My summer vacation 2013

Since I haven't posted to this site since May, you may have thought I wasn't doing anything.  I was - burying a few more pets, working hard and riding.  Finally July arrived, along with my working summer vacation. 

Friday July 5:  up at 3:30 a.m. to get on the road just after 4:15 a.m.. We let fawn and Tobie out but gratefully didn't have to worry about getting everyone else fed and taken care of. Stacy (our pet sitter) was expected to arrive in a couple of hours.

 

 Fortunately, the drive was essentially uneventful. As expected the traffic was light. The only accident was on southbound I-95. We stopped about every other rest stop to stretch our legs and let Sassy and Leiden out for a sniff and a pee. I found a helpful iPhone app that was able to tell us when a stop was coming up so we really didn't have to guess. I will report that South Carolina is pretty lax on the stops, instead forcing you off at an exit to patronize a local business and their facilities.

About half way we started musing about the possibility of places we could stop to spend the night if we were so inclined on future trips. We've just about decided that a fifteen hour drive in one swoop is more than we are willing to do. But, we are usually traveling with one or more dogs so we need a pet friendly place. Joe, is very particular about where we stay and is not excited about a roadside dive on the side of I-95. Unfortunately, bed as breakfasts that take dogs and are right where you want them to be are few and far between.

We finally arrived in Sperryville at 7:15 p.m., just in time for a well deserved cocktail, dinner and a comfortable bed. Thank you for the safe arrival.

Saturday July 6: we were oddly up very early, partly because the sun comes up right through the windows facing our bed. Partly because we are way too used to getting up early every single day.

Anne fixed a great country breakfast and we were off to the barn. She rode Takota and I rode Romeo for the first time. I've resisted riding him for a few years because he is taller than I am interested in, about 16.3. Sierra was always plenty big for me and my favorite mount was Spirit, a comfortable 14.3. But now that Sierra is gone, I thought I'd give Romeo a try. He was surprisingly good and extremely comfortable. He felt familiar even, with his broad chest, barrel belly and big stride. We had a very nice ride minus the scary runaway Mylar balloons that were hung up in some bushes.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing , watching movies and hanging out with Anne and Dennis. A very nice day overall. We are happy to be here in our future community.

Mom arrived late afternoon and we had a lovely evening enjoying each others company. She spent the previous night with Karen on her way down from Huntingdon, PA.  We had the chance to go to Roy's Farm Store and visit Shane at the Headmasters Pub, where he moonlights for extra spending money. 

Sunday July 7: today is work day. We got to the property about 9 am, later than we wanted but still plenty of time for us to get the entire 800 feet of our fence painted. We were also pleased to see that our farmer was good for his word and had cleared the tree line along the road. It still needs to be smoothed and seeded.

We used an asphalt based stain that was very very messy. Joe ruined his boots, socks, shorts and tee shirt. All but the boots went into the trash. Fortunately, I fared better and get to keep my clothes. A little worse for the wear, but salvageable.

We were very surprised what we were able to get done. We had planned on two days but after the first day's experience didn't  relish the idea of getting that dirty two days in a row. Cleaning your skin with diesel fuel can't be good on a regular basis either.

Monday July 8:  today is Joe's birthday. We don't have a lot planned because we are now a day ahead of schedule. Still we went to the property to do some fence maintenance, catch up with our farmer and chat with our neighbors.

We did venture into Culpeper for lunch at Frost Cafe and a visit to Martin's Grocery. I've volunteered to cook on Tuesday night when new neighbors Sam and Elizabeth Fox are coming over.

We got back to Hazel River Farm early enough that I thought I would take my new favorite mount, Romeo for a little trail ride. He had been so good on our previous ride that I didn't expect any trouble. I was wrong. Not sure what was bothering him but we headed out just fine until we crossed the creek onto a neighbor's property where he promptly became a jerk and tried to rear to get me off. Not sure if it was the bugs, they were really bad, or the fact that he was alone. I am not brave enough to fight with a 1200 pound horse I don't know very well when we are off his home property and in an area where I am not easily visible to anyone who might be concerned about me. I got off, walked him for a while, then got back on. Same result, a temper tantrum. He was quiet while I was leading him but every time I got back on he pitched a fit.  I tried twice to get back on before I gave up and walked him,home - straight to the round pen where I gave him the opportunity to reconsider his position. I was able to get back on and end on a good note. He may no longer be my first choice.  Anne may have to get spirit back after all. He's her one horse I really do like that is on loan to a friend as a companion horse.

Anne surprised Joe with KFC chicken, a forbidden diet treat he has been resisting for a long time. That and some pie and he had a very happy birthday.

Tuesday July 9:  this was the day we planned to ride the motorcycle. We hauled it all the way up here so we were hoping for at least one day to ride. It was overcast as we started out. It could possibly rain us out. Joe is not crazy about riding in the rain but we decided to take our chances.

First point of interest was the road up to Old Rag, a local mountain and tourist destination located within the Shenandoah National Park system. We didn't realize you couldn't drive to the top so we made it to the lower parking lot and turned around. It was a beautiful drive out that way. I had actually been on the same road at least once before when I was looking at property.

Our our way back to 231 to head toward Madison we had the pleasure of seeing a pretty good sized bear. This is the first we've seen up here although the locals tell us they see them all the time. He was taking a walk down a driveway but high tailed it when he saw us. Too quick to even think about getting a picture. 

 

Once in Madison we had breakfast at the mountaineer cafe, its only guests. Joe was happy they had chipped beef gravy, one of his favorites. Then a quick stop at the local chamber of commerce and visitor center to get a map of the county and get some helpful hints.

We headed toward Graves Mountain and Syria, two places we have never been. We took route 600 for what seemed like a long way continuously climbing while the road became more narrow, almost like we were on someone's driveway. Joe was getting aggravated because he knew I didn't have a clue where we were or where the road was going to end up. Just as he threatened to turn around we had the decision made for us. We had reached the end of the road and we were at what we believe was the white canyon portion of the National Park.

We headed back down the mountain coasting most of the way until we came to Etlan road where we turned left to head back in the direction of Sperryville. What a gorgeous drive through there. Virginia has had a lot of rain and everything is very very green and lush. We did pass the ducard winery, an adventure for another day.

Since I was still in exploration mode I had Joe make a right into Hawlin, knowing it would drop us off on 522. We planned to go all the way back into Sperryville to speak to the postmaster about getting an address. This was to no avail because apparently the post office doesn't assign addresses, counties do. Something to work on tomorrow while Joe is digging our driveway.

I spent the afternoon making two kinds of lasagna - meat and veggie - for our evening guests. I finished in enough time to join Anne and friends at her aquatics class. Nice group of people, all ladies except for one - Anne's across the street neighbor, roger. Anne gives a nice workout.  The pool was beautiful and the weather perfect, if not a little humid. There was lots of joking and storytelling during our one hour class. Clearly all these people enjoy each other's company. This area has some of the nicest people. One lady actually invited me to stay with her if I tire of the hospitality offered by my sister.

We ended up inviting Roger to dinner as well. The dinner party was very cordial and we all had a good time, plenty to eat and to drink. No one died from my cooking.

I woke up sometime during the night and realized I had a tick in my ear.  After that sleep eluded me because I couldn't shake the itchy feeling of bugs all over me.

Wednesday July 10:  up early to get to the property to meet the rental company delivering our bobcat. We passed Elizabeth Fox walking her dogs, gus and remy, on the way in and I decided to join her despite the drizzling rain. Well it soon became more than a drizzle but we were not deterred. We got in a least a couple of miles. Joe did come to rescue us at one point but the damage was done and we were almost back to Elizabeth's. She offered a towel and a cup of coffee, both graciously accepted.

I let Joe get started without me. No biggie since he isn't going to let me drive the bobcat anyway. My job is to finish putting two screws in each board because the nails we used didn't hold very well and the boards are pulling away from the posts in some places.  If I get done in time then I can get out that horrible asphalt stain and touch up the screw holes and some places we missed. Yippee!  So happy I wore the shirt I ruined on Sunday. I wore black pants this time to keep it off my legs and at least on black it won't show.

Joe did a great job grading the drive even though he said the bobcat was pretty beat up and vey loose. Nice to have a husband with so many talents. Our stone was expected at 2 pm. By 2:20 I decided to head to the Boston general store because we were starving. I passed Forrest Freeman with our load of stone on my way out.

I had a nice conversation with Sashi, the store's proprietor who was also kind enough to make me a from scratch tuna salad sandwich. She took pity on me because she is also a vegetarian. Turns out she knows my nephew Shane. Says she gives him a hard time. Her sister is educated as a physical therapist but is not licensed in Virginia. Looks like we might be getting to know her better. I have some ideas I want to share with her about increasing customer traffic to the store. They have a perfect location but not a lot of imagination about what could be done with the store. Not trying to butt in but I can't resist a marketing opportunity... If the only cleaned the place up a bit, added some checked table cloths and brought in some local canned and baked goods, well...that's what I would do, for starters. 

The driveway looks great. This is just the entrance and 75 feet. In October, our goal. Is to build and paint another 500 feet of driveway fence in preparation for planting our trees in the spring 2014. Everything we are trying to accomplish right now has to be done in the three weeks a year we are coming up here.

One thing we did learn while here is we cannot get a physical street address until we have a residential structure on the property. In addition, a lot of people around here have private lane signs. Nor sure what you have to do to get one of those, either.

Here's the current plan:

October 2013:  install 500 feet of driveway fence. Add additional driveway footage with gravel. Employ stone mason to build authentic Virginia stone fence/entrance feature.  Get estimates from builders on constructing the shells for our horse barn and equipment barn. Also get estimate on shell for four car garage with apartment. Compare and determine what, if anything, we can start building in 2014. We are hoping to pay for improvements as we go for as long as we can without using up all of our savings.

April 2014:  paint driveway fence. Install red sugar maples across the street side of the property. Install oak trees down the driveway. Figure out how to keep them watered until they take root and can survive. One idea is to employ nephew Shane to put a water container on his truck and go out a few times a week. He loves living plants and will probably be our best choice. Alternative is it install our well and electric an run irrigation. - sounds complicated.

Back in Florida, we are trying to start a bunch of oak trees in pots for future transplantation. My goal is to bring 100 trees with us. We've got 17 started and as long as they do well, this might be a plan. There are some doubting Thomas' who do not think this is possible - Caren Stauffer.

July 2014: since it can be very hot and humid here in summer it is harder to come up with outside projects. We may have to reserve July as fence painting time. Get estimates on installing well and electric. Get estimate on digging a pond. We met a man this trip who can help. Not sure if our property is suited for a pond. We have a running creek at the back. We also have a spot that looks great for a pond.  We will see because I would love to have a pond.

October 2014:  construct barn shells. I'm pretty sure we won't be building our garage apartment until April 2016 but I did promise joe we would compare the prices.

All of 2015:  work on building and painting pasture fences. If horse barn shell is built, begin finish work like installing siding, windows, stalls, wash rack, driveway, etc. we could probably start camping out there if we were really serious. Might be fun bathing on the wash rack. Lol.

Right now our property is inhabited by 15 black angus cows. Although we love the ag exemption, we don't love cow poop. We are hoping to convince our farmer to grow hay at some point in the future. This trip I managed to step in poop up to my ankles, not once but twice. Brilliant!

All of 2016 and 2017: build and finish garage and apartment. My future office is also in this structure so I guess technically, once this is done, joe could relocate and I could begin working remotely. Hoyt & Bryan is working with Nora Bergman, a professional development coach to help us make that transition as smoothly as possible.

I have also been working with a home designer, mary Tracy, who is a friend of a friend. She helped us design our Tennessee barn with living quarters before we scrapped the whole Tennessee idea and sold our property.  She is currently helping us with our Virginia designs so that the barn, garage and house are all coordinated. I have spent a ton of time on pinterest gathering thousands of ideas. Mary says at some point I am going to have to choose and limit some of my choices. Why?  Haha.

I am currently leaning toward a home design that in addition to having a wrap around porch had gazebos on all four corners. It is so cool looking. Joe thinks this is crazy, one is sufficient. We will see who prevails. May depend on cost, ultimately. But, you only build your dream house once. I really want what I want. He has lots if good ideas too. We plan to have a finished basement that will incorporate a bar with all the trimmings such as a pool table, darts, and pin ball machine but also a media room, safe room and wine cellar.

I found some cool designs for saddle bar stools that joe can make. All are made with western saddles but since this is fox hunting country where most people ride English, there may have to be some design modifications, or at least one of each.  Also some great ideas for things made out of horse shoes. Check back at www.horseshoestuff.com if you want to check out some designs.

Made the mistake of looking at petfinder tonight only to find a husky/lab puppy available for adoption in Arlington, va, just a short two hour drive from sperryville. Only way to contact the rescue was by email and voice message. Hopefully they will call.

Thursday July 11:  nothing really left to do today so we headed off in the direction of the town of luray and home to luray caverns. Decided to eat at uncle bucks diner. Pretty typical diner food but i was excited they had fried green tomatoes on the menu. Not what i expected. They dip and fry them in pancake batter which explains why they were way too sweet.

We have puppies on the brain so we took the long way back to sperryville through front royal and stopped at their local humane society. Just as we pulled into the parking lot the phone rang and it was the lost dog rescue that has "our" puppy. Oddly, they were not going to be able to show her to us because the puppies are "only available for viewing" at events like a petsmart hang out on the sidewalk deal. And, besides they had already promised a few other people they could see her and that wouldn't be fair. To whom?  The puppy who needs a home?  We were willing to drive over and pick her up that day. Oh well, we chalked it up to a message from the universe that she's not really "our" puppy. We wish her well and hope she gets a great home.

Later that day while I was watching some tv, the phone rang and it was another lady from the rescue. A sign, an omen?  She didn't even know about the earlier conversation. At any rate, I had a really nice chat with her but with the same end result. We were not going to be able to see the puppy before Saturday, when we were going to already be back in Florida.

We went back to the property for one last farewell and to make sure our driveway was still there. It was. The bobcat was gone which means it has either been stolen or properly picked up.

Friend, tinker came for dinner. A nice time but we made it an early evening as we plan to leave before 530 am. We would like to be home by dark.

Friday July 12:  best laid plans... Dennis woke us up just after. 4 am and instead of getting right up we lay there for "just a minute" that turned into more than an hour.

So we didn't actually get on the road until almost 630 am, a full hour behind our intended schedule. There was a terrible rain storm last night with reports of up to seven inches of rain. Anne and Dennis's driveway washed out in several places. Every creek and river was full to its upper banks and overflowing in many places. We have had rain off and on all day down I-95. Traffic isn't too bad though.

One small scare in Santee, SC when we stopped to get gas and the truck wouldn't start. Crap!  We really don't want to spend the night on the road. Joe made an emergency call to our mechanic, Jay at Superior Auto. He wasn't sure exactly what it was but while they were talking it occurred to joe this had also happened to his f-250 after he visited the valvoline store in Oviedo and they failed to snap the cover on the air filter.  Sure thing, same problem, again. Joe put the cover on properly and the truck finally started. Now we are afraid to turn it off until we get home. As a result we are taking turns at the rest areas guarding the truck.

I sent a note to the lost dog rescue people to let them know if "our" pup doesn't get adopted this weekend, I'll fly up and get her. That's how much she feels like our dog. I want a husky something and joe wants a lab something, so perfect combo. She looks like a German shepherd. Her mother looks like a wolf. Frankly, I would take her too.

I'm looking forward to getting home. I miss the crew we left there. Reno, Tahoe and heaven. Fawn and Tobie. Shamu and black jack. Shamu has been in the sick bay on the pool porch. I'm sure she's ready to go back to her wild ways.

I hope to spend Saturday hanging out with heaven gaining her trust and getting her to load on the trailer. Watched a few good YouTube videos so I have some ideas. Most of them involve patience. A skill I can definitely use. Wish me luck or I'll be riding from home again on Sunday. Wonder how long my friends will humor me before they just get bored and ride off somewhere else?

The Oregon coast in less than 48 hours

Kathleen Flammia and I recently attempted the near impossible - to see, explore and experience the Oregon coast in a limited time frame. In our case, we had just about 48 hours.

We arrived at the Portland airport late Wednesday afternoon. Hertz "upgraded" our reserved choice to a "mom mobile" - a minivan. Rather than argue we accepted the substitution expecting that ultimately it would just become an interesting part of our story and journey. At least we would have plenty of room for all of our stuff.

Since our stomach clocks were off by virtue of our three hour time change, our first order of business was to locate somewhere for "lunch". Not having a clue where to go, we took our chances at a nearby exit off route 26. We fortuitously discovered Rock Creek Tavern, a quaint restaurant and bar that met our needs perfectly. We enjoyed hard cider, spinach and artichoke dialing with an assortment of hummus, olives and pickled veggies.

 We arrived at Arch Cape Inn near Cannon Beach about 6 pm. I had chosen this destination from an Internet search and we were not disappointed. We were warmly welcomed by Cynthia, our hostess and innkeeper. We were introduced to fellow travelers checking in the same time - a couple whose company we came to enjoy. We were shown to our very clean and comfortable accommodations. Since we had missed the inn's happy hour, we were promptly offered a bottle of locally grown merlot. Thank you Cynthia.

We ventured into Cannon Beach for a look around and to get our coastal bearings. We decided on the Wayfarer for dinner. What a great choice. Our waiter was attentive,adorable and entertaining. He used the orders of our neighboring table to introduce us to select menu items as they were delivered. Charming idea and a good sales pitch because we ended up with eyes larger than our stomachs. We ordered drinks, good local wines - a reisling and pinot noir, along with garlic French fries, pea tendrils with scallops and a shared entree, local Rex sole encrusted with local grown nuts and assorted vegetables. Way more food than we could possibly ever eat. The leftovers went back to the inn for the innkeeper's pets.

Breakfast was awesome. It started with broiled cinnamon grapefruit, fresh orange juice and coffee. Next was an egg and zucchini frittata (for non-vegetarians, a slice of ham) was also included) This was followed by a gluten free biscuit with fruit purée and Greek yogurt. We were stuffed and happy.

Then we were on the road, an unhurried journey down the coast with no itinerary except to arrive at Heceta Head Lighthouse B&B, our destination for the evening.

We pulled over frequently just to experience the gorgeous views. We tried to follow a scenic cape route and got the opportunity to see several beautiful and historic lighthouses. There are supposedly 16 of them on the oregon coast.

 We stopped in Depoe Bay, known for its whales. We saw none but had an opportunity to buy a few baubles at a local gift shop.

We also made a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  This was fun and if you've never had squeaky cheese curds, then you are truly missing something.  

One desired destination was Mo's in Newport. Mo's is famous for its clam chowder and it did not disappoint. We had clam chowder, rich and buttery along with shrimp salad and grilled shrimp. Kathleen could not resist their brownie sundae desert. We met a couple of Newport dogs including Jake, a beautiful, if not chubby, Golden Retriever.



Ultimately we arrived at Heceta Head Lighthouse, just south of Yachats, but north of Florence and very near the Sea Lion Cave, tourist attraction. We were a little confused initially because we never received the promised "secret directions" that were supposed to accompany our reservation confirmation. We could see the lighthouse from the public park but couldn't figure out how to get there except possibly via an entrance marked "private drive.". Kathleen, a good law abiding citizen was concerned for our safety but we took our chances and were relieved to discover it was in fact the right choice.

There was no one around upon our arrival, just a note on the door advising how to access the key and find our assigned room. Fortunately we stopped in Yachats for wine and we enjoyed a restful interlude on the front porch watching g the waves break on the rocky cliffs below. Eventually we met Christine, our hostess, who recommended a trip into Florence for dinner. We determined not to eat again at Mo's but to venture out and try another venue. We decided on Kelly's Cantina because it had a nice riverfront view. The food was edible but nothing to write home about. Kathleen had a nice salad and lobster. I had roasted red pepper soup and abet and goat cheese salad.

The lighthouse is rumored to be inhabited by a ghost named Rue. We didn't meet her personally but did hear that she had been active on our day of arrival. That might explain the voices and music we heard when we were still the only guests on the premises.
  Breakfast at the lighthouse is definitely the high point. It is seven incredible courses, starting with fresh fruit and yogurt along with orange bread. Next was a to die for dungeness crab cake. This was followed by a fruit frappe as a palate cleanser. The main course was an egg frittata with fresh vegetables and a side of local sausage (none for me). Then as a final note there was cheese blintzes, fresh pear and blue cheese. Can you say full? And very satisfied. We both bought their signature cookbook so we can share these recipes with friends and family.

We did manage to trudge up the hill to the lighthouse, now under restoration, so closed to visitors. We met a nice volunteer who told us about the area and how he and his wife are maximizing their retirement through volunteer activities at state parks (see www.volunteer.gov).

We couldn't decide whether to go to the sea lion caves on our way out of town and succumb to the tourist trap temptation. I prevailed so that at least we would stop and inquire whether there were any sea lions in residence. We met a couple outside who showed us a passing whale mother and her calf (a real highlight of our trip). We also saw some free swimming seals so decided to pass on the paid version of the caves.

From Florence we headed east toward Eugene. What a beautiful drive. We planned to wind our way back to Portland via the Oregon wine country know for its award winning pinot noir grapes and resulting wines. Kathleen identified the Benton Lane winery, a family owned, award winning winery offering free shipping (a bonus) through the end of May. We tested all of their labels and ultimately purchased an entire case (with Kathleen purchasing the lion's share). We even got lucky enough to meet the owner, Steve, and have our picture taken.

As if we hadn't already eaten enough, we were ready for a late lunch by the time we got to Salem. We settled on Mexican at Hacienda Real. We enjoyed it while we there but Kathleen ended up paying for our decision later with a serious stomach ache.

We ended our whirlwind tour with cocktails at Tasty & Alder and a social get together with Cryonics friends at Gruen. Whew, after getting desperately lost in downtown Portland we finally arrived at our destination for the balance of the trip, Aloft at Cascades Station.

Spring Break 2013

Many people look forward to a spring vacation - a spring break. Some people go to the beach. Others go skiing. Some enjoy a staycation and don't go anywhere, enjoying the opportunity to relax at home.

Some, however, choose working vacations.  Joe and I recently bought 21 unimproved acres in rural Virginia at the base of the blue ridge mountains, near Sperryville. We "exchanged" our Tennessee property for something closer to family, albeit further from our current Florida home. The opportunity with undeveloped property is you get to create your own vision of what your dream property will look like. The downside is that someone has to do the work to construct that vision. In our case, that someone is us. Fortunately my husband is a skilled craftsman who can build just about anything. Unfortunately, my husband is a skilled craftsman who can build just about anything. As a result, our spring break this year was spent constructing 800 feet of beautiful rolling three board fence. 

All work and no play is a little dull so we still managed to fit in some fun.  We arrived in Virginia on Friday so we could attend the Old Dominion Hunt Point to Point Races at Ben Venue Farm.  If you've never attended a Point to Point event, you are definitely missing an exceptional experience. Its all about the tailgating, the ladies' hats, the dogs, the people, and of course, the horses.  It has the atmosphere of a much grander, horse race affair like The Derby but all the charm of a country fair. The day was windy but sunny and we had a great time. It makes us happy to know that someday we will be part of this welcoming and diverse community.

Sunday we attended The Reynolds Baptist Church early service led by pastor Jon Heddleston. This is the church that welcomed my father as a member in his last months when my mothers church would not accommodate his membership request. Pastor Jon is a loving Christian who embodies the warmth we should all extend to each other. His church doesn't judge, just opens its arms to all who will share in its message of hope and redemption.

Brunch was consumed at The Thornton River Grill with long time friends Dina and Mike McDaniel. Dina has served The HSUS for more than 43 years. I've known her since I was 10 years old. She taught me how to operate The HSUS switchboard when I worked there in the summer throughout my teenage years.

Sister Anne, friend Sally and I enjoyed a lovely horseback ride later that afternoon. Early spring in the Virginia countryside could not be more beautiful. I love the daffodils, cherry blossoms and budding trees. The natural stone fences and rolling hills with the mountains as a majestic backdrop complete the idyllic picture. My favorite mount, Spirit, was living up to his name after a long winter's rest.

Monday arrived too soon and our fence building journey began with the early morning delivery of our wood supplies. We are used to Florida terrain and not the engineering  challenges of rolling hills and rocky ground. We weren't sure what to expect. Turned out better than we hoped and by midday all of our posts were laid out and marked for placement on Tuesday. 

Tuesday saw the delivery of a Caterpillar skid steer  with nine inch hydraulic auger. Another pleasant surprise, we had all the holes dug and 100 posts in their holes by noon. Very few rocks, mostly red clay.  I had the pleasure of raising the 4x6 posts while Joe had the "easy" job of digging the holes. Next came the tamping and leveling of the posts so we will end up with a fence that wasn't erected in some haphazard manner without precise attention to detail.

By the end of the day Wednesday we had our top rail up and rolling nicely with the contour of the land.  Post tops were angled for a fished look.  A couple of neighbors dropped by to monitor our daily progress and offer their praise and suggestions. We want to be accepted by the farming locals so we wanted to make sure we built a pretty fence worthy only of positive local gossip. 

For some reason, I can't seem to figure out a proper system for calculating the number of boards required to complete a project. I had myself convinced we were 33 boards short so part of Wednesday's efforts included finding a local source of additional corral boards. This, because our original supplier doesn't stock them at its culpeper location. Lowes had a similar issue. Odd as we are in the middle of farm country where you'd think fence boards would be as popular and plentiful as the cows that dot the countryside. We were finally winners with two alternate sources, awarding our business to the Rappahannock Farmers Coop. Turned out I actually had 15 more boards than necessary so another trip was required for their return and credit.

We might have actually finished by the close of Thursday's efforts if not for the mechanical failure of our trusty air compressor. We are not new to fence building having built the original and now replacement fence at our Florida farmette. Our air compressor, necessary for the use of our air nailer, has always been temperamental but operational. She required constant supervision and had to be turned on and off between board cutting and nailing sequences so as not to overload the generator. On Thursday, after aggravating us for most of the afternoon, she took her last breath-just 20 boards short of finished.   Here Lowes ended up victorious as we completed the purchase of our new Hitachi air compressor. 

Friday was our final day and our 20 boards and relocated gate were complete by 1 pm. We could finally step back and congratulate each other for a job done.

Oh did I mention our property is occupied by a herd of black angus cows?  They are both overly curious and annoyingly helpful daily adding their personal touch by rearranging the leveled placement of our daily fence efforts and leaving us "fresh pies" to avoid squashing.  Without a doubt they made our project more interesting and caused a few unnecessary delays.

All in all, we are proud of our efforts.  We  enjoyed our week and are looking forward to continuing this journey on future vacations.