May 23rd Washington Exploring

• Got up to find a somewhat sunny morning where we had expected rain and thunder. 
• We got into DC quite easily with a bus and subway. 

• We quickly got to the line for the holocaust museum and just got a ticket for the 4pm entrance. We immediately went to Daniels story and the current propaganda exhibit. We joined the throngs of 11 year olds who where very noisy and actually helped us realise that we are not school kids anymore.
• Then we went off to the American History museum to catch up on the American war involvements (more  propaganda!!) but we did bone up on the civil war and prepped ourselves for the trip to Gettysburg at the weekend. 
• Had a $5 !!!! hot dog outside the Smithsonian American History Museum...after all we are in the excited states!

 

• Then got back to holocaust for entry at at 3.45.It did not disappoint. Exhibits are well presented with the build up of the history and then dropping you into the horror of Nazi regime and the maniac Hitler. Stories are compelling, emotional and life changing. No photos allowed.

• Spoke with a security guy who has worked at this museum a year and he says it's taking it's toll, even though it's a well paid job, he is feeling the emotion about being that close each working day. 

•  Easy ride back to camp...feel like we mastered the DC transit system like pro's.

• Sausage pasta, blog and early night.... in retrospect the most stressful part if the day was dealing with hundreds and hundreds of kids on school trips..... ARGGHHH!!! They are SO loud!!!!! 
• Much to our shame we have both forgotten the sign of the day... we saw it from the bus.... IF we remember I will post it later..... sorry sign lovers!!!!

May 22nd 2012 Williamsport to Washington 363km

Tuesday May 22nd 2012

• Leisurely morning getting packed up and left Williamsport South KOA oat 10am and gassed up before heading out toward Harrisburg PA where we thought there was a Camping World Super store…. WRONG!!! Disappointed we switched drivers and headed to Washington….

• Deciding to take the ‘ scenic route ‘ as we had extra time. Bad decision…. We are realizing that the interstates are actually more picturesque, a lot faster and easier on the nerves than the smaller highways.
  ·      However we continued to laugh at our learning and Janice maneuvered our land-ship through busy late afternoon traffic to Cherry Hill Park like a pro!!!!
  ·      Now for the sign of the day… we have chosen two ’cos they are so complementary…
  a)    “$1.50 BEER ALL DAY”     and a little further down the road…………..
  b)    “BEWARE OF AGGRESSIVE DRIVERS”         ……. DUH!!!!!!!!
  
  
  ·      And another sign that has honourable mention “ KEEP ALERT AND WATCH FOR DUI DRIVERS”   (Note that all these signs are real)
  ·      A point to  mention is that the drive along the Susquehanna River is so very beautiful… open roads and fabulous views… North America is a fabulous continent.
  ·      Cherry Hill Campground is all that we remember form 16 years ago. plus some. Bus stop at site connects to subway. Pool, restaurant, hot tub, store, great campsites, clean showers etc etc… HIGHLY recommended for anyone wishing to see Washington on a budget, without compromising comfort.
  ·      We set up, unhitched and were proud of how fast we had accomplished all this …. Then we checked for level… and were at a tilt that would leave us in danger of slipping off the end of the bed in the middle of the night … so we had to re-hitch and level off…. Lesson learned (we hope).

  

  YEY..... It's level..... happy times!!

  ·      Had  Shepherds’ pie and then met some lovely people in the camp (Reggie [Regina] and Marty) from Jupiter, Florida… chatted with them about travels, families, RVs etc… We have discovered that doing this traveling thing results in meeting so many like-minded late-in-life explorers who share our love for family and each other.  This is an unexpected and rewarding aspect of this life style. It has made us more positive about the future when we plan more extended and extensive travel.
  

  

  Note the lovely gas tank holding down the table cloth!!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  MMMMM!!!  Shepherds' Pie and red wine!!!!!

  

  We still love our rig so much!!

  
  
  
  

May 21 2012 - ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Monday May 21^st  2012

Well here we go again… we left at noon today with heavy hearts after saying our final goodbyes to our dear friend Dave over the weekend.  RIP dear friend.

It was a delayed start as we locked ourselves out of the truck with both sets of keys in (as you do!!!) OnStar couldn’t unlock remotely so they sent a locksmith. As it was late, we decided to head straight down toward Washington and get as far as possible instead of detouring to Camping World

At the border we were asked if we had any fruit or veggies etc etc …. “no”….  “okay.. can you open up the trailer for me?”   OH DEAR!! What a nice man…. He saw my Shepherds Pie, home-made soup, Sausages, Salad stuff, Broccoli chicken breast, chicken burgers, champagne, beer, fruit juice, cream cheese, cheddar, bread,  margarine, …. And he picked up an orange pepper, examined and declared that although it was grown in Canada he was going to keep it and prevent it getting in to the US.  

Pepperless, we giggled our way South and East through New York State

In our bliss of being on the open road, we missed a turn  and added a further half hour (at least) to our journey on pretty slow roads. Ever cheerful we plodded on.

NOTES:

·      Williamsport South KOA is GREAT

·      Sparkling Merlot is NOT.

·    In one town we passed a garage with a sign “We fix deer hits” (Sign of the day) …. 2km later a huge deer pranced out in front of the truck… we just missed it…… Coincidence?? ….. We think not!!!!!!!!! The imagination runs wild!!

·    Another sign… “Firewood…. All you can carry in one arm $5” … and a little further down the road… “$4 an armful” … Like .. is this not discriminatory??? I have short arms …. 5”4” me … vs a 6”6” guy…. Just not fair!!!  Also… how far do you have to carry it to qualify for the price break???

·    Several gunshots  after we set up camp had us thinking…. OKAY!!!!   Welcome to the USA.

·   The scenery through Northern Pennsylvania is awesome.  Deep wide valleys, forested slopes.

·   We didn’t bother unhitching the truck so tomorrow we can just close up and take off…. Early night … long day.    

WASHINGTON HERE WE COME

May 11-20 2012 - ON HOLD

May 11-20 2012- On Hold
A moment comes in life when you just know you are in the right place at the wrong time. Personal circumstances deeply affecting a dear, and long-time friends and their family, left us yesterday evening facing a decision of whether to continue our journey South or head North and home, to be with our friends as they face their troubles. As we lay in bed last night we both knew what we were going to do. We chose to head North (it wasn't a tough decision). After an uneventful 1100 km marathon drive we arrived home at 11pm and collapsed into bed.  Our journey is not over, merely suspended for a while.
The day after we got home we went to see our friends and a few hours after our visit our dear friend Dave passed away. We made the right decision to come home.
The following week we said our final goodbyes to Dave. At the urging of Diane, (the love of Dave's life), we decided to continue our journey for a while. It was a difficult decision as we felt we were deserting her when she needed us most, but she insisted that she had plenty of support and that Dave would have wanted us to continue our journey. And so we decided to head back on the road a few days later. Rest in peace dear Dave.

MAY 10 2012- Blue Ridge Parkway Sightseeing.

MAY 10 2012- Blue Ridge Parkway Sightseeing


Started off the day with breakfast and planning our day... woke to bright skies but quite cold (crisp 14 degrees all day).
Then headed North on the parkway to Mabry Mill where we raced in to the loo and met up with some lovely ladies from the Red Hat Ladies Association in the gift shop... check out the 'bling' on the lady on the right!!!

Quote from lady on Left "That's gonna be an award winner"

Allo!!! Anyone Home??

Life is good!!

They sure did like their booze!!! (not much changes huh? .. Just the wrapping and the price.

Handsome Retiree!!!!

Amazing system of water delivery for the mill.

After leaving the Mill we headed a little further north to a Winery "Chateau Morrisette". Tasted a few wines and were very impressed with the whites, but the reds were a little to light for our taste. This made Janice extremely happy as she was able to buy two, yes, two bottles of white. Sorry Derek!!!

On the way back toward camp we found the perfect property for the 'Handyman".. a little fixer-upper.

 

But it had a million dollar view!!!!!!!!

Some more random views along the way back to camp at Fancy Gap KOA

Beautiful Flowers Everywhere

Back at camp to settle down and read for an hour or so.

  AND FOR THE SIGN OF THE DAY











THERE WERE NO FLOWERS IN SIGHT ..... SO I CAN ONLY ASSUME THAT NO-ONE PAID ANY ATTENTION TO THE SIGN.

As an added note. Today was so very relaxing. Really the first day we have actually done any relaxed sightseeing. This is a beautiful part of the world and we felt so grateful today to have this amazing opportunity to explore. We pulled onto a side-road and parked looking out over the Blue Ridge Mountains and ate our packed lunch (Salmon sandwiches and a thermos of coffee).  We are both just starting to grasp the idea that retirement is here.  We went to a local fudge/chocolate factory store to discover that Virginians CANNOT make good fudge... thank goodness we only bought 4 ounces!! (3 of which are uneaten!!) Back at camp we settled in to read books and, in Derek's case, play with garage band. Then Derek made supper (low-fat sausage in Marinara sauce with pasta) while Janice showered and generally lolly-gagged around.  The camp owner came round when we had mentioned at the camp store that the cable wasn't working... he showed us that the trailer has an antenna booster that was fighting with the cable!!!   DUH..... WHO KNEW????? All good!!! Tomorrow we have a LONG drive to Charleston South Carolina, so not much chance of blogging for a couple of days.

Sun May 6-9 2012 - Adventure begins - Pennsylvania

 Sun May 6-9 - Adventure begins - Pennsylvania

Sunday May 6, 2012 - DAY 1

Saying goodbye for our first trip in our new rig!

Since the last blog we have purchased a truck and have started our travels.

A 2011 Chevy Silverado 2500hd Diesel. White, beige leather interior. Beautiful

We started our travels on May 6^th Some notes we remember:

·      Hitched on first attempt and left at 10:10pm waving to Braden and Grant

     Headed directly to Washington PA, just south west of Pittsburgh. 
    Arrived at border and crossed in 7 minutes

      Stopped at Hamburg to try and get blackberry organized. Got credit card and groceries at Walmart, but found out we need an actual t-mobile store to set it up..Will sort out tomorrow.

·      Campsite at 6:20pm Site #29 Washington /Pittsburgh SW KOA

·      Sign of the day “Correctional Facility Area. Do not pick up hitchhikers”

·      Norm and Holly were waiting for us and happy we arrived.

·      Set-up was okay… but we did have a water overflow so we shut the water off for the night. Settled in with our special champagne and celebrated the first day of retirement. Amazed to get lots of digital TV channels. But watched “On the Buses” from a DVD.

Monday May 7, 2012

·      Solved water problem… actually not a problem… just learning how the trailer works.

·      Went into Pittsburgh and got Blackberry organized with T-mobile.  $50/month unlimited everything and $10 extra for unlimited international!!! Excellent help in the store. Over to Lowes… Walmart visa is a pain in the ars!!

·      Back to campsite… Norm and Holly invited us over for campfire after dinner.

·      Hooked up new BBQ for first time… sausages…

·      Janny needed a nap!!!!

·      Had a great time with Norm and Holly (and Leo) at their campfire. They are full time Rv’ers from Connecticut (since 2002). Told Derek about wintering in Mercedes, Texas.. lots of Canadians and good pricing.

·      Lightening 'pre-show' was fabulous… but we ran for shelter at the first sign of  rain.

·      Stormed all night…

·      Sign of the day: "HOME DEPOT" on Pylon …. We searched and we searched… NO HOME DEPOT!!! Went to Lowes a few blocks away!!!!

Tuesday May 8^th 2012

·      Hitched up and packed in rain

·      Left site at 10:25am… Thought we had checked everything

·      We showed the way out of campsite for a motorhome behind us. He honked his VERY loud  air horn at us when we got to main road. Our storage door was flapping and we had no lights working. So much for checking everything. Lesson learned!!!!

·      Drove all day in the rain. Used the new phone to call Derek and Lin in England from the highway in the mountains of West Virginia…. We love the new phone.

·      Drove through tunnels through mountains before getting into Virginia.

·      Arrived at Fancy Gap KOA at about 5:30pm

·      STILL raining… so set up and got wet…

·      Sign of the day “Entering Fog Advisory Area” … glad it wasn’t too foggy to see the sign!!!

·      Walked around the campsite… great facility… site #22.

·      Had rest of Shepherds pie from the first night for supper… YUM!!

·      Surfed the Web and had a reasonably early night.

Wednesday May 9^th 2012

·      YEY… Bacon and eggs .. cooked inside ‘cos still raining.

·      Spent morning sorting out accounts and re-planned route to miss out Knoxville and stay here one extra night… going to Charleston South Carolina on Friday for 5 glorious nights. Booked at James Island campground.

·      Found leak somewhere on slide-out by the stove… carpet very wet.

·      Trying to get over the need to hurry and do something!!!

·      Called Gillie in UK from phone and on skype… good to talk to her.

·      Soup for lunch then out for a drive on Blue Ridge Parkway. A bit cloudy/rainy/misty… Lush and green all around. Not much of a view, so headed in to Galax. We went to visitor’s center and woke them from their nap!!! Signed guest book at 4:30pm (first visitors today)

·      Grocery shopping at Krogers… cashier gave us member discount… nice guy.  Back to campsite. Weather cleared and saw some wonderful views from parkway. Did a detour through back-roads and saw unique farms and homes etc. Why so many donkeys???

THREE BOTTLES FOR $10!!!!!!! I LOVE THIS PLACE!!!!

·      One detour had us climbing out of valley on a minor road track… Thank goodness for 4x4. Derek had problem wiping smile from his           face… WHAT A TRUCK.

Couple of Handsome dudes at the grocery store!!

Our Beast next to a a baby truck!!

·     
    Back at camp, broke out BBQ and new Colemen stove for steak, fried onions and potatoes with salad… (and a glass or two)

·   Sign of the day: “Blue Ridge Parkway, Construction Began September 11^th 1935” … and I can tell you it's still not finished!!! Got detoured and lost from road closures!!!