Exciting day on the home front

Tree trimming and tree removal was the order of the day. This all made Carolyn so nervous that she decided it would be a good day to go to visit her parents in Portsmouth. So, I imagine we can guess who was left behind to deal with the horrors of having huge 100 foot tall oak trees that tower over the house removed one limb and one section at a time. Click on the photo below to enlarge it. The guy in the tree with the chain saw is about 60 feet above the ground. Since all was completed without incident, it doesn't seem so bad now. What a difference the removal of 8 big oak trees has made. We now have sunlight in the back yard.

Sunday, June 1, we leave for a week of motor homing fun. We'll be at the FMCA Great Eastern Area Rally (GEAR). We volunteered to do a little work to help with activities during the week but other than that, it should be a a week dedicated to having a good time with friends. More on this later.

Spanky Duff

It's hard to believe a year has passed. It was one year ago today that we adopted Spanky and brought him home. He was a cute little fella and began his quest to dominate the household right from the beginning. It's taken him a year. He now manages every aspect of life in and around the Duff household with the self confidence that only a cat can have. Those with cat's will understand. He lets us write this blog but insists on editing before publication.

Grand Children !

Daughter Lara and family are moving to Houston, TX. Jeff ( Lara's husband ) has already started his new job at Rice University. Translation, Lara is in Richmond with two children in school and working a job with hours that don't always mesh with school hours and other activities. Lucky for us, this provides a little extra time for fun with grandchildren. The local Chevrolet dealer had a Corvette car show today so Mann and Matt got to check out Corvettes from 1956 to date. The only ones for sale were 2008 models. We can only guess where this may lead.


As much fun as the Corvette show was, it couldn't compare to the fun of happening across a local church with a sign outside that, as unimaginable as this is, mentions the name of a friend who's currently in AZ. This illustrates clearly the expected long distance benefits of prayer.

You may recall previous mention of Larry and Gerry Clark on this Blog. While we can't speak to or otherwise validate, or for that matter, invalidate information contained on the sign, we have noticed that our Larry seems a bit irritable of late.

Mothers Day

Today is Mothers Day and it's off to a great start. Nice weather, everyone is in a good mood. Did I mention that we're spending the weekend with Carolyn's parents.
Our plan: go to Outback for lunch to celebrate mothers Day and then go out for a ride to survey the damage from last weeks tornado's in Driver and Suffolk (about 15 - 20 miles from here). National news provided good coverage but a first hand survey is better.

The meal was rated A+ by all of us and the service was excellent. All of this after just a short wait made for a really nice occasion. The wait for a table was made even easier by the unexpected arrival of friends Kathy and Tom Crew along with Kathy's parents and her brother and his family.

Driver, VA was the first stop. Damage in this area is fairly localized but significant. This house is directly across the street from the Hogs Breath Saloon. There was no damage to the saloon.

Then, on to Suffolk. The path of the tornado is pretty well defined. Many areas are blocked off by police, presumably to avoid looting. Across the street from this home is a foundation with no house on top.



Photo below is of remains of a small Suffolk, VA shopping center. Like many things, photo's can't convey the extent of the destructive force of a Tornado.



What we didn't expect were today's late afternoon storms and tornado warnings in the area where Carolyn's parents live. Local TV is dedicated to the weather and surrounding weather patterns showing the circular movement of wind indicating that tornado's may be near. We're in VA, not OK or KS!

Weather warnings have passed and all is well now. We're thankful for small favors.

Cat Training

This may have been mentioned here before but it's probably worth repeating. Last year we picked up an adorable kitten at the local pound. Carolyn thought that in addition to his above average good looks, he also showed signs of above normal intelligence. More on this later. Some people thought his ears were a little large given his size but most seemed to think that he would probably grow into them much like teenage boys eventually grow into their feet. From the beginning, Carolyn had plans to exploit Spanky's extraordinary intelligence. Wouldn't it be fun to impress friends and neighbors by showing off the well trained cat. For those that wonder, this is the reason for the pink harness. Spanky has worn it since his first day with us. The plan was to teach the cat to walk on a matching pink leash. Picture this: Carolyn walking through the campground with well trained handsome cat on a pink leash, nearby dogs cowering (they sense the power of this beast) as she passes.

Well, the best laid plans and good intentions often lead to the same place.

Trust your instincts

Several years ago we were considering the purchase of a supplemental breaking system for our Toad (for those that aren't RV'ers, a toad is the car towed behind the Motor Home (MH)). There are good arguments for having one, it's like insurance. You never know when you might need it. There are good reasons not to have one, they cost cost a lot. We'll, we finally gave in to reason deciding to err on the side of safety.

Today, that decision paid for itself. A Canadian couple from Ontario were traveling ahead of us on RT 17 heading toward Fredericksburg VA. We were traveling along about 55 mph approaching a green traffic signal. They apparently couldn't decide whether to turn or not so they slammed on their breaks skidding to a halt in the middle of the intersection under a green light. Everybody knows that big trucks and motor homes towing a car can't stop as fast as a car, right! Well, we proved that assumption wrong today thanks to our Brake Buddy. Mann managed to stop with almost two inches to spare. The Canadian couple couldn't figure out why the Air horn was blaring. Go figure!! We love our Brake Buddy!!!!

Diesel at Flying J was a pleasant surprise today, only $3.99 a gallon. The good news is that the credit card company seems to be getting used to the prices and no longer calls us when we fill up.

We're back at home safe and sound. We think that's important.

More Fun in South East PA

These last few days have been filled with interesting activities. As usual, our geocaching has taken us to interesting places that we may never have visited otherwise.


I've mentioned here before the grass, farming and flowers in this area of PA. We were out a couple of days back on one of the beautiful country lanes in this area when we happened across

an old farm home with beautiful gardens. We stopped by the roadway to view the gardens . Tom, the owner, invited us to come in and view the grounds of his 19th century home. Conversation revealed that he has seven acres of gardens. He planted over 7000 new bulbs last year. My photo's can only attempt to portray the beauty of this place. Check them out!



Another stop found us at the Hershey Cemetery. We needed to pick up a couple of quick caches that turned out to be not so quick, but in the process we happened upon the grave of Milton Hershey, founder of Hershey Chocolate.




Several caches later we happened across a local car clubs' show at one of the local hang outs.





Pennsylvanians do love their cars.


Today we were out again doing some more geocaching and enjoying the PA countryside. In the process we discovered Quinton, a small unincorporated Township named after Quinton Roosevelt, Son of Theodore Roosevelt. It an interesting story.



Down the road a few miles we found Cornwall Furnace, an ironworks that operated from 1742 to 1883. It's fascinating to learn the story of places like this. Most of the laborers here were indentured servants from Europe and slaves from Africa. The last record of slaves working here was around the end of the 18th century. The furnace was fired by locally made charcoal. In order to create enough heat from wood to melt the ore, a bellows powered by a water wheel on the nearby stream was used . We also learned the origin of the term pig iron which is used to this day. This is a nice stop for anyone traveling through this area.

Tomorrow is a road day. We think it's time to go back home. It's spring and the grass is calling!

Hershey, PA

The South East corner of PA is always a nice place to visit. This time is no exception. Weather has been better than forecasters predicted, flowers and trees are in bloom and the grass is green. Speaking of which, we're always amazed at how nice the grass is here. Pastures in this area look better than our lawn at home.

Since our arrival, we've spent quite a bit of time just riding the back roads and marveling at the beauty of this area. Of course, we do this while geocaching.

Yesterday, we met friends Al and Lynda Barone for lunch at the Barn Door, a restaurant in Millersville, PA which is about midway between their home and Thousand Trails in Hershey where we're staying. Friends and good conversation occupied most of the afternoon.

We went to the Barone's home for desert after our meal. This provided the opportunity to inspect their new roof which was just installed a few days before.

There are lots of ducks, geese and birds in this area. Spanky seems well satisfied just watching. He brings new meaning to the term "Scardy Cat"