Cop? What Cop?

Crossed into North Carolina on Thursday morning as we headed away from the Virginia coast. As we were making our way along Route 17 this morning, taking the long slow route through rural coastal North Carolina, I noticed a police cruiser on the left, hiding off in a field. As I take my co-pilot duties seriously, I dutifully alerted Andre to the fact to avoid a speeding ticket.  It was then that we realized that we hadn't been driving at or above the speed limit since we'd left Rhode Island! RV Van travel is slow travel and we usually spend the day chugging along happily while others pass us left and right. So the knee jerk reaction was completely unnecessary. Crisis averted, we happily went back to cruising along at "dork" speed, listening to the Avett Brothers with goofy smiles.  Okay, that was only me with the goofy smile...

Finally, Virginia Beach!

Wednesday started out a little hairy as we had some tense moments in the van as we approached the many water crossings around Newport News, VA. We realized at the last minute that many of the major routes were via tunnels, which we can't go through with propane on board. Managed to snake our way around and find bridge routes and eventually found ourselves in beautiful, warm (65 degrees) Virginia Beach late in the afternoon. Parked next to a palm tree because it made us feel good!  Spent the late afternoon watching surfers in wet suits enjoying the waves and ducking at the incredibly loud, and constant noise of large jets flying overhead.  After the beach, we headed to the tasting room at Beach Brewing, a new brewery to the VB area in the last few years, then headed back to set up the Van for a good night's sleep near the beach. Glad to take advantage of the warm day, as cold weather is supposed to be coming in.

Making our way over to Virginia Beach

Woke up Wednesday and made our way slowly over to Virginia Beach. Stopped for lunch at a pretty little park (Deer Park) to share a quick salad and soup in the picnic area. It was green and beautiful (the trees, not the soup). Flirted with danger at a scary "Squirrel Crossing". then got back into the van!

Quick Stop at Yorktown Battlefield

Spent a quick hour in Yorktown, VA. Watched the film in the visitor center depicting the revolutionary war battle that took place there. Had been to Yorktown once before about 14 years ago when the kids were young and on school vacation. Enjoyed using our National Parks Annual Pass that we purchased last year on our trip to Vegas when we went to some surrounding parks.  Our first visit to a NPS location since we signed on to volunteer for the National Park Service at Big Bend (May, June & July of 2013). As we will be visitor center hosts, I looked around with great interest at the goings-on in the visitor center. On to Virginia Beach now.....

Waking Up at Walmart!

After 24 hours in DC (Thanks Audette-Lynch's) we were back on the road, heading toward Virginia Beach. Rainy most of the day, but we enjoyed the scenery of Route 17 through Virginia to the coast. Stopped at a Wal-Mart in Goucester, VA, about an hour from Newport News and the bridge crossing to Virginia Beach. For those who don't know - most Wal-Mart's cheerfully allow overnight parking for RV's and we were happy to take advantage as the rain was getting quite heavy and driving in it in the dark was becoming pointless as we couldn't see the sites anyway.  Spent a few hours doing some much needed organization of our stuff (we'd basically thrown it all in without regard to order when we started out) and then went to bed to the sound of the rain.

Happy for a Shower & Bed in Washington, DC

Woke up to a dryer morning and took an exciting walk around the parking lot. Then headed out for the day!

This Morning's Photos

Here are the belated photos of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

Day 1 and 2

Friends -
We are on our way and doing great!  Spent the first night parked at the Mohegan Sun Casino - then on to Delaware for the second night, enjoying a drink at the Dogfish head Brew Pub in Rehoboth Beach before settling in for the night in the comfort of the RV right near the beach. Hopped out of the van at 6Am for a brisk walk on the Rehoboth Beach Boardwalk while awaiting the sunrise. Next was a trip to McDonalds to take advantage of the free wi-fi, which wasn't working (hence, the late posts), then on to some shopping in Tax-free DE for a new laptop & smart phone. Currently working our way through the many complexities of the new technologies.  Finally, on to Andre's sister Rose's home in DC for a continuation of our goodbye 'tour'.  Enjoyed our first overnight, hot shower and laundry since Saturday! Feels great. Will post photos tomorrow when I figure out the new gadgets.  Cheers!

Officially "On The Road"

We had a whirlwind day on Saturday, finishing the pack up and saying our last goodbyes. In addition to some teary goodbyes to family members, stopped in at a few of our favorite beer haunts and were happy to catch some of our good beer friends. Thanks Dave at Track84, John Brisson at New York Pizza, and Tommy at Trinity for the going away beer love (AKA free beers!). Also thanks to my sister Robin for letting us crash at her place for the last few days, and to Andre's parents for helping us get off on the big day. Thanks all for a wonderful send-off.

Getting Ready for Take Off

Day "0", getting ready to go. Packing up and assembling at Andre's parents home in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

The Clock is Ticking Down

48 hours until we drive away!  Don't think we'll get very far the first night, as we will likely take all day on Saturday to do the final RV pack-up, hit the bank (not literally), toss the last things in the storage unit and take a deep breath before heading out of Rhode Island.  Tentatively planning to head to the casino less than an hour away to boondock in their RV parking lot for night #1.  Mohegan Sun actually has a nice set-up for RV's. Nice large lot, away from the fracas, and has a shuttle bus that comes by every 15 minutes to pick up anyone who wants to go to the casino to drop some money, or, if you are like us, to people watch and just generally be entertained by the atmosphere. Today I spent the entire day finishing up my tax filing for 2012, organizing paperwork and generally trying wrap my head around the fact that we will actually be mobile in just a few short days. Thought we might be leaving during another major weather event, but it looks like the forecast has been downgraded a bit. Can't say I mind at all; I'm all snowed out. Which of course, is much better than being "snowed in".  Just a preview of the bad humor you are likely to encounter if you persist in reading my blog going forward.  I'll top that off with a recent photo of our snowed-in van from last weekend.  Thanks Sue for sending it over - and for housing our "baby" these past few weeks.

6 Days to Go!

6 Days to go!  Here is a photo of the van pre-take off.  When we are ready to go we will add the retro-fitted truck box and bikes on the back.  Right now the van is buried under a few feet of snow at a friend's house. Will dig it out in the next few days and head to Pawtucket to pick up the truck box full of our camping and hiking gear (from the in-laws where it is being stored) and assemble it all for the big wave goodbye on Saturday.

Enough winter already...

7 days to take off and more winter today! After 28" of snow last weekend, more snow last night. We've been staying at hotels since the house sold three weeks ago. Last Monday was my last day of work and Andre will finish up this week. Currently housed at a Residence Inn on the Coventry/West Greenwich RI. the view from our window is a scene from Dr. Zhivago!  Day "0" cannot come soon enough for me...