Just a short entry today. We are at the rally and meeting a lot of great new people. It is 75F and sunny, I am walking around in shorts. There are about 97 RVs and about 180 people.
Tomorrow we will take a ride to the Blue Ridge Parkway and have a lot of pictures to post.
To be continued …
On the 23 of April we took a drive up Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah NP. The Visitor’s Center was still closed for the season. We entered the park about half way up Skyline Drive, we headed north for about 30 miles. That may not seem a lot but because it is a scenic drive and the speed limit is only 35 MPH it took about 3 hours with all of the stops at the overlooks. It was a sunny warm day but hazy, as you can from the pictures.
Yesterday we left Standardsville, VA and headed south on RT 29 to I-40 west to Statesville, NC. After roaming around the country side on all the back roads looking for a camp site. I had to make a very sharp U turn. When I did I scratched the camper and crushed one of the connectors on the cable from the truck to the camper for the cameras. I tried to get the connector locally, but not to be had. I called the company that made the camera system and ordered the entire cable from them. They are shipping it to the camp site in Marion, NC where we will be staying for the rally.
I cannot get the satellite to lock in. There seem to be trees in the way. I asked them to cut the trees down but for some reason, they refused. So I am sitting here with only internet. They have WiFi and I have my Air Card. Both work. The sacrifices we have to make in this life!!
Tomorrow morning we leave for the 80 mile trip to the rally, so it should be an easy drive.
To be Continued …
After leaving the Flying J truck stop in PA we drove in and out of the rain and several traffic accidents to Harrisonburg VA in the foothills of the Shenandoah Mountains.
Harrisonburg has a shopping center that would rival any mall in the NY- Long Island area. In one mall there is, to name just a few, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, Barns & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. We had a hard time finding a parking spot, especially pulling a 36 ft. trailer, but we managed.
After going to Home Depot and Wally World (Wal-Mart) we headed east on RT 33 up and over the Shenandoah Mountains. This was a first for us, pulling The Roan up the mountain and down the other side. I am not sure the % of the grade but it was steep, up and down. The Ford F450 handled the hill well. Going up it kept up a descent speed considering the winding road. Down I put the truck in the “Tow Haul” mode which automatically down shifted to hold back the rig. I never had to work the breaks hard, so I didn’t have any fear of break fade.
On the east side of the Shenandoah we stopped pulled into Heavenly Acers Campground, no it is not an old age rest home. We unhitched and setup in the rain. It rained all night and in the morning was cold and cloudy. By the afternoon the weather cleared up and now it is 74F and sunny.
This is a picture of our camp site. Ann is working hard as you can see.
Tomorrow we will do some exploring of the Shenandoah National Mtn Park. then Monday start heading south to the Smoky’s and the Escapees Rally.
Life is hard, but we will prevail.
To be continued …
And no I am not going to start every post with D-Day.
Well this is the first day of the rest of the month’s travels. We Boondocked overnight at a Flying J truck stop. They are huge truck stops with hundreds of trucks parked. Some overnight some for a few hours, so the drivers can get some sleep.
They are a RV friendly place with an island designed just for RV’s to fill up, take on water or dump the waste tanks. The place where most of the RV’s park overnight is a free for all. With RV’s parking everywhere they can without any consideration for others.
Here we are parked overnight
We went to the Big Boys lot and parked there It was noisy with trucks pulling in and out and running their engines all night. We were so tired that it did not bother us. We started out generator and warmed up some leftovers we brought with us. Made coffee and went to bed around 9 PM.
Got up this morning stated the generator put on the HEAT, and made breakfast. Right now I am waiting for Ann to get ready so we can pull out. We are headed south on I-81 to the Shenandoah NP for a few days of R&R where we will organize the camper better and do some sightseeing.
To be Conitinued …
Well this is the day we have all been waiting for, well maybe Ann and I . It is time to scratch that Hitch itch. We made a trip out to the camper today and brought lots of Stuff. Clothes, some of my tools, the computer, satellite receiver, pots and some of the food.
Tomorrow we get up around 4 am and finish packing the refrigerator food, the rest of the clothes, turn off everything in the house, set the alarm, lock the door and take the truck out to Amityville where the camper is.
Next hitch up and depart hopefully around 7 am we will be on the road heading south.
Next blog entry will be from the road.
To be continued …
Well we have a date to take off, April 21, 2011 at 7am. We will be gone for about a month. Heading to North Carolina for an Escapees Rally from April 28 to May 2. Then just traveling around North and South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. All travel plans are etched in Jello.
After we com back finish getting the house cleaned up and put it on the market.
We had the painters in to paint the living room, stairs going upstairs, hallway up stairs, our bedroom and Heidi’s room. Well not really Heidi’s room but Ann’s office. “ Isn’t amazing how we still call it Heidi’s room when she hasn’t lived hear since she was away at college.” We had the wall paper removed from the walls in the bathroom and painted. When we come home we will have them paint the basement and the hall going downstairs. Next is the have the rug in the basement cleaned. That should be it.
This week we are cleaning up after the painters have left and getting the camper ready. We have to de-winterize it. Bring sheets, clothes, food and setting everything up ready for The Trip.
Next week is Passover so of coarse we are having 21 people over. The last Passover in this house.
When we hit the road the posts should be more frequent.
See you down the road…
