Today's yard May 29 1810

The motorhome is parked at home base. The van, loaded to the gills, carried me 4 hours north and 200 years back. Then all afternoon was spent setting up camp. I am sure I have too much stuff. My back is positive of that. But most everything really does get used.

It is a treat to see old friends, and meet new friends. And sad to miss those who are no longer with us.

We were expecting to get drenched this afternoon but the storm seems to have passed by bringing cooler air but not rain. Yay!

Today's yard, May 26

Birds singing. Soft gentle breeze. Minimal traffic. Early morning sounds of civilization behind me - compressors, engines? - gearing up... We are all related, even humans are Part of Nature... may we walk in Harmony.

Today's Yard, May 21, 2010

One of the joys of nomadic life is that I get to visit my daughters more often than I would if I had a stuck-in-one-place lifestyle. It comes in waves. Sometimes we do a lot of stores near Charlotte and I get to visit the younger daughter and her family. Currently we're doing a lot of stores in the Richmond area and I get to visit the older daughter and her family.


Whenever I start fantasizing about a really roomy motorhome, it's all fantasy: I can't consider one that won't fit in this driveway, so that's about a 31 foot limit. The Escaper is 26' so I can go a bit bigger but I'm safe from the 40' monsters. And those trees - here and at several other of my favorite places to visit - the maple at Home Base, for that matter - prevent slide-outs from being tempting.
As I keep eyes open for the next motorhome, a lot of rigs are eliminated by those considerations.

Serendipity at the Flying J

It was a very long workday at the end of a week of long days. No way could I reach my planned weekend parking - at my daughter's, near next week's job - at a reasonable hour. I talked with her when I pulled into Flying J. She was staying up waiting for me. I said, "Go to bed. I'll stop over here and drive the rest of the way in the morning." Then I pulled up to the gas pump. Just then a Winnebago finished fueling and went to park. 'Nice rig,' I thought. 'Looks like my friends' rig. Hey, I KNOW that dog!'
Yes, it was my friends, with their big dog riding shotgun. They do the same work I do, but on another team. Their set had finished similarly late and we could not have timed it better on purpose. A delicious dinner in good company was a delightful way to wrap up the day.

Portable generator tent

Remember I bought a Honda generator last year? Handy little thing. But the weather that makes me want to stay inside and run the computer off it for hours on end is the same weather that the manual says not to have it out in. What to do?
I normally put the generator on the scooter's floorboard and lock it up. No one will swipe it easily and if I had to drive away in a hurry, it wouldn't fall off. So for drizzly weather like this week, a framework of PVC pipe supports a tarp tent over the whole thing. No puddles, no drizzles.

Today's Yard May 18, 2010

At the edge of the store's lot, mowed grass, honeysuckle, birds singing. It was a rainy week with long work hours, so I didn't get to sit outside much but the peace came in, enabling me to work on a website and create a necklace for a gift. It has quit raining now, so I will enjoy Outside even though it is chilly.

Swimming vs Surfing

This is a gravesite - here lies the Wildwood Pool.

The sign says:
Wildwood Pool, 1929-1964
For thirty-six years, a swimming pool provided Radford with water recreation at this location in Wildwood Park, to give a place "in which to avoid bad habits". The opening of the pool and a dance on Independence Day in 1929 attracted over 10,000 people from Radford and surrounding area.
The pool was 200 feet long and for a while received its water, described as "always cold", directly from Connelly's Run. The complex also featured a bathhouse, concession stand, ticket booth and a parking area. The pool was filled in and closed in 1964. Portions of the west wall can be seen beyond this marker.


I've commented on this before. There are so many places today where swimming is not permitted.

So many pools gone.

And so many swimming places under-utilized, like my own beloved Izaak Walton park.

I suppose instead of swimming, people today spend all their summer indoors, with a/c, surfing the internet.

Rather a shame.

Of course, sometimes there's a good reason not to swim.
This pavillion at Santee State Park in South Carolina indicates that swimming used to be popular there.
But I'm not even tempted to feed the 'gators.

Last Month's Yard - Wildwood Park, Radford

Last month when I parked at Wildwood Park in Radford, I said I would post more pictures.

I walked through the woods at Wildwood Park.

Then through the tunnel which connects it with Bisset Park and the River Walk.

Wildwood is woods and meadows. Bisset is grassy parkland.

The walkway goes quite a ways up (down?) the river. I was back a couple of weeks ago and parked along the river walk to enjoy some spring sunshine.

Here's another shot of the rock face at the Wildwood Park parking area, and a movie too.

Usually, it's what's cool about a particular town (although I confess I've been really bad about blogging regularly lately). This time, it's what's cool in my tiny RV kitchen. One cool thing is my Bullet-To-Go. This is what I mix my breakfast shake in, or scramble eggs, or... so you know I use it daily. (and no, this is not an affiliate link.)
You've seen the Magic Bullet on TV, certainly - and you can get them in retail stores - but the existence of the Bullet-To-Go is not so widely known. I'm not really sure why they aren't advertising it in RV magazines.
The truth is I'm not overly fond of their website. It's kind of As Seen On TV hype-ish, and I prefer to just be given straight-forward information and ordering... but the product itself makes up for it. The blender parts and cups and lids are the same as the regular plug-in version, but it comes with a battery base and charger. It holds its charge quite a long while and is easy to use. And it's LOTS more versatile than the smoothie blender I used to use.

The other cool thing I have is a SodaStream. It's a sleek gadget that carbonates water. They sell flavor concentrates for different flavor sodas, but I like to mix up my own carbonated drinks with real juice. I've talked about it on my Sweet Enough Already blog but I just realized I probably hadn't mentioned it here - even though I bought my SodaStream at Camping World over a year ago. I've given some as gifts, too - to people who love theirs as much as I love mine - and they've turned other people on to it also. If you like to drink sparkling water, cola, root beer, your own healthy mix... and not carry cans, you might like this.
Yes I have - had? - an affiliate link - I think it's expired and I have to do something to put up a new ad to get credit - which I haven't done - but that's not the point. I want both these companies to do lots of business so when I wear mine out eventually they are still in business and I can replace them.