When is a Ranger's vacation not a vacation?

When you already live where you most want to be.

Virginia and I have taken four days off.

People ask:

"So where are you going?"

We reply:

"We're already there."

We love living here in Maryland's Civil War country.

Here's a tip for fellow Rangers and Ranger wanna-bees:

One of the cool things about being a Ranger for the National Park Service is that you are in a place that everybody else wants to travel to...and you're already there!

That's how it is for me and Virginia; we're already here, just a stones throw from Sharpsburg, Williamsport, Harper's Ferry, and that park up in Pennslyvania.

The big projects for this off period were:

Virginia's painting and organizing her studio
I'm building a bookcase to transform what had been a dining room into our new library.

Man, have we been having a good time.

This morning we took a break to drive up to Gambrill State Park to picnic with a fantastic view.

What a day. On the way home we stopped by a cool nursery to get some landscaping ideas for the distant future when our incomes are a lot more secure.

There was some very cool, and very old, farm equipment lying artfully about...

Also lots of hard working bees, pollenating up a storm.

Over our chicken parmesan picnic lunch, Virginia again remarked how glad she is that we moved from the snowy climes of West Michigan to the heart of Civil War country.

Whatta gal!

Note to middle-aged seasonal rangers everywhere: stay tuned to this blog starting in October. That's when I'll have to figure out how to find employment for the other half, the non-ranger half of the year. Talk about suspense!

But for now, pass the baguette and enjoy the view of the valley.

Cheers!

Ranger Mannie

p.s. I was quite serious about my suggestion to President Bush that he hire me and Ranger Hoptak to fill two of those 3,000 Park Service Jobs he's proposed. Hope springs eternal.