Xiao Xong's Desperate Adventure!

Hi WILLIAM Blog!

(dictated by Guest Blogger William)

Now listen, everyone, to this harrowing story narrated by Xiao Xong (Little Bear)!

Xiao Xong came to William when William was first born.  He was sent by William's Mom-Mom (Joan Gluch).  He was an IKEA bear.  Until he was named Xiao Xong, he was named Fabler Bjorn.  

Now comes the real true story.

Xiao Xong went missing on Monday, September 24, 2020.  William didn't notice because he was thinking about having lots of fun going over to the campground with Ye Ye and Nai Nai (David and Kathy).  William had lots of fun, but when he came back from the campground, he noticed that Xiao Xong hadn't come with him and wondered where Xiao Xong was.  Before bed, he asked Mom and Dad (Weina and Matt) where Xiao Xong was, but he wasn't anywhere.

Mommy and Daddy guessed that the cleaning lady accidentally wrapped Xiao Xong up in the blankets and threw him down the laundry chute.  Noooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is Xiao Xong resting in the blankets before his desperate adventure:

Here he is wrapped up in the blankets so the maid couldn't see him:

Here is an illustration of Xiao Xong in the laundry chute:

 When Daddy got back to the hotel room with Xiao Xong, William grabbed Xiao Xong and hugged him!

William washed Xiao Xong thoroughly because he recently found that he is allergic to dust mite sheddings.  William was glad that Xiao Xong was back and he was clean.

Because of this fright, Xiao Xong has earned five pieces of furniture.  William explained that every five of furniture Xiao Xong gets to choose what he wants.  Xiao Xong gets a ladder to get up to his bed, his bed, a bookshelf, a toy shelf, and Xiao Xong said for his fifth piece of furniture he wants a roof over his bed.  William is building these for Xiao Xong out of toothpicks and glue.

At last, William is very glad that Xiao Xong is back. Yeah!

A.T. Hike - Ashby Gap into Sky Meadows State Park

Poor Baxter cat had to have surgery this morning to repair an inside-out eyelid.  We dropped him off at the animal hospital yesterday afternoon.  We had been planning to be available to help our son Matt with a furniture delivery today, but he was able to handle it within the constraints of his work, so we weren't needed there.  Rather than sit around and wait for a call from the vet about's Baxter's status, we decided to hike another section of the Appalachian Trail.  Because rain threatened this afternoon, we got an early start and planned to hit the trail at 9:30 am.

This time we chose a section to the north of our recent hikes, heading south from Ashby Gap.  As it turned out, the better part of our hike led us up to the ridgeline of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia's Sky Meadows State Park.  The park has 10.5 miles of bridle trails, 22 miles of hiking trails, 9 miles of bike trails and Appalachian Trail access. Covering 1,860-acres, it has scenic views, woodlands and the rolling pastures of a historic farm that captures the colonial through modern life of the Crooked Run Valley. 

According to the park's website, the settlement of the area can be attributed to nearby Ashby's Gap, which gave settlers access to the Shenandoah Valley.  In 1731, Lord Fairfax sold a 7,883-acre tract of land just south of Ashby’s Gap to James Ball. Abner Settle of nearby Paris bought 148 acres and built Mount Bleak House in the 1840's.  In 1868 Mount Bleak became the property of George M. Slater, who had been one of Mosby's Rangers under Confederate Col. John S. Mosby during the Civil War (the life story of John Mosby is an amazing tale in itself). In 1975, Paul Mellon of Upperville, Virginia, purchased and donated a 1,132-acre tract to the Commonwealth of Virginia for the development of a state park. Another 248 acres were acquired in 1987, thus providing a corridor to the Appalachian Trail. The name Sky Meadows comes from former owner Robert Hadow, who named the property "Skye Farm" after an island in Scotland.  However, what seemed to be a fanciful name has now become very appropriate because, along and just below the Appalachian Trail, the park boasts a number of spectacular meadows that seem to reach the sky because they are perched up on the ridgeline, overlooking the Virginia Piedmont.

We knew none of this when we planned our hike, and every bit of it made for one happy surprise after another as we hiked deeper into the park.

Here we are at the innocuous, unsigned trailhead, which is marked only by a blue blaze signifying an access trail, at Ashby Gap:

It wasn't long before we reached the junction with the Appalachian Trail proper:

We hiked down to Highway 17, crossed it, and then found our way into the woods.  The sign might have suggested that we were going the wrong way, but David knew where we were heading:

Just as we entered the woods, we spotted two signs, obviously directed at through-hikers, advising of the distance to the nearest A.T. shelters.  This sign was devoted to shelters southbound from our positions.  It lists the Manassas Gap Shelter as being 9.8 miles south.  We had just been there a couple days ago!

We immediately encountered this well-maintained fence, which marked the boundary of Sky Meadows State Park.  From here on, we were on park land, and the Trail was in spectacular condition, due to the loving care not only of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, which looks after this section of the A.T., but also Virginia's state parks agency and the staff of Sky Meadows State Park, who are very diligent in maintaining the park's trails.

The stretch immediately south of Highway 17 passes through wetlands, and the A.T. Trail Gods were kind enough to provide hikers with boardwalks where necessary to keep feet dry:

We were soon in the depths of the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  Since logging, perhaps 100 years ago, this forest boasts some early evergreen trees, which have processed into deciduous forest boasting what appear to be beech, oak and maple trees, among others.  Most of the trees seem to be of similar age, which attests to the clear-cut logging that preceded their growth:

If you had any doubt that Autumn is already riding in, just take a look at this sycamore leaf being admired by David:

After about 1.5 miles of steady climbing, we reached the ridge and walked into our first sky meadow!  We thought we understood how Dorothy & Co. must have felt when they came out of the woods into the field of poppies on the way to the City of Oz:

The wildflowers now are colorful and varied:

We're not sure what berries these are, but we can tell you that local black bears like them, because we encountered some bear scat containing some of these beauties:

Even the thistle is in its highest glory:

At the 2 mile mark, we reached this junction of the Appalachian Trail, running north-south along the Blue Ridge, and the Ambassador Whitehouse Trail, which led down to the Whitehouse Overlook and the Sky Meadows State Park Visitor Center.  It was not yet time for lunch, so we decided to hike further along the A.T., then return to this spot and venture down to the overlook for our lunch.

From this junction, we hiked the 0.4 mile Ambassador Whitehouse Trail (named for Charles S. Whitehouse, a local Virginian who, among many other achievements and distinctions, was Ambassador to Thailand and Loas.  It took us down to the Piedmont Memorial Overlook:

The Piedmont Memorial Overlook sits on 50 acres owned by The Piedmont Environmental Council, and is part of a corridor of the Blue Ridge Mountains that is permanently protected by Sky Meadows State Park, the G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area, the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, and private land under conservation easement.  From The Piedmont Memorial Overlook, atop the Blue Ridge Mountains in Fauquier County, you look out at the heart of the northern Virginia Piedmont, a verdant agricultural landscape stretching 17 miles between the Bull Run Mountains to the east and the Blue Ridge Mountains to the west. To the south lies the Crooked Run Valley, extending toward Delaplane. To the north lies Clarke and Loudoun counties.  The Overlook sits on top of Paris mountain, and provides what some call "the quintessential Virginia vista."

The overlook was the high point of our hike.  We stopped there to eat our lunch, and then had a wonderful 2.5 mile hike back to our trailhead, before driving back to the real world. 

As we returned to the Jeep, we received a call from the vet. Baxter did great during his surgery. They are very hopeful that his eye has been repaired.

A.T. Hike to Manassas Gap Shelter

 Sunday, September 6, 2020

Hi Blog!

Happy Labor Day Weekend! While Matt, Weina and William enjoy some beach time at the Jersey Shore, we have the weekend to ourselves. We started on Saturday with a campfire barbecue complete with fire roasted corn, coleslaw and ribs. We got a great tip for a delicious BBQ sauce from the Enterprise associate that checked us in when we returned our rental car on Friday. He suggested we mix Jamaican Jerk seasoning with some Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce. The result was amazing!

On Sunday, we started the day by putting together a crockpot gumbo. With the gumbo on a slow simmer and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in our packs, we drove back up to the Appalachian Trail to hike north from the same trailhead we hiked last Sunday. 

Here we are at the trailhead:

The trail stated with a bridge over a small tributary of Goose Creek.

We stopped in the middle of the bridge to watch the sun dance on the babbling brook.

A good hike would not be complete without a few "fun guys."

As we hiked up the ridge, we passed several sections of old rock wall that were once used by farmers who grazed cattle along the ridge.

The Appalachian Trail often follows old forest road. When it does, it makes for nice, wide, level hiking. It's a nice break from walking on rocks!

After two miles, we entered the G.R. Thompson State Wildlife Management Area. We noticed the yellow blazes that marked the boundary and ventured off trail to see if we could follow the old boundary trail. However, the forest did not want to give up its secrets. The dense brush made difficult hiking, so we returned to the AT.

One of the most popular activities in the Thompson WMA is viewing wildflowers where the higher elevations make remarkable displays. Even now, at the send of Summer, we are treated with colorful displays.

We reached the junction with the Ted Lake Trail. We had planned to hike three miles out and three miles back. However, when we saw how close we were to the Manassas Gap Shelter, we decided to make that our lunch spot and turnaround.

Here is our first look at the Manassas Gap Shelter.

This shelter was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps around 1933. Like many of the shelters along the Trail, the Manassas Gap Shelter resided on private land for many decades. Built from chestnut logs, the shelter is a simple lean-to with three walls. Until the 1980s there were also bunks across the back of the structure, but these were removed in the 1980s during a restoration of the shelter. Here, Kathy takes a well deserved rest after a hike well hiked.

 

While Kathy rested, Dave explored. He found the shelter trail journal. Unfortunately, the old journal was replaced with a new version that only started on September 1st. The first entry reads as follows:

"Welcome to the Manassas Gap Shelter, one of the oldest shelters on the AT. This section of trail between Linden and Paris is the oldest piece of the AT south of the Susquehanna River. It was first begun by the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club (PATC) volunteers in the late 1920s.  Copperheads live in the rocks just beyond the picnic table and like to hang out in the fire pit, so keep an eye out for them while you're here."

A covered spring is just downslope from the shelter.

Water is the most important resource thru-hikers must learn to manage on the Appalachian Trail. Shelters and popular campsites are also usually positioned within reach of a water source. Guidebooks, apps, and some maps will mark the locations of viable water sources for hikers to take advantage of. It is highly recommended that all hikers carry with them some form of water treatment method. These typically come in the form of a filter or chemical treatment. We always like to hike with all the water we need, so unless we are backpacking, we don't bring our water filter.

Because of the high number of thru-hikers that use the shelter, a privy is located nearby.

After munching our lunch, we returned to the trail. Our hike back to the trailhead was mostly downhill. We met a number of afternoon hikers taking advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend. 

Now it was time to head home and enjoy a big bowl of gumbo!

Tomorrow, we hope to celebrate the 28th anniversary of our first date with hoagies from Wawa and some cool jazz. While we won't be able to attend the Chads Ford Winery Jazz Fest, we did learn that the Detroit Jazz Fest is streaming online tomorrow. If you care to join us, just click the link.

Getting to Know Tobyhanna

Each of us is adapting to live with the coronavirus in our own way.  When the full import of the pandemic dawned on us in March, we realized that we would not be able to fly back to Philly or D.C. for the holidays this winter.  We knew we would not want to winter over in our motorhome in order to stay close enough to share the holidays with family.  So, after some deep soul-searching, we decided to rent a cottage in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania -- about a 2 hour drive from Philly and a 4 hour drive from the Washington, D.C. area.  We finally found one that meets our needs -- including having room in its driveway for our motorhome.  It has some simple character and enough room for our family to visit if they want to:

On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, we drove up from our campground in Manassas, Virginia to check into our new winter home, pick up the keys, and survey it for work we need to do to make it homey for the 7 months we'll have it -- all the way until April 1, 2021.

When Katie heard about it, she asked if she and the puppies could join us for the inaugural visit.  We eagerly said yes!

We got a late start driving up to the Poconos, because we were hoping to bring our grandson William with us.  However, a Covid scare in his family caused everyone to rethink William's participation, and we finally got on the road, without him, about noon.  By the time we arrived at the house, Katie and the puppies had arrived and made it a very warm welcome for us.  You see, even Ruby kitten (the cats came with us) appreciated Katie's welcome:

The cats made the second story their home; the puppies made the ground floor theirs.  Never the twain did meet, except for one brief, blissful few minutes when our most timid cat, Flip, ventured bravely down the spiral staircase to make friends with Ruthie puppy!  We were startled that Flip was the brave one.  Baxter and Ruby, the adventurous cats, would not dare to come down the stairs and meet the puppies.  However, as you can see from the photo above, the staircase, which the puppies could not climb, beame a favorite cat perch and playground.

Tom J., the husband of Kathy's sister Eileen, offered to contributed a Chuckluck board he had made for his parents, who, sadly, have passed, and we thought it made a most excellent addition to the cabin ambience:

We spent Tuesday evening catching up with Katie and all had a good night's sleep.  On Wednesday, we took Ruthie and Maggie, the puppies, on a walk over in Tobyhanna State Park.  The day was misty and threatened rain, but all were game for a short hike:

After the hike, we spent the rest of the day Wednesday doing moving-in and clean-up chores, grocery shopping, etc.  That night, we relaxed with some rousing games of Chuckluck, and again got ourselves a good night's sleep.  To our happy surprise, Thursday dawned sunny with a rainless forecast, so, again, we took the puppies over to Tobyhanna State for a 5-mile hike around the lake:

The lake is gorgeous, and just the right size to paddle with our kayaks, which has us excited.  We checked with the boat rental guy, who informed us that the lake is stocked with trout twice in the Fall, which got us excited to get our Pennsylvania fishing license and our boat launch permits so that we can try our luck fishing from the kayaks later this Autumn:

There was nothing about that day of our hike that was less than perfect:

The trail winds around, along the lake's dam.  David walked across the dam and caught this photo of Kathy, Katie and the puppers as they followed the trail proper toward the footbridge across the outlet stream:

It was just a dam nice day:

Yet, already, there were signs of Autumn.  The air had some crispness and less humidity; the path was strewn with red and yellow leaves, and we even spotted some unusual Fall colors:

Katie spotted this little peeper, who, realizing we were staring at him, started hopping away, up the tree trunk.  We caught a photo of him nevertheless:

The are above the inlet stream on the far side of the lake is a beautiful wetland, and it, too, is already showing blushes of Fall color:

Just around the trail at the inlet stream itself, we stopped for lunch, and Katie paused to catch some photos of the puppies as they frolicked in the water.  Katie said that Ruthie probably considered this the best day of her life ever.  You could see how much fun she and Maggie had, splashing and running off-leash:

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, after the hike, we bought two cat towers.  Ruby, our little athlete, wasted no time claiming one of them as hers.  (The other tower has been installed in the living room downstairs, and, while the puppies are present, the cats will not be exploring it.)

Katie is on vacation and so decided to stay at the cottage a couple extra days, but we drove back down to Virginia on Friday, September 4.  We were relieved to learn that the family Covid scare was a false alarm and we're busy making plans with everyone for an October Birthday Weekend bash at the Poconos cottage once we've moved in a couple weeks hence.

We are really looking forward to hikes, paddles, snowshoes and other adventures in the Poconos this winter.  We're sure you'll hear more about all that in future blog entries.

In the meantime, enjoy your Labor Day holiday! 

A.T. Hike Through Trumbo Hollow

 Sunday, August 30, 2020

Hi Blog!

After a fun week with William, we had the weekend off. Unfortunately, Saturday was a washout as Hurricane Laura passed by and dumped buckets of rain. On the bright side, Laura did pass by quickly, leaving us with a beautiful early Fall day on Sunday. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and drove up toward Front Royal, Virginia so we could hike another section of the Appalachian Trail.

Here we are at the trailhead, which is known as the Trumbo Hollow Access. Notice Dave sporting one of our new National Park Face Masks. Today's mask was Big Bend National Park.

We started our hike around 11:00 a.m. The trail was cool and shady.

It's always fun to start a hike with a bridge.

We continued along the old plank road.

Just after leaving the boardwalk we had to cross an active railroad track.

We were not the only ones on the trail. This Eastern Box Turtle was working his way south. While in the pond turtle family, and not a tortoise, the box turtle is largely terrestrial. Box turtles are slow crawlers, but as we passed by, this little guy really picked up his pace.

The one thing the Appalachian Trail is know for is rocks. Here is Dave with a few examples.

Virginia boasts a full quarter of the 2,135-mile Appalachian Trail, around 550 miles of hiking glory. The AT in Virginia features hikes leading to overlooks, waterfalls and wildernesses, as well as scenic, cultural and historical sites.

Our first scenic view was the Trumbo Hollow Overlook. The wide meadow gave us views both East and West of the trail. If you look closely, you can see tiny little hikers working their way across the field.

With summer foliage closing in, the trail was very narrow in spots. The blazes in this section are on posts next to the trail.

This was once someone's farm.  There are still sections of old fence standing.

Winter is Coming... For many, many years, legend has held that caterpillars can predict whether the coming winter will be mild or harsh. This little guy is sporting a very fluffy coat. Better get ready to hunker down for a long, cold winter... or not.

Sometimes you just have to stop and smell the roses. Other times, you have to stop and pet the ferns.

After three miles, it was time for lunch. There is nothing better than a squished peanut butter and jelly sandwich after some hard hiking. The jelly gives you a quick sugar rush, the carbs from the bread give you energy and protein from the peanut butter helps to sooth and strengthen those aching muscles.

Our hike back was more of a meander. The day was beginning to warm up so we took our time and explored remnants of the old farm.

We didn't notice this nest on our way up the trail, but happened to see it on the way back down.

As we returned to the trailhead parking lot, we were greeted by a flock of chickens prancing on the side of the road. As soon as they saw us, they skedaddled back to their coop.  In doing so, they showed us the meaning of...

The End!