Virginia – Page 4 – ToadMama.com

May 9, 2017May 9, 2017

The First “First”

The week before I left for my adventure, I worked over 70 hours. Needless to say, my brain was a bit fried on Saturday morning. But, that’s okay. Riding really is the best medicine to relieve stress.

I honestly had no firm plans beyond heading to Monterey, Virginia to see their LOVEwork. When I pulled out of my driveway, I had no idea which route I’d be using to get there. As I headed south on US-29 toward Stanardsville, I initially thought about crossing the mountains on US-33, because my favorite route — Dyke Road — that parallels the mountains on the eastern side would have taken longer. Then I realized I WAS IN NO HURRY, and took my favorite, also longer, route instead.

It was lovely. Such a pretty area.

VA-810, just North of Boonesville in Albemarle County, Virginia.

I don’t know the full story behind this next place, a little further south along the same road. I wasn’t a fan of The Waltons TV show, so wouldn’t recognize this place even if it were on the show. But the fence says Walton’s Homeplace. A quick Google search didn’t help.

I took my good, sweet time enjoying the scenery. I even stopped at my favorite store for a snack and a drink.

From there, I continued south and west, not paying much attention to anything other than the ride and enjoying the scenery. I was tickled to see a barn quilt atop the mountain just before Monterey.

I still wasn’t thinking about much of anything in particular beyond getting to Monterey. I was looking forward to seeing the LOVEwork. So much so, that I almost headed for it first, but I figured I’d better stop in town for gas first.

That’s when it happened. Because I hadn’t been paying attention, for the first time ever, I ran out of gas. As you’ll see in the next pic, it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Photo captured while standing at gas pump.

That street sign you see in the above shot is where I ran out of gas. Literally about 25 feet from the gas station. I had to push the bike, but another rider came over to help me (it was slightly uphill).

“Gas?” he asked as he started pushing.

“Yes,” I said.

“That’s cutting it a bit close, isn’t it?” he said.

“Yes,” I said, laughing. I thanked him for the help, he rejoined his group, I filled up, ate some lunch, and then off I went.

I didnt have to go far to find the LOVE. I think it’s one of the prettiest ones I’ve seen.

After that, I just had to figure out where to go next. Again, I had a direction in mind, but no route plan. It was fun making my way on the fly.

One thing for certain, I kept a closer watch on the gas gauge after that. And I usually filled up well before I got too close to empty. 😎

March 7, 2017

Quest for LOVE Update

You know it’s hard to keep track of how many LOVEworks there are to visit when even the Virginia travel folks can’t pin down the exact number!

In this blog post from February, the travel folks said “more than 65.” That’s technically true, but the number is now higher than 70! I’ve physically visited and captured pics of at least 50 LOVEworks.

The two latest I saw are here…

It’s really hard to keep track of how many I have yet to see. Why? They keep adding more!

I’m in the process of planning (sorta) a May getaway. So I figured I’d make a list of sculptures I need to visit. There are 22! Even I was surprised at how many are on that list.

Some of them are really far away, or at least hard to get to, like the one new one near Chincoteage on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. That would either involve another trek through Maryland or a journey to Norfolk/Virginia Beach then across the bay bridge tunnel. The one in Gate City, in the far southwestern tip of Virginia, is reported to have reappeared, too.

I might see some on my upcoming adventure. Then again, I might not. This is another of those trips where the plan is NOT to plan. I’ll just head out with my maps and a general idea of direction and/or destination. I may end up on the Gulf Coast. Or I might have so much fun in the mountains that I’ll end up staying there.

It’s fun for now trying to imagine where my bike might take me.

November 6, 2016

Fall in Virginia

Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons. Not even I can say for sure whether it’s my favorite, because I really like Spring, too.

I’ve been busy with my new job. All is going well, but meeting and getting accustomed to new co-workers and learning new stuff is mentally exhausting. By the time evening rolls around during the week — my days have been FLYing! — I’m mentally spent.

We’ve been spending our Saturdays helping my MIL consolidate her belongings in preparation for her impending move into a lovely apartment facility in Perry Hall, Maryland (just northeast of Baltimore). Luckily Mike’s siblings and in-laws have been pitching-in, too.

There’s plenty of stuff I need to do around our house, but I decided to put it off in favor of enjoying the lovely Fall scenery in Virginia.

I like exploring back roads far more than Hubby does. My bike is much smaller and better-suited for the dirt-and-gravel roads sometimes encountered in this region. My bike probably weighs about half as much as his does, the weight is more-evenly distributed (lower), and it has a skinnier profile, so it’s easy for me to stop and park in the grass along a road without having to worry about hindering traffic and/or getting sideswiped.

It really has been lovely. I thought y’all might enjoy some of the images I captured over the last few weeks.

How cool is that lichen-covered boulder? It was about the size of a rectangular bale of hay, only it wasn’t rectangular. Oh, it was in a creek, too.

Look Closely to See the Abandoned Chimney

This is not the first abandoned chimney I’ve seen, with no trace of its former building in view. I’d love to know the story of that place. It would be a lovely spot for a tiny cabin.

Slightly Closer Look at Old Rag Mountain

Lichen-Spotted Shed Roof near Syria, Virginia

Somewhere near Ruth or Lydia, Virginia (I think)

I hope you’ve all been able to enjoy Fall, too. Today is the day the clocks “fall back,” so it’ll be getting dark here in a couple of hours. I need to get back to catching up on my chores.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh, wait. One more thing. This post was written entirely on my new MacBook Air — work-issued — which I am still getting used to. The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll be an Apple convert.

September 2, 2016August 28, 2016

Most-Unusual Wear Pattern

I found a very interesting seashell at Virginia Beach last week. It was actually just a piece of a shell. Most of the shells I was seeing were completely pulverized.

I’ve been told shells get pulverized like that when there’s a dredging/beach replenishment effort in an area. I can’t say whether that’s the case in Virginia Beach or not, but I do know there were lots of rocks/stones and pulverized shells along the beach.

That’s okay, because even small things can be interesting, whether they are whole or not.

I though the wear pattern on this piece of shell was really cool. You’re looking at the inside of what was once a much-thicker shell. The other side just looks like the outside of any other unremarkable shell.

The pic is grainy because it’s an extreme close-up, taken with my phone while I was sitting on the beach. That piece is actually pretty little. I’d guesstimate bigger than a dime, but smaller than a nickel.

Let’s see…

I did find one shell that looked to be pretty perfect.

But it was hard to tell without my close-up-vision glasses.

Looks Deceiving — Looks Can Be Deceiving

Did you think that perfect shell would be so small? 🙂

August 30, 2016August 28, 2016

Unanticipated LOVE

I’ll be the first person to admit that I sometimes go out of my way to see some of the stuff that I photograph.

Like the big Virginia LOVE signs. I’ve gone out of my way to see a bunch of those. But sometimes, I encounter them unexpectedly.

Take this past Thursday as an example. I left my house around 5:30 AM for the three-plus-hour to drive to the coast. About halfway, along I-64, east of Richmond, I had to stop for a bio break. That’s when I saw this LOVEwork.

I knew there was one down around there somewhere, but I didn’t realize it was at a rest stop. The East Coast Gateway Virginia Welcome Center to be exact.

Counting this love (New Kent, VA), the undocumented LOVE I saw in Sperryville recently, and the one I saw in Doswell, VA on my way to Carolina Beach, I have visited and captured pics of 49 LOVEworks!

I haven’t updated my log page, so you’ll just have to trust me.

August 28, 2016

The Death Spiral

My personal computer is dying.

There, I’ve said it.

I’ve known for a while. There have been signs. It’s one of the reasons I’ve been so absent from my regular online haunts, like reading blogs and publishing stuff on my own blog.

I honestly don’t even want to THINK about getting a new computer. I hate having to make decisions about technology, because truly informed decisions take lots of reading, and lots of thought.

And, as soon as you mention needing a new techy thing or other, everyone wants to share advice and opinions. To me, all of that is even MORE overwhelming. Because what is good or works for one person may not be good or work for me.

The latest “sign” is that the network adapter stopped working. So I can’t connect to our home network or the biggest network of all, the Internet. It can probably be fixed. But why bother when I know the thing needs to be replaced. It’s time, really. I have been in denial for MONTHS.

Anyhoo… to change the subject, look at this pretty sunrise.

I am a visual person. I really , really love all the colors in nature (like sunrises and sunsets). I’m not usually up early enough to see sunrises and, if I were, I wouldn’t be able to see much of it from my house because I don’t have a very good view of the eastern or western sky.

Recently, due to the oppressive Mid-Atlantic heat and humidity, and the fact that I work from home so have nothing to really force me out of the house, I’d been feeling rather house-bound. Like a cabin fever sort of thing. I got outside, but only in the evenings when walking the dogs. Not only did that feel hot and uncomfortable, it was also LOUD because of the stupid cicadas. They’ve been quite loud and quite incessant for WEEKS. If you’ve never had to live with the darn things and don’t know what I mean, make sure your sound is turned on then follow this link.

So I decided to head to the beach for a few days. Hubby hates the beach and I really wanted to swim in the ocean one more time before beach season ends. I am a remote employee, so I just moved my office and altered my hours for a couple of days. I worked in the early morning and late afternoon/evenings and had midday to hang out on the beach.

It was a refreshing and much-needed break.

While there, since I had to get up early to work anyway, I made sure to enjoy sunrise from the beach. I mean, I had to sit somewhere to drink that all-important morning coffee, right?

I don’t take pictures just for the sake of taking a lot of pictures. I take pictures trying to capture — and share — the beauty (and other stuff) that I see.

I’m always saying, you can’t just take an occasional snapshot here and there and expect to have a bunch of great photos on hand. You have to take a lot of pictures in order to capture a few good ones.

Anyone can push a shutter and capture a moment. I throw away/delete a lot more images than I share. I think most good photographers do. That’s another key to being good, knowing when you have created/captured something that’s not so good. If it’s not good or it’s even really bad, DON’T SHARE IT.

I actually captured quite a few decent sunrise pics, but I think the one I shared above is my favorite.

If you’d like to see some of the “bloopers” watch the video I embedded below. There’s sound, so you may want to adjust your volume before pressing play.

I hope to make more-frequent appearances once I have procured a new personal computer.