Really "dismal"...

I had today off from my job at Busch Gardens and Linda didn't need to be into work, here at the office, until 10. She wanted to go to Wal-Mart and get some things so we went out the door to get in the car. We were hit with a stench as soon as we came out the door. It smelled like there was an electrical fire or something smoldering close by. We were concerned so we drove through the campground and stopped by a fellow workampers' rig to ask him if he might need to check things out in the campground. He said that the smell was coming from the Dismal Swamp fire. Made sense since we had encountered the same smell, at Busch Gardens, about a week ago and found out that the smoke had drifted up to the Williamsburg area.
As we drove out of the campground, there was a smoky haze in the air that just hung over everything and the stench was so unbearable that it made me feel like I wanted to hold my breath. We had the car windows down so the dogs could put their heads out the window but we could barely tolerate doing that. The news has had recent reports that the Dismal Swamp fire is mostly contained but apparently there is a lot of smoldering and the smoke is drifting into our area. It seems odd that something that is on the North Carolina/Virginia border could have such an impact on our area but it has. I feel sorry for anyone that suffers from respiratory problems on a day like this. Hopefully the fires will go out soon and no one will have to deal with this problem.

Good Clean Living !

We've been full timing now for a while and we had a pleasant surprise the other day when Linda went for some blood work. Our friends recall what horrible headaches Linda was plagued with for quite a while. These occurred when we were in our sticks and bricks house, back in Woolrich, PA. The pressure in her head was intense and a battery of tests did not show any medical condition for which she could be treated. Since being on the road, she has felt great physically and hasn't had any of these headaches. Her cholesterol count had also been very high (252 in February 2007) and was being watched by her doctor. She didn't want to go on any medication and we added some vitamins, herbs and supplements to her daily regiment to try and help lower it. Recent blood work shows it has come down to 205....almost a 50 point drop !!! And she didn't even have to eat oatmeal to get that... While still higher than we'd like, her doctor was amazed at the reduction and told her "whatever she was doing....to keep doing it". Must be the fresh air, reduction in stress, laughter at my antics, occasional whoopin' in a game of Skip-Bo and loving our new life ! We're happy to oblige and keep "doin' it"....suits us just fine.

Hitch Itch setting in...

We've been getting restless lately to hit the road. Our going to see the local sites probably escalated that since we had figured once we'd finish working this fall that we'd take in the local sites before moving on. Now we've done that so we're ready to move on to new adventures. It seems that the magical time period for "staying put" is two months.....we start getting beyond that and we start getting antsy to get going. It's been two and a half months here so "hitch itch" is setting in.
We had thought that we'd stay here till end of October but we're thinking that end of September will be long enough. Hollo-scream is at Busch Gardens from mid September till end of October and it's not something that either one of us feels we want to stay around for. In my area staffing is getting really tight and some days there aren't enough people to run my unit and it makes it very stressful to try and keep up with business when you don't have anybody to work. Then when there are young people scheduled they stand around and text on their cell phone or "disappear" for periods of time. Drives me crazy !
No definite places to go to come fall....we had made plans to go to the Oyster Fest in Urbanna, VA with my sister, mom, daughter and brother in law. Not sure with the rising cost of fuel if my sister is still coming down for that. The Oyster Fest takes place in early November and attracts thousands of people....crazy event ! Everything oysters !!
We're looking at locations for this fall and winter....south, for sure once the snow flys. Home for Thanksgiving and Christmas but then south for the early part of 2009. We'll keep you all posted.

A walk through history....

Today we went to the Jamestown settlement and to Yorktown. Here are a couple pics...Click on the link at the right to see all of the ones I've uploaded.

Put on your walkin' shoes...

The other day Linda and I checked out the nature trail that starts right near where site. It loops around through the woods and comes out on the far side of the dog run on the opposite side of the property. Took us about 20 minutes to walk it and was a quiet, peaceful walk.....lots of birds and a beautiful tree canopy.

Stonehenge

I think Schroeder, our border collie, is the reincarnated creator of Stonehenge. When I take him out in the morning to go potty, he walks while going…creating this semi circular pattern. I’ve never known a dog to do this. Boomer on the other hand looks like he’s a needle on a compass….. zigzagging wildly….looking for that magical spot or some magnetic force field from the center of the earth that should decide where he needs to do his business. I know….I know…you’re thinking it must be a slow news day if Linda is resorting to talking about her dog’s bowel movements. But anyone who knows me knows the quirky way my mind works and how I “wonder” about lots of things. This is just one of the things that has tickled my curiosity lately. In Schroeder’s situation, it’s a good thing that this isn’t the behavior that us humans would exhibit for such an act. If it did, we’d have to redesign our bathroom and the toilet would wind up in the middle of the floor so there’d be plenty of room to rotate all the way around it. Wouldn’t be a practical matter.
We love our furry friends. RV’ers are no different than folks with sticks and bricks houses. We take our pets on the road with us and they look forward to traveling just as much as we do (maybe more). They can sense when we are packing up to hit the road for our next destination and they are waiting at the door…ready to go. The other weekend, here in the campground, I kept hearing a bird but not the typical sound of the songbirds we have around here. As I was walking up to the pool, I spotted several bird cages sitting outside a small camper. Apparently the owners had several birds that they travel (or vacation) with and they came along for the ride. I couldn’t have tolerated their screeching, especially since I could hear them up where our rig was located…..about 50 yards away. Would have driven me nuts but to each their own.
I took the boys out on hiking trail today for a walk. Knowing it would be under the shady canopy of the woods, I thought it would be cooler than taking them to the dog run plus I thought they’d handle better being out of sight of other dogs. Yesterday and today the temps are in the low 90’s and it’s very humid. I hope this isn’t an indication of what the typical summer weather will be. I know, from checking the temp at the pool this morning, that the hot day yesterday raised the pool temperature another 2 degrees….to a balmy 76 degrees. With today’s hot weather, it will probably be up another couple degrees tomorrow morning when I check it.