Pink Skies, Virginia Beach

Willy Nilly Friday

The theme for City Daily Photo today and tomorrow is Pink. I thought of pink skies and decided to go back into my archives for pink sunrises at Virginia Beach in honor of that great vacation town. Today that area suffered a tragic shooting, something that should not happen anywhere.

These pictures are left over from our trip there in 2017. We were also there in 2013. We don't go there very often because it is a long drive, even though it is in our state. It takes 4 hours plus a lunch stop and traffic delays, which we always hit between Newport News and the beach.

Sharing with Skywatch Friday and Weekend Reflections.

The mother and child photo is from later in the day. It was almost black and white so I went ahead and took out the rest of the color.

I don't know the people in these pictures. I was using a zoom lens from our balcony. At that time, my right foot was still tender from foot surgery so I didn't even try to walk on the sand. (Wow, and here I am two years later and that foot still gets sore! My weak ankles don't really let it heal completely.)

The flowers were at nearby First Landing State Park.

Have a good weekend!

Sharing with Friday Bliss and Floral Friday.

Views at Bryce Resort

Basye, Virginia

A few things have changed since we lived there. A new events center has opened in "the core" area of the resort, with views of the ski slopes.

We put our house there on the market. We have been renting it to tenants since we moved out. 

Both decks were replaced a year ago. The trees have really grown!

Our tenant has pictures on the mantle which look like eyes, LOL.

Sometimes I wish I could move back there. It is so peaceful! But we are getting older and there is lot to be said for living close to shopping and doctors.

Home prices at Bryce Resort are very reasonable. People think of it as being very rural, although it is only half an hour from I-81 and Woodstock.

The View from Hottel Road

Shenandoah County, Virginia
 

The Barn Collective, Fences, and Wordless Wednesday.

Memorial to the Town Dog

Stephens City, VA.

Links:

• Tuesday Treasures.
• Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday.
• Article about Lenny, Beloved Stray Dog.

Memorial Day Random-osity

For Random-osity, bloggers post something Good, Random, and Fun. 

The Good: Soldiers from the American Revolution are depicted in these murals in the Culpeper Museum.

Monday Murals.

The Random: A memorial to Warren County men lost in the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

Next to the large plaque are plaques honoring two Marines awarded the Medal of Honor: Cpl. Larry E. Smedley and 1st Lt. Lesley L. Fox.

The monument is on the grounds of the courthouse in Front Royal.

The Fun: I used Photo Collage to make the combined image of pretty roses that were next to the monument.

Mosaic Monday.

"Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? 

Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?"

Read the lyrics by Pete Seeger and Joe Hickerson.

Red, White, Blue... and then Stormy.

Yesterday we drove to Bealeton. I chose a route that avoided highways most of the way because I knew traffic would be heavy on Memorial Day Weekend.

When I saw this fine church on a hill, I pulled into the parking lot to take a picture. It looked familiar to me; I think I once passed it on a Civil War field trip. We may have even stopped there. A sign said Jeffersonton Baptist Church.

The church website tells us it was originally built in 1848 and rebuilt in 1877. The grand portico was added in 1921.

The “Great Wagon Road” from Chester Gap to Falmouth and the Piedmont Stage Route from Washington to Milledgeville, GA passed in front of the church. (Interestingly, we had come through Chester Gap and were thus following the old wagon road.)

During the Civil War, skirmishes took place around the church. In 1862, it was used as a hospital and over 30 unidentified soldiers were buried in the cemetery.

Later I saw these roses in a car lot where Frank was looking at a Jeep.

During the ride home, Frank said, "What's that noise?" I could hear his cell phone speaking and I thought maybe he had hit a button accidentally. Then I remembered it was safely inside my purse. As you can see in the last photo, the sky was getting very dark. When I saw a safe place to pull over, I stopped to take a picture and check the phone.

"Extreme Tornado Warning! Take cover." That message lit up the screen in red letters. There was no place to take cover. Frank noticed that small print said the warning was until 5:30 pm, and it was already 5:24.

We were on Ben Venue Road in a rural area with no public buildings. It would not have been safe to shelter in a barn, so I kept driving. Flint Hill was a few miles ahead and there were a couple of restaurants there. By the time we got there, the warning was past. We drove on, went through a thunderstorm, but made it home safely.

Born to Be Wild? (Not Quite.)

We happened to be in Bealeton today and saw a large number of motorcycles stopped at a gas station/convenience store. By the time we left there were close to a hundred of them! No doubt they are participating in Rolling Thunder, an annual Memorial Day event in Washington, DC. 

Changing gears, I'm sharing pictures of farm animals, starting with a cow that I filtered in Photoshop for Athena's photo art linkup.

A horse is a horse, of course.

And then we have geese, and even some chickens.

Weekend Reflections

And finally, a nice sheepdog.

Saturday's Critters

Odds and Ends in Late May.

Willy Nilly Friday.

1. After the drive I shared in yesterday's post, we stopped in Wardensville for dinner. This display caught my eye.

2. This black and white photo is from many years ago, when President Reagan visited my workplace. We were allowed to take pictures, although cameras had to be checked over by the secret service.

Back in 2011, I shared another photo from that visit.

3. Construction has progressed on the new Seven Bends State Park. A picnic shelter is in place near the Lupton Road entrance, plus an almost-completed rest room.

4. Also at the new park, demolition of old buildings has been completed. Here we see the farm lane that once led to Camp Lupton.

5. Martins Food Stores have a new worker, a robot. Shoppers are startled as he moves around, checking the floor for spills. Children are excited to meet him!

6. The collage below shows wildflowers I saw today at Seven Bends State Park. The park will be very nice when it is completed, offering fishing, canoeing, hiking, biking, and outdoor education. There will not be RV camping because the access roads are quite narrow.

See my post from a year ago.

Floral Friday and Friday Bliss.

The View from Squirrel Gap Road

Near Capon Springs, WV

We were here in October and it was really pretty so we went back to see it in the springtime. It wasn't until I looked at my navigation screen that I realized the name of the road was Squirrel Gap. I didn't see a sign for the road; just a arrow on Route 55 with the name Hawk.

I decided to turn onto the road that leads to Hawk Recreation Area. 

The picnic area is primitive and very quiet. It was a weekday and no one else was there.

The only running water is the kind you bring up with a hand pump.

Here we see Smokey on a sign, a symbol of fire prevention.

I drove to the entrance of the nearby campground. It was quiet also. I did not attempt to enter because the road was badly rutted.

Lynn and her dog camped there last year and found it very pleasant. She said the only other guests there were some people carrying binoculars, apparently birdwatchers.