Traveling South to Alabama, Nov 9, 2011

This morning we pulled out of the RV park by 7 am, then topped off our diesel tank at a nearby Flying J. The light fog in the valleys gave us some beautiful scenery.

We traveled today from Virginia to Tennessee.

Tennessee to Georgia.

Georgia to Alabama.

For the next week we are going to be resting up at the Wills Creek RV Park in Fort Payne, AL. Although I expect we will be making a side trip to the Unclaimed Baggage Center not far away in Scottsboro.

We had expected to drive in the forecasted rain today, but we lucked out, only a very light shower in Chattanooga and then another shower when traveling through Georgia.

In this special moment in Life…Live God’s Message.

Escaping the North, Wytheville, VA, Nov 8, 2011

Today Bob drove 274 miles down I 66 and then I 81.  Tonight we are pulled into a pull-thru site at Fort Chiswell RV Park north of Wytheville, VA, still hooked up with our towed expecting to head out tomorrow between 6:30 and 7:00 am to drive another 350 miles to northern Alabama.  The forecast for tomorrow is rain, so may be a longer day than we expect.

Today’s journey went well, only slowed down once for an accident.  It was nice they marked the slowdown with a bright pink sign.

Couldn’t really tell what happened, some guard rail was down, but never saw what sort of vehicle was involved.

Thanks for all the comments from yesterday’s post about our Norcold frig.  Yes, we do hope it all goes well, too. 

What a day!! Centreville, VA, Nov 7, 2011

This morning before breakfast, I noticed our Norcold frig light was not on, hummm, oh no, not that problem again.  Bob went out and checked the back of the frig, and saw no red light of death. 

So now what?  He tried to bypass the recall module,  it tested okay, but the frig did not come on.  I checked online for Norcold authorized service centers, found one in Manassas just about 10 miles away.  Called them and they said it might be a fuse, and to come in anytime. But first, we needed to get fuel, we were on fumes.  On Saturday night Paul and Marti had shown us a very handy fuel station, Fannon Petroleum Services, just a few miles away.  Both of us were praying we could make the station, and we did!!  It did take 87 gallons (holds 100), nice price too at $3.74 per gallon, other stations were $4.05/gallon.

Here we are at Restless Wheels RV.  Even though we arrived at noon, it only took them about 20 minutes to diagnose and temporarily fix our problem.  The problem was a failed recall module, they bypassed it, so now we have a working frig.  Somewhere down the road we will need to get the failed module replaced.  They indicated that Norcold is now on the sixth revision of this module, as they all keep failing.

Now, back to the Bull Run Regional Park, where we had already paid for tonight’s lodging, as we are headed south tomorrow.

When Bob plugged in our power, the 50 amp plug would not work, it had just a few hours ago?  So we switched to the 30 amp and that one worked fine.

Then, I have to laugh, Bob was hooking up the water so I could do some laundry and he got an early shower.  The spigot was a little different and he had to get our pipe wrench out and loosen up the part you needed to pull down so water flowed through our hose and not where it is flowing in the photo.

We do think Murphy (Murphy’s Law) was messing with us today and do hope he has had enough!!  We sure have!!

A Blast from our Past, Nov 6, 2011

Today we drove about 30 minutes to Burke VA to visit some friends, Barb and Munther. They were from our former lives when we both lived in California. So much to share and so little time, but we did our best. It was great to see them again. Friendship does bridge the gaps of time.

Shopping, cleaning, and special friends, Nov 5, 2011

This morning we did a shopping trip to a nearby Trader Joes. These brussel sprouts looked good, but we passed, as Bob likes his sprouts on the smaller side.

Today was a cleaning day, it has been awhile. The reason for cleaning, well other than it needed it, we are meeting some blog friends, Paul and Marti tonight, and wanted the coach to be in tip top shape. They will be joining the full-time RV lifestyle in just about two weeks when the sale on their house closes. Their soon to be not their house is close to the park we are in. Even better, they are picking us up and taking us to dinner.

After dinner we came back to the coach for chocolate zucchini cake, ice cream, and some great conversation! Yes, Paul and Marti, we will see you down the road (in Q). Safe travels!!

Touring the Battle of Bull Run Battlefields, Nov 4, 2011

This morning we planned to attend two of the battlefield walks and also visit the museum at the visitor center.

Our first walk explained the First Battle of Bull Run (1861). It was cold and windy, but we stuck it out.

We then drive over to the Brawner Farm for the 1 pm walk. The Brawner farm house also contained a lighted battlefield which explained the Second Battle of Bull Run (1862), the one my Great grandfather was in. Here I am trying to absorb as much as I can.

The blue lights (Union) forming a line in the center with the red lines (Confederates) with the white lights firing in between is where he fought with the 73rd OVI on August 30, 1862.

Yes, Bob is disposing of the beginnings of our Chicken Kale soup. He burnt the onions, garlic, and celery. So he did a do-over and the end result was delicious.

Leaving DC, Nov 3, 2011

I had been dreading leaving DC with all the traffic, but we had to do it.  I495 across the top went better than we expected, but a few miles before we were to exit into I66 we encountered some road work and some congestion.  Bob did a great job of getting us to Bull Run Regional Park.

With some help of some fellow bloggers, we were able to reserve a great site at the park, even with all the trees you see, we were able to get online with both the Winegard and Motosat.  This is a view from out our windshield.

A little house cleaning once we arrive.

After lunch we headed to the Bull Run Battlefield just a few miles away.  I got my Passport book stamped, then we watched the 45 minute park film.  Then the battlefield was calling our names.  Since two battles was fought here, we walked the battlefield of the 1st battle of Bull Run.  I do believe we checked out each and every one of the artillery pieces.

Ever wonder what you see when you look down the barrel of a cannon…well here it is, this one looks like it had a bird nest.

My, great grandfather, Jeremiah Woodyard, was in the 73rd Ohio Voluntary Infantry and participated in the Second Battle of Bull Run, late August 1862.  We asked at the visitor center if they knew where they fought and were told to check out the Chinn Ridge area.

The above photo is one of their positions.  During the three day battle, the 73rd lost close to half of their men.

Here I am trying to see through the years and see his unit retreating to this point.

Tonight was the night, we bottled up part of our cherry liquor.  We even sampled a few cherries and some spillage.

Washington DC, Day 6, Oct 25, 2011

After a combined bus, metro, and another bus totaling 2.5 hours, we arrived at Mount Vernon, beloved home of George Washington.

We arrived around 11:30 and were given a 1:05 pm mansion tour time, so we had some time to check out some of the outbuildings and displays. This stained glass window portrays one myth we all have heard. Here is a list of George’s myths.

A Riding Chair similar to one George owned.

Finally it was time for our tour along with many other folks. No photos were allowed inside our quick walk through tour, guess we need to be thankful for what we got.

View from the porch overlooking the Potomac. From here we were told of a Witness tree (a tree present when Washington lived here).

The witness tree is in the middle, it is a Swamp Chestnut.

Here I am touching this wise old stately gent.

George and Martha’s sarcophagus, each made from marble with 30 relatives buried in the area behind where they lie (through the black vault door). See the wreath (yellow and blue flowers, the donor was Los Banos HS FFA in California. In fact, it was the same donor of the wreath we saw yesterday being placed at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington. (photo below)

One last parting photo, a Presidential outhouse, reconstructed.