Our Neighbors at Point Lookout

Right next to Site #98 is this big, bare-limbed tree with a huge osprey nest in it. Daddy sits there for hours and hours and guards his little ones. Occasionally he challenges another bird who happens to fly by a little too close for comfort. You can usually see Mama's head or a baby's head sticking out the top of the nest. This is Mama in this picture.

Not sure what Mama is doing in this picture. Maybe telling me to get the heck away! She just stood there in the nest flapping her wings. Maybe she's explaining the concept of flight to her little ones.

I took this picture on our walk through Solomons Island a couple weeks ago. It was in a beautiful yard just loaded with flowers. It's so pretty in Solomons. Pricey real estate with pricey yards!

A Day at Solomons Island, MD

The woman on the right is Candy Lord. She has been a friend of mine for many years. We are both in recovery, and if it hadn't been for Candy, I don't know if I'd be celebrating 23 years this September! She finally met the man of her dreams, Jeff Lord, and they got married last November. They live in Lusby, MD, just up the road from Solomons. We got to see their house, and we had some incredibly good ice cream at Bruster's.

Some people are so lucky! Jan and I were walking around Solomons, looking at the gorgeous homes and wondering how much it would cost to buy here. (More than we'll ever be able to afford!) The house below has this incredible view of the Chesapeake Bay.

As you can see, this house isn't a "McMansion" and it has some character. I'll bet it has a "McMansion Price", though. Oh well, I'll keep on buying those lottery tickets. You never know! Someone has to win those things!

Jan was talking to our friend Liane Holder, and I said, "Hey, pose!" So she turned around and smiled for the camera without missing a word of her conversation with Liane. It was incredibly hot this day. Actual temperature was 92 and the humidity was 96%.

This is one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maryland. I tried to look up the name of it on the internet, but it's running so slow tonight, I got tired of waiting. Anyhow, it's very picturesque, and if I ever find out the name, maybe I can edit this post.

Blue and Gray Day at Point Lookout

Every year at Fort Lincoln, they do a re-enactment of a typical day at the fort. It's not a battlefield re-enactment, just men and women in period dress. They stay in character, too. When I answered my cell phone, a lady asked me what "that box" was in my ear. This guy, like most Civil War re-enactors, knows lots and lots of trivia about the Civil War and all the people of history who were involved in it. He was so interesting! We talked to him for a couple of hours!

And what Civil War re-enactment would be complete without a cannon blast! This cannon was perched at the edge of the Potomac River, and following several loud BOOMS, all the boats in the river surrendered.

Tomato and Pepper Watch, 2009

Lookee, lookee! We have a tomato on our Topsy Turvy tomato vine! This will be the first of "hundreds" of tomatoes -- according to the Topsy Turvy commercial!

Here is the big view of the Topsy Turvy, with the circle showing our little tomato.

I also planted a sweet green pepper plant, and we have a little flower emerging from that plant, too. The weather here has been hot and humid, and usually there's a thunderstorm in the afternoon, so the tomatoes and the peppers are starting to show!

Some of the History Here

This area has a really interesting past. Because Point Lookout is at the point where the Potomac River meets the Chesapeake Bay, it provided an important vantage point first used in the War of 1812 to keep an eye on the British Fleet. The fort and hospital were built on the point in 1862 on account of the Civil War. Down at the bottom of this particular post is a picture of what the fort looked like. About 1/4 mile from our campground loop (Green's) is Hoffman Loop, and on that spot was the prisoner-of-war camp that Point Lookout is "infamous" for. It was built to hold 10,000 prisoners, but throughout most of the war they kept more than 20,000 men there. Corrupt officials in charge of the prison withheld food and medicine from the prisoners (an ancestor of Cheney's apparently) for personal gain, and 3,500 men died while in custody at Camp Hoffman. This monument in this picture is a Confederate memorial to those who died in custody at this prison camp.

I took this picture because of the name John Kesler on it. Obviously not spelled the same as my name, but who knows? Maybe it's a relative.

"Erected by the State of Maryland in memory of the Confederate Soldiers who died Prisoners of War at Point Lookout from March 1, 1864 to June 30, 1865." That's only 1 year and 4 months, and 3,500 men died.

This tablet lists the victims by the states they were from.

And this is the picture of the fort I mentioned above.

Point lookout Our site

Point Lookout State Park

Now that we're settled into our summer home here at Point Lookout, I decided to try my luck at planting some tomatoes, basil, and canteloupe.

Here are Jack and Mollie in their self-imposed prison, watching all the action around our campsite.

I decided to try one of those Topsy Turvy tomato planter things advertised on TV. They're only $9.88 at Wal Mart. There's my little tomato plant sticking out of it. We'll see how well it works!

Here, I'm standing on the causeway that connects "North Park", where we are, with "South Park", where the lighthouse, beach, boat rental, and all that stuff is. That's the Chesapeake Bay you see. Beautiful!

Bell's Palsy Strikes Again!

I can't believe it! This is my THIRD attack of Bell's Palsy. I started getting that pain behind my ear last Friday, but I hoped it would go away. But unfortunately, I woke up Sunday to a really saggy face. It's just as bad as it was in 1999, when I had the last attack. Jan was all nervous, thinking it could possibly be a stroke, so we drove up to St. Mary's Hospital in Leonardtown, where they confirmed that it was Bell's Palsy -- again. This time they gave me a medication that didn't exist 10 years ago, called Valtrex. In the years since my last attack, they've figured out that Bell's Palsy is a form of HERPES! So my fervant hope is that this Valtrex will jolt my nerves back into operation so I won't look like this. One can only hope!

Pictures from Home

Well, the dogs blew it! We'd been letting them stay in the trailer uncaged for several months. They did so well, we donated their crate to the animal shelter in Zanesville. While visiting Daniel, though, in West Virginia, they had to stay in the trailer a tad too long, and they ate a hole in our couch! We were hoping that was a one-time event, but the next night when we got home, Jan's knitting was in shambles. She was 80% done with a sweater, and they unraveled the whole thing. So we decided it was time to buy a new crate. No more freedom for Jack and Mollie!

My daughter Sandy is a grandma! Tiffany, my grand-daughter, gave birth to little Tristen Jay in September of 2007. This is the first time we've seen him since he was an infant. This is a picture of my beautiful daughter Sandy and little Tristen.

Sandy treated Jan and me to dinner at Chicken Out on our last night home. I love my family! Left to right is Curt Reinhart, my daughter's boyfriend, me, Sandy, and my grand-daughter Tiffany, mother of little Tristen.

Dinner at The Meltin Pot

Tonight, my wonderful daughter Sandy treated Jan and me to dinner at a fondue restaurant called The Melting Pot. We'd never been to a place like this, and what a good time it was!
First they melt a big pot of cheese (you can pick what kind) and give you bread, vegetables, and fruit to dip into it. After a huge dinner salad, they brought a pot of broth into which we put lobster, chicken, tenderloin, shrimp, and pork to cook. And then the best part: a big pot of chocolate. I could have just spooned it out, but they gave us pound cake, brownie pieces, marshmallows, fruit, Rice Krispie bars, and other stuff. It was not just a nice dinner with my daughter and my grandson, Markie Man, but an adventure in eating!

Back in Maryland Again

We are lucky enough to be able to stay in Maryland for free! And not bad digs, are they? God bless my friend Dale DuVall, who lets us stay in his beautiful backyard every time we come home. He lives in Hanover, MD, which is about halfway between Baltimore and Washington.

Jack just loves Mommy, so one night Jan was lounging on the couch, and he wrapped himself around her leg and fell asleep with his head on her hand.

Just to prove the babies like me, too, here we all are on the couch one lazy day. These two just love to cuddle. Aren't they adorable?

A Doggie Reunion!

We decided to pass through Lexington, KY, on our way north, so that we could meet Sarah Munoz, from whom we bought Jack and Mollie. So Sarah brought over Jack and Mollie's brother, Clifford! He's a big boy!

We have also e-mailed often with Liz and Mickey Reffitt, who also bought one of Sarah's pups. They live in Morehead, KY, about an hour east of Lexington, so we drove over to see them on Saturday. Here we are with their little baby, Bella, who is Jack and Mollie's sister! They played, and played, and played.

And this is Sarah Munoz! She is the coolest woman! She's like a female Dog Whisperer. She got Jack to heel in about 5 minutes. We must have talked to Sarah on the phone a hundred times, but this is the first time we got to meet her. We hit it off immediately and know that we a have a new friend (and doggie expert) in Lexington, KY.

Now we're back at the Reffitt's again. Bella's favorite toy is a duck and goes "Quack, Quack, Quack" every time you squeeze it. Mollie (on the right) REALLY liked that duck and tried like heck to take it away from Bella.

And here are the 3 siblings together. Bella is in the background, Jack is on the left, and Mollie is on the right. We had the most fun watching the three of them play. When we got back into the truck to go home at 9:00 p.m., Jack and Mollie conked out in about 30 seconds and slept all the way back to Lexington.

The babies' first long hike

Last year, we took April to this park -- Big Thicket National Preserve in east Texas. We figured if she could put in 8 miles, so could these little whipper-snappers. So we made our second visit to this great hiking place. Jack and Mollie loved it, and so did we. Jack (on the left) is watching a bird, and Mollie is just plugging right along!

This little cabin is a welcome sight. It's at the end of a very long hike and about 1/2 more to a water fountain and the truck.

This is the trail we walked on -- Kirby Nature Trail. You can connect from this trail to the Turkey Creek Trail, which is 17 miles one way. We'll leave that for another day!