Delaware, Virginia

From Jose

Update on the tick bite I told you about in my last entry: it is healing fine, without any complications.  Now it is just a little scab like any other little scab.

Our next stop was Newark, Delaware to visit my cousin Meri.  She teaches spanish at the University of Delaware and also hosts foreign students. We visited Longwood Gardens. From Wikipedia: "Longwood Gardens consists of over 1,077 acres (4.2 km²) of gardens, woodlands, and meadows in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, United States in the Brandywine Creek Valley. It is one of the premier botanical gardens in the United States and is open to visitors year-round to enjoy exotic plants and horticulture (both indoor and outdoor), events and performances, seasonal and themed attractions, as well as take part in educational lectures, courses, and workshops." It started in 1798, when brothers Joshua and Samuel Peirce planted the first specimens of an arboretum there.  It was later purchased and greatly expanded by Pierre du Pont. Meri cooked for us some great Puertorican food, including typical rice and beans, and flan. It is the first time Diane tasted real Puertorican food, which is not the same as Mexican food, contrary to popular belief. We also went to the famous UDairy Creamery, a fantastic ice cream shop run by the University of Delaware as part of their College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

Our next stop was Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. This is an old town at the junction of the Shenandoah River and the Potomac River. I had a special interest in Harpers Ferry because the Appalachian Trail goes right through it and my dear friend Carey came through here about a year ago, during her Appalachian hike. The history of Harpers Ferry is very interesting from several aspects.  It was an important passage way for settlers going West after Robert Harper established a ferry across the Potomac River in 1761.

It also became an important industrial town with the opening of the United States Armory and Arsenal at Harpers Ferry.  Many of the rifles and pistols for the Army were  made here and many advances in manufacturing were developed here. I especially liked the lathe for making the rifle stocks using a metal original, a technique similar to the modern machine for duplicating keys.

It was also important to the abolitionist movement of the day when abolitionist John Brown staged a raid on the armory in 1859, with the intention of capturing the weapons for a slave uprising in the South. The raid failed to capture any weapons, but it captured the attention of the nation.

During the Civil War Harpers Ferry changed hands eight times. The armory was destroyed in 1861 to keep it from falling to the Confederates.

I bought a book about Harpers Ferry so I can learn more.  I hope to be able to read it soon.

Next stop: Winchester, VA , home of Christina and Brian. We took this opportunity to relax, recharge the batteries (in the RV as well as our own). The RV house battery was not keeping a charge so I took the RV to a Camping World to remedy this. Christina and Brian were very gracious to shuttle me to and from Camping World when I had to leave the RV. We did see some touristy things. The house where Patsy Cline grew up is right in the middle of town and looks like any other house. Who would have known that such a star would come out of that simple house. There is a walking mall, where they closed a street to traffic and made it into a plaza with brick pavement and benches. It was nice to relax with good friends. On our way out of  Winchester we stopped at the State Arboretum of Virginia, a big expansion of rolling hills with tons of trees.

Our next stop was Reston, still in Virginia, home of my friend Beth. She and I used to jog together in a running group in Orlando, FL and went scuba diving a couple of times.  She is married to Chris and has two precious daughters, Kara and Zoe. Beth and Chris are very busy with work and family but somehow found the time to make us feel welcome and part of the family. They had some help in this department.

First, from Chris' mom who was visiting from South Carolina. In the excitement of the moment I did not catch her [real] name, for which I apologize. Following the example of Kara and Zoe, I know her simply as Mima. They are lucky girls to have such a great Mima.

And also from Jim and Joanie Hall. Through some lucky twists of fate Jim and Joanie have become Chris and Beth's "adoptive parents" and help care for Kara and Zoe. And they helped us immensely too. Reston is close to Washington DC and I wanted to visit without having to deal with traffic, parking, etc. Diane has never been to DC. Driving the rv through DC was out of the question so a train to DC seemed like the only option. There is a bus stop close to Beth's house but I could not find the right connection between bus and train that would let us see DC without leaving the dogs alone too long. I was about to give up on the idea when Jim offered to drive us to and from the train station, about a half hour drive each way. His kindness made it possible for us to have this important stop in our trip. Huge thanks to Jim and Joanie, Chris, Beth, Mima, Kara and Zoe.

By the way, in DC we took a hop-on-hop-off bus tour that allowed us to get a good glimpse of the city while someone else did the driving and the talking. We got off at the Lincoln Memorial and spent some extra time there and in the Vietnam Memorial ("The Wall").

My cousin Hilda is next on the agenda.  That is where we are right now and we'll cover that in the next update.

I am writing this on November 22, 2013, the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy's assassination. What were you doing when you found out?

Stay tuned.