Excuse me sir, can I interest you in a rodent control contract?

He was stretched out across the patio this morning when I put the dog out. Teddy didn't even notice him. I encouraged Mr. Snek to move on out, and I thought that was it. 5 minutes later I turn around and he is looking in the sliding glass door like a sad puppy.

Shortly after noon he turned up out front of a neighbor's house, who locked her doors are refused to come out. My son relocated Mr. Snek to the drainage pond area of the neighborhood.

We were camping at Chippokes State Park this past weekend. On Saturday morning, we did a birding hike that got us riverside, forest, and open farmland habitats all within a mile. It added up to 49 species, including a bobolink, which was a life bird for me. It could have been a bigger day if there had been any ducks on the river.

Our e-bird list for the morning.

Trip: 49
Nights: 170-171

Welcome to camping season 2025. Our first trip of the year was to Chippokes State Park, about 75 miles east of home. It’s an old working plantation dating back to early colonial times. We’ve camped there two times previously, once during COVID when everything was shut down, and a couple of years ago as a base camp to attend the Great Dismal Swamp Birding festival. So this was the first time we actually got to experience the park.

We got in Friday night with rain in the forecast, but it never did rain. We had dinner and played games until bedtime. On Saturday morning we went out birding and had a fabulous morning, finding about 50 species including one lifer (a Bobolink). After lunch back at the camper we took the Jamestown Ferry across the river to Jamestown and spent the afternoon exploring the ruins of the very first English settlement in the Americas. One of the historians gave a fascinating talk on religion in Jamestown, making a very convincing argument that John Smith was a Puritan, and that there was a Catholic Priest at Jamestown. The king would not have been happy about either.

After taking the ferry back across the river we had dinner at the camper and settled in by the fire for some quality drinking by the fire time. And by drinking I mean NA beer for me and fizzy water for Michelle. Do we know how to party or what?

On Sunday we went to the farm museum at the park where they have a rather impressive collection of 18th and 19th century farm equipment. I did not realize how much automation was already in farm equipment in the 19th century. After that we tried to tour the plantation home but they were not doing tours until later in the day. So we headed to Bacon’s Castle, which is a brick Jacobean home built in 1665, and the oldest brick home still standing in North America. It’s called Bacon’s Castle after Nathaniel Bacon, of Bacon’s Rebellion fame. He never set foot in the house, but some of his followers did occupy the house for a few months before he died of dysentery at age 29, two months into his so-called rebellion. He got famous 100 years later when Thomas Jefferson referenced him as a great patriot leading the first revolt against the king. What he wanted was more rapid elimination of the Native Americans, among other things. So he was no hero. The tour was super interesting. Remarkably, the house had only 3 owners between 1665 and 1972, when Preservation Virginia bought it to preserve it.

After that we headed home, where I grilled steaks and served them with baked potatoes, honey-balsamic glazed carrots, and applesauce for Mother’s Day dinner.

It was a very good weekend. Hopefully, one of many we will experience this summer.

Photo Album