One of the best things about this RV adventure is being able to spend time with family wherever they live -- yet still sleep in our own bed at night! We especially enjoy being able to share special family events such as our niece Anna's High School graduation. Her brother, Karl, graduated two years ago (which we celebrated "in person" on our first year of "full-timing") and their youngest brother, Isaac, will graduate in 2017. Ergo the title of this post!
We really enjoyed this month in Raleigh -- not only to be part of Anna's festivities -- but also to visit our other family and friends in the area. Funny, we always think we'll have lots of spare time to explore area museums and other attractions while in town, but the social opportunities will always take priority and we are happy when there are lots of those! Being here a month also gives us a chance to tackle any special projects we have that take a little extra time (e.g. some sewing to extend the sides of our bed quilt, getting a piece of luggage repaired, and replacing a pair of orthopedic sandals... the mundane things that are easy to do when you aren't moving around).
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| Us with new graduate Anna |
With a little sniff of sadness, we finally got back on the road to continue the trek north (perfect timing too as Raleigh was getting hit with some serious heat waves!). Our first stop was in Appamattox, VA to a park we had visited 2 years ago and a good location to park Max while we spend a day visiting with Karen and Bob Rasmussen, friends who live in Goode just west of nearby Lynchburg. The 4 of us fueled up with a big breakfast at a local Cracker Barrel and then aimed for the D-Day Memorial in Bedford. It included a nice tour of the site and was very informative (and somber). Truly amazing the level of planning that went into this offensive and how many countries were involved. Bedford had the highest number of fatalities per capita of the small towns in the USA.
We closed the day with a visit to the Leo Grande Vineyard and Winery. Our friends know the owner well and we felt quite privileged to be their guests and meet him too. As is typical near the end of a hot day this time of year, a short storm moved over right after we got settled with a bottle of wine on the lovely lawn overlooking the Blue Ridge mountains. We simply moved the party onto the lovely covered wrap-around porch and opened another bottle. I don't recall ever trying a Sangiovese or Barbera before and really liked them, so this was a real treat. Once the rain subsided, we loaded up on pre-made salads and hot sides from the local Kroger grocery for dinner back at their house before heading back to Max.
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| Part of the D-Day Memorial |
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| Us with friends Karen and Bob Rasmussen at the Leo Grande Vineyard and Winery |
Before leaving this area, we spent a little time on our own exploring downtown Lynchburg, grabbing lunch, and seeing the Visitor's Center and Lynchburg Museum. We also drove the Appamatox roads around Court House, the site where General Lee surrendered the army of Northern Virginia to General Grant (recognized as the start of the end of the Civil War as the other confederate armies conceded soon after). We had already visited the historic (reconstructed) buildings on our visit 2 years ago, but hadn't yet toured and read the splattering of historical markers along the roadway that identify other areas of importance. Hard to believe this is the 150th anniversary of this surrender -- and that there is still confederate influence negatively affecting lives in present day.
After relocating Max a few hours north, we immersed ourselves even more in western VA by spending a few days in Staunton (typically pronounced "Stanton" by the way). It was left relatively untouched from physical damage during the Civil War and has one of the best preserved downtown areas we've seen of this era. Our primary objective here is to see the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Museum, but we also managed to enjoy the amazing downtown architecture, lunch in the wharf area, and see glass blowing demonstration.
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| Woodrow Wilson's birth home |
Our last stop in Virginia was a 1-day stop near Winchester. We only managed to drive downtown and see the Old Court House Civil War Museum (an amazing private collection of Civil War memorabilia) and the lovely pedestrian area, but it was really lovely -- even better preserved than Staunton even though it changed "hands" over 70 times during the Civil War.
Our path takes us into Pennsylvania next, so stay tuned!
