Fun Times at Gold Manor - May 2018

Pam and I have been here in Virginia Beach for about three weeks now.  We are here to see daughter Kelly, son-in-law Jon and grandkids Brooks and Harrison.  We've been busy and have enjoyed every minute.  We are playing with the grandkids, doing projects around their house, seeing some friends from church.  We've generally making the most of our time here.

We also love doing projects around the house.  Some are more involved with others, but each project makes a dent in making their place (Gold Manor) an up-to-date home.  They purchased the property in November and have had some major renovations.

We've been concentrating on the smaller scale projects and helping out with the baby sitting and yard work.

This shows three projects underway:  Kelly is scraping the paint off the side door and garage door.  I power sprayed the garage door also and it is a long process.  Pam and I got an LED replacement light over the garage which she was putting up.  She finished that project quickly.  The rest will take a while.

I also power-washed the boat house and started with the back side.  It was a pretty nasty effort but it was a good start to getting the old paint off before we repair boards and put a new coat of paint on it. 

This tree/bush root was a particularly pesky one.  I had to dig and use the sawz-all to finally get it cut it off below ground.

I like mowing the lawn and it is a good way to get a workout!

Jon started laying some bricks for edging in the front yard and I continued the effort on the front walkway.

It is a fantastic piece of land with great neighbors and they are making it look great -- inside their house and outside on the grounds.  Can't believe they have only been here 6 months.  A lot of work but we they also are enjoying it.

In fact, we usually find ourselves outside in the back yard or down by the lake most days.

Last evening Jon, Pam and I took the boys out for a little excursion that lasted about 15-20 minutes.  Uncle Mike gave Jon a trolling motor that has replaced the oars so it is easier on all of us. Kelly stayed behind as we pulled away Kelly had cast off from the shore and was fishing.  Seeing that, Jon mentioned, "She gets prettier every day..." 😊 Jon managed to drop the hook a few times along the shore of the lake, but didn't snag one.  As we were pulling in,  Kelly said she caught one that got tangled up in the trees and weeds near shore as she was reeling him in.  He put up a fight until he broke free. Kelly was pretty relieved since she hadn't figured out how she was going to release him with out grabbing the slimy thing...

We've been here in VB a few weeks now.  It has not all been work work work.  Jon had a birthday 

and Kelly had a surprise birthday party for Jon.  He was truly surprised because it also dubbed as a Cinco de Mayo party that was 10 days before the real birthday.  Jon and the guys went on a short overnight camping trip and 30 or so guests were waiting went for him when we pulled into the driveway.

Everyone stayed for a few hours and we all had a good time.

 That's some of what we've been up to.  Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Dry Camping in the Everglades

Right before we drove down here to Key West, we spent three nights camping in the Everglades National Park at the Flamingo Campground.  First we stopped at the Ernest Coe Visitor Center, then we took the 38 mile trip down to the tip of the Everglades.

Once we got there, we decided to spend $16 a night and dry camp.  There were plenty of full hookups with 30 amp but the water and dump station were not far away, so we thought we'd do see how that went.  It was good!

The campground is huge!  the RVs and motorhomes are on 'T Loop" and we had our pick of sights.

We heard the mosquitos were bad here.  I can see where they might be.  We got a light dose of them.  A little spray and we were fine.  A couple of months from now might be a different story.

The water and the scenic area were over near the walk-in tenting. We rode our bikes over there.

The small Visitor Center and National Park office were over near where the motel and cafe are located.

The offices/large building is being renovated and slow progress is being made on it and the Butternut Cafe which is operating out of a trailer in the back on the water. The Flamingo Lodge, built in 1957, was closed after being severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

The area was once a small fishing village and a place that attracted poachers near the turn of the last century when fashion called for birds feathers and large plumes.

We spent time there enjoying the solitude and nice weather and hiked.

The egrets, herons and the Roseate Spoonbill and others were in full display.

One day we took a couple hour boat ride through the back waters.  The boat captain was a character and the commentator (a guy from British Guyana) were excellent.  The tour left from the Flamingo Marina.

It was very worthwhile.  Our guide was constantly pointing out crocodile and alligator sightings, new birds and giving us history and anecdotes through out the boat ride.

We went from the marina up the channel to Coot Bay which looked like a good sized lake.

There were only a few on the boat.  We sat near Roland and his wife who were on vacation from Switzerland.

The most common tree in the area is the Mangrove tree.  It has the distinguishable root system unlike any other.

Another day we drove almost back up to the Coe Visitor Center and stopped at the Anhinga Trail.  We heard is was worth seeing.

It was well done with a walk-way out over the water on a short trail around some ponds.

Again, there were lots of birds and alligators.

And a turtle or two..

We weren't too sure about going all the way down to Flamingo, but we were glad we did.  With a stop at Cypress National Preserve and Shark Valley and three more days in the Everglades, we feel like we have a much better appreciation for it and its beauty.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  Until next time...

Summer in the Northwest

We left Spokane and made the 6 1/2 drive to the Tacoma area.  We stopped for lunch at a scenic overview spot along the Columbia River.

The day was mixed- some clouds and some sun.   The traffic got a little crowded along I-5 but we made it to the Camp Murray ANG Recreation Area without incident.  It is across I-5 from McChord Field and Fort Lewis.

We didn't expect a whole lot from our campsite, but we were pleasantly surprised to get a spot on the water with a large grassy area under a shade tree.

We checked out nearby Fort Lewis (the historic gate says "Camp Lewis") and played golf there on Friday.

On Saturday, we drove into Seattle and walked around.  It was a another beautiful day!

Near the Market Center we peeked into the original Starbucks.  It was crowded!  Summer was bursting out all over along the water in the city park.

On the way out of town we drove over to the Space Needle.

Yesterday, we took a day trip to Mt Rainier.  We could see it in the distance from Seattle and also out near our campsite, but we wanted to learn more about it.It was about a 90 minute drive and along the way there were some beautiful scenes.

Once in the National Park, we found more beauty.

At the top, we checked the lodge, Vistor's Center and the Guide Center.

This side of the mountain was known as Paradise.  It was beautiful and the snow was still pretty deep!

On the way down the mountain, we went over to Reflection Lake

But the lake was still frozen over and there was no reflection!

It was fairly warm and it may all melt in the next month?

Later, we drove back to our campground and cooked on the grill.  Puget Sound was full of boaters and we watched all the activity.  Later, 4th of July fireworks went off and continued well past 11:00 PM.  It was another great day.

We are thoroughly enjoying our time in the majestic Northwest!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And as always, thanks for your comments!
Until next time...