trip one down

A few weeks ago Mom's cardiologist told her he would like to schedule an arteriogram. Her nuclear stress test showed some new irregularities that he was concerned about.

I know that arteriograms are routine procedures. But routine heart procedures, like any other physical procedure, can always go wrong. And with Mom's health status, it wasn't something I felt comfortable staying home during when we could be there with a few minor inconveniences.

So we shifted our schedules as much as we could. My mother-in-law had an appointment that couldn't be rescheduled Tuesday morning, so we left about 12:30 Tuesday afternoon. We made it to Irondale, AL about 9:30pm Alabama time (10:30 NC time) where stayed in a hotel. With Bobby's disability, bedtime is never as simple as simply crawling in the bed. It was about 11:45 before I turned off the last lamp. Our alarm went off at 4:30am, and by 6:10am we were on our way to the hospital in downtown Birmingham. We got there in time to see Mom and visit a little before her procedure.

Even though my brother had planned to come, he got called in to work. My niece had a final exam, so my sister had to wait for her to be finished (around 10am) before she could come. I was very glad we went so Dad didn't have to be in the waiting room alone. People often forget that preachers need a comforting word during trying times, too. As time drug on and other family members of people having the same procedures came and went, we knew Mom was either having stints inserted into her arteries or they had experienced complications. Dad was getting very concerned.

Finally the doctor showed up. There was a blockage in one of the arteries and it was successfully stinted. The congestive heart failure had improved, as had the pressure between the chambers. Her leaking valve has not worsened. The bad but to be expected news was the he feels this blockage was caused by her lupus and the chronic inflammation. The best outcome was before she left the hospital the next day he gave her the names of two different pulmonary cardiologists (she's had a next to impossible time getting the required appointments with the one she has) AND both of them are in the county where they live!! So that is certainly one answer to prayer.

I wasn't able to get everything done for my parents that I had hoped or planned, but I was able to get a few things done. And my younger sister (who is a teacher) is now out of school, so she's been a great help to Mom today. My older sister will be arriving there on Monday, so between the two of them I think they'll be able to keep Mom in check and help her with the things that need to be done. I think this will be a very different Christmas for us, though a good one.

I'm so thankful for a husband who is willing to drive 20+ hours in four days and help me see about the multitude of things that need to be done.

our fun tourist trap

Luray Caverns in Luray, Virginia, while not accessible, does have a lot of museums AND a garden maze. We went through the maze (that is wheelchair accessible), got lost more than we found our way, but mostly enjoyed it. I was fascinated by the layout, disappointed by the "hidden" things (places to stamp a message on a sheet of paper so you could get a $1 off a tshirt in the gift shop where the maze ended...no thanks), and flabbergasted by the "clues" that basically said "go 15 steps and turn right, then..." Yep. Seriously. The clue is - exactly where you need to go. That's not quite my idea of a clue. Bobby was amazed at the number of families doing it with small children; I was amazed at the number of small kids running into you and screaming "IT's a DEAD END!!! It's not the way!!! Go BACK!" as if the world was coming to an end. By the halfway point it was almost comical. They did have a lot of neat statuary and metal art with flowers throughout the maze, and near the halfway point was a ramp that allowed you to look down on the maze over the watering fountain in the middle. Maybe one day in my old age I'll create a maze, wherever I'm living, and the map and hidden things will be more along the lines of what I thought this experience would be like.

I did not take pictures of the Lib's Place, the quilt shop we visited on the way home. Turns out we have been there before, and it's one of my more favorite shops I've ever been to as for content, friendliness, and quirkiness. I'm glad it's not close-by, as I would probably spend WAY too much time there!

And this post concludes all our vacation pics!

museums

We were able to visit quite a few museums on our trip. The Virginia Quilt museum was nice, though it didn't quite live up to its billing of having exhibits covering the history of quilting. It did have two very nice and interesting exhibits, though. I did take some pictures of the upper floor exhibit so Bobby could see a few pieces (old houses don't have elevators), but nothing can be photographed and posted electronically due to copyright restrictions.

We visited two different civil war museums (both within a few miles of each other but on the same battleground area). One was a private collection from a man and covered a very wide time period (Indian artifacts, Civil War, WWI and WWII). The timeline was jumbled (you'd be reading a row of civil war info and suddenly be at a case of WWI), but the amount of items and the detailed information was overwhelming, incredible, and a historian's delight. Almost all of their information came from home firsthand sources. While it wasn't the best layout or design in presentation, it was probably one of the more informative museums I've been to. The second museum was part of the Virginia Military Institute. It was more modern, had up-to-date presentations (videos, lighting, less reading, more spacious displays). We also learned a lot here about the local impact of the war, and I got my exercise in walking through the farm where the battle took place that included VMI students and where the story for the "Field of Lost Shoes" took place. On a side note, I should add that the path is not strenuous, but we were pushed for time and determined to get it all in before closing so we were walking at a very fast pace.

On our last day of the trip we were able to fit in three more in Lexington: the chapel/museum of VMI, the chapel/museum of Washington Lee University, and the house of Stonewall Jackson. What we didn't realize before our arrival was the the campuses of Virginia Military Institute and Washington Lee University are adjoining. That helped us pack in a few extra things that day!

We were both impressed with the VMI chapel.

The eagle in the podium is actually a music/lecture stand that is placed inside the podium (the stage was empty).

the back balcony, as seen from the front.

The museum at VMI is located on the 2nd and 3rd floor under the chapel. The second contained what we went to see: the stuffed "Little Sorrel" (the horse of Stonewall Jackson). Bobby didn't think he looked all that great, but laughed that he didn't know what he expect from a horse that had been dead almost 150 years. I was most impressed with the layout and description of the barracks and how they had changed (and how little) over the years. 3rd floor was half a description of the ring ceremony (a ball held not long after cadets receive their class rings) complete with ball gowns worn by previous attendees, contributions (inventions, not money) from graduates, and a historical weapons display. I was amazed at the number of important international military personnel who had graduated from VMI.

And literally on the same street is the Lee chapel. Next to the big tree in the bottom right of the picture is the burial place of Traveller, Robert E Lee's horse. That was the second thing Bobby really wanted to see. I was amused by the number of people who came while we were there just to see that very thing. One man remembered coming as a boy with his father when they had Traveller's skeletal remains on display. I think his wife was pleased to see it was now buried with a marker. One of the guides talked about how the horse had a notice posted nearby when it was living (during the late 1890s) asking students to stop plucking the horse's tail hair (I learned that horse hair was used for a wide variety of things in those days) as Lee was not happy that his horse was looking like a "plucked chicken".  During Lee's tenure as president of the school, chapel was not mandatory, and it was non-denominational, despite his strict attendance at the Episcopal church. We were a bit saddened to learn that even though he considered spiritual development to be one of the most important things a student could learn, that within 10 years of his death chapel ceased to exist at the school. Today it is only used as a lecture hall and for weddings. No religious services are conducted there. On the flip side, a statue of him now lies in the addition over the crypt of his family behind the main stage. I can't imagine trying to hold a worship service with a statue of a person in repose behind the stage.

Stonewall Jackson's house was interesting and educational as well. Of the three African-American churches that formed in Lexington after the Civil War, one of them is still standing and has a stained-glass window dedicated to him. Turns out he thought slaves should be taught to read and write, and skirted the law prohibiting it by saying he was simply giving them the training they needed to be better slaves. Almost all of that congregation had learned to read because he held "slave Sunday school" for the community slaves, and taught them both the Bible and how to read and write. The first two slaves he owned he purchased at their request so they could work to earn their freedom (and they did), three came with his second wife, the fourth he purchased (a small child) and those four chose to stay with him/his wife after the war. There were a lot of other details I didn't know about. War stories make me sad and make me almost lean toward pacifism, but I it also makes me realize how little society has changed when it comes to ruling with our hearts only and not our heads mixed with some heart.

Shenandoah Valley Caverns

While in Virginia last week, we visited the Shenandoah Caverns. It's one of three caverns in the area, but this one clearly specifies on the website that it has an elevator and people with disabilities can see 95% of the tour. And it was impressive.

Leah, our amazing tour guide, pointing out the natural bridge (above her head) and the "levels" of the cave.

a close up of the "2nd floor"...and this pic doesn't do it justice!

I had a hard time getting the display behind us with both of us in the shot. This was an area that had all the kids in our group amazed. They really liked the colored lights.

One of the many areas with water. Some were clear;some reflected.

the 'bacon" strips...some of them really do have the color of bacon strips!

A bolder that had fallen from above (years ago).
I think this sight made some in our group a little uneasy.
I heard Thailand mentioned more than once.

This was one of the few places where we had to bend down to get through. It was the perfect size opening for Bobby.

Also at this site are two buildings. One a barn housing the owner's collection of antique buggies (which we loved walking through!), and the other was the owner's "other job" - the warehouse for the floats and backdrops used in parades and political events. We were blown away. It was totally amazing.

another day delay

Tuesday we were not quite halfway between Garner, NC and Jasper, AL when the van started growing crazy on I 20.  Thankfully there was almost no traffic around us, and Bobby was able to get the van over to the side before the next wave traffic came. I was expecting a typical flat tire, and was more than shocked to get around and see a total blowout with parts of the van hanging out underneath.

We called AAA, and was thankful for the breeze and no rain while we waited. The Sheriff came by, and when he found out we were headed to visit my parents in AL there was some good natured ribbing about the Crimson Tide not quite being the best team in the US anymore, then when the Highway Patrol came he was teasing Bobby about getting reports about a man in a wheelchair racing cars up and down the side of the road. (He was sitting by his ramp so he could see when the tow truck came over the hill.)  The Sheriff went to get water so Bobby wouldn't get too hot, without us even asking. When the tow truck driver made it through the gridlock down the road from two tractor trailers wrecking and one overturning, he took us backroads to a different repair shop than AAA said because he said they would have the parts we needed plus we would have two hotels and fast food places in walking distances. Turns out his daughter in a senior at the University of Alabama. We were thankful he made the choice he did. The pipe hanging below in the picture is the severed fuel line that takes the gas from the area where you pump it to the fuel tank in the back of the van. So there's no way we could have made it to the next city anyway. We talked about renting a van and heading on while they did repairs, but the rental place in the next town wasn't willing to deliver and the cost was exhorbitant. So we've been in a hotel since Tuesday night. The mechanics at the first shop replaced the tire, sawed off the busted and twisted pipe, and capped off the gas tank so we wouldn't loose what gas we had. Everyone is basically telling us to "hang tight".  I've enjoyed the cable and rest and internet, but I've been almost chomping at the bit to get on to my family. My brother, who is a mechanic, was wanting to take off work and come find a way to get us either to Atlanta or home to AL, but since the part was on the way we told him to wait. We went to the dealer today, only to find out that Bobby's fears were confirmed, and this part they overnighted was for a regular van and not a modified van. So we're back in the hotel for another night. I wish I could say I was all nice and appreciative and cheerful, but I have to confess I flat out cried.  Our original plan was to leave AL Sat morning. Since we now (hopefully) won't get there until late Friday night, we'll head back Monday. That means I only have a day and a half (Sunday messes everything up) with my parents, but at this point I'll take what I can get.

Meanwhile, our nesting hen hatched at least 4 of her 5 eggs the day after we left. So they'll still be cute when we get home, but not the total fluff balls. I can't wait to see them. Just hoping they're not more roosters!

Lazy 5 Ranch

Over the weekend we went to an historical symposium (where historians give lectures), and we left half a day early so we could swing by the Lazy 5 Ranch. Bobby has always wanted to go there, and I think we both enjoyed it very much. Once you enter the ranch, you have the choice of driving your car through the trails (the animals run free in the enclosure) or riding a horse-drawn wagon. Bobby enjoyed it to so much that he's toying with the idea of how to make something like that work here. I think his brainstorming is along the same lines of me opening a quilt shop - nice to think about but realistically not going to happen in the next five-ten years, if ever.

We don't know if these are Emu or Ostrich eggs (or both), but they made our geese eggs look tiny.

The emus were funny. They would peer inside the windows, looking
 to see if we had a bucket of food. If I didn't have the food
bucket covered, they would peck at the window. And yes,
I was a chicken and did not roll my window down for any of them, but
would wait until they were ahead  or behind us and throw some out onto the ground.

On the left of this picture is an ostrich. Young emus are in the middle
of the road and a large emu is to the right. I'm not sure what kind of creature
is at the van window. My only dislike was that there was
no picture id of the animals in the brochure.

Young birds that we're guessing are emus, but not sure.

Bobby was amazed by the horns on the cows...a lot of different variety.
And we laughed at all the pot bellied pigs of all sizes running around everywhere.

No idea what kind of deer this was, but we saw quite a few.
It was amazing to see spots on a full grown, or nearly grown animal.

And this llama made me laugh. There's a new quilt
pattern out that are llamas, and there was a
discussion about what color they were. And
this one is multi! :)

They had giraffes and zebras, peacocks, guineas, exotic birds, and I'm not sure what all else. It was totally worth the visit.

last Gettysburg post

 I've never been one to ooh and aah over dresses. But this one, while pretty, made me laugh. I had to go back after reading the description and check it out. Those "flowers" on her dress are not only wildflowers from America, but INSECTS. Yes, Martha Washington attended the dance with a gown decked out in bugs. How awesome is that?

And I was a bit surprised by this, but I actually enjoyed the wax section of the Presidents better than the fashion segment of the First Ladies. The Presidents are built to scale, and briefly tell a little bit about each man. It was interesting to see how tall most of them were. The ladies were not made to scale, and their gowns are about 1/3 of the original size. But still, you could tell some about the styles of the time and the woman's personality by her dress.


The only thing I wasn't overly impressed with during the trip was the Cyclorama. That's a HUGE painting, the largest in North America, I think, that someone did of the battle of Gettysburg. It took several French artists to help complete it, and the canvas is placed in a circular barn. We bought tickets for it as part of a package deal with the battlefield tour, and I was most disappointed. It's a timed ticket, and after the presentation about it, you only have about 5 minutes to look and they tell you to leave. I'm sorry, but 5 minutes to view a painting that fills the equivalent of three rooms is NOT sufficient. That's an insult not only to the artists, but to the people who helped build the building to show it off. On the flip side, the gift shop for the park is very nice.

With all the controversy over the battle flag going on in the south and the constant vandalism of memorials and grave markers, we were a bit surprised to see how many battle flags and confederate items were on sale in almost every gift shop. Can't find something for sale in the south? Visit Gettysburg. In almost every shop we looked, someone was walking in and saying "Wow! You actually have this for sale? You can get this here?" and a puzzled shop owner would say "Yes. Why?" It was interesting to hear and see that things that are banned and "outlawed" here are considered just a part of history there.

I'm glad we went. It is truly a beautiful place, even if the history behind it is overbearing and heartwrenching to both see and think about.

Gettysburg

If you want a historical or education field trip and find yourself heading to Gettysburg, these places are definitely on my list of places worth visiting:

1. Gettysburg Diorama - If you like miniatures, you will LOVE this. If you need to see the large picture or no little about the Battle of Gettysburg, this exhibit not only explains it very well, but brings the little details to life.

Loved the spreaded cotton balls for the smoke...from a distance it looked very realistic!

Not only did they have canyons in the fields, they also had soldiers
(from both sides) taking down fences.
A true but sad fact.

2. Gettysburg National Park - a tour Yes. You can drive yourself around and look at a book and look at monuments, but here's some of the special things you're learn with a tour guide.

This is one of the US regiments that fought the 26th NC Regiment. (We hired a personal tour guide rather than deal with the lift on the tour bus, and he pointed out some extra things for us.) Almost everyone in this regiment were school teachers.

After the war, vets from both sides returned to the site and showed exactly where their units had camped and fought. As a result, most regiments have foot markers in each corner of the square where they fought. US regiments also have their own monuments, as opposed to the South, who only have State monuments. This is the far left corner of North Carolina's marker.

Bobby's great-grandpa had six older brothers who fought in the war. Three of them never came home. One died in Gettysburg, fighting with the 26th North Carolina Regiment. From the marker showed earlier, his regiment had to climb over three such fences while fighting. (In other words, they crossed through three different farms trying to conquer their assigned area.)  I look at an area that is so pristine and beautiful, and find it heart-breaking that it was one of many scenes of devastation.

This marker shows how far the 26th came (you can't even see the first fence or the NC camp site/monument from here).  As most of the Confederate soldiers were buried in mass graves with no names or markers, our tour guide said this field (between the fence and marker) is most likely where Needham Bryan is buried, (basing it on the fact he died July 3rd, which is the day they crossed the last fence). 

"Ten paces"  - that's how far the men had to go when the cannons opened fire.  I walked to the stone wall, "the high water mark" and it was more than ten steps for me. Although, I imagine if I were running in attack mode and in fear of my life, it might be less than 10 paces.

Bobby looking across the field on our "take our time" trip the 2nd day.

One of the areas where soldiers tore up farm fencing to add to rock fences as ways of making barricades.

Our tour guide gave us the stories behind many of the monuments, but this one was one of my favorite. A PA regiment was standing near a tree during the battle, when a cannon ball hit the tree, causing part of it to fall, along with a nest of baby birds. The men stopped fighting, and put the nest and the baby birds back in the tree before resuming the fight. This monument for that regiment illustrates that story, as well as showing the regiment crest, backpack, rifle, and ammunition box. We did see one or two other tree statues, but this one looked fairly realistic and truly captured the humanity of a group of boys in the middle of a very trying time. New York's regiments also had incredible monuments, especially the ones from the group of engineers or firefighters.

3. Dwight D Eisenhower farm

and for #4 and 5, pics will come tomorrow
4. Christ Church  - Sat night presentation of civil war music and poems
5. Wax museum of Presidents and replicas of First Ladies' gowns to the inaugural ball 

the barber shop

Prior to visiting Lib's Place on our way to Gettysburg, we stopped at a nearby town, only to discover the shop was closed on Wednesdays. Go figure. There was a couple making out on a bench between the quilt shop and the barber shop (which was next door). While I was checking out at Lib's Place, I mentioned to them that the place was closed for the day, and they became very concerned. Turns out, the owner of the store is the sister of the barber shop owner, and their stores actually connect in the back. Whenever the quilt shop is closed, all they have to do is go to the barber shop, and she'll let them into the quilt shop through the back way, and ring them up. For their regular customers, they are sometimes allowed to cut their own fabric if the barber is busy with a client. Are you as astounded as I am?

I was of the mindset at first that since there was no sign on the store saying that, we should forget about it and head on to our stopping point. Bobby reminded me we weren't that far (a 10-15 minute drive), we didn't have a timeframe, and it was one of the patterns I particularly liked. So we backtracked.  Same couple was still out front, only this time talking. Bobby laughed and said "I wonder if one of them is the barber. The girl was keeping an eye on us when we were here before looking at the signs and the store."

Turns out, the tattooed girl WAS the barber, and she was as nice as nice could be. She led me into the back, her living quarters, and to the back entrance of the quilt shop. I had told her what I was looking for, and she got it and rang it up for me. I really hated the shop was closed, for while it had a simple layout, the quilts on display were excellent, and she had a very large selection of patriotic fabric. It would definitely be a nice place to check out when it's officially open.

I have so say, it was my first time to enter a closed quilt shop through a barbershop, with a female barber, but I was very impressed with two young women who are working together to make their business work. Sisterhood. There really is nothing like it.

heading home

I spent quite a while after supper trying to upload some of the pictures I made on my phone during this last week. Let's just say wifi/e-mail wasn't cooperating very well for a while, so I won't be posting things until..one day this week.

We left last Tuesday. Bobby had an appointment that morning, and our original plan was that we'd leave after he got home and we were loaded. But as the "joke" is in our house, that didn't happen. We left about 11ish.  After I canned 7 quarts of tomatoes and finished a load of clothes because it had two pairs of shorts that I needed and my dryer was NOT cooperating. But we made it. So thankfully, this scene will most likely not be awaiting me upon my return.

 But this view will:

Bobby's great-aunt Grace had an estate sale (she's in a nursing home) about a week before we left. She liked to sew, but her specialty was quilting. They divided her fabric into 5 lots. I bought 2. After five days of washing a MINIMUM of five loads of fabric a day, there's still one box to unpack (and a card table full not yet washed). WHAT was I thinking? (Besides it was a good buy, and it's family, and I like those colors, and...did I mention it was a good buy and I briefly considered getting a 3rd lot?!?) You could see more of the couch than this when I left, but it will still be covered when I return.

And on top of that, and partly because of this, I was in the process of rearranging my sewing room, and nowhere near finished. And Thursday I meet with a co-teacher to prepare for upcoming election training sessions.  So my goal is to blog at least every day this week as a way of having down-time and to update on everything happening in life, but realistically, that might not happen.

But now you know why I've not been blogging. :)

one more set

Finally recharged the battery in my small camera, and there was a set of pictures from our last trip that I had forgotten about. I don't remember what town this is, but I do know it's in Pennsylvania. We were taking a slight detour for a quilt shop, and as we passed the local Department of Transportation, this is what we saw:

 Not that I've traveled the US a lot, but I think this ranks as one of the most creative fences I've ever seen!

 Excuse the reflection of my directions on the dashboard. Don't you just love those balloons?

 And this flower garden...no watering required!

around the homefronts

Ever seen geese fight?  Well, now you have. These two started at a VERY young age. One we lost to Buster (how do you convince a dog this is not his personal squeaky toy?) and the other now very closely resembles the geese.

Whenever we make the 12 hr drive to my hometown/county, we cheer with every state line and when the hills start showing up. Nothing screams North Alabama like the hills that house the coal mines.

And the stray that showed up last week between our trips...after a trip to the vet today checking fo ra microchip and scouring Craigslist and the pound listings...he's now officially ours. The pressing item now (besides putting his rabies tag and collar on) is deciding whether to continue calling him "Little Dog" or give him a real name.

And Buster, who is VERY jealous of his new friend, though he does somewhat like having a playmate.

And another photo from Alabama...one county away from "home", a site and sound that it SOOO familiar...the clickety clack of the railroad tracks. :)