Football, Lunch, Dinner and Not Much Else 9/26/2009

Saturday was a day of rest for Jsnet and Doug so we just hung around the house in the morning. Mom and Janet took off about 11:30 and drove into Elizabeth City for an afternoon of "sightseeing" and a lunch at a Phoo Phoo ladies tea room. Doug and I hung around the house and watched some football and had a nice lunch of bratwursts and mac and cheese. Mom and Janet got back about 3:30 and they had had a great time so that was good. We got ready and went to dinner on the intracoastal waterway at a great restaurant in Coinjock, NC. We got there and got out of the car and the yachts that were tied up there were UNBELIEVABLE. They were huge as one of them had to be at least 130-150 feet. We could see in the window of that one and could see a servant preparing something in what we thought was the dining room. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so we couldn't take any pictures.....damn. We had a GREAT dinner and enjoyed meeting some of Janet and Doug's friends and chatting with them. After dinner we strolled along the dock drooling over these yachts and wondering where the recession was......sure hasn't affected them. We drove home and by that time was time for bed. So until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

On To Janet and Doug's 9/25/2009

We headed out early this morning for our trip across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and our next stop in Hertford, NC at Janet and Doug's. They are long time friends of ours, as Dori has known Janet forever, since we lived back in Camillus and Mom worked at the law office and we drove to Ohio when they were married. It was a nice drive although it was raining but we got there ok. It seemed that it took us forever to actually get to there house as it really is out in the boondocks. It is a LOVELY spot though right on the Little River which is part of the Albermarle Sound. Albemarle Sound is a large estuary on the coast of North Carolina in the United States located at the confluence of a group of rivers, including the Chowan and Roanoke. It is separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Outer Banks, a long barrier peninsula upon which the town of Kitty Hawk is located, at the eastern edge of the sound. Roanoke Island is situated at the southeastern corner of the sound, where it connects to Pamlico Sound. Much of the water in the Albemarle Sound is brackish or fresh, as opposed to the saltwater of the ocean, as a result of river water pouring into the sound.
Some small portions of the Albemarle have been given their own "sound" names to distinguish these bodies of water from other parts of the large estuary. The Croatan Sound, for instance, lies between mainland Dare County and Roanoke Island. The eastern shore of the island to the Outer Banks is commonly referred to as the Roanoke Sound. The long stretch of water from near the Virginia state line south to around the Currituck County southern boundary is known as the Currituck Sound.
The sound forms part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. Its coast saw the first permanent English settlements in what became North Carolina, the Albemarle Settlements. Many inland tidewater communities along the Albemarle today are part of the Inner Banks region of the state.
We got there and set up and found that our slide out room wouldn't slide out as when we tried to slide it out one side would slide but the other one wouldn't. We monkeyed around with it for awhile but to no avail so I called Winnebago and they said that we had either lost a pin out of the slide arms or that the gears were stripped on the one side and to leave it alone and take it in for service. So we are stuck for the next 3 weeks, until we get to MB and have it fixed, using it with the slide out room in.
We spent the rest of the afternoon fixing dinner as Mom had planned a pasta dinner for them so they didn't have to cook. They got home about 5:30 or so and it was great to see them and we sat around talking until dinner was ready. We ate and chatted some more until it was time for bed. Well until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Not Much Going On Today 9/24/2009

There wasn't much going on today as we just hung around the coach for the day seeing as there weren't a lot of caches to do in the area. We did take a drive into Cape Charles, VA and drove around the town. Cape Charles is located close to the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on Virginia's Eastern Shore, was founded in 1884 as a planned community by railroad and ferry interests. Cape Charles was, for many years, the terminal for passenger and car ferry service across the Bay to Norfolk and Hampton. The last ferry left Cape Charles in 1953. Cape Charles still serves as a terminal for railway barges that carry rail cars from the Eastern Shore Railroad across the mouth of the Bay to Norfolk. After leaving Cape Charles, the ferry boat terminal operated for some time out of nearby Kiptopeke. Ferry service from the Eastern Shore was terminated in 1964 with the opening of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. It is a lovely small town, very quiet and peaceful. We stopped at a old fashioned drug store that had a soda fountain and got ourselves an ice cream cone and headed back to the coach. We spent the rest of the day there watching TV. Well that's about it for now so we will close until next time and we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

On To Cherrystone CG's in Cheriton, VA 9/23/2009

We got up again to the bridge work near the campgrounds so we packed up and were off to Cheriton, VA and our 2 night stay at Cherrystone Family Campground. We had stayed here last year for a few days and liked it very much as it was nice and clean and neat. We got there about 1:00 and got set up and found out that the trees on our site blocked the satellites so we couldn't get Direct TV so we had to move across the road to another site. Having gotten that done we drove out to the Cherrystone Aqua Farms a commercial scale clam hatchery to get some clams for dinner. We bought 100 clams and all they were was $20.00. We had those and garlic bread for dinner and they were delicious with a capital D, so tender and tasty and no sand in any of them at all. We ate the whole 100 clams and I think could have eaten more. We got cleaned up and watched TV for the rest of the evening.
Well time to close so until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Caching Around the Lewes, DE Area 9/22/2009

Tuesday morning we were awakened to the pounding of piles for the new bridge so we ate and were off to Lewes, DE for some caching. Lewes was the first town in the first state and was the site of the first European settlement in Delaware, a whaling and trading post that Dutch settlers founded on 3 June 1631 and named Zwaanendael (Swan Valley). The colony had a short existence, as a local tribe of Lenni Lenape Indians wiped out the 32 Dutch settlers in 1632. On 5 and 6 April 1813, during the War of 1812, British naval vessels led by HMS Poictiers under the command of Captain Sir John Poo Beresford briefly and ineffectually bombarded the town. A cannonball from the bombardment is lodged in the foundation of Cannonball House, which now serves as the town's maritime museum. In 1941, the US built Fort Miles on Cape Henlopen, near Lewes, to defend Delaware Bay and the Delaware River and the oil refineries and factories on their shores, as well as the city of Philadelphia. It was one of the largest and most heavily armed coastal fortifications ever built. Fort Miles never saw any major action; it only fired its guns once between its establishment and the end of World War II. Fort Miles ceased operation altogether in 1991.
First cache was next to a fairway on a golf course, second was near a fountain in a small park near the Chamber of Commerce. Next cache was in the 1812 Memorial Park. The 1812 Memorial Park was developed to commemorate the defense of Lewes against a two-day bombardment by the British fleet on April 6-7, 1813. A 74-gun frigate, the Poictiers, one ship of the line, the Belvidere, and a schooner attacked the town and demanded fresh provisions from the Lewes community. They were refused by Col. Samuel Boyer Davis, commander of American troops in Lewes. Because so many trees obstructed the view of the attackers, very few cannon shots actually struck property and the final damage was very little. One shot did hit the door of Caleb Rodney's store, another struck the Rowland House on Front Street, and another hit the McIlvaine home in Gills Neck. But the only casualties were a chicken that was killed and a pig whose leg was broken. Fourth cache and fifth caches were along the beach, next was a cache in the woods at the University of Delaware Research Facility, next was one in a condo/shopping area like the Commons in MB, next a Food Lion cache, next a cache at Lowe's in the storm drain and the last cache of the day was at Home Depot in a pine tree. This container was so original as it was a baby dinosaur hatching out of an egg. We stopped at the store for a few things and then at A & W for lunch and then back to the coach for the afternoon.
Well time to close for today so until next time we love and miss you all.

Caching in Rehoboth Beach 9/21/2009

Monday we had breakfast early as we were awakened to the noise of the new bridge building going on about 100 yards from the campgrounds. They were driving hte bridge supports into the ground so the pounding was very loud and was shaking the coach on each and every pound. Great advertisement!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We left and went caching and our first cache was a Travel Bug Hotel at the local art museum. Next was a cache in a small park, next a cache at Cracker Barrel, next at a church office, Wal-Mart and one in a shopping center.
Our last cache was a multi-virtual cache in and around the Rehoboth Beach boardwalk area. We had to go to 4 different locations and gather information from either a historical site or at one of the local shops and then figure out the location of the final cache which was just a certain location. We figured it out and found out the site to be a grocery store established in 1898 in downtown Rehoboth Beach which was really nice to see and it is still operating. Traffic in the downtown area wasn't as bad as it was on Saturday but still quite bust so this cache took us awhile to do.
Then it was on back to the Coach for lunch and our usual afternoon routine. Well time to say until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

Caching in Bethany Beach 9/20/2009

Sunday morning we had breakfast and drove down to Bethany Beach, DE to do a few caches before the Sunday NFL started. First cache was at a gas station, nothing to earth shattering.
Next cache was very interesting and was located in Ocean View, DE just outside of Bethany Beach. It was at the U.S. Army Radar Site #11. On March 12, 1941, the United States government purchased 10 acres of land here for the location of a mobile radar installation. Preparation of the site was completed the following summer. Construction was then commenced under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. Following declaration of war in December 1941, work was accelerated. By the following February a radar unit and tower had been installed. One of 26 facilities of this type established along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Virginia, it was formally designated as Radar Site 11. The installation was fully functional by June 1942. At the time of completion it consisted of 14 concrete block structures including living facilities for officers and enlisted men, Guard Posts, and other buildings necessary to operations. Initially designated as a mobile site, this was one of 10 of the original 26 locations to be converted to permanent status. Following conversion a building was constructed to house the radar equipment, which had been mounted on trailers and trucks for purpose of mobility. Equipment was upgraded, promoting extended detection capability. With the end of the war the property was declared to be surplus and sold. After decades of deterioration, the buildings were in ruin when the property was acquired by Carl M. Freeman Communities in the 1990s. All remaining structures were removed with the exception of the Pump House, which stands today as a visible reminder of the history and significance of Radar Site 11. We found the cache easily and read the historical information and we were off.
Next 3 caches weren't anything to interesting as 2 were at a shopping centers and the last was at a restaurant that had been made out of an old locomotive and several old railroad dining cars. Then it was off back to the coach for the afternoon and watching some football on the computer as the campgrounds didn't have cable and we couldn't get any local TV with our antenna. Oh well wasn't very good planning by myself to spend a Sunday at a campgrounds with no cable especially when the Giants were playing the Cowboys on Sunday night. I did watch it for awhile on the computer, as well as I could watch it. By the way most of the bikers deserted town during the day and the area was like a ghost town today.
One interesting thing we did see in Bethany Beach was another of Peter Toth's wooden Indian carvings. Bethany Beach's landmark sculpture of "Chief Little Owl" was officially dedicated during a 45-minute ceremony Monday, July 15, 2002. The statue, depicting a Nanticoke Indian chief with a north-facing eagle atop his head. Remarks from Peter Toth, the sculptor who carved Bethany Beach's first "Whispering Giant" in 1976 as well as the new one, were followed by comments and a dedication ritual by Charles Clark, former assistant chief of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe. Clark expressed appreciation to Toth, who carved the first "Chief Little Owl" in 1976 as part of a project in which he has now placed a totem pole in each of the 50 states and another 15 in Canada. His purpose in doing so, he said, was to promote unity among all people. The new Whispering Giant is carved from a red cedar log from Alaska, which Toth said he personally selected. The sculpture it replaced was carved from white oak and showed signs of serious damage after seven years. The red cedar sculpture is expected to last from 50 to 100 years. This is the 4th Whispering Giant carving we have seen and for those of you who don't remember or didn't see our other posts Peter Wolf Toth (born December 1947) is a Hungarian-born sculptor, who immigrated to the United States and settled in Akron, Ohio. He later studied art at the University of Akron. He created a series of sculptures called Trail of the Whispering Giants to honor Native Americans. Overall, he has created more than 60 sculptures, including at least one in each state of the United States, and in several provinces of Canada. He has completed a statue in each of the 50 states, and in several provinces of Canada. Some states have more than one sculpture.
Well time to say until next time we love you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick

On Our Way to Delaware 9/19/2009

We packed up about 9:00 and off we went to Delaware and our stay at Delaware Shores State Park. We got there about 12:30 and got set up, had lunch and were off on a find out what's around drive. Well what we didn't know was there was a annual motorcycle rally here in this area and there was about 100,000 bikes and riders here until tomorrow. Well if you don't think that was fun trying to drive in that traffic. We took a tour of Rehoboth Beach and we were on back to the coach for the afternoon and evening. The campground is very nice sitting on a srtip of land between the Atlantic Ocean and Rehoboth Bay. The only thing is they are building a new bridge over to the strip of land and there is construction everywhere. Well until next time we love and miss you all. Mom & Dad Dori & Dick