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One of the great benefits of this RV lifestyle, as I have mentioned in previous blog postings, is the many opportunities to spend time with friends and family we have not seen for a very long time. Such was the case while we were staying near Greenville, South Carolina for three days. Russ and Lisa Aldrich were friends from church back in the 1980's. In 2001 they moved to Greer, South Carolina and we lost touch. Knowing we were going to be in their area we contacted Lisa's brother Joe Pere from Little Rock, Arkansa who we've kept in touch with to provide us with the Aldrich's contact information. We called Russ and although Lisa was in California, he was available and thrilled we reached out. We invited Russ over for dinner on Monday night, October 9 at our campground and we spent the evening catching up around a wonderful meal prepared by Karen. One day wasn't enough, so Wednesday, October 11, we got together again with Russ, but this time at their place. Russ and Lisa have a beautiful home they built on a little over an acre of property on Lake Apalache in Greer. Their daughter, Fiona lives on the same property with her two young sons while their adult son, Jason and his family live and work only thirty minutes away. We enjoyed another great meal, this time prepared by Russ. It was so great getting caught up on their life in South Carolina! Honestly, our only disappointment was missing Lisa, but we will definitely keep in touch and will try to get together again in the future. Joe and Ann Nunley, are relatively new to South Carolina. Before they moved to Greenville in July of 2021, Karen worked with Joe at Total Concepts. We called them and made plans to have dinner at their home on Tuesday, October 10. It's such a blessing to spend time with friends! Prior to visiting their home, we took time in the afternoon to see downtown Greenville around Falls Park. Like most cities, it is a busy environment with traffic and parking issues, but overall very picturesque with an incredible variety of food venues, coffee cafes, shops and our cultural experiences. It’s home to the Greenville County Museum of Art, with works by Southern artists spanning several centuries. Exhibits at the Upcountry History Museum tell the story of upstate South Carolina. Falls Park on the Reedy has riverside gardens, a suspension bridge and waterfall views. Greenville has been lauded as one of the best cities in the U.S. In 2022, Condé Nast Traveler readers gave it a place of honor (6th place, to be exact!) in their Readers’ Choice Awards, particularly hailing its good eats: “The food lover’s town has a farm-to-table scene that continues to rise in the ranks … and its craft beer scene is seeing a similar explosion.” And more recently it ranked in U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 list of the best places to live in the U.S., where it scored 31st place out of 150 metro areas. After walking and snacking around the downtown area for a few hours we drove to the Nunley's for our visit. Unfortunately Ann had a previous commitment for the evening but we had a great visit with Joe. He and Ann love their new home and have established themselves in their new neighborhood. Joe is busy with his contracting business and Ann at her work as well as in their church community. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and played a card game called Five Crowns. While in the Greenville area, between visiting friends, I was hoping to make some progress on securing the parts I needed to repair the RV. I had been on the phone for over a week trying to arrange the purchase and shipping of all the parts I needed from Alliance in Elkhart, Indiana. The shipping became a problem.. Because of the size of the parts, the freight was going to cost over $300, more than the value of the parts! I was looking at a cost of over $600 for everything. Okay, so I started praying for wisdom on what to do. What about stopping by an RV dealership in the area and asking them if they might have the parts I needed? So on Monday, after we arrived and finished setting up at the campsite, I drove to Blue Compass RV's parts and service facility in the town of Duncan 4 miles away. I walked in with the broken piece of black extrusion T-molding from my rig in hand and approached the counter. Mike, the parts guy, looks at me as I asked him, "Do you have any of this laying around?" His response was not encouraging, "No we have to special order that from the factory." Behind Mike was the Parts Manager half listening to the exchange. "Hey Mike, we might have a piece downstairs." Mike comes back to the counter with an eight foot section of black extrusion T-molding! Identical to what I needed to repair the trailer. He asks the Parts Manager for a price to charge me. "It's got a few scratches, $30 and it yours." So, you guessed it; I walked out with everything I needed to do the repairs and it only cost me 45 bucks! This was a real miracle and worth sharing how our God cares about the little things that happen to us and how He makes provision for our circumstances. What are the chances that this RV dealership, hundreds of miles from the manufacturer, would have the exact part and length I needed to repair my trailer? I realize many of those who read this blog will chalk it up to pure luck, but I profess to be a man of faith and trust in a God who likes to work a miracle now and then. So, thank you Heavenly Father for your provision and blessing; You are AWESOME!

We departed Cheatham Annex on Thursday, October 5 en route to the Great Smoky Mountains. Our first stop was Rudds Creek Park, an Army Corps of Engineers Campground located on John H. Kerr Reservoir, a 50,000-acre lake that extends 39 miles up the wooded, cove-studded shoreline of the Roanoke River in Virginia and North Carolina. Rudd's Creek Campground is open April 1 - October 31. The Day Use Park, located across Hwy 58, is open year-around. Kerr Reservoir, also known as Buggs Island Lake, was created with the construction of the John H. Kerr Dam in 1952. Its 800 miles of wooded shoreline stretch across six counties in two states and offer countless recreation opportunities for visitors. The camping fee with a National Park Pass is half price and only $17 a night; an incredible deal for a water and electric site in this beautiful venue! We are spending three days here relaxing and reading. I am practicing on my new guitar and we might even try out our fly fishing gear. The lake shore is just below our campsite so it is an ideal place to practice casting. I need to do some online CE work related CFI training (fire investigation re-certification) and Coast Guard Auxiliary core training. This is a good place to get it done. There is good wifi connectivity in the complex and the campground is quiet, for the most part, with limited traffic on the road near our site. Friday evening we drove into the town of Boydton, Virginia to attend a local wine and beer social at their historic local tavern and inn. It was an opportunity to mingle with the locals and hear about their community. Karen and I did a self-guided tour of this historic facility established in 1790. This part of Virginia was apparently a big tobacco growing region back in the day and many of the exhibits reflected that fact. It is amazing to think how much our society has changed with regards to the whole subject of tobacco production and smoking tobacco in general. We sat and listened to some local music, talked with a few people and drank some wine for about an hour before heading back to the campground. Saturday was very restful and relaxing. We enjoyed sleeping in, had toasted bagels with cream cheese, smoked salmon and capers for breakfast then walked our loop to check out some options for a future return trip. We found some amazing sites right on the lake that were huge; this is a definite do-over location for sure. All in all, this was one of the best places we've stayed and we would love to come back again. It truly is a beautiful getaway location for this time of year and probably the spring time as well. Sunday was our check out day. Check out was at 2:00pm so we had a relaxing morning to break camp before getting on the road again. Our next stop would be an overnight only stop at the Cracker Barrel Old Country Store in Salisbury, North Carolina about 3 hours to the southwest. From there we head to Greer, South Carolina for a three night stay at the GSP RV Park. We are looking forward to visiting with some long-time friends from California who have moved to South Carolina.

After getting past the drama of Thursday we used the weekend to re-set. Sunday morning we attended the Newport News Calvary Chapel for church services. The music and message was just the right medicine to get me back into the right place with the proper perspective I needed. Our campsite in the Cheatham Annex is right in the middle of this historic region. The Williamsburg Triangle (also known to some as the Historic Triangle) encompasses three sites of huge historical significance. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, the triangle is enclosed by the famous York and James Rivers on either side and features Jamestown, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg at its points. The National Park Service's Colonial Parkway was constructed to connect the three historic attractions of Colonial Virginia with a scenic and bucolic roadway carefully shielded from views of commercial development. Intended to help visitors mentally return to the past, it has views of waterway and natural areas, wildlife and waterfowl along the roadway (and crossing it). The only human development that can be seen from most of the parkway is the two loading piers of Cheatham Annex, part of the Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, which borders the inland side of much of the parkway. Near the ends of the parkway at the James River and York River, there are several pull-offs where visitors can admire the view. The Colonial Parkway is free of tolls or user fees. The Parkway starts in Yorktown, passes through Colonial Williamsburg and ends in Jamestown. No commercial vehicles are allowed to use the parkway for transportation, although commuter traffic has increased dramatically in the early 21st century. The first permanent English settlement in the New World was established at Jamestown on May 13, 1607. There are two major heritage sites at Jamestown: (1) Jamestown Settlement, a living history museum which includes a reconstructed Native American village, colonial fort, and replica ships operated by the Commonwealth of Virginia; and (2) Historic Jamestowne, the National Park Service site which includes Jamestown Island and the ongoing archaeological projects. In 1699, the capital of Virginia was moved from Jamestown to a location on high ground at Middle Plantation at the suggestion of students from the College of William and Mary, which had been established there in 1693. Middle Plantation was soon renamed Williamsburg, in honor of King William III, and it was a busy place until the American Revolution. In 1780 during the revolution, the capital and government were moved to a more secure location at Richmond. Williamsburg became a largely sleepy little town for almost 150 years, as many young people left the Tidewater area in search of new lands to the west and other frontiers. In the early 20th century, the town was revived due to the preservation efforts of Reverend Dr. W.A.R. Goodwin, rector of Bruton Parish Church, and the generosity of Standard Oil heir John D. Rockefeller Jr. and his family, who shared a dream of restoring the old colonial capital city to its 18th-century state. They worked for decades to develop that vision to honor the later colonial capital. Today, as the result of those efforts, Colonial Williamsburg is a large living museum of early American life. It has 88 original buildings and dozens of restored and recreated buildings as well as re-enactors. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world. The Visitor's Center (right off the Colonial Parkway) features a short movie. It has a parking area, as automobiles are restricted from the restored area. A wheelchair-accessible shuttle bus service is provided. The third point of the triangle is Yorktown, where General Cornwallis surrendered to George Washington in 1781 after the last land battle of the American Revolution. There are two large visitor centers, battlefield drives, and a waterfront area. The downtown historic area has numerous buildings from the pre-Revolutionary era. We spent the better part of our time at Jamestown and Yorktown. Williamsburg really requires multiple days to experience properly due to its size. We will certainly be back to visit again. Wednesday, October 4 we had brunch with our friends, John and Ellen Clements, who drove up from Virginia Beach. The rest of our afternoon was spent washing the RV, the truck and getting ready to depart on Thursday.

Well, well, well; it is amazing the healing power of prayers, sleep, and a patient, forgiving spouse when the emotional wheels fall off. It took a while, but I'm back in the right place again. I called Alliance RV in Elkhart, Indiana and ordered the parts I'll need to complete repairs to the damaged area on the trailer. All in all, not too bad at $300 with shipping. The parts will take about three weeks to ship via ground transportation so I'm having them sent to our next RVICS project location in Melrose, Florida. We are scheduled to arrive in Melrose on Friday, October 27 so I'm hoping the parts arrive before we do. Friday morning, September 29 I had a good breakfast at Cracker Barrel and we later drove to the Pass and ID office for the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station to get our credentials approved for the Cheatham Annex Naval Station up the road. The process was quick and easy. We drove to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) RV Park/Campground and backed into site #27 pictured below. The site is a wide and deep concrete pad with plenty of room between spaces and a large grassy "backyard" behind the rig. The weather has been overcast and cool since we arrived but is predicted to improve by Sunday. I want to say "thank you" to all of you who called, texted, emailed and responded to my earlier post about the accident. Your support and encouragement helped me process and recover from my depression. Just knowing that friends and family are thinking and praying for our welfare and safe travels is huge! Life is guaranteed to sometimes get messy or difficult and the knowledge that our community cares enough to contact us helps the rough times become a little easier. Thanks again! We haven't been back to this area since 2000 when we traveled with our sons, Erik and Nick. We want to revisit Yorktown, Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg. This area is so rich in early American history so we need at least a week to get it all in.

Did I mention that the roads in Greenbelt Park were narrow? Well, yes they are and upon our departure on Thursday morning, September 28 I found out how narrow first hand. As we proceeded to the dump station area, the trailer tires on the driver's side of the rig slipped off the road surface onto a muddy shoulder and caused the closed trailer slide-out trim to catch the split rail fence post. It happened so fast I had little time to react to the situation even though I was going less than 15 MPH. Upon examination of the damage I felt sick to my stomach. I was shaken up and almost immediately started slipping into nausea and a wave of depression. Just what we needed before a long 3+ hour drive to Cheatham Naval Annex outside Williamsburg, Virginia. Karen tried to calm my spirit and prayed for me, but honestly I was an emotional mess. We drove on to the dump station, but I was seriously concerned about the trees close to the road on the way out. We made it out of the park okay but I was really nervous about proceeding. I had a pretty dramatic reminder of the damage every time I looked in the side mirror as I drove down the highway. We had to drive south around DC and the traffic was heavy. Once we got past the Pentagon building we still had a complex series of ramps and interchanges to navigate through Alexandria, VA. Honestly, I don't remember much of the trip driving south. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop where I closed my eyes and tried to calm down during the break. I took the time at the rest stop to pry off the lower broken trim and duct tape the loose aluminum skirt. At least I got rid of the damn trim piece sticking off the side and in my side mirror view! We stopped for diesel to fill up and also get some DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid). No DEF; the DEF pump wasn't working, great. Onward to Cheatham Naval Annex campground but first we needed to stop at the Pass and ID office to get on base. We arrived at the Pass and ID office at 3:15 PM (1515 in military time). The office closed at 1500. Really?! I felt like I was getting the "emotional shit" seriously piled on. The next best thing I could think to do, in my diminished capacity was try and find the nearest Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. They let RV's park overnight for free and I needed a place to park and crawl into bed. I just needed the day to end. My poor wife had to put up with the whole sordid mess and "Semper Gumby" just wasn't cutting it for me today. Sorry Karen for being such a jerk. All I could think about was crawling into bed at 3 PM and attempt to sleep off the stress and depression. Tomorrow would be a new day and after shaking the depression wave with sleep I might be up to the task of dealing with the next day of this unpredictable RV life again.

Our plan for Wednesday, September 27 was to travel into DC to visit the Museum of the Bible, the National Portrait Gallery and meet Karen's cousin Lucas Agnew for dinner. As per our plans we drove to the Greenbelt Metro Station (2 miles from the campground) and bought tickets for the 30 minute trip into the capitol. Upon arrival we walked first to the Museum of the Bible. That's a book that has endured for generations, been shared around the world, and is still the best-selling book of all time. Located in the heart of Washington, DC, Museum of the Bible's 430,000-square-foot building preserves an abundance of rare and fascinating artifacts. We wanted to see and experience 4,000 years of history shaped by the Bible through innovative and interactive exhibits. We entered the Museum of the Bible, welcomed by the Gutenberg Gates. These one-of-a-kind, 40-foot-high brass gates contain the first lines from Genesis in Latin from a Gutenberg Bible. After purchasing our tickets we proceeded to the third floor. There we were immersed in the story of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament through a journey of dramatic displays, This floor also had a life-size walking exhibit of the town of Nazareth. On Floor 4, we embarked on an exploration of the Bible through time, technology, and culture. There were over 600 rare and beautiful artifacts that mark the path from oral traditions and handwritten scrolls to universal access around the world. After lunch at the Manna Cafe on the sixth floor, we headed to Floor 2, and examined the widespread impact of the Bible on fashion, music, movies, and culture worldwide. We learned about the unexpected influence of the Bible in the foundations of American government and culture in this Bible in America exhibit. We spent about four hours in the museum and still didn't see every exhibit. This was an incredible experience that enriched our love of the Holy Bible. One of the highlights for me was talking with a Jewish Scribe who demonstrated the tradition of hand-writing copies of the Torah in the Hebrew tradition. He showed us a short video on the process and then asked us if we would like a bookmark with our Hebrew name inscribed on it by him. What I learned about my name was moving and inspirational. We walked from the Bible Museum north across the Capitol Mall to the National Portrait Gallery. I've wanted to visit it since our first trip to DC about 24 years ago with our two sons. Back then, this gallery was unfortunately closed. With the impending government shutdown looming, I was hoping this time we would be able to get in. And Eureka we did! I finally got to see some of the inspirational portrait artists that influenced my knowledge of portrait lighting and posing I used when I had my own portrait photography studio. The gallery contained works by Gilbert Stuart and Samuel F.B. Morse which I got to exam up close and personal. Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from the Rhode Island Colony who is widely considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best-known work is an unfinished portrait of George Washington, begun in 1796, which is sometimes referred to as the Athenaeum Portrait. Samuel Finley Breese Morse was an American inventor and painter. After having established his reputation as a portrait painter in his middle ages, Morse contributed to the invention of a single-wire telegraph system based on European telegraphs. We concluded our visit in DC at "The Smith" restaurant across the street from the National Portrait Gallery. It is located in the center of the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington DC and steps from the Capital One Arena, The Smith’s lively atmosphere is perfect for any occasion including dinner and drinks with Lucas! We enjoyed great conversation along with excellent entrees and dessert. With the evening wrapping up, Lucas walked us to the nearby Metro station and we got back to the truck in 20 minutes. This was lovely day and evening for sure!

As we travel the country, one of the biggest challenges is finding places to stay overnight or a few days in or near the larger cities. When we find RV parks within a large metropolitan area they are costly and have small sites. During the planning for our trip to Washington, D.C. I discovered Greenbelt National Park and was able to reserve a site for two nights. As is the case with most places, you really don't know what you're getting until you eventually arrive, so my expectations were mildly reserved and somewhat dubious that this was going to work out for us. After driving the two plus hours to get just north of the US Capitol we exited Highway 495 and navigated to Greenbelt Road and the entrance to the park. My first observation was that the roads were narrow but acceptably wide enough to make our turns into site #136 in the D Loop, 2 miles inside the property. All the sites are dry camping, which of course means no hook ups (water, electricity or sewer) but we knew this and had planned to manage our resources to accommodate this fact. Once we arrived at our site we backed in and set up like we normally do. After leveling the rig and opening our three pop out slides, we ate lunch. I surveyed the area around our site and found many of them empty. There were a few small pull-through sites but they were just a wide spot on the road; the majority were back-in sites like ours which accommodated a maximum RV length of 35 feet (which we are). We are conveniently located near one of the bath houses, which is dated but clean, and also close to the garbage dumpster. However, potable water was not near our location and upon our arrival we needed to fill our fresh water tank for the duration of our stay. I pulled out one of our three 5 gallon collapsible water containers and drove to one of the water faucets to fill it up. When I returned I used a feature of our Nautilus water system to siphon the water from the container into our freshwater tank. This was a first. I had never used this feature before and it uses our onboard water pump to accomplish the task. It worked great! So I asked Karen to assist me on the next trip for water. We pulled out a portable 30 gallon water bladder we have had in the storage bay, never before used, and made a second trip to get what we needed. Again, another first for us. We backed up the truck to the water source, laid out the bladder on the truck's tailgate, connected the hose to the water spigot and started filling. Once we had what we thought was enough we drove back to our site, backed up the truck near the trailer and reversed the process. I added a water flow meter we have to the hose to measure how many gallons we were transferring into our fresh water tank. Within ten minutes we had 26.5 gallon onboard plus the 5 gallons I had transferred earlier. We now had plenty of water for the two day stay. My only real critique of our site is the lack of open sky which we would need to recharge our batteries with the solar panels on the roof, but only necessary if were staying longer. We could move to a different site with more open sky, but worst case scenario, I can always pull out our portable generator, if necessary. Other than that, this place is awesome! It's a beautiful oasis within a couple of miles to the Greenbelt Metro station for an easy 30 minute trip into Washington DC. This is a quiet, nicely set up National Park (NP) that only costs $20 per night. If you have a NP Senior Pass like we do, it's half price. Where can you stay for $10 a night? Highly recommended!

After three wet days at Martinak State Park in Maryland we pulled up stakes (so to speak) and headed back north to Sandy Cove. We were returning to pick up a special package that FedEx was dropping off back at the conference center. On the way ,we stopped at Starbucks for a coffee when we noticed our Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) for the trailer indicated a low pressure in the right rear tire. Upon examination I discovered a screw head just inside the tread close to the sidewall. So, we got our coffee and used the compressor to fill the tire back up to the original pressure. We started a search for a tire shop to see if the tire could be patched. Our first stop was in Smyrna, Delaware at Mr. Tire and they informed us the tire could not be patched and we needed to purchase a new tire. Okay, thanks for that bit of crummy news. Karen got on the phone with the tire dealer back in California regarding our replacement warranty and where we might go to get the new tire. Unfortunately none of their dealers are this far east, but they will reimburse us for the cost of the tire replaced at another shop. Karen called around and we found Palumbo's Car Care Center in Newark, Delaware. The owner, Steve Palumbo had his crew order us the needed tire and was gracious enough to let us park behind the shop for the night. We disconnected the truck and drove to Sandy Cove Ministries to pick up the special package. What is it, you anxiously are wondering? Well, as we travel the country I have been considering picking up another guitar and relearning to play again. After researching the options out there I finally made my decision and ordered an Orangewood Oliver Mahogany. The Oliver features a grand concert sized body with Mahogany top, back, and sides, making for a winning combination that delivers a beautifully balanced tone. A great price too, only $214.65 and it included a nice soft, padded gig bag to carry it. Perfect for the RV lifestyle! So I am off to the YouTube guitar lesson channels to start practicing again. My fingers are a little tender after just a few minutes working the neck and playing a few chords. But I'm really looking forward to playing again. Tomorrow we get the new tire installed and then it's off to Greenbelt Park, Maryland about 95 miles from where we are right now. The Greenbelt campground is only two miles to the closest subway station called University of MD/College Park Metro station. We plan to take the subway to Washington DC on Wednesday to visit some museums.

It is finished... that is, the Sandy Cove Ministries project with Roving Volunteers in Christ's Service (RVICS). On Thursday, September 21 we all worked our last day of the assignment. My last official task was to complete the team's newsletter for RVICS headquarters. The newsletter highlighted our project's mission and is used to inform the other members of the RVICS family what was accomplished during our time at the conference center. Since I've been writing our blog, I already had much of the needed content available to cut and paste into the newsletter, so I volunteered to create it. The organization also uses the newsletters from the various projects to document the charitable history of the organization for their non-profit status. We truly enjoyed our time working this project with our team leaders, Frank and Melissa Varaso. They set the leadership bar high for the next couple! They're leaving for Talladega, Alabama on Saturday for their next RVICS project in October. God bless and safe travels to our two new friends! We used our free Thursday afternoon to visit Karen's cousins outside of Baltimore. Susan, Marjie and Lynne are 2nd cousins of Karen's father. Their grandmother is Karen's Dad's Aunt Frances who was a sister to Karen's grandfather Gebo. She has spent time together with them only a handful of times during her lifetime, but because we have kept in touch via email and through other relatives, there is a sweet cousin connection. "I'm always amazed and blessed how family connections can transcend time" said Karen. These 3 sisters are like the Golden Girls....fun and funny! We had the best time catching up on each other's lives. They served us a wonderful meal and we shared a delicious bottle of California Cabernet Sauvignon. We both so appreciate the bond that cousins generate even when we don't spend much time together through the years. God is so good to knit our hearts together! The weather forecast for the Chesapeake Bay area was predicted to deteriorate due to the approach of Tropical Storm Ophelia, so we packed up the rig on Friday afternoon after having breakfast with Frank and Melissa. Our planned destination was Martinak State Park in Denton, Maryland about two hours south of the Sandy Cove conference center. It was an uneventful journey to the campground. After spending 21 days in one place I was mildly concerned about the drive, but it was like getting back on a bicycle again. We arrived just in time to see rain drops starting on the windshield of the truck. Our site #33 is a large, flat and deep gravel pad on Acorn Loop with trees all around which is a little disconcerting given the potential for some strong, gale force winds associated with the incoming storm. The campground has made the open ball field available for those that don't want to stay in the trees. We monitored the situation, and it was noisy at times, but no damage to the truck or the trailer. On Sunday morning I surveyed the loop and did find some large tree limb debris that had fallen during the heaviest rain and wind event. I thank God for His protection and grace. We had hoped to visit Washington, D.C. either Saturday or Sunday, however the weather prevented us from traveling too far from the campground. We made the best of the situation reading and napping. Sunday the weather improved so we visited the Denton Christian Church service at 10:30 AM then returned back to the campsite to relax around a campfire I made with all the wood the storm provided. Monday, September 25 we will head to back to Sandy Cove to pick up a "special" package and then Tuesday it's on to the Urban Oasis, Greenbelt Park, Maryland. We will be camping ten miles from the Washington Monument! Greenbelt Park is located in suburban Greenbelt, Maryland just ten miles from the Washington D.C. attractions. $10 for two nights with our Senior NP Pass allows us to enjoy affordable camping, peaceful surroundings in an urban forest with National Park Service hospitality. Greenbelt Park has a 172 site campground, nine miles of trails and three picnic areas.

Sunday we rested and recovered from a very long day's baseball game adventure to Washington, D.C. We went to church with our team leaders and then out to breakfast before returning back to camp. We just hung out and relaxed while reading and napping. We received some unfortunate news over the weekend about the rest of our team. Our third couple, Jeff and Kathy, had to cancel due to health issues so we will finish the project with our team of four for the duration. Fortunately, Melissa, Frank, Karen and I all work together well and are developing a deep friendship in the process. This is our second week at our RVICS project. The women have been working with the kitchen staff cleaning and helping with meal preparation. The men have been doing exterior painting on a cabin and just finished prepping a new building to be painted. This new structure is where the camp store is located and it's a much larger building. We worked through the week separately until Thursday, September 14 when the ladies joined us on the painting project. Thanks to their help we were able to complete painting the first coat on the entire building. The work days left us all pretty exhausted, but we did manage to get in a Bible study on Tuesday, and a game of 4 Up, 4 Down on Wednesday evening. Thank God for power naps after lunch! On Friday, September 15 we had the day off and used it to visit the surrounding area. We drove into nearby Havre de Grace, Maryland to tour their Decoy Museum. Fun fact: this Maryland City is known as the Decoy Capital of the World. Havre de Grace in Harford County houses one of the finest collections of working and decorative Chesapeake Bay decoys ever assembled. Located on the banks of the historic Susquehanna Flats, the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum was established in 1986 as a private, non-profit institution existing to preserve the historical and cultural legacy of waterfowling and decoy making on the Chesapeake Bay. I had no idea how much went into making a working decoy. The exhibit was a fascinating display of artistry and craftsmanship. There many different types of waterfowl on display. The case below had a muzzleloader, percussion fowler, 7-gauge shotgun circa 1835. The photo below is a sinkbox, a specialized hunting blind used by waterfowl hunters. It consists of a weighted, partially submerged enclosure large enough to hold one or more hunters and suspended from a floating platform. It is placed into calm water so that the hunter may wait with the waterline at approximately shoulder height. By 1839, New York prohibited the use of sink boxes. From 1852 to 1897, other states such as Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and New Jersey banned their use as well. Eventually they were outlawed in all of the United States under federal law. After our tour of the museum we had a seafood lunch at the Promenade Grill then walked off our meal strolling the Havre de Grace Promenade to the lighthouse park and back before driving back to the camp

My quest to visit every major league baseball park continued on Saturday, September 9th, when Karen and I traveled to see my LA Dodgers play the Washington Nationals. We left Sandy Cove at noon and drove to Washington, D.C. down the eastern side of Maryland's Chesapeake Bay and past Annapolis to the Branch Avenue Metro Station just outside the District of Columbia. This is where the Metro green line started; a great place to park the truck for free and take the subway into DC to the Navy Yard/Ballpark station for only $2 each ride. The subway station was a short walk to the ballpark. The starting time for the game was originally 4:05 PM but we arrived during a light rain, so there was a weather delay. We bought two $32 tickets along the third base line at the second deck looking into shallow left field. Little did we know the weather was deteriorating and a major thunderstorm front was headed our direction. We decided to wait and see how long this delay would be. We wandered the ballpark, ate some ballpark food, tried to stay dry and waited. This was our first experience with a baseball game delayed by weather so we had no idea what to expect. By 7 PM we were just about ready to give up and leave. Karen was incredibly patient with her crazy husband. I know she wanted the team management to cancel the game, but that would have meant a Sunday double-header and neither of us wanted to drive all the way back the next day. I didn't want to waste the money we spent on the tickets and diesel fuel, so I was being just a little stubborn but hopeful. Fortunately, the public address announcer came on to tell us the game would go on, but wouldn't start until after the grounds crew finished prepping the field....one hour and fifteen minutes later. Long story short, we waited 4 hours and 10 minutes! Yep, the game finally started at 8:15 PM. That was the bad news, but the good news and major benefit was we got to sit just about anywhere we wanted in the nearly empty stadium. We ended up picking seats at field level, just 30 rows behind the Dodger dugout! The game started and we didn't get wet. Unfortunately for us the game became tied in the ninth inning and we needed to leave to start the trip back. We eventually left at 11 PM and later found out the Dodger's lost the game in the 11th inning. We returned to our truck on the subway and drove back to Sandy Cove driving around the District of Columbia and through Baltimore on Interstate 95. We got to bed at 2 AM on Sunday morning. It was an exhausting day but another great baseball adventure even with the rain delay. And I now know that I'm a fair weather baseball fan!

Northeast is a direction but here in Maryland it is also a quaint town near the confluences of the Northeast River and Susquehanna River which both flow into the Chesapeake Bay. The town has a rich history and is conveniently located for day trips to local points of interest. On Friday morning, Karen and I, with our RVICS team leaders, Frank and Melissa journeyed out to explore Elk Neck State Park. We started the morning out by dropping our truck off for service at 8:30 AM and proceeded to Haiden's Coffee House for a morning brew and light breakfast. Karen and I selected for our "RVICS Tour Day" a visit to Elk Neck State Park which is located south of Sandy Cove in Cecil County on a peninsula formed by the Chesapeake Bay on the west and the Elk River on the east. The park has 2,370 acres of land with varied landscapes that include marshlands, heavily wooded areas, white clay cliffs and sandy shorelines. We went for a hike out to Turkey Point Lighthouse. After parking, we began our hike out to Turkey Point Lighthouse which is located at the southern tip of the Elk Neck Peninsula. Sweeping views of the Chesapeake Bay and surrounding land masses frame a beautiful backdrop for the Lighthouse. Hawks and eagles can be viewed at the Raptor Viewing Field. The Turkey Point Lighthouse was once used to project light 13 miles down the Chesapeake Bay to direct ships safely away from the shorelines. Now it stands as a reminder of the history of the area. We hiked for about an hour and covered approximately 2 miles before noon. The weather has been in the low 90's and humid so we made it a short excursion.