Day 2 Boone's Cave State Park

We visited Boone's Cave State Park on Tuesday. I had never heard of this park, and it was a nice place. It is right alongside the Yadkin River and has some nice hiking/walking trails. And the cave was quite interesting. If I could post the video we made there, you would be thoroughly impressed...NOT. But it's something for the grandkids. What can I say?

When we left home Larry was all prepared to go to Childress Winery for lunch and an afternoon in the vineyard. Old men and their fantasies. Anyway, we left the park and headed to Childress and, once again, thanks to the vagaries of the GPS, we wound up going into the town of Lexington before we got to Childress. I think if you look at a map, this isn't possible without an boat or airplane or something. But dagnabbit, we did it. When Suzie loud mouth spoke up and said, "Gee, will you look at that. We're in Lexington.", his mouth started watering. Needless to say, it was North Carolina's best BBQ for lunch. Hey, fine by me. BBQ doesn't make me nearly as sleepy.

When your our age and you see a new place and have BBQ for lunch, it's a really good day.

Question of the Day: Did Daniel Boone ever live in Davie County?

PS. Check out my facebook page for the cave video and some pics from Lexington. Who knew I could be reproduced in plastic?

Hey, Willie, We're on the road again!!!

We left Banner Elk yesterday for our winter in F L A!!! Whopee. I can't believe we are headed back and couldn't be happier. Still gives me chills a little. It's been awhile since something gave this old lady chills. Just saying.

We spent last night in Forest Lake Thousand Trails in ADvance, NC, a clean, spacious park and the leaves are lovely still. It was quite cold this morning, inside and out, but we survived. It takes awhile for us to relearn the all the techniques for heating, cooling, etc. It's all part of the adventure of RVing that we love.

We had dinner with Andy and his bride last night. Great turkey burgers, Kel. We are going to get to keep the dogs on Wednesday night. Look out, Jack. Larry's gonna love your tail off.

If you read my blog, please put a post about what you are up to. I'm sure everyone will like hearing about your activities and interests too. And this is safer than facebook.

Washington, DC and up to Hershey, PA

Andy and Kelly joined us at Cherry Hill Park in College Park, Maryland, for a couple of nights. On Thursday they had a wonderful room in DC at Embassy Suites. I was sick and did not think we should join them there, but when we got there Friday morning my jaw dropped. I've never even seen a two-bedroom hotel suite (two totally separate rooms) much less one with a living room, kitchen area, two full bathrooms, and, get this, a DINING room. I'm still curious how Kelly earned the points to get the presidential suite, but if Andy can live with it, I sure can.
We did all the great things in Washington. It was Kelly's first trip, so I hope I just made her want to go back. The only problem any of us had is that there were so many students there. When I took school groups, I never noticed how many there were, but this time there were real crowds. And, if any teacher is reading this, I'm still ticked that no one told these students to be respectful at the Lincoln memorial. There is a sign that says, "Please be quiet and respectful". The students I saw there obviously couldn't read and neither could there teachers. Too bad.
From DC we went to an Outdoor World campground near Lancaster, PA. Larry got the crud while we are there and is still dealing with it. We did a little of the Amish things, but I am pushing to go back. We then moved up Manheim, and Larry really stayed in bed there. I went to a wine festival but didn't find anything worth fighting the crowds and price to buy. And having been burned at my cousin's on worthless wine, I was not about to let that happen again.
One night at a Wal-Mart and now we are at Hershey Thousand Trails. It is way out in the beautiful countryside. These farms are just unbelievable here.

The Day I Saved Larry's Life, May 16, 2011

I started writing this on May 19 and now it is May 25 but I wanted to keep that date as the title because it is special.On Monday we decided to take a hike through the Voorhees Nature Preserve in the Colonial Beach area. After quite a drive through the countryside, we arrived at Westmoreland Berry Farm, a charming fruit and vegetable stand with concession stand, goats to feed and pet, and directions to the preserve. We got our map and headed out. I was really excited because the website said that we could see eagles here. Larry sees eagles all the time, but his sightings always look like hawks or vultures to me. But far be it from me to disagree with my husband. (We're in Amish country right now so I am trying to pick up some of the local attitudes.) Anyway, we headed out through the damp woods and I immediately slowed down. I have fallen on slick ground one time too many times (torn rotator cuff is proof). I made my way carefully down the slick woodland hill as my husband, the part mountain goat trotted ahead. When we finally reached the river at the bottom, he had of course already spotted an eagle. This time I believed him. We started up the other side and the walking was a little tough. Again I hung back, using my two walking sticks to steady myself and being very careful to keep my eyes on the ground, as usual, to watch for slick spots or treacherous roots. This was not my first mountain hike. Larry got to the top and waited for me. He suggested we go back and I reluctantly agreed. We simply turned around on the narrow path so that I started out leading the way, watching the ground, as usual, and feeling him breathing down my neck. All of a sudden, there in the path was a copperhead. I flung out both arms, gasped and sort of pushed Larry back with my butt. I was so shocked I couldn't speak until we were a few steps back and I sputtered, "SSSnaaake!" We both stood very, very still and stared at about a two to three foot snake, sunning himself on the path. We had come within two feet of him and stood six feet from him and HE NEVER MOVED. It was really eerie. Finally we threw sticks and rocks at him until he moved away. He never coiled or offered to strike, which I still find odd. When we were certain he was many feet from the path we literally ran through.

Larry and I both know if he had been leading the way on that path he would have stepped right on that snake. He doesn't have to watch the ground for slick spots or tree roots. Sometimes being old and rickety is a protective mechanism. Sure saved his butt, and mine.

Make Up Day, May 14, 2011

No, we haven't been fighting and I haven't put on make-up (but Larry did make me buy earrings and put them on). I just want to catch up on the things we have done. So this post may be sort of boring. Not that the others haven't been, but, you know.

Our first adventure at Williamsburg was to traverse the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. Now you must understand that the way Larry is about bridges is about half of what I am about tunnels. Why then, you ask, did we decide to cross a nearly 20 mile bridge that had two mile-long tunnels? Who knows. Guess we were just testing our nerve again.

Here is the ship I could see to our right as we entered the tunnel.

Here is the entrance to the tunnel.

That same ship was on the other side of the the bridge/tunnel when we came out of the tunnel.

Later that day we visited the Norfolk Naval Base. We took a bus tour of the base. The guide told us that at low tide a ship crossing a tunnel might only be four feet above the tunnel. The tunnel was sometimes shut down because of the vibration from the ship's engines. Sure am glad I didn't know that before we went under or you would be putting me under. Now!

Speaking of touring the naval base we saw this in the tour center and I am putting it here in memory of my dear brother and in honor of his son. It gave me wet eyes to think of them. It's a little hard to read, but I really like the last line.

After the naval station we went to Fort Monroe, an army base that has been in use since before the Civil War. It really was an interesting place. It was a Union base, even during the Civil War. It housed Jefferson Davis after the war when he was charged with treason among other things. We very much enjoyed this place. Thanks to Earl for recommending it. It is still in use. We saw one young soldier walking with his family. He had what must have been a 50-pound backpack on his back. You go, sir.

Over the next couple of days we visited Williamsburg and Jamestown. I have to admit after three days of history, I could leave without going to Yorktown. I had had my fill of history for a while.

We then went to a campground that overlooked an inlet of the Chesapeake Bay. This was one of the prettiest views we have had out the front window. I can't find the picture now.

As I am writing we are drving through Maryland after camping at a place near Colonial Beach, Va., a quaint little town on the banks of the Potomac. While we were in Colonial Beach, we went to visit my aunt Sally's son, Ray Petrie, whom I do not remember meeting before. He owns a campground and winery. We bought a few bottles of wine and learned a great deal about viticulture.

Yippee, I'm up to date, except for one little incident, the pictures for which I still need to download.

We are headed to College Park, Maryland, and Andy and Kelly are joining us to tour DC. Great weekend coming. Can't wait.

I LOVE MY GPS...NOT! May 10,2011

Even though it is several days later, this is a follow-up to entry I began as we were leaving Lake Gaston. The trip through NC was lovely. We started up I95 and I knew we should take I64 over to Williamsburg, but the other lady in our car, the bitch on the GPS, decided she wanted to go through the countryside. I could tell she had never driven a 38-foot RV, or she never would have chosen this small, two-lane country road. Being an experienced RV'er with more than 30 miles under my belt, I was nervous to say the least. We were way out in the middle of nowhere. Have you ever heard of a Civil War battle called Malvern Hill? Neither have I. That's how far out in the country we were. It was so far out, history has forgotten it. Anyway we were struggling along, praying that no four-lane farm equipment showed up, (Yes, that exists too. I followed one in NC once and watched it mow down mailboxes like daisies.) when what to our wondering eyes should appear but a DETOUR sign. So now the bitch started up with her, "Recalculating, Recalculating." It's like the worst condescending voice saying,"I drew you a map, put directions in writing and TOLD you every move to make, and you're still too stupid to get where you're going ." Anyway we pushed on, with Larry doing his usual muttering about bridges. Now you need to understand, Larry suffers from gephyrophobia. (FYI: The fear of bridges or of crossing them is gephyrophobia.) He expects every bridge to be incomplete or too old and rickety to bear the weight of a bicycle. Anyway, thank goodness there are good people in the Virginia countryside who don't mind a white guy storming into their backyard, pleading, "Please, how do I get out of here without crossing a bridge?" Thanks to their great directions we got bact to I64 and made our way to the campgound.
The campground was adquate, no great shakes. One neat thing happened. Our neighbor walked up to Larry who was outside enjoying a refresing beverage and said, "I like the sign on your satelite." Larry told him that we make friends and enemies with that sign. What does in say? "Fox News: Bad news for America. Turn off Fox News.?

Bye, Bye, Lake Gaston, Hello, Williamsburg, May 7, 2011

We are in Skipper, Virginia, heading north on I 95. We left Lake Gaston at 8:00, right on our desired departure. It is a lovely day and North Carolina never looked greener. We were a little surprised at the rolling hills we crossed on Hwy 903 in Halifax County. Never having visited that part of our state, we were unaware of them, but it was very pretty. Larry commented that riding in the RV is like riding with a movie screen because we can see so much of the countryside. We have always been great window watchers. I guess it comes from playing counting cows when my family used to travel from Lenoir to Summerfield. Sometimes Larry and I still play that game, but it isn't as much fun since there are so few family farms.

Lake Gaston Outdoor World, May 6, 2011

Well, this is our last day at Lake Gaston. This is a beautiful place, but there are hardly any people here and no activities, at least this time of year.
We had rain on Wednesday which was really kind of nice. It allowed us to remain indoors and not feel guilty for not going out. We did drive to Littleton. We planned to have lunch at a local cafe. There are basically three places to eat in Littleton: Hardees, Grandpa's Kitchen and a pizza place. Since Hardees does not qualify as a local cafe and the pizza place looked like a drugger hangout, we chose Grandpa's Kitchen. We were there at 11:00, the time the door notice said that Grandpa opened. We waited, drove around a little, went to a hardware store and went back. Still no Grandpa. We could see people and lights back in the kitchen, but the Closed sign remained out and the Open sign remained dark. We ended up finding a Food Lion and picking up a frozen pizza to bake at home. On the way to Food Lion I saw a sign that advertised Grandpa's Stump Grinding. I guess Grandpa got busy with a stump and didn't have time to cook. Oh well, my loss!
On Thursday the weather turned quite cool. We walked the perimeter of the campground and fed the ducks and geese. There are baby ducks and geese on the lake and we have enjoyed watching them get in a row. I also baked a loaf of bread. I have lugged that bread machine all over Florida and now here. This is the first time I have used it. The bread was OK. I made it with all whole wheat flour, and it was quite heavy. If anyone knows how to make whole wheat bread not come out like a heavy wet sponge, I would love to know the trick. We still enjoyed our livermush and onion sandwiches, a treat we don't enjoy often because you can't get livermush in many places outside of western NC. Actually we had liver pudding here. Larry said it was the same thing, but it isn't.
Looking forward to heading to Williamsburg tomorrow. I hope we can't get our bike and trike down there and get some use from them. Should we go to Busch Gardens? If you've been, give us your thoughts. It's a little expensive, and I'm not sure we are theme park people. And I didn't see anything on the website about beer tasting. Opinions welcome!!

Wal-Mart Frequent Camper Program: May 3, 2011

We arrived at our first campgound for this trip at about 2:30. We happily unhooked our car and motored easily to the ABC store just across the street. (See previous post for necessity of this visit.) Then we returned to the camp store, a.k.a. Wal-Mart. We picked up a few necessities. When we left the store we spotted our friends at the back of the lot and practically ran back to our rig to see them.

We met Sylvia and Ken on our first winter in Florida and have kept in close touch ever since. Besides being great fun with great stories, they are our camping and dancing mentors. They have been doing the RV thing for more than five years so they have that thing you can't buy---experience. And Ken researches and remembers details like you can't believe. Their advice has been invaluable. But it's the laughs that we cherish the most. I think it was meeting Syl and Ken that made us know that we could really love RVing. When one is at an RV park for several days, one sees a lot of people. Most are very friendly, but occasionally for reasons I haven't been able to determine, you meet someone who seems "just right". That is Ken and Syl. And after we made their friendship, it became easier to meet others that we camped near. Now if I could just get Larry to like dancing the way Ken likes dancing.

This was probably our fifth or sixth stay at this chain of campgrounds which are just so easy to use. You drive in, park, tell the customer service person you are there if you want to and camp. The campgrounds are easily accessible, have paved spots, and, the best part, they are FREE. We only stay one night at these places, but I think others may stay longer. I admit, we haven't made friends with anyone who is boondocking at a Wal-Mart.

But for the finish of the first day, it was great to see our friends and great to be on the road again.

We left the Nashville, NC, Wal-Mart at about 10:30 a.m. and headed to Lake Gaston Outdoor World. We drove round and round the campground before I convinced Larry that we should choose a spot with a view of the lake, even if it didn't come with sewer. We agree this was a great decision. The lake is lovely, and we have free honey-wagon service on Friday. We'll be fine.

Leavin' and Learnin': May 2, 2011

After a restless night, not aided by the news of Osama Bin Laden's death, I got up at 4:00 a.m. to complete final preparations for our trip north through North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New York. I spent a couple of hours making cookies that have enough fiber to qualify as pot scrubbers, an essential for old people on the road. (Am I right?) I don't know how I could still have had anything to pack since I had been carrying stuff to the RV for five days. I began to feel like a pack mule. But there was still stuff to cram in the corners. I had mulched the garden deeply yesterday, but had to run the sprinkler for a while anyway. I washed the sheets and remade our bed so things will be ready when we return. At last, when I was sure I had all the essentials and a good many nonessentials, I packed my sewing machine and some material. I even had room for some yarn. I really hope this cures some of the restlessness I have on some days. I was EXHAUSTED by the time I hit the shower.

We hit the road at about 12:15, and, again, I was EXHAUSTED. Larry, however, had plans for me. Relax, not that. He had warned and warned me that he expected me to drive shortly after we got on I40. We had about 60 miles to go before we got off I40 and on to 117. Luckily, before I took the driver's seat, we hit a short distance of road work so I could only drive about 30 miles. It was the longest 30 miles of Larry's life. Immediately after I got back the RV on the highway, Larry started yelling, "Move over, move over. If you run this thing off the road, we're gonna turn over. Move over!!!" I kept telling him my dots (a trick we learned at LazyDays driver training) showed I was between the lines. Finally, after I didn't run over the washboards on the road edge, he put his tongue between his teeth, bit down and grabbed the armrests like a vice.

So 30 miles and no catastrophes later, Larry took back the wheel and we were motoring along as usual, me with my tongue between my teeth and him oblivious. We had made several turns and exits on some road and ended up on another road-construction area. Suddenly Larry looked at the camera that shows the back of the RV and the car we are towing and yelled, "Where's the car? I can't see the car! The car is gone!"

I let go of my tongue and yelled, "STOP! STOP! We have to go back."

Larry said, "Go to the back and look out the back window." How can he be so reasonable, when I have visions of Andy's little gray Nissan being ravaged by 18-wheelers? Still a quandary. I stumbled to the back, and, sure enough, there was the car, trundling along behind.

"What had happened?", you ask? Apparently the camera had some features of which we were unaware . Apparently one can manually turn on the side cameras, not just by turning on the turn signal,as we thought. In fiddling with the GPS someone had hit the button that turned on the side camera. Who did this dastardly deed, we will never know who did it. But bottom line, we learned some good things. 1. Our hearts can take more stress than we would have thought. 2. Larry thinks faster on his feet in a vehicle emergency. (I'm limiting that to vehicles because give Larry a sick kid or dirty diaper and he just disappears.) 3. We had a perfect reason to have a drink, make that several drinks, that evening.