Today was dedicated to the past as we strolled the streets of Colonial Williamsburg preservation/restoration area.  It was a misty and overcast weekday, so the crowds were at a minimum. The period houses and storefronts were very authentic and augmented by cast members in authentic dress and manner completed the package. Dad enjoyed touring the gardens with its variety of herbs, bulb flowers, vegetables and sun flowers which were not at the peak of their season, but he appreciated them just the same because he understands the changing of the seasons that gardners and farmers endure. We saw real craftsmen and artisans at work fashioning their wares and ate lunch and dinner in reproduction establishments that added to the ambiance (and cost) of the dining experience.

The tour through the extensive museum starts at the Public Hospital (aka insane asylum),

but then turns into a more pleasant journey past pottery, china, silver pieces, furniture, folk art, currency, weather-vanes and signs, portraits and scenic paintings, doll-houses and instruments (to name a few). We spent several hours at this stop.

A courtesy bus travels the perimeter of the park with frequent stops at key locations.  It was on one of these buses that we met a woman and her mother that were traveling together much the same as Dad and I.  The daughter helped her mother with her walker and praised her for walking the full distance of the main street (about a mile – no small feat for a woman with a colostomy, and 2 knee and 1 hip replacement!).  I looked at Dad, with his heavy-duty knee braces and it occurred to me that I admired both of these seniors for pushing themselves to enjoy life experiences despite any handicaps which make that difficult. It is to people like these that I dedicate the words of the day as a quote by Thomas Jefferson in 1763, “The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes, should be one of the principal studies and endeavours of our lives.”

I hope that both of them will have many more years to enjoy many more experiences and that both of us daughters are there to enjoy it with them.

Words to live by were found in two unusual places:

In the Women’s shower room at our KOA in Natural Bridge (you have to look for inspiration in the strangest places sometimes) on a Sampler Replica decorating the wall (and you though it was going to be graffiti from the stall…).

Each Day is God’s Gift to You

Make it Blossom into a Thing of Beauty

and,

Graffiti found on a rock at a vista point on the I-64: Love Life

That is what we are trying to do with this trip, enjoy every day and make the best of what it brings.  Be thankful we are together to enjoy it.

Today was a travel and WalMart re-provision day, so there is not much to tell. We thought about going to Busch Gardens for their amazing beef in beer ribs – but park admission is almost $62 pp + $13 to park – those would be pretty expensive ribs!

We arrived safely at our Williamsburg KOA with it Coloniel theme and Fife/Drum music playing in the background.  We set up camp and planned our attack of Coloniel Williamsburg attraction tomorrow. I made a pot of spaghetti sauce and meatballs – soul food for us, since we haven’t had any for over 2 weeks! We will light our Jack O’Lantern tonight before it withers away to keep in the spirit. We will get a good night’s sleep and then “do” Williamsburg tomorrow. I promise pictures and more interesting commentary tomorrow…

In reading the promotional materials, I did come across a short story about the ghosts and hauntings for this region.  A contemporary author, L.B. Taylor, has written several books about the legends as has Pamela Kinney who also concentrates on tales encompassing Virginia’s Haunted Historic Triangle (Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown).  I may pick a couple books up while in the area – good Halloween fodder.

I fear that there will be no ability to post to the Internet tonight – it is acting up and I keep losing a signal. However, I am composing, as promised, to recant the activities of the day.

As promised, we did complete the self-auto tour of the Gettysburg battlefields this morning – over 40 acres of historical locations commemorated by statues, memorials, placards and markers. Today, it was quiet and peaceful and reverent – the complete opposite of the chaos and destruction on July 1-3, 1863. Winding through the locations, one could get a first hand view of the terrain and the challenges of the battle that lasted 3 days and cost almost 55,000 dead, injured and missing. Looking out from Little Round Top (vantage point of the North), I got goose-bumps to imagine the fear and anticipation of the hand-to-hand combat, cannonballs flying and rifle-shot all around and the bloodied bodies strewn about the fields. War is Hell.

Our words of the day come from an American Red Cross billboard along the side of Route 81 – Change a Life…Be Changed. It got me to thinking about those who have changed and made an impact on my life and those of whom I have touched and may have changed. We all should take a moment to reflect on that, and if you have the ability to do so – thank a person that has made a positive impact on you. If they are gone or it is impossible to thank them personally, at least take that moment to think of them fondly. Most importantly, we need to be cognizant to “pay it forward” and pass it on to others. Change-makers manifest themselves in many titles: Parent, Grandparent, Spouse, Den Mother, Scout Leader, Teacher, Sponsor, Mentor, Lover, a Shoulder to Cry On, Advisor….. There are personal rewards in knowing that you have helped someone in need – it will be returned to you 10-fold. To quote Forrest Gump, “And that’s all I have to say about that.”

Our final destination today was Natural Bridge, VA (near Roanoke, between the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge mountain ranges along the Appalachian Trail). Only some of the Fall color has made it here – mostly the yellows and some of the red. We traveled through a lot of farm country and saw the greenest grass EVER – it was almost fluorescent and covered many vast fields. Sometimes, we would see horses, cows or sheep grazing – but most prolific of all were muskrats. I couldn’t get a picture of them scampering across the road (and I didn’t think you wanted to see roadkill), so I will make up for that by giving you this Youtube link to a cute song: Muskrat Love (I like the Captain and Tennille version with the synthesizer “twitter”): the Captain and Tennille – Muskrat Love   From the amount of muskrats we saw – there must be A Whole Lotta Love in these parts!

The advantage of RV-ing is that you can stop just about anywhere – so we stopped in a large parking lot and had some sandwiches and chips (also a cost saver to eat in) and stretched our legs and then took off again to reach our destination early. As we got to Natural Bridge, we stopped at a farm store to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. The proprietor was a nice, older gentleman with a very thick southern accent and hospitable manner. I noticed Steelers memorabilia and commented on that being a ways from home and he told us he had been a devoted Steelers fan as long as he can remember. Interestingly, it was not because they had won so many championships, but because he admired the owners (the Rooney family) for their integrity and generosity. Here was someone who understood our words of the day.

I was a little suspect when I saw our KOA was just across the exit on I-81 – but it is actually quite nice and woodsy and quiet. There are squirrels running about and crickets chirping and peepers peeping (sounds like the Bayou in Pirates of the Caribbean). Dad is tired from a long day of driving and is hitting the hay early. Tomorrow, we will head to Williamsburg, VA for a 2 day stay. Going to try and get this darn thing to post – one more time – then it is off to bed I go as well.

Note:  If you already read the Boston walk-a-thon post (10-12-11), I am happy to announce that my camera is now dried out and I successfully downloaded the few pics I had from the crappy camera – so I added those to the post – take a peek (though they are not great).

Dad was right, as usual, by the time we got on the road to Salem the rain was subsiding and when we arrived it was a mere mist.  We never had to use the umbrellas that I had packed.  So, all in all, the weather was still cooperating and the gloominess actually added to the ambiance of Salem with its graveyards and dark history.  Though a little more commercial than we expected, it still was a very informative and enjoyable day.  We walked the full circuit of sights – stopping to view the movie at the Visitor’s Center and spending extra time in the old burial grounds, the memorial to the Witch Trial Victims and the House of the Seven Gables.  We discovered that the first person hanged for alleged witchcraft in the region was Bridgett Bishop – which intriqued us because that is my paternal family’s name.  We have no idea if she is a distant ancestor of our lineage, but it made for interesting conversation nonetheless.

In homage to Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of House of the Seven Gables, and many more classic novels,we offer as our words of the day an excerpted, truncated line from his famous story which he intended to be the moral of his tale:  “the wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive ones, and . . . becomes a pure and uncontrollable mischief.”  Good observation, good solid advice.

Since we won’t be home in time for Halloween, we stopped in the oldest candy manfacturing/sales site in the United States and bought some sweets for our sweets back home and had it shipped in time for spooky-time – then it was back to camp we go…With the Fall colors muted by the rain and gloom, my eyes turned to another sight on the drive back – many flocks of birds perched on tree branches and telephone lines in large numbers that must be getting ready for their trip southward (maybe we will see them later, as we move south as well…).  Tomorrow will be our last day in this area and we hope the weather will cooperate once more as we head out to Cape Cod and Plymouth Rock.

You are 75 years old today and we are trekking around the great city of Boston, Mass. – not bad for an old guy!  I love you and respect you with all my heart.  I dedicate the word of the day to you – FATHER – as you are a prime example of everything a father should be.

We started in Little Italy, on the North end (appropriate since that was the name of our restaurant, back in the day).  We stopped at Regina’s (world-famous) for pizza, but successfully avoided all of the pastries, cookies, cakes and pies that filled the bakeries lining the streets.  There were amazing smells and sights and a very authentic local population, many speaking italian and talking with their hands flying in every direction.  It was like being in Italy itself.

We got a little (a lot) lost and wished that my sister-in-law was there with us to be our tour guide… We finally found our trolley stop and took it on a circuit around the hot-spots – Boston Commons, Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, Bunker Hill and many other parts of the Freedom Trail.  I apologize that I have no pics to post yet (maybe never) since I dropped my camera in the sink and am trying to dry it out.   I bought a cheap-o digital that had very little memory, so I have a few, but those are not going to be great, as many were taken through the trolley window.  Once I download the software and upoad the pics, I will post.

Next, we took a harbor tour (camera was out of memory at this point) and ended up at the U.S.S. Constitution and also toured the museum. It was getting late, so we headed back to our rental car. THAT was a experience!  I will spare you the details, but needless to say it was frustrating and strenuous – but we did get our exercise in for the day!  We were rather overwhelmed with the size and scope of the city coupled with some bad maps that were missing lots of the minor streets.  The local residents were quite helpful, but rather confused themselves about locations – but we finally made it back.

Finally, we traveled to Marshfield, Mass (my in-laws had lived her many years ago) and found the Ming Dynasty Restaurant still in business.  Their food was still excellent. As we left the restaurant, it began to sprinkle.  By the time we reached the campground, it was a drizzle.  Through the night it was a full-blown rain and this morning…a deluge (expeted to last about 2 more days)! However, Dad still says we are going to Salem, “We can’t let a little rain stop us.”  (Did I say deluge???)

The farther North we traveled, the more vivid and vibrant the fall colors became.  My camera does not really do them justice, but when the sun hits them in just the right way, the indescribable colors emerge:  vivid reds, glistening golds, muted browns and a full spectrum of greens that are contrasted by the gray, white, black and sand rocks, boulders and tree trunks. I hope that all of you will get to see this once in your lifetime. Everywhere you look there are hills filled with trees that form a patchwork tapestry of beauty – so our word for the day is SPECTRUM; not only for the obvious array of color, but also for the diversity of people that we are meeting, the places that we are going and the experiences we are sharing.

Logging trucks passed us on the road as we go through a myriad of small towns with names like Pleasant River.  Motorcyclists sped by us, a contrast of scale for sure – but they were not hindered by our size as they zipped and darted around and in front of us. Clapboard houses painted in muted yellow, blues and white, most displaying an American flag, banner and/or a Fall display or Halloween scene, gave us a taste of Americana.  Every few miles, we saw rivers, streams and lakes all around us – some as calm as ice and others babbling and churning over rocks and fallen trees.  Leaves floated down around us and swirled on the road in front of us, like fairies in a wonderland.

As we neared the coast, the trees lessened in number and the population density increased somewhat, though still rather small in comparison to an urban center.  We wanted to make camp before dark, so we decided to buy fresh, live lobsters and cook them in our RV.  Though slightly space-challenged, we accomplished our quest and cracked the first crustacean just as the sunset was waning.  Watching the sunset and eating a lobster dinner – perfection!