Tag Archives: Front Royal Town Square

Burrell Brooks, Eastham, Fantasyland, Front Royal Town Square

Park Crawl

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Eastham Park

A little resting area by the Shenandoah river in Eastham park

Teddy and I slept in today and woke up late. After grabbing a meal, we headed out to Eastham park in the CitiCar.

Another great day. We grabbed a bench and watched a few people float by on canoes. Front Royal was designated as the “Canoe Capital of Virginia” in 1999. We are often seeing people in canoes when we walk along the river. One couple had a dog with them, but Teddy wasn’t paying much attention to its parking.

We headed down the trail and I let Teddy loose for a little bit in the dog park. Afterwards we continued down the path until we reached an area that comes down to the river itself. Teddy drank a bit of water and dipped his toes in, walking around for a bit. Afterwards, we head back to the car.

Oddly enough, the GPS speedometer couldn’t get a clear signal. We drove for roughly a half mile before the speedometer started working. With a clear sky, this is a bit concerning. I may have to move the antenna to the outside of the car.

Panoramic view of a little resting area by the Shenandoah river at Eastham park

Charge

Charging at Jack Evans Chevrolet

I had a goal this weekend to see if I could find and use the level 2 charger downtown. It is in a certified pre-owned Chevy dealership. On a Sunday in rural America, the place was fairly empty. I found the DC fast charger, but I didn’t see any compatible plug to charge the car.

I looked at a few photos and reviews and found that they have three separate charging stations scattered between two buildings. I found the one I needed with the J1772 plug was by the main entrance. I plugged in, heard a click, and saw that the CitiCar was charging away.

I decided to take a walk over to Main Street while the car was charging.

Confederate Monument Controversy

Controversial Confederate monument

I took a look at the Confederate monument in front of the court house. I saw it was on the ballot last week when I showed up to the registrars office for early voting in the presidential election. There is a vote to move it to another location. I hadn’t paid much attention to it before, or even knew of its existence. It appears that it isn’t of any specifically recognizable general.

I Want Candy

Store front on Main Street of I Want Candy in Front Royal, Virginia

I saw that a new shop was opening up on Main Street yesterday. The storefront is fairly unique compared to other buildings in Front Royal in that it has a curve to it that wraps around the corner. Teddy and I went in today to have a look around.

Pick your favorite candies and pay by the pound

They have a bunch of bins where you can pick a variety of candy and pay by the pound. I kept seeing different candy that I had long forgotten about when growing up. I had to stop myself and consider that I could leave some candy for next time.

C&C Frozen Treats

Carousel horse themed entrance to C&C Frozen Treats

We went into C&C Frozen Treats next. There are many murals around Front Royal, and the owner of the shop had someone decorate their entry way with the carousel horse theme found inside their shop.

There were only two dairy-free flavors left, and the only one that was safe for Teddy was the spiced cake. I ordered a scope for both Teddy and myself.

Town Square

Dairy-free ice cream for two in the park

Teddy and I headed across the street to the town square. Teddy was looking up at me on the whole trip over to find a seat. He knew he was going to get a treat at any minute.

I poured out some of the candies on the checkerboard table and started having a meal fit for two kids at the ripe age of seven.

Teddy will do anything for a treat, and he put on a really good show for everyone watching. The comments I most often hear is how people wish their dog could do what he does. People are often surprised that he knows the difference between his right and left. One of my favorite tricks is to trop a spoon full of ice cream, and then look away and start eating. Teddy will keep focused on me until I say “release”.

Burger King

After having our desert, we headed back to the CitiCar. We were almost up to a full charge, so I decided we could continue our little joy ride and cruise on up to South Street. We were stuck in the Burger King drive-through for about twenty minutes. By time we got our food, I was ready for a change of scenery and eat somewhere else.

Burrell Brooks Park

The charge from the dealership gave us a lot of battery to run around town with. I decided that we could take the CitiCar to Burrell Brooks Park. I hadn’t taken it there before because it’s simply too far.

The park has a small walking path with fitness stations peppered along it. There is also a playground, music playground, and basket ball court. It looked like a Childs birthday party was going on at the pavilion. Teddy and I found a bench at the far end of the park away from everyone else. The meal was satisfying. I took Teddy on the path around the park before we started heading for home.

Fantasyland Park

It was starting to get into the twilight hours and I was debating if we should go home, or stop by Gertrude Miller Park. I didn’t’ have an accurate reading on the batteries state of charge, and I knew I could recharge at a pavilion. Along the way, I turned on the lights and after a brief moment, they went out.

A CitiCar parked at Fantasyland Park

I was debating if I should go strait home without any lights, since it wasn’t too dark out yet. I pulled off into the Advance Auto Parts parking lot and decided to play it safe rather than be sorry. I pulled out the voltage meter and looked for a 30 amp fuse. I already knew which fuse to check, and how many amps it should allow. After two minutes, we were back on our way.

Rather than stopping at Gertrude Miller or Lions Park, I decided to go for the parking lot in between the two parks. I parked the CitiCar under a large tree next to Fantasyland Park.

We didn’t stay long. I took Teddy over to Happy Creek and let him wade a bit in the water. We walked around for a little bit before hopping back into the car.

Back Again

Just as we were almost home, one of our neighbors walking their dog waved at us. I turned around and zipped on over. Although he was stuck in the car, Teddy and his friend were super excited to see each other. Although the car sounds fairly noisy to me, my neighbor commented that it sounded like someone on a bicycle. This revelation came as a bit of a shock to me.

Teddy is exhausted from having too much fun

We said our good byes and I zipped back to the house and guided the CitiCar into the driveway. Teddy was a bit exhausted. We had been to one park after another, and a few stores the entire day. When I see him twitching in his sleep, I imagine he is having wild dreams chasing squirrels and rabbits through the woods.

In Other News

  • From the advice of other C-Car owners, I’m considering changing the button for Secret Hyperjets to be red.
  • A 12 volt charger arrived that works on both 120 and 240 volts AC power
  • I didn’t make any progress on the window this weekend…
Front Royal Eastham Park
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Front Royal Town Square, Lions, Rockland, Trips

Rockland Park

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The CitiCar on its first trip to Rockland Park with a clear view of the mountains along the horizon

A trip to Rockland Park is (or was) the next major milestone travel destination. Although the round trip is within the range of the CitiCar, there are many hills along the way, making the trip impossible.

There are two things going for me that make the trip possible. First is that there is a public level 2 charging station on the way. The second thing that helps is that the new Lester charger recharges batteries four times faster than what I was previously using. I had the day planned out earlier in the week.

The weather was a bit cool and looked like it may rain soon. A quick look at a local weather forecast indicated that it had rained in the morning, and that it should be clear for the remainder of the day.

A CitiCar with Spunk

On our way over to the charging station, I noticed rite away that the CitiCar had a bit more pep to it. I was getting speeds up to 35 mph under its own power. I’ve not seen that before in this little car. It’s almost like she is showing off, up for the challenge ahead of us. I’ve got a bit of a hunch that maybe the batteries were overcharged last night while I changed over to the new extension cords, restarting the charging cycles.

As I was about to plug the CitiCar into the charging station, someone stopped their car in front of us and asked how it does on gas. I replied that I don’t buy gas, and pointed to a sign on the building behind me that said Electric Vehicle Charging Station. They looked a bit shocked. I don’t think they realized that charging stations existed.

Teddy and I headed over to the walk-up window at checkers and got a small order of fries. With bits of French fries as a reward, Teddy gave people going through the drive-through lanes a show.

Pushing the Limits

This was it, we were about to go off further out of town than we had ever been in the little CitiCar with more hills to conquer and a small trek through a 55mph zone. Thankfully it was a two lane highway, so I wasn’t holding anyone up. The road to turn off towards the park felt further away than I had expected. Every hill and valley feels like a challenge. Turning onto the road, I went up a hill that just kept going on and on.

I hadn’t driven over railroad tracks before. I was getting a bit anxious about how well the car would take it. I think the car behind me was getting a bit of a kick watching us slow down and take the rails at a slow speed. It was worth it. The suspension and small tires on the CitiCar don’t do well crossing tracks.

Once we crossed over, we turned down the road into the park and everything was easy going after that. Although the limit was only 25 mph, we coasted as much as possible to preserve battery power since no one was behind us. There is a bit of a hill once you enter the park that wasn’t all too bad.

Rockland Park

We parked by the fitness equipment with a clear view of the mountains along the horizon. I led Teddy over to walk past the pavilions and a playground to get to the walking path.

Benches are peppered along the asphalt walking path through the woods

One of the things that I like about Rockland Park is the blacktop walking path. You’ve got a hard, flat, and level surface that even strollers could be pushed along without any obstructions (except getting to it). There is a Disc Golf course peppered throughout the woods. Smaller dirt paths through the course cross over the main path, and often have benches at various crossings.

The park has one major detriment to its serene atmosphere. Although Rockland park is large, you’ll always hear the humming and crunching sounds of the power plant nearby. The sound of children playing at a music park often brings more peace to the park, overcoming this background noise.

The path that leads down to the Shenandoah river will take you under some power lines

I was in such an adventurous spirit that I decided to take a path that I have always avoided. It goes under some high power electric lines. Listening to the air heat up around the electric lines gives me a fright with thoughts of being struck by a bolt of electrons, or having a device malfunction. I figured if everyone can walk through without damaging their phones, I should be fine. I just kept my focus on Teddy and we kept going.

A fork in the path makes you question yourself as to which way to go in life

The path had some nice views of the Shenandoah river. It went down to a fork and a little bench where the asphalt ended. Teddy and I headed left, as it looked like it would take us closer to the river. Sure enough, we got to the end with a little spot where we could sit on some old concrete blocks. The area could use a bench to sit back and enjoy the view.

A small spot was found to kickback and rest for a moment along the Shenandoah river

We watched a few boats pass and wave at us. Teddy would get a bit focused when each boats wake would reach the shore, making sloshing sounds in various places around us.

Teddy makes walking small paths a bit less intimidating and warns animals to stay away

We headed back on up to the fork. Teddy seemed to be leading the way, excited to come back the way we came. We continued down in the other direction. I could hear golf balls being hit. It eventually brought us to a golf course where the path becomes shared with golf carts. I looked on a satellite map and couldn’t see if any of the paths would lead around, back to the park. Instead, Teddy and I headed back to where we came from.

On the way back under the power lines, I felt more confident walking under them. We continued on our original path on the main loop and walked up onto a white tailed doe on the path. The deer just looked at us. After Teddy started barking, she took off.

Charge

We got back to the CitiCar and headed back to the charging station. The battery was down to 70%. A person came up to ask about the car just as I was about to get Teddy out. We are getting stopped often to talk about this car. I went over some details of how I am able to charge an antique car from the 70’s at a public charging station. I got a combo meal at Checkers while we waited for the car to recharge.

Main Street

It was time to go back home – or was it? There wasn’t much else to do today and the battery meter was reporting a 100% charge. I decided to head over to Gertrude. Along the way, I made another split decision to run on up to the town square instead. While walking around, I noticed a new store is opening called, I want candy. I also grabbed a photo of some painted garden poles outside The Studio – A Place for Learning.

Painted garden posts are on display next to the studio on Main Street

After walking around for a bit, I decided to stop into Lions park and let Teddy have a little walk and quick drink out of Happy Creek. We were shortly on our way back home.

The total cruise was a whopping 15.7 miles – 41% further than the CitiCar’s previous record! With free charging, the average price per mile was brought town to 2.1¢.

DestinationTripAH returnedCharge Time
Home0
Charging Station2.86.800:23
Rockland5.5
Charging Station8.08.900:31
Town Square12.0
Gertrude13.1
Home15.754.603:29
Total70.304:23
Views of Rockland Park

In Other News

Moving the GPS receiver from the dashboard to the front, under the CitiCars’ “hood” area has greatly reduced the time it takes to acquire a signal. It appears that the aluminum frame does play a big part of disrupting GPS signals.

Trips

One Hundred

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As of this morning, I’ve lost 100 pounds this year. I started losing weight so that I could increase range and fit in the CitiCar easier. I couldn’t even get the seat belt to buckle when I first got it.

Too big for a CitiCar seatbelt
Before and after photographs losing 100 pounds.

Ice Cream Run

I really wanted to get some local ice cream yesterday. I enjoy training Teddy with ice cream at the park. It was time for another adventure. Teddy and I arrived downtown to find that main street was blocked off again. I took a detour and parked behind the buildings on Main street.

Band with a harmonica

Teddy and I walked over to the town square and meandered through the park. While we were there, a small band was playing some music on the side of the road. One of the guys had a harmonica. We sat down on the curb and listened for awhile. I kept giving Teddy back scratches and massages.

It was time that we headed over to C & C Frozen Treats for ice cream. In front of the shop, there was a dunking booth with a giant teddy bear setting on the seat, and some pie throwing cut-outs for people to stand behind. The little shop was packed with kids. We waited for people to leave before going inside. The dairy-free choices are often limited, but good. I got a quart of brownie ice cream to take home. Teddy got a scoop of strawberry mango.

It was getting late and I wanted to get home before dark. I decided to stop at the post office on the way back. I hadn’t been there to pick up my mail for roughly eight months. When I opened my PO box, I found that it was packed tight.

Storage Idea

Arriving home, I started working on an idea to utilize the empty space in the CitiCar a bit better. I wanted a place to install some car speakers, a camera, lights, and a few other things. Nothing really seemed to be ideal to do anything.

I can’t get anything around the roll bars to mount things onto. There isn’t anything to clip onto. Nothing is magnetic, and I’ve had trouble getting adhesives to stick. It’s difficult to mount anything.

Mocking up cabinets between the CitiCar frame

I got some inspiration when thinking about how my camping trailers had been built in the past. Almost every spot available is made into cabinets or made available in some clever way for storage.

I made a template of the area between the roll bars in the back. I decided to work on making an area that can have doors, drawers, hooks, and some magnetic metal bits to clamp, affix, or hook things onto. I’m mocking everything out using cardboard for now. I’ll upgrade to the final materials once I’ve got it all worked out.

Other News

I purchased an Alltrax SR-72500 Series Motor Controller (SR72500) and a Albright SW180 48 volt Solenoid Kit with a resistor and diode. I missed a call from D & D Motor Systems regarding the solenoid kit. I called back and left a voice mail and later followed up in an email with details for what I was using it for.

A few magazines arrived.

  • Hope on Wheels: New Cars for the Gasless Era, Douglas Bartholomew, New York Magazine, May 21, 1979, pages 38 – 42
  • The Electric Tropica, Frank Markus, Car and Driver, March 1994, pages 95-97
  • A Shocking Discovery, Pat Foster, Hemmings Classic Car, September 2018, page 38
WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,115.3
C & C Frozen Treats1,119.64.3
Post Office1,120.40.8
Home1,124.64.2
Total9.3
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.59 mph
Total2.35 kWh23.9¢15:52
Per Mile253 Wh2.6¢01:42
Trips

Gazebo Gatherings Summer Concert Series Season Finale

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Gear lubricant draining from differential

I’ve been trying to flush the differential fluid in my cars axle. It’s been more than six months since the car came off of the production line in 1976. I’ve been unable to do it without the proper tools to open the fill plug.

My Allen wrenches arrived today. I opened the drain plug and removed all of the differential fluid. After cleaning the plug, I tightened it back on and started pouring gear lubricant into the fill plugs hole. A quart was not enough. I put in an order for some more and filled the old bottle back up with the fluid that just came out.

Drain Plug5/16″ hex
Flow Plug3/8″ hex
Fluid75W-90, 1½ quarts
Gear Lubricant

SIX MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE AND EVERY SIX MONTHS THEREAFTER

* Check differential fluid level. Use 90 weight Hypoid gear oil. Fill to top. In cold weather lighter weight fluid may be used. It is not advisable to mix different weights. When changing types of oil, flush system. Use no lighter than 30 weight oil.

Section III – Maintenance, Sebring-Vanguard, CitiCar 1976 ½ Owners Manual, page 21-22

Teddy and I hopped into the car with a destination of Gertrude Miller Community Park. I positioned the dash cam so that it had both Teddy and myself in full view, as well as the dashboard. I heard something wearing a bit along the way. I wasn’t sure if it was the rear driver breaks, the motor, or something to do with the differential.

We spent some time at the park and then headed to Advance Auto Parts to pickup the gear lube. I brought the old bottle back with the 45 year old oil that came out of the car. They had me follow them into the back of the store and dump it into a large metal bin with a mesh over the opening. They wouldn’t take the container itself.

ICE parking at an EV charging station

With that, we headed over to the town square, only to find a large event with live music playing. It was the big summer season finale of the towns summer concert series. Vinyl Tracks was playing Beatles songs in the gazebo.

While looking for parking, I saw a big ICE truck parked at an EV Charging space. I got a little annoyed that this vehicle was ICEing an EV charging spot. Although the CitiCar that I was driving is an EV, I wouldn’t park there unless I was using the charger. No parking was available at the town square, so we went to another parking lot nearby and came back to enjoy the park.

Blue Ridge Arts Council Flyer for 2020 Summer Concert Finale featuring Vinyl Tracks
Social distancing at a concert

The concert was enjoyable to listen to as we walked through the park. Everyone was spread out and practicing social distancing. A few people wore masks. We walked past someone enjoying the music from their car.

Teddy and I went across the street to get some ice cream at C & C Frozen Treats. The little shop was packed with people due to the concert across the street. We didn’t bother going inside.

Ice Cream!!!

On the way home, I saw an ice cream truck in my community. I stopped the CitiCar on the side of the street and waved the truck down. I purchased an ice cream sandwich that looked like a big Oreo cookie. I got my ice cream after all!

Differential flow plug on a CitiCar

We arrived home at last. I checked the mileage, voltage, reset the kilowatt meter, and plugged in the battery chargers. The axle was a bit hot. I gave it some time to cool down. I came back and topped off the gear lubricant in the differential pan through the flow plug.

Video

CitiCar trip to the park
WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,106.6
Gertrude Miller3.2
Advance Auto Parts1.2
Town Square0.4
Home1,115.33.9
Total8.7
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.60 mph
Total2.30 kWh23.4¢14:30
Per Mile265 Wh2.7¢01:40

Other News

The motor bumper arrived today as well as a torque wrench.

I had made about 15% profit in my dividend portfolio that I started out late last year. I sold off everything I had invested in it, so that it only consists of profit now. I’m investing the majority of the money into my other portfolio consisting of disruptive tech and a couple EV companies that I follow almost daily.

Things Mentioned

Mobil1 Synthetic Gear Lubricant LS 75W-90, 1 Quart
REXBETI Hex Key Allen Wrench Set, SAE Metric Star Long Arm Ball End Hex Key Set Tools, Industrial Grade Allen Wrench Set, S2 Steel
TEKTON 3/8 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-80 ft.-lb.) | 24330
Blue Ridge Arts Council (BRAC)
Vinyl Tracks
Klondike OREO® Sandwich
Club Car Electric GE Motor Bumper (Fits 1982-Up)
AUKEY Mini Dash Cam 1080p Full HD Dash Camera with 1.5” LCD Screen Car Camera with 170° Wide-Angle Lens, G-Sensor, WDR, Motion Detection, and Clear Night Recording

Trips

Custard Greenway

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CitiCar with a fact sheet on the rear window

Today is Sunday. It’s another beautiful day. We’ve been having brief showers throughout the weekend. The air is fresh, and it felt like a great day to go on another adventure.

I got some tape and put up a little fact sheet on the back window. I also added a QR tag and the URL to this blog so people could learn more about the car, my adventures, and the history behind the car.

Afterwards, we drove over to the Front Royal town square.

Details on the back window of the CitiCar
The Royal Shenandoah Greenway

Teddy and I took a walk along the Royal Shenandoah Greenway. Its a little path that goes around the whole town. It runs along Happy Creek, down to the Bing Crosby stadium. It also goes through a few parks and along various roads. We took our time casually strolling along the trail. I let Teddy sniff around at his own pace. He would often lead me down toward the creek.

Happy Creek Arboretum Sign

We walked through the Happy Creek Arboretum on a side path with more shade. It’s made up of a few trees, various plants, a side path of mulch, a picnic table, and a few plaques. There is a water fountain for both people and dogs, but it was out of service. The bench looking out over the creek was also occupied, so we continued on.

Footbridge across Happy Creek

We made our way towards the footbridge nearby to cross the creek. The two of us often like to watch and listen to the water below. Once we crossed, Teddy made a beeline for another open area leading to the river and startled a group of butterflies.

I let him wade in the creek for a little bit. He was thumping the water with his paw, as if he wanted to swim, but it’s just not deep enough for him. After a few minutes, he came back up the bank and we were off onto the Royal Greenway again.

Teddy and Lewie share some Custard

We made it to our final destination for B & L’s Custard. Teddy got a “Pup Cup”, and I went with a small cup for myself. It was the perfect weather for setting outside in some partial shade along with a light breeze. As always, I had him do a few tricks for a treat beyond his wildest dreams. After he licked his cup clean, I let him lick mine clean as well.

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Teddy found something stinky on the way back and had to stop to rub it all over himself. After bringing the side of his face down onto the spot, he rolls onto his back and wiggles around.

We saw the butterflies again on our way back, and I was able to stop and grab some photos before letting Teddy wade in the creek again. They appear to be Canadian tiger swallowtail butterflies.

DC Fast Charger for CCS and CHAdeMO

When we got back to the town square, I took a closer look at the public charger. It offered both CHAdeMO (DC) and CCS Combo (DC). In other words – DC fast charging only. I’ve been starting to take an interest in public charging stations while researching how I can modernize the car.

On the way home, we had a couple people honk their horns and wave at us, and I would honk back. We can’t go far, but it’s been a blast driving through town again.

Charging Time & Voltage

I love making spreadsheets. I measured the voltage and kept a closer eye on the chargers as they topped off the batteries. I now have a few extra metrics to keep track of.

On an 11 hour 41 minute charge back to full, a 7.2 mile trip charged at 1 hour and 37 minutes per mile (0.66 mph). For reference, I can casually walk about 1-2 miles an hour. I suspect this is a low rate of charge for a sealed lead acid battery. It is either due to the batteries themselves, the quality of the chargers I am using, or the fact that I’m using four chargers on separate batteries that are still wired in series.

In addition, the 2.6 voltage drop from my trip comes in at about 0.36v/mile. This gives me a general idea about how much range the car has in its current configuration. Forgetting temperatures, accuracy, resting time, calculating parabolic curves, amps, hills, etc. We are working with ballpark numbers here.

Returning home with a voltage of 48.5 is almost on the nose of a 50% SoC. Ideally, I don’t want to go below a 30% charge at 47.84v. So…

(48.5v SoC – 47.84v minimum)/0.36v per mile = 1.83 miles

From this, it seems the car can go a total of 9 miles (7.2 + 1.8) before the batteries get down to 30%. A dead battery sits at around 46.04v. From the same calculations, I would have 6.81 miles left for a total range of 14 miles. I doubt I would be able to get that far unless it was all downhill.

I’ll continue to monitor the charging time and voltages to see if the total miles has an effect on the average volts per mile and charging duration. For now, I can set a timer to turn the chargers off based on each trips total miles driven.

miles driven * 1 hour 37 min

If the car isn’t charged fully by the next morning, I can simply turn the chargers back on.

WaypointOdometerDistance
Home1,077.0
Front Royal Town Square1,080.63.6
Home1,084.23.6
Total7.2
CitiCar odometer readings for a tip to the town square and back
RechargeEnergyCostDuration
RatekWh$0.09850.62 mph
Total2.08 kWh21.1¢11:41
Per Mile289 Wh2.9¢01:37
Cost to recharge the CitiCar batteries
Trips

Downtown Expedition

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The CitiCar parked in an unusual spot

It’s been a long week. The weekend is upon us. Although it’s mostly cloudy, it’s a beautiful day out with warm weather. After finding my keys buried in the couch, Teddy and I hopped into the cheese and ran off to the park. Our first stop, like always, was to our local park, Gertrude Miller Community Park.

It’s fun being in such a tiny car. We were able to maneuver into a small area that isn’t wide enough for most cars to park. It was also at a convenient spot where we had enough area to do a U-turn and be on our way.

Teddy wading in Happy Creek

Teddy will often find his way to the Happy Creek river that runs in between Lions Park and Gertrude Miller Community Park. I let him wade around in a low spot and watch him drink some of the water to help keep him cool.

Lions Park Observation

On the other side of Happy Creek river, there is a little observation deck that he likes to hop up on as well.

Fantasy Land playground looks like a castle

We walked around Lions Park, sat in the shade, and then walked past Fantasy Land playground on the way back to the car. Just looking at the castle made me want to be a kid again.

As noon approached, it was time to cool down with a nice cup of ice cream. We drove over to the Front Royal town square. Our favorite ice cream man at C & C Frozen Treats across the street was happy as always to see us visit his establishment for “essential supplies”. I purchased a quart of Diary Free Blueberry Cheesecake to bring home, and Teddy got a scoop for himself.

Teddy and I went back over to the town square to find some shade and to do a few tricks. He’ll do anything for a treat, and ice cream is one of his favorites.

SitDownHead Down
NudgeScratchPaws Up
OffPlay DeadRoll Over
BackComeLeave It
WaitBalanceSpeak
LeftRightTouch
Teddy’s tricks
An old caboose from another time

Afterwards we walked around the town square a little bit. The Front Royal visitors center is an old train station, and a Norfolk & Western Cupola Caboose sets in the park. It’s locked off, so you can’t go inside. Usually kids like to play around it, climbing the steps and pretending to ride. It’s been inoperable for a long time, and grass has grown up over the tracks.

The gazebo in Front Royal town square

One of the main attractions in the park is the town center gazebo. Many bands have sat within the gazebo performing for the local community.

The center of the gazebo has a plaque with an inscription about a time capsule buried beneath. Who knows what treasures it contains?

We found a new mural on the side of one of the buildings. I decided it was time to continue our adventure and have a closer look.

@ARTbyAmandaHorn
#ManorLineMarket
#WingsProject

This mural lets you become a part of it. If someone takes your picture standing in front of the wings, you can see what you look like with wings. It’s always a treasure to find these murals around Front Royal. One day we’ll find them all. This one also had bee’s flying around.

Inklings is the newest store in town

As we took a walk down main street, Teddy and I found an interesting little pet friendly shop called “Inklings“. It used to be occupied by an art gallery. We went inside to have a look around. The woman inside offered Teddy a treat. I had him do a little performance for her. I grabbed a bar of soap to remove elbow grease with Rosie the Riveter saying “We Can Wash It!”. In addition, a cup with Lewis Carol on it and quotes from Alice In Wonderland caught my eye.

Teddy at Mountain Trails

Main street was closed to traffic so that establishments could use the area to help keep people spread apart. We crossed over and headed towards a hiking store called Mountain Trails. The Appalachia Trail runs through our little city, and many hikers and locals stop by for supplies. A mural of the Appalachia Trail is painted on the side of the building next to its entrance.

The staff were already familiar with Teddy. We hadn’t been there in such a long time, and they were asking to see him do a few tricks. I mentioned he wasn’t going to do them without a reward. A woman offered a treat, but he would only sit. He wouldn’t do the trick to play dead when she asked. I asked for one of the treats and had him doing a bunch of tricks to everyone’s admiration.

Since I had lost quite a bit of weight, I picked up a lightweight Charcoal El Mono T-Shirt by the Howler Brothers. It has a better fit and is ideal for the late summer heat. They threw in a free coffee flavored cliff bar with my purchase.

Time was moving fast. Even though we parked in the shade, I felt that our ice cream back in the car was going to melt if we took too long. We returned home and I got to unpack all of my loot for the day.

The Local Loot

View a map of Front Royal, Virginia

WaypointOdometerDistance
Home1,069.3
Gertrude E Miller Community Park1,072.22.9
Front Royal Town Square1,073.31.1
Home1,077.03.7
Total7.7
CitiCar odometer readings for a trip to the park and ice cream store
RechargeEnergyCost
RatekWh$0.0985
Total2.37 kWh24.1¢
Per Mile308 Wh3.1¢
Cost to recharge the CitiCar batteries

Trips

Royal Excursion

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The sun is out in the middle of a hot July summer day. Lazily getting up, it took my time enjoying the weekend morning. I had plans to pickup an office desk. I got into my 2004 Ford Explorer SUV and found that I couldn’t get the vehicle to recognize that the gear had shifted out of park. Unfortunately, my hybrid 2010 Honda Insight car is also inoperable. Due to the pandemic, I haven’t driven it for a few months and the battery has died. The only operational vehicle at the moment is… the CitiCar. Really? This?!? At least I’m within range of a couple auto-parts stores.

After calling around and making a few arrangements due to my predicament, it was time to enjoy the rest of the day. Teddy and I hopped into our little electric car and started driving. The right rear brake had a sound that concerned me, so I made a few adjustments back in the driveway and continued on again.

We visited both Gertrude E. Miller Community Park and walked over a little bridge to Lions park across river. Teddy waded in the Happy Creek river a little bit and started laying down when he realized we were about to leave. I’ll admit, if it were cooler, we would have stayed longer. I was getting hot, thirsty, and wasn’t inclined to drink and wade in the river.

1976 CitiCar at Front Royal Town Square

We drove over to pick up Ice Cream. Just like last week, Main street was blocked off. It probably put on an extra mile on the odometer, but the car seemed fine on battery charge, setting on the third tick of five, when we parked. Teddy had some dairy-free strawberry mint ice cream as a reward for doing a few of his tricks in some shade at the town square. We could see the ice cream man and his wife, while dressed as pirates, had stopped by the car to check it out.

On the way home, I had some concerns regarding how much load I was putting on the battery as we were on one of the last inclines. We stopped on a side street just before continuing home. Teddy and I had a bit of a serious discussion regarding the batteries and how much power the motor was drawing. After a minute or two, with clear traffic, we pulled out and continued on our way.

As I held down the breaks for a couple minutes going down hill, I was thinking of how much power was being wasted. Ideally, I could just let off the brakes and coast all the way home, but I wouldn’t even attempt that in my hybrid car with regenerative breaking. As we coasted into the garage, I could hear the motors fan blowing and wondered if I should leave the power on to help it cool off. I also considered if I should wait before charging the car.

In all, we go just under nine miles on our trip from a full battery. The fuel gauge read at 50%, half way between the red dot and the next tick. The owners manual states that the red dot indicates a ¼ charge. We could have probably gone an extra mile or two before fully depleting the battery.

WaypointOdometerDistance
Home1,060.5
Back to Driveway1,060.70.2
Gertrude E Miller Community Park1,063.73.0
Front Royal Town Square with detour1,065.61.9
Side Street1,068.22.6
Home1,069.31.1
Total8.8
CitiCar odometer readings for a trip to the park and ice cream store
RechargeEnergyCost
RatekWh$0.0985
Total2.71 kWh27.5¢
Per Mile308 Wh3.1¢
Cost to recharge the CitiCar batteries