TRAILER REPAIRED AND MOVING ON DOWN THE ROAD

Well, the 5W is fixed. Thank goodness!

The part arrived Wednesday morning around 10:30.  Mr. W called the welder who said that he would be by "sometime" that afternoon to take a look at all of it to see what all equipment he would need.  So, I am sitting around waiting, and waiting, and waiting........ Finally, he shows up around 3:00, takes a look at everything, and tells Mr. W that he will come first thing Thursday morning to repair it. So, Mr. W and I walk over to the beach and spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the ships moving around in the bay, the Navy helicopters flying over, the porpoises jumping, and everything going on.

The welder sent a text message that evening that said he would call at 9:00 on Thursday to let Mr. W know when he would be there. Now, keep in mind that we had to leave on Friday because the state park was already booked.

So, pretty close to 9:00, welder calls and says that he is going by Home Depot to pick up some things and will be here in a couple of hours. Couple of HOURS? Mr. W is now taking some very deep breaths. Finally, around 2:00, welder shows up and got 'er done!

I had reservations now at a park from Sunday through Tuesday, but no reservations for Friday and Saturday. Mr. W had checked online all the Coast to Coast (C2C) parks in the area and no one showed to have any openings.  Friday morning, I decide to call a C2C park and see if by chance they had an opening for Friday and Saturday.  Sure enough, they did! This park was a whopping 36 miles from where I was.  Not sure I can travel that far in one day. :)  For any of you that are considering a membership in C2C or are new to C2C, the lesson here is to never be unsure about calling the park even if it shows on the C2C reservation site that the park is not taking any reservations.  They have cancellations just like any other park and they won't necessarily go into the system and re-release those sites.

The 5W hooked up to the truck and moved out of the state park and down the road with no problems.  It really was a blessing that this happened early in my stay so I would have time to stay put somewhere and get it all worked out, happened while I was at a park and not on the road, and it happened at a park that had enough open days for me to extend my stay.  Thank you God!

So, I'm still technically in Virginia Beach but 36 miles south of where I was.  I did learn that I can go 10 days without sewer hook-ups if I have to. (First Landing State Park did not have sewer hook-ups.) I was planning on 7 days but ended up being there 10.  Also, I hadn't counted but now know I have plenty of underwear to go 10 days without doing laundry! Was that too much information?? :) Finally, Mr. W was getting spoiled by not having to do the dishes every day since we were having to conserve on water.  He needed to get back to reality! :)

Here are a few parting pics of my stay at First Landing state park.  They do not let you reserve a certain campsite right now but are changing that in 2015.  If you ever go there and that has begun, H14 is the best site in the place.  Maybe I shouldn't have told you that. Oh well.

You could this sunset out the back of our trailer.

The porpoises playing.  They did all across the bay for a long time.

Can you see the sand crab? There were dozens of these all along the shore.  As you walked along the shore, they would pop out of their holes and if you were there, they would either go back in their hole or take off. They are fast!



A wedding that was happening on the beach.  I told Mr. W that had we already had dinner, we could crash the wedding and have cake for dessert! :)

A beginning of another sunset.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND AND BEACHES

Maybe because it is the first sign of summer weather, but have you ever noticed that crowds rush to the beach on Memorial Day weekend?  It really doesn't matter what beach it is.  Galveston is not known for its "pretty" beaches. The sand is brown and the water on most days is brown.  But once the weather starts warming up and especially on Memorial Day, the beach is c-r-o-w-d-e-d. I tried to stay away from the beach most of the weekend here. Like I've said before, I'm not a beach girl but I am married to a beach guy.

So, Sunday after church and lunch, I told Mr. W that I thought this might be a good day to go to the beach and sit out for awhile.  After I picked him up from fainting because I actually said that :), he rushed to get his swimsuit on and the chairs and beach umbrella together.

I am camped right against the sand dunes that separate the state park from the actual public beach.  The state park has several crossover walks built so the walk to the beach was not far.  When I reached the top of the crossover walk and could actually see the beach, here's what I saw.

This is actually the less crowded side.

It had warmed up quite a bit so the sun felt good and even though the wind was blowing, it felt good.  It, however, was no where near warm enough to get in the water.  This water is cold! Plus, the Health Department had posted a "No Swimming because of bacteria" sign on Thursday which did not lend itself to getting in the water.  You know what I mean?  They had lifted the No Swimming on Friday saying that the bacteria level was safe.  What does that mean?  Whose level are we going by to say bacteria is safe? Probably best not to think about it too much.

The park host told us that Saturday had been a bigger crowd. I didn't walk down to the beach on Monday (Memorial Day), but I do know the parking lot for day visitors to the park was full and overflowing.  I guess I picked the right day to go. All in all, it was a nice way to spend the afternoon and I did add a little color to this very white skin.. 


SIDE NOTE: I will say that yesterday it was 97 in Virginia Beach and it was definitely warm enough to get in the water and so I did.  I did immediately take a shower when I got back.  That's just in case my idea of safe bacteria level is not the same as the Health Department.

Oh, and it rained ALOT last night because a cold front was coming in.  Today, the high is 69.  This weather is as weird as it is in Texas in the winter. :)

Mr. W thought he needed proof that I actually did go to the beach.

This is the other side of the beach.

UPDATE ON TRAILER PROBLEM CAUSES CHANGE IN PLANS

In a previous post, I told you about the problem we are having with our 5W.  The shackle broke that holds the spring.  The 5W is under warranty so Mr. W called the manufacturer, who called the manufacturer of the chassis.  Friday, the manufacturer (Redwood) called and said the chassis people (Lippert) were going to 2 day overnight the part.  With Monday being a holiday, we should receive it Tuesday. We had reservations for the Outer Banks and needed to leave Wednesday.  This state park has a check out time of 3:00.  So far, so good. 

Tuesday morning, Mr. W emails Redwood and asks if he can get a tracking number to check on the part and see when the expected delivery time was.  Redwood emails back with an email from Lippert attached.  The part did not get shipped.  What the ????????  Lippert now says they will ship the part and send it overnight instead of 2-day overnight. Mr. W wants a tracking number before the end of the day. Can you tell he and I are getting irritated?

Here is the dilemma.  I cannot drive the 5W anywhere until this is fixed because the axle could just roll on out of there.  The state park says I can stay until Friday but I have to leave Friday because they are already booked up for this weekend. Today is Wednesday? Yikes!

So, yesterday, Mr. W spent most of the day trying to change reservations, cancelling reservations, and booking new reservations.  Of course, he didn't want to book for Friday or Saturday until he knew for sure about the part and the welder to attach the part.  Once the part actually does arrive and the welder can give me a day/time that he can fix it, then Mr. W will look for another park to accommodate us until Sunday.

I had reservations for a Coast to Coast park on the Outer Banks to arrive today and leave next Wednesday.  I now have reservations at a Good Neighbor park from Sunday to Wednesday on the Sound which is somewhere around Wilmington/Newport, North Carolina. It looks like we won't make the Outer Banks this trip. The logistics and reservations and timing just didn't work out now. Dang it! Oh well, next time.

Late yesterday afternoon, Mr. W finally got the tracking number.  The part is scheduled to be delivered today.  Let's hope the welder can come either today if the part gets here early enough or tomorrow if it doesn't.  My next concern, let's hope it is the right part!

For those of you reading this from the RV rally, situations like this is probably one reason why Howard and Linda don't make reservations.  However, even when something like this comes up, Mr. W and I would still rather have reservations and move/change them than not having any at all.  We both are planners and organizers and probably won't ever reach a point where we can go off out into the wild blue yonder not having a plan of where we will be staying. This just works for us.

I'm at least thankful that the 5W is under warranty so it is covered.  However, I will have to pay the welder, send the receipt to Redwood and get reimbursed.  If I had waited until Lippert could send someone to fix it, it would have been some time next week.  I guess there are trade offs in everything.

I will let you know how this all works out.  Keep your fingers crossed!

WILLIAMSBURG

If I mentioned to anyone that I was going to Virginia and the person had been there before, they ALL said to go to Williamsburg. So, Saturday I went to Williamsburg.

I wanted to go on Saturday because they have a Farmer's Market at Merchant's Square from 8:00-12:00. I was hoping to get some fresh veggies.  Mr. W had found a "Biking Williamsburg" map so the bikes went in the truck.  I left First Landing State Park so that I should arrive at Williamsburg by 11:00 at the latest.  I knew there would be some traffic because this was Memorial Day weekend.  So, when I started seeing signs that said "Heavy traffic. Expect delays.", I knew this probably meant trouble.

Well, there were delays and I arrived in Merchant's Square at about 11:45.  The vendors were still set up but were beginning to take their booths down.  I kept hearing most of them say, "That's all I have left."  Most of  them were not selling fresh fruits/veggies anyway.  There were a lot of baked goods, canned goods, meat and plants.  There was 2 booths that were selling strawberries but what they had left, looked kind of pitiful.  I purchased some banana nut bread that was made by the person who was selling it and it was suppose to be with only fresh/organic ingredients.  Even if that wasn't true, the bread was delicious! :)

Once the market shut down, Mr. W and I started on the bike route.  It started in Colonial Williamsburg.  If I ever come back here, I will buy the ticket and do the whole tour, but Saturday was too crowded and too hot to do the entire tour of Colonial Williamsburg.  What I did see of it, I found very interesting. Remember, I love history, especially during this time.

Colonial Williamsburg collectively is a museum of buildings and life from the late 1600s through the 1700s.  It is free to walk/ride through the streets and look at the buildings from the outside.  You must have a ticket to get inside the buildings and to get the tour from one of the guides.  The "taverns" are open to the public if you want to eat there. If you come here; come early, wear comfortable shoes, and plan on being here for about 4-5 hours to do the entire tour. I understand from a friend that they do reenactments of different things in the evening hours.  I did not see anything about that but I wasn't looking to buy tickets.

All the Farmer's Market vendors set up at Market Square

Colonial Williamsburg has people dressed in period costume that offer services and information about that time in history.

This was the courthouse.

Another horse drawn carriage through the streets.

This was outside the jail.  The woman giving the talk was telling about Blackbeard, the pirate, being held here until he was put to death.

Actually, this was off site just a short ways from Colonial Williamsburg.  This house was build in the 1700s and John Rockefeller lived in this house in the 1940s.

This was the Capitol building

This was the governor's palace

The bike route took me through Colonial Williamsburg and through some of Williamsburg and through William and Mary University.  I always wondered where William and Mary University was and now I know!  Right before I entered the university, I decided to stop and have lunch.  I stopped at the Brickhouse Tavern because their sign said Brick Oven Pizza. Yum! Since I was away from the more "touristy" part, I figured the prices would probably be better too.  I was right.  Look at my yummy pizza. I don't know if I was really hungry or if it had been a long time since I had eaten pizza, but this was one of the best pizzas I have ever had.

This was a medium pizza.  There was plenty of leftovers and the waitress was nice enough to wrap each piece individually in foil and put in a bag so Mr. W could carry it in his backpack.

This bike route map was not a very good map.  I got lost twice trying to ride through William and Mary. I have to stop and look at the campus map they had posted around campus to figure out where I was.  It is a nice campus. This is the break between semester ending and summer session starting and also a Saturday.  So, the campus was pretty empty and it was a pleasant bike ride.

I did manage to make it back to the truck.  Mr. W loaded the bikes and off we went.  What a great way to spend a Saturday on a holiday weekend.

IT'S THE LITTLE THINGS

This post is about those everyday things we take for granted when we live in a "sticks and bricks" (that's what the full-timing community calls a regular house) and then presents a challenge when you live in a RV and travel around a lot. What am I suppose to do about my hair????

To help you understand my dilemma, my hair is a big part of my identity.  When I was employed, my hair ALWAYS looked good.  I kept up with trendy hair styles, the color was always fresh, I never went too long between cuts, and every hair was in place when I left the house.  Not that I had a real "styled" look; because I am more of a messy, kind of sassy hair girl.  And, for those of you that don't know me, I don't have a very good self image of myself.  However, my hair is one of the few things that I really like about myself. (I know, I need help.) Thus, the importance of a good haircut.

I really like the stylist who does my hair.  I've given up or cut down the frequency of most of what I considered "luxuries" since I retired.  She was not one of them. I discussed with her about my travel plans and that I would be gone for 3 1/2 months. Her advice to me was that when I saw someone's hair that I liked, ask them who/where they had their hair done.  Then, make an appointment.  Sounds logical, right? So, I'm good to go.

When we were at the RV rally, one of the couples we met said that he cut her hair and she cut his. Are you kidding me?  Mr. W will never get near my hair with a pair of scissors.

I have short hair and therefore need haircuts more often than if it were long.  The last hair cut I had was the middle of March.  Time for the next haircut passed around the end of April. This is now the end of May. My hair was a mess!

At the same time, Mr. W needed a haircut.  Now here's the difference between men and women in my generation as it relates to haircuts.  Mr. W was looking for the cheapest place to get a haircut.  He did not care what kind of place it was (regular barber shop vs. salon) and he didn't care who cut his hair.  He just wanted it to be cheap.  So, after calling several places and stopping and asking several places the price of their men's haircuts, he finally found a barber shop that only charged $10.  With no thought at all, he walked right in and sat right down in the chair ready for his haircut.  Never would I be able to do that.

About the end of April, I start looking at every woman I ran into and checking out their haircuts. I don't know if I was hanging out in all the wrong places or what, but I did not see one woman that I liked her hair! Can this be? I go through 2 towns/areas in North Carolina and 1 town/area in Virginia, nothing.  So, we get to Virginia Beach and at this point, I'm desperate.  I find about 5 different hairstyles that should be easy to take care of.  I finally make a decision about what I want but after 2 days in Virginia Beach, still no one to ask.  So, I spent most of one evening/night and next morning researching hair salons at Virginia Beach.  I read reviews from customers, studied their web sites, read everything I could about their stylists and their training and was praying for some divine revelation about a hair salon.  (I told you that I needed help!)

The salon I decided on allowed you to make appointments online. I scheduled an appointment for that evening. So the worry and anxiety began.  What if I got there and I didn't like the way the salon looked?  What if I got there and I didn't like the look of the stylist?  What if I got there and I didn't like the haircuts being given to clients there at that time?  What if........

So, time comes to head to the salon.  I have my picture of the style I decided on and I have my courage up after many pep talks from me to me.  We get there and as I get out of the truck, I look at Mr. W and say, "It'll grow out, right?"  He replies, "Right.  It will be OK."  I sound like I'm going in for surgery!  They are cutting my hair, not my body!  I am a sick woman!

Fortunately, the stylist was very nice and took a lot of time listening to me and asking me a lot of questions as we went through the haircut process.  When I left there, my haircut wasn't exactly what I wanted, but close enough.  I actually did some more cutting on it the next day that made me feel even better about it.  So, I'm feeling good about myself and my hair.  Life is good again!

Of course, I will probably need another haircut before I return to H-town.  Oh great.  Now I'm going to have to put myself through this ordeal again! Well, I just won't think about that now.  Hopefully, South Carolina will have someone that I run into that I like their hair.  Who knew that being retired and full time RVing was going to be so difficult and stressful?  :)

VIRGINIA BEACH AND TRAILER TROUBLE

On Wednesday, I moved to First Landing State Park on Virginia Beach, VA.  This is one of the first places Mr. W made reservations for this trip because we knew most places would be full since this is Memorial Day weekend.  On their website, you can reserve a tent site, a site that will accommodate a RV up to 20 ft., a site that will accommodate up to 30 ft., or a site that will accommodate up to 50 ft.  Mr. W reserved a 50 ft. site.  You cannot reserve specific sites in this state park.  However, they are changing that next year.

So, when I checked in, the ranger guy gave me a map and said to park in any of the blue labeled sites in G loop.  Mr. W starts off toward G loop and that was an adventure in itself.  You know how state parks try to leave everything in its natural form which is great for the aesthetics of the park, but it is not great for trying to maneuver a big rig.  The road is very twisty, the tree limbs hang down really low, the turns are really tight, and at one point, I had to get out and stand behind the trailer to make sure it did not rub the road.  The trailer is very high in the back if that tells you anything about the road.

I go all through what the map shows to be G loop and there are no blue sites available.  So, I call the front and the ranger guy says that G loop actually goes all the way down the shore and does not end where the map shows it ending.  Great.  Now, the journey begins again to go through all the twisty roads, tree limbs, and trailer dragging because all of the roads are one way.

I find a site finally (the last one available in G loop) and get settled. Mr. W is not very happy with the campsite or the park at this point.  I'm thinking that it is a typical beach campsite so I'm OK with it.  (I'm not a beach person; he is) Mr. W and I take a walk to the beach that evening and watch the sun set on the Chesapeake Bay.  He is thinking maybe it is not so bad after all.

 

 

OK, wake up Thursday morning and Mr. W has been out riding his bike and finds a site in another loop that backs up to the beach and has a great view of the Chesapeake Bay.  He has gone to the ranger guy and gotten the OK to move so the race is on!  Everything is put somewhere so it won't fall or be in the way, the slides are in, the trailer hooked up to the truck, and off we go.  I'm usually not a big fan of moving once we are set up.  But, this is Mr. W's element and if it rocks his world, then I'm ready to move.

Again, twisty roads, low hanging tree limbs, etc.  Going around a twist in the road, I hear this loud pop.  Mr. W hears it too.  What is that?  I have dual wheels (one in front of the other) on both sides of the trailer. They are suppose to be in line with each other.  Mr. W looks in the mirrors and they are no longer in line with each other.  He then says that he hopes we didn't break a spring.  Me too.

Fortunately, we get parked in the new "wonderful view" site.  Mr. W checks for the popping noise damage and sure enough, the shackle on the spring broke. Ugh. The trailer is under warranty so Mr. W gets on the phone with the manufacturer, who gets on the phone with the chassis manufacturer, and they are working on getting someone out to the park to fix the problem before next Wednesday when I am scheduled to leave.  We will see.  Here are the pictures I had to send the manufacturer of the problem.

 I will keep you posted.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DOLLEY MADISON

There are 2 Presidents' homes close to the area I am visiting.  Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, and Montpelier, James Madison's home.  I knew I wanted to visit one but I couldn't make up my mind which one.  After checking both web sites again to see what all was included in each tour, I saw that today was Dolley Madison's birthday and Montpelier was going to have special tours and cupcakes to celebrate her birthday! Who can resist cupcakes? So, I went to celebrate Dolley's birthday.

I had a great tour guide named Bob Jones.  A tour guide can make or break a place and Bob made it. James Madison's grandfather, Ambrose Madison, received a patent for 4,675 acres in Orange county Virginia.  He moved there with his wife and children and named the plantation Mount Pleasant. Ambrose died 6 months later, poisoned by 3 of his slaves.  His wife took over the management of the plantation with the help of her son, James Madison, Sr.

James Madison, Sr., built a larger home about 1/2 miles from the original home and moved his wife and their 12 children to that home.  James Madison, Jr., the 4th President of the United States was 13 years old when his family moved to the new house.  Madison attended what is now Princeton University and graduated in 2 1/2 years. He was 5'4", was sickly, never weighed more than 100 lbs., and had a squeaky voice. Goes to show that anyone can do anything they set their mind to.

He is hailed as the "Father of the Constitution" for being instrumental in the drafting of the United States Constitution and as the key champion and author of the United States Bill of Rights. He served as a politician much of his adult life. In May, 1794, he asked their mutual friend, Aaron Burr, to arrange for him to meet a young Quaker widow by the name of Dolley Payne. They were married in September. Because she married a man who was not Quaker, Dolley was disowned by her family and friends. She however was the toast of Washington, D.C. One of Madison's opponents made the statement after his defeat that he lost the election to Mr. and Mrs. Madison and had he only had to run against Mr. Madison, he might would have won.

When restoration started on the house, the historical society was able to find letters and records of details of furnishings and materials used in the building of the house.  So, the rooms that you tour have been restored to look like they did when the Madisons moved back to Montpelier after his presidency.  They would love to find the Madisons' furniture but Dolley sold all the furnishings after James died and she kept no records of who she sold the furnishings to. So, the historical society are still searching for any of the original furnishings, but it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Again, this is a home that no photos allowed inside.  The grounds are beautiful.

As you drive up the drive to the house. Can't you just imagine coming up the road in a horse and buggy?

The house

This is called The Temple. James Madison, Jr. built this on the property.

Thanks to an archeologist dig and written records, these frames show where the original buildings stood.  One was a kitchen, one was a smokehouse, one was a slave family's house.

James Madison was afflicted with rheumatoid arthritis and eventually became bedridden and died at home.  He is buried in the Madison family cemetery that is on the property. Dolley was given an honorary seat in Congress and she moved to Washington, D.C.  She eventually sold Montpelier because of financial problems.  She was originally buried in D.C. but was eventually moved to the family cemetery.

There are gardens on the property that are beautiful this time of year.

I love American history and I could go on for a long time with all the things I learned about the Madisons. I visited Washington, D.C. many years ago and was in total awe of all the history of amazing and courageous men who dreamed of being free from Great Britain's rule and they acted on that dream.  While we were standing in Madison's library, our guide talked to us about how many hours he had spent in that library reading about other countries who ruled themselves and going over what worked and didn't work in those governments.  He took all that research and drew up a plan for a form of government that would make us the United States of America.  Thomas Jefferson was his friend and visited there. James Monroe was his friend and visited there.  Alexander Hamilton was his friend and visited there. Can you imagine the conversations and planning that went on in that room and in that house? In a note opened after his death, Madison stated, "The advice nearest to my heart and deepest in my convictions is that the Union of the States be cherished and perpetuated." Probably a good conviction to still have.  Go take the tour if you are ever in the area.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK

Now let me see by a show of hands how many of you knew or have heard of Shenandoah Valley National Park?  Well, probably more than I thought.  However, I personally had never heard of it nor did I know we even had a national park named Shenandoah Valley National Park!  Yesterday, I visited there.

A front has come through here and the high for yesterday in the valley was 72, up in the mountains it was in the low 60s with quite a bit of wind.  So, it was a bit chilly as I drove through the park.  This national park is great if you like to hike.  There are lots and lots and lots of trails. There are also about that many pull offs/overlooks to stop and take pics.  There are many campgrounds too.  I drove through several.  Some were set up for tents or small tent trailers and others were set up to accommodate large trailers and motor homes.  I thought it was funny to drive that section and see all the generators sitting outside by the trailers and motor homes.  Remember, there is no electricity or sewer in national parks.  Sometimes there is not even water at a campsite.

They had a couple of areas that had lodges with restaurants and gift stores.  That has always seemed like the place to stay at a national park because they usually have beautiful views from either the common area or from the rooms.  Here's one I stopped at yesterday.



Outside patio. You can sit right inside that wall of windows and see the mountains.

The restaurant at the lodge.

 At one of the lodges, there was a trail that led up to a spectacular view.  So, of course we took the trail. I want you to notice where I, Miss Scared of Heights, am standing.

Pretty proud of myself for being up there by myself!

He always has to show off by standing where I was barely able to work up my courage to sit! :)

At one of the overlooks, there was a trail that led to a better view.  Look what I found.

This guy was painting the valley below.  He was having to hold his canvas everytime the wind blew because it was pretty strong gusts.  My granddaughter, Girl-child, would have loved this.  She is the artist in the family.

Here are some other shots from this overlook.

One good thing about national parks is they give you the distance and the approximate time it will take to hike any of their trails round trip.  There were several hikes that we could have done but it would have meant not being able to spend any time in the rest of the park. So, we passed on the hikes yesterday, but if we have time another day, we may go back and do a hike.

As we were leaving, we stopped at one last overlook.  There was a sign that said if you followed the trail on either your right or left, it would lead you to a better view.  It really took us in the woods and we kept going and going and going until finally Mr. W told me to just wait for him and he would see if he could find the end and if it was worth going to.  So, while I waited for him, I took some pics of the woods.

I did see some beautiful scenery.  It was cold enough that I sat in the truck at one of the overlooks and ate my picnic lunch.  The wind was howling and even with my light jacket, it was too cold to sit outside.  Maybe if I come back another day, there won't be any wind and I can enjoy one of their many picnic areas.  If you are hiker, you really need to visit this park.  Even if you aren't a hiker, it is beautiful and well worth the visit.