Chillin' - Day 1293 (Year 4, Day 198)

Williamsburg, VA

Actually, it's the wine that's chilling:

As for me, I'm frigid.  During the night on Friday, we ran out of propane in one of the tanks so we woke up to the room being 30 degrees!!! (we have a thermometer, so I'm not exaggerating.  We could see our breath.  It was very painful to get out of bed, at least until Mitch was able to go outside and switch over to the other tank).

I HATE the winter and really don't want to be here for the duration.  I haven't even desired to go out and do touristy things as I just don't want to step outside in the single digit temps.  Mitch is going to ask his boss if there's anything in FL or AZ but I'm not too hopeful.

At least tomorrow it'll be in the 40's, 50s Tues and up near 70 on Thursday!!!  Then back to freezing by Monday.

Winter :( -- Day 1291 (Year 4, Day 196)

Williamsburg, VA

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate winter??? (then again, I hate any extreme temperatures).

As mentioned in my previous 2 posts, most of the US is experiencing an Arctic freeze.  Over the last day or 2, there was a huge storm along the East coast that produced not only below zero temps and wind chills, but snow -- all the way down to Florida!!!

Here in Williamsburg, we were not spared.  Fortunately, not as bad as some other parts of the country, especially New England, but still pretty bad.  Mitch was off of work Thurs and today (Fri) due to the snow and ice.  Here's a photo from our back window.  We only received about 3 inches, but still.... we never planned to be in this type of weather when we decided to full time. As always, "man plans, God laughs."  Pretty, and thankful that we don't need to shovel the driveway, but still -- would prefer to be in a warmer climate. 

New Years 2018 - Day 1287 (Year 4, Day 192)

Williamsburg, VA

We rang in the new year last night, sort of.  Like the previous year, we just hung out and didn't even break out the Scrabble board.  We did play some music and even danced a little, and we made a nice batch of low carb vegetarian nachos (using almond flour, the way I make my crackers, and without the beans) and drank wine (no mixed drinks like in the past). Then we watched a movie - the totally wrong one for a festive day:  "Manchester by the Sea."  It was an excellent movie but an extremely depressing story (I had thought it would be a "feel good" movie, but boy was I wrong!)  The movie ended just on time to watch the ball drop (on tv, of course).  It was extremely quiet here; not even a single fire cracker (then again, it's about 10 miles to "civilization" and the campground here is officially closed except for the quiet section we're in which is for long termers -- mostly seasonal contract workers like us).  We went to bed at 12:30, got out of bed this morning at 10:00!  Taking it real slow, easy and lazy today.

We're also in the middle of an arctic freeze.  Wind chill this morning was 8 degrees!  Pretty much the whole country is feeling it, and much of the northeast is getting hit hard with a lot of snow.  We need to keep the water running in the sink so the lines don't freeze up (it did a few days ago because I accidentally shut it off and remembered 2 hours later, by which time it was all a block of ice in the hose and at the spigot.  Fortunately, it warmed up to about 36, so it melted the ice.  Water has been left on ever since).  We're also using at least 1 40# tank of propane per week as the furnace automatically kicks on at around 35 degrees (otherwise it's the electric heat pump which is part of the a/c unit).  Normally, when we're not in a winter climate, we use a 40# tank about every 6-8 months; sometimes a bit more frequently if we boondock a lot or have electrical problems and need to run the generator (which we don't that often).  I hate extreme temps, but am grateful I get to stay indoors (even though I wear a 2 long sleeve shirts and a sweatshirt with a hood, gloves, and sit in front of a space heater), while Mitch has to be outside working in the biting cold.

As I look back on 2017, the world became a very scary place.  I pray that things take a turn for the better this coming year.  For us, personally, it was a productive year work-wise and we did get to visit some interesting places.  I'm hoping that 2018 brings us a bit farther west; particularly to Arizona and/or New Mexico.  We've been at the beach, by lakes and in the mountains.  Haven't done the desert yet.

Christmas - Day 1282 (Year 4, Day 187)

Williamsburg, VA

Not much to report in the way of the past week other than work, work, work.  However, Christmas "weekend" was wonderful.  Jessica's in-laws and their family live in northern VA, about 125 miles from where we are.  They celebrate Xmas and the kids were going to be with them (we are good friends with them as well) and were invited to share in the festivities.

We left on Sunday morning about 8:00 am and arrived there about 10:30 am.  We anticipated a lot of traffic (which is standard 24/7 in that area) but were surprised not to have any.  We enjoyed the day just hanging with Donna & Hugh, and then had a lovely Xmas Eve party with their daughter Susan.  Had a lovely Chinese food lunch on Monday (a typical, almost traditional Jewish thing to do!!!) with the entire gang and then hit the road around 2:00 pm.

All in all, we had a really awesome time spent with family.

Some shows - Day 1274 (Year 4, Day 179)

Williamsburg, VA

This past Shabbat we did indeed make it to synagogue services in Newport News.  As before, not as awe inspiring as some of the Chabad's we've been to, but it was still very lovely and the lunch of latkes and bagels/lox was yummy.

On Sunday, we decided to forego the touristy stuff and go to the movie theater instead, to see the latest Star Wars movie ("The Last Jedi" in 3D).  This is #8; I just can't believe we saw the first one 40 years ago!  It was very action-filled and good, if you like that kind of stuff.  It's not exactly my first choice of genre, but I can't say that I was sitting there feeling bored and tortured either.

The theater itself was in the middle of a very interesting and quaint downtown area in the New Town section of Williamsburg.  Kind of reminded me a little of Westfield, NJ.  Although the stores were very modern, the setting was designed to give a colonial feel.  Here is a photo (fortunately, there was an outdoor parking lot as well; street parking is impossible, especially for the truck which needs at least 2 spots).  This is only 1 street, but the area is about 6 square blocks and each street has this same look.

Today is Tuesday, December 19th, and Mitch's 60th birthday.  As I mentioned in my last post (Dec. 14th), we are going to see "The Meshuga Nutcracker," a hilarious musical based on tales of Chelm (old Yiddish stories of a town of idiots and their crazy decisions).  It is being performed live at the Met in NYC, and live streamed in various nationwide movie theaters. The closest theater it's playing in is 30 miles away - in Hampton, VA.  Now, coincidentally, this is the area where Mitch has been working for the past 2 weeks (hopefully by the beginning of the year his maps will be a bit closer to home).  It really didn't make sense for him to drive an extra 60 miles round trip just to come and pick me up (not to mention it wouldn't give us any time for a nice dinner before the movie).  So I decided that, as unpleasant and inconvenient it would be, I would get up with Mitch at 5:30 am and find a place nearby to park myself to work.  As of this writing (10:45 am), I am at a mostly empty Burger King (I brought my own food but am purchasing tea).  I did ask permission from the manager to stay for a few hours and he was very surprised and appreciative that I asked.  I will probably move to another food place or even a library after lunch so I don't overstay my welcome.

UPDATE:  The show was wonderful and a lot of fun!  And I stayed at BK the entire day.  Believe it or not, I actually had table wait service!!!  The manager kept coming over to check on me, to make sure my needs were met.  At one point, he saw I was unable to break away to come up front to place an order, so he came over to take my order and deliver it to the table (a side salad and tea).  Totally unbelievable!!!  The place was also mostly empty so I didn't feel like I was taking up important space, and the manager was so overwhelmingly accommodating!

Up to lately - Day 1269 (Year 4, Day 174)

Williamsburg, VA

Been almost 10 days since I've posted, so you know a whole lot of interesting things have not been happening!  During the week, it's work as usual.  We did not go to shul this past weekend, although, G-d willing, we'll be going this coming Shabbat (rabbi will be there, plus it's a holiday).

On Sunday, we visited CW (Colonial Williamsburg) again.  Since we will be spending Xmas with Jessica's in-laws & family, we needed to buy gifts (they live in northern VA, about 150 miles from here, so it's very doable).  I thought it was that coming weekend so I put a high priority in getting the shopping done, thinking this past Sunday was the last chance I'll have.  So we visited the gift shop and then the Merchant Square section of the park, hoping to find some unique gift items.  Unfortunately, nothing really struck me and the things that did were way out of our price range.  The Square itself was lots of shops located in colonial looking buildings; extremely quaint.  They are all owned by the same organization so they all pretty much carried the same items.  After spending about 1 1/2 hours there, we decided to try a specialty Xmas store (didn't want to be anywhere near the malls or big box stores).

Of course, once I got home, I realized that Xmas was not next week but the week after, so I still actually did have one more opportunity to shop.  Oh well, all for the best since I'm sure many more people will be waiting until the last minute as well.

This week also started the holiday of Chanukkah and it is the first year where we're not close enough to a community where there's a public candle lighting or even party, so we'll celebrate alone.  Latkes (potato pancakes) are a traditional holiday dish (as is anything cooked in oil to commemorate the oil lasting 8 days).  Due to my low carb diet, I made a batch with cauliflower and almond flour.  They came out pretty good and tasty, all things considered (it's kind of like eating Tofurkey - tastes good on its own, as long as you don't try to think of it as real meat).

This past week has also brought true winter weather, and the furnace has been running way more than the heat pump (temps in 30s and 40s).  One night it got into the 20s with a dusting of snow (other parts of the country got hit with inches and feet).  All the leaves are gone from the trees and the place has the drab look of winter.  Wish I was in FL -- I miss the palm trees!  Here's a picture from my back window:

This coming Tuesday will be Mitch's birthday.  There's a live show which is performed at the Met in NYC and being live streamed in theaters nationwide - "The Meshuga Nutcracker" which is a hiliarious musical.  It's playing 30 miles away but Mitch really wants to go so we shall.  Not sure of the plans for Sunday yet.  We still haven't visited the  museums at CW and I still want to visit Yorktown and/or Jamestown.

Another visit to CW - Day 1260 (Year 4, Day 165)

Williamsburg, VA

A note that on Saturday, we did not schlep out to any shul but rather stayed home, prayed, rested and read.  Slow and relaxing day.

On Sunday, we made another trip to Colonial Williamsburg to visit another unseen section -- the Palace (more about that later).  This was also a big event day: the "Grand Illumination."  Starting at 4:00 pm, there would be a fife & drum parade & ceremony, followed by holiday lighting of all the buildings (many just candles in the windows as they did in the 18th century).  There were several different bands playing throughout the area (jazz, bluegrass, "oldies" among others), followed by fireworks at 7:30 pm.  The shuttle buses would stop running between 6:30 and 9, so if you didn't leave before the fireworks, you were stuck there for at least another hour afterwards.

Although we originally wanted to go, we thought about the logistics and realized it would just not work for us.  Not only do we hate crowds, but between the thousands of folks heading for the buses and leaving the parking lot at the same time (causing a traffic  jam), we wouldn't get home until close to 11pm, which is way too late for a work night (when Mitch has to be up at 5:00 am).  So we decided just to visit the area like we would any other Sunday and leave before the crowds came.

Unfortunately, many, many people did come quite early so the place was still packed.  Even the buses were standing room only (I left like I was back in NYC!).  People brought their lawn chairs to set up for the bands and good viewing for the fireworks quite early.  There was a huge police and security presence, even porta-potties all around as the restrooms wouldn't be enough to accommodate such a large crowd.  Many streets and some exhibits were closed off in advance.

We got to the park around noon and took the shuttle to the Palace stop.  In today's terms, this would be the Governor's Mansion which is exactly what it was, when the colonies were still under British rule.  Before taking a tour of the Palace, we stopped at the Playbooth Theater for a cute little 17 minute play, written and performed by a local troupe.  It's not really a theater, but a rickety outdoor stage in an area where the first real theater of the colonies stood.  "The Comet Huntress" was loosely based on the life of astronomer Caroline Herschel.

       
   

After the show, we headed over to the Palace.  Before entering the main building, we passed through the gardens and a few separate buildings which housed the kitchen, smokehouse, salt house and storage facilities.  In the kitchen, there was a demonstration of the cooking and types of food the governor (and other wealthy folks) would eat.  The chef was currently cooking rabbit (it smelled delicious):



We next went inside the main building (had to use a side door as the main door was blocked off due to the event).  The side door was probably used as an entrance for servants and deliveries.  Overall, I found this to be quite an impressive building for it's time, although I was far more impressed by the Biltmore (which was built about 125 years later.  Here is my post about that place: http://mitcheryl-rv-journey.blogspot.com/2016/03/biltmore-estate-day-626-yr-2-day-261.html).

The outside of the Palace and gardens:

    

The main hall where one would normally enter was covered, floor to ceiling, with swords and guns - hundreds, if not thousands of them - mounted in a very decorative fashion.  The message was "don't mess with us!"

   

Ballroom and close up of chandelier:

  

Fireplace and bed in Governor's wife's bedroom (those are exquisite dresses draped over the chair):

  

We left the park at 4:00 pm and returned home exhausted.