MARCH - A TRIP AND A SCAM

March has been a month of fun times and disappointing times. I'll discuss the fun times first. Of course, that would include our week long trip to Williamsburg, Virginia. The Fullers and ourselves flew out on the red eye flight Thursday, late night, to the Baltimore/Washington DC airport. It was a 4 hour flight so we didn't dare take a sleeping pill thus Paul and I were awake the whole trip. We rented a car and drove to Washington DC. We drove around the very crowed city and rather than stopping and seeing the sights decided to come back after our week in Williamsburg, on our way to the airport. The drive to the Marriot Resort in Williamsburg took about 2 more hours. When we got to the resort we found out that our reservation dates had been double booked, Deon had saved this week though Interval International and had a confirmation number for our reservation. Apparently, they had also book another couple for the same time period. It took another 2 hours to get it all straightened out but we finally were given a condo unit for the week. They did comp us dinner at their deli that night because of the trouble at check in.

Funny experience - Gary had ordered
a medium sized car but when we tried to get all our
luggage into the rental car it became a joke.
 Our 2 bigger suitcases plus one small one
could fit in the trunk but these 2 smaller ones had to
go in the back seat between Deon and I.

My space for the 2 hour drive to Williamsburg.
I could hardly move.

Paul struggling to get our of the car.
The car rental said it was a medium size car
but it should have been a compact, as it was so small.

The beautiful Marriott resort

We decided to take it easy on Saturday and get a feel for the area. We drove to the Williamsburg Visitor's center to get maps and ask questions about what we should see and do while there. We then drove the short few miles to Yorktown where we toured the visitor's center there. Included in our National Parks pass was a battlefield and encampment tour. We downloaded the narration that accompanied each stop and, while we drove the tour area, listened to the historical account explaining the events that took place in those spots during the Revolutionary War.  Before we left the area we drove through the small town of Yorktown.

An example of a redoubt, or bunker, behind which the British troop
were encamped and fired on the approaching Colonial army.
This is where redoubt 9 was located which  the Colonial army stormed,
under the direction of Thomas Jefferson. Once they breached
this redoubt, the British had to surrender. Thus, this was the site of
the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.

The Moore House where surrender negotiations took place

A French cemetery. The French were instrumental in 
helping the colonists win the war for independence.

The monument to Victory and Alliance

Of course, we found an ice cream store on our way
back to the condo. We frequented this place
a couple of times.

Saturday was also a day for shopping for groceries. We found a wonderful grocery store, Harris Tweeter (a strange name). We got a kick out of the upside down signs in their parking lot. Apparently this is a Harris Tweeter thing as we went to a different Harris Tweeter, closer to our condo and found an upside down sign there, too.

After attending church on Sunday, we decided to take a drive out to Virginia Beach. It was an hour and half drive to get to the famous beach. We would have enjoyed walking along the boardwalk but the wind was blowing and it was very cold. We had taken a lunch of cheese and crackers and fruit to eat on the beach but ended up eating it in the car. We did venture out to take a picture and make a 'pit' stop, though.

All bundled up

The boys had to try out the "Elite" seats

This is a beautiful beach and would be great to come
back to when it is warmer.

Monday morning, we attended a reenactment at the resort. They had brought in a lady who impersonated Eliza Hamilton, Alexander Hamilton's wife. She was amazing. We felt her joys as she narrated her experiences in meeting and marrying Alexander. We felt her pain at the loss of her son in a duel and, then, the death of her husband, also in a duel. We were glad we took the time to experience this.

We then drove to the Jamestown Settlement, the first permanent English colony. The incredible museum explored the three groups of people who were here, came here, were brought here - The Powhaten Indians, the British colonists, and the slaves from Africa. After walking through the huge museum, we walked out to explore a typical Powhaten Village and the re-creation of the three ships that brought the first settlers to Jamestown. We also explored a re-creation of the colonist's fort. We loved this afternoon with all its historical facts and the feelings of gratitude invoked for these courageous settlers.

Inside the amazing museum

A Powhaten living space

A dug out canoe

Grinding grain

Playing a Powhaten game

The cooking quarters

The Godspeed

The Susan Constant

The Discovery

The fort

Inside the fort

Sleeping quarters

Baking bread

Body armor ready to put on if needed

The church

Always on the ready for an attack

Wednesday was the day to explore the site of Colonial Williamsburg. We bought a pass for a bus ride to the recreated town. We walked to the Governor's palace and down the main street to the capital building. The town was to have all sorts of reenactments happening but we didn't see much going on so we were glad we hadn't spent the $45 per person to get into the buildings. It was enough to just walk the streets and take pictures. We did see an occasional person dressed up in the colonial attire. 

Outside the governor's palace

The Governor's palace

The parish church

Horse and buggy rides were available

The courthouse

Not a fun way to have to spend your day

The general store

Outside the milinery shop

A look down the main street

The court house as seen at the end of main street

The main entrance of the court house

By the end of the town's main street, Paul and Gary
were ready to sit and wait for Deon and I.

That night, we found a different place for ice cream. YUM!!!

Thursday was spent driving an hour and a half drive to Charlotteville where the home of Thomas Jeffereson's home or Montecello is located. We were glad we made the effort to travel there as it was so informative about a man who was instrumental in the fight for independence as well and the establishment of our free nation. His home and grounds were impressive. He owned over 600 slaves during his lifetime and so part of our tour included the plight of these slaves who lived at and worked his plantation - not a good impression of the man by today's standards but in Jefferson's time, he was no different from many people all over the world, including some blacks who owned slaves.

Montecello

The entry of the home was like a museum. Thomas
Jefferson wanted the people to learn something as they waited
for an audience with him.

His study

The dining room

The massive gardens attended to by his slaves

The North Privy

Wine and beer cellar in the basement

A Thomas Jefferson reenactment

It was Friday, all too soon, and time to head back to the airport. We left Williamsburg very early in the morning so we would have time to see more of Washington D.C. before flying home. We ran into rain on the way and battled rain all day in the city. We drove to Arlington Cemetery, parked the car, and boarded a tram that took us to the important sites there. Afterwards, we rode a bus to the reflection pool area of the city where we got onto a hop on hop off trolley to see the city. We were on a deadline to make our flight so we didn't get off the bus to take pictures but had a narrated view of the city. I was glad we had taken a few pictures on Saturday when we just drove around the city as the rain on the windows in the trolley didn't lend themselves to taking any pictures.

The memorial to women in the armed services

The cemetery

The Eternal flame at Kennedy's grave

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

The amphitheater at the tomb of the unknown soldier.
This is used only twice a year. It's too hot to use
in the summer time.

Boarding the hop on hop off trolley

The Lincoln Memorial from the side.
This is as close as we had time to get.

The capitol building

The Jefferson Memorial

The Washington Monument

The White House as seen from a distance

The supreme court

The cherry blossoms

Halfway through our tour on the trolley we had to switch trolleys. When we boarded the second trolley, Gary realized he didn't have his phone. His phone had his driver's license, temple recommend, and all his credit cards in it. He was panicked as it was too late to return to the first trolley to find it. I reminded Deon that she had the 'find my phone' app on her phone which she promptly opened and found that Gary's phone was moving along the same route we were taking. She called the office of the trolley company to report where the phone was and a few minutes later they called to say they had found his phone and we could pick it up at the office. That was good but we were on a tight deadline to make our flight and this meant we had to finish our trolley tour, board another bus to take us back across bridge to the cemetery, race to our car, and get downtown to pick up the phone before heading to the airport, which was an hour away. Luckily, we were able to maneuver all that, make it to car rental return place, return the car, board another bus to take us to the airport, and check in with a few minutes to spare. We were lucky the traffic cooperated. It was a little stressful for all of us but it turned out okay in the end. A fun trip despite that last fiasco.

More fun times this month included celebrating Kailee's birthday at our home the Sunday after her actual birthday. Of course, I made her favorite German chocolate cake and her requested Malibu chicken for dinner. We were glad the weather cooperated so Todd and Kailee could come to Heber.

We wanted the girls to see the piles of snow outside our
downstairs family room.

They were amazed when the snow piles were
taller then them

We were also glad that the weather finally broke enough so the college grandkids could come up for Sunday dinner the last Sunday of the month. We don't invite them up if there's any chance of snow in the canyon so that has limited the times they have been able to come for dinner. Aria and Avery love it when they come up the same time their family is here because Kasey is so good to play with them by chasing them around the house.

Maggie is always drawing and Kasey is always studying

Kasey playing with the girls

Now for the not so fun times........ The first day of the month things started going wrong when three batteries went dead. Paul's phone would not hold a charge, the TV remote wouldn't work, and the car battery died. We wondered what the rest of the month would bring. Luckily, we found a store that sold phone batteries for Paul Iphone 8. The remote was just a matter of putting in new batteries. The car was a little more difficult but thanks to Joey Hyer, we were able to charge it with his portable charger that just plugged into the wall.  It took a couple of days to fully charge but that beat having the replace that battery as well.

Changing the remote batteries

Charging the truck

This month we also got word that Bill Ashdown, Paul's brother in law, passed away. He had been ill  and unable to get out of bed for a while so it was a blessing for him that he was able to move onto the other side. He died at home surrounded by his family who live in Oregon. We were glad the family had arranged for the funeral to be televised via Zoom as plane tickets to Oregon were ridiculously expensive. We were grateful that Andrea and Casey were able to drive up to Portland and attend the funeral in our behalf. We learned so much about Bill that we didn't know.

Waiting for the funeral to start

Andrea with her cousins - Steven and Russell

Now for the scam..... Last month I reported that our 3 temple tour to Europe was canceled and that we were promised a refund within 30 days. Well, on the 26th of this month, the 30 days expired with no refund. We had been in contact with the travel company, via email, up until the deadline passed but then they went dark. They would not respond to emails, texts, or phone calls. We found, on a post to the Better Business Bureau, a sign that had been hung on the company's office door that they had moved from this location and could be reached at a specific mailing address. We think they ran off with our money and that of hundreds of others. We stand to lose $8100. We spent the whole next week contacting the Better Business Bureau, the Utah Consumer Protection Agency, and the Federal Trade commission. Hopefully our efforts will bring some justice to these people and will prevent them from taking advantage of other unsuspecting persons. We, also, are a part of an online group that is trying to get this brought up on a local news station that investigates fraud cases. Maybe that will help, too. We filed a dispute claim with our credit card company for services paid for and not delivered. They issued us a provisional credit for the amount we spent on this trip. We'll know by June if they will honor our dispute. Here's hoping.

The letter of cancelation

The message posted on the door
of the offices from which they moved
just days before they canceled everyone's trips.

And now for the saddest, most scary, thing to have happened this month - The indictment of former President Donald Trump by a New York Manhattan district attorney. This district attorney vowed in his campaign to get Trump and he has searched thousands of documents in search of a crime. The crime they finally came up with was one that years earlier was deemed not worthy of prosecution yet this attorney has beefed up the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony. This same district attorney had given breaks to convicted felons by decreasing their charges from a felonies to a misdemeanors. What we have here is the weaponization of our justice department to take down a political opponent, in fact, the leading opponent. This has all the markings of what Russia and third world countries do. We are seeing the systematic dismantling of our country by the left, including President Biden, and the media. We have to pray that the Lord will step in and help us protect the ideals of our founding fathers and save our country. Too sad.

Now on a lighter note here's a couple of memes. This month we went onto daylight savings time.