Lighthouse View Chincoteague Island

01/17/2023

Good morning all! It's still a fairly "Fresh" new year, and here we are staying at Lighthouse View! My wife Cheryl and I are now "Officially" California refugees - we are now Virginians! It's been a very long journey for us, and we always had intended on retiring here, on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, we simply had no ability to be here until last year, when the Lord made it possible for us to do so. We are thanking him for that!

We've actually been here since Nov. 22 last year, we got here right before Thanksgiving. It was a goal to get here by then, and we managed it. We tried selling our furniture and stuff we didn't want, ended up giving about 1/2 of it away to kids and nephews, and then we packed two PODS full of most of the rest, and we left on Nov. 10 heading for Arizona, where our (new to us) RV was in storage.

We packed up the RV there in Kingman, while staying with friends, and we left there a couple days later. The entire trip was 13 days, learning about RV's, driving across the country through rain, sleet, snow and hail, while towing our CR-V along behind us. It was quite the adventure!

Anyhow, we got here, and have experienced a number of things since being here. First, a friend invited us to a brand new church on the island, Covenant Church Chincoteague, and we started attending there, and have met several wonderful folks there! We've been "Seven times in a row" now, which our Pastor at Hope Chapel in Hermosa Beach always said we needed to do in order to "Really see if that's where God wants you". We are sure we are where the Lord wants us.

Our stuff is still in storage in Salisbury, MD, at the moment, and we're kind of just "Staying" at Lighthouse View, until we can find a more permanent "Home" for us. Cheryl's "Done" with stairs, she wants a ranch style house, or at least a home with a "Master Suite" on the first floor. I can live with that. Our house in California went up for sale in Dec., about the middle of the month, and sold 18 days later! We praise the Lord for that as well! It's still in Escrow, right now, of course, so we pray that all things work out according to the Lord's plan on that as well.

Since being here, we have experienced rain, cold (like 0f - zero Farenheit - weather, with the wind factor), gale force winds several times, frozen water pipes (our hot water pipe froze, but then thawed thankfully, with no damage that we can detect as of yet), and we now know about duck hunting season as well. Imagine the sound of your early morning slumber broken by "Bang! Bang! Bang!" at about 6:30a in the morning when it's still mostly dark outside! That's right, hunters like to get out EARLY!

While we don't hunt, we are shooting enthusiasts, we've been to the ranges several times and enjoy target shooting and sport shooting with the best of 'em. So, we'll give the hunters a break, and forgive them for interrupting those smooth slumbers of winter mornings. After all, there's no snow yet, we gotta get some kind of distraction out here, eh?

Our "Plan" is to be outta Lighthouse View by middle of May, if not earlier. At present, we have no reservations until then. Hopefully, we'll be out of here before that, and we can open it up earlier, although there is some heavy maintenance needing to be done. The deck is looking pretty "Tired" (both ours and the communal decks maintained by the HOA). Our dock is needing attention as well, the mud has filled in the area closest to our building, so the HOA Treasurer is trying to figure out how to get it cleared out.

We also have a kitchen sink needing replacement, after a hot water heater replacement last year, and we're probably going to replace our washer/dryer (a stacking unit) with a more modern front-loading set (both washer and dryer being front-loading). The newer models should fit in the closet where the laundry currently resides. We've paid probably 1/2 the cost of replacing the laundry unit over the past couple years which means it's time to replace it. We really like the efficiency of the modern front-loading washers, so that's what we're going to try to get in here.

The shower doors in both showers need rebuilding, the tracks are filled with gunk, and the rollers on the door hangers are probably shot.

We already bought a new TV for the downstairs, Walmart had Vizio 50" TV's for under $300 on Black Friday, so we couldn't pass it up. We bought a Roku for that TV, and then found one in the TV cabinet that someone left here. We'll leave both Roku's here for rentals, but they'll need to be wiped after everyone uses them, for security and to avoid getting charges on someone's account accidentally.

I finally managed to get the downstairs TV hooked up to the stereo with an optical cable, so you can have "Enhanced" sound through the stereo while watching TV, regardless where the signal comes from.

The heatilator stove we put in last year as a replacement for the gas unit is working great! It does quite a nice job of warming the downstairs, with the caveat you gotta turn it off at night to get heat upstairs since the thermostat is downstairs.

I'm wondering what to do with all the kitchen cabinet doors where the melamine is peeling off (on the sides of the doors). I'm gonna have to take one door to local hardware or building supply and see what kind of suggestions they might have. It's very annoying.

The new cookware is very nice. It's also "Induction" compatible, if anyone has an induction cooker. We bought a counter-top model we keep in the RV, it boils a quart of water in under 2 minutes! Amazing.

Cheryl thinks the downstairs couch is "Done" which is a pretty major issue, as it's a sofa sleeper, and will be quite difficult to replace (getting the old out and the new in, they are HEAVY). We'll look into what our options are on that for sure.

During the cold, we "Borrowed" a couple oil filled radiators (electric) to heat the downstairs storage areas. The frozen hot water line was between the floors, somewhere between the water heater and the laundry closet. If we can keep that area warm enough, we may avoid another frozen line. I will also try to remember to leave all cupboards and closet doors open when it's cold, and leave the faucet dripping (dripping, not running, we are on a septic after all) hot water at night and when outside temperature is below freezing.

That's all for now. Cheryl's upstairs sleeping, she ain't feeling so well today. I've been praying over her, and feeding her broth and lots of juice, soup, alka seltzer plus and smoothies. She should be better in a day or so. She had a pretty good headache, and a bit of fever, none right now though, praise God.

We appreciate y'all supporting us and loving this place as much as we do. We decided not to "Live" here permanently as this place is so well loved by so many people. We'll get it open, and get the work done. We're looking forward to hearing from y'all some, and maybe even meeting some folks down the road, as we're now "Permanent" shore residents ourselves. Though, we will be traveling some during the warmer months as well, and we may even try to spend a winter in Florida one of these days, we hear it's very popular with the RV crowd!

God bless everyone. I'll enclose one picture of a sunrise that absolutely WOKE US UP it was so bright and colorful! Lighthouse View is amazing and we love Chincoteague!

10/25/2022

So hey everyone! It’s been awhile since we posted an update here. I think I mentioned we are moving, leaving California behind (finally!) and making the Eastern Shore our permanent home. We will stay at Lighthouse View for awhile. We also bought an RV to get out there and see what’s to be seen.

We booked out Lighthouse View for the entire month of November, figuring we'd get outta CA sometime in October. Now, it looks like we won't make it. We have our schedules, and the Lord he has his....

Anyhow, we'll be staying there at LV for awhile, getting our feet under us, getting some REST - all this packing and cleaning and loading and yard work and repair work, it's EXHAUSTING! Oh wait, do I sound ungrateful? I'm not really, just tired and grumpy today because my back hurts.

But, we're gonna try something new, we hope. We are what you'd call "Jesus Freaks", we just LOVE Jesus! And we try to take him with us everywhere we go. In reality, he's ALWAYS with us, it's WE who don't remember that! So, we're gonna become somewhat of RV Missionaries. It's just something we do, everywhere we go anyhow already. We're also gonna try to visit Thrift Stores wherever we go, and keep a blog on those, a running dialog, what we liked and didn't like, people we meet and so on. We'll throw in a few pictures, hopefully, and make it worth somebody's time visiting and learning something new.

We sure are excited though, to finally be getting the chance to get outta here. It's been the plan since we got married, in 2000, to retire out there on "The Shore". It's only become possible just a couple months back, when Cheryl turned 65 and got her Medicare Card. Prior to that, she only had VA Healthcare coverage so we have been tied to the VA Healthcare system here in Los Angeles pretty much. The nearest VA Healthcare facility to the Eastern Shore is in Norfolk / Hampton Roads, and that's across the Tunnel Bridge, about a $35 fee to cross!

But, anyhow, we'll be there soon. A few more things to do here before we get out, and then "Bye bye California!"

You can laugh because we'll probably be back. Our son and daughter-in-law are in San Diego with our Grandson, so we'll probably go back and stay in Mission Bay near them at least part of the Winter months. =)

05/02/2022

Exciting!

*Rocket Lab Breaks Ground on Neutron Production Complex in Wallops, Virginia*

03/27/2022

This is really good news for the Eastern Shore and for Wallops Island in particular. Very good for local economy and should help attract more visitors in the long run.

By Carol Vaughn — Rocket Lab will celebrate the start of construction on the company’s production complex and launch site for its Neutron rocket with a groundbreaking ceremony Saturday, April 11. The production facility will be built on Wallops Island Road, just across the bridge from the Wallop...

03/13/2022

Snow last night, and geese happily munching the grass at the waterfront park today. Go figure, eh? Still chilly there this week, but we'll be there on Wednesday opening up Lighthouse View for the season! Someday we're gonna come and just stay, I just keep telling myself that every single time we wind up back in California. Ugh! It is so beautiful there and so peaceful, there's just not enough you can say for the peace and serenity there on Chincoteague.

02/18/2022

Hey - exciting! There's an Antares launch - scheduled for tomorrow (Feb. 19) a little after noon! Should be a fun one to watch.

''''

Feb. 19Antares • NG-17
Launch time: 1739 GMT (12:39 p.m. EST)
Launch site: Pad 0A, Wallops Island, Virginia
A Northrop Grumman Antares rocket will launch the 18th Cygnus cargo freighter on the 17th operational cargo delivery flight to the International Space Station. The mission is known as NG-17. The rocket will fly in the Antares 230+ configuration, with two RD-181 first stage engines and a Castor 30XL second stage. [Jan. 15]

01/22/2022

Wow! Snowy cold day in Chincoteague. Wish we were there. I've always wanted to see the Lighthouse with all the snowy trees and such around it. But a view of the "Love Chairs" (Robert Reed Park downtown) with snow all around is pretty special too!

01/03/2022

Happy New Year all! We survived another year of the pandemic, financial uncertainty, rising inflation and the supply chain crisis. We hope and pray y'all are doing well also. Chincoteague is doing well, we think. We got there in March, and again in Nov. for a shorter visit. We just had time enough to clean up the place a bit, and put the new BBQ away in the storage room downstairs, and replace the two annoying security lights in the carport area and under the stairs. We checked everything else, and Lighthouse View appears in good shape!

We got a brand new water heater this year also, the old one failed. I would have preferred a bit of advance warning on that so we could plan for and install a tankless system. The place is small, relatively, and the newer tankless heaters (even the electric ones) are really earning their keep now! Maybe next year. The electric fireplace insert is still working, that's a great thing, sometimes those things fail, but usually right off, and not sometime later. It appears to be a good one, we tested it during the colder weather, and it heated the entire downstairs in about 15m. Not bad!

The building (we share our building with one of the other owners) was pressure washed, and they said it looks great! Sent some pictures, but they're still on my phone. Getting all that algae / green stuff off the building is important, eventually it will damage the paint. We got out to the National Seashore while we were there also, it was a chilly, cold and windy day, but beautiful! We always go over and look for shells, Cheryl's favorite are "Angel wings". Those are simply clam shells that have been eroded to where only the rims are left, and they look like angel's wings to her, at least she's called them that since she was a kid. We keep a few around the place.

We always manage to go and find a few Whelk shells as well, buying them from neighbors usually. Some folks work in the fishing industry, and their bottom nets always drag up many Whelks as well, so that's the usual source of supply around town, are those who put them out in front of their homes with a "Donation" (honesty?) can.

Some day, we're gonna come there and not ever leave! It's so pretty, quiet and peaceful there. You just can't beat a place where the entire island has a 25mph speed limit - and everyone drives it!

Again, Happy New Year, we hope this finds you all well and peaceful, enjoying leftovers and planning for our year ahead.

07/29/2021

Whoa - cool! Antares launch scheduled for Aug. 10. Should be a good one - just before sunset and all. Hope somebody gets a good show! We saw one a few years back, it was SPECTACULAR!

Times / dates, of course, are subject to change. This one says it's already had two postponements. Things are looking good though, so Lord willing, it will go off successfully as scheduled.

07/20/2021

Wow! A very busy year. We are blessed and excited to see how many have come to stay at Lighthouse View this year. It's been a year where there's plenty to do also. Nothing big, but the little things keep cropping up. We had to replace the old BBQ, we bought a new Weber in March, and got it all "Ready to go" when we were there.

Then, in June, we heard reports that the old cookware was "Done" (it gets heavy use, 9 mos. out of the year practically, by many different "Chefs", no surprise, eh?), so we ordered a brand new set from CostCo, and the folks from Island Getaways got it delivered and ready to go for us.

Then, the building had some "Algae" growing on a couple sides, so the HOA hired someone to come out and pressure wash the siding on the buildings (there's actually 5 units there in our little complex, Creekside Harbor).

And then this month, the old deck chairs started to also look "Tired" and needed replacing. We just found a set of wicker chairs, and are hoping they can hold up to the climate there for a few years. We didn't make it there last year, at the end of the season (due to virus, naturally), so we didn't get the old chairs put away in the storage room, I wonder if that had anything to do with their demise? Oh well... No worries. We will try to be sure the new ones get put away after this year's season. The new chairs were just delivered this morning, again by the wonderful folks at Island Getaways (thank you!).

We just scheduled our Fall trip for November. We get to be there, Lord willing, to wish Cheryl's Dad a "Happy 90th Birthday". He actually turns 90 in August, but close enough, right? We are praying everything else on the island is going smoothly this year. It appears the Oyster Festival will go on in October this year (praise God!), and the Artful Flea appears to have been going on quite regularly. We love artsy craftsy events like that, there just aren't enough artists in this world, and those there are need to be supported by the rest of us!

We have our first Grandchild (a boy). He was born June 29, at 13:13, weighed in at 3 # 10oz, and was 18" long. He was light because he was born early (34 weeks), by C-section, because of complications in the pregnancy. But he is THRIVING! He went home from hospital on Friday, and mom and dad are trying to cope with a newborn in their place! They have two "Kitties" that are very curious and interested in their new "Flatmate" so they've got their hands full. Our son is working full time, going to school full time, and daughter-in-law just graduated with her Masters in School Counseling. She hopes to go to work in the Fall with a local school system, we're praying they can manage all those balls in the air at the same time! After all, a baby changes everything!

And that's just one of our 4 kids! Life is full, even when you're retired! We pray all y'all are well, and life is full, and everyone is getting beyond the virus from last year. At some point, we really do have to get back to the business of living, right?

God bless everyone!

The picture is a screen capture from the Chincoteague Channel Web Cam, just now! Quiet there in Chincoteague at the moment. Weather looks beautiful though!

06/10/2021

Hello all - Happy Summertime! It's here at last. Cheryl's sister and brother-in-law just celebrated their anniversary last night, and we're reminiscing this morning on loved ones who've gone before us to Heaven. Cheryl's dad also has his 90th birthday coming up, Lord willing, maybe we can even be there to celebrate with the family!

I just read that a long overdue launch is scheduled for this coming Tuesday (6/15) at Wallops Is. Spaceport. Things never quite came together for this launch facility. As recently as a few years ago, there were rumors that launches could steadily ramp up there until they were launching on a schedule nearly as busy as Cape Canaveral in Florida.

It just didn't happen, as SpaceX built their own facility (Boca Chica, now StarBase), and does virtually all their Falcon 9 launches in Florida. Mr. Bezos built his own facility in New Mexico, and the variety of other launch facilities and vehicles is starting to amaze us. Wallops Is. NASA facility will always be a special place for us though, since Cheryl's dad worked there from 1959 all the way through the 2000's!

03/10/2021

Greetings all!

Cheryl and I are heading to Chincoteague next week, and are super excited! Having a place close to family was the main reason we bought Lighthouse View, the beauty and charm of its location and such are a bonus!

We will be (finally) replacing the gas fireplace insert with an electric one. Hopefully, it works great and provides hours and hours of additional charm and "Ambiance" for everyone, without needing to have heat or waste gas and so on. It was the only gas appliance in there and we just never thought it was a good idea to have a gas bottle brought out and hooked up for use only a couple months out of the year (if that).

We also heard from our neighbors that the old Weber BBQ grill is "Done". So, we will be finding a replacement for that as well. Then, there are probably a half dozen or so other minor projects to catch up on, a touch of paint, check on the carpets, and see how the bed coverings and such are doing.

We have a small "Spotting" scope that we use to observe the ponies on Assateague Is. when we are there, I always had hoped to be able to find a decent telescope to go into the master bedroom so everyone could enjoy that view! We will watch for one. We aren't sure how much of the island's local businesses are open again, but we are sure glad this pandemic is almost behind us now! We always love to go antiquing and visit any Estate Sales or Auctions while we are there, you just never know what you'll find!

Blessings!