Vacation and Move Update

Hi Everyone,

I know I've been away for a while.  We left on July 5 for a vacation.  We got to spend a couple days with our daughter in Indianapolis along the way.  It was so great to see her!  We went to the zoo and then out for dinner.

She also bought her first new car with my husband along to advise.  She really didn't need him too much, though.  I was impressed that she stood her ground on the amount that she wanted to pay!  While they were doing that, I went to a new-to-me quilt shop in the Indy area.  I decided to collect the license plates and row patterns for the Row by Row Experience. 

I also visited several shops in Michigan when we got there.  I was trying really hard not to buy anything else, although I wasn't totally successful!

After we left our daughter, we drove up to my parent's house in SW Michigan.  We had a couple days there before we journeyed up north for a family vacation on the Upper Peninsula

and northern Michigan.  The occasion was my parent's 40th anniversary.  To celebrate, they wanted to have a trip with my sisters, our husbands, and themselves, so we joined in and my younger sister, her husband, and my baby nephew, and my older sister and her husband from California.  It was lots of fun and was reminiscent of our vacations back in the seventies.

The Mackinaw City Lighthouse

The Mackinaw Bridge from Michigan to the Upper Peninsula.  It is a 5 mile-long suspension bridge.

The first few nights we were on the UP and stayed in these cabins.  They were really charming with a vintage feel.  They are designed to look like a wild west town or something.  My parents had the "school house" as it had a kitchenette.  We stayed in the fake "general store" although I would have preferred the "fort" cabin.  It had bunk beds, though.  

This was as close to camping/roughing it as we get!  We had indoor bathrooms and beds, but ate out on a picnic table and grilled hot dogs, etc.

The first full day was Anniversary Day.  The plan was to take the ferry over to Mackinac Island.  First, we had to take pictures, and my Mom requested that we all dress in Red, White, and/or Blue.

The Happy Couple

Our clothes really helped define us as a group on our ferry trip.  More than one person inquired what we were all about!

The ferry took us under the bridge. 

Mackinac Island is home to the famous Grand Hotel.  Have you seen the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour?  It was filmed there.  Also, there are no motor vehicles other than rescue vehicles allowed on the island.  You walk, bike, or take a horse-drawn carriage.  We took a carriage tour of the island to get an over view.  Later, when some of the others went to tour the Grand Hotel, my Mom, husband, and I stayed with baby Matthew.  

Here he is, by the way.  I probably took more pictures of him than anything else!  Anyway, he was napping away in his stroller when my husband's cell phone rang.

It was the company where he had traveled to for an interview.  They were offering him the job!!!!!!!  

We will be moving to Fort Wayne, Indiana.  It is where my younger sister lives, and is two hours or so from both my parents and daughter!  It is so wonderful to finally have a plan!

There is lots more to share, but for now I need to go.  We are back home and the packers are coming any minute!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

JoAnne

More Travels

Hi Everyone,

In my last post, I was sharing about my parent's visit and all that we were doing and seeing.  Well, there is plenty more to write about!

One day while my husband was working, the three of us went to the Norfolk Botanical Garden.  I was really impressed--it was huge.  It was so large, that there is a tram that takes you on a tour of the property.  We did that to get a layout of the land and when it was over, we walked a short ways to see what we wished.  The weather threatened to rain a bit that day, so we didn't want to get too far from the car.  Since I'm mentioning the weather, I do have to say that for nearly all of the visit, it was as close to perfect as one could imagine.  The temps were in the 70s, and it wasn't humid--and except for this outing, the skies were blue and clear.  We were really lucky.

One of the areas that we walked through was the rose garden.  It was so lovely!

This rose bush above dates from 1790!  I wished it had been in bloom, but we just missed it.  The gardens were begun back in the depression and the WPA or CCC (I can't remember which) helped do the work of digging the canal, etc.

I wished I had visited before as it would be great to see it change with the seasons.  A big portion of the property originally was an azalea garden, so it must be stunning earlier in Spring.

The garden is right next to the airport--in fact, a grassy bluff separates the two properties.  It is possible (and even encouraged) to climb up to the top and watch the airport traffic, so we did.  When I was a child, we would often go to our small regional airport to watch planes take off and land.  I've always enjoyed that.  It seems like modern airports have done away with good places to view, and especially with all of the security we need now.

We drove back home and had supper and then loaded chair into the car to go to the first of the weekly summer concerts by the TRADOC Army Band on Fort Eustis.  I wrote about some of them last year, too.

It is a little back-lit and so difficult to see, but the band is under that lovely band shell.  You can see the James River is right next to the park.  Everyone attending got a ticket for door prizes.  They gave out three prizes and I actually won one!!  I'm never very lucky, so it was fun to win.  The prize was a bag full of products advertising the Army!  I don't see myself using much of it, but perhaps my husband will, since he is the army guy in the family.

Our last trip was a weekend trip.  We left on Friday afternoon heading towards the mountains.  On the way, we stopped outside Richmond at the Cold Harbor Civil War battlefield.  Richmond was the Confederate Capital City and so was featured in more than one military campaign.  The first was early in the war as part of the Peninsula Campaign.  It was early enough in the war that if I remember correctly, Lee took command of the Confederate forces around that time.  The second was later in the war and was part of Grant's Overland Campaign--Cold Harbor was part of that.  This summer is the 150th anniversary of the Overland Campaign and in fact, we we were there just 2-3 days after the anniversary of the battle.  Not much of this battlefield is owned by the parks system, but there was enough of it with the earthworks from both sides still visible.

This is the only monument on the battlefield.  After visiting Gettysburg, Antietam, Manasses, etc. this battlefield seems almost insignificant, but in fact it was a bloody, bloody day.  One of the famous quotes of the battle:  "It wasn't war, it was murder."   Once we did the tour and stamped our passports, we were on our way again.  

We were off to visit Shenandoah National Park the next day and had a cabin to call home for a few days in Gordonsville, VA.  It is northeast of Charlottesville.  We arrived in late afternoon, got unloaded and settled, and explored the resort property.  We saw a pair of pileated woodpeckers again.

The next morning we set off for Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.  It was beautiful!  Our original plan was to drive the entire thing--there are 4 access points--the southern and northern end and two in the middle.  We entered from the second to the south end and only made it to the next "intersection."  We stopped along the way at scenic overlooks, at one of the visitor centers (got the passport stamped) and then we decided to hike down to a waterfall.  It was 3/4 of a mile down the trail to the falls and then 3/4 mile back.  It sounds easy enough, but it was 3/4 of a mile DOWN and then 3/4 of a mile UP.  UPHILL.  STRAIGHT UP!!!  No, it really wasn't that bad, it just seemed like it at the time!  Luckily it was a cool day and the trail was mostly shady.  

On the way down, we spied this cute little chipmunk.

Mom and Dad.  Again, this is the way down.  I wasn't thinking about taking pictures on the way up!  I was too worried about breathing and climbing, ha ha.  

This was the top of the falls.  You could continue hiking another 1000 feet further down to the bottom to be able to see the entire falls, but I took a pass.  This is one of the times that it wasn't about the destination--it was about the journey.

An example of the scenic views from Skyline Drive

After our hike, we stopped at the next picnic area to enjoy our picnic lunch.  Have any of you picnicked lately?  Remember how fun it is to find a table in the perfect spot, spread out all of the food, and then start shooing away gnats and flies?  Actually, I think picnicking is charming and becoming a lost activity.  These days we grab a bag of food at the drive thru and eat in the car.  What is it about the outdoors that makes any food, including a bologna sandwich, taste so much better?

After lunch, we continued the drive until we hit the next interchange where we sadly had to leave Skyline Drive behind.  The clock was ticking and we had a destination:  The Virginia Quilt Museum.  The real reason for the trip was the artists' reception for the Hampton Road's exhibit.  I have two quilts hanging there!  That is a subject worthy of its own post, so I'll be back next time with that story.

Have a great day!

JoAnne

Where Have I Been?

Hi Everyone,

I guess a better question could be, "Where have I NOT been?"  Or at least it seems that way to me.  My parents came for a visit at the beginning of June, and we did a bit of sight-seeing.  We drove up to Arlington, VA one day to visit Mount Vernon.  I had been there before, but neither my parents nor my husband had visited.

The mansion was very interesting to visit--I barely remember the first time I was there, it was the summer before high school.  I did remember seeing the key to the Bastille, though, and we saw it again.  Such a fascinating historical object.  My favorite area, though, was in one of the outbuildings.

I loved the spinning room.  There was a loom set up, as well.  I have been wanting one of these large "walking" type spinning wheels for ages.  Not to spin, mind you, just for looks.  I have done a tiny bit of spinning.  Back quite a few years ago, I volunteered as a costumed docent at Old Fort Bliss, Texas.  Once a week, large groups of the area's fifth graders would come through and learn about life in the 1850s on the "frontier."  It was great fun.

Back to our outing, though.  We finished seeing Mount Vernon and had a late lunch.  Since we had lots of day left, we drove a short ways to Arlington National Cemetery.  We all had been there before, but it is still such a moving place.

These are the Kennedy graves

The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The views of the "District" were awesome and though we were tempted to go over there, it was getting too late.

The next day we stayed local and got up early to meet up with a group of birders.  None of us keeps a life list or are by any means big into birding, but we all do feed them, enjoy seeing them, and in my parents' case--photograph them.  My mom has actually had several photos published in Birds and Blooms magazine.  This group was really nice and friendly and had a huge desire to help us see birds we had never seen before.  I saw a brown-headed nuthatch, a pileated woodpecker, a horned owl, and most exciting of all:  a summer tanager. (They were all new to me.)

We took another day trip down to the Outer Banks.  I had no idea it was so close!  We went on a Monday so there was no traffic.  It was great.  We drove down the entire way.  My parents are big lighthouse people and Hatteras was on their bucket list.  I love lighthouses, too.  We saw three of them, but only climbed Hatteras.

Also on the Outer Banks is Kitty Hawk--site of the Wright Brothers first flights.

Do any of you have the National Parks passport?  We have had one for years, and in fact, it is so old that it is full, so several years ago, we got the new larger one.  The idea is that you take it with you whenever you go to a National Park and while there, you stamp the passport with their stamp which has the date on it.  Or, alternatively, you stamp a piece of paper because you left the darn passport at home/in the car/etc. We did a lot of stamping when my parents were here!

I have much more to share, but will end for now.  I promise I will be back soon!

Have a great day!
JoAnne

An Anniversary

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

 

 Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

 We are met on a great battle-field of that war.

 

We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live.

 It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground.

    The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

   The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here,

   but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

    It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion --

 that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

  Abraham Lincoln
November 19, 1863

Fort Hamilton

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday I left you with this picture of the Verrazano Bridge from Liberty Island.  The bridge spans the entrance to New York Harbor to connect Brooklyn with Staten Island.  When it was completed in 1964, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It is known as the start of the New York City Marathon.  Maybe you are wondering why I have learned so much about one of the bridges in the area?

 

 

 

Well, maybe it will help to show you the view out of our hotel room's window.

 

 

Fort Hamilton, where we were staying, is right under the bridge!  The bridge is right outside our window.  Luckily our room was pretty much sound-proof so we didn't hear too much of the traffic going by all night. 

It was convenient to have the bridge as such a significant landmark to where we were located.  When we got out of the subway the first time, back in Brooklyn, it was really easy to see what direction we needed to start walking.  Another fun fact:  the bridge is also featured in the movie Saturday Night Fever, so quite often as I was walking around, I had Bee Gees songs running through my head.

I had expected to go to New York, see the city over the weekend, and when my husband completed his work on Monday, we would go home on Tuesday.  On Monday, however, the work he was doing "mushroomed" and ended up requiring the whole week.  I had brought my Kindle and spent the first two days reading, but then I got restless.  I found a food tour in the city and I also wanted to visit City Quilter in Chelsea.  But every time I decided I wanted to go, I didn't.  Either I was a bit intimidated to go by myself, or I really didn't want to go on my own.  At any rate, I contented myself with staying on post.  We couldn't even go out in the evening because my husband had to work on the computer.

I planned to visit the museum on post, but it is closed for renovations.  The post is quite historic.  Robert E Lee was there in the mid 1840s when he was a Captain in the Engineers, however it was built around the time of the Revolution.

I find a pleasing bit of symmetry in the fact that an army fort in New York was named for Alexander Hamilton who was the hero of the battle of Yorktown, right here where I live.  Did you know that?  When the Colonists and French surrounded the British at Yorktown and began the siege, the British had two large entrenchments called redoubts that needed to be captured.  French troops under the command of Lafayette took one and the Colonists, led by Alexander Hamilton took the other.  Alexander Hamilton is actually a really interesting founding father.  He became Washington's Secretary of the Treasury and is credited with the birth our country's banking system.  For that honor, and others, he is featured on our $20 bill.  His life ended when he dueled with Aaron Burr and was mortally wounded and died the next day.

At any rate, my husband was able to finish up things on Friday and we headed home on Saturday.

To get home, we had to cross the bridge.  It has two decks, so we went on the top one, so we could see things.  We actually crossed over it twice to visit the statue of Liberty.  When you leave Brooklyn it is a $15 toll! 

 I was really glad to be home because I had done no sewing whatsoever!  It is almost the end of the month and I hadn't even begun this month's Schnibble yet!  I am working on it now and should have something to show you tomorrow. 

Have a great day!
JoAnne