Hello Everyone. It’s wonderful to be writing to you all today. The weather is warming up here in Washington, and I’m getting everything ready for my departure which is rapidly approaching and now just under two weeks away. This will be the last of my updates from home as by next week I hope to be writing about the journey ahead, for which I am very excited. I’ve talked to some of my Michigan friends and gotten some great recommendations (and some from you guys as well), and can’t wait for a summer full of hiking, photography, small towns, state parks and the beautiful lighthouses that run up and down the coasts of the Great Lakes. It sounds divine right about now and as temperatures creep up to 90 here in DC, it’s about time for me to head for a cooler climate anyway. It’s certainly been a busy few weeks here at home, but a good couple of weeks as well.
We celebrated Eastern Orthodox Easter on May 2nd according to the old calendar. We had a wonderful surprise with a last-minute visit from my brother who took the train down from New Hampshire to be with us. We watched the midnight church service online as we did last year and had a wonderful meal together as well. Although we missed having my niece and nephew here, it was nice to have my brother join us.
That weekend we also went to Revolutionary War Days at Mount Vernon in Virginia. It was a very busy, but also very well done Revolutionary War reenactment on the fields near George Washington’s home. In addition to all the marching and shooting, there was food and music and stunning views out over the Potomac River and we had a really good time.
Later that week, my folks celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. I cooked them up a nice meal featuring fresh trout and scallops and my stepfather got a delicious cake from a bakery down in Virginia and we had champagne and a nice evening. The next day we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with Mexican food, music and a fun game of Mexican Train (dominoes). The following Sunday was Mother’s Day and I cooked us up a delightful Sunday brunch for the occasion. It was definitely a week full of cooking for me, but I really enjoyed it and we had some delicious meals for sure.
For Mother’s Day I got my mom a night out of the city which we all enjoyed last week. We packed up the car and headed out to Lost River State Park in West Virginia where I got us a really nice old log cabin for the night. On the way there we stopped at the Hunter’s Head Tavern out in Upperville, Virginia, a delightful farm-to-table English-style country pub. When we got to the park we checked out Lighthorse Harry Lee’s old cabin near the old spring, and then settled in for a few beers around an afternoon campfire. As night fell, we moved inside and had a nice dinner and a couple more beers around the fireplace while we listened to music and played some games. We went back out to look at the stars, enjoyed the eerie call of a whippoorwill and saw a few deer running around as well. On the way home the next day, we stopped first at a nice little farm market to pick up some fresh strawberries and then at Dirt Farm Brewery in Bluemont for a couple of beers, high on the hill overlooking the countryside. It was a pretty successful day away and we all came back feeling a bit more relaxed.
This past weekend, we celebrated Mason’s 3rd Birthday with a party at his house. There was a bee theme (and I know you all know he loves his bees), and a lot of good people there to help him celebrate. Mason is back at preschool and seems to be doing okay with it. I think it’s hard for the little guy after so much one-on-one attention over the last year and also without the freedom to run around in the woods every day. He does spend a nice chunk of his time at school outside which is good, and I know he’ll figure it all out. He definitely gave me the stink-eye when I showed up for his party as if to say he thought we had a good thing going there, which we certainly did. I miss him every day, but I know he’s in good hands and it’s time for both of us to move on with our lives. I’ll certainly always cherish the time I got to spend with him and the bond that we developed over so many months together. The last day the two of us spent together we finally found a snake out in the woods which was amazing. It was just a very small ringneck snake, and perfect for him to pick up and hold onto and I think he quickly understood the difference between that snake and the worms he carried around most days. I think he’s got a pretty good foundation going forward and I’m happy that I’ll be able to watch him grow up, even if it’s from a little further away.
Tuesday, my folks and I took off for a little midweek adventure and headed out to Kent Island in the Chesapeake Bay. We visited the east side beaches, enjoyed some delicious seafood for lunch at the Stevensville Crab Shack, wandered over a marsh next to the Kent Narrows on the west side and strolled through the Stevensville Historic District. It was a really nice day and hard to believe it was only an hour from D.C.
Shadow Catcher is back from the mechanic and seems to be in about the best shape she’s been in since I bought her. Mechanically she should be good to go for a while and I spent the other day scrubbing off two years of mildew from the fiberglass roof, so inside and out she looks really good. We’re going to enjoy our time together in the months ahead. I’m taking her in for her inspection tomorrow and expect it to go smoothly and easily. After that, it’s time to start packing. The packing process is a tricky one because everything has its place and I will still have some things to figure out when I see how it all fits together. It’s a process I enjoy though, and am looking forward to. You can check out more information about Shadow Catcher (including where the name comes from) in my new section, Vanlife, which you can find here or in the header above. I will definitely be adding more info on that page in the future, and will let you know when I do.
Over the past few weeks I’ve also done a lot of work to compile some pretty cool galleries for this site. I’ve put together one from our beautiful National Parks, one for State Parks and Waterfalls (which often overlap for me), one for Lighthouses (of which there are plenty more to come this summer), one for my favorites from Small Town America and one of some great Cityscapes as well. You’ll also find state-specific galleries there too, and I do hope to get one up for Maryland before I head out. You can find these galleries here or by clicking the Galleries link above.
I’ve also been working hard on my podcast with the 3rd episode of the new season nearing completion. I hope to release the 1st episode of the new season around the time I take off and I will definitely let you know when I do. It’s a time-consuming venture, but I have really been enjoying delving deeper into historical events and people. If you’ve never listened to my podcast, now is a great time to start. You can listen to full episodes in my Podcasts link above, or by searching American Anthology pretty much anywhere you get your podcasts.
In the next week or two, I do hope to get my Shop page back up and running as well. The process of selling photos through this website has proven to be more exhausting than it is worth over the last few years, but I’ll still have a handful of my own products there (you can always contact me about prints from any photo you see on this site). Instead, I’ve signed up for some affiliate programs to try and earn a few dollars going forward. None of these programs will make me rich, but they might help this journey along. You will never see a recommendation on this page that isn’t something I own or use myself or is a product I believe in. If you use the links provided I earn a small commission on that transaction, but the price that you would pay is the same. I’ve put a link in this post to my favorite American travel book and one of my big inspirations – Blue Highways on Amazon. Here’s how you can help me out. If you are in the U.S. and are going to shop for ANYTHING on Amazon, and you click through using this link, you can help support this page and my travels (in other words, you don’t have to buy the book to help me out, just click through the link and do your normal Amazon shopping and I will earn a small percentage for the referral). I certainly appreciate your help in keeping this project going and if you can think about me when you go to do your normal shopping, it would really help.
Beyond those physical products, I’m also going to be promoting some wonderful businesses as well. I’ve been talking to my friend Julie who recently started her own travel planning business called Wanderfully Planned. Julie is great at planning trips for people and has a tremendous attention to detail. She’s also a native Michigander, so she’s been helping me plan my time in the Great Lakes State. People are always asking me for advice when they are planning a trip, and I’m happy to help out when I can. I’m great at making hiking or day-trip recommendations, but Julie is a real pro when it comes to the small details of a trip and she’s also going to find you some great deals. I’m looking forward to working with her in the months to come.
So basically you will see some changes to this site going forward. What you won’t be is bombarded with ads from all sides because I hate when that happens to me on a site. I refuse to work with AdSense, and insist that every ad I put up is personal to me and relevant to my content. I know some people run travel blogs in the hope of earning a fortune (and many do). I had some hope for that when this journey began four years ago myself, but I wasn’t then, and I’m not now, willing to sell out what I really love about blogging and running this site for a few dollars. But earning a few bucks here and there from it would be really nice as well. Thank you for your understanding and your continued support.
Beyond all of these things, life is pretty good at the moment. Mason is playing with crickets at school which made me smile. Nick is just weeks away from his 8th Grade graduation and ready to spend his summer preparing for High School. My mom’s hip replacement is healing slowly but surely and she’s been walking more and more on it. My own health is improving as well. I’ve lost 15 pounds since my last blood screening and when I get my next one next week I am certain that my blood sugar will be back in a more normal range. We’ve continued with our Friday celebrations, although we’ve taken a few of them on the road since our vaccinations. We still enjoy Taco Tuesday and Dinner and a Movie on Thursdays (this week: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe). We’ve got our last homebrew fermenting in the secondary fermenter and we’ll bottle this beautiful looking stout before I leave. The cicadas have definitely been emerging from their 17 year sleep, but they’ve been awfully quiet about it. And I’m still taking my morning walks and taking photos where and when I can.
I certainly appreciate y’all taking the time to read this update. We’re going to get this travel blog up and running again very soon and I’m sure looking forward to it. And I hope you will all come along for the ride. Take care out there and have a great week. I hope you’re enjoying some spring weather wherever you are. I’ll see you right back here next week.