Despite our staunch intra-version, we were very sociable this weekend. On Friday evening, we had dinner with some friends that we had met on our train trip across Canada. We took our photo album with and had a very nice evening with Susan, Mary Lou and her husband Dick, and Henry and Judith. We did not have time to read our narrative story, of course, but had great fun looking at the pictures. Susan and Mary Lou also showed pictures that they had from the trip. We had a very low-fat dinner with salmon as the main entree-- apparently, Susan had remembered my dietary restrictions.

The evening flew by, and before we knew it we were all yawning and getting ready to go home. We didn't even get the time to look at the videotape of the Canadian Railway that Lois had given to me. We left the tape for Susan and the others to view when they had more time. We didn't get home until after 11 p.m., and so we were somewhat late off the mark the next morning.

We had breakfast at home because having low-fat breakfasts when you eat out is very difficult. Even though we had tried to pack evening before and put it all in the car, there was still a lot of last-minute looking around for things that we were going to take with for our overnight stay. So we didn't get out the door until about 8 a.m., and didn't reach Yorktown until about 1030. The year around walk began at the visitor center at the National Park and we started at about 11:00. Here is the description of our walk that I wrote for our Volksmarching club:

Start/Finish for the Yorktown YRE is at the gift shop at the National Park’s Visitor’s Center (Not to be confused with the Yorktown Victory center on the other side of the town!). The route starts off over a bridge across a ravine that separates the park area from the town, and then zig-zags up and down the bluff leading down to the river several times before returning to the park area. Yorktown has quite a few Colonial-era houses (and church) which are all in an excellent state of preservation. Since the town economically collapsed during the late Colonial period, the historic part constitutes the majority of the buildings in the town. Since we had a mild winter, some daffodils and even roses were in bloom in the town. I tried to get a picture of those and also took a shot of a cannon ball embedded in the side of a house!

If you get a chance, peek inside the church as you pass by (it’s a checkpoint) because it is quite pretty and surprisingly “modern” looking in my opinion. As you come down to the riverside (twice) you have nice views of the York River and the bridge over to Gloucester on the other side. The trail swings back by a victory monument and then re-enters the park for the rest of the 10km. The 15 km version takes fewer twists and turns in the town but takes the longer, outer loop for walking inside the park for the extra km.

The walk inside the park is on the roads, but in the off-season there are as many bikers and joggers as cars. We enjoyed reading the signs about the different areas and who was doing what where during the siege. Since most of the fortifications have long since worn away, the feeling I had was rather like walking along a country lane. This feeling was reinforced by having a cowboy on a horse come trotting up to us in the wooded section of the lane.

Another strange thing happened as we passed by a pond by a little dam. We watched a man pull up in a station wagon and then get out with a large bag of bird seed in his hand. Without hesitation, he marched over to the edge of the pond , ripped open the bag, and started throwing the seed out on the water. The Canadian geese that were in the pond immediately started swimming over in his direction. Curiously, a pair of regular white geese showed no interest in this feeding. As he continued to feed the geese, they started to squawk and fight among each other, apparently due to the peck order of the flock. When he was done feeding the Canadian geese, the man took the empty bag and jumped in his car and drove away. The incident was curious because he did not seem to be a park employee, but neither did he take the time to really enjoy the interaction with the geese which would suggest that this was done for altruistic reasons.

Only as the trail returns to the Visitor’s Center are there some reconstructed redoubts which help you imagine what it was really like. The courage of our forefathers is beyond dispute. Alexander Hamilton, for example, lead the late-night charge of American infantry with bare steel and fought hand-to-hand to take the British redoubt that sealed the fate of Cornwallis.

Bathrooms and water are only available at the start/finish, so stock up in hot weather. This is a very pleasant walk and afterwards you can reward yourself at the gift shop, which has many nice items and books. If you are doing the special book for Walking Our National Heritage (10 events), remember to stamp that book also. There is a fee for entering the Visitor’s Center (and park), which is also true for Jamestown--we bought the Golden Eagle pass for 1 year’s entrance for all National Parks.

We were little tired after this walk but even more hungry as it was after 1:00 p.m.. We decided to eat before checking into the hotel as it was still quite early, and drove around to find a place to eat. We settled on the Colonial pancake house because I still felt like breakfast and had in fact a waffle to eat there. Afterwards we checked into the Ramada Inn and changed our shoes and socks before beginning the second walk. We were already a little tired, so it was awfully nice to be able to sit in a comfortable chair while changing our shoes. We drove over to the Starting Point for our second Volksmarch about 3 p.m., but we thought we had plenty of time since sunset wasn't until after 6:00 at this time of year.

The Williamsburg YRE starts off from the exercise center in the rather posh Williamsburg Lodge (not to be confused with the Williamsburg Inn nearby!). Ask for the start box in the separate little building set in the middle of all the hotel wings. The lodge is nicely landscaped and flowers are typically blooming in season. The YRE trail leads immediately to the historic district and loops around to Duke of Gloucester Street, which is the main street for the historic district.

The preserved Colonial-era buildings and activities are, of course, the big draw. They are nice but we enjoy the atmosphere that is created even more than the buildings themselves. The ambience on this street is always relaxing and it is interesting to see it at different times with many people or almost no one, by morning light or at night, and so forth. Although it is not exactly as it would have been in Colonial times, with very little imagination you can see it as such, especially at night.

One thing that Monika remarked on was the number of families with children. Since we also had brought our children to Williamsburg when they were young, it gave us the feeling that other young couples were doing just the same as we had. This sense of continuity or permanence was also very comforting during our walk.

After a first pass down the Duke of Gloucester Street, a side loop of the trail goes out past the windmill to the Williamsburg Visitor’s Center (bathrooms and water available) and back. When you go through the two short tunnels under the road, try out the acoustics--you get a lot of reverberation in there! I think I was the singing some sea chanteys while we were going underneath these tunnels, and I just loved the reverberations.

The trail returns past the Governor’s Palace, which is always picturesque, and continues over to the campus of the University of William and Mary, which I unsuccessfully tried to convince my children to attend. The trail skirts the campus buildings for the most part, but does a wide loop at the back of the campus along a lake or reservoir of some sort. That section is natural surface and could get muddy or slippery when wet, but otherwise the trail is all on streets. At the time we walked there were trees down across the trail, but I expect they will be cleaned up soon.

We returned along the South side of the campus to the historic district and saw a lacrosse tournament in full swing. This was the first time I have watched lacrosse. The game resembled soccer played with sticks and a smaller ball, and was similarly full of motion rather than occurring in spurts like football. But apparently you are not allowed to whack the opponents with those sticks or try to knock their legs out from under them, which could have made it even more exciting.

In any case we returned to the center of the historic district through the shopping area and then turned right to return to the Lodge and the finish point. I was surprised to learn that the shopping area was one of the first “designed” shopping districts, predating malls by forty years or so. For a taste of the off-beat, you can augment this classy shopping area with some supremely tacky shopping at the Williamsburg Pottery out at Lightfoot, Virginia, about 10 miles out of Williamsburg. Quite weird, but I have found some useful stuff.

We were pretty tired and once again quite hungry after finishing the second walk. We thought that we had seen a Shoney's over on the other side of town, so we drove over that way to look for it. We didn't find it, but we did find a very nice place called Baron’s where we dinner. The restaurant had a humongous salad bar and meat and potatoes bar, but we weren't all that hungry so we settled for a normal meal. Afterwards, we returned to the hotel and managed to stay awake long enough to use the hot tub and the pool before going to sleep!

The next morning was the AVA treasurers walk through Williamsburg. Although this walk also included the Colonial section of the town, it was routed to avoid any duplication. This was the first time, for example, that I ever seen the Colonial Williamsburg jail. It was a perfect time to take pictures because we had started at 7 a.m. in the morning, giving us a bright morning sun and a clear blue sky. Not many people were out, but it was too cold to sing so I had a whale of a time taking a lot pictures.

We were little tired after the first walk, but we rested up while we drove over to Yorktown to correct a mistake in stamping our books. Then we drove back along the Colonial Parkway straight through Williamsburg to Jamestown. The Parkway is a really picturesque road, three lanes wide with the speed limit 45. It is always a very relaxed and scenic drive so I didn't mind taking another couple trips on it, and we needed the rest! We again changed our shoes and socks and re-filled the water bottle in preparation for our final walk. It was still pretty cold as we started the walk, about 30 degrees, and the wind had picked up so we were really getting a wind chill factor. But at least it wasn't the cold wet rain like it had been the previous time we walked in Jamestown.

Someday we will do the 15 km option at Jamestown, but again this time we were too tired and had to settle for the basic 11 km walk. The start/finish is at the Visitor’s Center, and the VM box is at the gift shop as in Yorktown. The trail first loops around the ruins in the historic area and then proceeds back along the isthmus to the glass-blowing house near the park entrance. The historic area is haunting, especially when you realize how desperate the struggle to survive was for the early settlers. Archeological excavations are in progress in the old palisade area--in season you should be able to see the college students working there. If you get a chance, also read the capsule autobiography of Captain John Smith near his statue as you walk along the James River’s bank--the story of slavery, murder, escape, and advancement is quite astonishing.

The out-and-back loop to the Glass House gives very nice views of the James River and the ferries that transfer cars and people across it. Crossing the bridge between the island and the glass house was really cold as there wasn't any wind break for us. We were very relieved we got under the shelter of the trees over on the other side of the bridge. Fortunately, coming back we had the wind that our backs and that made it a whole lot warmer!

There is a relatively modern hand-blown glass factory at the Glass House site, and watching the glass blowers crafting a candlestick holder was quite interesting and gave us a rest. We have bought several Colonial-era reproduction items from here. The checkpoint is in the shelter housing the ruins of the original pottery, after which the trail returns to the road on the causeway.

After returning the parking lot at the Visitor’s Center, the trail makes a final loop around the interior of Jamestown Island. We had occasional car traffic on this walk, whereas on previous walks there was almost no one else, which made the walk in the deep pine woods sections as the dusk was falling a little spooky. We also noticed a lot of downed trees, apparently victims of the ice storm. It was interesting how some areas were relatively unaffected while other spots had severe, extensive damage. The tidal flats and lagoons were calm and tranquil, but we didn’t see a heron like last time, probably because it was 30 degrees with a 20 mph wind and any sensible bird would be in its nest!

The final checkpoint sign was missing, so we were in a quandry about how to fill in the final blank. We were too tired to walk back so we started to drive back when we saw Ken, and he told us that the answer for the final clue was “masts”. He seemed to know, so that’s what we put on our cards--I hope we get the neat triangular patch for all this walking! Jamestown is a very nice YRE, all on paved surfaces or groomed trails, with interesting sights and historic sites along the way.

We were really tired after all this walking. I mean bone-tired or “hunde muede” as the Germans would say. But it had been a very nice weekend and a nice break from our workaday world. It was a relief to just get in the car and drive home, and we stopped for lunch at our favorite Arby's near Richmond. That way we can also split the drive so that neither of us got too tired from the driving.

Dear Mom,

It was nice talking to you on Easter Sunday. You did sound a little tired, and I hope you're feeling better now. The Easter Bunny left some things for you at our house, so I'm sending them along to you. Is the cassette player still working? If not, please let me know so that I can get you another one.

I assume you got my last letter. I sent off the bird house to Arlene later that week. She called to thank me on Thursday and said that they would be putting the bird house out near the pond on the farm. I think they like it. I would also like to think that Jean would've like it.

Judson and his girlfriend Sarah came down from Boston to visit us and her family over the Easter weekend. They arrived last Wednesday evening and stayed with us overnight, and then they drove down to visit her friends in Richmond, Virginia on Thursday and Friday. They took us out to eat at a very fancy Japanese steak house on Friday night, and we all have a wonderful time watching the cook do tricks while he was cooking food. The food is cooked on very large griddle that is set in the middle of a large table, with people sitting all-around. Since the food is very freshly cooked right before your very eyes, it is very tasty. In particular, this is the first time that I have eaten shrimp and really enjoyed it.

Judson, Sarah, Monika, and I colored Easter eggs on Saturday night. They stayed over until Sunday morning and we had an Easter egg hunt inside the house on Sunday morning. They found lots of stuff, and like I say some of it was left by the Easter Bunny for you. Those two then left to spend the rest of Easter Sunday with her parents, while we went off to do one of our Volksmarches.

Our Volksmarch started at the Pentagon, and a path lead over the Memorial bridge to the Lincoln Memorial. The trail then branched over to the tidal basin which is planted in cherry trees all-around. You get great views of the Jefferson Memorial and Washington monument through this layer of pink flowering cherry trees. It is really very pretty. It was cool and hazy, so I did not notice how strong the sun really was. I ended up getting sunburn on top of my head except where I had this sweat band tied around my head. So now I have a red head with a white stripe across my forehead, and look rather like a raccoon.

Judson and Sarah had invited us to meet her parents on Sunday evening, so after resting at home a couple of hours we went down to their house in Washington D.C.. They live in a small townhouse about four blocks from the U.S. Capitol building. We had a nice spice cake with ice cream for dessert, and then we played a rousing game of trivial pursuit.

Judson says "hi", and hopes you are well. Sarah will be coming over to our house shortly, and the two of them will be off wandering around the city for the afternoon. They do make a nice couple, and we shall see how this all turns out.

Love,