After a few weeks of some fairly active sightseeing, we were ready for some relaxation. Staying at the RV park at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio seemed to fill that need. Fort Sam Houston is home to the Army’s Medical Corps and it is very busy with soldiers (as well as sailors and airmen) attending basic and advanced medical training courses. The RV park is very nice and in a remote section of the post. There is a nice office with a lending library and lounging area, although the lounging area was closed due to the pandemic. (I am going to be so glad to be able to stop using that phrase, “due to the pandemic.”)
There were routes we could use for biking and walking, I even found a wooded trail that made me feel like I was on a hike.
Two of the more popular tourist attractions are the Alamo and the Riverwalk. We had done these on previous visits, but I wanted to see the Alamo again. I was glad that we did as they had expanded the exhibits and I learned things about the era and the battle of which I had not been aware. I am still impressed that many of the men who fought and died in the Alamo were not from Texas, but were seeking a new life and were willing to fight for it. They had the opportunity to leave before Santa Anna attacked, but were willing to sacrifice themselves to give General Sam Houston and the brand new Texas Army a chance to prepare.
Later in the week we decided to ride the San Antonio River Trail to tour the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park. In the 1700s Franciscan monks (members of the Order of Saint Francis of Assisi) established a chain of missions along the San Antonio River. The mission system sought to bring Indians into the Spanish society and the Christian faith. Financed by the Spanish Crown, the missions served both the church and state. The missions became communities for native Indian tribes and centers of commerce. They were also military posts, protecting the mission communities from marauding Indian tribes of Apache and Comanche. All of the missions shared common designs in that they were surrounded by a wall to protect them from Indian attack, a central area that served as a trading center, a church with lodging for the Franciscan monks.
The Hike & Bike Trail winds alongside the San Antonio River through old neighborhoods and farmlands. Dedicated paved pathways that connect the missions along the river are reserved for bikes and pedestrians only. The Hike & Bike Trail is an easy walk or ride and is suitable even for children.
We began our ride at the Mission San Juan Capistrano. This is the third in the series of mission from San Antonio, and was established in 1731. By 1762 there were 203 Indians residing in the mission. They attempted to build a second church at the mission in 1772, but construction was stopped in 1786.
We rode north, toward San Antonio, and our next stop was the Mission San Jose. This mission was founded1720. At its peak in 1768, there were 350 Indians from three tribes living within the mission in 84 two-room apartments in the perimeter wall. The limestone church and “convento,” where the monks lived, are the centerpiece of the mission. The Rose Window is the premier feature of the church.
The third mission we visited is Mission Concepcion. This is the closest to San Antonio and is one of the country’s oldest stone churches. This mission and the others combined the teachings of Catholic Spain with native cultures, giving rise to the unique culture of South Texas. The perimeter walls and other buildings are gone and all that remains is the central church building.
From there we rode the rest of the way into downtown San Antonio for a special treat. We stopped at Schilo’s, a German restaurant near the Riverwalk. It is famous for its homemade root beer and each of us enjoyed one of their root beer floats.
We then retraced our route to Mission San Juan where we loaded our bikes back into the truck and drove to Mission San Francisco de la Espada. This is the fourth and farthest from San Antonio. In addition to the monks and Indians, there were eight Spanish soldiers stationed there to teach the Indians how to defend the mission. In 1826, a band of Comanche raided the cornfields and killed the livestock. The same year, a kitchen fire destroyed most of the buildings.
All of these missions continue to serve their communities, conducting worship services and ministering to the local population.
We rode over twenty miles, enjoyed some beautiful weather, learned a lot about the history of the area, and enjoyed a special dessert. What a great day!
On April 20th we headed west to visit Big Bend National Park.
We left Panama City and headed west along the Florida Panhandle. Our next major stop was New Orleans, but that was too far to drive in a day. Rather than staying overnight in a Walmart parking lot, we looked for an appropriate campground. Mobile, AL was about halfway between Panama City and New Orleans and, much to my surprise, there is a state park on an island in Mobile Bay, Meaher State Park.
Meaher State Park is on US-98 as it crosses Mobile Bay just north of I-10, making it not far off our route. I was impressed by this little park. There are plenty of trees, the sites are all full hookups, it had a boat launch for us to launch our kayaks, and three geocaches. We were able to ride our bikes across the road to Five Rivers Delta Center and explore the complex. If you are in the area this is another great place to launch kayaks.
We had explored Mobile and the Battleship Alabama on previous visits so we took advantage of this time to just relax and enjoy the setting. Our first morning we kayaked in Ducker Bay and Bay John, at the north end of the larger Mobile Bay. It was a good thing that we did it then because the next day we were hit by a big storm with high winds. There were white capped waves on the Blakely River.
After three days, we hit the road for New Orleans.
We had already run into one glitch in our travel plans. We had reservations to stay at Joint Base Belle Chase, but we were notified that our reservation had been canceled because the RV park was closed due to the pandemic. That caught us by surprise, but we recovered and were able to get reservations at nearby Bayou Segnette State Park. Bayou Segnette is a nice park with good-sized sites and good areas to ride bikes and walk. The downside of the park is that it is in a wetland and there were large areas of standing water throughout the campground. We made the best of the situation.
We were able to ride our bikes, for exercise, almost every morning. On Easter Sunday, we were able to attend an actual church service, our first since the beginning of the pandemic. The pastor of Aurora United Methodist Church was especially thrilled that we chose to join them for worship that Sunday.
On Monday, we drove to the town of Algiers and took the Algiers Ferry across the river to New Orleans. For a buck apiece, this is much easier than driving and finding a place to park our one-ton dually! Our first stop was Café Beignet for breakfast. We had eaten at the more famous Café Du Monde before and wanted to try a new spot. The beignets were a little heavier than at Café Du Monde, but I liked them better.
From there we wandered the French Quarter. We followed a cell phone app that gave us a walking tour. It was fun to listen to the street musicians as we toured the buildings. We stopped for an adult beverage at the Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Piano Bar and Lounge and enjoyed their outdoor patio. After wandering through the Shops at the Colonnade, we took the ferry back across the river.
The next day we again took the ferry across and walked about a mile and a half to the National World War II Museum. The Museum was originally the D-Day Museum but has expanded to encompass all theaters of WW II. You will need at least one full day to tour the museum and many take two days to fully explore it. It is an excellent experience. You can pick up a “dog tag,” register it, and follow your WWII participant’s story at kiosks throughout your Museum experience and online after your visit. The displays cover a wide variety of historical information. I found the display about war correspondent Ernie Pyle very interesting. He was a spokesman for the common soldier. After covering the campaigns in Europe, he continued his covering of the war in the Pacific where he was killed by a Japanese sniper. I really liked the personal stories that were highlighted in almost every display. It helped me to relate and more clearly understand what the display portrayed. For example, I discovered that movie star Clark Gable flew five missions as a B-17 waist gunner
After touring the museum, we walked back to the French Quarter and had dinner in a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. While we enjoyed our dinner, we could watch the crowd and listen to the action and entertainment of the French Quarter.
The Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve is made up of six sites; the French Quarter Visitor Center, the Prairie Acadian Cultural Center, the Acadian Cultural Center, the Wetland Acadian Cultural Center, the Barataria Preserve, and the Chalmette Battlefield and Cemetery. We visited two of these areas. At the 26,000-acre wetland of the Barataria Preserve, we hiked along the boardwalk. Wetlands are a unique ecosystem that never ceases to amaze me. In addition to providing habitat to a wide range of animal and plant life, they act as a filter, preventing much pollution from traveling downstream.
We also toured the Chalmette Battlefield where General Andrew Jackson, with federal troops and volunteers, including colored freemen, fought and defeated a superior British force in the last major battle of the War of 1812. Ironically, the battle was fought two weeks after peace had been negotiated, and the Treaty of Ghent had been signed. I always imagined that the battle was fought over a larger mass of terrain, yet it was confined to a relatively small area.
They day before we left we were hit by a huge rainstorm that brought even more flooding into the campground. Fortunately, the campsites are located on built up land and most were high and dry, although a few families looked like they were camped on small islands.
On the morning of April 11th we were back on the road and headed for Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, TX.
From Recreation Plantation we made the short drive to Port Richey in the Tampa area. Pat’s brother and sister and their spouses had rented a house in New Port Richey, we have a niece that lives in nearby Oldsmar, and friends from Key West (Butch and Linda Kurfees) that live in New Port Richey. How many more reasons do you need to visit the area?
We stayed at Sundance Lakes RV Resort. As with many other parks in Florida there was plenty of room for us as many of the Canadians that “snowbird” had to stay home because of the pandemic. Sundance Lakes is another nice park. They normally have plenty of activities going on, but due to the pandemic, the pace was much slower than normal. The big benefit of this particular park was we are within an easy bicycle ride to Pat’s family’s rental and a short drive to Butch and Linda’s house.
One of the first things we were able to do was watch our nephew, Jeremiah, play football. It’s always fun to watch him, sometimes more fun to watch his mother cheering him. The highlight of the game was Jeremiah making an interception. I was so lucky to have the camera shot framed at just the right time!
Throughout our visit, we got together for drinks, for meals, and just hanging out. We always have a good time when we are together.
One day we all car-pooled to the Town of Crystal River to watch the manatees at Three Sisters Springs. The manatees migrate in and out of the springs as the weather changes. During the cold winter, they head for the warm fresh water and when it warms, head back out into the Gulf of Mexico. Normally Pat and I watched from our kayaks. This time we were on the boardwalk and got a different perspective from the higher vantage point.
Pat’s brother, Geri and his wife, Marcia, were considering getting a new RV and they joined us to check out some of the larger RV dealers east of Tampa. We had a good time and I got a big laugh from the posters at the IHOP where we had lunch.
On March 21st we packed up and took the short drive to Rock Crusher RV Park in Homosassa to spend more time in the Crystal River area. Rock Crusher RV Park is a high-class facility and the site we were assigned had been upgraded with pavers and had a storage shed at the rear of the lot.
We spent a lot of time in our kayaks. After all, that was the reason we came here. First we launched from Hunters Spring City Park and paddled to Three Sisters Springs. Three Sisters appears to be the most popular manatee viewing site in the area and has suffered from being so popular. State Park personnel limit the number of people that can enter the spring. This was one of the periods when no boats were allowed in, so we could only watch from the main channel. I have fond memories from about twelve years ago when we visited Three Sisters and there were only a dozen or less in the area. The next day we paddled in the Homosassa River. We paddled pass Monkey Island and then to the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.
On March 25th we were on the road again, this time to Tyndall AFB near Panama City, FL.
Throughout our stay at Recreation Plantation COVID-19 was always a factor in our planning and decision-making. We formed an informal “bubble” with our friends. On occasion, we did participate in community events, but did our best to be friendly and distant at the same time. I am so looking forward to when this pandemic is behind us.
Our friends in Recreation Plantation included some Key West friends that had purchased homes in The Villages. Rusty and Charito Schlagheck were one of these couples. We had enjoyed Christmas Dinner with them and the Fords and they invited all of us to their house for a grilled brisket. They are certainly enjoying themselves in their new home. They had been full-time RVers until they decided to settle down, and it was interesting to see an actual home in The Villages.
Getting our COVID-19 vaccinations was a priority for us. Fortunately we were able to get our shots before Florida insisted that their vaccinations be limited to permanent and part-time (Snowbirds who owned property) residents. Having our legal residence in South Dakota could have been problematic and we were not going to be in any one place long enough to get both shots until we got to the Tacoma, WA area in May. I felt sorry for the staff and volunteers working in the cold and wind, but appreciated what they were doing.
In The Villages, there are four Village Squares that are social centers for music, shopping, and restaurants. We visited the Spanish Springs Square and Sumter Landing Square several times for dining and shopping. Spanish Springs hosted a craft fair and a Mardi Gras celebration. It was interesting to see how people handled COVID protocols. Some consistently wore masks, maintained social distancing, and hand washing, while others acted as though COVID had never happened. We (and our friends) were very careful.
One of my favorite activities in Key West was the weekly jam session. For years, Gary Buck had coordinated this event in Key West. This year I picked up on his tradition and started a jam session that met on Tuesday afternoons. After a slow start, Gary and some other amateur musicians arrived in the park to form a group that had fun sharing songs and tips with each other.
I was struck by the hardships faced by the residents of Texas and neighboring states by the winter storms in February, and I wanted to do something to help. I performed two guitar concerts and put out the word that all of my tips would go to raise money for Feeding America to support the food banks in the area. Thanks to the generosity of the residents of Recreation Plantation, I was able to contribute $250 to Feeding America.
We took a day to drive to Silver Springs State Park to go kayaking. What a great time! There was wildlife everywhere. I was amazed how comfortable to the turtles and other wildlife were with humans. Normally the alligators don’t care, but the turtles normally slide into the water at the slightest interaction with people. At Silver Springs, you could paddle right up to them and they continued to sun on the fallen trees along the river. It seemed like you could almost touch them before they would move.
The day before we were supposed to leave, the starter on our truck failed. It took the local dealer three days to get a new starter and get it installed. Talk about a bummer! However, we continue to prevail.
On our last night in the park, we went out to dinner at La Palma Mexican Grill in Leesburg with our good friends from Lansing, MI – Steve and Debbie Smith. The food was good, but we really enjoyed the 3 for 1 margaritas!
The Coronavirus Pandemic has caused many changes to our normal routine. While for most people that means wearing masks and maintaining social distancing, in our case it affects where we live. We normally spend our winters in Key West, but the RV park at the Naval Air Station remains closed so that wasn’t an option. The RV park at Patrick Air Force Base near Cocoa Beach, FL is a favorite location, but they don’t accept reservations and we didn’t want to base where we would stay from November through March on a “roll of the dice.” Many people we know from Key West have stayed at the Recreation Plantation near The Villages and were talking about spending the winter there instead of Key West. Based on all of this we made a reservation at Recreation Plantation.
So far it has been a great choice. While we miss the camaraderie of our “military family” at Key West, many of them are here, and the other “residents” of Recreation Plantation are very welcoming. There is plenty to do here. We are right next to The Villages and there is a system of golf cart/bicycle/walking paths through The Villages we can use. It makes for a nice, scenic ride without having to worry about vehicle traffic. There are many places to shop and eat within a short ride from the RV park. The park has an Activities Office that coordinates several events within the park. The Coronavirus has caused several to be cancelled, but the staff and residents have been very creative in keeping the place hopping.
There is a Thursday morning gathering for free coffee and donuts where they make general announcements about park activities. There is a trailer with fresh produce for sale on Thursdays and one morning there was a blood drive that I supported. I am easily bribed with free juice and cookies and a Wal-Mart gift card!
We celebrated Thanksgiving by inviting another couple Mike and Judy, friends from Key West, to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Pat baked a turkey and apple pie and our friends brought side dishes. We ate at our picnic table and enjoyed a great meal with great company. I took pictures of the turkey and the pie, but we were having such a good time I forgot to get any pictures of the people! 😦
The local town of Lady Lake held a Christmas parade that was very entertaining.
After Thanksgiving, we decorated our trailer with Christmas decorations. Usually we would have to take these down after a few days because we would fly back to Michigan for the holidays and store the trailer somewhere else. This year we were not flying back home because of the pandemic and not storing the trailer, so they could stay up! Our big decoration is our outdoor tree made out of lights we used to hang on our house.
I discovered that a local SCUBA dive shop, Underwater Adventures, was offering the PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) Rescue Diver course. I have wanted to take this course for a long time and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
The course was challenging, mentally as much as physically. I was fortunate to have been a Red Cross Safety Programs Field Representative and, as a result, an Instructor-Trainer in both First Aid and Water Safety. That training and experience was a great help in completing this course. The course included preventing and dealing with equipment failures, assisting divers in trouble both underwater and on the surface. We did the open water diving at Alexander Springs, part of the Ocala National Forest. Our instructor wanted to do this training in poorer visibility, but I was happy to swim in the crystal clear water of the spring. The practical examination in open water was definitely challenging. Doing mouth to mouth rescue breathing while treading water was tough when I was 40, it was even more so at 71 years old!
I don’t see myself becoming a Divemaster or Instructor, but do feel that I am now a much safer diver and will be able to safely and effectively assist other divers who may be experiencing difficulties.
One Sunday morning (at about 1:00 am) we awoke to a whooshing sound and the strong smell of ammonia. When I went outside to investigate I found that the cooling unit of our refrigerator had ruptured and ammonia was spewing out of a rusted pipe. After almost ten years on the road and constant use, it was not surprising that it died. Granted, that didn’t make us happy about it. The next morning I called around and made arrangements to get it repaired at RV Specialist in nearby Leesburg. We had to leave our RV with them overnight for the repair and we took advantage of this to get a hotel room in Disney Springs and see the Christmas lights and displays. We picked up our rig the next morning and our refrigerator is now operating like it was brand new again.
December 12th was the Army-Navy Game. Unlike the past few years when we were at Patrick AFB and this was a big deal, we didn’t find anyone in the park that was hosting a game party, so we did our own thing and cheered Army on to victory. We have no doubt that our enthusiastic support was key to the victory for the Black Knights.
One of the local churches set up an outdoor Christmas light display and it was a pleasure to see the religious symbols of the season in lights.
I usually practice playing my guitar outside our RV in the afternoon and many of the people who had stopped by to listen, encouraged me to do a performance for the park. On December 14th I used the back of our pickup for a stage and held a “Music on the Lawn” performance. It was unique, compared to other campgrounds. In the past people would show up with their lawn chairs, but here it was like a “drive in theater” for golf carts! It was fun and I put on my Santa hat to finish the performance with Christmas Carols.
On December 17th the park had a lighted Christmas Parade for golf carts and bicycles. We decorated our bikes with gift wrap and lights. What a lot of fun! Did I tell you there are a lot of golf carts around here? I discovered that Florida has regulations for golf carts and “Low Speed Vehicles” (LSV). LSVs are super golf carts with higher standards (turn signals, exterior rear view mirrors, head lights, and seat belts. These are considered street legal and you see them all over town.
Wreaths Across America is a non-profit charity that coordinates wreath-laying ceremonies at more than 2,100 locations across the United States and abroad While most of the effort is on national cemeteries, some local ones participate. We volunteered this year at the Lady Lake Cemetery.
On December 22nd I gave myself an early Christmas present – a Total Knee Replacement on my right knee. Look for more information on this in a future post.
We celebrated Christmas Day with some Key West friends, Roger and Bonnie Ford, and Rusty and Charito Schlagheck. Roger and Bonnie hosted us at their motor home. A great meal with great friends – a true Merry Christmas!
We traveled from Maryland to Virginia and camped at the Kings Creek RV Park at the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station. This is a very nice park with concrete pads and full hookups. It is well off the beaten path which is a mixture of good and bad. It’s good because it is nice and quiet. It’s not so good because it is not close to much of anything. Fortunately it is in the middle of the Historic Triangle. The Historic Triangle includes the three historic colonial communities of Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown. What a great base to explore Colonial America!
We started our exploration by visiting the Yorktown Battlefield. The COVID-19 pandemic is causing many modifications to local attractions. Many of the local museums and exhibits are either closed or limited in scope. For example, the Yorktown Battlefield Visitor Center is closed, but the battlefield can still be toured. There was a Ranger on duty outside the Visitor Center to give advice, maps, and guides, but no Ranger-led tours. On his advice, we downloaded the Yorktown Tour App (available for iPhone and Android). This provided us with a narration for every stop on the Battlefield. The app also includes a tour for Historic Yorktown.
The Battle of Yorktown was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington, and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau. They defeated the British army commanded by General Charles Cornwallis. The siege proved to be the last major land battle of the American Revolutionary War. The surrender by Cornwallis prompted the British government to negotiate an end to the conflict.
The guide led us to the critical places on the battlefield. The two places that impressed me the most were Redoubts 9 and 10 and the Surrender Field. Redoubts 9 and 10 were part of the outer fortifications of the British Army. The Americans and French could not defeat Cornwallis until these positions were taken. On the night of October 14, 1781, the French attacked Redoubt 9 and the Americans attacked Redoubt 10. The allies approached with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets. Sappers (Engineer soldiers) led the way with axes to chop through the log abatis (log obstacles) that protected the redoubt. Looking inside the redoubts I was amazed that the defenders and attackers would even fit inside. The attacks were successful and the defeat of Cornwallis’ Army was close at hand. The assault on Redoubt 10 is even highlighted in the National Infantry Museum at Fort Benning, GA.
The Surrender Field was where the British Army formally surrendered to the French and the Americans. General Cornwallis claimed illness so he wouldn’t have to personally surrender to what he felt was an inferior enemy. When Cornwallis’ deputy General O’Hara, leading the British troops, tried to surrender to the French, General Rochambeau calmly pointed to General Washington. Washington was so enraged by Cornwallis’s snub that he directed his Deputy Commander, General Benjamin Lincoln to accept the surrender.
After the Battlefield Tour we parked and walked around Yorktown. It’s a small, quiet community and it made me wonder what it must be like to live in a “living museum.” We visited the Yorktown Victory Monument. On October 24, 1781, LTC Tilghman, Washington’s Aide de Camp, reached Philadelphia and advised the Continental Congress of Washington’s victory at Yorktown. Five days later the Congress authorized the construction of the Victory Monument. It was to be, “a marble column, adorned with emblems of the alliance between the United States and his Most Christian Majesty.” However, the monument was not constructed until 100 years later. This should have been an early warning to anyone who expected the government to act quickly on anything.
After dinner at the Yorktown Pub, we walked to the Yorktown Riverwalk Landing and attended an outdoor concert. This was part of a series of free concerts presented by York County and we enjoyed both the setting and the music. Ice cream cones from Ben & Jerry’s was a special treat!
On Sunday we explored the Jamestown Settlement. We drove to the Chickahominy Riverfront Park and rode our bikes along the Virginia Capital Trail to the Jamestown Settlement, a seven-mile ride, one-way. The Jamestown Settlement is operated by the State of Virginia and the nearby Jamestown Island is operated by the National Park Service.
The Jamestown Settlement is a good mix of indoor and outdoor exhibits. All of the outdoor exhibits have living history docents to explain and demonstrate how the early settlers lived. Our first stop was the Powhatan Village.
Next stop was the Jamestown Wharf. Here we were able to board and explore a replica of the Susan Constant, one of the three ships the original Jamestown settlers traveled aboard from England. A new fact I learned was that the passengers were considered cargo and had no living quarters. They would eat and sleep on the exposed deck or wedged in among the casks and bundles of the non-human cargo. I can’t imagine how much fun a cross-Atlantic voyage would have been in those conditions!
James Fort was constructed to protect the settlers from foreign attackers and the local Indian tribes. Throughout the days of the settlement, relations with the Indian tribes were tenuous. The spread of the settlers into traditional Indian hunting grounds was a constant irritant and the poor communications between the two groups only acerbated the situation. For example; in 1609, Chief Powhatan ordered a siege of James Fort that led to the “Starving Time” that killed all but 60 of the settlers. The folk tale of Pocahontas marrying John Smith is mere fiction. In fact she was kidnapped in a raid by the settlers. However, she did marry John Rolfe in 1614, a marriage that resulted in a seven-year peace.
The inside exhibits are impressive. They describe, in detail, the challenges faced by the settlers and the Indians as they strove to coexist in the area.
On Wednesday, October 7th, we checked out a local distillery and a winery. It was an interesting exploration of different tastes. One of the unique aspects of the Copper Fox Distillery was that it had been a “speakeasy” with a doorway hidden by a bookcase. The Williamsburg Winery offered a great view in addition to some fine wines.
Thursday, we drove to Fort Monroe. This fort was built in 1834 and is the largest stone fort built in the United States. It was vital to the coastal defense of the U.S for hundreds of years. This was the headquarters for the Army Training and Doctrine Command until 2011, when it was designated as a National Monument. What I found most interesting is that the quarters in the fort can now be rented through the Fort Monroe Authority. Some lucky family is now living in the former quarters of 2LT Robert E. Lee and his wife! The fort also houses the Casemate Museum that chronicles the history of Fort Monroe and features a room where Confederate President Jefferson Davis was held prisoner following the Civil War. There is also a guide for a walking tour of the fort available.
Friday, we went back to Yorktown to tour the American Revolution Museum. This, like the Jamestown Settlement, is operated by the State of Virginia. If you’re in the area I suggest that you visit both of these museums, be sure to buy the pass for entrance to both museums and get a 15% discount. The displays and movies were just outstanding! I particularly liked the personal stories contained in many of the exhibits. There were outdoor displays of a Continental Army encampment and a tobacco farm. The encampment’s field kitchen was a circular trench with alcoves for the cooking fires. I found it interesting the Captain’s tents have not gotten any bigger over the last 200+ years!
On Monday, October 12th, we drove to Fort Eustis to shop at the commissary and tour the Army Transportation Museum. The last time I was at Fort Eustis, was decades ago when I was a student in the Surface Deployment Planning Course. The Museum has certainly improved since then. The exhibits traced the history of military transportation from the horse-drawn wagons and pack mules of the Revolution to the HUMVEEs and helicopters of today. Interestingly, the Army actually used pack mules again in parts of Afghanistan, some things never change! The Transportation Corps is the “Spearhead of Logistics.” You can have all the stuff you ever wanted, but if you can’t get it to where it needs to be, then it is worthless. While I spent the bulk of my career as an Infantry officer, I am both proud and have fond memories of the short time I was assigned to the Transportation Corps.
Some of the special events that are highlighted are
1. The motor convoy that traveled from coast to coast in 1919 to test the Army’s ability to move equipment over extended distances, led by Lieutenant Colonel Eisenhower.
2. The “Red Ball Express” in WW II to rush supplies to fast moving Allied forces in Europe.
3. Rebuilding and operating a railroad system in Europe after it was destroyed by pre-invasion bombing.
4. The deployment of forces to Saudi Arabia for Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. My own Transportation Detachment, the 1009th Movement Control Team, was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation for supporting this effort.
The Transportation Corps operates trucks, but also operates trains, surface ships, and aircraft. These numbers may be out of date, but at one time, the Army had the fourth largest Navy and the tenth largest Air Force in the world.
We made one more trip to Yorktown to sail on the Schooner Alliance for a tour of the York River. It was a pleasant cruise, but we were disappointed by the lack of wind and we motored around the area most of the time. The crew did a great job narrating about the sites in the area. As we approached the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station we could see a submarine that was unloading its ammunition before going to the Norfolk Naval Station for maintenance and refitting. However, the highlight of the cruise was discovering a pod of dolphins. They entertained all of us with a great show as they played around our schooner.
After doing so much sightseeing in the area, we spent our last week taking it easy and enjoying the quiet of the campground. On October 21st, we departed for Havelock, NC and Marine Corps Air Station – Cherry Point.
It’s amazing what you can discover searching the internet. I can’t remember what I was looking for, but I stumbled across a discussion of kayaking on Mallows Bay in Maryland. The more I read, the more I was intrigued. There is a lot of history of the Liberty Ships, cargo ships that were mass produced for World War II. What I discovered was that between 1917 and 1919, during World War I more than 100 wooden steam ships were built for the U.S. Emergency Fleet. Their construction in forty shipyards and in seventeen states reflected the massive national wartime effort.
At the end of WWI, these ships, poorly constructed and now obsolete, had to be disposed of. Most of them were purchased by the Western Marine & Salvage Company and brought to Mallows Bay, off the Potomac River. Here they were stripped of their metal components, beached in Mallows Bay, and burned to the waterline. The burning occurred on November 7, 1925, and was the greatest destruction of ships at one time in U.S. history. During WWII, Bethlehem Steel Corporation dredged a salvage basin to recover the remaining metal components from the ships to support the war effort. After that was completed the ships were towed back into the bay.
In the 1960’s there was an attempt to remove the hulls in order to build a power generating station in the area. The House Committee on Government Operations identified that an aquatic habitat and ecosystem had been created by the hulls of these ships and declared their removal was unnecessary.
Charles County manages a day-use area at the site. The Ghost Fleet was designated as a National Treasure in 2017. The Chesapeake Bay Program and Charles County has published a guide that highlights sixteen of these wrecks for a self-guided tour.
The Accomac is the only steel-hulled vessel in Mallows Bay. It serviced the ferry route between Cape Charles and Norfolk until it suffered a fire and was taken out of service. It was scuttled in Mallows Bay in 1973.
The Benzonia was named after a Michigan town, served for a brief period during WWI and then sold to the Western Marine and Salvage Company.
The Three Sisters is a group of three wrecks: The Dertona, the “Heron Wreck,” and the Moosabee. The Dertoona was briefly in the coasting trade. The “Heron Wreck” is named for the frequent sightings of great blue herons on and about the site. The Moosabee carried timber logs to Europe from 1919 until 1922.
The Flower Pot Wrecks are two unidentified U.S. Shipping Board WWI ships. Both wrecks are overgrown with vegetation and fire damage is evident.
The SS Boone was named by the wife of President Woodrow Wilson. The Boone was launched in 1918. Her career was brief and it was sold for scrap in 1922.
We kayaked around the Ghost Fleet on Monday morning, September 28th. After lunch we drove to Fort Washington. Constructed from 1814 to 1824, this was the first permanent fort constructed to defend the Potomac River and the Nation’s Capital. In addition to touring the fort, we were able to see the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and the Washington Monument.
We spent Tuesday doing some shopping and maintenance. On Wednesday, we headed for Yorktown, VA and America’s Historic Triangle.
On September 11, 2001 forty passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 fought the first battle of the War on Terror. We don’t know, but believe the terrorists intended to fly Flight 93 into the Capitol Building. Because of these brave actions Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, PA instead of the Capitol.
I have been fortunate to have visited this hallowed ground on three previous occasions. I led the Leadership Development Program for the Pittsburgh District of the Army Corps of Engineers from 2008 to 2013. During three of these years, my students and I visited the Flight 93 Memorial while it was being built by National Park Service and the Corps of Engineers. What an experience! We were able to see parts of the site that are not open to the public and hear the inside story of the challenges faced by these organizations.
2011 LDP Class
We stayed at the Friendship Village RV Park near Bedford, PA. It’s a nice park and a relatively short drive to the Memorial. The day we toured the Memorial was overcast and dreary, and it set an appropriate somber tone for our visit. This was the first time that I was able to tour the new Visitor Center. It was quite a contrast from my first visit. Then the “Visitor Center” was nothing more than the pole barn that had been the headquarters for the National Transportation Safety Board, the FBI, and the County Coroner during the initial recovery. It displayed some of the initial items recovered from the crash and memorial items left by families of the passengers and crew, and nearby residents.
Flight 93 Temporary Memorial
The new Visitor Center is a building filled with stories. Two huge outer walls trace the flight path of the aircraft prior to the crash. Inside the exhibits include the position of the passengers prior to the hijacking and their general location after the hijacking. This was compiled based on the seatback phones they used to call family. There are transcripts of some of those calls, radio calls from pilots and air traffic control personnel, and excerpts of radio and TV broadcasts. All of these made it real. It brought back memories of that terrible day when I heard the news in real time.
The approximate point of impact is marked with a huge boulder. The story of how the boulder was transported and placed is a testimony to the creativity and dedication to the private contractors, National Park Service, and Corps of Engineers personnel involved. The crash site itself is only accessible to Flight 93 passenger and crew family members.
From the Visitor Center we walked along a trail to the Memorial Plaza. This was constructed before the Visitor Center and memorializes the names of the forty passengers and crew in a wall constructed along the flight path. From the end of the wall you can see the boulder at the impact site.
From there we walked along the walkway through the forty hemlock groves back to the Visitor Center. On our way out of the Memorial we stopped at the Tower of Voices. This was the last part of the Memorial to be built. This tower has a system of forty wind chimes, representing the voices of the passengers and crew.
The next day we drove to the town of Bedford. We had been told by friends that it was a neat town with unique shops, and they were right! We stopped at the Visitor Bureau and picked up a map of a walking tour of the town. A couple of the most interesting stops were:
1. Fort Bedford Museum. This is a reconstruction of the original fort that was built in 1758 and was used as a supply point during the French and Indian War.
2. The Veterans Memorial honoring Bedford men and women who gave their lives in the service of their country.
3. The Lutheran Parish, not for the building but for the six panel door. The door was designed centuries ago to identify a house as a Christian home. The top four panels outline the shape of a cross. The bottom two panels depict an open Bible with the spine of the book in the center.
4. The most unique building was the Coffee Pot. In 1927 it was built in the shape of a coffee pot by Bert Koontz to draw business to his gas station that was next door. It served ice cream, hamburgers, and Coca-Cola. In 2004, in order to preserve it, the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor (a historical organization) moved it to its present location.
On Friday we drove to meet some friends from Key West who live nearby in Hollidaysburg. Nelson and Kim are great friends and after a tour of their home, served up a terrific dinner. Nelson is an accomplished musician and we often play together in Key West, I have learned SO much from him!
The campground hosted a Bluegrass Festival on Saturday and I was able to listen to couple of bands, it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.
Sunday, September 27th we headed down the road to Joint Base Andrews, southeast of Washington, DC.
We arrived in Bad Axe, MI on April 23rd. This was our “safe harbor” during the pandemic, thanks to the generosity of Pat’s brother, Geri, and his wife, Marcia. We parked the trailer in their backyard and plugged into the 30-amp outlet in his shed. Because we had been traveling for the last week or so, we agreed that we would self quarantine for two weeks. After that time was up, we were back into more of our usual routine. They would host us for dinner sometimes and we would do the same. Sometimes dinner was a joint effort.
We thought we had spent enough time in the South that we would be in Michigan for a warm spring – guess again, it was COLD! We were running the furnace so much that I was going through a thirty-pound propane tank in a week. We had both snow and rain. In the Midland area they had so much rain that a dam broke and caused massive flooding. Residents that were already dealing with COVID-19 now had to deal with flooded or destroyed homes, living in shelters, and rebuilding. Homes that used to be waterfront properties now looked out onto a mud flat.
Needless to say, we did not do a lot of visiting anyone else while we were there. However, we made a couple of trips to the family’s cottage on Rifle Lake, near the town of Lupton for Memorial Day weekend and a week later. There we did some of the normal spring cleaning and repair. Geri and Marcia’s daughter, Tara, and her husband, Ron, came up with their kids, Addie and Grant. We had lots of fun and got a lot of work done. Rides in the pontoon boat and late afternoons on their deck looking out onto the lake for happy hour were always good.
Back in Bad Axe, I went to work on a project. They have a small (four foot) lighthouse at the cottage that was showing lots of wear from the weather, and we decided that I would repair and repaint it. This was not true work as I enjoyed doing it and it gave me something productive to do with my time.
Staying at Geri and Marcia’s is really being in nature, as evidenced by these two deer that wandered right through their backyard.
Almost every morning Pat and I would ride our bikes, or walk for exercise. The walking was a real treat for their dog, Dakota, and we gave her some good, long walks.
On June 27th, Pat and I drove to Port Austin for the Port Austin Porch Fest. Organizers arranged for musical performances on neighborhood porches around town. Maps were available at any business and we were able to sit on the lawn and listen to a variety of musicians. My musical preference is folk music, but there were performers doing rock, jazz, and more. The one that impressed me the most was a seventeen-year old young lady who was in Port Austin for her fifth year! She is already a well-known singer-songwriter in the Port Huron/Detroit area. What a beautiful voice!
Independence Day week found us at the Rifle Lake cottage. This time we were joined by many more family members. It was a great week of fellowship, and enjoying good, homemade food together. Of course we spent time on the pontoon boat and swimming in the lake. The weather was so hot that the lake was like bath water. We watched fireworks from the lake, it very easy to do social distancing this way.
On July 15th, we flew to Tacoma, WA, but that’s a story for our next post.
In May of 2019, as we were leaving our campsite at Elsworth AFB, our fifth-wheel trailer slid out of the hitch and dropped onto the bed of our pickup. I had visually checked it and we did our test pull, but it still happened. We had the trailer and truck repaired over the summer at Wescraft Truck and RV in the Tacoma, WA area, and thought we were good to go. Unfortunately, as we were traveling to Florida, I noticed that the trim molding under the front cap had been damaged and was bent. I attempted to fix it, but the same condition reappeared after each fix. After more investigation, it appeared that the frame behind the cap was moving independently of the side of the trailer. By now COVID-19 was going on and we headed to Michigan to “hunker down.” Once we arrived in Michigan I found that my normal RV dealer was closed down, but I was able to make an appointment with General RV in Birch Run, MI. I had never had service done there but had used their retail store. As they are a major RV dealer, I thought I would use them to fix this problem.
I contacted Wescraft RV who had done the repair in Tacoma and they said they guaranteed their work and would pay for the repair. I drove the trailer to General RV on June 1st. General RV did not want to begin work with just a verbal agreement so I paid them $3,300 to open up the front of the trailer and begin the repair. If Wescraft didn’t cover everything, I intended to pay the balance. I stressed to our service advisor, Shianne, that we were fulltime RVers, and whatever they could do to expedite the repair would be greatly appreciated. She said it would depend on how long it would take to get parts, and I commented that I didn’t think it would need any parts they didn’t have in stock.
Monday, June 8th I got a call from Shianne and she asked me to come to their shop and see what they had discovered and make some decisions for the repair. They discovered that the original bolts had been sheared off when the trailer hit the bed of the truck and the screws that had been put in by Wescraft had not adequately carried the weight of the trailer and they had sheared off as well. We agreed that they would run carriage bolts through the frame and they would have to drill holes in the fiberglass side to do that. I agreed with this and they suggested that they cover these holes with a decal as it would be better than trying to match the existing paint. I thought that was a great idea and told them to go forward with the repair. I again reminded them that we were fulltime RVers, we were staying with my brother and sister in law but didn’t want to take advantage of their generosity. I asked her to do whatever they could to expedite the repairs.
At the end of the week, I called General RV to advise them I had confirmed that Wescraft was going to pay for the repairs and only needed an invoice for the total amount. Shianne told me that the shop that does the decals would be out to color match the decals to the existing ones on the trailer on June 24th. She told me they had completed their repairs and would send our trailer to Rush RV, the dealer in Holly, MI that they use for bodywork after the decals were done. I suggested that they send the trailer to get the bodywork done while they were waiting on the decals, reminding her we needed our trailer back as soon as possible.
On Tuesday, June 16th I called Rush RV to ask them how soon they could start on the work and was told “we could start today if it was here.” I called General RV and left a voice mail with Shianne to advise her of this. I called Rush RV again, on Thursday, and asked if they had heard from General RV yet. Al, the manager, told me that he had not and I asked again when he could start and I was told “we could start today if it was here.” When I called General RV, Shianne said, “He didn’t tell me that.” I said, “I just asked the question, ‘how soon can you start?’” She said she would go to their front desk and schedule a driver to take it to Holly. I offered to move the trailer myself but she said they couldn’t let me take it without payment.
I called Rush RV on Monday, June 22nd, and was told that our trailer had been delivered that morning. On Tuesday I had to drive to Lansing, MI on another matter and stopped by Rush RV on my return. I met with Al, the manager, and he told me that he had three rigs ahead of me because they had come in on the weekend. I told him that we were fulltime RVers and would appreciate it if he could get the job done as quickly as possible. While looking at the trailer I saw that the trim molding under the cap did not go all the way to the wall of the trailer. I asked him if he was repairing this and he told me, “No, we are only repairing the crack in the cap.” He took a picture of it and said he would contact General RV to make sure he wasn’t supposed to fix it. I spoke with him the next day and he told me that General RV was doing that.
On Wednesday, June 24th the decal shop, Custom Design Accents, drove to Holly to do the color match. On Thursday, Al told me the work was done and he had told General RV they could come and pick it up. I called General RV and told Shianne that the trailer was ready for them to pick it up. She said she would schedule that and I asked her about the repair that needed to be done with the trim molding. She was unsure what Al was talking about and I told her Al had sent her a picture. I described what was wrong and she assured me she would look at it.
On Tuesday, June 30th I called and asked Shianne if they were repairing the problem with the molding. She said she would get with Tom, the technician that was working on it, and see want needs to be done. I asked where we were on the decal and she told me Custom Design was going to send her a picture that she would forward to me. Once I approved the picture they would make the decal and come to Birch Run to apply it. I asked how long this would take and she said it should be done by the middle of next week. I reminded her that they had had our trailer for a month now and it was not just our RV but our home. She then told me she was doing what she could and would try to have it by the end of next week (July 10th) at the latest.
On Wednesday, July 1st we joined other family members at the family cottage on Rifle Lake near Rose City, MI. While it’s a great place to stay it has very poor cell phone coverage. On Thursday, I spoke with Shianne and she said she had the pictures of the decal. I drove to a nearby gas station where I could get a good cell signal on our WIFI hotspot so I could download the picture. Then I drove back to the cottage, checked with Pat to see if she approved, then called Shianne to tell her we approved to picture and to get things moving. I emphasized with her we must have our trailer by Friday, July 10th.
On Monday I called General RV to check on when the decal was to be applied and I was told that Shianne was not in the office that day. When I asked when she would be in I was informed that she was on vacation until July 16th! I said I needed to talk with someone who could deal with this. I was told the Service Manager would call me back. No one called me back. On Tuesday I called again and spoke with another Service Advisor who said his supervisor was covering Shianne’s customers and he connected me to Sarah. I told Sarah about the situation and asked when the decal would be applied and if the trim molding was fixed. She said she would check it out and call me back. Because we were in such a bad cell area, I called her back and she told me that the decal would be applied on Wednesday afternoon and we could pick up the trailer on Thursday. I gave her the email address for Wescraft RV in Tacoma so she wouldn’t have to search Shianne’s files for it. I asked her about the trim molding and she told me that I had said I didn’t want any new parts so they weren’t fixing it. I, not so politely, told her that I had said no such thing. However, at this point, I just wanted to get the trailer back and I felt this was something that I could fix on my own. I told her we would plan to be at Birch Run on Thursday.
Wednesday I called Wescraft to see if they got the invoice and I was told that they called Birch Run with the credit card information right after they got the email. I called Sarah and she said they hadn’t gotten payment. So I told her to call Wescraft and talk to my contact there. Fortunately, things worked out, so I didn’t have to worry about that.
We packed up our stuff at the cottage and headed down I-75 for Birch Run. En-route we called Sarah to coordinate our pick up. She informed me that one of their technicians had found some trim molding and had installed it at no additional cost, what a nice favor (note the sarcasm)!
Finally, after 41 days in the shop, we had our “home” back and we were able to sleep in our own bed again. I don’t know what I could have done differently, but I don’t plan on ever utilizing General RV in Birch Run again, not even their retail store. This whole thing has been one terrible experience in customer service and project management. I guess the only advice I would give to anyone is to be your own project manager and double-check on any major work you have done on your RV.
We are now in the process of moving from Washington to Michigan. We left Washington in September of 2025 and traveled in our Winnebago Vista RV to Michigan. While in Michigan we started looking for a house. To make a long story short, we decided on a condominium in a complex that is being developed, and bought one of their units.
We’re currently living in our RV and traveling through the south for the winter and will be back in the spring, hopefully moving into our new home as early June or as late as August.
Michigan Traveler 