4/17/2011

April 14, 2011 Tires and Home

We made our way early this morning to Carl King Tire Company in Camden, Delaware.  And now we are the proud owners of six new tires – YEA!

From there, we headed on home.   It is funny but when we finally make that decision, the pull is strong – LOL!

And even though we are home, it feels like a summer place – hmmmmm??

Miles Traveled:  150 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Delaware: SR-15; SR-10;  US-13; SR-7; SR-1; SR-7

Pennsylvania: SR-7; SR-41; SR-10; I-176; US-422; SR-61; SR-901; SR-209; Chestnut Street – HOME for now.

 

Thank you all for following along with us.  Our plans now are to be home for the summer so I will not be blogging regularly.   But we hope to be back on the road again in September so stay tuned.

Travel safe and enjoy your summer.

4/14/2011

April 12 – 13, 2011 – Shopping and Family

Well, we continued our shopping on Tuesday.  We stopped at Lowes for insulation and then to Sears for a compressor.   In Sears, we signed up for their rewards program and won a $10.00 gift certificate – Yea!!.   I then spent the afternoon at JoAnn Fabrics and picked up 3 different fabric patterns for my pockets (and got some great deals too – :-)))   After we did a few more stops for some other items, we were back home and exhausted!!!!   I am not use to this – LOL!!!   We have our work cut out for us this summer!

On Wednesday our daughter, Sheryl, came up from Lewes, Delaware and we had a great visit.  It was so good to see her and get caught up.

We will be back down here at the end of May for graduations.  Sheryl’s two daughters (our granddaughters) will be graduating – one from college and one from high school…   Gosh, I remember when they were born – oh my!

We have also had a wonderful time here at the Elks – everyone is so friendly and they have made us feel so welcome.  This would be a great base to explore the Dover area  - so much history here.

Our site:

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Tomorrow we will head over to Camden for new tires and then…….home to PA for the summer.

4/11/2011

April 10 - 11, 2011 Travel to Delaware

Sunday morning we said our goodbyes to our neighbors and continued our journey northward.  

Ahh, spring in the east – where the trees are hues of red and gold and light green – with the young leaves just bursting out.   And the flowering trees, oh my.  Did you know that this is the only time of the year that the forest floor has a chance to show its colors – wildflowers – :-))).  Before I retired we did a lot of camping and hiking in PA and VA in the spring and I miss it…  But, you know, once we made the decision to head home, the pull is strong.   So that is why we have done two days of traveling – long first day especially.

Sunday night we stayed at a Wal-Mart in Ashland, VA and tonight we are staying at  the Elks Lodge in Dover, Delaware.

We arrived in Dover around lunchtime, had lunch at the lodge, and went shopping.   You see, Delaware has no state sales tax and since we had a number of large ticket items we wanted to buy, this was the place.   So we are now the proud owners of a new LED TV (to replace our two analog RV TV’s; material to make a new “bra” and wheel covers for the RV; a new ladder; shower bar and curtain (we aim to replace the accordion curtain that we currently have) and other odd’s and end’s.  Tomorrow we will return to shopping – I need to get fabric to make pockets for the RV plus insulation for the back closets (whenever we have cold weather the wall sweats, making everything wet.  In the Flair, we insulated and all was okay – no wet clothes or storage items) plus some more odd’s and ends.  We will be busy this summer – LOL.

Pictures from the road:

The Shenandoah Mountains:

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The Potomac River:

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The Chesapeake Bay Bridge (by Annapolis):

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Ships in the Chesapeake:

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Trees about to burst – the picture does not do it justice.   Can you see the different color hues:

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Flowering Trees – WOW!:

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Miles Traveled: 636 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Tennessee: SR-170; I-75; I-640; I-40; I-81

Virginia: I-81; I-64; I-295; I-95; SR-207; US-301

Maryland: US-301; SR-300

Delaware: SR-300; SR-44; SR-8; SR-15

4/10/2011

April 8 – 9, 2011 – Just Hanging Out

Just Hanging Out…

And that is what we did for the past two days along with laundry, shopping, etc. etc…  

Tomorrow we continue our journey north so stay tuned.

4/08/2011

April 6 –7, 2011 The Museum of Appalachia

On Thursday our travels took us to the highly recommended Museum of Appalachia and we were not disappointed.

A little background:

http://www.museumofappalachia.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Appalachia

The museum was established in the 1960s by John Rice Irwin, an East Tennessee educator and businessman, who has followed the basic philosophy of preserving not only structures and artifacts relevant to the region's history, but also preserving each item's individual history— who owned it, when and how it was created or obtained, and how it was used. These oral histories and recollections are housed, along with thousands of photographs, in the museum's archives. Starting from a single log structure, the museum has grown over four decades to include buildings such as the National Register of Historic Places-listed Arnwine Cabin, a rare Appalachian cantilever barn, and a cabin once inhabited by the parents of author Mark Twain. Relics on display include items owned by several notable or colorful Appalachian natives and thousands of tools detailing all aspects of rural life in Southern Appalachia.[2] The museum's grounds mimic a working pioneer Appalachian farm, with gardens growing typical crops and animals such as goats, chickens, turkeys, and peacocks roaming the grounds freely.”

The most interesting thing to us was that almost every piece in the museum had who it belonged to and some had stories attached to them.  And those stories are written so well that we could close our eyes and see the article in use.

Some of the grounds:

 

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There was a huge basket, quilt, and craft display – and of course a story on each one of them:

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Musical Display:

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Notice all the carvings on this piano – WOW!:

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H. Harrison Mayes had a vision of putting large concrete religious signs in every state, country and planet.   Eventually he put signs in 44 states and years ago before the new road systems were put in, his signs were seen along the roads.    At some point the signs not distributed were moved here.

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This one was destined for Italy:

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These for Arizona and Colorado:

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These for Brazil and Jupiter:

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For some reason, I am fascinated with what this person has done – might be a road trip to find his signs……

I spent some time chatting with this woman – she was originally from Wisconsin, now lives in the area and does quilting demonstrations – I just love hearing people’s stories:

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Blacksmith shop on the right:

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The family who lived here had 12 children – another WoW:

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Inside of the above home:

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The cantilever barn:

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And the animals, oh my.   These peacocks started following Andy – I told him it was his harem – LOL:

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Look at those colors:

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Check out the horns on this guy:

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If you are in this area, please put this on your list.  They also have different activities during the year.  If I lived here, I think I would get on their mailing list to find out what is happening.

We said our goodbyes to Paula and Norm and Cyndy and Merlin and hope to see them in our travels again.  We still continue to enjoy this park.  It is small but very friendly.   Many of those we are meeting are like us – heading north to home or family but waiting until the weather warms up.

And spring is here – I think in the past two days, the trees have all turned green – :-))).

April 4 – 5, 2011 – The Secret City

Did you know that during World War II, there were three secret cities in the United States that helped develop and produce the atomic weapons?   I did not and we found out that one of those cities was here in Tennessee – about 15 miles from us – Oak Ridge.   So we had to find out more – :-)).

Much of the history is now at the American Museum of Science and Energy so that is where our travels took us on Tuesday.

A little background on Oak Ridge from the Internet:

“The Oak Ridge Story

Secrets 1942-1949

Oak Ridge, a city framed by the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, was built under a cloak of great secrecy during World War II. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the city of Oak Ridge did not even exist.  Instead, century-old family farms and small Appalachian communities occupied the area. But after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. was forced to enter the war.

In an effort to bring an end to the war, three cities were chosen to be part of the top-secret “Manhattan Project” which would produce the world’s first atomic weapons.  Those cities were Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, which was built specifically for the war effort.

In 1942, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers bought 59,000 acres of rural farm land. A city and three manufacturing plants of unprecedented scope were constructed to develop a technology that ended the war. The land on which the town and plants were built met military requirements for isolation, electric power from the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Norris Dam, water, labor and accessibility to nearby highways and railroads.

Scientists had learned by 1939 that uranium atoms could be split with the release of large amounts of energy. This process was called fission. Its use for military purposes was seriously discussed since development of an atomic weapon was considered vital to national security. Albert Einstein sent a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt expressing the views of several leading scientists and explaining the potential of such a weapon.

Early in 1942, it was determined that two methods could be used to produce necessary fissionable material -- either plutonium 239 or the highly purified isotope uranium 235. Ultimately, three methods were brought to large-scale production. Oak Ridge played a major role in each of these processes. Three facilities, each identified by a code name, were built in the Oak Ridge complex, which at the time was called the Clinton Engineering Works (C.E.W.) after the nearby town of Clinton. This work was performed under the direction of the Manhattan District of the Corps of Engineers which had been formed in June 1942 to oversee the entire atomic weapons program.

The city, which is approximately 10 miles in length and two miles wide, is located in a valley known as Black Oak Ridge. Reaching a peak World War II population of 75,000, it became the fifth largest city in Tennessee in two and a half years.

The Manhattan District was transferred to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) on June 1, 1947. In 1949, Oak Ridge was opened to the public. Six years later, the AEC sold the government-owned houses and land to city residents.”

This is what greeted us as we came to the entrance.   It is a Twin Tower replica which stands about 20 feet.  It is made of steel scraps welded together. 

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11488

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And then our tour began.   There was so much history on the secret city – stories from the residents who were uprooted; the building of the city; information on the science and technology of that time; information on the Manhattan Project; and what has happened to the secret city since the war.   There is so much information on the internet, that I will not put it in here but here are some sites:

http://www.mphpa.org/classic/HICC/HICC_OR.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-12_National_Security_Complex

http://www.olive-drab.com/od_nuclear_manhattan_oakridge.php

http://smithdray1.net/angeltowns/or/sch.htm

http://smithdray1.net/angeltowns/or/orth.htm

The uranium in the first atomic bomb was processed here in Oak Ridge:

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We went to one of the talks on energy and of course had to volunteer…    But since my hair is short, it was not as dramatic as one with longer hair – LOL:

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There were some great exhibits on energy and fuel – solar, wind, gas, coal, nuclear, etc.

From the coal exhibit:

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And guess where the coal came from – a mine about 15 miles from our house:

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  Another one of the exhibits was on the housing of the secret city.  Here is one of the original homes:

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What a great day!

We have been enjoying happy hours here and meeting new folks.  Across from us is Barb and Dan and their cat and our Dusty “talk” to each other every day – it has become part of the entertainment here.   And talk about small world, the other folks across from us we met at North Ranch in  February – then they were parked right next to us.  :-))).

Our weather yesterday was very scary – lots of tornado and thunderstorm watches and warnings.   I got out the cat carrier and put my purse by the door – just in case.   The shelter is about 50’ from the motor home – very good – :-))).

Stay tuned.

4/03/2011

April 1-3, 2011 – Hanging out in Tennessee

This area of Tennessee reminds me so much of north central PA – it is beautiful.

We took a road trip to check out the area on Saturday:

Great back roads – notice those beautiful clouds:

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Small streams:

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Winding back roads:

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Fire towers:

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Houses in the valleys:

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Vultures:

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Cute little towns:

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Colorful pansies:

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Hello – :-)):

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Goodbye:

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Coal scrubber plants:

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The reservoir:

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What a beautiful ride!  

On Friday we made a trip to the Great Smokies Flea Market – it is huge.   A cross between the Arizona Marketplace and lots of yard sales.   We picked up a few items and enjoyed ourselves.

We have had some nice surprises – meeting up with folks we have met in our journeys – Paula and Norm who we last saw in Pahrump, Nevada last fall.  Their blog is Two Aussies in America – you can also find a link on the left side of my blog.  It was great to see them again and get caught up with each other.   Also Cyndy and Merlin – they were our neighbors in Summerdale, AL – great to see them again too.      The more I travel, the more I realize how small this world really is and how blessed we are to have great people in our lives.

The weather has been beautiful and spring is definitely here.  We will be here for a few more days and then will continue north.   We hope to do more sightseeing so stay tuned.