From Northern Virginia To Ohio

We enjoyed the Labor Day weekend at our membership park, Skyline Ranch Resort, in Front Royal. Daughter Robin and her family spent the weekend with us. One of the highlights was a trip along gorgeous Skyline Drive, where miriad, lovely, colorful Monarch butterflies were everywhere we stopped to get panoramic view of the majestic highlands. After three weeks of travel, it was time to say goodbye to our grandson and traveling buddy, Samuel, so he could start the new school year in Fairfax County.

September 7 was our 53rd wedding anniversary, and both of us felt a need to do something quiet and relaxing after having been with family for the past month. We had not really had much time for planning but finally did something we had wanted to do for a long time--visit Montpelier, the home of James Madison, "Father of Our Constitution." It was a perfect sunny day to drive the scenic country roads from Front Royal to Orange, VA. Montpelier had been inherited by James from his wealthy parents, and he and Dolly upgraded it significantly; it is where our fourth President was born and died. Dolly was married before and had a ne'er-do-well son, Payne Todd, who was an alcoholic. He essentially ran through the widowed Dolly's fortune, and she was living a near poverty state in Washington, D.C. at the time of her death in 1849, where she had had many influential friends in high places. Dolly was loved and respected by everyone. She and James had no children, and she had been forced to sell Montpelier to cover her debts. The property was eventually owned by the wealthy DuPonts. Marion Dupont, an avid horse enthusiast, made huge and expansive changes to the old mansion. In her will, she ensured the Madion legacy for Montpelier by mandating that the estate be transferred to the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 1983. Now, thankfully, the old mansion is being restored to its condition when it was owned by James and Dolly. In addition to a tour of the recently refurbished home, there is a wonderful visitor's center which focuses on the DuPont years. On our way back to Skyline Ranch, we stopped for a sumptuous dinner at an old European style restaurant in Culpepper.

We visited our old neighborhood in Vienna and saw our decorator friend, Lisa. Gloria was delighted to get her hair done by Vickie, her favorite hairdresser for the past 30 years. We also visited our former church and Sunday school class at Columbia Baptist and were treated to lunch at Joe’s, an excellent Italian restaurant in Vienna, by long-time friends, Lillian and Bo. Two of our other friends, Bobby and Jo, visited us at the campground in Front Royal. They enjoyed learning Joker, the favorite game of Airstreamers. We also took time to visit and play Bridge with Handley and Millie at the Greenspring Village. a retirement center in Fairfax, County. They are former Airstreamers and served as President and First Lady of Region 3, which includes Wally Byam Airstream Caravan Clubs from seven southern states.

It was a busy but enjoyable ten days being back in Northern Virginia where we lived for over 30 years prior to our move to Texas three years ago. In addition to visiting with old friends, we finally made it to the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. It was great to see so many historic planes, to include the famous Enola Gay, which carried the first atomic bomb to Hiroshima, thus bringing about Japan’s surrender to end WWII. The museum also pays tribute to our early astronauts, including the Airstream trailer that greeted them after successful flights.

It was time to drive our trailer to the fairgrounds in Harrisonburg, VA for a Virginia Airstream Commonwealth Rally. There, we had fellowship with many of our old Airstream buddies and celebrated Bill W’s good year as President of the Northern Virginia Unit (NORVA). Region 3 President, Rick, was there to induct our new Northern Virginia Unit President, Della. We were on her caravan last year, and she and husband, Cecil, did a fabulous job touring us through bluegrass music sites, museums, historical places, and coal mining towns in the corner where Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee meet. Della is a conscientious Christian, who will do a great job as NORVA President. She is shown at far left in the above photo along with Past President Bill and Past First Lady Barbara. Our Commonwealth Rally ended with a Sunday continental breakfast and devotional service led by Jerry. His message was “Jesus: The Greatest Possibility Thinker of All Time.”

From Harrisonburg, we began our trip back to Texas taking the long way through Ohio. We were having problems with a new sewer valve installed by P & S Trailer Service in Helena, Ohio. Steve, the owner of P & S agreed to replace the valve with a new kit free of charge, and it works like a charm--if indeed sewage can ever be called “charming.” Steve, in addition to being a master at Airstream refinishing and repairing, farms several hundred acres of rich Ohio farmland near where we grew up. We were at P & S for two nights, and Gloria got to realize her dream of riding in the cab of a huge self-propelled combine driven by Steve's son, Kevin. These monster machines are far different from the small towed ones farmers used during the time of our youth. Following a successful repair, it was time to head west to Indiana and then southwest toward Texas.