Slight change to emailed posts

Ted. Judy and I are transitioning to a different email distribution service. Since you have signed up to automatically receive an email whenever we post an update to our blog, we want to advise you that the appearance will be changing slightly. It is also possible that our next email may end up in your spam folder.

You should receive another post by the end of this week. If you don't, please check your spam folder and authorize it.

As always, feel free to email us at losingshore@gmail.com with questions or comments. 

Thank you!

Maryland to Georgia

Judy. We’ve been back in Georgia for a couple of weeks now with time to reflect and once again it’s the people who have made a difference on our trip and here in Georgia. 

Lunch with our family in Maryland

Our great-nephew Caleb's graduation was a great family gathering that included my brother Billy and his wife Marilyn. While the graduation was zoomed, our party was very much in person. Billy and Marilyn were also about to celebrate their fifty-sixth anniversary, so we had lots to honor! 

We met up with Cari and Ian a few more times, including meeting at a minor league baseball game with the local Keys team playing. That morning Ian and Ted met a young couple, Bailey and Lenae, at the farmers’ market. They’d recently moved to the area, and attending a game was high on their list, so they joined us. These kids (MUCH younger than our own!) had left farm country in Ohio and were busy discovering all there is to do in a different part of the country. Lenae had even trained as an auctioneer and entertained us with her spiel!

Pulling for the Keys

Leaving these folks wasn’t easy, but we spent our first night on the road with friends John and Ann in one of the most beautiful spots I’ve ever seen. John is a high school drama buddy who became a journalist. 

John and Ann

He and his wife Ann have lived all over the world since he retired from the paper, teaching journalism in third-world countries, and have finally settled in a place his family has owned for generations. They have rebuilt their cabin to open to the river that flows by, and, as avid birdwatchers, have numerous feeders to attract almost any species you can imagine. 

Heaven in Virginia

John also took us to see the Natural Bridge in Virginia—I’ve seen others, but this one was spectacular, and the “GW” carved on one wall was supposedly done by George Washington. Evidently Thomas Jefferson owned it at one point. 

Natural Bridge

 

Leaving Virginia the next day, we stopped in North Carolina to visit another of our long-time friends, Faith. When Faith fixes a meal, it is an experience. Our picnic-style lunch was complete with plastic baskets and tissue, just like at a burger joint! 

 Our very dear friends Carolyn and Doug offered us their home in Snellville for two months while they’re on vacation, so we’re once again enjoying their home overlooking a pond and trees, and doing a bit of our own birdwatching. 

What a view!

We’ve spent time with the kids, and hugged our grandkids, and visited with dear friends here, including a group of former students.

So blessed to be in touch with former students

Ted and Caed make dinner

We’re settling in to catch up with ourselves and plan our visit back to Europe in August. News on France’s opening and closing fluctuates every day, so, on occasion we contemplate a plan B. Meanwhile, there’s a bluebird family I need to go watch.

WV AT

Ted. Having walked short stretches of the Appalachian Trail in six states now (three, just last month), a hike in West Virginia was all that remained to complete one our goals for this trip. 

Judy and I drove the 25 minutes back to Harper’s Ferry and began walking southbound along the AT. The trail crosses the Shenandoah River, just upstream from the point at which that stream enters the Potomac. We climbed up Loudoun Heights and walked the ridge for a couple miles. 

Only about four miles of the AT runs through WV and we saw most of it. We passed remnants of the old roads and fortifications built during the “disagreement” in the 1860’s. When Virginia seceded from the Union, the western region seceded from Virginia and Harper’s Ferry became a hotly contested town. 

On our walk we came across a snake and a deer plus a couple of toads and pileated woodpeckers that appeared to be feasting on cicadas, which were out in full force. I recorded their singing in the video below.

Cicada shells on a tree

Holes in the ground from cicadas erupting after 17 years

We met several "through hikers," bound for Maine but none were interested in breaking stride to chat. We will take one or two more hikes before we return to Georgia but will leave the Appalachian Trail for now. It has been fun seeing how the trail changes as one heads north.

Recrossing the Shenandoah on our way back to Harper's Ferry

PA AT

Ted. For the Pennsylvania leg of our Appalachian Trail adventure, we chose to begin at Pine Grove Furnace State Park. Located just 55 miles north of our base in Frederick, MD, the exact midpoint of the 2,193 mile long AT is celebrated here with a museum.

There were few hikers, the weather was beautiful and the mountain laurel were peaking. We walked north to a rock outcropping known as Pole Steeple to enjoy the views of surrounding Michaux State Forest.

The trails in PA have a reputation for being rocky and this one was no exception. However, the overlook at the end made it all worthwhile.