that the error had changed to “RR Jack Error”. So, under guidance from the tech, she tried again to extend the jacks and this time, they all moved, even the one with the error. Once retracted again, the error cleared. We were soaked, but we could finish setting up. 

Not so fast.

With the downpour, we had discovered we were setting up at too much angle and the truck was sitting in standing water. We needed to get the RV to higher ground by backing up. That started out well, until we stopped to pick up a leveling board we had originally placed under the tires. Having lost momentum, the truck’s rear tires began to spin. We couldn’t move back or forward. Trying to increase traction, we used boards, a mat. Some fellow campers brought over kitty litter. None of it helped. We decided to disconnect to get the weight off the truck. This would prove to be a bad decision. We managed to disconnect but the truck wouldn’t quite come out of the mud. And the truck was sliding sideways such that it would soon be struck by the king pin from the trailer. 

The next morning dawned sunny and dry. By 10am, we were assigned another tow operator. Cathy called and quickly discovered they also didn’t have the right equipment to tow us. Frustration levels rising, Cathy called Good Sam again. The campground was beginning to fill for the holiday weekend. If we waited much longer, it wouldn’t be practical to move the RV. We had a few more conversations with Good Sam before a wrecker designed to tow semi’s showed up. They had a fifth wheel hitch and carefully connected to our fifth wheel and gently pulled it to the road. The driver waited while we ensured we could connect to the truck OK and we managed to move to a new spot out of the mud, thanks to the campground manager relocating us. ​

We breathed a sigh of relief and made ready to explore the area over the 4th of July weekend ahead. Welcome to Indiana!

Parting Shot
While waiting for Dave's glasses to be made, we took a walk along the canal by our old hose.  One of the neighbors had a pretty setting by his dock, and a fitting picture for this July 4th holiday. 

Lake Fairfax Park – Reston VA​

The sound was overwhelming. We stepped out of the truck at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, having travelled only 3 hours north from Richmond, but we had entered a different world. It was hard to make yourself heard over the song of thousands of cicadas that were filling the trees around us. Over the course of our stay in Reston (and southern PA), we were never without the reminders of their presence – the sound, swatting away the live ones and stepping over the dead ones. But it was a treat to be around for a 2nd time as they emerged. (Our first experience was 2004, when we lived here.) Where will we be when they return in 2038? Who knows?

​When our site came into view, it was worse than we thought. Cars were parked into the road on the site next to us, and our site was narrow with little angle to make the process easier. Our neighbors graciously moved their car, and we prepared to make the best of this, as we were approached by another neighbor. Now, before we proceed, you have to understand that campers love to “give directions” and “help out” in ways that frequently end in confusion and swear words on our part. However, this gentleman spoke of a career driving fuel tankers for Sunoco, and we were open to suggestions at this point. With Dave following his advice and Cathy spotting in the rear, we managed to jockey the trailer back into the spot with the wheels just on the pad and room for the slides to come out. Expressing our undying gratitude, we exhaled as we had this ordeal behind us. But it helps us learn and hopefully improve.  

​Since we had chosen this park mostly for its location, we knew very little about it until we began reading the literature from the park upon our arrival. Through that we discovered that its history was parallel to that of Pocahontas State Park in Virginia. Originally a National Recreational Demonstration Area, it was established by the CCC during the late 30’s to recover overused land for use by those from nearby urban areas who lack easy access to the outdoors. Part of the original design and current facilities were – you guessed it --- CCC-built group cabins. This we had to see.  

​But what we learned was good information. The cabins had similarities that actually explained some oddities at the Pocahontas group cabins. And their differences were interesting as well, eg. the shutters mounted to open inside the cabin, as opposed to Pocahontas where they were mounted on the outside. 

Gifford Pinchot State Park – Wellsville PA​

Given pent-up demand for campsites and the soaring temperatures, we have been taking care to ensure we have reservations for weekends, so that we won’t be sweltering in a parking lot somewhere. That was how we arrived at Gifford Pinchot State Park, situated between York and Harrisburg in south central PA. Arriving early afternoon on a Friday, we had little trouble backing into our spot, which was a relief after our experience at French Creek.  

Ives Run Recreation Area – Tioga PA

With the weekend behind us, we moved north to our final stop before entering New York. Just south of the NY state line were 2 recreation areas around lakes managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. We had chosen the southernmost of the 2 – Ives Run Recreation Area. As we drove the last few miles through heavy rain, we were glad it had passed by the time we needed to park. Even though we arrived midweek, the large campground at Ives Run was full. We were pleasantly surprised that our campsite had full hook-ups, so we took advantage of the opportunity to sanitize our water tanks while there. And the storm had washed away the heat of the last week, which made our stay pleasantly cool and less humid. After a couple of nights, we were ready to head to NY.
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RV Stuff
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Our trip from Richmond to Reston was short, but eventful. First our tire pressure sensors on the truck’s tires stopped reporting in. First the driver’s rear tire. Then the passenger’s front tire. After a brief stop to check on them, they started reporting again – and then stopped again. We had driven 20,000 miles with no problems, so this was concerning. We managed (to our surprise) to make an appointment the next day to have it checked out. But the tire problems were just beginning. The trailer tires started having issues. At times, all 4 would drop out. They would come back and then individual tires would stop reporting in. It seemed like a conspiracy.
At our appointment at Brown’s Ram dealer the next day, the problem with the truck tires was identified as 2 faulty sensors. The replacements were installed the next day. That went much more smoothly than we had hoped, and they washed the truck for us as well.
​The trailer tires were a bit more confusing. We assumed the batteries were weak, so we replaced all the of the sensor batteries. However, our next time out, we started having problems again, replacing the battery in the problem tire twice along the way. Dave was coming to the conclusion, confirmed by a conversation with someone from TST that our problems were related to the backup camera, compounded possibly by the age of our battery supplies. It was suggested that a repeater to bridge the distance between the truck and the tires would solve the problem, as well as some newer batteries. More to come on this one.

“How tall is that bridge?” This is not a casual question, when you are driving in downtown Harrisburg. Given the high profile of an RV, it is helpful to have navigation software that will take this into account. We had used the CoPilot app in the past and had re-installed it for this summer’s journey. It allows you to input critical information about your RV’s height and weight, along with driving preference (avoid side streets, tunnels, etc.) in order to plan a route that will prevent driving down what will become a dead-end if we can’t pass under the bridge, for example.

However in Harrisburg, we found ourselves driving our 12’ tall RV under bridges that were uncomfortably low: 12’6” and 13’. Later, Cathy learned that she had been using the default RV specifications instead of the custom parameters Dave had input when he set up the app.  Oops.  However, even with the right profile being used, CoPilot chose this treacherous route.  So Dave decided we needed to tell CoPilot that we were 13’ tall to prevent it doing this again. I hope it’s listening.

While we have traveled some over the last couple of months, our plans for the next few months are to cover much more ground. So, we took some time to make some improvements in the RV while still at Pocahontas. And since we won’t be back in the park until October, we made every effort to ensure we had things lined up for Cabin Work Week.  ​

New Tires – Already?

We had picked up a screw in one of our trailer tires at Janes Island last month. The repair made by a local shop had not been done correctly. So, Dave decided we needed to replace the tire, since the bad repair could not be fixed. He than began the search for a replacement tire. The search led him to quickly decide that , rather than replace this tire with an equivalent, that we should replace all of our tires, even though the RV is only 6 months old, with Goodyear Endurance tires.  These are better quality and will give us more confidence as we travel many miles over the summer. ​

The local Discount Tire was willing to give us the best price, and it would be an easy in and out with the trailer. The tires were installed with high pressure valve stems to prevent the problems we had had with the boat trailer tires. And, since our tires were in such good shape, our son-in-law was able to use them on his trailer. It’s all good.  

More RV Stuff

A strange metal washer lay on our patio mat after retracting the awning one afternoon. Luckily Cathy saw it and we were able to locate the pin on the awning arm that it was supposed to be holding in place. After calls to Lippert and Keystone to confirm the part number we needed, a new one arrived in the mail. Thanks to the internet, we confirmed how to install it, and managed to get the washer to lock on to the pin. The awning opens and closes without incident, and we will be keeping an eye on those pins from now on.

We’ve been using our water softener for at least a couple of months since we reactivated it, so it was time to regen it again. That required 3 pounds of salt and about 20 gallons of water. Since the salty water would damage anything growing, we used the portable waste tank to collect it, so we could dump it along with our holding tanks. Once regened, the water tested perfectly, and tasted sweet. So, we are good to go for another couple of months. ​

When boondocking, we want to have the option of running our A/C if the temperatures start to soar. To ensure this, we purchased a Champion generator 2 years ago that now rides in the truck bed. It has a remote-start feature that makes it easy to start or stop it from inside the RV. However, the battery had been drained and needed replacing. Rather than order the very expensive battery that Champion recommended, Dave replaced ours with another battery that fit the space and specs. Once in place, he pressed the remote and . . . it started right up. That will make our life easier off the grid.

Cabin Work

Back in Appamattuck and Chickahominy, we managed to install another 100 knobs on screens we had repaired over the last 2 years. Maybe there will be less screen repairs needed as a result.

The news that we were finalists in the Lowes 100 Hometowns program was exciting, but to receive any funding, we would need to do some more work. Dave spent hours answering questions, collecting necessary forms, and soliciting information from the Friends and the park. Once done, the word came that the site visit could be scheduled. That meant there was a slim chance that we could be here to give the tour. Dave was able to schedule it for the day we were originally scheduled to leave. The park allowed us to stay the extra day, and we spent a couple of hours answering more questions and touring this year’s work sites along with those from the last 2 years. She took pictures of the work and even our the building where the supplies were stored. All seemed to go well, but we won’t hear about the final decision until later in June.​

Celebrating Time with Family

Time with family is a cause for celebration at any time, but even more so when we get to celebrate our granddaughter’s birthday together. Although the weather didn’t cooperate on her actual birthday, we gathered a couple of days later on a beautiful Memorial Day to enjoy her dad’s smoked ribs, a campfire and some birthday cake.  ​

Over 4 days in May, much of the road through the older section of the campground was repaved.  Little did the road crew know that what they were really doing was creating a huge chalkboard.  

​But the kids that camped the next weekend understood it that way.

Making our way to Pocahontas for our hosting duties, we made a stop in Hampton Roads to visit with friends and bide our time to avoid arriving at Pocahontas on a weekend (when the site selection at a sold-out campground is pretty slim). However, on Monday we were ready to hit the ground running with our heads full of tasks in the group cabins in preparation for Cabin Work Week.  ​

Once we were blessed, we joined the rest of the club on shore for the sock burning, presided over by King Neptune. So, why burn socks? Well, that’s because we’ve been wearing them all winter and are ready to ditch them in favor of sandals or bare feet. It’s a Chesapeake Bay thing. At any rate, the blustery morning had indeed been transformed into a beautiful sunny evening by the bay. ​

Being social butterflies, we had to excuse ourselves from the yacht club festivities to go to a Chili Cookoff at Sue and Steve’s church that Steve had organized. We arrived in time to grab a hot dog off the grill and sample some chili, catching up with Sue and Steve who were actively planning a sail north this summer to Maine. As a disinterested party, Dave was tapped to help score the chili competition and determine the winner. After he disappeared for a bit too long, Cathy joined him to finalize the spreadsheet that was needed to find the winner. Luckily, the results came before everyone had left for the evening.  ​

Back at Pocahontas​

Pocahontas has its beauty in every season, but May has been a special time to be here. After a burst of summer weather when we arrived, the temps cooled to more spring-like levels which has made for pleasant days and cool evenings. Also, we wanted to use our earlier arrival to make some preparations for Cabin Work Week that are harder to do remotely.  

Family Time​

We enjoyed some visits with Bonnie’s and Adam’s families while back in their neighborhood. And on Mother’s Day weekend we drove to NC to be with Cathy’s family for her Mom’s graveside service. After more than a year since her Mom’s death, it felt safe to be together outside for this remembrance.  

Parting Shot – Snake in the Grass

We got a little close to this guy before slowing backing away. He seemed unperturbed by our presence and went on his way.​

Host Work​

While the park’s campground was mostly full on weekends, the rest of the week the traffic was pretty light. That gave us time to take on a few other tasks. On Earth Day, the plan was to revitalize a flower bed in front of the office with some native plants. However, when a storm rolled through around the scheduled time (yes, more wind), the plan was delayed a couple of days. When the weather cooperated, we helped turn over the soil and plant black-eyed susans, goldenrod, blue-flag iris, and a few other perennials that would bloom throughout the summer and fall – hopefully for several years to come. 

“Would you be interested in making some signs for us?” Assistant Park Manager Brent asked us as we were entering our last week at the park. Sure. The state park standard was to have wooden signs with letters routed out. There were standard sizes, stencils for each size, a router and the necessary bits to make the signs. Using some simple software to plan the sign, we created printouts for each sign as requested and got to work. However, we wanted to start with a sign the need for which had come to our attention while watching some campers enter our loop.
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We finished up the light inventory that would be part of the park’s International Dark Sky certification. However, there was one critical step that needed to be done to determine if it was even worth proceeding with all the work to get certified. There is a measure of how dark the sky is that can be quantified with a device that you simply point at the night sky. (For those who care, it is the visual-band zenith luminance, measured in magnitudes per arc-second.) For the park certification, the number must be 21.2 or greater, measured over several months. If you’re not close, nothing the park does would make a significant difference in increasing the number.

Using a device loaned from another park, we took on the task to take an initial measurement. Unfortunately, the device arrived only a few days before a full moon. When we went out after astronomical twilight (i.e., when the effect of the sun is no longer felt), we kicked ourselves because a nearly full moon was up. We retreated to the RV to look up when we could get a sky that was not lit by the sun or the moon. That would occur between about 20 minutes after moonset and about 2 hours before sunrise. When would that be? Between 4:39am and 4:41am the next morning. After that it wouldn’t happen until after the full moon and our departure. So, we set our alarm for 4:15 the next morning, and then dragged ourselves out of bed.
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The moonset, which we had never seen before, was beautiful. An orange globe susupended on the horizon in a dark sky. When we reached the magic time, we succeeded in getting the magic number. After passing on the good news, we crawled back into bed. We are not early risers.

Cakes and Kayaks

Did you know that Maryland has a state dessert? It is the Smith Island cake. Smith Island is located just off shore of the Janes Island State Park. The last time we came to the area (15 years ago on Orion), we had first sampled this 7-layer cake, and were looking forward to refreshing our memory with a new sampling. After exploring the commercial establishments in Crisfield, we spoke to some of the park staff who put us in touch with a Smith Islander who worked at the park as a seasonal employee. She was working her other job, but we connected and had her make a delicious original Smith Island cake. To avoid consuming the whole thing in one sitting, we shared it with the park employees and hosts at the season opening potluck.  
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​Over the course of the month, Mark had offered to take us kayaking over to Janes Island, but inevitably the wind kicked up and we had to postpone. Finally, just a few days before we were to head out, Mother Nature cooperated. We paddled to the beach on Janes Island, visited a primitive camp site, and watched as the sun began to set. The beach was deserted, and the bay was calm and peaceful. We can see why this is such a big reason why visitors return to the park.   

Parting Shot
The night before we headed out for Hampton Roads, Cathy woke to the RV shaking from the high winds in the park. Checking the Windy app forecast, to ensure we still had a window to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, it appeared the winds would die down around 10 and pick up again around 3. Leaving around 8:30, we started across the bridge-tunnel around 11. The bay had waves (not just white caps) breaking on its northwest side. But the winds were down to 17mph, so we once again had an uneventful crossing.

​After wading through the 5-mile back up on the HRBT, we made our way to Newport News Park Campground. Luckily we arrived ahead of the crowd, since our site was pretty narrow. We had to park so far forward in the site so that our slide could fully deploy, that we had no room on the site for the truck. However, the ranger was very helpful, allowing us to park the truck on a nearby site that was not being rented due to Covid. We then had time for a bike ride to explore the park, and a fish and chips dinner from a nearby restaurant. Tomorrow we planned to join Steve and Linda for the Blessing of the Fleet, that is if the wind died down.

It’s all about the wind.