March 8 - Crafty Bastard Brewery

From Draper, VA, we continued traveling west to just west of Knoxville since Terry and Sandy Countermine were not home to host us 😜. Forsythias were in bloom all along I-40. Sunny blue skies but cold. 

We chose this next Harvest Host purely on the name … The Crafty Bastard Brewery. The outside wasn’t much to look at but lots of parking and the inside had great beers and wines and pizza from Hole in the   Couldn’t have asked for more. 

When we took the boys out for one last pre break, the sign was on so got a shot of it. 

Great choice for tonight’s stay. 

March 7 - A little delay due to weather

AND we are off again. Left about 10:30 which was about 2 hours later than we had hoped. It had snowed just a little overnight and Bill wanted to wait till the roads were dry so salt didn’t kick up under the RV. 

We have reservations at Draper Village, a Harvest Host member, just south of Blacksburg VA. We’ve stayed here several times before as we’ve headed west. 

Pulled into Draper Village about 7 pm, about an hour later than we had hoped but there was a wreck on I-80 that set us back. Traffic was really heavy which didn’t make for a nice trip. But we made it and are set up. Here’s the sunset as we were arriving. 

And the moon rise over the RV

Tomorrow we keep heading west on I-40 into Tennessee. 

EIWA Wrestling Championships- Session 4

Our fun weekend in Philly ended with a bang. Nathan Taylor wrestled in the championship match and took second. He wrestled so good. You could tell he gave his all on the mat. In the last second of the 3rd period he got taken down.

WE ARE SO HAPPY for him. On to Nationals and we’ll be there!  

EIWA Wrestling Championships Session 3

This morning has been exciting again. Nathan won 5-2 against a kid from Harvard. He’s now in the finals. 

Here is Carter Bailey, Nate’s roommate. He’s 125 and Nate is 285. Carter placed 7th. 

Then we saw Michael Beard and Tate Samuelson in the hallway. They will be wrestling at Nationals, too. 

EIWA Wrestling Championships - Session 2

Phew, Nate’s match was a mail biter but he won in sudden victory over a U of Penn opponent. He’s headed to Tulsa for the Nationals. Woohoo!!

EIWA Wrestling Championships - day 1

Our hotel is a short walk to the venue … the Palestra. Some trees are in bloom. 

We have arrived at the venue. 



Nathan and Michael Beard are standing with Coach Ray, waiting for Nathan’s time on the Mat. 

Glad we didn’t blink. Nathan pinned his opponent in the 1st period. Woohoo. On to the quarter finals tonight. 

A new adventure begins in Philly

This weekend is the EIWA Wrestling Championships in Philly. Before that begins, we drove to Brit and Bens house in NE Philly. It was great to visit with them in their home. Love the architecture. 

Then Brit took us to a brewery that had lots of food options. Great place to eat and have a good beer. 

Now today, Saturday, the wrestling begins. We walked to Sabrina’s Cafe to start our day. Beautiful large Victorian house in the middle of Drexel University. 

The lights in the cafe. 

And here’s my mantra. 

On to the Palestra for the wrestling. Stay tuned.