Category: Our Travels

Some Of The Best Experiences In Life Happen When You Just “Go With The Flow”.

John 7:38 ESV “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

The Schmidt Party of Nine – L to R – Jonathan, Ellie, Sarah, Andrew, Tina, Abby, Patrick, Christy and Ben

Several months ago as we were planning our visit to some of the western states in our RV, my husband, Andrew, talked about a couple of bucket list items of his brother’s that were in the area where we would be traveling.  Included on Patrick’s list was seeing Brit Floyd (a Pink Floyd cover band) in concert at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre in Colorado.  He also wanted to attempt to climb Grays Peak, the “easiest” of the state’s “14-ers” (fourteen-ers), which is any mountain at least 14,000 feet tall.  

We checked out the event schedule at Red Rocks.  Lo and behold, Patrick’s bucket list band was playing this summer!  Seeing it as a great opportunity to visit with his brother, Andrew asked Patrick, “Are you in”?  The beginning of an unexpected lifetime adventure was suddenly evolving and we didn’t even realize it.

Patrick and his family bought concert tickets and airline tickets.  We bought concert tickets and booked a campground nearby.  Andrew’s three children heard about what we were doing for that leg of the trip and decided to come along as well.  More plane tickets, more concert tickets!

Bucket List – A panoramic view of Red Rocks Ampitheatre, Morrison, Colorado
Bucket List – Grays Peak, Colorado

The phrase “going with the flow”, infers change and flexibility.  Of the “Schmidt Party of Nine”, none of us except Patrick had ever seen or knew much of anything about Red Rocks or Grays Peak, but for some reason, we were all excited and ALL IN!  As trip planning proceeded, we devoured videos of climbers and concert-goers.  We became very excited and immediately realized that we might also be a bit unprepared!  We purchased bear spray, trekking poles and began shopping for very outdoorsy backpacks that were capable of holding hydration packs.  We crafted emails to the kids, helping to prepare them for what was ahead for us.  We heard more and more information from Patrick and learned about things we might encounter such as altitude sickness and the legalities of marijuana.  We ventured further into our excitement and completely became fans of Patrick’s bucket list items!

As our post-Covid world began to open, we were disappointed to discover that the concert date was postponed (the band was likely moving on to a larger venue for our June visit) and in that instant, Brit Floyd at Red Rocks was yanked out of reach for us.  The great part about this bad news?  Everyone still wanted to make the trip to Colorado!  We pivoted and decided that we should still go to Red Rocks, as our research and Patrick had by now told us all that the fabulous venue had to offer – museum, a hall of fame, miles of trails, yoga, movies and more.

So this week, the idea sparked by Patrick came to be.  The spark that was further fanned by his generous sharing of information and enthusiasm absolutely CHANGED THE LIVES of all nine of us, aged 19 to 54.  We saw and experienced beauty and inspiration like we have never before seen and felt. 

This experience of a lifetime began with Patrick’s enthusiasm for two very specific goals.

It is safe to say that we are all so grateful that we decided to go with the flow and jump on the new experiences that Patrick wanted to experience.  His goals became our shared goals.

At Red Rocks Amphitheatre and Park, we hiked a challenging 1.5 mile trail that helped reality set in for what we were to experience the following day on Grays Peak.  The beauty was overwhelming.  The merging of natural rock formations with man-made architecture was incredible.  The altitude affected our breathing.  Our muscles burned in the hot Colorado sun even at only 6,500 feet.  We felt first-hand how conscious hydration and calorie replacement is a real thing.  We toured the museum and music hall of fame, bought souvenirs in the gift shop and every one of us vowed that we would return some day to see a concert here (and Patrick ended up seeing the replacement band at the venue the next night).

We went to bed early that night, each of us feeling some anxiety for the mountain ahead of us.  We awoke at 1 am to make the drive to meet Patrick and his family at the base of the mountain parking area at 4 am.  The stars shone like never before.  We all could feel the nerves in our guts and the chill of the suddenly 40 degree mountain air.

4:04 am, June 11, 2021 – before dawn, adrenaline pumping in the cold air and darkness. feeling underprepared but thrilled.

As the sun was just starting to rise, we hiked the bridge over the river of melting snow and began our ascent, ready or not.  The trip to the top of Grays Peak is 4.5 miles and is one of the most popular mountain hikes in the state.  The youngest in our group quickly were able to pull out ahead of us, not affected as much by the thin air and having the advantage of less weight and more fitness in their bodies.

Arms outstretched, Abby strikes a pose that many of us struck over two days – an attempt to show appreciation for the overwhelming vastness of beauty we were encountering as the sun rose.

At times I had to stop and catch my breath every 10 steps.  This first third of our ascent was the most difficult for me, and I grew angry at how difficult it was (I had lost 15 pounds in anticipation of the hike, but grumbled at myself for having not lost 30!).  “What on earth had Patrick gotten us into!?” I thought to myself.  This was where the battle was mental as much as physical.

We slowly stepped toward the approaching sunshine, step-by-painful-step.

Mercifully, after about a mile or so into the hike, as we entered the valley between two mountains, the ascent became more gradual and the views more glorious than could even be imagined.  My lungs began to acclimate to the lack of oxygen and as I watched the time and distance progress on my Fitbit, I could sense my progress and my attitude improving. 

Our group of nine began thinning out, and Patrick, Sarah, Andrew and I gave the kids their desired “go-ahead” to move on at their own pace and said a silent prayer that they would make good choices in what truly could be a dangerous place.  After that point, we didn’t see Patrick and his wife Sarah again, who had settled into a location slightly behind us as they adjusted to perhaps more-than-expected altitude nausea and unbeknownst to us at the time, a catastrophic boot failure that forced their return to our vehicles.

Go ahead – go as far as you can go! We will do the same.

At some point, Christy, Andrew’s oldest, had decided to reverse direction and left the “youngsters” and turned back to the “old folks”, worried both about her next steps on the snow-covered  and increasingly difficult trail they had encountered, and about her parents lagging behind.  As we met each other, she was both surprised and pleased to see us, not really believing that we were still attempting the difficult climb.  Renewed in spirit, she joined Andrew and me for the rest of our hike, and passed that spot that had caused her initial retreat, conquering fears and growing in personal strength at the same time.

Cell service had long ago disappeared before we even reached the parking lot, but as we entered the second mile of our ascent, we rose above the tree line and suddenly our phones could “see” the cell towers and began to allow all the texts and pent up phone data to come through.  We received a text from one of the kids – “If you can see this – we are almost to the top!”.  We were inspired to do our best and push our personal limits.

Another hour or so into our uphill battle, we saw the approaching image of Ben and Abby, Andrew’s middle and youngest children, returning down the mountain and amazed to see us.  We discovered that they had not quite made it to the top.  Their obstacle was a ledge of ice in what was becoming increasingly high winds that began just as the most challenging mountainside switchback section of the trail began.  They made an attempt and decided that safety would be their choice this time.  Patrick and Sarah’s children, Jonathan and  continued on, eventually becoming the only two of our group that would complete the full ascent.

Abby and Ben returning toward us – excited about their accomplishments.
Seemingly in disbelief when they see Andrew, Christy and me – still making our ascent.

Andrew and I (along with Ben) eventually arrived at the same location where Ben and Abby had decided to turn around an hour earlier.  We took our first sit-down rest of the day and watched as other hikers slowly moved across the narrow trail of ice, now melting into a sometimes more treacherous slushy snow.  Grown adults, some trying to hug the wall of snow above them or crouch low to the ground to avoid slipping into the long slope below them slowly and methodically crept across the part of the path we could see before the first switchback.  

The photos don’t effectively show the challenge these hikers had traversing the beginning of the switchbacks.
The slope, the ice, the snow, the loose rocks – the factors that helped us make a decision as to when our ascent was completed for the day.

We seriously contemplated whether or not we might make an attempt, but witnessed (and photographed) too much struggle with more prepared, fit and younger hikers than us.  It was ultimately a very satisfying and easy decision.  The mountain had not actually defeated our aging bodies.  Our fear had not won out over our desire to make it to the summit.  We simply decided that this was how far we should go today.  We had achieved something far beyond what we had expected and were proud of all of us.  

Andrew attempted a phone call to our nephew, Jonathan who we expected might be at the top by now and the call went through!  He and his sister had made it to the top, all 14,278 feet, representing a victory that our entire group felt and shared with them.  Jonathan is an experienced and savvy outdoorsman, and he volunteered that this trek was “hardcore” for him.  At one point, he even helped in the rescue of a man that was stuck on the mountainside.  

We were thrilled for Jonathan and Ellie and even more satisfied that we had made the right decision to turn back down the mountain.  At this point, three miles and 11,111 steps in, perhaps at about 13,000 feet, we realized that our adventure on this mountain was only half over.

With the decision made to start our decent, we were able to savor the journey that much more. Ben was often able to “get ahead” of us, and then take a seat for a while to enjoy the views of this peaceful place until we caught up with him.

As the adrenaline finally began to ease, our muscles began to ache.  The use of our muscles changed as well, and the need for agility on a downward hike became mission critical.  The sun was now shining on our hard working bodies and we continued to shed our layers.  We stopped more frequently to simply stand and savor the views.  The three of us, Ben, Andrew and I, caught up with others – first Christy and then Abby, and not a mile from the end of our day, even Jonathan and Elie caught up with us and passed us, no doubt happy to return to their mom and dad to tell them of their incredible feat.

All smiles as we savor our accomplishment – and only halfway through our day’s adventure!
Christy smiles at a day well lived.
Our group once again growing, we carefully made our way back down the mountain.

Exactly 7 ½ hours from the beginning of our adventure, all nine of us were finally all together again, with smiles and cheers and hugs all around.  It was just after noon.  We had crammed quite a bit of adventure into our morning.  Along the way, we touched lives with some amazing people.  Two young boys, perhaps 8 and 10, with their dad, passed us on the way up and on the way down the mountain.  Several hikers with large backpacks that included skis and poles passed us, then skied down from the summit, and when the snow ended, hiked the rest of the way, passing us once again.  Young adults in the best shape of their lives zipped past us, wished us “Good Morning” and gave us words of encouragement.  Dogs of all varieties were living a great dog’s life and looking incredibly happy, one even carrying his own backpack, no doubt filled with his food and water.  We were even passed along our descent by an ultra-marathoner and his dog that were literally running down the mountain. 

There is nothing like a little mountain hike to reconnect with siblings.

Through all of it, we learned that hikers are an incredibly supportive and positive group.  They taught us that the victory isn’t necessarily at the top of the mountain, but in your own personal challenges and hard work, and your arrival at that place where you can say to yourself “I am so blessed to be able to do this and so proud of what I achieved today,”  THAT is when you celebrate great victories.

We made it – no injuries – and only tears of happiness.

To say the photos don’t do the views justice would be a gross understatement.  These are views that will make you cry (some of us did).  These are places that if you stand quietly, you can hear God speak to you, simply because you are that much closer to heaven.  These are experiences of places and people and animals and plants that will inspire you and become a part of your soul – changing your DNA while fully absorbing the experience.

Thanks so much Patrick, from all of us.  I aim to go with the flow more often because I have  been reminded that joining an adventure with others that I never even knew I wanted can bring inspiration, achievement and love of life into my world better than anything already on my bucket list.

Isaiah 40:3-4
A voice of one calling: “In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged
places a plain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bonus photos: We explored Morrison, Colorado in the afternoon of our visit to Red Rocks, where Schmidt Party of Nine enjoyed a meal together. It is also at a nearby wings shop where Christy and Ben tried “Rocky Mountain Oysters”, a unique “delicacy” of bull testicles. An acquired taste, for sure.

Boulder Beer Shake (chocolately), in Morrison, Colorado
Down the hatch – Rocky Mountain Oysters
A last minute addition to Ben and Christy’s bucket lists – check and check!

More Bonus Photos: Straight from the Denver airport, we wasted no time discovering Colorado, with a stop at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, where we spotted, Mule Deer, White Tail Deer, Prarie Dogs, Bison and one VERY large rabbit!

The Midwest US – It’s Not Just For Passing Through

Train tracks seem to run through many of the small towns and sounds train whistles are a common lullaby when you lay down your head at night. This track ran through downtown Hays, Kansas.

We have begun our first big “trip” since launching full time RVing in July 2020!  Covid, state-based health insurance requirements and family needs caused us to tailor our early travels solely on the east coast between Maryland and Florida.  But finally we are vaccinated, we visited our families, and we are heading west!

Annnndddd, we’re off! Westward ho on the midwest express!

The plan for this summer is Colorado, Wyoming, a sliver of Idaho, Montana and South Dakota – all squeezed in between early June and the end of September.  We are hitting all the “big” items – national parks and some of the most popular tourist sites in the US, including Pikes Peak, Yellowston and Glacier National Park.  We know it will not be the peaceful, easy-going pace to which we have become accustomed, but we also know that these are big bucket list items.

We passed through only a sliver of West Virginia, without so much as a potty break…but we will be back, for sure!

But first, we have to get there!  We left Lancaster, Pennsylvania on May 25th and are not expected to arrive in Larkspur, Colorado until June 8th.  That gives us time for a leisurely pace to explore the path to “getting there”.

Our initial goal?  Make no advanced reservations.  Well, we blew that plan, but with good reason.  Less than a week before our departure, I was reminded that we were facing Memorial Day weekend!  Ugh!  I scrambled to make reservations for at least two or three nights, and estimated where and when we might hit those locations.  In the end, it was a blessing, because it created some shorter travel days when we might otherwise have felt rushed to “get there”!  For the remainder of “getting there”, we made no advanced reservations, allowing us to drive at whatever pace we desired, stop as many times as needed for breaks, and really try to enjoy the journey!

Our secondary goals? The Rule of Threes:  Travel no more than 300 miles in a day, end our driving day by 3:00 pm and stay at least three days in any location.  We knew we would not hit every goal on the mark, but we wanted to try to benchmark our travels against these guidelines to ensure our pace was more relaxing.  It is an RVing “rule” we learned early on while preparing for full-time RVing, and it has served us well.  The trick is to not get caught up in “hurry up and get there”!

The first stately stop was in the great state of Ohio.

May 25, 2021 – 327 miles – Our first day on the road would be our longest, with our first stop at Spring Valley Campground, a private RV park in Cambridge, Ohio.  We called for reservations an hour or two before we arrived, got a 50 amp full hook-up site  ($34, a free upgrade from 30 amp because of an electrical problem that required we change sites upon arrival).  The campground was conveniently JUST off the I-70 highway, but felt more isolated than that, with less traffic noise than you would expect.  The staff and other campers were friendly and helpful.  There was plenty of open space, a big lake and a pretty setting.  The next morning we enjoyed breakfast at the nearby Cracker Barrel and I got my fix of sausage gravy and biscuits!  So far, so good – Ohio was lovely, and there was much we could have visited and seen, but now we had those holiday weekend reservations that gave us a deadline.

Fishing was available, and because the campground was hidden behind a ridge and many trees, the highway noise was virtually unnoticable toward the middle and back of the park.
With neat and shaded sites, Spring Valley Campground was a great stopover.
A large lake and open space gave us pretty walks and space for the dogs to run.

May 26, 2021 – 215 miles – Our next stop was Cornerstone Retreat and Campground in New Castle, Indiana, yet another stop on the I-70 trail we were forging for ourselves.  A private, Christian campground, it was an immaculate campground with well maintained and decorated grounds.  You could tell that this would be a huge summer escape for families and was also host to seasonal campers.  The highway noise seems louder here than at some of our previous stops, but it was fine for an overnight stop.  We didn’t even unhook the truck from the camper and instead, took a stroll around the grounds, with Andy ordering pizza that was delivered to our site from their campground cafe!

May 27, 2021 – 154 miles – Our third stop was a pre-planned visit to Newton, Illinois, where we would visit the first two full time RVing friends we ever made.  We originally met Janine and Matt in a camper on the sales lot at Beckley’s RV Sales in 2017.  They had just listed their house for sale and were buying a new fifth wheel for their full-time travels.  We were also buying our rig, with plans to launch our full-time travels in 2020. 

Another state inwhich we rest our heads for a night means a new sticker on our travel map!

Here we sat, two couples chatting in a fifth wheel that we BOTH intended to buy!  It worked out well – neither of us ended up buying that specific rig on that day, but from that day, an online friendship evolved and we caught up with them by happenstance again in January 2021 in Sarasota, Florida.  So when they invited us to stop by in Illinois on this trip, we were excited to do so!  They were spending a month “moochdocking” at their son and daughter-in-law’s home (for those that don’t know, that is when you pull up and camp in a friend or relatives driveway or property).  

Our reservation was at Casey KOA Journey, again, just off of I-70, but this time, for two nights.  The campground was exactly what you might expect from a rural KOA campground and while it was perfectly fine for an overnight stay, it was just as pricey as we have come to expect KOAs to be and still included that I-70 traffic noise (but it was a holiday weekend, so we took what we could get!).

The feelings evoked by these midwest country roads are that of peace, beauty and the simplicity of life.
Classic KOA cabins on the edge of a field after an evening rainstorm.
One of the coolest vintage camping setups we have seen in a while, complete with matching cooler, shower/bath tent and chair.
A KOA Memorial Day weekend stop in Newton, IL, hummingbird sighting included!

On our “free day” we drove over to the town of Casey, Illinois (pronounced Kay’-Zee by the locals).  This little town’s claim to fame is being home to more than a dozen “World’s Largest” items and even a larger number of “really big things”.  What a day!  I am a sucker for many of these little roadside attractions.  We walked, shopped and photographed our way through this adorable town.  The town is special – the restoration of old buildings is well done and there is enough there that we could have spent an entire day, with lovely restaurants, stores and sights.  

But it was an evening visit with Janine and Matt that was our reason for arriving to the area instead of just passing through.  Any home cooked dinner when traveling is a special treat, but we also enjoyed great conversation and even did a little shopping of Janine’s gorgeous hand designed and created jewelry.  Janine is multi-talented – a jewelry maker, rug hooker and blogger (Visit her at https://www.etsy.com/shop/JanineBroscious or https://joyfulwonder.wordpress.com/).

After a great dinner and conversation in their 2018 Grand Design 310GK that is JUST LIKE OURS (it is always easy to find your way to the bathroom that way!).  We walked next door to share dessert and meet some of their beautiful family!  It was yet another great evening of meeting kind, fun, welcoming and interesting people as part of this way of life.  

We learned about their son and daughter-in-law’s adventures in their fixer upper home, with their busy children and foster child, a sister that also lives with them and their role in the community as a pastor’s family.  By the end of the evening, and the end of our visit to this part of Illinois, we learned that it was certainly a place beautiful enough and enjoyable enough that we should come back again and do some further exploration (after all, we didn’t have time to visit the home of Burl Ives!).

May 29, 2021 – 241 miles – As we added another state sticker to our travel map of the United States, we headed to Columbia, Missouri for our next night’s rest.  It was another planned visit – this time a welcomed invitation from a college friend that I haven’t seen in more than 30 years!  Another drive under our 300 mile limit and three three o’clock “curfew” found us stopping at Cedar Creek Resort not far off the same I-70 interstate we would be taking all the way to Colorado.

Headed from Illinois to Missouri on I-70.
Show me, Missouri!

The campground was newer, and we were able to snag a pull-thru site.  We were greeted by the camp hosts, took the dogs for a walk around the loop, admiring the nearby fishing lake along the way.  Had we stayed longer, it was clear that there were miles of pretty country scenes to explore.  After a restful afternoon, we got into our “camping best dressed” (for me, that simply means nicer jeans, wedge shoes, a pretty blouse and some makeup, as well as my new necklace purchased from Janine!).  The visit with Lee and her wife Stacey was terrific and it was a treat to catch up in person after perhaps two decades of no contact and another decade of only a social media connection.  Laughter and joy seemed abounding, and the visit was comfortable despite Lee and I being the only two that had ever known each other before.  It was an evening that reinforced for me why this lifestyle is such a gift – to be able to “swing by” Missouri for a little visit on a cross country road trip!  These are opportunities that I treasure.

It is having the opportunity for visits like these that are a terrific opportunities presented by full-time RVing.

May 30, 2021 – 171 miles – With our holiday-restricted-visiting-with-friends stops behind us, it was time to move on.  Feeling excited, we knew that our next stop would put us somewhere in Kansas, which somehow felt like we were in the “midst of the middle”.  We opted for another short travel day so that we could boondock overnight at a Harvest Host location – Z&M Twisted Vines Winery and Vineyard near Leavenworth. For those that do not know, Harvest Host is a membership website we joined where we can camp (usually boondocking) overnight at no cost at any of thousands of various businesses in North America.  They ask that we patronize the business in some way as a thanks for the night’s rest.  We had a great experience, meeting a couple of resident chickens in addition to one of the owners, parking our rig in the middle of a 40 acre field and tasting food and wines, while relaxing and watching the sun set.  We settled on a couple of bottles to go home” with us, including a Jalapeno Wine named Hellfire!

Toto, we’re not in Oz anymore (but we can visit the Oz Museum when in Kansas)!

May 31, 2021 – 230 miles – Having anticipated straight roads and corn fields throughout the state, we actually saw many beautiful scenes in Kansas with nary a corn field to be found!  With enough days to be able to slow down our pace even more, our next day’s travel took us only as far as Minooka Park COE Campground in Dorrance, Kansas.  Set on Wilson Lake, said to be the state’s clearest waters, we loved the views so much that we immediately extended to a three night stay!

We saw hundreds of wind turbines all across the state of Kansas.
We saw many of these along I-70.

With a pull-through site, expertly maintained grounds and views among the best we have camped this trip so far, our first Army Corp of Engineers campground did not disappoint!  We had cell service and shared our entire loop with only one or two other campers (and only $24 per night!)  Our first day was misty and raining much of the day, so we used the time to relax, read, catch up on bills and business and sit by the campfire with a blanket and a nice drink in the evening. 

When the sun shone the next day, we had by then discovered that in nearby Hays, Kansas, we would be able to lay eyes on our first bison, another key bucket list item for Andrew (nicknamed “Brave Buffalo” as a child).  The town of Hays has its own little herd of ten bison, including four babies, four females, including one that is a rare white in color, and one apparently busy bull!  While not the wild bison we aim to see later this summer, this little herd in Hays was a great way to whet our whistles and visit a town we really enjoyed!

This little herd included a rare white bison named Ghostbuster.
Baby bison! Not wild, but wildly exciting to see!

Across from the bison herd is Fort Hays – a Kansas state historic site where there is great history of some difficult times in our nation’s history following the Civil War, including massacres, broken treaties with Native Americans and the birth and growth of a nation in the plains of Kansas.  There is a small museum and gift shop and a self guided tour of the grounds and buildings that remain from the 1800s.  

We then made our way a short drive into town, enjoyed some great BBQ at Blue Smoke BBQ and wandered through a few of the best little stores we have seen in  a while.  Thanks, Hays! Your brick streets, restored 1800s buildings, the train running through the center of town, your historic sites and yes, especially your bison were a great way to spend the day! On the way back home, we made another stop at Cathedral of the Prarie, AKA St. Fidelis Church. It was beautiful and a great moment to say a prayer of thanks and light a candle, acknowledging that Saint Christopher has been protecting us and to ask for his continued blessings.

On to Colorado!

June 3, 2021 – 240 miles – This was the final stop of our westward travels, and the first sticker from our list of targeted states, on the very eastern edge of Colorado.  Five nights in what really is beautifully in the middle of just about nowhere.  Painted Rock Park is a campground with full hookup but really no other frills.  We are one of only four campers in the perhaps 35 site campground.  But if you want an affordable place to settle ($38.50 per night), rest and have few responsibilities, this place is worth a visit.  We’ve  only seen the owner once – a day after we arrived.  He stopped by to say hello and see if we needed anything.  He is a rancher about an hour away who had purchased this land on a whim at auction, putting in the campsites two years ago, but also renting out a nearby community room and hosting hunting events.  

This most eastern part of Colorado really looks a lot like Kansas!

We have used this time as our last restful respite before the hustle and bustle of a crammed summer of being tourists and hosts, as we will also have some visits from family members  along the way (three kids, a kid’s significant other, and a brother and his family at least).  So this time and location is perfect for walks down country lanes, a stroll to see a sunset, time to pay bills, do laundry, stock up on groceries and do a little writing about our life adventures past, present and future.  We’ve seen a friendly snake in our path, watched the crop dusters fly in the distant fields and smelled the pungent odor of manure spread on the fields at night (thank goodness for air-tight windows and A/C!).  On a 30 minute trip down the road, we visited the Kit Carson Fairgrounds and rode their historic carousel before heading to the circa 1970s Safeway.  We also attended our first in-person Catholic Mass since before the pandemic, a promising sign of the world opening up to all of us.  This truly is a wonderful place with a very different look and feel from many other places.

As each day passed on this westward drive across Interstate 70, the scenery was ever changing and beautiful, from state-to-state-to-state.  It was clear that the midwest is named the “bible belt” for a reason – the faith, strength and kindness of the communities we visited were evident.  I can see a world in which the midwest might feel a little out of place in the middle, with the notable differences in values, culture and lifestyle from those that are generally seen on the east coast or the west coast of this country.

Each town we drove through and visited had its own special reasons to stop.  There were many things we would love to stop by and visit “next time”.  We were reminded that our “rules” to make few reservations and our “rule of threes” are good guidelines for us, as we kept finding ourselves feeling rushed to “get there”.  Slowing down a bit was a way to remind us that we are already there – wherever we are at this moment.  It only takes some billboard reading, map scanning or some Google searching to see that the midwest has a lot to offer – and certainly shouldn’t be for just passing through!  We will be back!

Look carefully at this “tramp art” left on our picnic table – it is a bison made of found items.
These are the moments in camping that you savor – Minooka Park COE Campground, Durrance, KS

Now I Understand The Magical Redemption of Baseball

Baseball is a lot more than a sport – and now I understand that more fully.

For a couple of weeks in February 2021, my DH and I are exploring Sarasota, Florida and attending five Orioles Spring Training baseball games.  It is a leg on our FT RVing journey, long ago planned.  We also had plans for a return visit to Orioles Dream Week as well, but Covid cancelled the program this year, much like a lot of the world’s big plans.  

Spring Training 2021 at Ed Smith Stadium was a walk down memory lane to Orioles Dream Week 2017

Orioles Dream Week is a weeklong program whereby Orioles fans become players for a week, immersed in professional baseball facilities, alongside former MLB players, and two baseball games a day, as players in the game they love.

Andrew has enough baseball knowledge in his head to fill an encyclopedia.  He KNOWS the game, its history and it is a part of his soul!  I, on the other hand, know just about nothing about ALL sports!  Instead, I enjoy the human side of sports – I love the stories, the traditions and the atmosphere.  So a few visits to Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota this month have been a series of terrific date nights for us, that is also a “coming home” of sorts, where we get to reflect and remember our first trip to the area in 2017.  Below is a little story I wrote about our experiences at Orioles Dream Week, that are still so darn true for our life!  Enjoy.

The activities for Orioles Dream Week were held at the Orioles Minor League facilities at Buck O’Neil Complex at Twin Lakes Park and their Major League facilities at Ed Smith Stadium.

Baseball is more than a sport.  I finally understand that.  It transcends from sport and moves into being something about life.  But in 50 years, I never understood that until now.

As newlyweds, my husband, Andrew, and I went to an Orioles game last summer celebrating the 50th anniversary of the 1966 World Series-winning team, there were a dozen aging former professional players that visited the park and were introduced to the fans.  The announcer rattled off each player’s most important baseball statistics and achievements in their career.  And before their names were ever spoken, just hearing the introductions, my baseball-almanac-sweetheart named the player and proudly told me how that player impacted his life by sharing some special memory of the era.  “I played baseball with Billy Hunter at his camp when I was a kid”, he said.  Or “Wow, my dad and I watched him play”, or “That guy helped teach me how to hit a ball”.  

The history of baseball lives inside Andrew’s head and heart, and is on display everywhere at the beautiful Ed Smith Stadium.

All these decades later, Andrew’s youth was reflected back to me in the memories of his direct and indirect baseball experiences with the Baltimore Orioles.  So I had a feeling that his participation in Orioles Dream Week would be important to him, but I didn’t fully understand how or why exactly, until we went there.    Despite knowing Andrew since childhood, dating and loving him in high school, despite our lives each taking left turns when we parted ways at my graduation, and despite reconnecting 30 years later and finally marrying, it wasn’t until Orioles Dream Week that it finally all made sense to me.  It took me 50 years and a trip to Sarasota, Florida to understand it.  That is the magic that baseball can have on a person.

Orioles Dream Week, for us, connected some missing links in our lives…the connection between baseball and love; between choices and life.  It certainly doesn’t take on this meaning for all players and fans, perhaps not even for a lot of them, but for us, Orioles Dream Week helped us better understand the mistakes we made and the regrets we have because of them.  We must all accept the results of our actions, but Orioles Dream Week helped us face them – and conquer them.

At our hotel on the beach in Sarasota during Dream Week (which was not as nice as it could have been, as we learned first hand what it was like to experience Red Tide durig our stay.

Dream Week began on a flight with a large group of fellow passengers, all conspicuously dressed in orange fan shirts, O’s baseball caps and smiles that made you forget it was 6:00 am on a Sunday.  With whispers that Tippy Martinez was on board with us, and chatter with new-found friends, we arrived at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park, the minor league spring training fields of the Baltimore Orioles.  The players, ages 30 – 84, were immediately led to the locker room to suit up and get ready for warm-ups and drills, while family members traveling along (aka fans) were shown their way to the cafeteria, a place that would be our home base for the next week.  

The cafeteria was our “home base” all week, enjoying breakfast and lunch each day, the hilarious morning meeting, and was a cool and quiet place to relax during a break from the games. Here, the MLB players line up in front before a raucus crowd of baseball lovers.

That moment when my husband walked out of the locker room on that first day of camp was a tremendous rush of emotion.  He was wearing the uniform that he always wanted to wear – the Orioles, and his name and “our number” were emblazoned on the back.  That proud boyish smile in my wonderful 49 year old husband’s face was what I had hoped for and dreaded for all these many months of preparation.  It was the first of countless moments he and I would experience in the next week while in Sarasota, Florida.  

The moment when he stepped out of the locker in his official Orioles uniform was priceless and wonderful. The smaile says it all.

Orioles Dream Week was absolutely magical for him, for me, and I believe for the other players and coaches on his team.  He and I would get a taste of what baseball might have been for us, had we communicated better and tried a little harder to hold onto our passions; had we stuck with baseball and each other. 

All week I would cheer him on in a series of games while he was managed and coached by former major league players that had successfully taken baseball to the next level.  It was a thrill to watch him play again and see the joy it brought everyone on the field and in the stands.  Through challenges and successes on the field, Andy would be able to test his mettle and learn just how much of what he had was the natural talent that God gave him, how much of it was practice and hard work, and how much of it still remained after decades of baseball as only a spectator.  We would also forge new relationships with other baseball fans, each with their own unique story that brought them to Orioles Dream Week.

There was the player that fought back from both a heart attack and a severe bone break to be a return player.  He brought along his wife, who consistently rooted him on with his own cheer that became so popular among the team that they too would spell out the chant “R-U-S-S, Russ, Russ, Russ” every time he came up to bat.  There was the player that found Dream Week to be such an inspiration that he has returned many times and maintains a blog about his trips to help others understand how it can be a life experience not to be missed. 

There was the wife, who not only surprised her 73 year old husband with the trip, but then further surprised him by bringing their two sons to play baseball right alongside their father all week in Florida.  There was the retired fellow that had been a lifelong fan of baseball and the Orioles, but had never once played the game before arriving at camp.  And there was the quiet team member whom we learned very little about until late in the week at the team dinner.  It was then that he shared the importance of Dream Week to him, as a challenge to further himself, battling Parkinson’s disease following a varied, interesting and successful career in two branches of the military, in business and as a newlywed starting off a new chapter in his life.

“Sammy’s Studs”, as it were, following their game at Ed Smith Stadium.

Perhaps the most inspirational impact of all was that of the retired professional players that acted as our team’s coach and manager.  Glenn Gulliver and Sammy Stewart worked together so smoothly and made the week so much fun, while at the same time sharing their amazing talents with team members looking to play the best baseball they could play.  They filled the team with kindness, humor, comradery and stories of their experiences that gave every player a personal inside historical tour of baseball. 

Glenn was the calming voice of reason between the two.  He pitched all fourteen innings (seven innings each for our team and our opponents) of the traditional “coach pitch” Wednesday game (and then played a round of golf that evening).  He quietly talked to Sammy about which player might be best placed in what position on the field and chatted comfortably with the team members. 

Coach and Manager, Glen Gulliver and Sammy Stewart olayed to win, but to also make it a memorable and fun week. They were the special ingredients that made this a very special ife moment.

While at the same time, Sammy shouted out hilarious and colorful advice from the dugout in his gravelly voice, teasing anyone in his path, becoming the glue that brought the team together.  Having already faced tremendous heartache and difficulty in his life, it seems that baseball has been a rudder to help steer Sammy through all the trials and thrills of his life.  Sharing that passion and honesty with this newly formed “band of baseball brothers” was invaluable to us all. 

The first night began with the team draft, where our fates for the week were decided with a good meal and lots of laughter.

Sammy Stewart, Andrew Schmidt, Glen Gulliver

The genuine and heartfelt natures of our coach and manager allowed the team to be amazed by the players they were, while at the same time become friends with the wonderful men those ballplayers have become.  Somewhere right in the middle of those games, between the wrapped hamstrings and ice-packs on pitching arms, the banquets and bull sessions, the meals and long days in the warm January sunshine, baseball began to heal us.  The naturally occurring wounds of living life as a flawed human being faded a bit each inning that week.  Baseball became redemptive as Andy and I realized that there were no guarantees of what life would have been like had he – and I – and baseball all stayed together all these years.   

We will always regret that we didn’t face all of life’s challenges together.  We will always regret that we didn’t try “one more time” to get what we both wanted.  But because of Dream Week, he once again played the game he has always loved and I was there to love it with him.  It was both exciting and bittersweet.  Life may not be exactly what we wanted it to be, but is still better than we thought it could ever be.  Love and baseball go hand in hand.  In fact, Orioles Dream Week has reminded us just how blessed we are to be at this place and this time.

Living the dream at Orioles Dream Week, 2017

Safe travels – and keep trying to get life right, because God doesn’t count you out after three strikes!

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Walt Disney World Loses Some Of Its Sparkle – Why Some Might Want To Wait For Covid To Pass

The surprising (to us) reasons we will PAUSE on our return to WDW.

In summary:  We went to Walt Disney World in January 2021, while our world was entrenched in the Covid pandemic.  Despite all our fun (and we did have lots of fun), we felt the impact that Covid has had on the Happiest Place On Earth more than we expected.

Ta Da! This is how we roll in EPCOT – sans kids!

Our original Disney blueprint had been to set up camp for two weeks in January at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground, an early leg on our full-time RVing adventure.  We wanted to give our six newly adulting children a really fun reason to visit us!  When Covid crushed upon the earth, Disney World closed and we decided that even when it reopened, we would postpone any unnecessary plane travel for our loved ones until we had more answers, safety protocols or even a vaccine.  If we were going to visit WDW, this trip would have to be without our long-distance loved ones.

Food and drink was a perpetual, delicious theme of this visit to WDW.

Months later, when we had fully launched our FT RV life, I kept an eye on information coming out of newly reopened Disney.  I held off on cancelling the Fort Wilderness Campground reservations.  What I read and saw was really positive.  It appeared that in addition to establishing strong policies to assure guest and cast member safety, they were also taking that important step and HOLDING THE LINE with enforcement of their safety policies!  In true Disney fashion, we found that they were doing what we wished that many other big businesses would do (are you listening Walmart and Sheetz?).

I was convinced.  We purchased a four-day park pass and kept our entire two week campground reservations in place for January 2021.  At the end of our fourth day in the parks, we felt absolutely comfortable and safe with our experience, and extended our park fun for four more days with another four day park pass that was now even more deeply discounted (FL residents, $199 per person!).  From a safety perspective, they have this thing pretty darn well figured out.  That safety comes at a price, however.

At the end of this blog post is the detailed break-down of our experiences, but here is the BOTTOM LINE: 

If you are “Disney-experienced” and simply looking to fill your Disney-love tank, a trip to Walt Disney World during Covid precautions may be a great option that is more affordable than ever.  Go for it!  However, if you are a Disney Novice or Disney Virgin, I would advise that patience is important – wait a while for our post-Covid world to emerge before visiting (sorry, Disney) to fully experience the magical world of Walt Disney World.

The magic of PhotoPass was fun, but the masks put a damper on the final product.

To be clear, we are not “Disney Super Fans”, but we are both fairly Disney-experienced.  My DH, Andrew, had previously been to WDW on three occasions – a trip for each child in his growing family – the late 90s, and twice in the early 2000s.  Each time they stayed in a different hotel on Disney property, and each trip was in the busy summer season.

Walt Disney World in 2002 with Andrew and his familyl – with a character that I am not even sure still “lives” in Disney.
A classic pose that probably every dad and kid has experienced in large WDW crowds…this method of “kid-viewing” is really not needed in “Pandemic Disney”.
Breakfast with the characters, including my DHs fav, Winnie-the-Pooh, does happen in 2021, but it is distant and different – no Pooh hugs, for sure!

I have been blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Disney nine times in my life, spanning a variety of “life phases” – as a child, a teenager, as a young adult, as a parent and now as an empty-nester!

We missed the up close and personal character visits of days gone by.
Christmas morning, 2007 in Disney’s Fort Wilderness Campground – by our little tree and stockings hung with care on the RV awning!
We also imssed being able to see the shows in 2021; Here, Lorne starred in the Hoop De Doo Review at Christmas dinner, 2007.

When my husband, Andrew (married five years in August 2020!) and I ventured to the Happiest Place on Earth in Jan 2021, this was going to be a very different trip in several ways.  We knew Covid would have an impact on our experience, but we were very excited (perhaps me a bit more than him!) to “do Disney” as empty-nesters – sans ANY kid’s influences or interests!  YIPPEE (Sorry kids, it was also great when we took you as little ones to the land of Mickey Mouse, but being in our nearly-mid-fifties now, we were ready to explore it all as just a couple, making all decisions just for our own enjoyment!)!

The coolest character we met this year was Chewbacca, by far! He hung out in Star Wars Land and drew a crowd of fans. We laughed at ourselves as we “nerded out” and waved and called out his name.

There are many things at Disney that are blissfully the same in a Covid world.  First among them is that cast members continue to amaze us with their courtesy, kindness and expert guest services.  So if you go, know that we observed cast members that checked off all the stellar service boxes that we have come to expect from WDW.  We chatted with young and not-so-young, including some that had previously been “separated” from the company (aka laid off) in 2020, and even others that were still separated and hoped to return (we met them off property, of course).  They were all pleased to be a part of the organization and focused on doing a good job.

The only difference that we noticed as it relates to cast members, was in EPCOT.  The international flair, complete with cast members from around the world and working in their native “EPCOT country” was missing a bit.  Missing were the foreign accents and opportunities to chat with cast members from Norway or Italy (we did meet a gentleman in EPCOT Japan that was a native of Japan, and we had one server in EPCOT UK that also must have emigrated to the US, because we noticed her beautiful lilting English accent.  Overall, however, the park felt much less international.  The reasons are obvious (folks just cannot travel internationally and get work visas like they used to), but we had not anticipated how that would make our visit to EPCOT feel noticeably different.

In EPCOT UK, we sat outdoors on a heated patio with flights of beer and whiskey to enjoy with dinner.
A delicious British feast at Rose and Crown Pub in EPCOT’s World Showcase!

Similarly, the complement of guests in the park was missing so many international guests, that on the rare occasion we overheard another language being spoken, it stood out more than in previous trips.  I don’t know the current statistics, but I would imagine that a much larger percentage of guests today are actually residents of central Florida (not a bad thing, just different!).

So what else was missing and different?  Here is the quick list:  no fireworks, no laser/night shows, no parades, no street performances, no “single rider” lines, no Fastpass, limited Park Hopper hours, no new Annual Passholder sales, no Extra Magic Hours, many closed stores, many closed food options, limited transportation options, no dining plans, no pop-up street performances or entertainment, shorter park hours, no character visits, and many closed live shows (Mermaid, Nemo, Lion King, etc).

Disney has made some good attempts to keep some of the feel of these missing components alive in our visits.  They have surprise “cavalcades” that pop up in each park every hour or so, with several characters, music and waving from a distance.  They are gone again before any crowds can gather dangerously.  Also, there are secret corners where some characters are strategically placed at a distance, while guests stand perhaps 15 feet in the foreground to have their photo taken “with” the Disney princess or character of their dreams.

Mickey Mouse staying safely distant at Hollywood Studios in January 2021.

The challenge that is created with all of these missing magical Disney pieces is that the remaining attractions have much longer lines than might be expected for a park that isn’t even 35% filled (Disney’s current park capacity limit during Covid).  We were in the parks on weekdays in the middle of January, for a total of eight days.  On some of those days, the most popular attractions had 65-95 minute waits!  Even some of the less popular attractions on those days also had what seemed longer than they might normally be in January, at 20-30 minutes.  We also had some good luck – there was one day in Animal Kingdom where we could walk on to nearly every attraction with hardly any wait at all!  We couldn’t figure out the Covid trick to make sure we were in the right park on the right day (I used one of the Disney Crowd Calculators available online to pick “historically least crowded” days and parks, but clearly, those tools are less useful during a pandemic).

“Tinkerbell, how about sprinkling a little good luck Pixie Dust on those Ravens this weekend?” (Well, they lonst, so I think she didn’t)

Disney has started to pivot somewhat on their various requirements, and are getting push-back in every direction.  Some reports indicate that they have started loading every row on a ride, something that we saw very little of on our visit (but I did see it on Expedition Everest).  These changes are surely to try to reduce wait times for attractions, but may come at the cost of people no longer feeling safe (or worse yet, not ACTUALLY being as safe).  It is all part of the delicate balance Disney is trying to find to remain open and mitigate their massive financial losses.

Here is a another quick list of things you may want to note if you decide to visit Mickey during Covid:

  1. Mickey doesn’t wear a mask.  It seems that Disney will make sure you will never get within six feet (probably not even within 15 feet) of any Disney star, so don’t worry about any unintended virus sharing with the characters, lol.
  2. Mobile food ordering is the way to go when your stomach starts to growl.  If there isn’t a crowd, it seems that at least some of the take-out food kiosks would also take your order in person, but be prepared to order on your mobile phone if you want to have a shorter wait (you can order food for a future time and then just update your order online when you have “arrived” to pick up your food.
  3. You really are not permitted to be moving while eating or drinking (no standing in line for an attraction while eating or drinking either).  Don’t bother to try – we saw active enforcement of some of the sneakier guests.  Late in our visit, we discovered a little trick – use eating and drinking time as an opportunity to snap a couple of photos without a mask on.  Find a pretty place to sit/stand and eat/drink, then also snap some photos while there! Update: In February 2021, WDW further updated their mask requirements to state that while at your table, waiting to order, or waiting for food, you must still wear your mask.
  4. You may not remove your mask for photos (or for any other reason other than while standing still while actively eating or drinking.  Not on rides, not for a Disney Photopass photographer, not in front of the castle or anywhere else!  We also saw active enforcement of this rule and have also been told that any ride photos without masks will NOT be made available to guests!  Each day is a long day with a mask on ALL. DAY.  LONG. (I have renewed appreciation for anyone that works every day in a job that requires them to wear a mask).  Disney is surely receiving some push-back on this rule, but after living through 14 days on property, I cannot see how this rule could be relaxed any time soon, especially as the parks start to hit their 35% capacity in spring and summer.  It is a slippery slope, and there just isn’t enough physical space to assure enough distance between people, be they guests or cast members.  As much as I want better photos, masks are unfortunately going to be needed in our everyday lives for quite some time.  
  5. If you are part of a group, you may very well be split up for attractions.  Many of the theatre seats are set up for parties of four, so if you are a family of five or more, you will need to decide quickly how you want to be split when entering the attraction.
  6. I am not sure if this is accurate, or simply my perception, but it seems that there are more attractions closed for “refurbishment” than I recall from past visits.  When we were there, the entire train station at the front of Magic Kingdom was covered in a giant tarp (which was beautifully decorated like the train station it covered).  The trains were obviously not running also.  Additionally, Tom Sawyer Island and all the surrounding water was under refurbishment.  It was jarring to see the previously giant body of water turned into a pit of dirt and construction vehicles.  Tom Sawyer Island, the giant paddleboat and the rafts that ferried guests to the island were all missing.  Most of the front of EPCOT was covered by construction-hiding walls.  This is a huge project and will be gorgeous when complete, but certainly made the first half of EPCOT fairly unimpressive.  Refurbishment is a necessary part of life, but it certainly seemed to be easy to spot and had a large visual impact on the luster of Walt Disney World.
  7. The pre-show of many rides was eliminated.  Because the queues need to make sure guests do not come within six feet of each other, they need to wind in, out, around and through some unusual places.  While waiting in line for Peter Pan’s flight, part of our line weaved through the closed quick-serve restaurant next door.  This need for space and distance means that the pre-show of the Haunted Mansion is eliminated.  No stopping in the room where the ceiling stretches higher in front of your eyes before getting in your ghostmobile.  The line just walks you straight through the room…it’s a bummer.  Similarly with the Tower of Terror, Test Track, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, and many more – no pre-show.  These are some of the details that make WDW stand out as the best amusement park out there.  Each attraction has a story to tell and creates a mood and anticipation as you wait in line.  We weren’t expecting it, and we really missed it.
  8. The shorter hours and lack of Extra Magic Hours made each day a much longer day.  Strategy for a good day at the park for me pre-Covid included an early start to the day in a park, followed by a midday break back at our campsite or hotel for lunch and a rest, and then a 2nd visit to a park (the same one or a hopper to a 2nd location), to enjoy the park as many guests were leaving.  With much shorter hours (even for January), and longer lines (for January), our park visits turned into one long trip, more eating out (without a dining plan option to save a bit), and no break in between.  We headed home each day, greatly missing the evening “big show” – no fireworks, no laser show, no big finale to give you those magical Disney goosebumps.

Now that Disney is gearing up for their busier and warmer time of the year, I cannot imagine how much more crowded the parks are going to feel, even with their continued limited capacity.  It will be tougher to be “safely distant” from others, and it will be really tough wearing a mask for eight or more hours, from hotel door – to hotel door in the humidity and heat of central Florida.  

This little package of adorableness might even entice me to start watching the Mandelorian.

Disney is doing it all the right way.  They are doing it all very well, in really difficult circumstances.  What had been my biggest concern when visiting, SAFETY, was barely a concern at all (although it did get uncomfortably jammed in the Magic Kingdom with the many families with strollers and little ones zigging and zagging all around)! 

However, with the aforementioned changes they needed to implement to assure our safety (and be allowed to even open), there was enough missing Pixie Dust for us to say “We REALLY look forward to returning. We hope that our world will bounce back to our next “new normal” quickly…and we will be thrilled to return after Covid no longer has quite as strong of a stronghold on their operations”.

Walt Disney himself was right about what they do – then, now – in a pandemic, and in the future: “We create happiness”.  Thanks, Walt!

Whether you find your happiness in a trip to WDW during Covid, or decide to be patient and instead find happiness in the PLANNING of a future trip when some of these limitations can be lifted, we hope you enjoy it all!

Safe travels, to infinity and beyond!

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Please bring back Annual Passes so that we can visit sooner (making the cost more in-line with the value we see in a Covid-impacted WDW).

South Carolina Upcountry Fun – And Even MORE FUN With Friends!

Recognizing that we are big planners by nature, Andy (Andrew to most everyone except perhaps me and his late paternal grandmother) and I made a decision before the launch of our nomadic life to do our best to PLAN AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.  We wanted to loosen up the constraints we sometimes put on ourselves and be sure to push ourselves to spontaneous or new-found adventures and fun.  But there was one place, or in particular, one family we wanted to visit.  So off to the Upcountry Region of South Carolina we went in October 2020 for a two-and-a-half week stay.

Little did we know just how awesome this area is!  The Upcountry Region of South Carolina (and a bit of NC as well) is nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains and is made up of six counties in the northwest corner of the state.  If you like waterfalls (more than 120 of them!), hiking, golfing, truly great urban centers, lakes, watersports, and hidden roadside natural gems, then this is an area to put on your travel bucket list.  

We arrived in Pickens to visit our friend and his family.  Steve was the best man in our wedding.  He has been my husband’s brother-from-another-mother for decades.  Months can go between calls or texts, but these two fellas have remained friends because of what I think is a kinship and likeness (both their appearance and their personalities).  Quiet, smart and unceasingly polite and thoughtful, Steve made sure we didn’t have to do any heavy lifting when it came to planning our stay in the area.

Steve and Andy on our big day in 2015. This brother-from-another-mother is much like him

The guys went golfing, the girls went to a cookie decorating class, we took long scenic drives, stopped at roadside rock formations, hiked to some gorgeous waterfalls, ate at some local restaurants (open air, outdoor and/or masks on), and even camped together at my new favorite campsite (see this post all about it https://timetravelsandtribulations.com/this-is-the-best-campsite-of-my-camping-life/ ).  Steve provided daily suggestions for sightseeing and fun – whether it be just the two of us, or visiting as a group.  They were the consummate hosts – helping us tour the sights, visit their home, meet their friends and feed us well all along the way!  No planning needed – only fun to be had!

Below are some photographic highlights from our visit.  If you would like to read more about the region, take a look at this site (https://upcountrysc.com/) and PLAN to have a great visit!  Very special thanks to our friends Steve, Kenda and Katie.  We will be back – not just because the area is wonderful, but because we love to visit our friends in the Palmetto State!

Safe travels – especially when visiting your far-flung friends!

Fargo, Georgia – Where Wildlife Outnumbers The Human Life!

Since my dear husband and I are not (yet) regular boondockers in unimproved land areas (#campinggoals), we are not often faced with the feeling of isolation and true solitude.  We both grew up in a world without cell phones, where our parents were not able to reach us or determine our exact location all day as we played outside in the woods behind our neighborhood.  As children, that was normal.  Teenaged Andrew and Tina would drive at night on a country road (trying to avoid parental detection, but also not easily able to reach anyone if we got an unexpected flat tire, or ran out of gas (a more likely scenario in my teenage years).  As teenagers, that was normal.  We were comfortable with it because that was the only option back then.

We were typical kids of the 70s – and playing outdoors iwas how we spent or days. (Photo credit: Children’s Environments Research Group)

Today, however, that feeling of being completely on your own, if only for a few hours, seldom happens.  If a child leaves the house, a parent generally has the ability to know where they are located.  If a problem happens, help is usually a simple phone call away.

For the first time in a long time, Andy and I recalled those feelings as we drove through Fargo, GA on a gorgeous fall day in October 2020.  It was Halloween weekend, and our destination was the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, also known as the Okefenokee Swamp (cue spooky music).  The one-lane road laid out ahead of us, as straight as a pin, with small pine trees and natural green growth on both sides.  We drove and drove, windows down, the dogs excitedly sensing that our destination was near.  We rode for 20 miles from Fargo, down Route 177, with the last dozen miles absent of businesses, homes or crossroads of any kind.  Miles before our destination, our cell service became unusable.  Texts stopped coming and going.  As dusk fell, we felt like we had already left civilization before we had even arrived.

There were miles of road into the state park – and not much else!

The entrance to the park is gated and closed each evening, and it felt as if we were leaving one world and entering a new one as we passed through it.  It was after 5:00 pm when we arrived, so with the Steven C. Foster State Park Trading Post closed for the day, we went straight to our campsite.

This spot is just a few steps from our campsite.

The next morning we awoke to a very quiet morning and we took a walk.  The campground only has 66 campsites, and it was largely empty (and grew emptier at the end of the weekend – spoiler alert, after the weekend, we were one of only three campers on our loop).  Our first task had little to do with seeking solitude.  In fact, sad to say, we needed to find cell service so that I could handle our small vacation rental business in the coming six days, and Andy needed to make sure he could see his Baltimore Ravens play football on Sunday from our remote location.  

We hadn’t wandered 50 feet from our campsite before we turned a corner and saw deer.  At first a couple, then several.  They were accustomed to human presence, but still wild and skittish.  It was as if they understood that we were a temporary visitor to their land, their space.  They obliged us, and allowed us to watch in awe at their morning beauty.

That morning we arrived at the Trading Post, located about a half mile from our campsite, really hoping we could meet our tech needs and still take in this beautiful place.  As we approached the building, I noticed a couple on their cell phone video-chatting with their family members.  As we entered the screened-in front porch, I saw a gentleman on his laptop.  I was encouraged.  Upon entering the store, we were met with an oasis of civilization.  Camping supplies, snacks and tourist trinkets were all for sale.  This was also the place we could rent boats to see the swamp up close, or even schedule a guided tour.  But the moment of victory was the confirmation of free wifi!  It only worked in and around the trading post, but it was blazing fast and able to handle my email, file processing and wifi phone calling and texting needs for the next several days!

Later that day, Andy had managed to maneuver the satellite dish to acquire the minimum NFL channels needed to watch the Sunday game, albeit at about 85% satellite connection.  “Please Lord, don’t let it rain on Sunday!”, I whispered under my breath (ultimately, it DID rain on game day – for about 1 ½ hours, right up until kick-off, when the skies finally cleared and the game came into focus!). 

Victory times two! Time to enjoy Okefenokee!

We spent five days immersed in the wildlife.  Every hike we took, every trail we wandered, and even just walking down the state park road, we stumbled upon a new animal discovery.  We saw a multitude of deer, several bucks included.  We watched them eating, running and scratching their backs in the late afternoon sunshine.  Andy spotted a raccoon and we enjoyed the sight of many birds of all sizes.  We saw bears on three occasions, surprisingly close to the state park employee resident cottages, sitting below the acorn trees.  Other campers had reported that the bears had also been seen in trees, so we became adept at looking up, down and all around us as we walked.  

The bears and the deer seemed to like the acorn trees and showed up nearly every day
This was perhaps the largest buck we saw during our stay.
It was thriling to be able to get up close and personal with the animals.

On Halloween night, we lit a campfire, and set out a small bowl of candy as about a half dozen children came by to keep the Trick-or-Treat tradition alive in a very different location.  What we noted was the absolute darkness of the sky.  Absent of any light pollution, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge reveals a big dark sky that was wondrous – it is difficult to describe the vastness and open miles of blackness.

The highlight of our stay, however, was an afternoon on a rented skiff, out on the water trails of the swamp.  Having received surprisingly little instruction for its operation (once we finally asked!), we were pushed off the little dock and out onto the open waters that completely surround the little island that the campground sits upon.

Andrew quickly learned to drive our little boat well – and we had two oars with us as well in case the engine failed us.
The canal that left the campground Trading Post was narrow, but opened out to wider waters.

The initial waterways of the swamp are wide open and the birds were soaring over our heads.  There were other birds that stood on fallen trees, waiting to spot their next meal.  The landscape was unique and stunning.  The quiet feeling of being alone in this natural swamp world was pervasive for most of the next four hours we spent on the water.  We spotted only three other groups of people in our water travels – two skiffs like ours and a group of six kayakers paddling silently with binoculars and cameras in hand.  

This skiff, like ours, was one of only three sightings of other travelers that day on the water.
The bird life was soaring all along our travels.

Our goal for the day, however, was to see alligators.  With a small map in hand, marked with water trails and natural points of interest (hollow tree, Alligator Cove, Five Sisters cluster of trees, etc), we noted the wooden signs staked into the swampy waters with arrows to guide us, and made a left turn down a water “trail”, identified the narrow open water surrounded on both sides by millions of lily pads.

The Five Sisters was a marking landmark on the map and helped us navigate the water trails.

It immediately grew darker, as the overhead tree cover and Spanish Moss filtered out the sun.  Andy had to drive the skiff slower, to adjust for the obstacles in the water – mysterious bumps underneath us that were likely hidden logs of long ago fallen Cypress trees.  I was reminded of a 1970s animated Disney movie called the “Rescuers”, where an international team of mice flew to the spooky bayou swamp to rescue a little girl named Penny.  The mystery animal sounds, the black waters, and the shadows cast by large overhead growth all created an impressive backdrop for our day’s adventure.

The mix of dark and sunlight in the swamp made a mysterious and beautiful scene.
Awww, Bernard and Miss Bianca, along with Evinrude, cruised the swamps fearlessly….Andrew and Tina were a little more tentative.
Disney’s bayou may not have been in Okefenokee, but it sure felt like it!

It didn’t take long before we noticed bubbles under the water, and small ripples on the surface that told us we had just missed an animal of some sort startled by our presence.  We were keenly aware that there were MANY eyes upon us, and we would have to remain quiet and alert if we wanted to see our prized alligator.  About an hour into our travels, we were rewarded.

We estimate that snout to eyeballs was about 1 1/2 feet,,,with a lot more gator under the murky water!

Andy saw him first.  Just the eyeballs initially, then the crown of the head, the long snout.  The rest of this massive alligator remained hidden in the water.  His head alone we estimated to be more than a foot long.  I immediately began snapping photos in the general area he described seeing the gator, but it was another 30 seconds or more before I actually SAW the beast and was aware of him through the camera lens.  All of the wildlife, especially the alligators, are incredibly well disguised in their natural habitat.

Invigorated by our sighting, and thrilled with the size of the prize, we relaxed and were able to see the rest of the phenomenal water world in which we were now fully immersed.  I jokingly reminded Andy that I was worth more alive than dead, in case he had enough of me already, as this would be the perfect place to plan the disposal of any evidence of ne’er-do-well activities.  I also wildly wondered that this was the perfect place for a band of criminal brothers to live a life of seclusion and safety from the world that wanted them caught for their bad acts (cue more spooky music).

We traveled about ten miles into the watery day trails on our skiff and were fortunate enough to spot two more alligators.  They were both smaller than our first, but both were completely OUT of the water, sunning themselves on logs.  We accidently coasted to within four feet of one (learning to maneuver the skiff), and thankfully, that alligator did not flinch one muscle.

We managed to get the nose of our skiff (where I was seated), to within four feet of this gator (accidentally)!
As we left the swamp day grails, we found this beauty sunning on a log.

Upon our return to the civilization of the Trading Post, we missed our final turn into the canal that led to the dock, a final reminder of how far away we were from the human world to which we were so accustomed.  This was truly a special place set aside by our nation to provide refuge for wildlife, and we were so blessed to be able to become a part of it for six days.  We were rewarded with breathtaking sightings of animals, natural growth that was astounding, and just enough time apart from the human world to feel enveloped by God’s great design. 

 Relaxing on our little skiff, taking in the beauty of God’s natural outdoors.

Safe travels, and Go Gators (double entendre intended)!

The thrill of the gator hunt was exhilarating!

This is The Best Campsite Of My Camping Life

A panoramic sunset just outside our camper door.

Sometimes the very best campgrounds have no cable, no wifi, no sewer hookups and limited amenities.  These are the campgrounds that use their natural resources – provided by Mother Nature (and a massive man-made lake) to become among the best out there.

Well, I have found the best – at least My Best – and it is a hidden gem that I am willing to share with you.  Just don’t tell too many people, please!  We want to return there someday, and I hope my best campground ever still has my best campsite available when that day arrives!

Let me set the picture.  The campground is in the rural upcountry area of South Carolina (the northwest corner of the state).  It sits on a series of three very small islands that are connected by a narrow road in the middle of 18,372 acre Lake Keowee.  This area is a water-lover’s paradise – pontoon boats, canoes, kayaks, speed boats and jet skis – just a few of the watercraft you will find.  Fishing, water skiing, swimming, sunbathing, hiking and more can all be found very nearby.

Aaaaahhhhhhhh.

But the thing that makes this place so darn special is the view – just sit in your camp chair and take in the 360-degree amazing water views.  Add a small breeze, the warm fall sunshine, and a campfire at dusk and you have all the makings of a perfect camping day.

Okay, here are the details…and then some more photos at the end to prove my point.  

Mile Creek County Park is in the foothills of Pickens County, SC.  You can visit MileCreekPark.com to find out more about the park itself.  If you want to reserve sites at the campground that is part of the park, simply go to ReserveAmerica.com.  The roads are narrow and sloping at times.  The sites vary in shape and size and setup significantly, so don’t fudge any camper lengths when selecting your site.  Even if you cannot snag a waterfront site, you will still enjoy lovely views, as these are tiny islands, and these sites are perched high, tucked low, and hidden among trees – giving you a feeling of privacy that belies the closeness of the sites to each other.

Our GPS screen on the drive into the campground gave us great perspective about the size of these three tiny islands. Our site was located at the last blue breadcrumb shown by the read triangle (the top edge of the 2nd island).

We had only four nights to stay at Mile Creek Park, so we never left our little island.  Why bother?  We had what was essentially a little private sandy beach beside our site that I imagine would be great for summertime swimming, although even during our late October visit, we spotted someone swimming nearby in the lake.  We had trees all around us that were changing into their fall color show.  And we had water – lots of water….On. All. Sides.

A view of our campsite from across the lake (campground island number three) shows our rocky shore and our sandy shore.

Yep, it is my favorite campsite ever.  Site #42.  Of course, we’ve only been FT RVing for 16 weeks, so I am really excited about what great beauty we have yet to find along the way, because this is a beautiful country.

A setting sun on our tiny Home Sweet Home on wheels.

Safe travels – and may we all find the perfect spot just to sit a while.

Note that ALL of the following photos were take FROM OUR CAMPSITE.

    Visit Virginia’s Historic Triangle – It’s Not Your Grade School History Lesson!

    History comes alive when you see the ships peeking through the trees that brought early settlers to what would eventually become part of Virginia’s Historic Triangle.

    When in grade school, I remember studying early American history, including our earliest settlements and the Revolutionary War.  History was neither my favorite nor least favorite subject, but I did enjoy the projects.  One project in particular was creating a Powhatan Native American village built from sticks and straw and hay and rocks that I found in the woods behind our house.  It was the artist in me, rather than the historian, that could always carry the day and make up for any academic gaps I had in history.  If it was interesting to me, as arts and crafts always were, then it made an impression on me.

    But it was a family camping trip in my late pre-teen days that I remember most and that brought the classroom history to life for me – a summer visit to the Jamestown Settlement that made an interesting and lasting impression on my childhood memories, so much so that it all came back to me four decades later when my husband I traveled to the Virginia Historic Triangle.

    Mom, pull out the old photo album – there HAS to be a photo of me in middle school standing in this very spot (sans Covid mask but still my same nerdy self!)

    You do not need to be a history buff to enjoy the Historic Triangle of Virginia.  It is really appropriate for just about everyone.  Really.  Adults, children of all ages, Americans, international visitors, history buffs and those that barely survived American History class in high school – they all can find a place here.  Our September 2020 visit left us wanting more, because the more we explored, the more we wanted to see.

    It was important to George (Washington) that we remain Covid-safe during our visit to the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.

    The Historic Triangle of Virginia includes three historic colonial communities located on the Virginia Peninsula of the United States and is bounded by the York River on the north and the James River on the south. The points that form the triangle are Jamestown, Colonial Williamsburg, and Yorktown. They feature many restored attractions and are linked by the Colonial Parkway in James City and York counties, and the City of Williamsburg.

    The obvious stops are Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg, and we only got to see two of the three.  A sprained ankle (me) and some unexpected eye doctor appointments (also me), chewed up many of our days and left us knowing that we hope to return to the area, perhaps in a post-Covid world, hopefully injury-free, and be able to dig deeper into what the area has to offer.  Nonetheless, we had a great visit and experienced some fun and learning along the way.

    We decided it was best to go in chronological order, so we started at Jamestown Settlement (we did not have time to visit the archeological site of Jamestown Settlement where digs continue to discover history even now).  Among the first things I noticed at this recreation of America’s first permanent English settlement was that the Powhatan Native American huts are still there as I remembered them!  The historically accurate Jamestown fort was there as well, along with the addition of three replica ships that brought the settlers to the area – the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, all featuring interpreters wearing 17th-century wardrobe and filled with wonderful historically accurate knowledge that helps you truly feel the incredible challenges these early settlers must have suffered to try to survive.

    The recreated Anglican Church inside James Fort was a place you could almost see and hear the long sermons of mandatory church service, important meetings and other large gatherings of the early settlers during such difficult years.

    This is where history comes to life, with a scattering of really friendly and well-informed museum employees that can discuss their historical areas of expertise.  You can easily tell that they love history and love that their job is to share their love of history with others.  We spoke with guides that were knowledgeable in foods of the era and medical care.  Peeking in on the living quarters of the inhabitants was eye-opening, including the “survival cannibalism: that is discussed, something that I certainly did not recall being taught in grade school!

    Inside the Jamestown Settlement museum is a vast array of artifacts and educational displays.  I highly recommend the introductory video as a way to start your visit, so you can learn some of the historical context and details, or brush up on the history lessons you forgot long ago.

    This Continental Army tent was for an officer of means – tents of similar size were also used to sleep six enlisted men.

    Several days later we visited the American Revolutionary Museum at Yorktown.  The quality of both the museum and the outdoor living history areas, which included a continental army encampment and a revolutionary-era farm were impressive.  The indoor museum was expansive and also included a wonderful film and exhibition galleries.  Equally well-informed employees were available to guide us and answer questions.  This was truly a place that a history buff would spend an entire day, but it was walkable enough so that in only a couple of hours we could get a good understanding of the historic significance of Yorktown.  As proudly pointed out to us, the most special and valuable artifact in the museum is the rare July 1776 broadside printing of the Declaration of Independence on display in a large circular gallery in the museum.

    The museum quality was appropriate in appearance, high in quality and vast in content.

    What impressed us most overall about both Jamestown Settlement and the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown was the overall quality.  Both properties were accessible, in good order, very clean and well maintained, and as neat as a pin.  We felt safe at all times in a Covid world.  The breadth of the display content and the span of history covered were impressive.  The admission price of $27.50 per adult ($16.50 children 6 – 12; under 6 free) for a combination ticket to both locations within seven days, appears to be put to good use and worthwhile.  Other ticket options are also available.

    Beyond the obvious history museums most of us expect of the area, there is much more to discover.  Historic Yorktown is a beautifully appointed waterside destination that was a great stop along after a few hours of museum visits.  We enjoyed an outdoor meal on the water and drove briefly through the historic town and battlefields that reminded me a lot of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

    Historic Yorktowne was waterside, warm, quiet and had outdoor dining options that we could enjoy.
    I imagine that this place could be hopping in the summer, when not in the middle of a pandemic!
    The battlefields above the riverfront area of Yorktown made for a pretty drive.

    Among our favorite little adventures was a three-hour semi-private sail boat charter.  It was just us, Captain Dan and one other couple sailing on the beautiful York River.  There are a number of similar options, on bigger or different types of boats, but this was perfect for us.  The Captain pointed out several routine overhead flights by Air Force One and we had the opportunity to pass by two immense US Naval ships that harbor near the Coleman Memorial Bridge and travel weekly (turning the center of the bridge to “open” it so that the tall ships can pass and head out to nearby Norfolk.  We watched the opening and closing of the Coleman Memorial Bridge (not sure why, as no Naval ship was passing through) and enjoyed a water’s edge view of Yorktown, a Naval Weapons Station and even Bruce Hornsby’s mother’s house.  But the highlight of the day was watching dolphins swim peacefully and playfully on all sides of our sailboat.  The captain indicated that it was a late-season treat, as he had not seen any dolphins on the river for the previous ten days.  The joy and beauty of these creatures was all around us, first one or two, then at least eight or more in a group swimming as if they were putting on a water show just for us!

    It was a rare treat to see the Colman Memorial Bridge to open since Navy ships are the only for which the bridge would be closed to cars and opened for vessels (the sailboat shown just happened to be there at the time and was not seeking passage under the bridge).
    Being surrounded by these beautiful creatures was the highlight of the day for us!

    Part of all travel and sightseeing is learning to be okay with not being able to “do it all”.  We left a lot on our “next time” list that we didn’t even know about before we arrived inside the triangle.  Post-Covid America would be a great time to see a few items we couldn’t get to on this trip – Busch Gardens Williamsburg, PatriottoursVA.com, home of the historic Yorktown Segway tour and any of a number of well regarded wineries in the area.  Considering that the historic triangle is only about a 3 ½ hour car drive from most of our family in the Baltimore and surrounding areas, it seems like a great place to entice family visits and show them what we still wish to discover.

    Our semi=private sailboat charter on the James River was a thrill.

    Safe travels and keep history alive!

    We learned a lot from the historic interpreters/guides – here we learned about cooking at the Continental Army encampment.

    Here is a listing of some of the great things to see and do in Virginia’s Historic Triangle:

    WilliamsburgBusch Gardens
    Water Country USA
    Colonial Williamsburg
    Jamestown Settlement
    Pottery Complex
    Dinner and Music Theatre
    YorktownRevolutionary War Battlefield
    Victory Center
    Beaches/River Cruises
    RichmondScience Museum of Virginia
    Kings Dominion
    Richmond International Speedway
    Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
    Children’s Museum
    Hampton RoadsDinner Cruises
    Maritime Museum
    Virginia Living Museum
    Fort Eustis
    NorfolkNaval Station
    Tall Ship Cruises
    Battleship Wisconsin
    Chrysler Museum
    Nauticus National Maritime Center
    Victory Rover Naval Base Cruises
    Virginia BeachAtlantic Ocean, Beaches, Boardwalk
    Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel
    Virginia’s Eastern Shore
    Contemporary Art Center of Virginia
    Ocean Breeze Waterpark
    Marine Science Museum
    Urbanna or NearbySeveral 18 Hole Golf Courses
    Museums and Historic Sites
    Plantations (Shirley, Stratford Hall, Sherwood Forest)
    Narrated River Cruises
    Parks and Trails
    Charter Fishing
    George Washington Birthplace
    Boutique Shops, Antique Shops
    Wineries
    James Fort was recreated based on all the history that has been uncovered in the area where the actual Fort once stood.

    Bibliography

    Wikipedia. Historic Triangle, 22 05 2020, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historic_Triangle#:~:text=The%20Historic%20Triangle%20includes%20three,%2C%20Colonial%20Williamsburg%2C%20and%20Yorktown. Accessed 09 10 2020.

    Hoist up the main sail, matey! It was a thrill to learn just a LITTLE bit about sailing – thank goodness for Captain Dan to get us there and back safely!

    How Two Newbie FT RVers Became Tourists In A Pandemic

    Being tourists during a Pandemic…

    When you launch full-time RV life in the middle of a pandemic, it ends up looking a little different from how you imagined it.  Sure, many outdoor adventures can generally still happen, but you have to jockey for position on the hiking trail and keep your mask at the ready as you encounter fellow travelers.  You pack a lot of meals instead of exploring small-town restaurants along the way, and you jump for joy when one of those little foodie spots touts touchless take-out so that you might enjoy the meal in your vehicle, even though you have to miss out on the atmosphere, people and beauty of the area you are visiting.  Yes, Covid RV life is a little different.

    So it wasn’t a big surprise when our first destination, in Waldo, Florida, was really a “stay-at-RV-home” kinda time.  We were there for a month to take care of the last of our domicile to-do items (get Florida license plates on our truck), move our last baby chick out of our nest and into her own (she is attending college in Gainesville), and generally catch up on RV maintenance while trying to stay cool in the oppressive humidity and heat of Florida in August.  We rested and recovered from the prior months of chaos  (prepping the house for sale, getting rid of 90 percent of our belongings, organizing financially while quitting jobs and saying goodbye to family members) so we knew this would not be a “touristy” time for us.  

    We opted out of the giant Waldo Flea Market that was across the street from our campground – it would have been great fun if we didn’t see a need to avoid crowds.  A visit to my daughter’s college campus was relegated to a drive-thru version, and we weren’t able to stop at the campus bookstore to buy the obligatory college t-shirt, as it was still operating under curbside pickup service.  We couldn’t even go to the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo for a visit, as it was closed to the public during the pandemic.  Outdoor fun was on hiatus for us, because frankly, it was just too dang hot to see the University of Florida Bat Houses and the Kanapaha Botanical Gardens.  With years of education ahead of her in Gainesville, we will happily visit on future trips to see our daughter.

    We had to pass on the Waldo Flea Market on this trip to central Florida

    It was in an unexpected place that we finally got to dip our toes into the tourist waters.  We moved on from Waldo and made reservations for a quiet little campground near Wytheville, Virginia (pronounced “with-ville”) for four nights around Labor Day weekend, located in the rural, southwestern tip of the state, and it was just what we needed and wanted.  The first morning, we were met with the first of falling leaves and a crispness in the air that were familiar signs of the fall season.  Ahhhhhh!  Let the tourists begin!  

    First stop – Wytheville’s Smallest Church!  What a perfect stop on our first day of exploring North America as FT RVers!  The church is just off Exit 73 of I-81 but also near I-77 and Route 11 in Wytheville, Virgina.  Tucked between a small country road and corn fields, the highway traffic and billboards were close by but quickly forgotten as we pulled into the tiny parking lot, sufficient for perhaps three cars. 

    Surrounded by billboards, corn fields and beautiful gardens, Wythville’s Smallest Church was worth the stop!

    There are beautiful and well maintained gardens with flowers and small statues, a miniature bell tower, and of course, the tiny little chapel.  The creators that were inspired to faithfully build this special place in 2010 thought of everything, even installing a rainwater collection system at the back of the church to make sure there is water onsite for the pretty flowers.

    We imagined that the cute bell tower, with a border of flowers, would sound lovely at a couple’s marriage vows renewal or wedding – something that is offered at Wythville’s Smallest Church.

    The good feelings we felt upon arrival grew even more the moment we walked through the doors.  The details are fantastic – beautiful wood interior walls and peaked roof, ceiling fans to keep cool, three tiny pews, a petite pulpit, and a prayer book full of special intentions left by prior visitors.  We added our own prayer – and sat for a short while just to feel the Holy Spirit come over us.  It was a magical place to discover.  Here is a little website with some information about Wytheville’s Smallest Church – http://www.wythesmallchurch.com/, a worthy stop if you happen to be headed through the area, even if just for a break from the monotony of a long drive.

    The chapel has baptismal waters symbolism both inside and outside.
    Prayers, left by visitors, adorn the board at the back of the chapel, and in a book of intentions at the pulpit.

    After our visit, I was inspired to see if tiny churches might be “a thing”, much like tiny houses.  I found this blog post that has now created a whole new special bucket list of tiny churches around the country that I hope we can visit along the way!  

    https://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/36537

    From the website for Whytheville's Smallest Church ~

A Prayer Chapel in Wytheville VA dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you find yourself tired or confused, fleeing or seeking,this place is for you.

Take a moment out of the everyday race and enjoy some time with the One that made you...HE is already here, waiting for you!
    Be sure to take a few moments to stroll through the pretty gardens – the caretakers of the property clearly give a lot of loving care to be a place in honor of the Lord.

    The next day of our tourist weekend, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful early fall weather and discovered the Big Walker lookout National Scenic Byway.  The drive is outlined in several places online, but we liked this website for a mile-by-mile description.  http://www.scenicbeauty-va.com/  We stopped along the route at the Jefferson National Forest at the Stoney Fork Campground.  There was guest day-parking so that we could hike the marked trails with our two doggos and take a stroll through the campground as well.  There is a creek that meanders all throughout the park, creating pretty photo ops, fishing spots and fresh, Covid-free air!

    This National Forest Campground is in a lovely location, with a creek wandering through the entire property. It was enjoyed by campers of all sizes – and lots of folks enjoying the natural outdoors.
    There were trails for miles, but even a walk through the campground was a nice way to spend some time with the dogs and each other.

    The byway weaves and turns, and climbs to an altitude of 3405 feet.  It would be a gorgeous drive any time of the year, but I did make a mental note that any part of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia are a must-see future stop during peak fall colors!  

    The skies were clear and beautiful on Labor Day weekend as we looked out over this southwest corner of Virginia into the vastness of five states.

    Our final stop of the weekend rounded out our brief Wytheville visit with a piece of kitsch Americana – Big Walker Lookout.  This quirky place is the oldest privately owned scenic attraction in the state and includes a small country tourist-stop store that sells, among other things, delicious ice cream (I recommend the Lemon Crunch!).  Most weekends, they bring in a local artist or author to sell their wares and a band to play music for visitors.  It was a little tricky to maneuver safely in a Covid world, as masks and social distancing were certainly not the norm in this area and our Sunday afternoon visit was perhaps their busiest time.  The local Gospel band was a joy to hear on this sunny and mild September day and created a great atmosphere.  There were locals that stopped by for the afternoon and a group of motorcycle club riders enjoying themselves equally.

    The views from the top of the mountain were pretty, but what our eyes were immediately drawn to was the 100 foot observation tower looming above the scene.  Constructed entirely of metal scaffolding-type material and wooden stair planks on a brick and cement base, it looked every bit of its age.  Attached to the base of the tower was a swinging, suspended wire/rope bridge that rose out above the parking area next to the country store.  It was all built as part of a creative, family-owned small business that was launched at the top of Big Walker Mountain in 1947 to capitalize on the beauty of the land.  It worked, because here we were, all these years later, prepared to pay $8 each to be able to see the views above the tree-line, another 100 feet higher.

    Built in the 1940s, we noticed the open stairs, open railings and handmade aesthetic immediately, and contemplated for about 15 minutes if we should ascend to the top or be satisfied with the views at 3405 feet.

    As we took to the stairs, it was apparent that this was going to be as tricky as we had expected – neither of us are fans of heights, and it took us at least 15 minutes of discussion to even decide to scale the tower!  Our usual Covid safety measures such as minimizing the use of high-touch areas ended immediately, as we both took a two-handed death grip on every inch of railing to the top.  The age of the tower was apparent, as was our awareness that at the time it was built, the safety standards we benefit from today were certainly NOT applied during construction, which really added to our wariness.  There was “chicken-wire” style coverage below the railings and broken stair treads  – both with gaps large enough that I was happy in that moment that I no longer had fearless young children that wanted to scale the tower.

    There were a number of little children that blasted past us, up and down the tower – as our tentative climb continued.  I giggled a little at the contrasting views observers must have seen from below, but we certainly still felt that our fear was reasonable and expected.  We slowly and steadily took each step, breathing deeply through our masks, casting our eyes in front of us rather than down, up or across the horizon.  Our breathing became heightened, our heart-rates increased, and we eventually conquered our fears and made it to the top!  The views were beautiful, and we quickly snapped photos to document our achievement.  We could feel the tower swaying in the breeze, so we maintained a steady grip on the railing and decided quickly it was time to go downstairs.

    Even the views from the ground, on the observation platform were rewarding.
    Look Ma! No hands! We made it to the top!

    The trip back down the tower was unexpectedly easier than the trip up had been.  As we descended, the band was singing and playing the beautiful strains of Amazing Grace (“Was Grace that taught my heart to fear; And Grace, my fears relieved”) – perhaps grace had gotten us up and down that tower!  We were victorious and proud of ourselves, feeling as if we had just done something that was a little risky, certainly a little scary for us, and gave us a thrilling achievement for a Sunday afternoon.  

    It was at the landing as we left the tower to reward ourselves with an ice cream cone that we were faced with a new reality.  Walking past us, toward the tower, was a group of several conservative religious, perhaps Mennonites, ready to make the same climb.  Among them, a woman, wearing the traditional dark, plain dress, white hair covering over her little bun and even a mask for safety.  This dear woman looked to be about 85 years old – with a slow gait and a hunched back from years of living – and she took to the stairs without hesitation.  With our egos feeling slightly jarred, we smiled, took a deep breath, shook the jitters out of our knees, and were grateful to be back on solid ground.  We will try to remember this adventurous old woman as we contemplate any future tourist stops that seem a little frightening to us – we tackled this tower – and we are now ready to let our adventures begin – through God’s grace and blessings!

    The suspension bridge went from the base of the tower, out over the parking lot in front of the BW Country Store.
    “Quick, honey – snap that photo and let’s get down from this tower!”
    Safe travels, and enjoy your own "risky" adventures!