We leave in two days for a two-month adventure! This, trip has been almost a year in the planning stages and has many different facets. To begin with some background, we took a guided tour of the highlights of Italy last year. Saw many major tourist locations but it was very fast paced – no rest time nor much on our own time. We wanted to get back and explore in much deeper detail. So here is the plan:
Continue reading “Fall 2024 European Adventure”Highlights from the Summer of 24
It is nearly fall as I write this update. The nights are now much cooler, and the daytime temps are not high enough to run the A/C. It is a very comfortable time of year. Pat and I are preparing for a major international trip in a few days and then of course we will leave for Florida after the holidays. So, a very busy fall for us. In this blog update, I wanted to share our rather low-key summer. It was great, but nothing too exciting! So here is a summary:
Our Daughter’s Wedding
Back in June, Pat and I had the great privilege to see our daughter Audrey marry a fine young man, Brandon. We are both very happy for this young couple. In this blog post I will include a few photos from the wedding as well as some of my reflections on this memorable event. When it is your only daughter, you know that it will be something special!
Back Home in Virginia
It is now the middle of the summer, and the hot and humid days are lingering like an unwelcome guest. Even here in the Blue Ridge Mountains, we get into the upper 80’s for a few weeks. And nights only cool off to a very humid 70 degrees. We did have the remnants of hurricane Debbie meander through and dumping a few inches of welcome rain. As usual, I wonder how we are already well into August, and I still have many to-dos on the list. Oh well, some may remain there next year to keep me occupied! On to the blog!
Continue reading “Back Home in Virginia”Florida Winter Wrap Up
The long overdue update is finally here from our last few weeks in the Sunshine State. We have a completely different agenda in Florida than at our home in Virginia. In Florida, we have many things to do either inside the RV park or outside in the surrounding towns. We seem to be out and about exploring new destinations and usually finding a great eating establishment. Whereas back home in the mountains, we enjoy the large home and yard and venture out only once a week or so. So, here is the final winter wrap up of some of those Florida activities!
Continue reading “Florida Winter Wrap Up”Blog Update & Status
Quite obviously, my last couple of blog posts have been long delayed. In the back of my mind, I keep thinking of topics that would make good posts. And then other priorities keep surpassing the desire to sit down at the laptop and write about our travels or adventures. I’ve actually struggled with the idea to continue writing updates or to give it up and simply keep the archives to review our RV travels in our later years. What to do?
Continue reading “Blog Update & Status”The Snowbird Trip That Almost Wasn’t
We are officially, finally, off on our annual snowbird pilgrimage to the warm south. I’m writing this post from our RV park from Savannah, Georgia, an overnight stop on the way. I did have a few unexpected snags with the RV this year. Just to make things interesting, I guess.
Claytor Lake State Park Campout
Every year we load the RV for a fall foliage trip to our local state park. It is the perfect time of year for warm days, cool nights, brilliant colors, hiking, and ham radio! I make a campfire each night to keep warm by as we watch the sunset. State parks are some of the best camping places to enjoy the great outdoors. More on this 5-day adventure to Claytor Lake State Park…
The 611 J-Class Steam Train
We had the extreme good fortune to be able to ride this special train excursion on a beautiful and warm Sunday. Our ride was planned about four months ago when the Roanoke Transportation Museum announced the fall rides over six weekends. The website was launched two months later and then we were finally able to logon to the on-line queue to buy tickets. Waiting something like an hour for our time to click on the buy button. We got our five tickets! And not just regular tickets, but we splurged on the dome seat tickets! I was looking forward to this time with family and a reminder of train rides from years ago!
Summer of ’23
It has been a crazy long break since my last blog post! That last one was a wrap up of the Italy trip. Two months ago! I had not intended to take a long break, but it has been a good but busy summer, with many projects and activities. We have been quite occupied with home ownership projects, family, hobbies, and life in general. In this update, I will look back on a quick recap of the Summer of ’23 and then what’s ahead!