Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Camp RoadAbode

Marshmallow time with Kimberly - Emily is doing a sleep-over with friends. That's the water and Janes Island in the background.

Sunset over Janes Island

Beautiful end to a perfect day.

Before Dinner

Chinese Checkers

More fun today in Maryland

Canoe trip - just Emily & Me, grab a quick shower - then to our friends home for a potluck dinner.

Crabbing in MD

Went crabbing with our friends this morn. Now time 4 some icecream @ the city marina!

Monday, June 25, 2007

Touring the Area

Have had a great day touring the area. Enjoyed a excelent lunch @ the Cove rest. Had a short bikeride around the campgrou
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Downtown Crisfeild
Beautiful & quiet here - but buggy. Our friends Joe & Pat put together an amazing dinner last night! Their place is beautiful. It was a joy
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Saturday, June 23, 2007

Hanging Back @ Bethpage

Friday, just "hung back" at the campground. Woke around 7am, cleaned up my sleeping area and got coffee going.
Day consisted of mostly relaxing and watching as the campground fills up with weekenders. Where before we had open space and could see the lake beach from our site now we are "surrounded" on 3 sides by campers. Still lots of sites open in the rear of the campground, and the capacity could double for events like the Urbanna Oyster Festival - Each site here is spacious enough to fit two rigs, - and that's what they do - because each site has dual water, sewer and electric hookups.
As I promised Emily we went swimming in the lake and then the pool (which I showered after)

Lunch came soon after, with usual camping fare - Hamburgers - and the addition of nachos from the Beach House Cafe across the way.

Hit the playground, Took a bike ride with Amy to check out the neighborhood. This would be a perfect campground if the had some open area along the waterfront. Instead it's all closed in by seasonal trailers. All the signs here say "Finest in Waterfront Camping" - but only a few truly have that experience. But I'm not here for sour grapes - This trip has been excellent so far, and the rest of Bethpage is beautiful!

After Emily's bike crash a few months ago at Lake-in-Wood, she's been shy about getting back on, and riding near traffic. Now with the weekenders here, there's plenty of traffic. But she did ride to the playground with me.

The girls and I (sans Granny) also took in a game of mini-golf - all the way at the end of the campground - past the storage area. Some pretty nice boats just waiting to get in the water here. The mini-golf was great - I think it also is owned by Bethpage - but the 25 cent ice-cream really topped my list!

Dinner was the usual Friday Pizza night - We brought our own and I ran into Urbanna for a seafood pizza (smaller than expected - but de-lish!)

Weather - Absolutely beautiful! Had a small fire - the pyros of the family had fun. Then called it an early evening, girls had showers in RoadAbode, and I cleaned up the site. We settled into RoadAbode, and watched some Discovery Channel.

Another Beautiful Day!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Visit to Jamestown

Woke about 6pm, converted my bed back into the sofa, and started coffee. Got my shower stuff together, and headed to the shower house - with a cup of joe.

Once back, got the girls their breakfast while Amy headed to the shower. Once everyone was fed and cleaned up, we loaded ourselves into RoadToad and headed to Jamestown. Jamestown is where the first English Settlement was located, years before Plymouth.
The ride was about an hour, and included a drive on the Colonial Parkway, a beautiful roadway through forest and along the James River. There was also a Model "A" antique car rally in the area, and we counted over 100 of these autos! ( talking later with a Park Ranger, he stated over 600 Model "A" owners were expected!)
We were originally headed to Jamestown Settlement, a recreation, but because of the tie up caused by the Model "A's", went to where the actual Archaeological dig site - of the actual fort. This was probably better and more informative than the re-creation. The guide was excellent, and really knew and helped us understand the history and importance of the history of Jamestown. It was also much less expensive than the re-creation at Jamestown Settlement - thanks to Granny's Senior Park pass. We spent about 3 hours there, stopped at the Settlement for a snack, then continued on back to Bethpage.









Emily and I took a dip in the lake - had loads of fun letting her dive off my shoulders. Amy and Kimberly came down a little later to get us and we all headed to the pool for more water fun.

After being waterlogged for quite some time, we dried off and headed to Urbanna to "Shuckers" for dinner, Granny and Emily had Chicken, Amy BBQ, and Kimberly & I went with seafood - shrimp and Scallop stir fry for her - Crab cake sandwich for me. Afterward we toured Urbanna (took about 10 minutes!) and headed back for dessert - ice cream!
Relaxed by the fire, girls played cards, a wonderful day!

Took care of a few minor issues at work, and signed on here. Life should be like this all the time!

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

VA/MD Adventure - Bethpage Camp Resort

Had a downpour as we connected RoadToad to the towbar. Was "fun" getting everything together in Kohl's parkinglot, not far from home. adding air, connecting the chains and cables (also have the bikes in tow) and getting the brake system ready is just not as easy in a pouring rain. Also seems to take longer. Once connected - got moving by about 9:45am. ride down was easy, didn't stop until Virginia for gas, then stopped at a subway for lunch.

Got to Bethpage about 5:30pm, filled up on propane, and was escorted to our site. Amy made quite an impression on our guide. we saw him later after dinner - and he told us of all the places he's workcamped, he's never seen someone so excited, and happy to be at a campground!

We can seee why this campground has been named one of the best in the country, and the best in
Virginia. Everything is manicured, clean and very well kept/maintained.
Set up camp and the girls went for a swim, with Granny and Amy in tow. I had to move a few things when we got new "neighbors" (just so they could 'pull thru') and then moved them right back. Turns out they are from Allentown - also their first time here. Emily is looking forward to a swim in the Lake - to try the big trampoline. This looks like a fun place!

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Rainy start for our trip 2 VA/MD