March 2013 AL-AZ Part 3

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Sedona at Sunset

Grand Canyon

Hedge Hog Cactus

We got a timeshare in Sedona, AZ for Easter week and Tom, Julie, and Susan flew out to join us. We had a beautiful week, the best week we had this year. We did several hikes around Sedona, and took a side trip to the Grand Canyon. We also visited the cliff dwellings of Montezuma Castle National Monument. These were built by the Sinagua people around 700 AD and abandoned about 1425. On Easter Sunday we drove to Kingman, AZ and had a wonderful Easter dinner with Phil and Connie.

March 2013 AL-AZ Part 4

Gamble's Quail

Fire Barrel Cactus

Beaver tail Cactus

Joshua Tree

Skull Rock

Jan-Feb 2013 Florida Part 1

Pat with wild Boar

Anhinga with dinner

Armadillo

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Bald Eagles

Jan-Feb 2013 Florida Part 2

After New Years, we started our trip south. Before we left the DC Metro area, we stopped at National Harbor to check it out and have lunch with Sherman. In Richmond, we enjoyed the American Civil War Center. When we got to Florida we had some work done on the RV, before attending a Born Free rally at the Tampa RV Super Show. We are starting the long, painful process of looking for a replacement RV. We teamed up with Rialta owners and friends Larry and Edi to inspect a few RVs. We are looking for an RV with a different bed arrangement. We went with our RV club to St Petersburg and toured the Chihuly Collection Museum, an amazing collection of glass art (even I was impressed).

Snowy Egret

Great Blue Heron

Manatee

Pat

Red headed Woodpecker

Tri-colored Heron

Brown Pelicans

White Squirrel

Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Meddard Park

Nov-Dec 2012 PA-SC

After we returned from Bonaire, we drove to York and had Thanksgiving dinner at Linda and Rick’s house. The following day we started our trip south. We stayed overnight at Randy and Marti’s before leaving MD. In SC, we stopped at Andrew Jackson SP. He was the only American President to serve in three wars (Revolutionary, War of 1812, and 1st Seminole War). Nearby we hiked through the country’s largest old growth bottomland hardwood forest preserve at Congaree NP.

Andrew Jackson

We spent several days in the Charleston area. We took a boat out to Ft Sumter and toured the fort with a Park Ranger. We visited Charles Towne Landing which was the first permanent English settlement in Carolina. We walked the grounds of Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, one of the oldest plantations in the South.  We toured Fort Moultrie, named after its first commander, who had a fort built of palmetto logs. When the British attacked on June 28, 1776, the palmetto logs absorbed the cannon shot and the British lost the battle. This is why there is a palmetto tree on the SC flag and why it is called the “Palmetto State”.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

We camped at James Island County Park, near Charleston. Every year in August, dozens of park volunteers start to assemble the Holiday Festival of Lights with over 700 Christmas displays along a three mile loop. Despite a power bill of $60,000/mo the display makes over a million dollar profit for the county’s park system. I have never seen a light display that even came close to this one. We visited it three times!

Sand Sculpture at James Island Co. Park

Christmas at KOA

We had to cut this trip short and head back to Maryland so I could get my annual biopsy. Even though they found cancer in the prostate last year, none was found this year. I’m not cancer free, but this was a good sign. We attended Christmas parties at Piscataway and Carol & Cordale’s. It was fun to catch up with old friends. We drove to the Philly area and spent some time with Jenn. She gave us a tour of the farm where she works. We visited with Floyd and Lauren. The next day we visited Independence Hall and saw the Liberty Bell. The bell was about 80 years old, before it received the name “Liberty Bell” by abolitionists and was adopted as a symbol of their cause. We spent the rest of the day with Yanjin’s family in NJ. We headed south to have lunch with Bob at the Dover AFB.

Liberty Bell

Christmas Eve

Chris, Jenn and Pop

Ashley, Chris and Santa Snoopy

We entertained my family on Christmas Eve at Pat’s father’s house. We had Christmas breakfast and dinner at Linda and Rick’s house. We ended the year with a family bowling party.

Oct Nov 2012 ME to Bonaire Part 2 of 2

Breakfast in Bonaire

Sunset at Captain Don's

Kathy

Yanjin and Eric

Pink Flamingos

Troupial

Paul Allen's toy

The whole gang

The purpose of this trip to Bonaire was to get Yanjin down there to see the wastewater plant he helped design. This plant was a project that Yanjin, Eldon and I have been working on for the last 7 years or more as we continue to optimize the treatment process. Despite this effort, this trip to Bonaire would be the first time that the three of us would meet together. Yanjin brought along his wife Yang and children Eric and Kathy. Yanjin’s family learned how to snorkel and we enjoyed the Chinese meals prepared by Yang. The children had a great time and are ready for their next trip. Eldon and Lois did a great job putting this all together and hosting it. Paul Allen (Microsoft) visited the island while we were there in his small yacht (300 feet). It comes complete with a helicopter, sailboat, and motor boat. Maybe the dock was not big enough for his 400 foot yacht.

Oct Nov 2012 ME to Bonaire Part 1 of 2

After leaving Campobello Island we headed for Bar Harbor and Acadia NP. A few days later we checked into a timeshare in Killington VT. We spent 8 nights here, hiking and exploring the area. We visited the Billings Farm and Museum near Woodstock. At the Calvin Coolidge SHS we walked though the town where he grew up and toured the preserved buildings. We bought a few things at a craft fair in Rutland. On our way south to York we stopped at the Vermont Country Store, Haines Falls, and Promised Land SP.

Eldon and Lois NS property

Jordan Pond, Acadia NP

Haines Falls, NY

North South Lake SP, NY

North South Lake SP, NY

Camping at Cedarville SF, MD

We camped near York, at Pinchot SP for a few days, while visiting Pat’s father and Linda and Rick. Later we moved to the Patapsco SP so we could visit our doctors, friends and my family. We were fortunate to have enough time to see all almost all of our friends in the area. When Hurricane Sandy came, we relocated to Cherry Hill Campground, where there were no large trees to fall on our RV. Other than the RV rocking with the high winds, we had no other problems with the storm. We celebrated my father’s 90^th birthday with my family before heading to Bonaire. Pat’s extended family got together for her father’s 85^th birthday.
PS
Remember when we had a battery problem while in New Brunswick? Well after sending a letter to Ford, we got a full reimbursement for the battery. (The next time you have a problem with a vendor, say "I'm retired and have all the time in the world to fight this")