Day 3 - Holly Ridge, NC

Lanier's Campground  1/21/2015 1/22/2015
1161 Spot Lane
Holly Ridge, NC 28445

Site #124 is right on the Inter Coastal and gives a great
view.  Sunsets will be to my right.

The 6+ hour drive from Cape Charles was just like the last one to Cape Charles, VA, along route 13: through small towns, traffic lights, and speed limits. Yet, for me, I'd say there was no traffic to speak of.  It was like driving at home through towns but the same scenery was all too common.  More churches and used car lots per mile than anywhere I've ever seen.  And depressed economically?  OMG. Almost every house/trailer along roadside was dilapidated and abandoned falling apart through fire or neglect.  I'd say one in ten structures boasted what we would call "a nice home", some with nice landscaping.  Intermingled with that scene were vacant fields of farmlands that stretched as far as the eye could see....to the horizon and, of course, this time of the year, lay fallow.  But, for a passing visitor who for over 500 miles had nothing better to do than "admire" the scenery, it was depressing.

The driving experience was enhanced by sunny skies with temps finally reaching up through the 50's and touching 60 when I arrived.  After sunset, poof, down to 50.  I stopped for diesel again and felt good about paying $2.69/gal.  Winnie, has been getting 15 mpg which is terrific and we past the 4,000 mile mark. The route south on Rte 13 took me over and through the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel and was the highlight of my trip.

Upon approaching, one is struck by the engineering
feat, the time and labor that went into its
construction.

Northbound

And when you've been on it for miles, you look
ahead and don't see the end....Yikes!

"The Bridge-Tunnel project is a four-lane 20-mile-long vehicular toll crossing of the lower Chesapeake Bay. The facility carries US 13, the main north-south highway on Virginia's Eastern Shore, and provides the only direct link between Virginia's Eastern Shore and south Hampton Roads, Virginia. The crossing consists of a series of low-level trestles interrupted by two approximately one-mile-long tunnels beneath Thimble Shoals and Chesapeake navigation channels. The manmade islands, each approximately 5.25 acres in size, are located at each end of the two tunnels. There are also high level bridges over two other navigation channels: North Channel Bridge and Fisherman Inlet Bridge. Toll collection facilities are located at each end of the facility."  Click to read more facts. For me, the toll was $19.00.  At one point, before entering the second mile long tunnel, the one beneath Thimble Shoals, traffic was halted for about 15 minutes.  Eventually, the reason appeared in the northbound lane; a huge tractor trailer emerged bearing a "WIDE LOAD" sign. No way that and another vehicle would make it side by side.    While waiting, I caught a freighter and a Navy cruiser neck and neck as they entered the Thimble Shoals.  The cruiser won. Then it was our turn to enter the bowels beneath the navigation channels.  Prayers were given up for all manner of imaginable and unimaginable  situations:  1) No thoughts of claustrophobia, 2) no tunnel punctures/collapse.  It is 50 years old this year, you know, 3) No collisions/accidents, 4) No RV breakdowns, 5)  No problems with undue pressure on my propane tanks, 6) Geeze, what else?  I've been a good boy.... Think about how they constructed this wonder ......and so I was allowed to emerge at the other end unscathed, a smiling, happy camper with all prayers answered.  And, Dear Reader, at no time did my eyes leave my head in order to take those photos.  Attention at all times was given to not driving off that roadway.  After more driving, I eventually saw: Today's trip to site #124 was 267 miles from Cape Charles, VA.  And what a beautiful site/sight it was.  Lisa in the front office with whom I spoke, mentioned it was the best site in the place Level concrete slab w/picnic table, full hookup AND a view that will be taken advantage of tomorrow.  Sunset was at 5:28 pm tonight and those photos will appear , with others, tomorrow night in a Post entitled, "Day 4 - Holly Ridge, NC" Till then, good night

Days 1-2 - Cape Charles, VA

Cherrystone Campground  1/19/2015 - 1/21/2015
1511 Townsfield Drive
Cape Charles, VA 23310

(Sorry about the premature publishing of today blog post.  I wanted to add sunset photos; I see also that both videos don't work.  Marybeth, send me the site you used please)

The 6 hour + drive from Winnie's storage in Cross River, NY, was 385.3 miles.  The last hour or two took forever.  I did make four stops, however, and the route given to me by Mr. GPS took me off the Interstates and locally through towns with traffic lights and speed limits no greater that 55 mph.  No matter.  It was a good day driving and I saw a lot of interesting sites....depressing though many of them were.  The section along route 13 was mainly farmland.  The number of run down, dilapidated, abandoned structure was great.  Even those occupied screamed for a new coat of paint.  But, I guess when you cannot afford such luxuries, you go without.  Weather was great; sunny with puffy clouds, temperature was steady at 47 most of the trip and traffic was very light due, I would think, to the holiday.

Huge, family owned campground with hundreds of sites,

cabins, and fifth wheels for rent.

When I arrived, the Office was closed so I filled (I thought) my fresh water tank and picked out a great site facing west.  I'm looking forward to tomorrow's sunrise and sunset.

Just missing sunset, I headed for that stand of pines
looking out toward Chesapeake Bay

I wound up on site #610 which was one of the few that had electricity.  It wasn't however, the one assigned to me. 

Circle at top left is #610, right side, #14

I awoke today at site 610 in time to greet the sunrise (7:14 a.m) and listen to the sounds of sea gulls.  Buffel heads (3 males, 1 female) were busy diving for their food.   It's 41 degrees and today I have two objectives to pursue.

As in my past, spending a month at Emerald
Shores Hotel in Daytona Beach Shores, FL,
I never used an alarm to catch a sunrise, yet
I saw one every morning.  Notice the number of RVs
in this area~~none.

Male & female Buffel Heads, known
locally as "Divers."

My view west showing the misty Bay

First, I'll unhook power and drive to the main office area to check in, fill fresh water tank and have my propane tank topped off.  Then I have to deal with an icon that appeared on the Mercedes dashboard.  Checking the manual, I find that "dEF Chk" refers to the Diesel Exhaust Fluid and needs to be filled or changed.  It seems that only after 3,300 miles my diesel emission fluid was near empty.  After speaking with Good Sam's RV technical service, I decided to take care of it myself.  Checking with Marianne at the General Store (which did not carry DEF), I was directed to the local NAPA auto parts store less than 3 miles north on Rte 13.  Great people.  Much to my amazement, the Mercedes was very thirsty and took the entire 2.5 gallons.  Dashboard icon gone, problem solved.

Next, with the help of Steve, head of maintenance and operations here at the campground, I received a quick tour in his pickup and I settled on #14 in the beach area and closer to the water for my final night's stay.   He turned on the electricity and I'm settled in.  Problem solved.   Sunset will be awesome!  He lives nearby in the only other trailer I've seen here.   Hopefully, he'll accept my invitation for a cold beer later tonight.

Steve's home.  He's a retired naval officer from Schenectady
who took advantage of a good offer to be in charge of the grounds.

This is a 360 degree view of last night's stay on site #610. Note how empty.

 This is a 360 degree view of site #14.  Note how empty.  LOL

One of the most striking views across the Bay.....

.....is the mansion
owned by "The Father of the LED",
 Nick Holonyak.

He owns the entire tip of land......and

....his ex-wife lives in that small square mansion
at the very right side of this view.

His story is incredible.  1962 is the year he introduced the world to the Light Emitting Diode.

And finally sunset.

Sunset at Chesapeake Bay from Cape Charles, VA

Because I believe I've turned into a sunrise/sunset pack rack, I just added my favorite with colors that continue to fascinate me.  I've decided not to bore my readers with the 20 or so shots taken just this afternoon.  With each passing minute, I witnessed another nuance of pastels; constantly changing and evolving colors I don't think even Crayola has a name for.  So, I'm trying something new and different.  I'm taking all photos and putting them into a Picasa album of mine.  Whether the link I place here will take interested folks there remains to be seen.  CLICK HERE

LMAO-Plan B in Effect

Not the real King Charles

Greetings once again and a belated Happy New Year.  Yes, I purposely selected this as my first stopover.  For some reason the name had a nice ring to it.  Try as I may, however, I could not find the origin of its name.  I think they named it after me but I'm not sure.  I'm just staying 2 nights so I'll check it out.  Another guess would be King Charles I of England but he was tried, convicted, and executed for high treason in 1649...not a very good namesake.

Saturday 1/17/15, my last beautiful sunset in NY

Since my last blog December 27th, not much has taken place...yet, "Life Goes On."  Some of you have subscribed and follow friends, Vicki & George, as they proceed into and through their new life style with Allie. They have been in Florida since December 26th:  Their blog will enlighten those not familiar with RV life and be brought up to date.  Big lesson learned in the last couple of weeks for them is that plans written in stone are not.  Do take the time to read her blog, it's good.  As I look below at my "written in stone" itinerary, I anticipate smooth sailing...........BUT to refresh you......

DATE	DAY	CAMPGROUND & ADDRESS	TRAVEL TIME
1/19/15 1/20/15 Leave 1/21	Mon Tue Wed	Cherrystone Campground 1511 Townfield Drive Cape Charles, VA 23310	From Cross River: 369 miles - 6+ hours
2 days
1/21/15 1/22/15 Leave 1/23	Wed Thu Fri	Lanier's Campground 1161 Spot Lane Holly Ridge, NC 28445	From Cherrystone: 261 miles - 4 hrs 41 min
4
1/23/15 1/24/15 1/25/15 Leave 1/26	Fri Sat Sun Mon	Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort 43 Jenkins Road Hilton Head Island, SC 29926	From Lanier's Campground: 327 miles - 5 hours
7
1/26/15 1/27/15 Leave 1/28	Mon Tue Wed	Nova Campground 1190 Herbert St. Port Orange, FL 32129	From Hilton Head Harbor: 268 miles - 4 hrs
9
1/28/15 1/29/15 1/30/15 1/31/15 2/1/15 2/2/15 Leave 2/3	Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon Tue	Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley 16246 Citrus Parkway Clermont, FL 34714	From Nova Campground 85 miles - 1 hr 30 min Ray & Kathy Craig & Trish Vicki & George
15
2/3/15 2/4/15 2/5/15 2/6/15 2/7/15 2/8/15 Leave 2/9	Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun Mon	Del-Raton RV 2998 S. Federal Hwy Del Ray Beach FL 33483 Enterprise Rent-a-Car across street 2805 S Federal Hwy	From Elite Resorts: 194 miles - 3 hours Jim & Missie Cheri & David (?) Scott & Kori Norma
21
2/9/15 2/10/15 2/11/15 Leave 2/12	Mon Tue Wed Thu	Key Largo Kampground 101551 Overseas HighwayKey Largo, FL 33037-4546	From Del Ray Beach 112 miles - 2 hours GPS=Samson Road, Key Largo FL
24		Return Trip
2/12/15 2/13/15 2/14/15 Leave 2/15	Thu Fri Sat Sun	Carefree RV at Daytona Beach 4601 S Clyde Morris Blvd Port Orange, FL 32129	From Key Largo: 311 miles - 4 hrs 45 min
27
2/15/15 2/16/15 2/17/15 Leave 2/18	Sun Mon Tue Wed	Roger & Wendy 11 Orchid Lane Bluffton, SC	From Port Orange, FL: 259 miles - 3 hrs 45 min
30
2/18/15 2/19/15 Leave 2/20	Wed Thu Fri	Lakewood Camping Resort 5901 S. Kings Hwy Myrtle Beach, SC 29575	From Sun City, SC 178 miles - 3 hours 30 min.
32
2/20/15 2/21/15 Leave 2/22	Fri Sat Sun	Holiday Trav-L-Park 1075 General Booth Boulevard Virginia Beach, VA 23451	From Myrtle Beach, SC 358 miles - 5 hours 45 min.
34
2/22/15	Sun	Winnie Storage 853 Rte 35 Cross River, NY	From Virginia Beach, VA 429 miles - 7.5 hours
34 days		Four States - 17 friends/relatives visited	3,263 miles driven

........and remind you, it may just not work out that way.  Plans are made, deposits paid, communications on-going, and hopefully the timing is realistic and will go smoothly.  If it doesn't?  So what, it is what it is.  Stay well and I'll meet you in Cherrystone Campground soon. I will try to remember to highlight links to the places I stay should you care to see the layout and amenities of the campground.  Remember this is "off-season" so I don't expect too much.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm inserting this the night before I'm to depart.  I'm laughing at Plan A:

1. .  Pack Caddy with everything here at home and drive out to Cross River, NY.
2. . Transfer everything tonight into Winnie.
3. . After receiving permission to park my RV overnight in our lower parking lot, I was going to return home to leave early Monday morning.
4. . Depart early, probably with the morning commuters and head down Rte 9 to the Tappan Zee, I-287, and off I go for 6+ hours to Cape Charles, VA.

Well, with the rain, ice, and glazed roadways and sidewalks, that have caused numerous pile-ups, tonight is not the night to pack the RV...in the rain, no less.  Here's the reason for Plan B:

The reason for Plan B

Plan B:

1. Pack Caddy early Monday morning
2. Drive and transfer everything into Winnie.
3. Leave from Cross River, down I-684 to Tappan Zee

Funny how some things don't work out, isn't it?  LOL  P.S. Because of the moderate temperatures (39 degrees right now), I'm convinced this is the "heavy snow" event for Monday, 1/19th predicted by Jim Witt's Weather Calendar.
So much for "written in stone."