Right next to the Hampton public piers is the Langley Air and Space museum. Becca had to remind us that Hampton is where NASA started and the Hidden Figures ladies were from that area.
It’s a little smaller than other Air & Space museums, but still was nice to walk around and see the exhibits. They were pretty heavy on video simulators, and the crowds were pretty light, so we tried our hand at several different ones including the Mars rover, a moon lander, and a flight simulator.
The highlight was probably an Apollo capsule that still bore the burn marks from the heat of re-entry. Still amazing at the small size of the early spacecraft. Definitely not for the claustrophobic.
A real capsule, scorch marks from re-entry and all.
Landing (and crashing) on the moon.
Just as many crashes as Becca. Must be something wrong with the controls, or gravity, or something…
Hidden figures. Great inspiration!
Lots of planes, including a glider, a Wright Flyer replica and several military planes
A cool small plane flight simulator. Managed to do a loop – just before crashing…
Pilot in training
But if not…
A long day ahead, with a favorable wind on the beam, and a little help from the current. Rappahanock to Hampton. Rather than go straight to the Hampton Public Piers, we opted to anchor in Mill Creek by Ft Monroe. That way our arrival time didn’t really matter. Hampton piers is notorious for a strong cross current at the slips and much prefer to arrive at slack tide. So a calm night on the hook followed by a leisurely, short trip from the anchorage to the slip was in order.
Sometimes the plan works out! We made better time than expected and enjoyed a relaxing evening at anchor watching the traffic jam on the nearby highway. Better them than us!
The ride down the Bay was the usual combination of lighthouse spotting, reading, munching, and enjoying the scenery.
Now for a few days shoreside exploring Hampton, VA.
Early morning start
Waiting for the lighthouse
Wolf Trap Lighthouse
Reading, reading, reading!!
Algebra class – fun with quadratic equations!
But if not…
Thirty five years sailing the Chesapeake and we’ve never ventured onto the Rappahanock River. Shame on us! It’s a beautiful area. We anchored in Carter Creek for a couple days to wait out a cold front. Great protection and calm waters. The Tides Inn was close by but way out of our range. The eastern branch of the river was more our style.
But the best part of the trip is that we have a new crewmember aboard. Rebecca, our oldest grand, is joining us for the first month of our trip. She will be with us from Deltaville to some point south, probably Beaufort, NC. One of her main requests was to see dolphins. So what did we see on the Rappahanock? A pod of dolphins that frolicked alongside and showed off their jumping skills. Success!!
Then we moved farther into the river and visited Urbana. Now a sleepy little spot, it was once a major tobacco shipping and inspection port. Also a place to get a fantastic bowl of she-crab soup!
Now it’s time to start south.
Becca driving the dinghy. Push the handle to go one way, pull to go the other way. Or is it the other way around?
Looking good. Doing great!
But if not…
It’s been way too long – almost exactly 2-1/2 years to be exact. But we are thrilled to relaunch and get back to our journeys by water!
Needless to say, the project list was long and painful. But after an intense 3 weeks on the hard and another week post launch, we were able to head out into the Chesapeake Bay and turn south.
This year, given all the new and changing regulations, our destination is very uncertain. South for sure. Maybe the Bahamas (our first choice), or perhaps Florida’s west coast, or maybe Vero Beach. No bad choices on the list. All warm and inviting!
But if not…
We’re back in Maryland. We stopped by the boat to check on her and put Damprid inside to hopefully keep the mildew at bay during the hazy, hot and humid summer of the Chesapeake Bay. We’re not completely sure what our summer plans are but we’re going to visit kids and grands using our RV.
Chesapeake Bay
An Osprey passing overhead.
Paperbird waiting for more adventures!
Praise God from whom all blessings flow…
He quieted the sea with his power
These are pictures of wildlife we saw in Texas this winter (Jan to April 2021).
Several different types of jellyfish.
Ibis
Ibis…don’t go away mad…just go away!
The fish laying on the bank in the picture above and this sea turtle were dead from the week of 15 degree temps we had in February. We read about a group that rescued a bunch of sea turtles off of Padre Island Texas before they died and returned them to the sea after they warmed up and recuperated.
A huge seagull nesting area is in Rockport Texas. It’s fenced off with signs to keep out. There were thousands of seagulls nesting during March.
Stilt Sandpiper out fishing.
The pelicans were constantly after seagull eggs! It kept the seagulls very busy protecting their nest!
Pelicans
Blackbelly whistling ducks
Common Grackle
Mallard ducks
I still don’t know what kind of duck this is but the Mallards kept chasing it away.
We were told that alligators do live in this canal but we never saw any.
He quieted the sea with his power
I’m not sure two winters in a row in Texas means we can call ourselves winter Texans but we enjoyed another winter there…well, except for the epic freeze in February! YES…we survived the unprecedented freeze of 2021 in Texas!!
This year we stayed in Rockport, about an hour from Chorpus Christi, on Aransas Bay, right on of the Gulf of Mexico. We had mostly mild weather for outside activities.
We did a lot of walking, kayaking, attended a weekly Bible study and local church service. Greg has been teaching our oldest granddaughter algebra since last year so that continued through zoom and we really enjoy seeing the grands daily this way. He and Becca both enjoy the math!!
We saw lots of these bumper stickers in Texas.
January 1st 2021 sunrise.
Our campsite in Rockport Texas for the winter.
Walking the fishing pier at the beach in Rockport Texas.
The area has many old Live Oak trees. They are very hardy! They’ve survived hurricanes, Texas summer heat and the week long deep freeze we had in February.
Kayaking through a canal community that was still recovering from hurricane Harvey 3 years ago.
Beach walking.
Watching boats and birds in the canal.
Beach walking.
Oil rigs waiting to be taken to their locations.
Foggy walk at the beach.
Ice and snow from the epic, unprecedented, historic deep freeze in February. How many more overused adjectives can we use?
We had a high temperature of 15 defrees F for 3 days starting on Feb 14 2021. We lost power and then water for most of the week. Because of broken pipes in the summer vacation homes it took time for all the water main breaks to be found. We had our generator and propane for heat and our onboard water tank was full…so we had heat and water.
Propane, gas and grocery stores ran out of provisions because of trucks not being able to get to Rockport on the icy roads. The people in the campground pulled together helping each other. Within 2 weeks most things were back to normal.
Small fish froze and washed up on the banks of Aransas Bay.
Tropical plants froze.
Hiking along a marsh…we hiked this almost daily. Except during the freeze!
Working at the car wash 🎶
Beach walking!
The campground hosted a day at the beach with lots of out door games. Most of their activities were not happening because of COVID.
There was an outdoor market one Saturday a month that was fun to walk around.
Watching oyster men working out in the Aransas Bay near Rockport.
A turtle pond at a nearby park that we walked almost daily.
Windmill pumping water into the pond where we walked.
More kayaking.
We saw lots of bird migration and nesting.
An old Church in down town Rockport.
Ford model T club met one weekend for the public to see.
Weather coming!
Watching fishermen at the pier.
Fishermen at the jetty.
A kite surfer.
Tug boat heading out to bring a ship in.
Tug boat bringing Dole ship into port.
Texas Bluebells…they make springtime beautiful!
Beach walking.
Wild flowers starting to bloom at Fort Quintana.
He quieted the sea with his power
Christmas in Bethlehem…
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:1-7
And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. Luke 2:8-20
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us). Matthew 1:23
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this. Isa.9:6-7
We are very thankful for the gift of Jesus, our Lord and savior and pray that His love and mercy bless you and your family.
Merry Christmas,
Greg and Lyn
We are so thankful for the love and welcome we’ve had this year at our daughters home. We’re living in our RV at their house and have enjoyed all the extra time we’ve had with our grandchildren. Living “next door” has been very special.
Carrots – easy to grow, fun to collect, great to eat!
Not a bad haul…
Any game is a fun game when played with the grands. Amazing how quickly and how well they learn even chess.
Thanksgiving is one of our favorite times of the year. A time to gather together with family. A time to reflect on God’s goodness. A time to begin to turn our hearts and minds to celebrating Christmas and the birth of our Savior Jesus!
But if not…
