After working hard to get everything in its proper place, Chris, Amy, Adam and Lottie were driving to NJ to visit Amy's parents. Rosie and I decided we could "help" by staying at their house and keeping Nani - plus doing a bit more arranging. So we stayed the week of 05-SEP and played tourist around the Charlottesville area. One of the first places we visited was the Rotunda at the University of Virginia. It's a beautiful campus. Unfortunately, the Rotunda was under repair and covered in a lot of blue tarps. But it was still neat.
Our next visit was to Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. It's about a 15 minute drive from Chris and Amy's house. Monticello is a beautiful house surrounded by excellent landscaping. Here are some outside pictures of the house. Here I am in front of the house.
Rosie is standing at the back of the house.
Views from the sides.
We enjoyed the butterfly weed in the garden. It was very colorful.
Here's the vegetable garden.
The small gazebo was supposedly one of Jefferson's favorite views of the area. In this picture you can better understand why.
Here's the obelisk at Jefferson's grave site. The first item mentioned on his obelisk is "Author of the Declaration of American Independence."
After Monticello we went to Michie's Tavern (about 5 minutes away) for a tour of the tavern and lunch. Here's Rosie by the Tavern's sign.
Here are some photos of the tavern and our docent.
Every tavern needs a good toilet. Michie's Tavern had a multi-hole outhouse. Great way to meet new friends!
After Monticello, we drove to President James Monroe's home - again a short trip. Here's the entrance to Monroe's house.
Here are some pictures from around the house.
Rosie and I are standing by the well.
This tree dates back to the time of Monroe.
Here we are with President Monroe.
On another day trip we headed out to see President James Madison's house. Madison is know as the Father of the US Constitution. Here are pictures of his house.
This statue of James and Dolly Madison is in the backyard of the house.
The gazebo was set away from the house with a great view of the lawn.
This tree dates back to the time of President Madison.
Here's the Madison cemetery and President Madison's gravestone.
We had a great time touring around Charlottesville. There's a lot of history in the immediate area. Thanks to Chris and Amy for letting us stay at their "bed and breakfast".
On Sunday afternoon, 29-JUL, Rosie and I returned to HSV from our 15 day trip to Alaska. Our flight landed at DFW at 6 am, and we drove from there to HSV (after John Stonecipher met us at the airport). Monday, Chris and family drove from Ft. Hood, TX, to HSV; about an 8 hour drive. On Tuesday morning we all started the drive to Charlottesville, VA, where they'll live for one year while Chris attends an advanced law course. As we got ready to leave, Nani was making sure no one forgot the dog. She's ready to go! Hey - how about a little AC for the dog!
On the way to Charlottesville, we spent Tuesday night at a hotel in Knoxville, TN. We completed the drive to Charlottesville on Wednesday. The moving van arrived Thursday morning. Here's the moving van parked in their cul-de-sac.
We had a lot of boxes to unpack. Here are some of the "before" pictures - i.e. either before the boxes were unpacked or before things were put away.
Here's an "after" picture of the living room area - including the new flat screen TV and stand Chris and Amy bought.
Amy did a great job of getting Adam and Lottie's rooms organized. Chris and I put up darkening shades to hopefully allow the kids to sleep a bit later in the morning.
The folks who own the house Chris and family are renting (also JAG) have a cat. They had installed a "cat door" in the door that goes from the kitchen into the garage. Nani wouldn't quite fit through the cat door, but she could keep tabs on what was happening in the garage.
Charlottesville is a great area and their house is very nice. We hope they have a wonderful year in Charlottesville.
On Friday morning we had our choice of two hikes. Rosie and I chose the Three Lakes hike. Our leader was Kate from New Zealand.
She is a year-around resident of the Denali area.
Kate pointed out a squirrel midden. This is where squirrels will keep a large stash of food for the winter. It's used over multiple generations and can grow quite large.
Can you see the red squirrel in the tree?
Here's a great view of the Nenana River.
Here's the beaver lodge at the first lake. A nice lodge but no beavers in sight.
The beaver lodge at the second lake is on the other side of the lake. The hills are left from unsuccessful mining attempts.
Here's a view from higher on the trail.
On the return trip we got a good view of Musher's Monument. Can you see the musher on the sled?
On Friday afternoon Rosie and I opted for a return trip to the Seward Station on the Denali Park road. On the trip we saw two young (we called them teenagers) moose. They may be siblings since there was an adult moose higher up the hill (mom we think).
When we returned to the Visitor's Center we decided for another taste of ice cream. It was delicious! What a way to end our week at Denali. Ice cream anyone?
Saturday morning we caught a 7:30 am bus back to the Anchorage airport. Interestingly, at the stop on the return bus trip, we got a great view of Mt. McKinley. Here are some pictures from the bus stop. Now the clouds are below the top so we got the see the top of Mt. McKinley which we couldn't see well from inside the Park.
We arrived in Anchorage at about 1 pm. We had a 5 pm flight to LAX
and a 1 am flight from LAX to DFW. We arrived at DFW at about 6 am on Sunday
morning. John was there to meet us again - Thank-you, John! After dropping John off we drove back to HSV.
Our 2 week Alaska trip was simply fantastic. Another item to cross off our bucket list!
