Winchester, Virginia – Day 3

The motorhome is still parked at Moose Lodge #1283. We expect to leave here later this morning.

At 11:00 AM yesterday, Mary’s foster-daughter Karen and her family arrived for a visit. They live in Warrenton, Virgina…about 40 away. After chatting for a while in the motorhome we went inside the Moose Club for lunch…

As always you may left click upon an image to see an enlarged view and then click once again to see an even larger view…

After lunch we decided to visit Old Town Winchester…old Loudoun Street has been made into a pedestrian walking mall…

In the below photo, Glen and four almost-five Adam pose in front of a statue at the old court house…

This courthouse is the third to be at this location and was built in 1840…

During the Civil War the City of Winchester changed hands 72 times…13 times in one day! You can read this intriguing history by clicking this Wikipedia link…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester,_Virginia

While the ladies took Adam to the Children’s Discovery Museum, Glen and I went through the Civil War Museum inside the old court house where a very knowledgeable Carol, the Museum Director, told us a number of interesting stories about the old court house…

The first floor was used by both sides as a hospital…

The second floor was used by both sides as barracks and a prison…

More than any other Civil War Museum I have visited…this one has an amazing number of different kind of cannon shells used during the war…some weighing in at 400 pounds…

A curse on Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, as scribbled on a wall (actual there in museum) by a Union Soldier…

While not he largest Civil War Museum I’ve ever been to, this one does an especially good job of presenting the terribleness and ferociousness of the Civil War…

You can view the official website of the museum by clicking this link…

http://www.civilwarmuseum.org/

After the museum, Glen and I met up with Adam and the ladies and went to a local ice cream place to help deal with the heat and humidity.

Yesterday it was 88 degrees with equivalent humidity. Too danged hot and humid for my liking!!!

Enjoying interesting museums is another joy of the full-timing lifestyle!

The red dot on the below map shows our approximate location in the State of West Virginia. You may double left-click the map to make it larger…

Enjoying 65-75 degree temperatures most of the year is a primary joy in the RVing lifestyle!

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”…Albert Einstein

On October 27, 2012, I created a two-minute video titled America The Beautiful. The music America The Beautiful is by Christopher W. French. The photos, which I randomly selected, are from the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Montana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Tennessee, Washington and West Virginia (not shown in that order)…are mine. Yup, That’s me standing in front of the Post Office in Luckenbach, Texas…Y’all!

Click this link to start the video. Make sure you have your speakers turned on and go to full screen asap.

If you have not checked out my Ramblin Man’s Photos Blog, you can do so by clicking this link…

http://ramblinmanphotos.wordpress.com/

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2013
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

ALL PETS GO TO HEAVEN.

Our newspaper says it is the hottest July on record for our area. Exacerbated by a low snow pack, meaning an extension of the drought.  It gets ugly out there.  Climate change deniers are holding up progress for the rest of us and thus we all suffer. I’m glad I can provide water for wild animals. I’m not so glad that I have to drive into the even hotter valley, a long day away from home “out in it”.

People may destroy the earth as we know it, but All Pets Go To Heaven.

It Appears More Adjustments Will Be Necessary…

Yesterday I departed the Moose Lodge #2241 and went to the Workhorse Chassis repair facility about one mile away. The ABS light on the motorhome would not go out. I had such an interesting experience there that I want to cover it in a separate Blog entry real soon.

In yesterday’s Blog entry I indicated I was moving to VFW Post #401 near the airport where I’ll be meeting Mary one week from today. The proximity to Interstate Highway 40 at the Moose Lodge made it far too noisy for sleeping.

I arrived at the VFW Post in mid-afternoon and got settled in…

The locals tell me that Albuquerque ranges from 5,000 feet in elevation at the Rio Grande River valley to 7,000 feet on the eastside…which means it’s a little difficult to find a level parking spot. After surveying the VFW parking lot this was the levelest spot I could determine and settled in. However…all is not ideal.

The first thing is the weather. Albuquerque temperatures are at near all time highs. Yesterday at 84 degrees it was really hot! The forecast for today is 86 and tomorrow is 88. YUK! Which means I need to leave all the windows and vents open.

About 150 feet behind where I’m standing when I took the above photo is a busy four lane city street which gives off a substantial amount of noise.

But…here’s the real problem. To the left of the trees in the above photo is commercial storage facility. The VFW Post itself is in an industrial business complex. All this means I’m in a commercially zone area and not a residential zone. Last evening/night…in the commercial storage area to the left…there are apparently two young “musicians” and I use the term very loosely. They apparently are very dedicated and I’m told by the locals practice every night from 6:00 PM to after midnight. Last night they quit at 12:30 AM. There’s only two…one plays a bass guitar and the other plays the drums. Their “music” sounds very angry…hard/acid rock?…and they play it at full amplified volume! Not a good thing for an old guy like me!

So, what am I going to do about this situation? I don’t know at this moment. I really like the fact that the VFW Post is within locked security gates at night…so I’ll try to figure out something that will allow me to stay here.

A little later this morning I’ll survey the parking area on the other side of the building and see if I can find a spot that will somewhat move me away from the volume of the road noise and the “music”.

Have I ever told you I really do not like being in big cities? I’m sure I have! If I didn’t have to meet Mary one week from today…you can be bet I’d be a loooong way away from here!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2012
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/panamaorbust

Summer Time And the Living Is Easy…

Yesterday was one of those absolutely perfect Pacific Northwest days…69 degrees, a gentle breeze, sunny with a few stray clouds. The weather just does not get any better than that…in my humble opinion.

If you are a regular follower of my Blog…you know I have not watched or listened to any kind of news for 13+ years. My life is so simply structured..there’s no need to put all that garbage in my head. My feelings are…that if anything is that important…I’ll hear people talking about it…and then figure out what to do about it…which is usually nothing.

In the last couple of days…I’ve heard people talking about the excessive heat currently back East. I can’t do anything about it…other than to be thankful…one more time…I am a full-time RVer…and that I’m currently here and not there.

Mary and I spent the Summer in New England last year visiting my family, relatives and friends. We were told it was the hottest Summer in New England in over 100 years. You do not have to tell me about the heat and humidity of the Summers in the East. I know all about them..it was one of the primary reasons I moved from the Northeast to California in 1979! For many years now…I’ve been telling people…if I did not have family back in New England…I would never again go East of the Rocky Mountains…ever!

As so on this perfect day yesterday…I found myself in one of my favorite places…Thousand Trails Leisure Time Thunderbird RV Resort in Monroe, Washington…in my favorite spot in this campground along the banks of the Skykomish River.

As you can see..the campground is in three sections. In my section…there are 22 sites out of the total 95. Here’s a street view of my section…you can see my Bronco and the motorhome as the first RV on the right. Directly behind the motorhome is the beautiful Skykomish River.

Here’s a little history of this campground. I first came here in 1980… when then…it was called simply Thunderbird Campground. At that time it was a really run-down place…but I stayed here because I wanted to visit a life-long friend who lives only a couple of miles from here. In 1984 Leisure Time Resorts bought the place and turned it into a beautiful RV Resort. In 2000…Thousand Trails bought Leisure Time Resorts.

And so…back to my perfect Northwest weather day and where the living is easy. The only thing missing is my life-partner Mary who is still back in California…in 90+ degree weather…tending to home/rentals/personal business. I’m hoping to get her back within the next couple of weeks. In the meantime…I’ll just sit here…and enjoy!

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2011
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://lulu.com/panamaorbust

MYSTIC, CONNECTICUT

The movie, Mystic Pizza, was named after this intriguing place that is not recognized by the State as a community. Its actually part of Stonington and Groton. Maybe that’s why it is “Mystic”. Jim’s daughter-in-law grew up here and she and his son were married here.  Wikipedia has a long history about the place if you wish to click on this link. There seems to be a strong arts community judging from the galleries.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystic,_Connecticut

Part of their history was boat building and shipping.

Its a pretty town with a delightful harbor and nice restaurants. Swans are an imported species used to eat up some of the invasive algae troublesome in the shallows where the river meets the sea.

A draw bridge, built in 1922, lifted for a couple of passing boats. It moves about 2200 boats through in a year. We watched as a couple of pedestrians, giggling, scooted under the gates after the whistle blew and crossed over in a hurry.

The counter weights, there are two of them, weigh 260 tons each. Kind of amazing to see them up in the air and to walk under them.

It was hot yesterday when we arrived and we walked around town from one air conditioned store to the next. Our goal was to visit the largest Maritime Museum in the World today, but, yesterday and this morning proved so hot and muggy we are moving on to his son’s house where we can plug in to air conditioning instead of running the noisy generator. The museum will wait for another year.
We were so lucky to have stopped in the gallery of Jeffrey P’an, a glass blower. His work is different than anything I’ve seen. Exquisitely beautiful, different, and fragile.

Regrettably, I only took  a few pictures of his exquisite art. There is a video of him working at this link: 

The difference in his blown glass and others is that he makes his own rods of glass, then melds a pre-designed mosaic of the glass before shaping it into a piece. Amazing work. He has a gallery in Stonington as well. He can be found all over the web. info@prescientstudios.net

Headed for the water for a breeze, we found the old Mystic Lighthouse. I found a picture of one of the only women known to be a whaler. She consistently worked with her husband whaling. She had no children so they worked together. This little museum held a lot of stuff. I enjoyed the tools from ice making-

and a story about an eccentric guy named Hancox.

From the lighthouse tower I took a picture of Jim trying to cool off in the shade of a tree. He suffers more than I do with the heat. The museum was not air conditioned. We’ve broken our router and can’t get a signal so Jim won’t be posting today. For some reason or another, my computer drew on an unsecured signal, but his computer can’t get it.

For a link to other pictures, click below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/8410Mystic#

Hot Stuff!!!!

Jim says:

Yesterday at 6:00 AM it was 75 degrees. I decided to unhook the 50 foot 20 amp extension cord and replace it with a 25 foot 30 amp extension cord so I could run the air-conditioner in the motorhome. I set the thermostat at 75 degrees and turned it on at 8:00 AM. My son is away on a business trip and won’t be running over my extension cord with his car.

All closed up for the hot day.

During the course of the day, according to my son’s weather station, the temperature reached 104 degrees in the shade! The humidity was horrid! The air-conditioner ran steadily all day long and despite the thermostat being set at 75 degrees, the mid-afternoon temperature reached 91 degrees in the motorhome. At 9:00 PM the outside temperature was down to 83 degrees, so I shut off the air-conditioner for the night. With the exception of visiting with my son’s family for a few minutes, I spent the day in the motorhome, read my book and did some computer research about our forthcoming return trip to California. We’re scheduled to depart August 15th. Planning the route is almost as much fun as the trip itself!

During the course of the day yesterday, my 12-year-old grandson Eric stopped by to give me another texting lesson. His battery on his cellphone is on its last legs so I went online an ordered one for him as an early birthday present. He will become a genuine teenager on August 11th. His new girlfriend Haley came by and I had a chance to meet and chat with her. Hmmm…life has changed. I didn’t have my first girlfriend until I was 16.

Eric & Haley

At 5:00 AM when I arose this morning it was 81 degrees in the motorhome. On went the air-conditioning. The forecast for today is 90 degrees…still to hot for my liking!

My life-partner Mary has dubbed me the Weather Wimp as I really start to complain when the weather gets out of the 65-75 degree range. It’s hard for me to believe that in 2004 I made a 16,000+ mile, 343 day, RV trip through Mexico and Central America where most of the days were like yesterday and I elected not to use my air-conditioning because I wanted to have a genuine Central America experience. She’s right…I’ve become a Weather Wimp! If I wasn’t here in New England visiting my family and friends…I’d be in the State of Washington where I usually spend my summers. It was 75 degrees there yesterday. Just the right temperature!

Eric and I have made plans to attend a minor league baseball game tomorrow. It starts at 12:05 PM and hopefully it won’t be too hot! The forecast is for 82 degrees.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.panamaorbust.com

My 12-Year-Old Grandson Is Teaching Me How To Text!

Jim says:

Everybody in my son’s family texts like crazy all the time. I tried it a couple of time…found (I thought) that it was too much of a pain to mess with. After all. I use my cell phone to make telephone calls!

My 12-year-old grandson is a text wizard and he decided that I need to know how to text, so he stopped by yesterday to give me some texting lessons. The first thing he did was to restructure my phone to make it easier to text. It wasn’t long before I was texting!

I held my camera at arm’s length to get this photo.

Granted, I’m not yet as fast as my grandson, but with a little bit of practice…and I’m sure more lessons are forthcoming.

In other news…
Saturday night we went to a July 4th party at a neighbor’s house just up the street. The party was given by a guy who is a Connecticut State Trooper. It was the tenth year in a row that he’s done so. I went when I was here in 2007. He invites all his neighbors and friends. There were several hundred people in attendance! At 10:00 PM he put on a huge fireworks show that lasted. for a half-hour and must have cost him $1,000! Quite a show and quite a party!

Yesterday my son and his family went to his wife’s sister’s home for the day. I opted to have a quiet day for myself and stayed at home. The heat and humidity have returned. It’s forecasted to be heavy-duty for the next week and the weather wimp…that’s me…is saying “Triple Yuk!”.

All original material Copyright – Jim Jaillet 2009
For more information about my three books, click this link:

http://www.panamaorbust.com