Day 15

Good morning world..........

      Man, do you ever sleep well with a belly full of cake and ice cream.  and awake to the sound of sea gulls. I love sea gulls.

The boys took off this morning for the driving range. Bruce seems to have gotten some good use out of his South Caroling thrift shop golf clubs. Which is a good thing since he now has too carry them all over the country along with his knapsack and his computer bag. I'm really afraid we are going to have an entire set of new luggage by the time we get to California. That or we are going to have to start sending things to Glenda in L.A. to be shipped to Belize.........Hmmm, not a bad idea at all.

I am told that the plan for today involves an outlet mall in Williamsburg Va.

For those of you who have been in the 3rd world for any length of time, a little reminder of what you are missing.  Well paved, high speed roads sitting at a dead stand still. Remember gaper blocks? That's when some poor fool breaks down on the side of the road and everyone has to slow down to see if there is anything interesting going on, causing traffic to back up for miles and miles.

But it didn't stop us from shopping. Oh contrair, we shopped til we were overcome with hunger. Yes, again. And off we went to one of the most famous Bar-B-Que shacks in tidewater. 

Did I say shack? I remember when this place was a carry-out only and had a dirt driveway. Man has it grown! But the food is every bit as good as I remembered.

So we ate well and then went off to...........

Ice Cream!! We love Ice Cream!

For those of you who have been following this Great Adventure, you may remember that Bruce got a whole new wardrobe, well maybe just some new shorts, while we were in South Carolina. It seems that the pair he chose to wear to the driving range yesterday have shrunk. Must be shoddy workmanship. HeeHeeHee

The sun finally broke thru for a little while and tomorrow promises to be sunny and WARM for the first time in a week. So the boys are going to play 9 holes at the Air Force base and we girls are going to the pool to soak up some rays and swim a few laps.

Afterwards I need to start packing the suitcases (more on that later) and packing a box to ship to Glenda to be forwarded home.

We have been sooooo bad!

Day 14

A quiet day at home.....

     Bruce got an e-mail from Maria, you remember Maria, his sister who was living in Palm Coast Florida and drove up to meet us in St Augustine? Anyway, she was going to be passing thru Tidewater Virginia on her way north and wanted to stop in and see us. So we waited for her............................and visited for a few seconds, and said good bye.   Then we went to lunch.  Whoohoo!! Wendy's! A bacon cheeseburger on a pretzel bun, just like on TV!

     It was so exhausting we went home and took naps. What a fine day. Afterwards Bruce decided to spoil our host and hostess by preparing Balsalmic Chicken over rice and a salad topped with Bleu Cheese over peaches.

                                                                 Mmmmmmm

After dinner Wanda started sassing little Bella, and got bit! Right on the tongue.

HaHaHoHoHeeHee

She is fine, but her pride was seriously wounded.

Later on daughter Tracy dropped by with her husband Rob, then grand daughter Amanda and her boyfriend Donny.

We had so much fun chatting that once again I forgot to take pictures.

Then we ate cake and ice cream and went to bed.

Good Night.

Day 13

A day in the country.....

Today we started  the day driving to the wilds of Isle of Wight county.  Day 6 of rain but not too heavy to drive and sight see. Wanda kept us on the straight and narrow the whole trip and we never got lost. She has an amazing sense of direction.

Checking off another Most Important Stop. Franklin Virginia to see another long time friend and adopted family member

Susan

Susan is not only the bravest woman I know, having in her 50s  decided to follow her dream and spend the rest of her life doing what she loved, working with horses.

She boards them, trains them, drives them in carriages and rides with the hounds as a whip on fox hunts. 

She is also the most spiritual person I know. I once asked her to pray for me to have patience in a certain situation.  She refused, "God gives us everything we need" she said. "If you ask for more, you will need it." I still try to think twice before I ask for anything, mostly I try to just be thankful for what I have.

I guess prayers are answered, their church was too small. Even in this time of challenging economics they were able to build a new one. 

After returning from the country Wanda asked that we stop off at Blue Water Yachts

to do a little boat shopping. She has excellent taste.

And afterwards, we dined. 

And Wanda Drank

And drank, 

And drank, which caused us to laugh!

And Ken told stories....

And we laughed some more. Bruce and I have laughed more on this trip than we have laughed in a long time.

We laughed so much we had to apologize to the family sitting behind us. And a lot of it was Terry's fault. We were telling stories about the present she is sending to Matthew. But more on that later.

Must sleep, more to see and do tomorrow.

Night all......

Day 12

Another day in Tahdwata. Where english is spoken with all of the hard edges smoothed off.

Above is one of my favorite landmarks in Fox Hill. I've been told that the little lighthouse came first and the light keepers house later. 

Built sometime in the 1920's at one time there was a goldfish pond which has gone dry.  They have stood thru many a hurricane and have always been maintained meticulously.  Fox Hill and Grandview are across the river from Poquoson. At one time there was a pretty serious rivalry between them, as the young men from one would take night time boat rides into the others to woo the ladies. Much to the chagrin of the local boys.

Another land mark is Foot Wool. Most recently used as a sub spotting station during WWII before that it was a civil war station. Protecting the Hampton Roads has always been a high priority. I'm told you can take tours now, when I lived here I heard it was full of snakes. I think I will skip the tour.

Ft. Wool is just of shore from Ft Monroe. A beautiful civil war fort that was an active Army base up until just a few years ago. The city of Hampton has taken control of the entire complex and seems to have been overtaken by a serious case of crippling indecision as to what too do with it. With a few million dollars  and full control I betcha I could do Something, even if it's wrong. Before it decays beyond redemption.

Here ya go Terry, I found your old house.

And last but certainly not least on my list of Poquoson must do's, trackdown my best friends, adopted family, and longtime next door neighbors.

Sid and Loretta

God Bless you my friends, I will see you again before we leave. I know it took a long time to get home to you but its a really long commute.

Day 11

  Who ever said you can never go home again never lived in Poquoson, Va.

Home Sweet Home

But I am getting ahead of myself.

We arrived in Newport News,  Va, last evening just before 8PM. A long but relaxing day of travel. We are both constantly surprised at how much more pleasant train travel is than air travel. 

And unlike trying to get to Aiken SC. this stop put us a mere 15 minute drive away from this episode.

Bruce's best friend from childhood live in Hampton, Va. Not 2 miles from the very first house I every bought.  Those of you who know Bruce and I know that we met late in life, but had been within minutes of each other so many, many times. It really is a small world and we are proof positive.

When I suggested we take a side trip to visit my adopted family members he reminded me that Kenny and Patty were here too. So we contacted them and they invited us to stay with them as a base of operation while we are in Tidewater.  

And this morning they took me home. 

This is the first house I ever bought on my own.

 It is the house that taught Tom and I the true meaning of "potential".

This shot shows the house as it is today. Someone else with vision, and a whole lot more money than me has turned it into the house that I dreamed of. I bet they even replaced the ceiling that fell into the bath tub. 

After touring every corner of Poquoson, which has changed drastically since Hurricane Isabel in 2001.  The house above used to be on a 2 foot high crawl space. And this was on the high side of town.

Most of the homes in our neighborhood are now 2 stories high with the 1st story being a concrete block foundation.

Hopefully it will keep them all above the flood tide for the next storm of the century.

If you ever find yourself lost in the wilds of Poquoson, and ya feel a hunger coming  on, stop anybody wearing a pair of white bubba boots and ask them how to get to Owens Marina.

The least imposing seafood restaraunt you will ever love on the east coast.

One of the things on my Big Adventure bucket list was a soft crab sandwich,

Oh my goodness the angels in heaven are crying cuz they ain't got none.

Even Wanda was impressed and she has very discriminating taste.

The other most important thing on the list (here to for referred to as  MIT) was to track down my very best friends in life, Sid and Loretta.

At this age if you lose track of people for many years as I have, it get really scary when you try to track them down again.

Fortunately I had mentioned to a facebook friend that I have never met that I was headed home. She mentioned to a Poquoson friend that I was coming and that friend tracked down Sid and Loretta. Ya gotta love technology.

 It was good to know ahead of time that Ms Loretta wasn't doing well. But it was fabulous to also find that Mr Sid is as good as he ever was, and that's saying something.

I swear this is exactly where I left him 12 years ago. He is slowing down a little with age. Now he works part time rebuilding antique Chesapeake Deadrise boats in the morning, a couple of hours on the Lady Loretta, his boat, doing some clamming then home to clean up and off to the nursing home to be with Ms. Loretta for dinner and

and a tuck in. Not bad for an old fart. He's 75. These two people were for me, proof that there really is such a thing as true love, and a good marriage.  Tomorrow I will go and visit Ms Loretta. I will be sad if she doesn't remember me.

Did I mention that we bought a summer home?

Day 10

On the road again...

We started our day today when the alarm clock went off at 1:30AM. Yes that is in the wee hours of the morning.  In the Navy we called it 0 dark 30. At least we had the big adventure ahead of us, Terry and Bob had 2 hours of driving just to drop us off and then go back home. Due to their kindness I didn't have the heart to take their pictures this morning.

We gave them kisses and hugs, said our I love yous and snuck off into our train. 

AND FROZE!!

What is with these 1st worlders and their air conditioning! Its like living in a surgical suite. We get it, you have the power, now ease up a bit!

We snuggled up under my wonderfully versatile knit shawl from Calderitas, Mx until the dining car opened at 6:30.

It's amazing how some hot coffee and made to order food can turn your whole morning around. Even Wanda's mood improved. She is NOT a morning person.

While we were eating the sun was coming up. It was a terrific way to start the day

Traveling thru North Carolina was especially nice for all of the small towns we passed . I have never seen so many antique stores in my life. And beautiful, classic old southern homes. Large and small.

I did try to get photos for you, but

We were going really fast.

We stopped outside of Richmond, Va long enough to have some lunch and chat with a fellow passenger whose daughter just retired from the Air Base in which my son was born. What a small world.

Then passed thru Colonial Williamsburg on the way to our next stop.

They have the prettiest train station so far. Complete with hanging baskets of flowers.

Next stop, Newport News, Va.

Where the adventure continues.

Day 9

Another gray and rainy day in Aiken. Who would think that South Carolina would be so chilly in mid-August. It was so chilly.........how chilly was it? We had to spend the day shopping!  Kidding! We did run all over town, but other than one quick stop at a cute little antique store where Bruce was buying golf schwag, we mostly just shopped for a case for his phone. Boring. And unsuccessful. So yipee, we will get to do it again!
     For some reason we seem to still be on a Belize time eating schedule. Which can be awkward. At 3 PM we were on our way to Duncan Donuts for a light afternoon repast knowing we were going out to dinner at the local sushi spot. Suddenly our faces were smeared across the side windows of the Subaru as we made a screeching right turn across 4 lanes of high speed traffic........ok, so maybe it was just a sudden turn, into the local Cracker Barrel.  Appears that Thursday is Turkey Dinner Day!

We all decided on the turkey, with mashed potatoes and stuffing. For a light lunch prior to a night of fine dining.

                          Once again Wanda ran into some friends and went off with them for lunch and an afternoon trot around Hitchcock Woods. She is such a gad about.

                             

A very short time later we had to meet Bob and go to dinner..according to Terry's pedometer we had shopped to the tune of 12,000 + steps. A good thing too. We will be becoming more porcine by the day.

Wanda was downright exuberant about sushi. I swear I don't know how she manages to keep her cute little figure. She eats more than Bruce and I put together. That's an accomplishment.

She does get a bit more exercise then we do, what with climbing umbrellas and pagodas and so on, and on and......you
get the picture.

Always have to get a fortune cookie on the way out. Bruces said "Looking for
excitement and adventure? Take a vacation." And so we will.

Thank you Terry and Bob for your hospitality. And for making us laugh, a lot!
Next time lets do it at our house.
Love you both very much.