Trip Update Nov 2021- Mar 2022 MD - NC

Don's Family 

We returned from out west in time for Pat to get foot surgery. She recovered enough from her fall in Sept to proceed with the surgery. In the course of pre-op testing, an irregularity was discovered in Pat’s EKG. So off to the cardiologist and more testing. Pat was cleared for surgery, which went fine. Later it was determined that the leads on the EKG were hooked up wrong! A similar thing happened to me in 2007. She has mostly recovered from surgery, except for some swelling and soreness. 

Pat's Family

Our Condo, Third Floor, Right of center

We moved into an AirBNB in Columbia, MD for the months of Jan and Feb so Pat could rest. We were getting a bit tired of moving into and out of AirBNBs, so we thought about getting a house to spend the winter. We considered GA, but our family, friends and most of our doctors were in or near the MD area. Maybe it was the great weather we had in Dec that helped. We started looking on 12/31 and made an offer on 1/3. On Jan 17 we settled on a large 2 BR condo in a 55+ community in Odenton, MD. After four snow storms in January, GA was looking good again! 

Winter Wonderland

Pat mourned the loss of her cousin and close friend Gale.  When Bob was ill, Gale provided assistance and support to Bob and Pat. Pat’s sister, Linda came down from York to help Pat shampoo all the carpets. Phase 1 of our move was to pick up some excess furniture from Julie and Susan and clean out our 10x10 storage unit. I was delighted to know how much stuff we needed to buy to make the condo livable.

Beach at Kill Devils Hills

Months previously, we had made reservations for a timeshare in Kill Devils Hills, NC and an RV resort in Hilton Head NC, so we had to hit the road before spending a night in our condo. We stayed at a campground in VA Beach for a few nights before heading down to NC. We explored the Outer Banks for a week before heading down toward New Bern, NC on Feb 12.

Bodie Island Lighthouse

Wright Brothers taking off

Sunset from our timeshare

Our Ocean view

We stopped for lunch, filled up our 40-gal gas tank and switched drivers and headed down Rt. 17 Bypass, a lightly used divided highway. Twenty minutes later, I was napping in the passenger seat when Pat fell asleep behind the wheel. The RV crossed the left shoulder and Pat’s scream woke me up. Pat tried to get the RV back on the highway, but our car that was being towed behind us, was scraping along the cable guard rails. Once the RV got perpendicular to the highway, we were seconds from crashing into the woods on the opposite side of the road. Pat tried to correct, but with the car spinning wildly behind us, the RV spun completely around until the car hit the cables again, this time on the passenger side. The RV came to rest in this position. 

You can get this used car cheap

Unbelievably we were both not injured! Many local people stopped to see if they could help. Before long we had the fire department there. A guard rail support had ripped open the gas tank. Luckily no fire started. A large wrecker came and lifted the RV off the cables before it could be towed away to a body shop. The car was totaled and another tow truck hauled that way. A State Trooper gave us a ride 20 miles to the nearest decent motel. Pat was issued a ticket for Reckless Driving, a serious offence in NC. We hired a lawyer who says he can likely get that charge dismissed.

The guy at the body shop brought us a rental car. He did not ask for a driver’s license or credit card; we just shook on it. (Don’t try this at the airport!). After a few days of getting our affairs in order, we drove to VA Beach to buy a car. We needed a car like the one we had (2014 Honda CRV) so we could tow it behind the RV. We found one with 40+K miles, which was very low for an 8 yr. old car. You hear a lot about the outrageous used car prices, sorry to say they are not exaggerations. We paid about the same for the replacement car as we did for the original car when it was 2 yr. old with 18K Miles. 

Topper's new House in New Bern, NC

After we got a tow hitch installed on the car, so we could carry our bikes, we headed back to NC. We took what we needed from the RV and continued our trip to New Bern. Chris and Joselyn just bought a house there and we wanted to see it. It was a nice house in a good neighborhood in an historic town. My bike was another casualty of the accident, so I bought a replacement while in town. We cancelled our reservations at the RV resort in Hilton Head and headed for Morehead City, NC. We spent a few days there exploring the area. The NC Aquarium and Tryon Palace in New Bern were the most interesting places.

Tryon Palace in New Bern

Gardens at Tryon Palace

We decided to leave our RV in NC to finish repairs. No one knew how long this would take based on the difficulty in getting parts, so we returned to MD and got to sleep in our condo finally. We still had no living room furniture in the condo. We had been storing our living and dining room furniture from our Accokeek house in our garage in Lewisburg. Now it was time to retrieve it. Maybe you remember the horror story of our attempted move last year, well this year we hired the firm of Pat and Don LLC. We picked up a 26-foot rental truck from U Haul and cleaned our garage and hauled it to Odenton. What we didn’t put in the condo, we packed into a U-Box and it will be shipped to Montana.

Hellbender at NC Aquarium

The original travel plan was to fly to Portugal, spend a few days in Lisbon, fly to the Seychelles for a five-day cruise on a large yacht, fly to Tanzania for the Great Migration, fly back to Portugal and travel up their West Coast, then fly home. COVID restrictions made this itinerary impossible. We were not allowed to enter Portugal after being in Tanzania. There were many other COVID testing requirements which compilated the travel arrangements, so we scrapped Portugal and the Seychelles and added a pre-trip extension to our Tanzania trip. We are now scheduled to depart March 15.

Montana to Maryland Sept- Nov 2021

Natural Arch at Bryce Canyon NP

Shortly before we left Helena, Pat fell off her bike while avoiding a car. She fractured a bone in her right foot and had to wear a boot for a month. Also, the planned completion of Pat’s tub was delayed due to delivery of the wrong side panels. Months later we are still waiting for the replacement, most likely stuck on a cargo ship off the coast of CA. 

Bryce Canyon

On Sept 27 we started our trip south. Our first layover was near Salt Lake City, where we had our RV levelers repaired again. We got to Bryce NP and really enjoyed the park. Pat could enjoy most of the park from the lookouts along the park road. I did a couple solo hikes. The Park was impressive plus we visited nearby Red Rock Canyon and Kodachrome Basin SP.

Navajo Trail BCNP

Zion NP

Next, we went to Zion NP and it was a complexly different experience. Even a month after Labor Day, the park is very crowded. To get to the park you take a city shuttle bus from your campground to the Visitor Center, due to inadequate parking facilities there. Then you can board a NP shuttle bus that takes you into the canyon to one of five designated stops. We took the NP shuttle to the last stop and I hiked a bit and Pat took a shorter walk. We took the bus back to the Lodge stop and I did a hike while Pat waited for me. We were about to load back on the bus when we noticed the busses stopped moving. No one in the know was sharing info, but we heard rumors that there was a car accident near the park entrance, possibly a fatality. The order was to shelter in place. After sitting on the bus for about 40 min. we found out that there was an active shooter in a nearby town. Eventually the busses started moving and we returned to the Visitor Center. 

Big Horn Sheep ZNP

We waited awhile for the city shuttle bus but soon realized they were not operating. We started to walk back to our campground but found that the police had closed off all access to that part of the town.  We decided to get dinner at the only available restaurant, a Thai restaurant. (Yes, someone has to get shot before Pat will go to a Chinees or Thai restaurant). We were not the only ones who decided that this was the best way to kill some time.  After a 40 min wait, we got seated.  During our meal we noticed things were starting to get moving and after our meal, we were able to catch a shuttle bus back to the campground. 

Canyon Overlook ZNP

Later we found out the details of the Active Shooter Incident. A 55 yr. old local male threaten a couple with a knife. When the police approached, he took off in his car hitting speeds in excess of 100 mph while shooting at 10 passing cars. None of the people in the cars were hurt. The police flattened one of his tires which forced him to stop and run away. Eventually a large manhunt tracked him down and then he shot himself in the head with his shotgun. Later he died. Not too many tears were shed by the thousands that were inconvenienced for hours by his reckless actions.

Odyssey Aquarium, Phoenix

The next day we skipped the busses and drove to other areas of the park for sightseeing and hiking. Pat’s foot was bothering her due to all the running around in the campgrounds and parks so we adjusted our schedule and left Zion a few days early and skipped the Grand Canyon (which we have rafted and visited before). We managed to get a last-minute timeshare in Scottsdale AZ for a week before our timeshare week in Sedona. 

Sedona

On our way to Scottsdale, we had a quick visit with Phil and Connie and saw their beautiful new house in Kingman AZ. Scottsdale is much nicer than Phoenix. The best place we visited was the Musical Instrument Museum. Their displays included a minimum of four video from every country, featuring music played on locally made instruments.

Bluebird

Sunset in Sedona

Sedona was great as always, except for the crowds and difficulty finding parking. I got a hike in everyday and Pat did some crafts at the resort. She also took a Boynton Canyon trolley tour and learned a few things. We also took a day trip to historic Jerome and toured the nearby Gold Mine and Ghost Town in Haynes.

Gold Mine

Sedona

Collared Lizard

Confused Saguaro, Sweetwater Preserve, AZ

Sitting on a very large rock core sample for the building of TVA's Douglas Dam

From Sedona we returned to Phoenix on Saturday and waited until we could get the RV into the Ford Dealer on Monday to fix the door lock. We went to the AZ Science Museum which was a disappointment. We drove to Fort Davis, TX and toured the Ft Davis NHS, which was an Indian Wars' frontier military post, and then the McDonald Observatory which was interesting and easily accessible. In Tennessee, we camped near Douglas Dam, which was built in record time, one year, in order to provide electricity for aluminum production during WWII. We stopped in Lewisburg to organize our stuff in preparation of a move next Spring. We met Bill and Shirley for lunch in Harrisonburg, VA and meet up with Pat’s aunts and cousins in Buckeystown, MD. We ended our cross-country trip at an RV park in College Park.

McDonald Observatory

Aunt Janice and Aunt Ann

WV to MT, WA and BC May-Sept 2021

Sunset in Ohio

Starved Rock SP, Utica IL

We put our moving disaster behind us and spent Memorial Day Weekend at Watauga SP in WV. After the holiday, we got back on the road and got our RV levelers repaired in Elkhart IN. When we got into MN, we caught up with Diane, our friend from Habitat For Humanity. 

                              

 

Rare Yellow Lady Slipper

We arrived in Helena on 6/15 and found out that we had no water to our house. By the following day, repairs were completed, water restored and we moved back in. (For more details see attached “Pumping Fiascoes”.)

Willow Falls SP, WI

Elk on a trail near Helena MT

Once we got settled in, Pat wanted to spruce the place up by adding more plants in front of our house. These plants were supposed to be deer resistant. Because dogs are banned in the community, the deer have free reign. After Pat completed the planting, the buffet was open. Pat tried to close the smorgasbord, but deer are like cruisers, they like that midnight buffet. Pat tried various remedies, including fencing, but she was outnumbered about 20 to 1. She is now using Liquid Fence, a product with a god-awful stench. Now the deer are just waiting for us to leave so the treatments will stop and the stench wears out. We don’t expect many plants to survive until Spring. 

Follow me to Pat's Buffet

Gold Creek Pond, WA

In July we attended the Symphony under the Stars, which was held close to our house. It was the largest gathering in Helena since COVID started. Music from the 80’s was the theme. Then we drove to Renton WA to see our friends Tom and Cornelia. On the trip over we encountered plenty of smoke from forest fires, especially in Idaho.

With Cornelia at Seattle Waterfront

Father and Son Fountain, Olympic Sculpture Park

 In Washington, we took a variety of day trips exploring the area. In addition to taking several hikes, we walked the Seattle waterfront and had lunch on top of Crystal Mountain, with great views of Mt Rainier. Of course, there was plenty of great home cooking to keep us going. 

Don with Tom and Cornelia at Crystal Mt

View from Crystal Mountain

On the trip back to MT, we stopped at Savenac Historic Nursey to visit with our friend Robert. He manages the site and has continued to improve the facility. A week later we drove up to Great Falls for the Montana State Fair and got our fill of junk food. We met Art and Christine for dinner in Butte MT. They had just flown in from VA.

Historic Train Station, Wallace ID

Mt State Fair - Shouldn't the horse be bigger than the rider?

Someone had a lot of time to kill

 After a few weeks in Helena, we were in the RV and back on the road. We entered Canada, with some difficulty, and spent a week in Fernie BC. We meet with Sheryl, our friend, and realtor.  We picked up our belongings left over after the sale of our place on June 15th. We enjoyed hiking and eating at our favorite restaurants. On the trip home, we spend some time on the east side of Glacier NP. With real estate booming this year, we took the opportunity to sell our Florida timeshare.

Day hike in SE Glacier NP

Our last couple of weeks in Helena were spent with home remodeling and repair. A contractor ripped out the carpet in the Living Room and Pat’s BR and replace it with a laminate. Next week Pat will have the tub replaced in her bathroom. 

Running Eagle Falls, GNP

We got some good news. When we bought a house in a Mobile Home Park, we assumed it was a double-wide trailer. We found out recently that it is in fact a Modular Home, which is better built than a trailer. So please stop referring to us as Trailer Trash, the correct term would be Modular Home Solid Waste.

We will leave Helena on 9/27 and head south to Bryce, Zion, Grand Canyon and Sedona. Details in the next blog.