Finally. Our first family vacation in a VERY long time. Ten whole days away from all of our instruments. We were ready to relax and have the time of our lives!
Waiting for a large farmer's market located in a train station to open...
Shopping and browsing (Seth's favorite activity....NOT!)
I had a marvelous time photographing Historic Colonial Williamsburg. All over town, there were ancient buildings and people in period costume ready for my camera! The people in Colonial Williamsburg knew all their historical stuff - and talked it, dressed it, acted it, and had fun living it! Williamsburg was very impressive and we all learned a lot.
Our carriage ride around Colonial Williamsburg rounded out our experience.
Sailing!!! Our first time ever! Each of us got a turn at the wheel. Captain Bill was full of tips for us on the art of sailing, took the two photos on the left for us, and kept us entertained with war stories about the places we passed on our trip.
More shopping, exploring, visiting historical sites at Jamestown and Yorktown, eating out at a wonderful restaurant (Thanks Daddy!) going mini golfing...
The resort we stayed at was incredible! How'd you like to try out playing a mammoth game of chess or checkers? We also played Settlers of Catan, tennis, shuffleboard, basketball, and horse shoes! Swimming at night in a heated pool with underwater lights that are constantly changing color was beautiful. It was the first time in my life that I could float on my back in neon pink water and gaze at the stars!
Yeah, that thing Karen is holding is a crab, freshly caught. Ya gotta cook and eat fresh seafood at the coast! Soft shell crabs were the family favorite: the hard shell crabs were a pain to dismantle, at least they were the way we were doing it.
Well, all good things come to an end at some time or other and our vacation was no exception! We packed up, got on the road, drove to a farm (also in Virginia) where Silas was picking up a couple goats. Yup. They rode home with us. Thankfully we had a large dog crate for the small goats to ride in and an air freshening machine for us! (Thanks Charlotte!)
Uh oh. We've got problems.
Van Gogh lost it. Power that is. We smelled diesel. LOTS of it. Thankfully, it wasn't raining anymore, and we were right by a truck stop.
Almost no cell phone reception and no internet access.
Oh dear. The fuel line is broken.
Oh dear #2: our vehicle is foreign-made and nobody has the parts to fix it. Metric parts.
At least a towing service is within walking distance. Daddy and the shop guy worked on it and got it running again with what we hoped would be quick fix until we arrived home.
We waited at the truck stop in the dog-walking area.
Yes!! The Sprinter is fixed! We packed back up and got on the road.
For a total of less than 1 mile.
Uh oh #3.
Time to call the tow truck. Again. The fuel line was broken worse than it was before. This time, it was unfix-ably broken. We would have to order a new part.
This time, we were towed to an area hotel. Praise the Lord - there was a pet-friendly one nearby!
They were OK with goats in our room as long as they stayed in the cage. So, the cage was carried up to the 3rd floor all the way down to the end of the hall. Oops! It didn't fit through the door. The whole thing had to be dismantled (which was quite the process since we had customized it for the goats)!
There are many more details about that stay that I am very happy we will not be repeating in the future!
The goats needed to get home. And, Daddy needed to get back to work. We rented a small vehicle, created a good place for the goats in back and crammed 5 of us in with only the luggage we could hold. It was a long, cramped 15 + hours straight home! But, we made it by around 4am!
Seth, Luke, and Mommy were still stranded in Virginia, waiting for parts. [Seth and Luke were chosen to stay behind because Seth is great at mechanical things (what if the van broke down again?) and Luke was a second driver to trade off with Mommy.] With almost nothing to do within walking distance, no internet, and nothing good on the few TV channels available, they had a relaxing, but long wait!
By Tuesday, after tow #3, a dealer was able to overnight the needed parts to Virginia, and 4 days after we had made it home, they joined us!
It was quite a trip! #letsdoitagain