5/4-5/6/2014 Our Weekend Off

(Damascus, VA)

Actually, this starts with our last day of work last week.  No particular reason, nothing happened that day out of the ordinary, it just keeps my dates in order.

Sunday we went to town.  I wish I could say it was good trip.  It wasn’t.  We didn’t get half of what we went for and we got into an argument over something really, really stupid.  Of course I can say that now, but believe me, it was monumental then!    Hey, that’s life.  Happens to all of us at one time or another.  Oh, and just so you know, he’s still wrong!

While we were in town I did manage to pick up some computer games.  I’m getting really bored with TV and I’m suffering through some serious mouse withdrawal.  So I got a Mah Jongg game which I’m enjoying, a Mystery Case Files game where I have to figure out whodunit.  I’m stuck already and I haven’t gotten through the contents of the first drawer where my first clues are.  I did find out that I can get online to get clues from forum members.  The third game I got is a find the hidden object game.  These will do but I’d much rather be crushin’ candy!

Monday was an absolutely beautiful day.  Warm and sunny, perfect for taking pictures.  Since I had to go down to the office anyway I grabbed the camera and headed to the lake.

Here’s the area where the bathrooms are and to tell you the truth I don’t know what this area is all for.




This is the lake.  I so wish I had come down earlier in the day.  There was no one here and I would have had the whole beach to myself.


 
The beach is quite nice.

 
There is a pier for the fisherman.


As you can see from the pictures above there are still lots of trees that have yet to get their leaves.


Walking paths.

 

Just had to take this one.

 
The picnic pavilion.




More trails to walk.

I am looking forward to spending some time on that beach!

Monday evening Edie, the park manager, Myra, a co-camp host, and I went to Laurel Bloomery, TN to pay bingo at the local VFW club.  This isn’t far from where we are at all, five miles maybe.

Bob and I stopped at this VFW yesterday when we were out only to find that this club is more church and bingo hall then a club for Veteran’s of Foreign Wars.  The bar was voted OUT over a decade ago.
 
Well, let me tell you right now, I am spoiled by Quail Run bingo prices!  You could have knocked me over with a feather when the man said, “That will be a 2 pack (of six cards each) for $20.00.”  I hadn’t even gotten the specials yet!  Each card for the special games were $2.00 each or three for five.

I did end up winning $14.00 and Edie won $120.00.  If the man sitting next to me had only bought 4 cards for the last game instead of 6 I would have won the jackpot of $750.00.  But.  He bought six and therefore he won it.  There was a TV showing what number was coming up and when he saw I-27 he started shaking.  It was the number he needed to win the jackpot!  I asked him if he was okay and pointed to the TV set and his empty space and I realized what was going on.  Then I started shaking!

It was a good time had by all and we were glad for a night out.

5/3/2014 Our First Week in Review

(Damascus, “out in the boonies” VA)

We’ve got one week, here on the mountain, under our belts now.  We are ….um…adjusting.  You don’t realize how much you come to depend on your phone signal always being there and hearing that sound that signifies a text message came in.  Of course when we get to town both of our phones go crazy with voicemail and text message notifications.  A welcome sound for sure.

Adjusting to life with out the Internet has been especially hard.  Bob says it doesn’t bother him but I know differently.  He hasn’t connected to the Internet since we’ve been here.  He often says that he would like to look something up online.  I on the other hand have.  Every. Day.  I need my Candy Crush fix.  I have to read my email.  I must engage in PM’s.  I simply cannot do without a Facebook session.  What if I missed something important in the forums I read?

I enjoy going to town.  Seven miles to people and traffic and stores and yes, a cell phone signal.  Fourteen miles to the big town.  I’m talkin’ Walmart here people!  And Target and K-Mart and Lowes and Home Depot.  I have never ever enjoyed home improvement stores as much as I do now and I'm usually a big fan of them anyway.  I’m practically orgasmic at the sight of the Golden Arches.

I have to admit the ride into town and back isn’t bad either.  Here’s our scenery for the good part of the way.


 
For my dear friend LaVon, I found you a dead tree girlfriend!  Actually, Bob spotted it first and said, “Look a LaVon tree!”   Hmmmm,,,,is that a good thing that we see a dead tree and automatically think of you?

I love my job here.  Its very quiet, not many people are coming through so I can spend my time on the computer, you know, catching up.  Playing games, emailing and crushin’ candy to my hearts content.

Bob has been busy with his job.  He’s been making sure the campsites are ready for the campers that won’t even arrive until the end of the month.

We’ve been to visit his sister Cathy and have started planning a family reunion to take place this summer.  On the way to Cathy’s we found the local VFW club.  Monday night the ladies on staff here will be going there to play bingo.  We’re all excited about a night out!

We’ve had one day that reached 80°, three that reached the 70’s and the rest we’ve been in the low 60’s.  Not Arizona weather by a long shot.

We have some new readers that I’d like to welcome.  Colleen Phipps and  William Massey, welcome to the journey.  I hope you enjoy the ride.

Do YOU come here often to read?  If so, please add yourself to the Frequent Reader’s in the right hand column.  Let me know you’re out there.

On the way to work today we saw this. 


This deer was just walking down the street and it wasn’t until we were just in front of it did it decide to walk up in the woods.  It wasn’t running, just nonchalantly taking its leave of the roadway.

Note to Bob B:  We have the same thing you do from Verizon and it does not catch a signal up on the mountain.  The trees are way too dense.  We're hoping we can still get a satellite signal for TV when the leaves on the trees get bigger.  I'm tellin' ya, we are in the boonies!  No one has ever gotten a cell phone signal on the mountain.  No matter what they have.  Lots of people have bought boosters and truckers antennas and this and that and it just do any good.  This is definitely a cell phone free area.

4/29/2014 Our First Day at Work

(Damascus, VA)

We started our volunteer jobs today.  There was a little bit of miscommunication about our hours but it all worked out in the end.  Edie gave me a schedule of 2 to 6 today for us but in actuality Bob was to work 10 – 2.  So today we both worked the later afternoon hours.

Bob went off with the park manager for a total tour of the place and I worked in the office.  Actually, it was a dreary day here today and its in the middle of the week so it was really slow.  I waited on each person that did come in and procedures are so simplified that I picked up or figured out quickly what had to be done.  I was even left by myself at the end of day.

I miss the Internet!  I don’t know what to do with myself.  I miss playing my games on Facebook and checking out my Groupon offers, reading all my email and the forums I keep up with.  Yes, I can go to the office anytime I please and I certainly am grateful for that but its just not the same as reading with morning bagel.

Cell service.  Yep, missing that too.  Not as much as my Internet though.

I hope to get out and about and take some pictures of where we are.  I also want to get to the tourism office to get ideas for day trips.  We haven’ spent much time in this area and I hear there are lots of things to do.

Wonder what tomorrow will bring.

 

4/28/2014 Our First Visit with Cathy

(Damascus, VA)

Cathy. She is the whole reason we are here in the east.  Bob’s younger sister is battling cancer.  She found out just two months or so ago that she has stage 4 lung cancer.  Bob and I felt we needed to come east and we were lucky enough to find a workamping gig just 10 miles from her home.

We didn’t quite know what to expect when we first saw her but she looked exactly like she did the last time we saw her four years ago.  She had her chemo treatment twelve days ago so she’s at the point where she’s feeling good again.  This is Cathy’s second bout with cancer.  Twenty five years ago she battled breast cancer and won.  She’s very thankful that chemo treatments have improved since then but she still has a rough time with it.

She was in good spirits and very happy to see her brother.

We had a great visit and in our conversation it was decided that we need to have a family reunion.  There will be about 40 of us if the brothers and sisters, their spouses, children and grandchildren all come.  We’re going to shoot for that and not get into cousins and 2nd cousins.  Lots of planning will have to go on and I am definitely up to the task. 

On the way to Cathy’s just a couple of miles outside of Beartree we found a VFW club.  This made Bob happy.  He loves going to new VFW’s.  I’m hoping its an active one with lots going on.

We’re supposed to have rain the next few days.  With all the trees it makes it dreary and dark but I guess we need it for all of these wild rhododendrons to bloom come June.  I talked with Edie about it and she said we’ll be amazed when we see the forest in full bloom.  I have my camera ready!

We start work tomorrow.  There are just a few campers here and none in our loop so I should have a real easy day and will have a good chance to learn how the office procedures are done without my feet being in the fire.

I’m really missing my Internet, not having it in the house, but so far I’m dealing pretty well with it and am getting a lot of reading in.

It is what it is.

4/27/2014 A Day Of Shopping

(Damascus, VA)

After another good night’s sleep we were up and at ‘em pretty early.

I had plans for an afternoon of shopping with Edie and Bob was going to work on getting the rest of the outside of the rig cleaned.  Things didn’t go quite as planned for him as he noticed that some caulking needed replacing so he spent the afternoon pulling the old stuff out and applying new.

I went down to the office at eleven even though we weren’t leaving until noon or a little after.  Internet fix,,,,what can I say?

We went into the town of Abbingdon, a section I hadn’t see before. Walmart, Sam’s Club, Dollar Tree and Lowe’s were on our agenda. 

I had a list all made out, exactly what I had to buy.  I took the list out of my pocketbook in Walmart and within two minutes it was gone. I have no idea where it went.  I had been making that list over several days and when I thought of something I wrote it down and promptly quit thinking about it.  I could remember four things on the list.  I was able to get one.

Edie went to town with the thought of buying one major thing for the office and a few little things.  She the got major thing and I think a few more of the little things than she planned on.

Today gave Edie and I had a chance to get to know each other better.  We’ll be working together most days this season.   I’m finding that we “get” each other.  We’re of the same mind on a lot of subjects and not so on the same level on others.  That’s a good thing, otherwise our conversations during the lulls this summer would be quite boring.

Going through Damascus on the way to Abbingdon and coming back through on the way home, I had a chance to see what businesses are in this little town. Bike shops are by the far the biggest business.  Bike sales, bike rentals, bike parts, bike repairs, its all big business here. The Virginia Creeper Trail goes through these parts and that draws a lot of people.  People who ride bikes.

There’s a few restaurants, a Subway, a barber shop, an antiques store, an ice cream shop and several churches.  Some of homes are just beautiful with their wraparound porches, and
gazebos and manicured lawns.

This area is also horse country and there are a few small farms with small herds of cattle.

This was a picture I took of the countryside on our way to town.  No matter where you are you can’t get away from road construction can you?



Fishing is another draw here.  There’s a stream that comes down from the mountain and its chock full of trout.  On any given time of day you can drive by and see men standing knee deep in the stream  fishing.  There’s plenty standing on the bank too.

Here in Beartree Campground we have a lake with a beach, I haven’t seen it yet but I hear that its stocked six times a year.  This makes Bob a very happy camper.

Actually, I haven’t seen much of this campground other than our loop, the office/gatehouse and way out.  I’m going to have to get out and about and take some pictures.

I did take some pictures of our yard.  What our view looks like out our back window.

Woods.




 
Our picnic table and fire pit area.

Can you feel the mosquitoes?  And friend from Stanton, MO, let’s not even mention any other creepy crawlies.  I think about them enough for both of us!  Thankfully, Bob bought some super duper bug, insect, spider killer to spray.  I hope it doesn’t actually defoliate the forest.

Note to my buddy from Decatur:  You must have missed a post, I know, I can hardly believe it either.  We changed plans because Bob’s sister is gravely ill and we need to be here to spend time with her.  No matter what the plans are….family comes first.

Note to my friend Mike:  Thanks so much for reminding me what the car was that Elvis gave Priscilla. 

Tomorrow we go see Bob’s sister.  I’m looking forward to this on one hand and on the other I’m not.

4/26/2014 Our First Full Day in Virginia

(Beartree Campground, Damascus, VA)

It’s so quiet here that we had no problem sleeping in until 8 o’clock this morning.  Our loop isn’t open yet so the only ones here are us and our next door neighbors and co-camp hosts.

After breakfast there was no Internet so it was easy to get into doing something.   Bob started right in with getting us hooked up with our satellite.  After about 30 minutes we had TV!  Not all of our channels are showing up yet so we may to get a technician to come in and tweak for it us.

I started with giving our stove top a good cleaning and then moved on to the convection oven.  I was on such a roll that I moved to the fridge and got the shelf units on both doors all cleaned.  By this time I really started jones-ing for a FaceBook fix.

I gathered all of our towels together and Bob dropped me and two loads worth of towels off at the office where the washer and dryer are located.  Free laundry!  I also got to get online while I was there.  I had 159 emails waiting for me.  I was in heaven!

There is also a phone there that we can use and we get free local and long distance calling.  I was able to talk to my mom today and was going to call girlfriends but my phone was dead so I couldn’t get phone numbers.

This is the gate house/office where I’ll be spending my working hours.

This is Edie, the park manager.  I’m going to like working with her. 



I also got to meet another newbie to this park, Myra.  So far everyone is very nice and welcoming.  We still have more workampers to come and when they get here our hours will likely be cut.  Now that works for me!

Edie and I have decided that starting next Sunday we are going to start attending all the little churches in the area.  There is one where the services take place in a log church. I’m looking forward to that.  I think she said there about a half dozen so this will give me a chance to find the one I want to attend for the rest of the season.  I’ll know the one when I find it, it will just feel right.

Our site is really coming along.  Bob got all the bugs off the front of the rig today and gathered some downed limbs and kindling for our fire pit.  He has placed our solar lights all around so that we have lit walkways for the evenings.

There are these H-U-G-E  rhododendron bushes (trees?) everywhere in this campground.  They are just starting to set their buds and will bloom in June. This place is going to be spectacular looking and I can’t wait to take pictures.
 
Tomorrow I’m going to Bristol with Edie and her husband to Sam’s Club and Walmart and who knows where else.
 
Gotta go, Bob found a Phillie’s game on TV!

4/25/2014 Learning the Lay of the Land

(Damascus, VA)

The first thing we do every morning is get on our computers.  Bob has his morning coffee and I have my toasted bagel and Pepsi while we read our email, read the forums we visit, I catch up on what happened in Facebook overnight and I play Candy Crush and my Scrabble games.  While we’re doing this the TV is on for the morning talk shows.  This morning the house was quiet and the computer screens blank.  Now in the light of day we are wondering what we got ourselves into.

First things first.  Bob went to work on getting our satellite dish set up for us.  It was cloudy and overcast but it didn’t look like rain was going to fall from the sky anytime soon.  He got everything set up and we started.  He’d move the dish and I’d call out the numbers displaying on the TV.  We try to attain the number 100 on the display but we would gladly settle for anything in the 90’s.  We couldn’t get out of the 70’s and that’s just not enough to get us a picture.

Then it started sprinkling.  Then raining.  Then pouring cats and dogs.  And the thunder came.  Lightning was thrown in for good measure.  And then it stopped.  So we tried again.  Nope, can’t the signal above 80.  And then Mother Nature did her thing again.  It’s a good thing we have lots of movies.

It stopped raining again so we decided to go to town because we need to get water.  We were told to not drink the water here.  That’s ok, we don’t drink the water in Arizona either.  Of course on the way the rain, thunder and lightning made a show again and this time they brought hail with them.  Thankfully, the hail didn’t last long and it wasn’t very big at all.

We figured while we were in town we would find the Verizon store and see about getting a booster antenna.  We had to go to the next larger town, Abbingdon to find one.  Neither Damascus or Abbingdon are big enough to have a Walmart or a Kohl’s or a Sears but I did hear there was a K-Mart but we didn’t see it in our travels.  We finally found the place we wanted and I went in to but what we needed. When I told the fellow where we were and what we needed he just looked at me and shook his no. “No?” I asked.  He told me that people come in all the time and want booster antenna’s so they can get Internet while on the mountain.  They just don’t have anything big enough or strong enough to pull in a signal.  This does not make me a happy camper.  Bob was none too happy either.

Next stop was Lowe’s to get water.  We bought 3 three gallon jugs to get us started.  The reason we were told not to drink the water back on the mountain is that the system was put in 40 some years ago and the pipes are rusty.  We did notice that there was a spring water pipe where townspeople were filling gallon milk jugs so we’re going to look into that.

We made a stop at the local grocery store.  Not a huge store like I’m used to and not brands I’m used to but it seems to have everything I need or want.  Except one thing.  My lettuce.  I like butter lettuce that comes in the plastic container.  This store is more expensive than I’m used to also.  This is probably a family owned market and I think next time I’ll shop in Abbingdon where there is a Food Lion.  I may get better prices at a big chain store.

After dinner we watched movies again and I worked on the blog, writing the posts you just read.

So I’m to date on the blog now.  I’ll do my best to keep it that way.  If I miss posting a day or two it will only be because I couldn’t get to the office to post it or not a darn thing happened worth writing about.