I Love New York Travel

I’ve talked enough of rain and storms and nasty clouds. This is a photo taken of our very first view of the Appalachians as we entered Virginia. It was a glorious sight, truly.

The sky is so sparkly blue! And the mountains are awesome, not at all like our Adirondacks. These are cushy and green and soft. I know now why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains. The ridges are spectacular! They look as if a giant came by with a gigantic echo hedge trimmer and clipped everything neat just for us.

It was a very welcoming sight for us newbies to the state.

Photo taken as we were leaving Virginia a week ago.

We didn’t know it at the time, but on the heels of this storm that followed us up north came another, more insidious storm that tore through Joplin, Missouri. And then another, through Oklahoma City.

The storms in the south are so much stranger than ours here in the North, at least as far as I could tell with my limited time spent in Virginia. The clouds are angrier and “bushier.” But the rain is not as violent. Here in New York, where we experienced severe flash flooding in late April, the clouds were their regular bland gray, as if someone had smoothed mortar over the skies. But from them dumped 2 inches of rain in a matter of hours. And it’s not terribly uncommon, either.

When we were in Virginia, the clouds always looked so terribly fierce– menacing swirls and dark circles, but the rain that dropped was nothing compared to our northern rains of Biblical proportions.

I did spot a funnel cloud while driving outside of Richmond, Va. I’d never seen such a thing before.

The photo is a little blurry, taken with my iPhone as we raced 60mph down the highway!

STRANGE.

We were only there an hour. I could have spent days. *sigh*

The photo is of Virginia Beach, my first time there (and, Lord willing, not my last). It was marvelous! The weather was slightly cool, so the beach was relatively quiet. If you squint you may be able to see a lone surfer on the distant waves. There’s a surf club near the area, and we got to watch a few newbies try out the waves. The surfers tie their boards to the their ankles, something that surprised me. I suppose it was tethered to be a sort of lifeboat, but what if the waves knocked the board on your head?

Anyway, it was a pleasant hour. The smell of barbeque cooking on electric grills filled the boardwalk. What a wonderful area. It would be great to own property there someday. *sighhh*

Well, its not New York… but it is the Atlantic Ocean! The beautiful Atlantic Ocean! Visiting Virginia Beach was my favorite part of our recent vacation to the lovely state of Virginia, where the beauty is barely surpassed by the deliciously low taxes. It’s like another world down there!

The beach was surprisingly uncrowded, too. No scantily-clad men and women concerned about low testosterone symptoms, or anything of the sort. There were actually a few surfers there (we visited 40th street, near a surfing club). It was great fun to watch them try out the waves.

Oh when I close my eyes, I can hear the waves crashing along the sandy shore… I cannot wait until I get to see it again!

Looks like… just maybe…. could possibly be….

spring?!

I mean, look at those bright green buds!

The earth is awakening once again! Ah! Time to pull my gloomy head away from winter’s past and face the warming temperatures and greening foliage. I know there’s still frost in the forecast, but hey– at least it isn’t rain! UGH!

I’ve had my share of technical paperwork this winter. Taxes were more complicated than ever, I’ve spent countless hours filling out forms, applications, recertifications, grants, whole life insurance quotes, and etc… time to get outside!