Time really does fly sometimes when you are retired. I am amazed that it has been 2 weeks since our last blog post. My apologies for that, as we’ve been caught up with our visits here in the Northeast as well trying to stay ahead of the weather. More on that a bit later. Vicki and I would both like to express our heartfelt gratitude for all the wonderful birthday messages as we celebrated in Virginia. We both were able to enjoy relaxing days of tourism and really good foods.
We’ve enjoyed the Revolutionary Triangle once again, but we would like to warn fellow travelers about a poorly explained purchase that we fell into at the visitors center in Williamsburg. We started our Virginia experience at an all ready seen tour spot of Williamsburg. At the ticketing station we indicated that we were veterans and wanted ticket would give us the most bang for our buck. This nice lady said that a one year pass would give us the biggest bang for our buck. It would allow us to see Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown for one price, $125. So rather than buy three separate passes for $150+ we went with the money saving option. We toured Williamsburg the first day, which was okay. Most of the shops were closed and inaccessible. There were only a few in character discussions and those that were phoned in.
The real shocker came the next day. We went to Yorktown only to discover that the Triangle pass that we bought was not accepted at Yorktown. Good thing we had our National Park Freedom pass and got in. Definitely worth the time, but there were a lot of commercialization and even more ‘George Washington slept here’ moments. Got some good pictures which are shared at the end though. Finally got to Jamestown and lo, our triangle season pass did not apply and we had to fork down another $40 to see the settlement. What made it even worse the docent said we were not the first folks to be taken, so I guess even for historic sites, Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware.
But enough whining over the spilled milk. We have now landed in Sneads Ferry NC. Just outside of Camp LeJune Marine base. Hopefully TT is not connected to the LeJune water system as we don’t want to be part of that fiasco. It was a bit of drive from our previous campsite, Parker’s Peanuts, (a Harvest Host site) and all was well and good until the last mile. The RV trip wizard has just a bit of quirk as it guides you to your campground. While it does wonders mapping the road to your destination, if your destination is poorly marked, you’re screwed. We discovered this as I drove by the turn as the street was unmarked and had to drive an additional 3 mile loop to locate our road. We arrived to an envelope with our paperwork, but no assistance and not the best directions to our assigned site. We got settled and set up so the world was good.
We did our first harvest host in some time at a place called Parker’s Peanuts. Would have liked to explore the spot, but alas, the owners were closing on their house and the store, although normally open on Sundays, was closed. We were hoping to score some Virginia peanuts, but sadly, we were denied. We stayed until 9 the next morning hoping to do a bit of shopping, but shut out yet again as they didn’t open until 10 and we needed to get on the road. Maybe next time. Parker’s Peanuts was proceeded by a week at Chesapeak Bay TT in Courtland VA. A wonderful park with all the amenities one could ask for and even though sites weren’t assigned, we were escorted to our site by a very nice Ranger. She even pointed out several options before docking and we believe we got the best site.
Met some very nice folks next to us who are on the cusp of full timing and so shared some our our experiences and tips and hopefully they’ll begin to follow our blog as well. Enjoyed a couple of trips to the camp store which involved copious bowls of hand dipped ice cream, which were calorie free, being it was on our birthdays. (Read that on the Internet so it must be true!). We are here for a week with no definite plans other than reading some books on Washington, Hamilton, the government, 1776, and women of the Revolutionary Era as we start to point our noses back to Texas to arrive at the start of October.
Did enjoy the first night of the convention and look forward with a bit of optimism as we head into the slog that is election season. With the books we obtained in Williamsburg and Yorktown, it will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out. As a tree hugging, rock licking, liberal, it is a breath of fresh air seeing the Harris-Walz ticket as a true choice in the upcoming election.
We have hit a bit of weather in the past couple of weeks. With the remnants of Hurricane Debby, we did develop some leaks in the rig. We put out bowls by the TV so we look somewhat like the Beverly Hillbillies. (For the millennials, go to YouTube and look it up, you’ll get the reference!:-)) One theory is that when we hooked the AC while in Amish Country, we possibly damaged the seal. This lead to the leak in the roof or maybe the slide seal has somehow detached allowing water into the coach. Irregardless, it does make for a dripping mess. It will be something we’ll delve into deeper upon return to Brownsville, but for now will continue to band-aid the problem until our return.
Looking forward to meeting with Randy and Linda Bray in Alabama and going through the unclaimed baggage shop and prowling through the inventory. Could be interesting or a colossal waste of time. But hey, it’s Americana. Our health is good and we are looking forward to more trips around the sun. Did I mention? We’re still loving retirement.
