First weekend in Williamsburg - Day 1233 (Year 4, Day 138)

Williamsburg, VA

Sorry if this posting is a few days late....

We arrived at the campground approx. 12:30 pm on Friday. This place is actually like 2 separate campgrounds, about 1/2 mile apart from each other.  There's the main area where most of the activities are, and the "quiet" area, which is mostly used as an overflow area and a place for long-termers.  We are in that section.  We were in our spot (pull thru) and set up by 1:30 pm.  I didn't have much work but did need to prepare for Shabbat.  I knew I wouldn't have time to bake challah so we bought some rolls in WV.  After set up, however, I did put up the soup.

My impressions about this place: it's very rustic and set in the woods.  Across the road is a lovely pond (which actually looks like a lake).  We arrived here at the tail end of fall folliage (which we missed on our drive over), so we were able to capture a bit of nature's beauty for a few days, especially the colorful trees reflecting in the pond.  Awesome view.  I didn't have a camera, but the effect was very similar to this:




Otherwise, not much going on in the campground right now, at least not in this section.  Very quiet with nowhere for me to walk to (too far to get to the main section, although there is a 3/4 mile hiking trail which is mostly uphill thru the woods to get there).  So, as always, I'm completely isolated when Mitch is at work.  Today, I did meet my next door neighbors, Carolanne and Chuck, who seem very nice.  Perhaps I'll be able to develop a relationship with them.

We decided to spend the Sabbath davening at home. We're not quite ready to explore a Reconstructionist place yet (which is in the area) and weren't ready to travel the 25 miles to the Orthodox synagogue in Newport News (the rabbi only comes about once a month, when their services and attendance are greater; next time is 11/17), so we stayed home.

On Sunday, the plan was not to go out to explore yet but for Mitch to reorganize the basement.  Needless to say, he didn't do that and I hadn't really done any research as to what, where and when for things to do.  We landed up driving to Colonial Williamsburg Visitor's Center, which is pretty much where everything begins.  I thought we'd just jump in to pick up a few brochures (like what we see at most interstate visitor/welcome centers).  This place was nothing like that!   It was more of a combination of shops and a small museum.  There were 2 short movies: one giving an overview of what to see and do in Colonial Williamsburg and the other was a fictional story, "A Patriot's Story," about one of the first patriots in the early days of the rebellion against Britain.  We landed up spending about 2 1/2 hours there.  There will be so many things to visit in the area, and I will not be able to do all that walking due to the arthritis and bursitis in my hip, so we hope to take 1 day to spend at 1 or 2 sites throughout our time here (will need to purchase the annual pass).  There's also a lot of history I want to explore in Jamestown and Yorktown nearby.  (someday, I also hope to spend time up in Boston where it really all began).

Mitch met his new boss on Monday.  He thought that in order to be certified in this area, he would just be shadowed for 2 weeks.  Turns out he needs to be tested, so he spent much of Monday studying.  There needs to be 48 hours between the study session and proctored tests, so he will be back tomorrow (Thursday) to take the exam.  This means he was home yesterday and today.  We were going to go out to our first site (Governor's Palace) yesterday, but the weather was lousy and I was feeling extremely fatigued (I actually made an appt to see the doctor and was lucky to get an appointment today -- I'm leaving in about an hour.  I want to have another blood workup as I think the almost constant exhaustion could be my iron or vitamin levels very low again).  Today is also very lousy weather-wise, so no plans to do anything after the doctor.