Woke up with a killer of a stiff neck this morning. Felt like I'd been standing on my head all night long. Lot's of Advil and a run to the store for a heating pad and it is a bit better. Would be even better if there was a hot tub somewhere around that I could sit in for an hour or so.

    Other than that it has been a pretty good day. Did confirm that I broke one of the drain lines from my front 'grey' tank two days ago while packing up. I had set that set of tires on the left side up on some blocks to level it a bit when I first pulled in and when I left I backed off of them instead of pulling forward. So as I came off of one of the 2"x10"s I use it must of 'popped' up in front and smacked the ABS pipe there. It looked like it might of cracked a bit the other day but it was raining hard enough that it was hard to tell. Anyway, it is certainly broken and right at a 90 degree bend. So while in town today I stopped at Lowe's and picked up the materials I'll need to fix it. Unfortunately the shortest piece of pipe I could buy in ABS was 5' even though I only need about 5"s. That and I still had to buy a full 'kit' of pipe cleaner and glue also even though there will only be 5 joints to glue if everything goes right. Lucky for me I'm pretty good at this stuff anymore.... plenty of experience in the last two house I was at.

    Also stopped at a couple places to check out new batteries for the trailer. The good news is that there are plenty of them out there as there is a lot of demand for them from boaters as well as RVr's. The bad news is that it will run me about $220 for two of them by the time I pay tax and add on a few extras. But that's okay, with any luck it will be at least another 5-6 years before they need replacing again, so really not too bad at all.

    Did some other shopping today as well, as I needed some groceries again, at least some more fresh fruit and veggies. This evening I made up a huge pot of soup so that I could use up a few things before they got to far past their prime. A base of some turkey-ham with bunches of broccoli, carrots, onion, garlic, a couple cans of beans and some lentils. Tastes really good to me, but probably put a touch to much red pepper flakes in for a lot of people. Tomorrow I'll add some home made dumplings and it will taste just fine.

    Beautiful weather right now, nearly clear and cooling down nicely after a warm and sunny day. Will work around the trailer for most of tomorrow so that I'll have some time to play on Thursday and Friday. I also need to figure out where I'm going from here. Had wanted to go over and ride the old time steam trains at Cass State Park here in WV. But it turns out that they aren't running until Memorial Day weekend. They do stay open late into the fall though, so I may be able to come back then and spend a day or two there at that time. So many places to see, so little time!

    Below are a few photo's from the last couple of months, some of which you may have already seen. In facebook I have a folder entitled 'Cool Buildings' that I just keep adding to as I see another one or two, but here in the blog it's just going to have to be a few at a time.

Cool Building's along the way - March/April 2013 

The Natchez Mansion 'Rosalie' built in 1820 on the site of an Indian massacre at the site of the original Fort Rosalie - March 9, 2013

The mansion 'Stanton Hall' built in 1857 in the city of Natchez by one of the cotton barons of the times - March 9, 2013



A nice Victorian style, wood framed home in Natchez. I like the octagonal tower structure as well as the round turret over the porch bump out. - March 9, 2013

A rather sad and forlorn house right across the street from the last two. I am surprised to see that the copper sheathing on the dome was still there. It could do with some real TLC, but it may already be to late for that. - March 9, 2013

A nice, well taken cared of brick Victorian in the town of Hermann Missouri. Built just two blocks back from the Missouri River it has loads of details along the eaves and in the porch rails and posts. - March 2013

One of the prettiest government buildings I have seen in a long time, this is the main train depot in the city of Richmond Virginia. Served by elevated tracks on at least two sides, I couldn't see the far side, it has Highway 95 curling around the upper left corner of the structure in this photo. It is quite an experience to first see the upper part while heading right at it doing 65 mph. - April 2013

Another view of the front facade. It's wild how they packed in one of the elevated railroad tracks under the highway on the left. - April 2013

A closer view of the upper floors and the roof. Next time I'm in town I need to spend some time here and see about getting inside and looking around a bit. Love all those dormers. - April 2013

An unknown stone building in downtown Richmond Virginia near the Capital building. The friend I was with that day knew what it was, but it was too long ago and to much has happened since then for me to remember what it is. Still a really beautiful building though. - April 2013

The Governor's Mansion in Richmond Virginia. A nice small Federalists style with some Georgian aspects, some of you might recognise this as being the Lincolns home in this years movie 'Lincoln'. - April 2013

A nice stone church, Methodist, near downtown Durham, North Carolina. I was impressed with the stone work and how all the different shades of brown and grey were blended together. - April 2013

Around the other side was a hidden nook where I ran into a guy installing a sign on one of the gates to a garden. Seeing me taking pictures he offered to take me in to see the inside of the church if I wanted to. What was inside is shown in the next photo. Near downtown Durham, North Carolina - April 2013

One of the first churches to be rebuilt after most of the town burnt down near the turn of the century, one of the members at that time brought over stone masons and woodworkers from Europe to do a lot of the work. I absolutely love the wooden trusses in the main cathedral. They frame the area beautifully and create this wonderful feeling of light and space. I wish I would of gotten a good picture looking the other way towards the alter and all the carved woodwork there. It really reminded me a lot of churches I had seen in Italy. It was also the first church in the city to integrate back in the 1960's. Quite a feat for a church in the deep south. Near downtown Durham, North Carolina. - April 2013