And June fades away

Kelly's bike at Lock 38

June 30 – Another month bites the dust.  We got up late so had to rush to make our special Sunday breakfast.  Bill was surprised we had venison sausage.  I decided to take my bike today and let him drop me off at Lock 38 and I’d give it a try riding back the 3 miles to camp.  I took both cameras, a bottle of water and my phone.  When I stepped outside the humidity hit me but when I got on the towpath there was a nice cool breeze so it was a pleasant ride.

 

Current train track over Potomac

I stopped frequently in the beginning to take photos of the lock, then the train bridge and Packhorse Ford, but after that I just rode and greeted those that I passed along the way.  There were bikers, walkers, joggers and dog walkers.  It’s totally flat as far as grade and the only real

Packhorse Ford - the grass patches indicate it's the
lowest point in the river to cross

bumps are small tree roots that have risen above the ground a bit.  It was cool and brisk and I guess I’ll be doing it more now.  I stopped at our first campsite on that end, #20 and did some nasty trash pick up.  There was a discarded bacon bag with what had been raw bacon that now reeked and I barely managed to get it sealed in my trash bag.  That is the real down side of camp ground hosting.  There was no other trash but post tags for a couple of spaces up to the little bridge I cross over.  I left the other half until Bill and I went out after dinner.

 

Then it was time to really get busy.  I vacuumed, put stuff away I was tired of tripping over, did some work on my bike, baked crackers, baked banana chocolate walnut bread, did the dishes and took photos of the birds on my feeder.  They are such messy birds.  The table looks like I spilled the seed.  At one time I had 5 guests on the table and 2 tiny birds who were afraid of the others on the ground eating the spillage.

 

While I was getting ready to bake my bread someone knocked on the door and a nice man who must be our neighbor, gave me a dozen fresh eggs from his 20 chickens.  Some were brown and some were white and they were definitely eggs of many sizes.  One was as big as a duck egg.  That’s a 2 egg omelet egg!

 

Bill was late getting home as he went to pick up a Sunday paper and get me an apple and a pear for my quinoa salad.  I hadn’t eaten lunch but had made a half batch of buffalo chicken dip and we had some of that with veggies for dipping, fruit and tried the bread and it was pretty good if you like banana.  I made a small one to take Susanna Tuesday when I take her to the bakery.   She’s a chocoholic so I figured she’d like it.  She’s excited that when her mother arrives, one of the places they’re going is Hershey PA.  Bill did some touch up stuff on the truck that he didn’t get to yesterday.

 

Bucky

Bucky was here for a long time tonight behind the RV eating grass.  We can see him really well right through our window and he stayed a long time tonight.  After dinner we checked the other half of the sites and didn’t’ find much which is a good thing.  A man came by to ask a lot of questions and we gave him the prerequisite literature and answered that we could.  We watched some TV and I managed to balance the checkbook but found some errors and now have to go back and re-subtract from that point.  I hate that!!!!

Dinner and a Movie

June 29 – Bill and I left a little early today to stop at the Mennonite Bakery in Sharpsburg so I could take some donuts to my fellow volunteers.  Of course Bill got 2 for himself too.  Susanna and John were happy to see the treats.  Bill went home to wash the truck and we had a pretty busy day at the VC.  30 visitors before I left and I even had to do one of the tours.  I mostly visit with people and answer some of the basics and more about the canal since we live on it.

Bill picked me up and we headed to Martinsburg to a movie.  Today we saw “The Heat” with Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy.  It was super funny but over use of the “F” word.  Next door was an Outback Restaurant so we went there and used one of our gift cards.  We checked out what shops were along the way and made a quick stop at Aldi before heading home.

Martinsburg is probably a little closer than Hagerstown and had pretty much the same selection of stores but the Aldi is much closer to the other stores so it might be my new shopping Mecca.  I’ll be going back Wednesday when I drop Susanna at the train station.  We heard some serious thundering while watching TV but no real rain in our area so far.

First real viewof Potomac River

June 28 -  I’m tired so let’s see how fast I can type tonight and gather my thoughts!  Bill dropped me off at the VC today as he was going to Shepherdstown to visit the cemetery, do a couple of loads of laundry and go to the grocery for a few things.  He took the netbook in case he had time to go WIFI someplace.  He ended up forgetting he had it and ate lunch at McDonald’s so didn’t use his time very wisely.

 

It was a slow day at the VC.  We had a group of artists meet there to paint the scenery.  Once they did what they came to do they visited inside and left for lunch in Sharpsburg.  John, one of the volunteers, is a child psychiatrist and since I’m tired of Civil War talk I asked a lot about what he does.  He still works 3 days a week and volunteers 2.  It was very interesting that many conditions have been just grouped as things like Autism or Bi-Polar but he says the medical profession is creating more finite parameters for those and other illnesses.  He said these 2 in particular are a catch all for anything close but only cases meeting very precise terms will soon be typed as them.  It was way more interesting than talking battles and wars stories.

 



Three phase house in Sharpsburg

Potomac at Snyder's Landing

When Bill picked me up we did a bit of touristing.  We went to Snyder’s Landing, which is pretty much a small boat ramp way back in on the C & O Canal.  The small winding road to get there has a lot of homes along it and those along the canal have small bridges across it.  This was our first real look at the Potomac other than through the trees or going over it on the main bridge.  There were canoes and kayaks and it was really a peaceful and serene place.

 



Belle Boyd House

From there we drove to Martinsburg, WV.  Bill’s goal was to see the Belle Boyd house.  She was a character in Gone With The Wind, but she was a real person who was a spy for the Confederacy.  Her final house is no longer, but we saw the house she grew up in that her father built.  He built a store attached to it and ran it as grocery.

 




Martinsburg Roundhouse

Just a block away was the train station.  One of the two original Roundhouses still stands although it’s all chain fenced off.  The train station is still active and we went in to check it out and it’s very nice.  Many commuters take the train into DC to work.  There were a couple of not so reputable looking people hanging out and sleeping on the benches.  I’m sure it’s because it was air conditioned and it was hot out.  One guy really did have luggage.  They had a gift shop but it was closed and I think there are some educational happenings there for children on certain days and times.

 

In the Sunday paper there was a write up about u-pick places and there’s a huge farm outside of Martinsburg that was listed.  We gave it a try, but we were a few days early and a few days late for real picking of raspberries.  Since we’d just bought blueberries we passed on them and only managed to find a couple cups each of red and black raspberries.  All you could see for acres and acres were apple and peach trees, strawberry fields, berry bushes, squash plants and tomatoes.  Peaches are starting to come in so the word was if we come back in 5-7 days we can get fresh peaches and the berries.

 

Coming back through Shepherdstown we decided to have dinner at one of the recommended places, Domestic.  It’s very contemporary looking and not a huge menu.  Bill had the chicken parmesan and he was pleased and I had the special of sea scallops with a fennel reduction and roasted to perfection slivers of yellow squash and broccoli.  Oh, was it ever good.  I could have licked my platter clean.  We passed on dessert but after renting a video for tonight we went thru the McDonald’s drive thru for a soft serve.  It did hit the spot.

 

Made our rounds tonight and were very surprised how few campers we have for a Friday night.  Only 3 but since we’ve been inside there have been more cars parking.  We really enjoyed our movie, “Guilt Trip” with Barbra Streisand and Josh Grogan.  Pretty funny and a nice heart warming story.

Shopping and more shopping

June 27 – I dropped Bill off this morning and headed to Hagerstown.  I did a round of errands and I don’t mind but the places are always so far apart.  I visited a different grocery store, Martins, and it’s very nice.  They were along the line of a Publix but bigger.  Prices were high unless you used your discount card or items were on sale.

 

I had to make some calls to Kerry about tenants coming and going and I finally remembered to ask about my chair and ottoman that I left with the upholsterer.  Kerry hadn’t heard from her so I called and she said it has been done a while but they deliver in the afternoons and with all the rain they hadn’t delivered it .  She plans to deliver it next week and pick up the couch so when we get home it will be all new furniture.  I need to get busy finding new throws as it’s going to be a lot of cranberry in the room.  She said she really liked the color and I do too but will need to break it up a bit.

 

I fueled up the truck since we’re going to Gettysburg on Monday for some of their big 150^th celebration.  We made reservations for a 2 hour tour.  We heard there were no hotel rooms for miles for this week.  It’s only just over an hour from here so we’re good.

 

I was only about 10 minutes late picking Bill up today.  Then we put away my purchases and I read a while and he watched an old movie.  Campers came to use our electric again, but this time to charge their phones.  They are biking the canal with YMCA youths.

 

I made a 2 serving blueberry cobbler to go with our fish, rice and green bean dinner.  I had to make it up to Bill for serving fish.  Then we did our rounds but hardly a piece of trash tonight.  Only 4 campers but they will be coming in tomorrow I’m sure.

 

Kam and I chatted online about our mail and then about the wedding.  She’s now secured the reception location at Metro West CC, so one more item thing off the list.  She’s still finalizing the meal etc so she knows her budget restraints.  We discussed things I’ll be working on when I get home.  It will be a busy fall and spring!

Strange Findings

June 26 – Work day for Kelly!  I have to do 3 days this week, ugh!  Actually it’s more restful when I do my VC duty than when I stay home.  It was rather slow today, 14 by the time I left.  There was only Susanna and I today.  As I left one of the summer ranger staff that is friends with Susanna came by to see her.

 

Before I left today I turned the fridge off and put most of the food in the little fridge and our 2 coolers with what ice and ice packs I had.  It’s not cooling all the well and the coils are covered with ice so thought maybe it would help to defrost it.  When I got back it was done and Bill said he cleaned up a lot of water.  I should have told him to turn it on once all the ice was off but I thought it would take longer.  It’s slow to cool down but must be much faster to heat up.  I put a loaf of bread in the toaster oven and read while it cooked.  Bill was cleaning dark marks off the RV when I got home.  It looked like rain on and off all day and we got a drizzle around 5.

 

We did our normal rounds after dinner and ended up with 3 bags of trash and we had hardly anyone at the campground.  On site was rather strange.  In the fire pit were children’s markers and books, a partially burned fuzzy little blanket, and a pink partially burned visor.  I found that disturbing.  I thought we should call it in but Bill said no.  I guess I watch too much NCIS and mystery shows.

Harpers Ferry and Charles Town

June 25 -  Yea, a much better day!  I thought we would sleep really late but I got up about 8:30.  There was no hurry to be on our way so after breakfast and showers we left about 10:30 for Harpers Ferry.  We went through Shepherdstown and on the way to Harpers Ferry and stopped at the O’Hurley’s old time store.  What a fun neat place.  Lots of old games, paper dolls, sock monkeys, musical instruments, hand made porch furniture, kitchen items, hardware, just so much stuff and we enjoyed reminiscing.  We didn’t buy anything but might go back.

 

Main street in Harpers Ferry

It took about 20 minutes to get to the visitor center of Harpers Ferry National Park.  This is the 3^rd time we’ve been and we tried to piece our previous trips together.  The first time was with the kids and we could drive into the town and park under the railroad tracks.  The last time the new visitor center 2 miles from town was new and you park there and they shuttle you into the town.  There are only 300 people in the town and they drive right through the historic district and the park can’t get the town to close the streets.  They won’t let tourists park there as there is no place to park and there would be too much traffic.  So we rode the shuttle and it was nice not having to find a place to park.  It was a pretty light tourist day but there were several school groups or summer camp groups, so a couple of times we re-routed to avoid all the kids.

 

We had a really good visit and there were several new exhibits and we walked across the

Jefferson's Rock

Shenandoah River on the pedestrian bridge to the C & O Canal Lock 33.  The new exhibit on John Brown was very good, with 3 short movies regarding the 3 stages of his attempt to free the slaves:  his attack on the Harper’s Ferry Arsenal and his trial and his hanging.  We had a nice lunch at a little café that was excellent.  Bill has chicken quesadilla with salad and I had a gyro salad with cucumber dressing.  Yum!  That fueled us up to climb to the top of the hill overlooking the town to Jefferson’s Rock.  We’d never done that before.  There’s also an old church skeleton up there also.  It was really hot out and several of the buildings were without AC today.  Our last stop at the Bookstore was so refreshing.  I just wanted to stand in front of the AC it felt so good.  We caught the shuttle back to the VC and drove on to Charles Town.

 

John Brown was tried in Charles Town and hanged there.  We stopped at their Visitor Center and got some information.  The courthouse was across the street and we got to see inside but they were close to closing or we could have gone in and walked around.  At the time of the trial there were no rooms, just one large barnlike space and the judge was at the back of the room.  The jail was across the street.  Once he was found guilty he was taken to a field that was outside of town at the time and he and the others tried were hanged and the wood from the scaffold was used to build a porch on a house in town.  The general location of the hanging is marked but it’s now part of someone’s yard.

 

Then it was time to head home to check on Molly.  One of the rangers we hadn’t met came by and we talked a while, then a camper came and asked for change so he could put the proper amount in the Iron Ranger.  Since we ate a late lunch I made a late dinner and then we walked the campground.  There were just 3 sites taken.  There was a group of volunteer students that came today to do some painting with our volunteer coordinator and her assistant.  We saw them arrive this morning so wanted to see what they managed to get done.  There was quite a lot done, the site posts, the bag dispenser boxes, most of the grills and some of the fire pit rings.

 

We saw a deer behind us in the field but it didn’t come into our “yard”.

 

Then it was time for the first show of Rizzoli and Isles!

Cleveland wins 5-2!!!!

June 24 – This had to be one of the worst days so far, no hands down!  The only redeeming part of the day was a win 5-2 of Cleveland over Baltimore!

 

Bill had gotten directions for a back way to I-70 so that’s the way we went to Baltimore.  First stop was the Green Mount Cemetery to see the grave of John Wilkes Booth and the inventor of the Ouija Board.  We had no problem getting there but we went though miles and miles of depressing run down housing in what you know were upscale nice neighborhoods in north Baltimore years back.  They were row housing, zero lot lines but each one was finished with different stones so they weren’t identical.  There were boarded up windows, trash and overgrown grass and men who could be working, sitting our front in small groups, sipping beer from their paper bags.  Every other corner was a neighborhood liquor store.  What a waste!  I’m sure it’s now government housing being run down so later we can bulldoze it and start over.  Ticks me off royally.  Well, the cemetery is off one of the prize streets.  We went in the main gate and I went it to get a map or directions to the two sites.  I had to be buzzed in by a tiny little white lady.  I thought she was giving me exactly the information I needed to find the sites: a map, the section name and a building marker.  Well, we found where she sent me but after about 20 minutes we gave up as Bill needed a bathroom and it was for sure once we left that area we didn’t intend to come back.  To say how bad the area was, we didn’t see a fast food place for blocks and blocks, I guess not until we got into a better area of Baltimore.  We found a Burger King that we used their facilities and each got a beverage.  It was already getting pretty warm out.

 

 

That was let down number 1.  Bill called Geppi’s Entertainment to get the hours and they were closed on Monday, let down number 2.  I did have a list of some Roadside Attractions that we could go to, so managed to easily find the Carrot through the building and the Basket of spilled fruit.  I had planned to visit Geppi’s just before the baseball game as it’s right across the street so now we had time to visit the Inner Harbor.  At least we did find the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground where Edgar Allan Poe is buried.  There was no parking so Bill dropped me off and circled the block a few times while I got a photo of the tomb.

 

 

We had lunch at the Blue

Our table at Blue Moon Cafe

Moon Café, which was listed on Diners, Dives and Drive-Ins.  It’s a tiny little place in the harbor area and we sat down to very little air conditioning.  He brought us water and menus and we realized they only did juiced up breakfast items all day.  They had some exotic choices and lots to pick from but I was really expecting something else.  Bill said we could leave but I felt uncomfortable so we stayed.  Let down number 3.  Bill managed to find a BLT on the menu with fresh fruit and I ordered one of the specials which was hash browns with bacon, crabmeat, cheese, hollandaise sauce and 2 eggs, any way.  I am not a big egg person so I ordered them fried hard.  I have to say that meal was delicious!  I cut the yolks out and Bill ate them but that sauce and crab and bacon, ooh, it was a delicious fat ball and very filling!  Bill really enjoyed his sandwich, especially the fresh fruit with huge blackberries.

 

USS Constellation

We moved the car to the real Inner Harbor area where the USS Constellation, National Aquarium and the old power building from the days of the streetcars were.  It was so hot out on that concrete, but we walked the area and took photos of the ship and the paddle boats on the water.  We checked out the shops and the Baltimore Visitor Center.  About that time it was starting to get dark out and had a look of the 65% chance of rain that was predicted.  We were just down the road from Camden Yards so it didn’t take long to get there and we had excellent parking under an overpass across from the stadium for $10.  We were at the gate just before 5 when they opened and it was starting to drizzle.  We figured once we got in there’d be plenty of room covered until it blew over, but once we got to our seats they were under cover and it had pretty much blown over and the game started on time!

 

When we finally got hungry again we shared a half of butt chicken with 2 sides of slaw and a tossed salad.  It was good but messy to eat in your lap.  We had great seats but the guy behind us would not shut up.  The 2 guys he was with barely said a word, but he more than made up for them.  We left after 6 innings since we had about 90 minutes (or so we thought) to drive back in the traffic, in the dark and the Indians were leading 3 – 2.  Ok, we had more than a let down, we had a BIG mistake.  Bill got directions to get to I-95 to get back to I-70 but the person didn’t say which way to go on 95 and north seemed logical but it went east around the city instead of west and we ended up way off base, then duh, we thought about the GPS so once we set it we were home free, just 45 minutes to an hour later.  We were so tired but needed to wind down a bit.  We both read and didn’t go to sleep until well after midnight.

Do nothing day!

June 23 – Another do little day!  I dropped Bill off for his tour of duty and went over to the Farmer’s Market in Sheperdstown.  What a flop!  There were only about 10 stalls, most were live plants and herbs.  Then there were baked goods, vinegars, meats and only 3 that were all veggies, and those were pretty expensive.  I left with 2 coconut macaroons, a bag of pea greens and a bag of green beans.  Good thing I was going to the Food Lion plaza to do 2 loads of laundry so I could pick up some veggies while the laundry washed.  I brought them home to dry.

 

So I relaxed and read and wrote post cards while the laundry dried and later had my lunch.  I picked Bill up at 2 and after he relaxed a while we went out to clean sites.  This was the worst day so far.  There are only 2 campers tonight but we had a lot of grills to clean so ended up with 5 bags of trash and ashes to dispose of.  This is a carry it out park, meaning there are no trash cans and you are required to take your trash with you.  So there are bag dispensers along the campground and one was empty so after dinner we walked over and filled it.  No bike riding tonight.  Then we sat outside and enjoyed the evening and read our books.

Where's Funkstown?

June 22 – It’s getting harder to know what day of the week it is since we work on the weekends and are off Mondays and Tuesdays.  I actually stayed til 2:30 today talking to Susanna and visitors.  We had 22 by the time I left, so that was a busy day.  No mice today!  Bill was waiting and wondering where I was when I got home.  He did some cleaning on the RV but I’m not sure what else.  He had me drop him off at Lock 38 again and rode his bike the 3 miles home, so at least he got some good exercise.

 

There were no movies of interest showing so we weren’t in a real hurry to leave.  On the way we picked up our first mail packet.  There were the usual magazines and West Orange Times and a couple of bills but several sympathy cards about Xena that were really nice. We were especially touched by the one from our vet, Dr. Lauren Prather.  She’s the best!  I had a letter from the daughter of my old friend Vera from my Florida Center Bank days.  I had sent Vera a postcard as I have always done when we travel and her daughter got it and wrote to let me know Vera had died May 20 and she didn’t have a phone number for me.  That was really difficult for me to read.  Vera was one of the sweetest, kindest people I have ever known and it broke my heart to hear of her death.  I still have and use recipes she gave me over 30 years ago and every time I make one I will always have such great memories of her and what a wonderful lady she was.

 

Now, for the the good things in our mail packet. There was a belated Mother’s Day gift card to the Blue Moon Café here in Shepherdstown from Kam and she also sent a gift card to Bill for Father’s Day for Fandango, so we can order movie tickets.  Very nice!  He received many nice thank you cards from students he had sent graduation cards to and was pleased to hear from them.  Hand written thank you notes I think are a thing of the past but they mean a lot more than a text message ever could.

 

On our trek today we went first to Funkstown, which originally was Jerusalem but when it was incorporated in the early 1800’s the name was changed.  Not even close, so not sure what happened.  Anyway, it’s basically a suburb of Hagerstown and the main street is a lovely quaint street with the typical stone and brick homes of the 1800’s.

 

Then we drove through Hagerstown to see the giant Coke bottle on top of the coke plant.  I tried to stage a photo of the bottle on top of Bill’s head but we didn’t’ have the right heights to do it.  Then just up the street a bit was the giant Rocking Chair on the top of a furniture company.  My first thought was of Edith Ann, my favorite Lily Tomlin character, sitting in the giant rocker on the porch rocking and talking her baby talk.

 

Well that was the sight seeing for the day.  The rest was a bit of shopping and dinner at TGI Friday’s.  Kam sent some discount coupons for there and we happened to have a $25 gift card. So there was one right at the shopping center.  The service was good, the food was good and for us, the price was excellent!  Bill knew we had a coupon also for a soft serve ice cream place so he made sure we made a final stop there on the way home.  He had Dirty Turtle custard and I had fat free sugar free yogurt.  I had to attempt making up for dinner!

 

No good stuff on TV tonight so nothing else to report!

Antietam - Part 2

June 21 -Not an overly exciting day but great weather!  Bill left for his 4 hours at Ferry Hill, where he said they had the record high of 20 before he left AND those mice must have a secret passage way as there were 2 again in the same trash can.  He met some folks who provided info on area things, including a Mennonite bakery in Sharpsburg that we had yet to hear of.

 

While he was gone I baked flax chia crackers, made a ganache tart, cleaned several grills and campsites, put the shims in to alleviate the squeak in our bedroom floor, talked to Karen and got my shower.  Molly enjoyed a couple of hours in her hut outside, so all in all it was a good 4 hours.

 

Newcomer House

Once Bill got back and changed from his volunteer shirt we headed back to the last 2 places related to Antietam Battlefield that we didn’t go to yesterday.  We stopped at the Newcomer House, which was once a big farm along the Antietam Creek where a portion of the battle was fought.  The house has a huge memorial statue of Lee on his horse in the side yard facing the main road.  When he donated or sold the property to the National Park Service it was with a contractual stipulation that it not be removed.  The park service was not happy but the house was/is in excellent condition so they agreed.  The issue about the statue is that Lee was not at the battle, he was on the other side of Sharpsburg AND he was not on horse at that time due to wrist injuries he sustained falling from his horse.  He was transported for a time in a cart.  The park service didn’t want it there since it is not historically accurate, but it’s still a nice statue.

 

Pry House



Further down the road was the Pry House.  It was taken over by the Union and made into a field hospital and headquarters displacing the owner and his family of 7.  Now it is a medical museum about the types of medicines and cures used, as well as the development of medical ambulances.  After the Union left the owner applied for reimbursement for the loss of his crops, his livestock, his furniture, fences, etc., and did not receive fair compensation and had to sell his farm and move his family back to Tennessee.

 

Our final adventure for the day was to try and find the bakery.  The directions were sketchy and the town isn’t that big.  We drove around the block once and no luck so stopped at someone’s house and asked and we had passed it but it was not on the side of the road we were looking at.  The bakery is behind the owner’s house and so we went in once we found it and Bill got big cookies, chocolate milk and ate a doughnut there.  I got a tiny bag of small cookies, gingersnaps, and some half and half.  They carried milk products from a local creamery.  We tried my gingersnaps and they were good but not enough ginger for my tastes.

 

Molly and I are now sitting outside, me with my wine and netbook and her in her hut.  It’s time to start thinking about dinner so best get to it so I can catch up posting later.

Trip to Antietam

June 20 – Bill put his bike in the truck and on the way to Ferry Hill I dropped him off at Lock

38 which is just below Ferry Hill.  He said it took him 20 minutes to rife the 3 miles back to the RV.  Now I’m going to have to try it!

As soon as I arrived at the VC, Susanna said we had two problems.  One was a mouse in a trash can and the other was a wasp.  I put a lid over the trash can and when the guy doing the lawn got close to the front I asked him to dispose of the mouse.  It turned out there were 2 mice!  Then Susanna and I took turns with a straw broom trying to knock the wasp down between guests coming and going.  I was getting dizzy looking up and spinning around.  Then when she took a turn I realized how funny I must have looked.  I finally got it down and opened the door and it flew out when she was giving a tour in one of the other rooms. The rest of the day was routine!

Observation Tower

Once I got home I changed shirts and we went to Antietam Battlefield National Park. http://www.nps.gov/ancm/index.htm  We were just in time to hear a ranger speak from the observation room that oversees a vast majority of the battlefield.  Then we watched the video and toured their small museum before heading out to drive most of the stops on the driving tour.  The entire park is over 3,000 acres.  Most of it is still farmland that the park owns but leases out to local farmers who keep it looking like it did the day of the battle.  For the most part, this park is closest to retaining the same look as the time in history than any other park.  It was also the single bloodiest day in the Civil War.

Spot known as "Bloody Lane"

On the way home we stopped at Nutter’s and Bill got 2 scoops to go for his dessert later.  I was really tired after dinner so we didn’t go riding tonight. 

Just another day....

June 19 – First thing this morning we had a young buck feeding right behind our RV.  The

Bucky thru the window

night before I had told Bill that since the grass was cut we should have some deer, and then, poof, first thing this morning we got a deer. 

Bill did VC duty on today while I went to the mall, Lowes, Wal-mart and did laundry and a bit of grocery shopping.  I was an hour late picking Bill up but he was OK.  I had called him and reported in.  After putting the laundry and groceries away, it was nice to put the awning out and sit and read for the first time since we arrived a week ago.  I put Molly out in her hut and she enjoyed the afternoon also.  After dinner we upped our bike ride to 3 miles.  I was pooped.  It was cooling off outside and a nice time for a ride.

Day Trip to Shepherdstown

June 18 – It was not looking so good again for our day off so we decided not to venture too far away.  Although it was our day off we went out after breakfast and cleaned several grills and fire pits and picked up a bit of trash.  We had 3 campers last night and one was still there.  The lawn guys came and mowed our “yard” and around most of our outdoor items.  Bill would have liked them to weedeat better.  He should have brought ours from last summer.

 

Geese and goslings

Main street of Shepherdstown

After showers we went into Sheperdstown to the Visitors Center.  On the way we had to stop on our road to let a gaggle of geese and their goslings cross.  There’s a house with a pond in front with a fountain and there seem to always a bunch of Canadian geese there.  In Shepherdstown all of the parking is by meter and everyone had warned us to keep the meter (of only 90 minutes) fed or get a ticket.  We checked out some shops where Bill got one of his used books and I got 2 bottles of wine.  I think I did better than he did.  We had lunch at the Blue Moon Café which was recommended by a number of people and did well on Trip Advisor.  It was very good but the service was a little slow and unattentive in the beginning.  Bill had a wrap that was huge and I went with a Mediterranean Salad with grilled chicken.  Loads of feta and delicious lightly roasted tomatoes with oil and seasoning.  Yummy!  Before heading back we stopped at the local McDonald’s to take advantage of the FAST free WIFI.  Oh such a difference than my slow service in the RV.  Bill used the netbook and I took my big Dell.  I knocked over his soda and made a terrible mess but at least it didn’t land on either computer.

 

On the way home I spotted a young doe along the tree line on our road.  We stopped and I got some video but am not sure how well my photo turned out.  There were some new campers when we got home.  5 to be exact.  After dinner we rode our bikes in the other direction tonight, which we liked better.  We figure it was 2 miles round trip.  Before we leave here we hope to be able to do the 6 mile round trip to Ferry Hill and back.

Monocacy Battlefield and Beyond!!!

June 17 – This was our first day off here at C & O Canal.  Bill changed his mind a couple of times but decided we would go to Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Maryland.  First we went to a used book store in Hagerstown.  Bill didn’t find what he was looking for but I got 4 books and he settled for 3 others.  I really need to read more and blog less.  On the way thru Frederick to the battlefield we stopped at Common Market which is a big health food store and I was able to get coconut flour and we managed to find a few other items we wanted. 

 

Off to war

By then it was close to lunch time so we had lunch at Wendy’s before heading to the visitor center.  They had a very nice display time lining the events leading up to the battle and during the battle.  The battle was won by the south but since Lee was not expecting a large regiment in the area of Union soldiers he did not expect there to be a battle on the way to capture DC.  He sent General Jubal Early in with 15,000 soldiers.  However, the battle occurred, delaying the south from getting to DC by a day and the Union was able to ready for them and so the south lost its opportunity to take DC.  http://www.nps.gov/mono/index.htm  The battle took place primarily on 3 large farms along the Monocacy River.   We visited all three places but the last one is privately owned and you can’t go to it or really get a decent photo of the farm house.

 

It drizzled on and off a bit but not enough to be a deal breaker.  We found our way to the Monocacy Aqueduct, which is part of the C & O Canal National Historic Park.  The aqueduct was built to house a lock on the top for the canal. We walked across and had nice views of the Monocacy River.  The Union tried to blow it up but failed.  It is still “solid as a rock”, well, it is rock.  

http://www.nps.gov/choh/historyculture/themonocacyaqueduct.htm 

 

The long and winding road

The really interesting part of the day was getting home on small unnamed roads on the map.  Bill does not like driving on the up and down roads that curve back and forth with lots of woods all around.  I finally took out the Garmin to find out if we were going in the right direction and we had to turn around twice.  We saw some huge beautiful dairy farms and lots of wheat, corn and hay.  It was much more serene than driving on the interstate but did get a little tense on some of those blind curves.

 

I had packed a load of wash in the truck in case we made our last stop at the grocery with a Laundromat close by and since that wasn’t quite the way we came home (through lots of tiny towns), we just drove through Sharpsburg to Shepardstown to Food Lion and the laundry next door.  I put the load in and Bill watched it while I made a short visit to Food Lion.  We took our dirty truck through the “do it yourself” car wash and brought our laundry home to dry for free in our dryer.

 

As we were unloading a couple of young girls asked Bill if he could help put their tent up.  Yeah, right!  He told them he’d send his wife to do it.  So after I put some of the groceries away I trekked almost to the darn end of the campsites and there were 2 guys and 2 girls.  It was a new tent and had directions and the guy had it put together correctly but didn’t understand there the ends of the flexible tubes went or in what loops to use, so I showed them how it all went and they were “ah now it really looks like a big tent”.  They didn’t have a hammer to put the stakes in so it was good that the ground was soft and they stood on them.  They were very appreciative!  Geez, I live in an RV, not a tent!  I haven’t put a tent up in years, but I CAN read directions.

 

Later after dinner we rode our bikes about 2 miles up and down the towpath and I checked on them and the tent was still up. 

Kelly walks from West Virgina to Maryland

June 16 – Bill headed to the VC this morning.  He was anxious to hear and meet one of the last family members that lived at Ferry Hill.  This man comes every Sunday during the summer and gives a talk on his life there and stories handed down and about the town of Sharpsburg.  It was nice to have 4 hours to myself but I kept busy.  I made 2 trash round pick ups of the camp sites and on the last one I saw a box in the canal and cut my leg on a bush I guess when I went down to get it.  I did the dishes, made crackers, emptied the litter box and the trash and did come blogging, email and internet research.  Before I knew it Bill was home.

                                                                                                                                                  

Chief Nut at Nutter's

The weather was pretty iffy all day and we had planned to ride along the towpath towards Ferry Hill and see if we could manage about half way, which would be 3 miles round trip.  We decided the weather was not going to cooperate so we drove into Sharpsburg to have an ice cream at the well known Nutters.  Each time we’ve gone by there have been lots of people outside eating ice cream and the shop was full.  We’d been told it was really good ice cream and generous portions.  They had about 32 flavors of ice cream, sherbert and yogurt and soft serve.  They make sundaes, shakes, floats and blizzards.  We had to wait in line and the

Railroad bridge across the Potomac

 line didn’t end even after we had finished ours.  I didn’t tell her what size just that Bill wanted 2 flavors and I had non-fat peach yogurt and I was thinking she gave us a large.  Well it was the small:  2 huge scoops hand dipped for $2.00 for each person.  No wonder they draw a crowd.  We walked a little down the main street where a lot of buildings are pre-Civil War.  Checked out the only restaurant, Captain Benders, and made some phone calls since we had full phone coverage.  We drove over to WV and I walked back to MD and took some photos of the Potomac. Yes, I walked from state to state!

 

After dinner Kam called and while we discussed wedding plans I could see deer in the field behind our RV.  The wildlife is always one of my favorite parts of being in the parks.  Bill mapped out our day tomorrow since we have 2 days off now.  Yee haw!!!