Stepping Back

When in Virginia how can one not step back in history?

First we visited the 19^th century with a stop at Appomattox Court House.

This is where it happened.

General Lee surrendered the Virginia Army to General Grant not in the courthouse but in the living room of the McLean House

in the town of Appomattox Court House, Virginia. And thus, the beginning of the end of the Civil War.

Stepping into the 18th century, we toured Colonial Williamsburg; a very well maintained colonial town that is probably more pristine than it was in the late 1770s. While we both are interested in the history of our country,

as artisans, the trades are what we found most interesting.

Shoemakers (not cobblers), blacksmiths, carpenters, coopers and many other craftsman use techniques pretty much as they were used in the late 1770s. 

The Wanderer was conveniently parked at Chickahominy Riverside Park on the Virginia Capitol Bike Trail. One afternoon we rode east and found ourselves in the 17th century at the historical Jamestown Settlement.

On Saturday we rode 14.5 miles to Charles City (29 miles round trip.)  

We could have ridden to Richmond, about 45 miles away, but we had a game to watch but that was beyond our current fitness level. We did watch the gameL 

 Meet George and Lucy

We met George and Lucy at Big Bend National Park in Texas the winter of 2018. They are both retired educators from Upstate New York. Like us, they were beginning their retirement travel adventures. You may have heard us share the story of how they acquired their RV; if not ask us as it is a great story. That’s the thing about George and Lucy, they are adventurers and whenever we meet up with them we can expect to hear another good story. We met up with them last week in Lynchburg, Virginia. Finding inexpensive or free places to camp is their forte which often leads them off “the beaten path.’ This particular story took place at a county park in Podunk, Oklahoma . As George tells it, they parked their rig next to a lake, set up their chairs and commenced to do a little reading when a park employee came by. Their first thought was “have we done something wrong?” No worries, he just wanted to chat a bit and then moved on. A bit later the sheriff shows up, parked his vehicle precariously in front of the rig so it could not leave. The look on his face did not come across as friendly. As he approached the RV, George heard him say “Geeze, I hate tomatoes!” You see, this was in the spring; Lucy had started tomato plants for her garden; they were sitting on the dash board getting some sun. Not the “weed” he was expecting.

Enjoying the beautiful state of Virginia; we add another state to our retirement adventure.

We will stay in Virginia a few more days as we visit our nation’s capitol.

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