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An American girl and English bloke blending cultures while exploring others

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Tag: Hiking

“Wander often, wander always.”
–Unknown

  • National Parks

Virginia’s Rose River Falls Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on April 8, 2020July 23, 2021

People often talk of one of Shenandoah National Park’s most popular cascades: Rose River Falls. What they do not know though is that if you wander off trail and follow the river down, you will be rewarded with an even larger waterfall.

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  • George Washington National Forest

Virginia’s Falling Spring Falls Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on March 31, 2020July 23, 2021

President Thomas Jefferson and I have something in common: We both were charmed by Falling Spring Falls, a mystical eighty-foot waterfall in the beautiful blue Alleghany Highlands.

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  • Additional Parks and Trails

Virginia’s Bears Den Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on December 23, 2019July 23, 2021

We set off for a sunset at one vista before hiking in the moonlight to another where we would watch a sunrise the following morning . . . but nature had other plans . . . other plans as in tornado watch right where we were . . .

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  • George Washington National Forest

Virginia’s The Priest Hike and Camp

  • by L
  • Posted on December 20, 2019July 23, 2021

It was the most beautiful hike we have yet to be on: Colorful flower blooms lined the trail and the most breathtaking mountain cliff sunset and sunrise made this hike extraordinarily magical.

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  • Jefferson National Forest

Virginia’s Cove Mountain Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on July 30, 2019July 23, 2021

We followed the trail of flowers where butterflies danced in front of us, zooming in and out of the blooms to suck more nectar . . .

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  • George Washington National Forest

West Virginia’s White Rock Cliff Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on July 25, 2019July 23, 2021

This cliff view resembled a painting: There were trees with pops of vibrant reds, yellows, and greens — others, white with flower pedals. Then, as if it couldn’t get any better, a bald eagle shot out from the valley, swooping in the air before circling over the Blue Ridge.

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  • National Parks

Virginia’s Cedar Run Falls Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on July 9, 2019July 23, 2021

At the waterfall, we let the hours slip by as we followed the flowing water down the mountain. Hopping over the rocks, we smiled and laughed, challenging each other to stone skipping contests in this little piece of forest we had to ourselves . . .

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  • National Parks

Virginia’s White Oak Canyon Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on July 7, 2019July 23, 2021

It was a frigid winter day when we hiked to one of Shenandoah National Park’s most famous waterfalls, White Oak Canyon.

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  • Jefferson National Forest

Virginia’s Peaks of Otter’s Sharp Top Mountain Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on June 2, 2019July 23, 2021

This hike made me feel calm, gleeful, and child-like — giggling with Andrew as the wind gusts pushed against us and as we squeezed inside tiny crevices of gigantic boulders.  This is love amplified in countless forms.

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  • Additional Parks and Trails

Virginia’s Floodwall Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on May 24, 2019July 23, 2021

And this is Richmond, our Richmond — a big little city (as residents say), one that boasts of its river so much the area is nicknamed “The River City.”  Here’s more on our walk along the floodwall . . .

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  • George Washington National Forest

Virginia’s Mount Pleasant Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on May 9, 2019July 23, 2021

It felt a mighty battle between gods for light and darkness.  Deep grey clouds suffocated the sun and loomed over the blue valley while the sun struggled to pierce through in broken patches of light.

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  • National Parks

Virginia’s Bearfence Mountain/Bear Church Rock Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on April 22, 2019July 23, 2021

This is our home.  This is where we feel most comfortable — where the sun and moon shine together and where colors are at their prime.  This is where the world stands still but also blurs by and we grasp — keep trying to grasp — that moment where we, too, can freeze in time.

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  • Jefferson National Forest

Virginia’s Devil’s Marbleyard Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on April 14, 2019July 23, 2021

Here, the white boulders were streamed with hints of pastels — yellows, oranges, and pinks — as we watched the sun set until it faded behind the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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  • Jefferson National Forest

Virginia’s Cascade Falls and Barney’s Wall Hike

  • by L
  • Posted on April 7, 2019July 23, 2021

This hike is packed full of so much rain that my camera refused to work and fog so thick it became mesmerizing. But in all of that rain and fog: The most amazing Virginia waterfall and sheer cliff drop we have yet to see.

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  • Lake District National Park

England’s Helvellyn Mountain Hike Attempt

  • by L
  • Posted on March 19, 2019July 23, 2021

“You come up with some stupid ideas, but this — ” and he pointed in the direction from where we had come, “has to be the stupidest.”
This is what Andrew had to say to me as we were stuck in the middle of our most terrifying hike yet. Here we took to England’s almost-mythic mountain, Helvellyn.

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Y’all know we’ve been focusing on our mechanic Y’all know we’ve been focusing on our mechanical overhaul for our 1965 Clark Cortez motorhome restoration, and we’ve almost wrapped up our mechanical work — which is absolutely the most exciting hard-to-believe sentence that I’ve ever written here. But before I tell you what we are working on currently, we have lots to catch up on and now that it’s getting warmer, Andy’s and my thoughts mainly go back to this one mechanical job…

Back in April last year, we replaced the spark plugs on our steel beast. We were hoping this would solve our irregular starting problems while also allowing the Cortez to run better.

What we found was cracked, sooty, and oily spark plugs — good news because that means the culprit of problems — so we replaced them with beautiful clean ones… and that meant a test drive… which is when we found a much larger surprise inside our antique RV — a SNAKE!

The speed at which Andy and I literally propelled ourselves from our steel beast — let’s just say a fire couldn’t have moved us faster. Meanwhile, our harmless four-foot common black snake was more than happy to move in and not leave. Consistent move to eat? Yep. Shelter? Check. Zero threats or disturbances? Well, mostly.

Long story short, that sucker took some persuading to get out — and those ridiculous antics are totally in our YouTube video (link in bio). But here’s the craziest part: The truth is we had ANOTHER SNAKE move in after this guy escaped! So listen, if you’re one of those people posting about mice problems in RVs — Let’s just say we have ya covered. The solution is a snake… or two…
***
#crazyvideo #snake #snakes #snakesofinstagram #cantbelieveit #v8 #mopar #sparkplugs #engineservice #enginework #testdrive #dodgeengine #360la #vintagecampers #retrorides #antiquerv #antiquevehicle #classiccars #clarkcortez #motorhome #rv #camper #vanlife #restoration #overhaul
If you’ve been following our Cortez restoration If you’ve been following our Cortez restoration story here or on YT, you’ll know we’ve had problems getting our steel beast to reliably start. Andy has maintained swapping to EFI, or electronic fuel injection. Meanwhile, I’ve stubbornly stayed on the other side because EFI is costly and I’m not gonna be throwin’ more money at our lass unless I know fundamental parts of her are strong.

“What needs to be there so you change your mind?” he asked me one day.

“Her engine,” I answered. We’ve stupidly and blindly done all this work and don’t even know — for sure — if the engine is actually *good*.” See, the engine we have is not original. Instead of the factory inline-6, our girl’s was changed to a v8 at some point in her life — so it should be powerful… should be…

“Right,” Andy responded then immediately followed up with “We will do a compression test.”

This has been at the top of our list of Jobs to Do… but, well, y’all know how to goes when you restore an antique vehicle…

Needless to say, Andy and I made the journey to the farm with fingers crossed because, let’s be honest here, the last bit of news we wanted was that we needed to swap an engine.

Turns out, after a dry and wet compression test, our girl has a super strong, reliable engine!
…so now, talk to me about that EFI 😉
***
#engine #v8 #mopar #dodgeengine #360la #engineswap #compressiontest #compressiontester #antiquecar #vintagecar #classiccars #rarecar #antiquerv #vintagerv #retrorides #classicrv #rarerv #clarkcortez #clarkcortezmotorhome #1965 #1960s #rv #motorhome #camper #campervan #vwcamper #restoration #overhaul #vanlife #rvlife
Andy and I are keeping our gazes forward this new Andy and I are keeping our gazes forward this new year, crossing off still more work on the Cortez, which makes me want to pause and go back to where we left off in our story here…

After restoring the fuel tank and confirming there were zero fuel spills, we did what any sane person would do — we turned the key in the engine to start it… only to learn the Cortez would do what any finicky antique vehicle does and that is not start. So we fiddled. So we investigated. So we reworked. So we added. So we tried. And let’s just say the list goes on because our old lass just did not want to turn over. Can you guess the problem? Because it was Andy’s first guess and made him only stand firm in our goal for the most expensive RV upgrade we’ve had yet…
***
#dirtywork #havealittlefaith #fuel #fuelingup #fillit #storyofmylife #fueltank #fueltankrestoration #antiquecar #vintagecar #classiccars #rarecar #antiquerv #vintagerv #retrorides #classicrv #rarerv #clarkcortez #clarkcortezmotorhome #1965 #1960s #rv #motorhome #camper #campervan #vwcamper #restoration #overhaul #vanlife #rvlife

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