Hard Work = A Miracle

Bull Run Regional Park — Centreville, Virginia
Temps: Lo 30F / Hi 48F (-1C / 9C)

After picking up the motorhome from storage yesterday afternoon, we drove the short distance to Bull Run Regional Park (BRRP) and got settled in site 109 (FHU for the jurisdiction rate of $41.50/night + tax). That done, we went out to celebrate our retirement with dinner at Copper Canyon Grill, located not far from the park.

Mui ordered the wood-fired rotisserie chicken, which is CCG’s specialty — roasted throughout the day, the meat was literally falling off the bone. I opted for the pan-seared crabcake sandwich, served with a rémoulade that had just enough zing to make it interesting. Overhearing us toasting our newly-minted status as retirees, the manager comped us one of the two desserts we ordered. We enjoyed half of the huge slice of key lime pie at the restaurant; the other half will be dessert tonight. As for the second dessert; well that’s a treat for tomorrow morning and the subject of a post of its own ;-)

When we returned home, we decided to overlook the mess around us. Instead, we watched the latest episode of Muhteşem Yüzyıl (Magnificent Century), a Turkish TV program that can best be described as a soap opera based on the life and times of Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. With our recent switch from Millenicom’s aircard to its 4G/3G mi-fi, we had great signal strength to stream the show with no hiccups and use up at least some of our 20GB data allowance for November.

After a good night’s rest, we spent today tackling the mess of boxes and bags that were haphazardly piled on every available surface. The task seemed quite daunting … until we took out the trikes, which we were temporarily storing under the dining table, and loaded the car with all the stuff designated for the storage unit. That done, the job became more manageable.

It took a lot of hard work, but we went from this last night …

… to this by 4:30p today. It’s a miracle what can be accomplished when one sets one’s mind to the task at hand. A miracle indeed!

There’s still plenty of fine tuning to be done, but it feels good to know that we’ve been able to put everything we want to take on the road with us in the many nooks and crannies of the Phaeton. And we still have room to spare ;-)

We’ll be at BRRP through Monday night. Probably won’t have much of interest going on during the day; we’ll be busy working around the motorhome. However, we plan to go out one night to enjoy the park’s annual Festival of Lights. Those staying at the campground — and there is a surprising number of us — get a small taste of the holiday cheer for free as we come and go from the park after nightfall. If I can unearth my tripod, I’ll take some photos to share. (For those who are local, there’s a $3 off coupon here; it’s good for weeknight admission.)

[Banner image from the BRRP website]

The first day of fulltiming was a good one!

Lake Manawa Reconnaissance

So it was in the upper 60s early afternoon, sunny, and very windy. For mid-March, I had to get out and on the bike. After all, it had been 3 weeks since my last ride. With the wind, it seemed to be a good day to check out the trail work that has been done at Lake Manawa.
The trails were underwater most of last summer - Missouri River flood waters. It was my favorite trail. Was a great place for me to ride.
I had commented that it would look that the trail system would need to be built from scratch. Recently, word was re-designing and trail work has started. A trail day was scheduled but the weather was nasty. Was some other work day while I was in Albuquerque.
Anyway, weather today was for riding in the woods (or at least trying to ride in the woods). Manawa bound.
Past the kiosk and the fence, I found the "Blue" arrow trail marker. A couple bikes have been down the new trail, leaving ruts. Except for the silt deposits, the trail looked that it just needed tread work (at least a lode of bikes riding the trail).
As I continued walking or riding my bike. I started seeing some problems with the trail. This was no longer the easiest trail in the area that I used to ride. It was not that the trail was re-designed, it was confusing. Coming out of on section, the trail changes to a "green" arrow trail. Then back into a "Blue" trail. Thought I was still on the same trail. No junction, just new difficult designation.
As I came to the old log crossing area, the new trail does not look to be sustainable. At the new ditch, the I noticed the trail becomes VERY narrow. The trail corridor width is for a black trail. There were more and more log crossings with no bypass, and I would judge at least needs black skill-level rider. Yet, I am still on the ONE trail.
At 0.9 mile, I bailed off the trail and hiked the bike up to the levee and rode the levee back to the parking lot.
Now, lest you think I am just complaining, I tried to offer helping with the trail design. I have seen some great trail designs during my travels. Lake Manawa needs lots of work (trail surface, by-passes, trail corridor). Otherwise, I will have to forget dirt riding, except for out-of-town trips. The local trail for unwinding, riding dirt, and getting into the woods, is gone for me.

Saddington - Smeeton - Debdale round

With Maureen, Barry and Gordon. 8.5 miles approx. Three and a half hours including pauses. Weather sunny and warm.





We started from Saddington, and walked along the Smeeton Road to Bridge 72. I intended to take a footpath for part of the way, but we didn't notice it as we passed it. Then along the canal and over Saddington Tunnel,

North western end of Saddington Tunnel

descending to the tow path on the left of the canal. We left the tow path at Fleckney Bridge, where we used the two hand gates and crossed the bridge, taking the path through Mill Field Wood at right angles to the canal here.

By the Mill Field Wood millenium stone

Past the MM stone and across the fields to the Kibworth-Saddington Road, and over into the mud and gravel track which becomes Mill Lane just before entering Smeeton Westerby.

We turned right into the village centre, then left at Debdale Lane. We followed this past Bridge Farm and Bridge 67 cookery school.

This ad was on an old container-cum-shed near the cookery school. I googled and it seems it has now gone out of production to the chagrin of many cooks.

Through a farm gate and we followed the track uphill until we reached the canal. Just before the gate and stile we found an inviting patch of shade for a snack and water break.





At the canal we turned left toward Foxton, passing the large narrowboat yard at Debdale Wharf, under a couple of bridges.

Fine display in a boat garden.

We crossed the first footbridge over the canal. We took the path along the right-hand edge of the field, and across another, past some farm buildings and uphill thorugh a field where they may or may not have been a bull - there was certainly a herd of creamy and white cows, along with a lone horse.





The path led uphill with Gumley Wood on our left, across rolling countryside - the hilliest and most scenic part of the walk was saved until the later stages. We crossed the small road from Gumley to Debdale, a little way short of the junction. A brief walk through thistle and butterfly country cut off a corner, and we crossed the road from Gumley to Smeeton.

Thistle and butterfly country

The path is a track between two hedges, then turns right to follow the edges of fields, clearly marked and climbing gradually, until, just before Smeeton Gorse, the Leicestershire Round path from Gumley joins our path. A short steep climb over grass leads to the highest point, with good views and a strategically placed bench. (To the right of this is HIll Farm, Smeeton Hill, according to the map.) We followed the Leicestershire Round path along the 'ridge' then downhill , crossing two footbridges and going through a number of stiles before climbing to Saddington where we emerged along an enclosed path into the village, directly opposite the well-hidden footpath sign I missed at the start of the walk.

Living My Dream

If I could pick the perfect life for myself, this is what it would look like: I'd live close to a small town and about an hour away from a large one. I'd live in a small, quaint cottage with a white picket fence smothered in red roses. I'd have three cats, a dog, and chickens. I'd have a fireplace to cozy up to in cold weather and screen doors to let the cool breeze in when it's warm. I'd have wood floors with no carpet, handmade quilts in the bedrooms, and stacks of books everywhere.
Outside would be cottage gardens and boxwood hedges. A huge woodpile would be close by to heat the fireplace and stove. There's be brick walkways everywhere leading to outdoor rooms and secret gardens. There'd be fields beyond the gardens with large oaks here and there. Underneath the trees would be black and white cattle. A river would run through the fields where the children could splash and catch minnows. There'd be a huge tin-roofed barn where square bales of hay were stacked for cattle feed and childrens' hideouts.
I'd spent my days hanging my laundry on the line, preserving food from our garden, cleaning and scrubbing, teaching my children, cooking everything from scratch, weeding and planting, making our clothes, and being thankful for such a wonderful life.
I'd stay home enough so that going to town is a treat and not a chore. I'd look forward to church on Sunday instead of dreading it as "another trip I have to make somewhere." I'd have young mothers over for tea and inspire them with my knowledge and wisdom about childrearing. We would have other families over for Sunday dinner and linger long around the table until almost time to go to evening worship.
So this would be my ideal life. How close is it to the real thing? Pretty close. Here are the differences: House- My climbing red rose died and hasn't been replaced yet. Everything else is just like I dreamed it would be.
Gardens-I need to work here and there to make it my dream garden. Gardens are so hard, especially in South Georgia, because things keep growing! I get one bed perfectly weeded, but it'll only stay that way for a week or two. My dreams when I laid out the gardens are WAY too high maintenance. I'm looking now to simplify things. But I do have good bones in boxwoods and old brick pathways.
Outside-Our barn is just a pole barn; which means it's open on all four sides. Not my idea of a proper barn, but most farms down here have them. Besides, that's what my husband wanted. Since he let me have my way with the house, I figured he could have his pole barn! It's not very attractive though. There's no hay in it either. I was describing the barn and fields of my childhood. I'm very thankful that at some point in my life I got to play in the hayloft with my cousins. We also don't have any water flowing across our land; also a memory from my childhood. We have fields but no trees in them; just around the edges. And we have no cows, but we can hear our neighbor's mooing and can smell them, a pleasant sensation to me.
My days-I do spend my days doing all the things above that I love only not as much as I'd like. I have to make too many trips to town; about seven a week. I can only think about one of those that I can eliminate right now. They all involve taking Darcie to her various activities and my weekly shopping.
Hospitality-I've gotten out of the habit of having people over on Sunday. I want to have families and young women over. I'll have to do it enough until it becomes easy again.
So the bottom line is.....I pretty much have the kind of life I want. I am very thankful to God for blessing my husband with a good job so I am able to stay home and be a full-time wife, mother, and grandmother. I'm also thankful for having a stubborn will and hard head that enables me to see what I want and then go for it. Our country is so rich, and most people in it live better lives than the rest of the world. I'm truly blessed to have choices.
I guess that's the thing-I chose what kind of house to build and where to build it.   I chose the furnishings.  I chose to stay home and for that to be my only job. I also know that many women don't have choices. I hate that for them. I can't imagine a world where I have no choices, because I've never had to.   And for that, I thank God, really.

Full Moon Ride

The gnarly burn seems to be getting better. It will be a while - still areas of dead skin needs to be removed.
The hardtail has a bike rack. Yeah, something wrong about a mountain bike with a bike rack. Oh well, it takes stuff off of my back. Yesterday, I took my tools, etc out of the hydration pack and arranged all in the bag for the rack. Charged up the headlight, ready for a bike ride.
Windy evening, so Blaine recommended that we ride the Wabash Trace because of the sheltering trees. Randy arrived on his bike. Zack (and Night Train) brought up the rear (soon passing us).
Rode up to Margaritaville. Stopped for a rest, took group photos, and 3 of us headed back to the shop. Yes, the even got me in one of the photos.
Felt good to be back on the bike. Glad I was only planning to ride the 15 miles. Tired when I got home, but could not sleep.

A Working Weekend, That's Fur Shore!

It's very hard to woof with your mouth full, but we gotta turn this bloggerino into a braggerino today. Me? Nahhhhh... I 'nq-ed in my Open B class and luckily there weren't any photos. Jes' didn't feel like dropping on the recall, if you know what I mean. Today, it meant that Momma expected me to come running towards her at 122 m.p.h. and... any time now, Mom.... yell "DOWN" in a loud voice, which is what I am supposed to do - yeah... like in motion - hah! I crouched intead of "downed" and flunked. Anyway, here to tell another story.
See my sister, Avalon up above there? She qualified in her ginormous Novice B class and guess what? She earned her third leg and got her CD title! Congrats Avalon! She got that nice little medallion! And there's more...
Above is a picture of Ronan, Avalon's brother, who qualified in his Novice Rally class on Saturday afternoon, then today, got second in the same class! Congrats to Ronan! There is more...
Above, right (in an awful picture... c'mon Momma!), is a photo of River. Well today, he got a second prize in a runoff in that ginormous Novice B class that Avalon was in. We are so furry proud of him! Congrats River!
And in the picture above... is Sporty (Mom - that's a terrible picture of Avalon's purty Momma) who is River's, Ronan's and Avalon's Momma standing next to Christine! Congrats to Sporty! She got a second in her Novice class and earned her CD title as well today!!!
Twin CDs - mom and daughter! Thanks to Don McKee of Topflight Photography for providing the above photograph!
So cool! Congrats to everybuddy! And.....
... last, but certainly not least, here is our pal, Shanti, who already has her UDX, but is working on her OTCH and will probably get it soon. She passed 10 UD trials in a row - yikes! In another Utility class today, she nailed a fourth - congrats to Shanti and Sue! What a weekend! Thanks for letting us braggerino!

More Travel Photos from Britain

A few more images from our last trip to the British Isles.
This path was on the hill overlooking Tintern Abbey in Wales. I love the moss and the exposed roots.
The next one is of a barn courtyard. What I love about this photo is the contract between the red bricks and the blue doors with the large black iron hinges.
The last one is of canal boats. We stayed on one for a week. It was close to Nottingham. I thought it was quite an adventure. Husband was less enthusiastic. It was cramped, for sure. But all we did was sleep there anyway. I wouldn't want to do it again, but I'm glad we did it once. We didn't go to Sherwood Forest, because friends who had gone said it is too commercial and to skip it. So instead, we went to Burleigh House. It was well worth the visit. You can read that post here: http://artfulaspirations.blogspot.com/../07/burleigh-house-my-ancestral-home.html