House/pet sitting 2021: Part 2

Mid-May found us at Miller’s Ferry Campground near Camden, AL, a Corps of Engineers campground on the Alabama River. We were too early to check-in for our six night reservation, so while side-tripping through tiny “historic” Thompson an hour away, I spied Wanda’s Salon. Wanda gave me a very good and long-overdue haircut and she was yet another character that I was happy to have met. She said we were just like sisters because we had both plucked our eyebrows as teenagers. Yes, our conversation covered a lot of ground. LOL  

Though we had been required to reserve from the list of open sites as mapped out on-line, we were given our choice from any other non-reserved sites. The large tent and two cots we purchased for this trip were near perfect, until we realized when packing up that the feet of the cot made little holes in the bottom of the tent (now patched and those cots returned to REI). From the comfort of our campsite on the river, we enjoyed stunning sunsets and crystal-clear nights for star gazing. Starry nights were rare enough in Cuenca. It was so peaceful and relaxing that we didn’t even mind the three or four-minute walk to the nearest outhouse. Though we walked most of the campground a couple of times, we drove to the bathhouse with our shower kits.  

Corps of Engineers Miller’s Ferry campground

There were clouds of mayflies which the birds were diving through.

The weather was really perfect the first three days, then it warmed up enough for mosquitoes and mayflies. This was our first time to witness a mayfly hatching. The fish jumped out of the water after them (we enjoyed hearing the fish splash at night) and the turtles ate their fill, too, snatching them off of leaves hanging just above the water. They literally covered everything but us for two days then we awoke to hundreds of dead bodies stuck to everything.  

Other than passing through on I-10 a few times, this was the first time we actually spent in AL and were surprised at how hilly and green it is. In the Camden/Selma area, it is also heavily forested for paper mills. 

Almost every day we drove through the countryside for an hour to get from one place, another hour to get to the next and so on, passing countless little white churches along the way. In our meanderings we happened upon The Quilting Bee Quilt Shop in the village of Gee’s Bend (aka Boykin). Named after the original plantation owner, Joseph Gee, Gee’s Bend is located in the Alabama Black Belt, so named for the rich black soil and, some say, the predominant race of its inhabitants. Joseph was from NC and, after buying the land in AL, walked his slaves all the way from NC, allowing only his valuable cook to ride on a wagon. He later sold the plantation to a relative named Pettway who then gave all the slaves his last name. Many of the residents are descended from those slaves and the Pettway name is prevalent in the area to this day.  

The shop features a long video detailing the history of the area and how the local quilters/artisans were discovered and became famous, turning their quilts created for warmth in to collectible and valuable Americana crafts, saving the town from ruin. Some say a local store owner died, who for years had given credit to the slaves cum sharecroppers. His relatives then confiscated from the sharecroppers whatever wasn’t nailed down to pay their debts. Others say the town was near ruin after authorities cut off the ferry, thus access to necessary services and supplies, in order to punish the sharecroppers for participating in freedom-related activities. 

Now closed this is one of the many examples you can find with the name Pettway who are descendants of the slaves brought here from North Carolina.

http://auburn.edu/academic/other/geesbend/explore/history.htm  

Steve had heard of the Indian mounds in the area so we visited Moundville Archaeological Park (part of the Alabama Indigenous Mound Trail). At its height 800-1000 years ago, it was the largest city north of Mexico with a population of approx. 10,000. As a prehistoric site (before any known written record), it was known only as the Mississippian culture. Tribes such as the Muscogee, Chickasaw, and Choctaw believe their ancestors were mound builders and consider Moundville a sacred site. The mounds were constructed to raise certain important buildings above all the others in the plaza. The small museum is well presented and has many important artifacts. 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g30719-d106544-Reviews-Moundville_Archaeological_Park-Moundville_Alabama.html

Next, for a $2.00 donation each, we self-toured the historic town at Old Cahawba, the first capital of AL. Cahawba was built upon the remains of a 16^th century Mississippian Indian Village. Some ancient earthworks remain and the church is in the process of being restored to its original hand-hewed beauty. After the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa, the town became a rich antebellum river town, dependent on cotton and slavery. We took a solemn walk among some preserved but almost impossible to read headstones in the slave cemetery there.

We are not sure why this particular slave’s grave is fenced in. None of the others were.

https://cahawba.com/history-and-legacy/

On our way back to the campground one afternoon, we followed the signs to the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame, honoring the achievements of women associated with the state of Alabama. Established in 1970, the museum is located in Bean Hall, a former Carnegie Library, on the campus of Judson College in Marion. Turns out that I had to seek someone to unlock the door to the museum because, after losing state funding and with very low enrollment, the campus was in the throes of being closed down by the end of that week. Inductees include some familiar names, i.e. Helen Keller, Tallulah Bankhead, and Rosa Parks, though most were not known to either of us, yet their accomplishments were no less meritorious, and some much more. College administration were still trying to find a new home for the museum. http://www.awhf.org/alphalist.html

Six days of camping was plenty and we were a mere six hours away from the home of our friends Kathy and Mike in Anderson, SC., where we spent the next two nights. You’ve read about them in previous blogs and might remember that they are also friends we made in Ecuador. We strolled the quaint downtown of Anderson, enjoyed hotdogs and ice cream floats for lunch, and got in some sweet Molly the Schnauzer time before heading to our next house-sitting gig in Charlotte, NC. Reuniting with all these friends from Ecuador made this a special trip indeed! There were actually two more friends in NC that we had met in Cuenca but our schedules did not mesh this trip.

Charlotte was scheduled as a one-week gig, but was extended four days longer because our hostess, Debbie, suffered a compound fracture after stepping in a hole and falling sideways on to a rock. She had two operations at a hospital in Cancun, MX; one to clean the wound and put the bone back inside and one to attach a plate and screws a few days later. She said she received excellent care and her doctor in Charlotte said they did a great job. Luckily, we were able stay until a friend could come be with Sassy the Spaniel for the last few days.  

Debbie and Arthur (self-proclaimed foodies) had welcomed us with an extensive charcuterie board for dinner and, once again, we were making new friends. Sassy was a real treat to be with and well trained. Her only demerit was wanting to go outside at bedtime to bark incessantly. We mostly sought outdoor activities outside of Charlotte and only went downtown on Memorial Day. Though some things were, of course, closed, we felt it was a good time to be there because the parking meters were free for the holiday and it was not crowded. Our main interest was the murals that downtown Charlotte is known for, locating just a smattering of the 100 or so that it boasts while listening to a free walking tour on my phone. As with this whole trip, we managed to be in places during the week when they were least crowded and not too many people were traveling yet because of Covid-19. 

Equity

Of particular note, we hiked some trails at the National Whitewater Center where Olympic athletes train, then Lake Norman and Crowders Mountain State Park. The nearby Raptor Center was definitely a highlight. We’ll tell you now that Mexico is on our radar for 2022 just so that we can then tell you that when we stopped at a little Mexican/American restaurant one day, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that the owner was from Querétero, MX, one of the interior locations with a higher altitude and milder average climate that we have our eyes on. How about that! Debbie and Albert also have their eye on retiring and moving to MX in a couple of years so we will be comparing notes over time. We have one friend in Mazatlan and a friend-of-a-friend in Puerto Peñasco, both who say to look them up if we decide to explore those towns. Puerto Morelos, in the Yucatan just south of Cancun, is a place that we would at least like to visit. Our snorkeling gear will definitely be in the car. 

Taking up minerals from the ground.

She got that high and decided the sign could be an important one.

Though there was lots more to see and do in and around Charlotte, it was time to return to CT where we had some appointments scheduled. This is also the summer to help Steve’s brother Don with some much-needed projects at their family home where Don still lives, including readying their parent’s old bedroom to be our new landing spot when in town. On the way back to CT we stayed one night in Charles Town, WV (serendipitous because I just happened to choose a hotel there) and Steve piped up that we just had to go to Harpers Ferry. Charles Town turned out to be a lovely little historic village (George Washington and his brothers were original property and business owners there), and we spent a half-day exploring historic Harpers Ferry, skipping the street of tourist eateries and gift shops.  

Harpers Ferry fort where John Brown fought from. On a side note, Presidents Jefferson and Washington visited the town and Meriwether Lewis spent a month here outfitting for his epic two year exploration of the Louisiana Purchase.

2021 is the year of the next great cicada emergence and we sure got an ear-full in this area! As soon as we turned off the highway towards Charles Town we could hear a distinct buzzing sound. We rolled down the car windows and immediately guessed what it was. We didn’t see any big swarms of them in the air but there were lots of them flying around at Harpers Ferry and also dead on the ground. They are huge! We only heard them in areas where there were lots of trees: lots of trees, loud buzzing; no trees and suddenly there was zero buzzing. It seemed to stop completely as soon as we crossed in to Maryland.  

A cicada no longer making any noise.

What turned out to be our last house sit for 2021 was in downtown Hartford, CT, 30-minutes from home. We looked forward to exploring downtown but were thwarted by the weather. Luckily, we had visited the beautiful and aromatic rose gardens at Elizabeth Park the week before. Post-Covid, Steve still only has partial return of his senses of smell and taste and he could not detect the overwhelming aroma of the roses and other blooming flowers and trees, other than saying it smelled to him like silicone tub grout. It was extremely hot – too hot to walk the dogs on tarred surfaces for a couple of days – and then it rained almost non-stop for the last three days. Earl, Jane and 8-yr old daughter Lillian gave us a warm welcome and a nice walk around their block, noting points of interest and getting us directionally attuned.

We were their first-ever house sitters and they even gave us a gift when we arrived. The dogs, Rosie and Gracie, preferred doing their business on the way to or in Bushnell Park, about four blocks away, so we made that trek twice a day if we could. Because Rosie loves to torment him, we barely saw Billy the black cat but heard his bell go in and out of his kitty-door and his food disappeared. There was a nice little fenced green space where, if we were lucky, they would also potty but often they just played there. We’ll have to visit downtown again to check out the pedestrian flyover to the Riverwalk and much more. 

So now our bedroom at the Miner home is painted and cleaned, and we’ve settled in with a few of Steve’s photos on the walls and some memorabilia here and there. Steve’s brother Don, who has lived there for ~ the last 20-yrs has worked tirelessly alongside us to make the room ready, space in the kitchen, etc. The two biggest medical events have been Steve’s eyelid lift surgery to finally improve his peripheral vision (he looks great!), and his new hearing aids. The summer has been busy with time spent with friends and family. Steve sailed a Sunfish on Andover Lake a few times and kayaked. My tweaked rotator cuff wasn’t going for any of that this summer. We had a great few days visiting my cousins Cheryl and Marcia in VT, finally making the stop at the Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, MA. It is short but packed with beauty.

We will be packing the car and taking our leave in early October. It will be another fun road trip as we spend three weeks visiting some friends along the way, including one more house sit in Charlotte with Sassie for five days. Months ago now, we booked and paid half down for an Airbnb in Homosassa Springs, FL for Nov and Dec. This was to be a treat to ourselves to get off the road after several more house sits in the fall. However, and it may not sound like it, but house sits weren’t nearly so easy to come by this year, not like it was our first time around in 2015.

Due to Covid-19, there are way fewer opportunities (not surprising) yet plenty of competition for them. Not long after we returned to CT in June, most of the house sits scheduled for Sept and October canceled due to personal reasons or because cruises, etc. got canceled. With those cancellations, we took (for us) the extreme measure of canceling our return trip to TX in October. We just couldn’t see driving there for a two-week house sit with nothing else to connect it to. The ladies had four months to find our replacement and did so quickly. Hotel and gasoline expenses gave us a hit this year because of so much time between house sits, and we don’t drive 10 to 12-hour days anymore. Though the road trip may not have been financially wise this spring, we sure did have a great time! 

Having said all that, chasing butterflies as we will, we have been accepted for a two-month house sit in Thornton, CO for Jan-Feb, then three weeks in OR, both sitting for cats. Now we have our sights on finally getting to Glacier National Park in MT (gonna be cold but open in early May) while we are sort of in the right direction with no schedule. Better throw some gloves and parkas in the suitcases! Maybe we’ll luck out and snag a house sit for the month of May, thus allowing us to arrive at GNP in June instead. We have to admit that travel may not hold quite the same appeal or magic as it used to but (health issues, financial issues, and are we feeling just a little like settling down?? – EEK!), we aren’t quite ready to call it quits.