END OF THE LINE

Northern Virginia

During the first couple of days in May, Paula and I found ourselves at the South Fork Campground in Front Royal, Virginia.  From here, we rode the motorcycle to the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester one day, and up into the Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive the next.

Skyline Drive Vista

Mechanicsburg and Hershey Chocolate World

We stayed with my friends, Ron & Margie Santo, in Mechanicsburg, PA  for several days.  Margie’s son, Andrew, was also there visiting from Pensacola, Florida, so we filled up the house.  Ron was recovering from some serious health issues, so the days were not as enjoyable for them as what they otherwise might have been.  Despite this, we had a great time sampling several local eateries, which included a great sushi spot and a local breakfast favorite, “Diener’s” in downtown Mechanicsburg.  We even caught an end-of-the-year music program that one of Ron’s granddaughter’s was in, which reminded us of our younger days and elementary school gyms.

We couldn't pass within smelling distance of Hershey, Pennsylvania without stopping at the Hershey Chocolate World.  Paula has a real penchant for chocolate and I admit to having an occasional craving myself.  We designed our own candy bar, attended a tasting class, rode a trolley through the chocolate factory, and left with many chocolate "gifts" for others.  Some of the gifts did not make it home! 

Christian Brothers and Uncle Al

Uncle Al with Paula at his side

After an overnight visit to the Hollywood Casino northeast of Harrisburg, Paula and I camped at Colonial Woods RV Resort just to the south and east of Allentown, PA near the Delaware River and New Jersey stateline.  There we prepared to visit her uncle Al at a Christian Brothers nursing home in Lincroft, NJ.  The “De LaSalle” Brothers took excellent care of us during our visit there.  They shared 3 wonderful meals each day in the dining hall, provided a very walkable campus near the Christian Brothers Academy, and invited us to a short Sunday Mass with the brothers.  Paula's Uncle has devoted his life to education and related activities, along with the other men in this group.  


After leaving New Jersey, we spent only two more days on the road before reentering the State of Vermont and returning home.  It is now the last week in May, and Paula and I are still “moving back into” the area and re-establishing our normal daily routines.  The trip was an outstanding experience, but I am very happy to be home among my Green Mountain friends once again.  Thank you for traveling with me, and sharing my adventures!

Love, Tim

April Wacky Weather and the Trip North

The Weather

When I was young and weather forecasting was in a more primitive state, my brother and I would look at the western sky from our front porch in Ormsby, Pennsylvania during the afternoon and have a pretty good idea whether or not we were going to have a little league baseball game that evening a few miles away.  We didn’t often miss our guess.  Nowadays with all of the satellites, prediction models, and National Weather Service 24-7 monitoring of weather in the U.S., you would think that weather surprises would be few and far between.  Not so!  One day beforehand here in Melbourne Beach, Florida, the weather predictions for Easter were of 50 to 80% chance of rain and thunderstorms and gusty winds over 20 miles per hour during most of Easter Day.  Cooler temperatures were predicted.  The local church developed standby plans for their Sunrise service which had been planned for a local beach. 

Easter Morning Skies

By the following morning, Easter, there was not a hint of clouds or rain, and the air temperature again soared into the mid80’s, with only a light breeze.  Pray that I will come to accept unpredictable weather as a given on this earth, and that those people who suffer greatly from it (storms, floods, drought) are sheltered from its wrath.

During the next several days, Paula and I traveled northward in Florida, where we visited her brother, David, his girlfriend Catherine and daughter Mattie for a few days in and near Kissimmee.  We enjoyed several days of sun, ice cream, and a musical performance by Mattie and her classmates. 

 Abbreviated Worm Gruntin' Festival

Kids Gruntin' for Worms

The 15^th Annual Worm Gruntin, Festival took place on Saturday, April 11, in historic Sopchoppy, Florida.  Paula and I camped at the nearby Ocklockonee River State Park and we were hosted by my brother’s stepdaughter, Jill, and her family, on Friday evening in downtown Sopchoppy.  Saturday began with a 5K road race, and at 9 AM, art, craft and food vendors opened for business.  By midmorning, a colorful worm grunting demonstration was held by a professional ‘bait harvestor’.  Kids then competed in the Worm Grunting contest (cash prizes) which followed the demonstration.  Gruntin’ tools, which consisted of wooden stakes and large metal files, were provided.  Unfortunately, the skies opened up around noon, and most of the afternoon musical performances had to be cancelled. 

 Koinonia Farm Visit - Americus, Ga.

On our way north through Georgia, we found a Christian community called the Koinonia Farm near Americus.  It was established in 1942 by Clarence Jordan, author of “Cotton Patch Gospels”.  In its early existence, Koinonia’s very existence challenged racism, militarism, and materialism.  It was the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity and other peacemaking and social justice organizations.

Andrew, our young guide at the 300+acre farm, described the current residents as a group of Christians called to live together in intentional community sharing a life of prayer, work, study, service and fellowship. They seek to embody peacemaking, sustainability, and radical sharing. While honoring people of all backgrounds and faiths, they strive to demonstrate the way of Jesus as an alternative to materialism, militarism and racism.  Their vision is to love through service to others; strive for peace through reconciliation, and pursue joy through generous hospitality.

Paula and I visited their chapel and saw a documentary of their history in Americus.  Later we joined them for a delicious lunch in their dining hall (all farm-raised food), and met their previous director, who was visiting from his current home and dairy farm near Rutland, Vermont.

Koinonia Farm earns most of its income from delicious pecan and chocolate products, fair trade coffee, and more items handmade fresh from their farm, and sold at an onsite store and online.  https.//koinoniafarm.3dcartstores.com  

Atlanta and Grandaughter Evie

"Poppa" and Evie

Dacy with Daughter Evie on "Xena"

Driving further north in Georgia, we stopped next in Atlanta and visited my stepdaughter Dacy and her family. We stayed at the campground in Stone Mountain Park, where we also caught the famous laser show.  In addition to several visits with Dacy, her husband Ryan, and (almost!) 1-year old Evie, Paula and I rode on Xena around metro Atlanta.  These included a soggy trip in the rain out to a Harley-Davidson dealership in Conyers to have a faulty battery replaced. A day later, with a borrowed car from Dacy and Ryan, we drove out to my former Georgia Wildlife Division Regional and Headquarters offices, east of Atlanta, and to two of my former nearby residences in Covington and Oxford.  One morning we rode MARTA into downtown Atlanta and visited the Georgia Aquarium, and had lunch at Mary Mac's Tea  

Georgia Aquarium

Room, a very popular Southern  

restaurant for decades. Sweet tea, cracklin' bread, fried chicken, and collard greens with peach cobbler for dessert...mmm...mmm!

Mary Mac's Tea Room

Into the Carolinas and Virginia

During the 3rd week of April, we made our way northeastward into North Carolina, where we stopped and had a pleasant visit with Paula's friends, Jen and Chris Poullin, and their teenage daughters Madison and Devlin, in Pinehurst.  The Poullins had moved south from Vermont a couple of years prior, and continue to work as physical therapists here.  

When we left Pinehurst, we drove north to Mebane, North Carolina, where we hoped to attend a Dogwood Festival.  We enjoyed a very good country music band at an outdoor street venue on a cool Friday evening here, but the majority of the festival on Saturday was rained out.  Most of the dogwood flowers had dropped as well, though many azaleas were still in bloom.  The following morning we drove north into Virginia.

Natural Bridge and Buena Vista, Virginia

Blue Ridge Mountains

On Sunday, April 26 we entered south central Virginia and drove through Roanoke northward to the small city of Buena Vista, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.  We stayed in the city-owned Glen Maury Campground for several days.  On one of those days, Paula and I rode the motorcycle to Natural Bridge Park, one of nature’s most spectacular geological formations in a stone arch which towers 215 feet above Cedar Creek.  

Tim at Natural Bridge

Paula at Natural Bridge

By the end of April we were at the northern end of the Shenandoah Valley, and preparing to be entertained by the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, Virginia and hoping that we will have an opportunity to drive the motorcycle up onto Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park.  We plan to return to Vermont before the end of May, and so my next post will probably be my last.  Til then, may your paths be blessed!

Troubleshooting and Other March Pastimes!

Troubleshoot, Troubleshoot, Troubleshoot

Paula flew back to Vermont for several days to get a few things taken care of, so I am quite free to work on my March post.

Repair of Rear Slideout

Just in case some of you were thinking that motorhoming was all peaches and cream, let me inform you that March has been far from trouble-free.  A slight brush against a metal power pole while pulling away from the curb in downtown Stuart caused enough damage to the rear of a slide-out awning that we had to have replaced.  Though State Farm is reimbursing me for most of the repair, it took considerable time (and luck) to find an rv repairman who actually came to our campground, removed the damaged awning, ordered the new parts, and replaced the entire awning, including new hardware several days later.

Next, we discovered that Paula’s bicycle seat had broken (I’ll not speculate any as to the cause! ), and would need a new post after the separate sleeve is 

removed from her bicycle. We hope to get it fixed at a bicycle shop in Melbourne Beach prior to our departure from our current area.  With only a motorcycle and a motorhome, it does not give us many options to run back and forth into town with items as large as a bicycle.

If that wasn’t bad enough, our discovery of a dead motorhome battery the day we had planned to leave the Savanna’s Preserve Campground in Fort Pierce required us to find an emergency rv serviceman. He replaced the battery with a new one on a rainy Monday afternoon;

Dead Battery!

the old battery wouldn’t even hold a charge. This enabled us to get on our way only 6 hours after we had originally intended to leave.  Fortunately, we had only a short trip planned that day, and arrived at our next campground near Melbourne Beach before nightfall (with celebratory pizzas in hand)!

New York Mets Spring Training Game

Terry, Paula & Tim at Mets Game

Paula and I did get a chance to spend some time with my brother Terry, who lives in Port St. Lucie, Florida.  One sunny afternoon we attended a New York Mets Spring Training game against the Florida Marlins at Tradition Field, a few miles from Terry’s house.  We rode to the field with him, ate a “tailgate” lunch in a shady spot prior to the game, and watched a very good ballgame on a sunny afternoon along with thousands of other fans. 

The home team Mets were trailing 4 to 1 in the top half of the eighth inning and many fans left the stadium to avoid the anticipated aftergame traffic jam. It’s not over “til the fat lady sings” however!  In the bottom of the 8^th inning, the Mets scored 5 runs and ended up shutting out the Marlins in the top of the 9^th for the victory.  It sure brought home the point of never giving up or giving in, if you have a goal in mind, and especially if you have teammates counting on you! 

Campground  Friends

Evening Happy Hour with Music!

Most of our longer visits at campgrounds allow Paula (and sometimes me) to make friends and develop short term relationships with others.  During our first evening at the Savanna’s Preserve and RV Campground in Fort Pierce, we were invited to a “happy hour” with some other dozen or so campers, most of whom were snowbirds. This gala event stretched over 2 or 3 happy hours.  Paula and “Mo” entertained us with their singing and guitar playing during the early evening as we snacked on a variety of pot luck appetizers and liquid refreshments.  A good time was had by all.  Several other evenings we tried to repeat the event, but none quite lived up to that initial night.

Port St Lucie High School Dance Dept

Late on a hot Sunday afternoon, Paula and I watched a quality presentation by the Dance Department at the Port St Lucie High School.  It included selections from Chicago and the Lion King, and was very well done by some talented teens and their director. 

The number that especially caught my attention was “He Lives in Me” from The Lion King 2.  Many of you were probably moved by it when you saw the film, even if you do not remember it now.  Simba, the soon-to-be Lion King, is asked by his friend Rafiki to remember with reverence his father, Mufasa.  My father, Lewis Hess does live within me more than a little.  But when I really focused on the lyrics, I couldn't help but be drawn to my relationship with

Lion King Cast

to my relationship with our other Father, God, and his son.  “He lives in you, he lives in me; he watches over everything we see.  Into the water, into the truth; In your reflection, he lives in you.” Every day I hope that I reflect God’s love.  Serving God through others brings purpose and peace into my life.  It was a very stirring performance.

Have a Happy Easter!  

My next post will probably come to you from the Carolina's or Virginia, as we move our way back towards Vermont.

February- Early March in Southern Florida

Resting on Bradenton Waterfront (Cool Breeze)

In late January Paula and I again met up at her parent’s home in Bradenton, Florida.  (She had spent the early winter in Vermont).  Except for a couple of days when I snuck out to nearby Lake Manatee State Park, 6508 Tahitian Drive was our cozy winter home until the middle of February.  The Cozzy’s and friends at Hawaiin Village were great hosts, and ace mechanics!

Tom & Regina Cozzy

Dad, can you help me with my brakes?

We did punctuate our stay with Tom and Regina Cozzy by traveling to see Joanne (former Pines Bus. Mgr.) and Mark Blair in Cape Coral on Super-bowl weekend (160 mile round trip). 

The following weekend, we also  motored down to  Everglades City, at the southern tip of the Gulf in Florida, to attend a Seafood and Music Festival (300 mile roundtrip).

Everglades City Seafood & Music Festival

The seafood festival weekend involved a long motorcycle ride with alligators lining the highway in places.    

                                                 

The first evening in the motorhome in Naples involved being  awakened by gunshots, while the second was more restful in the parking lot of a large community church only a mile away from the previous spot.  

We attended services there on Sunday morning, before heading back to Bradenton.  {Please note that churches where we occasionally parked on a weekend were very welcoming to us, especially so if we attended a service and shared our story with them.} 

Grassroots Festival in Miami

On February 12 we drove southeastward via the Immokolee/Seminole Casino and then into the Big Cypress National Preserve where we stayed two nights at the Midway Campground.  On the 4^th morning, we drove U.S. Route 41 across the northern side of Everglades National Park through Miami onto the Rickenbacher Causeway and Virginia Key [def. = a small flat island near the coast].  The following 8 days and nights we were camped at the Grassroots Culture Camp and Bluegrass Festival.

This experience reminded me of Woodstock, as the festival was full of ‘free spirits’, and probably more marijuana than alcohol.  People of all ages and persuasions practiced yoga, slept in tents and vans, shared in the group meal preparation, and listened to bluegrass into the early hours of the morning.  Paula and I enjoyed ourselves (and Paula demonstrated a lot of patience) as we attended several days of duet singing and  

"The School of Rock"

Grassroots Festival "Midway"

songwriting workshops.  {Ask about "Poetry in Motion" and "More Than a Feeling" when we return.}  We both had similar favorite performers during the festival, but "The School of Rock" was my favorite musical group.  They were a band of teens from an area arts high school, much like the group that actor Jack Black led in a movie of the same name as the group.

Short sidetrips to Key Biscayne to have lunch with my niece, and an evening ride into Miami Beach to have dinner with Paula’s brother were especially nice diversions while we were in the area.  We also attended the morning worship service at an Episcopal church in Key Biscayne, where they honored visitors with a small bag of chocolate chip cookies!  (How about that for luring the lost sheep!)

Jerry, Paula & Bro Chris

Tim, Paula, JC and Niece Christine in Key Biscayne

Latest News from Son Chad

My son Chad, whom many of you have met, is now advertising on etsy.com for color illustrations of pets and homes.  If any of you are in the market for a gift of this type for a family member or friend, I hope you’ll think of him to provide such. 

Here is his current portfolio website and link to his etsy.com page:

http://chadlewishess.tumblr.com/ 
www.etsy.com/shop/ChadLewisHess 
 

The water color above is one that he did from the photo for a person that was evaluating his talent.  He is really quite a gifted artist  (BFA in Fine Arts from the School of Museum Arts and Tufts University in Boston), and was encouraged by artists and friends in Los Angeles to pursue this venture.  His father wishes him the very best!

Lake Okeechobee and the Treasure Coast

After leaving the Miami area on February 23rd, we drove northwest toward Lake Okeechobee and stayed in the Palm Beach County's South Bay RV campground for a short week.  This is a very agricultural area dominated by sugar cane and seasonal vegetables.  The towns in the area are obviously economically depressed (a large fruit and vegetable processing plant closed down about 5 years ago in Belle Glade).  There is a very evident migrant worker population in south central Florida, and Spanish is the language most often spoken in stores and businesses.

South Bay RV Campground - Lake Okeechobee Levee in Background

  

We left the Lake Okeechobee area and headed northeast to Stuart, Florida, and what is referred to as the Treasure Coast (due to Spanish galleons filled with treasure that sunk here during hurricanes in the 1800's) .  I'll fill you in on the rest of March around Easter weekend!  Hope you are all well.

Tim (and Paula)

12-ft Alligator

SLOW AND PEACEFUL JANUARY IN FLORIDA

Hello friends!  January has been passing by very slowly as I conclude visiting my brother in Port St Lucie, Florida.  It is the height of golf season for Terry, but my days have been spent reading, bicycling, and listening to music at a popular Saturday morning farmers market on the waterfront in Fort Pierce.  Terry and I usually sit down in the evening and watch a movie on TV and go over our days, if they were not spent together.  Most of what follows, I did not share with him...

Slowing Down

Scene of Near-Miss Bicycle Accident

Almost ran into a person on the corner in front of the library, as I was riding my bicycle the other day.  It was one of those wide walkways down here in Florida, with apparent room for both pedestrians and cautious cyclists.  I yelled ahead and told him that I intended to turn right where he was standing on the corner, hoping to get him to move one way or the other so that I could continue on my way unimpeded.  I thought “surely he must realize what my intentions were”, but after slowing down as much as I could without stopping, he still hadn’t taken a step and actually appeared to be shaking ever-so-slightly.  It didn’t seem as though he were capable of making a decision as to what to do, so at the last second I had to stop a few steps in front of him and dismount.  With some aggravation and an “excuse me please”, I finally convinced him to move ½ step so that I could turn the corner and proceed right down Ravenswood Drive.  

As I peddled away, all I could think of was the fear that I saw in this individual’s eyes.  I expected the person on the corner to be ‘normal’ like all of the other pedestrians that I had encountered on the streets of Port St Lucie.  If his reactions had mimicked those I anticipated there would have been a “hello” and a tip of the hat.  It made me feel bad.  How often are our actions misunderstood by, and perhaps hurtful to others?  What can we do to prevent this or at least reduce its frequency by caring more for the people we come across in our daily lives?  Perhaps just slowing down a little and being more observant, while wearing a kinder cloak or mantle would do the trick.  Will I be ready next time for my encounter with someone just a little bit different?

The 2-Minute Warning!

I’ve been watching so much football this winter while staying with my brother here in Florida, that I couldn’t help make at least one comparison between the game of football and our lives in general.  

I used to be the only one who knew the official time!

In most professional, college, and high school football games, the two-minute warning is given when two minutes of game time remain on the clock in each half of a game.  The origins are from the days when one of the officials actually kept the time remaining in the game on a watch or timepiece.  The purpose of the warning was a checkpoint to ensure that the teams knew how much time remained in the game (usually more important to the team that was losing). Since the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, large stadium clocks have become official nearly everywhere through use of an official timekeeper.  The two-minute warning has been retained however as a commercial break during televised games, to serve as "tension building" time (for fans primarily), and a somewhat important part of the game's flow.
    

Often I get frustrated when I see football teams change their whole strategy during the final 2 minutes of a game.  One team employs a “prevent defense”, which hardly ever seems to prevent the other team from scoring.  The other team runs a set of plays called their “2-minute” drill, which often involves a lot of passing and frequent scoring of touchdowns.  If it is so easy to score, why didn’t they just play like that during the whole game, rather than waiting until only 2 minutes was left?

But the 2-minute warning would appear to have outlived its original usefulness in football.  Let's think about a 2-minute warning in the context of our lives.  I bet many if not most people would rather have a “two-minute warning” before their death.  Is that what a doctor gives to some when they tell them that they have 3 or 6 months to live from an inoperable form of late-stage cancer? What would you do with such knowledge?  Does that give us time enough to go through a "2-minute drill" to score favor with God, or even to prepare and execute a short bucket list (for example, visit Paris, go sky diving, or apologize to a family member with whom we’ve been on nonspeaking terms)?

So wouldn’t the same seem to imply to our lives?  Why should we wait until the very end of our lives to do the things that we should have been doing all along? Isn't that what God expects?  Why not go see something that you’ve always wanted to see, or do something that you’ve always wanted to do?  Why not forgive or go visit that family member now instead of waiting?

Sarah’s Kitchen

This organization, which was begun in 2009 by a group of spiritually motivated laymen and clergy, is an interfaith group representing 30 churches in the Port St Lucie area welcoming and providing hot nutritious meals to those who are hungry and struggling financially. In response to God’s Love and in the scriptural spirit of hospitality, volunteers meet each afternoon to prepare and serve 

Volunteers Preparing an Evening Meal

these evening meals.  They believe that everyone can make 

a positive difference in the lives

of others.  Several Monday 

afternoons this winter I have had 

the opportunity to assist with the preparation of meals in the kitchen of the First United Methodist Church.  Over 1,200 dinners are served weekly by Sarah’s Kitchen at First UMC and at other churches Tuesday through Friday.  It has been fun, and I met a lot of wonderful people from the community of faith.

 

Well, I'm leaving tomorrow (Jan 23rd) in the motorhome to meet up with Paula again in Bradenton, Florida (on the Gulf Coast), where we'll start the next phase of our adventure by celebrating her mother's birthday!  We anticipate spending the next month in Bradenton, Cape Coral, and Everglades City before venturing to Miami for an 8-day Virginia Key Grassroots Music Festival.  I'll post next after that festival!  Take care.

Love, Tim