Chincoteague, VA

Followed our friends over toChincoteague, VA this morning. First stop was theNASA Wallops Flight Facililty. A testing and research site, is located just outside Chincoteague. It's open to the public, so we stopped in to learn about the History and what goes on at the facility. They typically send up "sounding rockets, and balloons, with payloads of research instruments.

We then drove on, and had lunch at McD's right outside the Natural Wildlife Refuge (NWR). Chincoteague NWR, located primarily on the Virginia side of Assateague Island, consists of more than 14,000 acres of beach, dunes, marsh, and maritime forest. Chincoteague Refuge, originally established in 1943 to provide habitat for migratory birds. Refuge staff manage this barrier island habitat to allow many species of wildlife to coexist, each establishing their own place in the environment. More than 320 species of birds are known to occur on the refuge. There we also found a herd of the famous Chincoteague Ponies, which each year are herded off the island and sold at auction during the yearly fireman's carnival to benefit the volunteer fire company there. We then headed out to the beach, and the girls got to enjoy the surf and sand. I took a walk along some nature trails, and enjoyed watching pelicans, egrets, sand pipers, and poking at fiddler crabs. After our time on the beach, we headed to a scenic drive around the marshland.

After some souvenir shopping, we headed home, got showered and changed - and headed out to the Cove Rest. in Crisfield. Great Crabcakes!

E is doing a sleep over at our friends, and we've all had another fun-filled day together. Tomorrow, the plan is to stay a bit closer to camp.

A few pictures from today:

A Full Spelunking day

Long day, fun day - and I'm tired!

Started off about 7am - earlier for Am with Molly. Had pancakes for breakfast, some fruit, and then on our way to Luray Caverns. Huge, with thousands of formations, this probably was the most ornate cavern I've ever seen. They now have guides along your way, and the tour is done via a small mp3 player and headphones. There are two versions of the story told at each stop along the way, adults and children. Of course I listened to both! A really recommended stop, and they had a car museum that was interesting as well. After viewing both the cavern and the auto museum, we stopped at Wallmart, picked up some additions to our lunch menu, and went back to the campground for a small feast. The girls + guy helped clean up, then played some cards. Finally, they went on the Endless Cavern tour - sans adults. They had a young college age man to lead them - and enjoyed his commentary.

Soon we had to return our guest to his home, and tried to let his parents how much we enjoyed his polite and courteous ways.

Later, a dinner to clean out leftovers in RoadAbode, to get ready to be travelling again - destination Maryland.

Then into the twilight, we started a campfire, and enjoyed some S'mores, and the overhead stars. We all faded fast, and I'm alone as the one still awake. My time to sleep has come!

Harrisonburg, VA

Great Sleeping Weather! Today! We all awoke by 7:30am or so. Breakfast was egg, sausage and cheese on english muffins. We cleaned up, dressed and headed out for services at First Presbyterian of Harrisonburg. We were a little early, so took an exploratory run past our friends home - whom we are having dinner with this evening. Once back at curch, it was a wonderful service, with a good message for father's on Father's Day, following Psalm 127 . A mix of young and old were at services, but like most congregations, were slow to greet the outsiders. Worship music was moving, and brought a sense of God's presence. After services, we scooted over to Walmart to pick up a few items we needed, and a few we did not, then to KFC to pickup lunch. We brought our poultry goodness back to camp, and enjoyed it under our canopy. After cleaning up, we all enjoyed some time to read books we brought along. I even got in a little nap! We headed to our friends aagain in Harrisonburg. Enjoyed a great meal of Pizza, then sat and chatted about old news, and new - both in Virginia, and home. Felt bad that they had just gotten back from a retreat, and were quite tired. But glad to see they look more relaxed, and comfortable in these surroundings. This beautiful place suits them! Thankful that they belong to a strong congregation.

Before it seemed possible, it was time to head back, and we gathered up belongings, and their son, to spend the night and then tomorrow with us. As I type, the girls and he are enjoying a "moviefest" in RoadAbode, as I sit beneath a star-filled sky, enjoying the night air. Another glorious day! Pictures of the church, and the movie watchers below.

Our Annual Trip RoadTrip started Friday Night - this time starting out heading toward Skyline Drive in Virginia, and ending up in Crisfield, Maryland by the end of next week.

We thought we'd try a different approach to departure this year. We decided to leave late Friday night (about 8pm) and try boondocking at a rest stop in Maryland. It actually worked well, except for two things. One, they decided to close route 95 in Delaware for about a half-an-hour Friday night. At least RoadAbode made the wait comfy. Two, I chose to stop for the night in Maryland at Chesapeake House Rest stop - instead of Maryland House. If I would have waited and drove on for another 30 minutes, we would've had less road noise from 95, and better amenities at the rest stop. Live and learn.

As it was, it put us in a great position Saturday. 7am we pulled out from Chesapeake house and headed toward our first destination point, Skyline Drive. Only stops we made along the way were for gas at a Sheetz, and at a Virginia Information Center for maps (for the collector in the family - she didn't have a Virginia one yet). It rained off and on along the way, with a visibility-blocking downpour along a portion of Route 66. However, by the time we hit Front Royal and the entrance station to Skyline Drive, (Which was free this weekend - Thanks Ken Salazar!) the skies were starting to clear. We stopped in at the welcome center at Dickey Ridge, and enjoyed our first "Blue Ridge: vistas. We also enjoyed learning about black bear from one of the rangers, including some great personal antidotes.

We continued on, stopping at a few scenic vistas. The plan was to stop for lunch at Elkwallow picnic grounds- and glad we did. Coming to the turn in at Elkwallow the smell that hit our noses was not a passing motorcycle like I thought, but my brakes. Seems coming down, either I was hitting the brakes too much, or the caliper stuck on the driver front. As I pulled in, a cloud of smoke came up on my side, and as I pulled in to spot that fit RoadAbode and RoadToad, it plumed up a good bit. I hopped out, popped the hood, and made sure we weren't burning any fluids. But the only place smoke came from was around the driver side front tire. We ate, and let the brakes cool down. It started to rain a little also, and that helped cool things down as well.

We started out again after about an hour or so, and had no other difficulties, going down the mountain, or getting off Skyline Drive at Thornton Gap - to head toward Endless Caverns. I did downshift on a few long, winding downhills though this time - relied less on the brakes.

The rest of the ride to Endless Caverns RV resort was uneventful, and the route was easy.

Once there, we were greeted most welcomingly. First time ever - we were taken by golf cart to view and select our site beforehand. Was kind of an nice touch. (And I was not in a rush to setup - we got there by 2:30pm/3pm) The Resort is not quite a resort yet - but getting there. The pool looks beautiful, but is not done. the Gameroom is huge, but still being built. The tilework in the showerhouse is better than a home, but the building is being rehabbed. The best part is the sites are large, level, and the hardscaping around them is beautiful. This will be a beautiful resort once they get everything done. But the neatest part is the cave tour. After setting up, and talking to the nice couple next door for a bit, we strolled down to the office to take in a tour of Endless Cavern. I've alwayes loved Crystal Cave, but for size and types of formations, Endless Caverns "Wowed" me more. The "Crystal Room" at the end of the tour - with it's light show timed to music, was the top hilight of the tour, with dept, aand sheer amount of stalagties on the ceiling. Beautiful.

A full day, and now that everyone's showers are done, time to sleep and be ready for tomorrow's adventures!

Below - a few pictures from the RoadTrip so far:

Waiting out Traffic in Delaware

Morning Walk at the Chesapeake Rest Stop














The route of Skyline Drive

Panaramic View from Dickey Station

Cute Bear cub! Part of the exibits at Dickey Station

A "waterfall" formation at Endless Caverns

On 2 MD!

On the Chesapeake Bay Bridge & Tunnel for lunch then on to Crisfield!

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!

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!

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!