And Now, Back to our Previously-Scheduled Civil War Historic Site Tour, Or So We Thought

It sure was sweet to get back into Suite Retreat, our 2020 DRV Mobile Suites fifth wheel, now that all repairs related to the tire delamination were completed.  Indiana Interstate did a terrific job of making Suite Retreat good as new.  We truly appreciated the exemplary customer service and communications of Kay Cross and the superior technical skills of Paul Cross, who was a shop supervisor at DRV in its pre-Thor-owned days.   What a pleasure to meet and deal with true professionals.  Indiana Interstate earns a coveted Rambling RV Rat 5-cheese award!

 

We were anxious to revert to our previously scheduled road trip:  a tour of Civil War historic sites from Virginia to Mississippi, as we traversed back to Texas .  As members of Harvest Hosts, our first evening was spent at a law enforcement canine training center in Ohio.  The RV site was surrounded by cornfields and sunflowers, and it was very easy to access.  Though we only met them briefly, the canine cops-in-training demonstrated strength, obedience, and intelligence, and I was happy to bust into my cheese bank to donate to this worthwhile organization.

The corn stalks were VERY tall, as demonstrated by Dad.

The canine cops left behind some presents for me--a shovel and poop!  Guess they heard I was the leader of the 3 Muckateers at Aunt Maureen's Misty Lee Farm!

 

We returned to the road early the next morning, and experienced lots of rain as we entered Maryland.  In fact, we arrive later than anticipated at the Harvest Hosts creamery at which we were staying overnight because of road closures/re-routing due to Hurricane Ida.  I was so looking forward to eating lunch at the quaint café established at the creamery, but it was closed by the time we arrived.  So, instead we patronized the country store.  The fresh eggs Mom purchased for herself weren’t quite as tasty as those we bought from Misty Lee Farm in New Jersey but a vast improvement from those at the grocery store.  The sugar snap peas we picked up for Dad were fresh and delicious.  Me, I enjoyed a small sampling of my favorite food!  The parking area was huge and offered wonderful views of the surrounding countryside.

The sign at the creamery country store said, "Let's get cheesy", and I was happy to oblige!

We arrived the next day at Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.  We visited here nearly 3 decades ago, well before our RVing days.  So, this time around we reserved a spot at Loft Mountain Campground within the Park.  But to our dismay, we could not fit on our reserved semi-circular pull-through site courtesy of a huge tree residing inside the turn radius.  The Ranger provided us a listing of 3 other vacant sites that might be able to accommodate our oversized needs.  It took till the third site to get “just right” on size and angle, and it came with the bonus of a private “backyard”.  None of the sites have any electric, water, or sewer hookups.   However, there is a dump station and water fill area, though there was too much of an angle on the curve for us to access.  The Campground provided us the perfect opportunity to chat with camping neighbors, celebrate Dad’s birthday, and relax/de-stress from the delamination saga.  However, cell service and internet are virtually non-existent here.  So, one day we traveled 26 miles back down the mountain to Elkton and settled in for the afternoon at Stonewall Memorial Park.  The signal there was great, so we made phone calls and emailed our paperwork for the Goodyear tire delamination claim.  I must say, Goodyear was very fair.  After submitting all supporting documentation, they reimbursed us costs for the new tire, RV repairs, the hotel stay, and the fees associated with cancelled/revised RV Park reservations (two parks would not return our money, but gave us gift certificates for the full value for future use, so we didn’t include those in our claim).  And although Goodyear probably would have paid our restaurant meals, we did not include them in our claim either.  We wanted to be fair, and our belief is that we had to eat regardless of whether we incurred the delamination.

Backyard visitors

We celebrated Dad's birthday with Mom baking a plant-based cheesecake.  I must say, it wasn't half bad!

A new gadget for my handyman Dad to add to his Ryobi collection.

In addition to good Verizon cell service, Stonewall Memorial Park in Elkton has a 9/11 Memorial.

We had awesome weather to enjoy hiking along a portion of  the Appalachian Trail from a trailhead within the Campground.  We hiked other areas of this 2,200 mile trail many moons ago within Tennessee, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey.  But our hiking endeavors represent only 5 of the 14 states through which the Trail runs.  We visited all the viewpoints/pullouts along Skyline Drive, too.  Sadly, the trees/bushes are so overgrown that you see bupkus at many of these lookouts.  Stonewall Jackson strategically used these forested Blue Ridge Mountains to conceal his troops' movements in his Shenandoah Valley Civil War campaign during 1862.    Our 4-day stay at Shenandoah National Park was before fall foliage, so we did not see the beautiful color change.

The bees were feasting at the various wildflower buffets.

We ventured to our next overnight location, a Harvest Hosts winery, just a few hours away.  Dad was a bit apprehensive about maneuverability since the winery is nestled at the top of hill via a winding, curvy, road.  So, Mom and I scouted things out.  When we reached the top of the hill, I was awestruck like Dorothy when she opened her house door to Munchkin Land.  The views were magnificent!  And the flat, open fields on which to park were dry and solid.   We scurried down the hill to give Dad the good news.  While my parents did rig set-up and got our tabby cat resettled, I checked out the venue.   It offered live music, food trucks, and games like horseshoes and chess.  I opened my cheese purse strings to make my family’s obligatory $20 minimum purchase from this Harvest Host.  But I sure was upset when I had to plunk down $26 for the cheapest bottle of wine available for purchase.  Now I know for wine connoisseurs, this is quite inexpensive.  But for a family who rarely drinks and a stuffed rat who values his cheese money like other folks value their children, this was crushing.  Do you know how many bags of Cheez Doodles I could have bought!!!!  But when I looked around me the next day when the winery was closed, I realized the serenity and tranquility of this mountain setting was priceless.  I can’t help but feel spiritually enriched when I witness such unadulterated beauty.

A foggy morning for departure.

Next up on our itinerary was Bull Run Regional Park.  This is a gorgeous 1,500+ acre campground and day use Park in Centerville, Virginia.  It is laid out beautifully, with spacious, private pull-through sites.  They have several RV sites with full hookups, and others with just water and/or electric, but there is an easily-accessible dump station available for use.  I was anxious to start touring Manassas Battlefield Park, location of the very first major battle of the Civil War in July 1861.  This conflict was known as the Battle of Bull Run by Union forces.  A second engagement of Union and Confederate troops ensued nearby the following summer.  Both battles were considered victories for the Confederates.    There are tons of trails from which to choose to hike through Battlefield Park and even an auto tour.  But my Mom derailed all my plans.  She was in dire pain and suffering a severe infection from an abscessed tooth.  Now my Mom doesn’t do doctors—she avoids them as often as possible.  Wish she avoided them this time.  Instead, Dad took her to an urgent care clinic to get an antibiotic to which she suffered a negative reaction (this has occurred each of the 4 times during her adult life that she actually has taken any antibiotic).  She discontinued usage after 1.5 days, so the infection persisted.  After 3 days of excruciating pain (and Mom’s got a high tolerance level), Mom asked if we could return to Texas.  She did not want to seek further treatment with doctors/dentists on the road and instead wanted to deal with her trusted healthcare professionals in Texas.  So, we hightailed it back to Livingston, covering 1,200 miles in 4 days.  And that’s how our Civil War historic tour ended BEFORE IT BARELY STARTED!

Stables at Bull Run Regional Park.

                                                

Manassas Battlefield National Park.

                                

The good news is that by the time we got back home, gargling with peroxide cleared Mom’s infection (and we have since learned garlic can also do the trick).   Conroe Family Dentistry, who are compassionate and caring and come highly recommended by yours truly, granted Mom’s request for an emergency appointment within an hour of arriving home and before their weekend started (they do not see patients on Fridays/Saturdays/Sundays).  Dr. Robins was able to deal with the decayed tooth that caused the problem in the first place.

 

In hindsight ('cause once again I am behind in chronicling our travels), arriving back to Livingston a month earlier than planned was a blessing in disguise.  I’ll tell you why in my next blog.

 

Talk to you again soon. 

Touring While Suite Retreat Undergoes Surgery

While our 5^th wheel Suite Retreat was undergoing surgery in Indiana for injuries sustained from a Goodyear tire delamination, we had lots of fun exploring the area.

 

After getting all settled in at the Days Inn in Howe, Indiana, we headed to Meijur’s Grocery.  This is a great place, selling everything from food, clothing, and housewares--much like some of the big Fred Meyer/Kroger stores throughout the Country.  It even had a Skee-Ball game!  As much as I would have enjoyed owning the game, I opted instead to entertain myself with the much more economical 1 cent ride on Sandy, then rejoined my parents as they picked up water, vegan cheese, and snacks to have on hand at the hotel.  Being surrounded by the eatables within the store made us all very hungry.   So, we tried to find somewhere to eat an early dinner.  It is no easy feat finding a restaurant open on a Monday in these parts. Add in businesses experiencing a shortage of employees and COVID guidelines, and you’ve narrowed the non-fast-food options down considerably.  We found even restaurants whose websites and/or signs on their doors indicated they were open were, in fact, closed.  Now once Dad gets hungry, he gets grouchy. He would be a great candidate to shoot a Snickers commercial—no acting required!  Luckily, Mom found a listing for DaVinci’s in Sturgis, Michigan, only about 12 miles or away from the hotel.  And when she phoned, they were open!  We hightailed it over to this charming restaurant/pub, whose menu is diverse and whose staff was extremely accommodating to Dad’s dietary requirements.  We enjoyed DaVinci’s so much, we ate dinner there several times during our week-long stay.

 

One of our dinners at DaVinci's consisted of a veggie pie with vegan cheese!

Having visited the RV Mecca (the Elkhart, Indiana area) on prior occasions, we opted to extend our exploration to Michigan, a state we have never visited. A stop in Battle Creek was first on our itinerary.  The city’s name refers to an altercation in 1824 between American Indians and land surveyors, but it could just as well apply to the rivalry between cereal companies Post and Kellogg.  I was disappointed that Kellogg’s plant tours were discontinued several years ago, but I did get a photo op with Tony the Tiger.  Afterward, we visited the Historic Bridge Park located along the Kalamazoo River.  The Park features 5 bridges dating from 1880 to 1907 that were moved from their original locations and reconstructed on site.  What a novel way to preserve structural engineering designs!  The Park also offers access to the North Country Trail, which spans 4,600 miles through 8 states, starting in Vermont.   We hiked a portion of this Trail while in Tionesta, Pennsylvania recently, so we were compelled to trek another section here in Battle Creek, Michigan.  And we look forward to covering even more miles of the Trail next summer when we visit Minnesota.  

 

Kellogg's Headquarters

The structural specimens within the Historic Bridge Park

Many of the wildflowers were still in bloom...

...and were enjoyed by humans, stuffed rats, and birds alike...

as you can tell from this video! 

The Kalamazoo River

On another day we visited Warren Dunes State Park in Sawyer, Michigan.  It was a sticky 90F degree day, so I enjoyed taking a dip in the cooling waters of Lake Michigan.  The Park had a large crowd of shorebirds sunbathing, but thankfully very few humans—just the way I like it!  I had great fun trekking up and down the Park’s sand dunes.  Then I had the bright idea to hike along the wooded trails.  We could cool off under the shade of the trees, I reasoned.  What I didn’t realize, however, was that the wooded trails were mosquito havens.  We got bitten alive, but at least trying to outrun the mosquitos resulted in us clocking a faster pace than usual.  We went to check out the campground as well.  No way would our set-up fit in this place.  In fact, if your unit is more than 30 feet, you probably are not getting in these sites either.

   

Yours truly playing in the sand.

We ate dinner at Golden Corral is South Bend.  We had never eaten in a Golden Corral until Dad had his heart attack in 2017.  Then we found that it offers a big selection of steamed veggies in addition to salad items and starches that met Dad’s plant-based diet.  Compared to the Amish fare offered in these parts of the Country (high in dairy and poultry content), we found Golden Corral to be a healthier option for Dad and partook of meals here multiple times during our stay.

Our final stop in Michigan was to the Kalamazoo Nature Center.  This is a lovely complex consisting of more than 1,000 acres within a variety of habitats—from forests, to wetlands, to prairies.  It offers hiking trails, sculpture gardens, and an old farmhouse at which a wedding was scheduled later in the day.  The site includes a recreated tropical rain forest to give you an idea of what Michigan lands were once like after glaciers melted.  The trails are all well-maintained with landscapes that evoke peace and tranquility.  They also have a rehabilitation area for birds of prey.  I didn’t like the looks the red-tailed hawk was giving me—he probably was envisioning me as his lunch!

 

View from one of the hiking trails we traversed.

This cute doe was watching us from afar in the woodlands area.

                 

A resident of the rain forest

As he eyes me, he seems to be saying, "is that lunch"?  I THINK NOT!

After doing laundry on another day, we spent that afternoon hiking along the Pumpkin Vine Trail in Shipshewana, Indiana.  This was an old railroad line that was converted to a hiking/biking trail.  Spanning 30 miles, Pumpkin Vine Trail runs through several towns and offers pastoral scenery.  (In 2018, we hiked several miles through Goshen).  We visited the memorial of Chief Shipshewana, the leader of the Pottawattamie Indians.  He and his band were removed from this area in 1838.  Their 665-mile march to a reservation in Kansas became known as the Trail of Death.   The Chief was permitted to return to his beloved homeland along the banks of Shipshewana Lake in 1839, where he died 2 years later.

 

We spent our final day in Indiana touring the University of Notre Dame, the private Catholic educational institution founded in 1842.  Home to the “Fighting Irish”, it had some top-notch football players (Montana, Theismann) and some great coaches (Leahy, Rockne, Parseghian, Holtz).

 

Dad in his usual pose, Hook'em! 

Knute Rockne statue.

Tribute to Coach Parseghian.

Field of the Fighting Irish...

...as viewed from the Skybox area.

Open greenways and sculpture gardens make the campus a park-like setting.  The main building dates to 1879 and features a beautiful rotunda, carved wood moldings, and wall tapestries of various animals (one even included rodentia).  The Basilica was erected in 1871.  Though the interior is quite ornate, it still felt warm and welcoming.  So, I stopped to chat a few minutes with the Man Upstairs.  I asked him to guide our Country, to bring peace to all its troubled souls, to help us put aside politics, respect and celebrate the freedom to have different opinions and cultures, and most importantly, to find common ground to be the best United States of America we possibly can.  I also took the time to thank him for the many blessings he has bestowed upon me and my parents, for the wonders of nature he created as Master Architect, and for the people he has placed in our lives that bring us love, laughter, joy, and fellowship. 

 

A tapestry with an aerial view of the campus.

The Founding Father of the University

            

                

Rotunda of main building.

Tapestry in main building featuring my ancestral brethren!

The Basilica facade...

...muraled ceiling...

...stained glass windows...

...and pillared cathedral.

We visited the Art Gallery, marveling at the artifacts from prior civilizations. I found it interesting to see how many current fashion statements replicate ancient cultures—tattoos, dyed hair, nose rings, ear holes.  The Gallery included early European works as well as contemporary art from Jim Dine.  Among Dine’s many pieces exhibited was a series of portraits featuring the Disney character Pinnochio.  I wondered if I lied like Pinnochio, what body part would grow on me?  I think it would probably be my ears.   After spending more than 2 hours perusing all the wonderful exhibits, this stuffed rat and his parents departed the Gallery much more culturally-enriched.

Suite Retreat gets released from the RV hospital this afternoon.  We are all excited to get settled back into our home on wheels and return to the road.

Talk to you again soon!