What a week - catching up

This has been a busy "vacation" I will try and catch up with a day by day, blow by blow account in this LONG post.

Monday August 25

Laundry day, $10 for 2 loads at the campground. Yep expensive but convenient. After that chore we headed to Winooski to a bike shop and to check our a canoe/kayak launch by the Millyard. The bike shop didn't exist but the launch site did. Steep downhill carry but they had built a slide to allow you to get a kayak/canoe down/up.

Since the bike shop had closed we went to Burlington to get a new tire and spare tube for Suzette's bike. After I installed the new tire we rode down the bike path to Burlington's watefront. Looked in on Friendship but they did not have customers for the noon sail so no one was there. We headed on over to where the Lois McClure had been tied up but she had sailed for Basin Harbor which is the home base for LCMM.

On our ride back to the campground we got a call from Ann that we were to meet them at the fair at 5:00. We left early so we could look for our friend Bruno who work camps there. We managed to find him but used up to much time so we only had about a half hour visit before meeting up with Wally and Ann.

We did the fair food thing, bloom'n onion to get the cholesterol up, then walk to the Ox pulls, walk back to the exhibit area and look before the next course. Sausage w/krut Suzette had a cheeseburger. More walking and looking at exhibits. Time for desert so we head to the maple sugar house/exhibit and get maple frosted doughnuts. Just finished with them and my cell rang. Damn what could that be? Oh it's Fran, our realator, with an verbal offer. Humm that' interesting.

Walked, talked, looked and were ready to head to the car when we came by another Al's. So I just had to have a pint of fries. Hummmm good.

Said our good by's and set the meeting time and place for Tuesday's activities. Now to see what the offer does to our spreadsheet.

Tuesday August 26'th

Called Fran back with our counter offer. Called our Vermont realator(s) to see if we could arrange another showing of properties on Wed. With that set we went to meet Wally and Ann for our bike ride on the fill section of the bike path. We had a nice ride but it was cool and the wind was blowing a bit.

From Biking and Kayaking The Winooski

Back to camp to have lunch and get ready for the next adventure a nice little kayak float down the Winooski. We loaded the 4 kayaks in the truck and headed for McCrea Farm put in and a 3 mile down river float. Damn wind. Once we reached the RT127 bridge it did get windy and choppy. A hard paddle for about a mile, ugly ugly. We were all glad to reach the fishing access take out.

After we returned to camp we started cooking the chili mac in the dutch oven. What no chili mix. Wally went to the store and returned with 2 packets, one is a spare, a six pack of Long Trail and a bag of roasted unshelled peanuts.

When Donna and Jerry arrived we set out to consume the pot of chili and the corn bread we had baked on the grill. After dinner we visited for a while giving Jerry his B'day card and a very used $10 bill so he could by his Interagency Senior Life Time Pass. Wally and Ann left, Jerry and Donna stayed a while longer and visited.

Wednesday August 27'th

After breakfast we went over our Florida plans in light of the pending sale of our Virginia house. I resubmitted my Florida State Parks volunteer application. We received a call to meet Don our realator in Jeff about 1100. We had to stop by Wally and Ann's to pick up some forms that we had had overnighted to us at their address. Short visit and off to Jeffersonville to meet with Don. We went with Don and his father to look at another piece of land. Didn't like it, to verticle. Lunch at Jana's before meeting Diane at the LaBarron property.

Mount Mansfield is in the background

We met the Diane, the selling Realtor, as well as the land owner. We spend about an hour looking things over, finding the lot pins, discussing the covenants and related details. The proposed house site does not afford a view of Mansfield so we want to see if we can move the site.

That burned off most of the afternoon. We made plans to meet with Don on Thursday for breakfast and get the paperwork started.

I needed to be at LCYC by 1700 to sail on K2 so we went back to the camper and downloaded the pictures we had taken earlier in the day of the old hood in Essex.

We had a good sail with what little wind there was.

Thursday August 28'th

Met with Don at JP's in Essex for breakfast and to get the contract offer going. A lot of signing, dating, and initialing. After breakfast and the discussion on buying the property we made our way to Underhill Center to meet with James and Jerry O. who will be our general contractor on the new house. We discussed a lot of items, heating, A/C, ICF, siding and roof choices to name a few. Since we were most of the way to Jeff. we decided to visit the Union Bank and talk about a building loan and other accounts. We had a very productive meeting with Susan Lassiter VP/Branch Manager. Next we called Peterson & Ruple and made an appointment to meet on our way back to Essex. Another good discussion so we decided to use them to represent us and signed a POA so Lori or Barry could sign for us.

Back at camp we started putting things together so we had less to do on Friday morning before we left for Moose River. Off to Wally and Ann's for dinner and talk.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday - VT

Friday;
we checked our a few kayak/canoe launch sites along the Winooski river that are near Burlington's North End. The one at Ethan Allen Homestead is about a quarter mile from parking and down a hill to get to the river. The one at MC Crae farm looked ok but we were almost carried off by the mosquitoes. The one at the 127 crossing also doesn't do well. To steep of an entry. The river is quite high and that is the likely the cause of the access issues.

After that exercise we went to Hannafords to some groceries. Hannafords is only about a mile from the North Beach campground. You can also get there via the bike path.

The rest of the day was tinker and resting.

Saturday;
Son James arrived about 8:45 and we had breakfast. After a breakfast we visited, showed Jim our new camper and talked over build plans.

Suzette started a pine needle basket and Jim and I went for a bike ride to the waterfront. See map.We stopped at the boat house, sailing center, andLois McClure before returning to camp.

We had some snacks and visited while I added air to the bike tires. Then Jim and I headed towards the Winooski River crossing on the bike path. Never made it. Can you believe that 19 year old tires failed? Yep the side wall of my front tire let go. No big bank but flat just the same. Jim rode back to get his car or my truck to transport me and the bike back. He suggested to his mother that he just take her front tire for me to use to ride back, but he just brought his car. On our return we did stop at a couple of places to purchase new tires and tubes. We didn't like what we saw so that may be tomorrows task.


Sunday;
Jim returned, a little earlier that yesterday, so I cooked breakfast again. Steak eggs and hashbrowns. The steak and hashbrowns were yesterday's dinner left overs. We then releveled the trailer and headed out to see what we could find for tires, tubes and some other items. Wally world, Dicks, Home Dumpy, Earls. Gotta help the local economy.

As we were returning Jim had a call on his cell and made a lunch date so that left the tire changing to me. Oh well. As I was working on my bike I noticed that Suzette's bike's front tire was flat. After I had my front one done I took a look a her's. It wouldn't hold air. I removed the tire and found a split tube. Also the side wall's of the tire are showing signs of failure. More tires and tubes tomorrow.

With my new tires I rode to Hannafords to get some fruit and slaw for supper. As I was returning the shift lever for the rear broke. Damn. Second time that has broken in as many years. Plastic crap.

After dinner we sat around and waited for the live Buffet concert on Sirius. No margaritas, just beer here. No weed either, but still a good concert.

See pictures of North Beach and Burlington here.

Vermont

We arrived at North Beach yesterday and got all set up and such. We just chilled and kicked back.

Today we went our for some shopping. I found a remote wireless speaker system that I liked so we bought it. Suzette found a few things, picnic table cloths, ... With the shopping done we went to Al's for lunch. Gotta have them fries.

Since the remote speaker was meant to be used with an Ipod or similar device and I wanted to use it with my Sirius receiver it was an O s.... when I realized the output from the Sirius unit needed a preamp. So what to do?

I figured that the Kenwood radio that is in the camper must have an extra speaker output that I could feed into the wireless speakers transmitter. So I found the manual and the special widgets that are used to remove the radio from the case. I pulled the radio an sure enough there is an extra speaker out. I drilled a hole to get the wire from the wireless transmitter to the radio speaker output. That worked. Rather neat too.

Tonight was ballgame night. We met the Stein's at the old Trinity College parking lot and walked to the game. The Lake Monsters lost.

Vermont Bound

We left for Vermont on Monday and arrived at Chenango Valley State Park that evening. Pictures here. The site we picked was almost impossible to get into since the Pine Bluff camping loop was quite full. With the help of our neighbor camper we moved the fire ring and his tow vehicle and we got the rig in. We don't think it is quite the way the park planned but we could reach the power pedestal.

There were about 6 families camping near by. Loud but not obnoxious. One thing about camping is your neighbors change like weather. If you are not happy with them either you or they will leave in a day or two. They left today, Tuesday.

Our campsite

Today, Tuesday, we awoke to rain about 0530. Suzette got up and closed a some of the windows. The temperature was about 60 or so. We took our time with breakfast and watched the campers start packing up. We headed off to find the Candle Factory. Lots of sweet stuff as well as candle's. We got some of both. We decided to go to Chenango Forks for some more shopping. We were looking for something to put on a corner of the cabinet of the bedroom and found some weather seal that will work. We had left the campground late enough and killed enough time that we decided on lunch out. Spiedies at the Spiedie and Rib Pit. Now that we are fed it was time to hit the grocery store and pick up a few things then back to camp.

Corn. Gotta have corn. Talked to our neighbors and asked where the closest farm stand was. We got directions and headed out on another adventure. Easily found the stand and the corn looked excellent. Butter and Sugar. So tonights dinner will be Spiedie's, Corn and patato salad. Yumm.



Tomorrow we will be at North Beach.

We need a break

Yes we will be leaving for Vermont and Maine in a week but we need to get away for a long weekend. We had stopped by Glen and Sue's to see their new camper and that lead to a plan for a weekend at Belle Isle with 4 families. A good plan.

The best laid plan's .... Well you know how it goes. One family had forgotten that they had a commitment. Ok so there will be 3 of us. No? Can you believe it another one bites the dust. Seems that they would rather watch the Redskins play. Ok ok so they did get free tickets and are DIE HARD fans. So now we are down to 2.

We left home on Thursday about 0930. On our way we stopped at Sneads Asparagus Farm Stand for corn, berries, melon and peaches. YUM.

When we arrived at Belle Isle we were the only one in the campground. A while later a Class A arrived and took pull through site 9. We are in site 10.

We got things set up and toured the park by truck. Checked out the new visitors center.

Friday while walking Logan we noticed another class A in site 12. Hummm they got in late.

A while later Doug came wondering by with Brandi, Athena's dog. Yep that class A, Gulf Stream Sun Voyager, in 12 was them. Got in around 11PM.

The park manager, Willian Sharder III, stopped by for a visit. He is the husband of Kathy Sharder who is the volunteer Coordinator for the Virginia parks. Basically Kathy keeps trak of what parks need hosts and works to fill any openings. He was not sure when Kathy could stop by since her parents were coming to visit for the weekend. Since the host site was empty we were offered the opportunity to use that site for the weekend. We declined since we were al l set up.

Larry went on a search for pine needles. Found a bunch. We soaked and preped a basin full. Went off to check out the park and visited with Linda at the office and obtained a map of the river sections near the park. Then back to the campground and visit with Doug and Athena in their Sun Voyager. Just a relaxing day.

Then to prepare supper, dutch oven chilli, cornbread, peach cobbler with vinilla ice cream. Ummmm good. Since the interpreter made the rounds of the campground to invite everyone to the campfire we decided to attend. It was only the five of us, Doug, Athena, Suzette, Larry and the interpreter. We told camp host stories.

Saturday.
We had a cooked breakfast and then off to paddle. We got in just before the Kayaking 101 group. We explored some more of the back waters across from the park. Saw a couple of old wrecks, 1 egret, 1 eagle and a lot of osprey. Heading back we came upon the class and they were heading in so we started to paddle up the creek a ways but decided to head back also. We were out for about 3 hours by the time we took the kayaks out.

Back to the camper for some snacks and head out to do some shopping for sea food at Capt'n Tom's. He was out of scallops so we bought 2 packages of frozen bacon wraped scallops. Went to the end of the road just to say we had been there.

Suzette had worked with Athena yesterday to get her started on making a pine needle basket, restarted today. Since it was getting near show time, "music by the rivah", we went to Doug and Athena's camper to prepare our own foil meals before heading off. Once at the picnic area we got a charcoal fire going and started one package of the bacon wrapped scallops. Once the last of the scallops came off the grill the foil dinners went on.

One of the foil dinners

Athena works on starting a pine needle basket.

Sunday
After breakfast it was off to the office so Doug could rent a canoe. We trucked down the the car top launch and put in. We went up the creek as far as we could. It seemed that Doug and Athena's canoe was having some problems in the turns, tight in loose off. Needed a track bar adjustment, wedge and maybe some other work on the rear. I tried to help the turning by bump drafting the rear of the canoe but just couldn't get it right.

Up a couple of the bays we missed yesterday, Suzette and I just hung out while Doug and Athena headed for the river proper. Way out. Kids have boundless energy.

When we got back we found that Kathy had been by and left us a couple of pastries. Boy they hit the spot. I gave her a call on her cell to let her know we were back and would be packing up for the next hour or so. After about a half hour of getting things ready for the trip home Kathy came by. We had a nice visit.

On our way back we hit rain around New Post. It was bad enough that we pulled off and waited it out. We got home about 7 pm. Backed in and after a quick pit stop we headed out in the car to have a pizza. I figured I could unhook tomorrow. We did put power on so the fridge would keep working.

No camping in July?

What's up with that?

Well we painted the inside of the house. We figured since most everything was either sold or in storage this would be a good time to paint. So we worked for a week. Enough of that. Time for a trip to Vermont in the Equinox. We looked a several lots and found a couple that interest us but we didn't make an offer. We also visited with Jim, the Hamels and Steins.

Then it was back home to finish painting. We decided before leaving for Vermont that we would paint the ceiling. Not a fun job. You see the ceiling in the great room and dinning room are trayed so there is an extra foot of reach. Also with the open plan we have there is no end. Yeah you get to paint the ceilings in the hall, entry way, dinning room, great room and kitchen.

After that job we needed another break so we got in touch with our friends in Seaford and went down for a visit that included several days of kayaking, eating, playing auction double deck pinochle and Mexican train dominoes. Good times, good eats, good friends.

The last 3 days at SML

All of our SML pictures can be found here.

Work, Work, Work. Really it's not that bad. We are having a good time and meeting lots of folks. We are into a good routine and things flow rather smoothly for us. Breakfast, clean the bath house, clean sites as needed, welcome new campers.

This week has had afternoon and evening thunder storms. Sometimes having 2 or 3 storms starting as early as 1 PM. One usually hits around supper time. We feel for the tent people.

We did have a good one that hailed at the visitors center, a little a the campground. One that blew over the main life guard tower at the beach and took down a tree in the cabin area, and one blocking the entrance road to the park. Not all the same storm or day.

We usually had the computer on and browsing weather.com with the radar loop active. That along with the weather radio set to the S.A.M.E. code for the county kept us well aware of the dangers. However we did have one storm that formed over the lake and the radar and weather radio didn't give any warning.

We also accepted a camp host opening for October at Lake Anna SP.

On Saturday there was the "Great American Campout" activity at the park. Our neighbors had told Lauri, park interpreter, that we were well versed in dutch oven cooking. That resulted in a challenge that was billed as Dueling Dutch Ovens. We choose to make a desert, peach cobbler. Desert always wins when topped with ice cream.

We declared the duel a draw and fed cobbler and ice cream to anyone would stop by. I took the las to a camper who spent several minutes attempting to back his pickup camper and boat into his spot with no luck. I figured he needed something to soothe his nerves.

On Sunday we helped break camp for the "Great American Campout" as well as our regular cleaning chores. There were lots of folks leaving and we had quite a time keeping up with cleaning the vacated sites.

Monday was our last day as camp host. We did our usual cleaning chores and made sure the chase was well stocked with supplies so our replacements would be off to a good start. We went around to say our good bye's to the park staff.

Dinner was cooked over a wood fire. First fire we had while at SML.

Great time.

SML The rest of the story...

Ok OK, I have been remiss in not posting what has been going on. So I will do that in the next few posts.

Wednesday June 25 was our last day off at SML. We biked in the morning, had lunch and rested a while before going for a swim. Then it was out to dinner. We stopped at White House Restaurant and had an appetizer then went for pizza.

Day off ...

Woke up this morning to see the mother cat in the trap. Come to find out that the night shift had checked the trap and found the last kitten and put it in the large trap with its brother/sister. Night shift had reset the trap after the transfer of the kitten and I guess the mother cat wanted to join her kittens. You couldn't tell that from her noise. All have been relocated to a home 25 or so miles away.

In other news. We did our weekly shopping, Wal-Mart of course, and then off to laundry and lunch at the Chinese restaurant that is near the laundromat. When we returned to the park we picked up our mail and sorted through it.

The freezer case was thawed out so we gave it a wipe out and plugged it back in. Later we found that office had closed at 1800 so we asked the night shift to deliver 20 bags so the campers would not have to leave the park.

We must be doing something right. Two campers stopped by with offerings of food. Nice.

One of our campers is a motorcyclist, Goldwing trike, and will be leaving to continue down the BRP, Blue Ridge Parkway, so we offered to go online to see what closures there are and take that information to them.

Time for sleep.

Cat wrestling, turtle wrestling and other ....

Well beside the sailboat arrival we have had some other excitement.

About 9:30 one evening a group of about 12 bikers arrived. They were sane folks but in the dark you didn't really know what you were dealing with. Even though we ride those 50's movies seem to hang on and sour the image of upstanding riders.

While they were settling in we had 2 big rv's arrive. One was a 5er, 5th wheel, and the other was a drag behind. There were only two sites available for them and those sites were not the best. They spent a while getting backed in and close to level. By the time they were done it was well after the 10PM quiet time. Then the riders left to find some supper. They returned about oo30 or so.

Then there is the issue of the raccoons that pester the tent campers. We tell the tent campers to keep a clean camp and they won't have a problem. However someone always leaves something out and then they have a visitor in the early morning visitor.

Welcome the feral cat and her kittens. Since we have been here there has been this feral cat roaming the camp ground. A few days ago we saw here with kittens and asked that they be captured and removed from the campground. Before a trap showed up we were told that the kittens were behind the freezer chest we use for bagged ice. We did our best to keep them contained until a cage arrived. We got two of the 5 kittens.

Later, using another live trap, we captured a third kitten. We had 2 more live traps set to attempt to catch the other kittens or the mother but were not having any luck.

Earlier in the day we had moved a box turtle from the road to the wooded area near our site. When we went to get that trap for the squirrel trappers we found the box turtle had tripped the trap and was enjoying the hot dog we had used for bait.

In the cabin area there was a squirrel that was annoying the current occupants.
It seems like the previous occupants of the cabin had been feeding the squirrel and now it wants the new folks to feed it also. It was almost knocking at the door.

The squirrel was captured and relocated.

We had moved the one live trap that we had in the campground to the culvert near our site since we had seen the remaining 2 kittens there. After a short while we had captured the fourth kitten. One to go.

All of the water and electric sites are taken again. Oh well two day's off coming up.

Sailboat

So it is 10:50 pm, quiet time is 10:00PM. We have the doors and windows open to get a little air and I have just finished a walking tour of the campground. I hear a vehicle on the gravel road and a lot of klank-klank-klank so I am outside in a flash and see a "camper" towing a sailboat with the mast UP. If it wasn't quiet time it would have been really funny.

I had them stop and lower the mast and move their boat to the overflow lot before they set up.

I called the duty ranger and he said they left a trail of branches from the boat launch to the campground.

What were they thinking?

To bad it was to dark to take a video of this comedy act.

Busy Saturday

It is always busy on Saturdays. We sold a lot of ice and a good quantity of fire wood.

There were a few folks that checked out today and we cleaned those sites to make them ready for new arrivals. Reserve America reports that the campground is full but there are empty sites. Either RA has it wrong or folks make reservations and don't keep them. Also if someone checks out early, before the end of their reservation, there is no way to cancel the reservation so the site can be rebooked.

We had a visit from a couple that is thinking of doing the camp host job and we talked about the job for about an hour. They are looking at the October time frame for their first time hosting.

We had a thunderstorm move through this afternoon and the temperature has dropped to about 70. Nice but a bit humid with no air movement.

We have added some pictures here. You may want to bookmark that link and check for new pictures from time to time.

Tomorrow, Sunday, will be a killer since most folks will be leaving and some folks will change to a vacated site.

We'll have fathers day dinner on Monday.

Of spiders, snakes, raccoon's and ....

We have settled into a routine here at SML. Friday is a zoo with folks checking in, wanting ice and wood. The bath house, comfort station, gets busy also and it is a lot to keep up with. Saturday it is mostly busy keeping the comfort station clean and supplied. We also have to clean a few sites of folks checking out. It is surprising that there are a lot of folks that check out/in on Saturday's.

Then there is SUNDAY. About 90% of the campers check out and we keep busy getting the sites clean as well as the usual comfort station duties. We put in a long day on Sunday's and can usually get a way for a few hours at the beach on Monday.

Tuesday and Wednesday are our day's off. We have taken time to go paddling, swimming as well as take part in some of the programs that are offered. We also found time to get our laundry done, have a dinner out and find the local, well about 25 miles away, Wal-Mart.

A few nights ago a big class arrived for the only 50A site. They had come from Ohio and just wanted to get set up. NOT. It seems that their Fleetwood indicated that the jacks/levelers were down when they were up. They could not get them down and didn't want to extend there slides. They fooled around for several hours and finally put out what I think was the bedroom slide. I don't think they had a good night. There were 6 people staying in the rig, 91 year old mother and multiple handicapped child, the parents and the mothers brother and sister in law. A tech finally came and got them going and they left a day early.

Rat snakes, yes they are here. There was a large one, about 5 or 6 feet long, around the campground for a couple of days. No real problem. He kept the speed down on the campground road when he slowly made his way across. However when a guest was concerned that the snake was too close to the showers we made a call and the rangers relocated it to a remote section of the park.

Spiders, yep them too. A few days ago our newly weds had an incident with a large spider, Wolf spider, the new wife was drying in the shower and had a reaction to the spider which had found it's way into her towel. Not being spider literate along with the reaction she was having rescue was called. She checked out ok and the spider literate folks said it was a wolf spider. Now there are pictures of the black widow and brown recluse, both poisonous, are posted at the shower house bulletin boards.

Raccoons. Folks just don't seem to understand that they are in the coon's habitat. Leave food and scraps out and you get visitors. Tonight the kids from a tent site came by to have me do something about the raccoons that were bothering them. Not much I could do other than talk to the kids and mother. Hope they get some sleep tonight.

The Weather is here .....

Yes it is. HOT in the 90's. We got our chores done and had lunch. Since there was no one in the campground we decided to give ourselves a break at the beach. We splashed around for a while, dried off for a while, splashed again, and air dried again.

Back to camp to sell ice and fire wood. You gotta have them camp fires. Some folks actually used their fire for cooking. That was the exception.

Day Off II

Today was paddle day. We put in with the canoe trip that Laurie was leading. After they got going we broke from the group and did our own thing. There are pictures here, and the only excitement of the paddle was the fish that jumped just off my right side. Very close and it sure caught my attention.


Back at the camper we put the awning lights back up. We had taken everything down and rolled up the awning because of the storms in the area last night. This time we strung the lights between the two lantern post we have on site.

Suzette worked on a pine needle basket while I relaxed. Laurie came by to do a demonstration but since there were no attendees we visited for a while and showed her pictures we had taken at Lake Anna.

More thunder but no storm warnings. Oh the weather channel that serves this area was back on line.

Days off I

We decided that Tuesday and Wednesday would be our days off. So on Tuesday we decided to check out the area, shopping and eating of course. We checked out the near by quick stop type place. They have a well stocked store and reasonable fuel prices, well if you call $4.509/gal diesel reasonable. Well it is better than the $4.629 I paid in Opal.

Then it was off the shoprite and the laundromat before proceeding to Westlake and the Kroger. We picked up a few things we needed and then decided to find Mei's Chinese buffet. We were a little early for lunch so we did some shopping at "The Lake Outlet" and picked up a few bargains.

Lunch was decent and we headed back to the park.

Since we were the only one's in the campground we decided to go to the visitors center so Suzette could do the colonial candle making. When we arrived Heather, one of the interpreters, was finishing up fish painting on 'T' shirts. Laurie, the other interpreter, arrived in period dress to do the candle making. Suzette and I were the only one's to show for that activity. This was a fun little activity and we walked away with a bee's wax candle.


While we were participating in the candle making there were about 4 Osprey's circling about. It looked like a couple of male's did not take kindly to the nearby nest and babies. One was flying around with his talons our. We were told that his how many of the young are lost.



After supper we were listing to the thunder and I had made sure that I had the correct S.A.M.E. codes in the weather radio we had purchased last year. There we are safe now. NOT. We saw alerts on the TV and I went around the campground letting folks know that there were severe storm's in the area. Well there were also tornado warnings and a lot of damage in a near by town.

Why didn't the damn radio give an alert? It seems that some contractor broke a phone line. Miss Utility, the dig safe folks in VA, had cleared the area for the work and the line was unmarked. Bummer. We wondered why every local channel was carrying live continuous coverage of the storm and the radio seemed dead on the channel we needed for the area.

Look here for more pictures.

Smith Mountain Lake I

Monday arrived and we were ready to go to work. We went to the office and picked up a few items and were told that Nathan, Chief Ranger, would meet with us after lunch. We also found out that we would be selling fire wood and ice in the campground. Not a big deal.

We returned to our site and reviewed the materials we were given and checked out the bath house and the set of keys we were given. After a while the golf cart was delivered. We were given instructions on how this one works. It needed a bath. So we gave it one while we waited for trash and ash buckets and related items to arrive.

After waiting for a while we decided to just go the maintenance area and see what we could get for cleaning sites. We got our ash buckets, trash bucket, grabbers, and a shovel. So off to the camp ground to start. We began at site 1 and reached site 7 bye the time Nate arrived to go over our duties and other items.

We did the meet and greet thing with the campers and gave another check of the shower house. We worked for quite a while and made two trips to the ash dump area. Then it was supper and rest up for our two days off.

Smith Mountain Lake

We did the firehouse breakfast thing and then made the final transfer of food from our storage unit to the camper. We left home about 1000 and arrived at SML about 1:30pm.

We took US29 south and were surprised at the changes that had been made to route around Madison Heights and Lynchburg. Of course we didn't follow the GPS and elected to follow a route we saw on our Manually Activated Positioning System, MAPS, and get on VA24 to VA43. VA 24 is a better motorcycle road than a towing road but the big Professional Grade, GMC, diesel handled the twists, turns, ups and downs very well.

When we arrived at the park and went to the office to announce our arrival. They were ready for us to start even before we had reached the Camp Host site and setup. We are the first hosts this season. Needless to say they are glad to see us. Matt one of the rangers met us at the site and we talked for quite some time. Then as we were setting up Bonnie, from housekeeping, stopped by with another warm welcome.

We finally got set up and relaxed for a while before cooking supper. After supper we took a tour of the park. We put on about 12 miles and never left the park. There is a great visitors center with a video cam on a pair of nesting Osprey's. Neat.

This should be a good assignment.

Two nights at storage unit

Well there have not been any lookers at the storage unit in the last 2.5 weeks. We talked to our agent and she said things have really been slow. If nothing happens in the next month and the outlook hasn't improved we think we will just wait for a better time.

We spend 2 hours touring Wal-Mart Friday doing our shopping. Very crowded since it was "food stamp day". Since the 1st is Sunday the food stamps were available on Friday. We need to watch for that in the future.

Today was laundry, washing the camper and repacking for the next adventure at Smith Mountain Lake. The truck was also washed and fueled and is now hooked up and ready to head out.

Tomorrow we have breakfast at the Jeffersonton Community Center, Little Fork Volunteer FD puts on the feed. This is a chance to see some of our neighbors.

Oh the cost of fuel. The last two tanks averaged 16.8mpg or so which I feel is quite good pulling. On our Florida trip I was getting in the 11 to 14 range on the slab at 65mph or so. The last two pulls were at 50-60 mph. Another factor could be that there is now 20K+ on the GMC, professional grade you know, and I have read on various forums that you don't start getting decent mileage until some where over 15K. With some folks reporting the magic number to be in the 25 to 35K range. We can only hope.

Two days off

The last two days were our off days so we took in some of the park attractions.

Yesterday we took a mountain bike ride to the old gold mine. Yep Virginia had gold mines. In fact Virginia was the 3rd largest in gold production between 1830 and 1849.










Then off to lunch at the local Deli, 601 Variety. They have an angus burger that is about 4" in diameter and thick. They have a good BBQ also.

While we were at the mine Suzette collected pine needles to make another couple of baskets so she set about preparing them to make a basket on Thu.

Then it was off to the lake for a little kayaking. We put in at area B and headed for Weirs Cove and the feeder creek. Nice paddle. Suzette saw a river otter and we scared up a couple of Great Blue Herons.

Even though it was our day off we made a couple of tours of the campground and checks on the comfort stations.

Today was a little more of the same. Mountain bike in the morning and paddle in the evening. During the afternoon Suzette made her pine needle basket. I decided to mount the Hero to the handle bar and see how a video would look.




We had a campfire tonight and made S'mores. What a nice evening. Tomorrow we leave for home.

The Day After ... In Tents

Today we needed to do laundry so we took our clothes with us on the morning tour and started the laundry before we took our report to the office. We talked with Roberta and Doug for a while before returning to clean the showers we didn't do yesterday. The wash was done so into the dryer's while we cleaned the showers.

That done we headed out to get milk and a few other things. The smell of Pizza said LUNCH so we bought one and headed back to the camper for lunch. It was a long lunch. Then off to paddle on the lake and try our the new car top boat launch. We paddled for about an hour and a half. Back at the camper I took a nap.




Later we cleaned the shower in the comfort station closest to us and called us DONE. Well we weren't done yet. We decided to take a tour when we could see a new tent in the distance. So off we go to say hi and to answer their questions about the park. We spent about an hour visiting the 3 new arrivals.

We have only 1 RV in the park, ours. There are 5 tent campers and the one occupied camping cabin.

Tomorrow starts our 2 days off before we leave for home.

You might think this is a lot of work and you'd be correct but Jimmy Buffet's song "It's My Job" keeps ringing in our ears.

I have added pictures of our paddling to our album.

The Exodus

Monday was the great exodus from the campground however the day use areas were very busy. We didn't get to see what was going on but from the radio traffic we know all the staff was very very busy. I think it was about 1000 when they started holding folks at the entrance station until they could find parking spaces. Then they would let the next 10 or 30 vehicles in, what ever they found room for.

Trash and open containers of adult beverages were an ongoing problem.

We started the day by making our tour about 0800 with a quick check of the comfort stations. After a quick cleaning of the restroom areas we returned to the camper and cooked a big brunch because we knew we would be busy. We kept looping the campground cleaning sites as folks left. We would make a periodic trip to the office to keep Joanne informed on which sites were empty and ready for new arrivals. We kept this up until sometime around 1700 or 1730 when we took a supper break. Then back at it to see the new arrivals and finish the site cleanup. We had one popup, 3 tent campers, and one camping cabin. A long day.

Oh what a day.....

46 sites and over booked by 5. Great reservation system. Not sure what went wrong but it sure created an interesting couple of hours while things got sorted out.

The overbook was in the standard site, no W/E, area. Then there are the families that want to be close together. One has a standard site reservation and the others is W/E. Two separate loops.

Any way we were busy trying to keep the comfort stations serviced and work with the staff on the overbooking issue and keeping a smile on everyone face. Some how the staff and volunteer team was able to make it happen. We sure put in more than our 6 hour/day expectation. Oh the overtime we will have in our volunteer check.

Also we had folks from the church group that has 15 sites ask to volunteer to clean the comfort station in the loop they are in. We thought that was really nice of them. The door closer on the womens room which is close to our site slams the door closed. Maintenance has been unable to properly adjust it and the slam is an annoyance. One of the ladies apologized for the noise.

A very busy day.

The Sign Says ...

Alcoholic Beverages Prohibited
The campground rules state "Public display or consumption of alcoholic beverages prohibited"

Today we learned what happens when you violate the Public Display. You get to either take your 24 bottles of Corona back to your home OR pour it out while the park ranger watches. That sure put a damper on a couple of campers weekend.

We did meet a fellow from Oregon but he didn't know our son Mike. Maybe if he lived in Portland he would have known him. The real question is why did he move from Oregon to DC? I guess we will have to ask.

Today I decided to put the Sirius radio antenna on the roof of the Fox. Not a permanent mount, just to see if the reception was better. Yeah Radio Margaritaville ALL DAY concert replays. Now about that alcohol thing....., damn no margarita's on this cruise.

We were busy all day with a few campers leaving and others arriving but most were here for the duration. We burned a lot of gas in the golf cart making tours of the campground and talking with folks. We made several passes through the comfort stations to keep them tidy.

Big news is that we received our official 'T' and Polo shirts. Now we look official and sharp.

To all of us who served - Thanks.

Some pictures of Lake Anna. I will add more as our tour of duty continues.

Big weekend

The campground is full. Well all the sites are reserved but not all are occupied yet. One group of 15 or so doesn't seem to understand that sites are first come first served. They had reserved 15 sites and expected to have sites 1-15. It just don't work that way.

Although full it has not been a difficult day. We found time to visit with campers and met a couple from Culpeper. Also we decided to go to the campfire ring and set up the campfire for tonights program. A nice log cabin fire lay with a teepee inside. We used dryer lint and pine cones for the starter. To make sure it was lit from the correct side, where the lint and pine cones were, we made an arrow using 3 sticks. Kathy, the interpreter, was happy that we did that for her.

All in all a good day.

Now to see how tomorrow will go.

Yumm O

It was a realitively easy day. Only a few campsites to clean up.

We have had a nice time visiting with folks that have come and gone. One of the groups that left today was JWAC. We had never heard of them before. What do they really do?

Went out for B'day dinner today since we didn't feel right going out on Friday with a large number of campers arriving. We had a Yumm O dinner at Tavern On the Rail in Fredericks Hall which is about half way between Mineral and Bumpass, Bump-ass to some locals of course. I had a really great 9 oz. steak w/blue cheese and herb butter. Fantastic. Suzette had their Fredericks Hall Casserole.

When we returned we found that several more folks had arrived so we made our rounds and talked with most of the new of arrivals. We spent a lot of time talking with some folks from Minnesota who are visiting to tour many of the Civil War Battlefields. We really enjoyed talking with them.

Back to Lake Anna

Today was a visit to the Ortho. Met with PA and Dr. and all is well as far as tendons and such good news.

Mowed a little by the pond and the front yard then we went for detailing, well you might say haircuts. Then back to the lake. We talked with the Rotti owners and toured the campground to get the morning report together.

Suzette's hand swelling is going down and she is getting more movement back.

Our day off

As I said yesterday we returned to our storage unit and then went to the Faquier Hospital ER to have Suzette's hand looked at. Antibiotics, x-ray's, splint and we were on our way, another 2 hours, but at least they did something and we didn't have to wait forever.

Tomorrow she should have a follow up with Ortho but they haven't called back with an appointment time.

We plan to return to Lake Anna tomorrow since that is where all the food is.

Dinner out tonight. Early B'day dinner me thinks.

How old you ask? 29 years and 11 months older than our sons. Give or take a couple of days. You do the math. SEG.

It started as a good day

Nice bright sunny morning although a bit cold. We had a light breakfast and headed out on our rounds. Very much a ghost town, 1 RV, 4 tent campers and us. We did our checks of the shower houses and took our list to the park office.

Back at the camper we decided to have a larger breakfast, english muffin, ham, egg, cheese sandwich. Filling. We cleaned up the camper and went to the north shower house to give the showers a cleaning and make sure the ladies and mens rooms were clean.

Then off the the south shower house to do the same task and since that is the one with the laundry we decided to take care of that chore also. While we were cleaning the showers Bill and Millie, the camp hosts we are filling in for, came by. We talked for quite a while and agreed that they would take over on May 30.

About 1500 we noticed that a Motor home had arrived so we set out to do our meet and greet thing. We decided to make the full loop of the W/E sites and see if anyone else arrived. Yep there was one backing in at the far end of the loop. We went to see them and the wife was walking their dog. Seemed friendly. Liked to be petted. But something went sour in a heartbeat. The damn thing bit Suzette on her right hand. Nice puncture wound. The dog has had it's rabies shots so that isn't a worry.

Cleaned and dressed the wound and off to the park office to make that report. We decided to have it checked out at a medical facility, Medic 1. Well it masks as a facility. After we filled out the forms we found that the other lady in the waiting room had been there 2 hours. Twenty minutes after the patient who was called just prior to the lady waiting 2 hours and we were still waiting for them to call in the 2 hour lady. We decided we pissed away enough time after about twenty more minutes. Told them they suck and we were leaving. So now on our day off we will try and get in at our regular doctor since were planning on going to the storage unit, house, we still own.

As we were finishing supper we noticed a Cruise America coach circling and figured we should see if we can help them. Well they are from Germany and the town of Ulm. Ulm is where a good friend had lived several years ago. We had a nice long talk and explained various items in the park and at the campground. We also found out that they are in the States for 3 weeks with no specific route. We suggested that they give a little thought to where they would be on Memorial weekend and make some reservations. We also gave them enough wood for a fire tonight since the office was closed.

All things considered it started as a good day and ended with a nice visit with our new German friends.

Frogg Togg Sunday

Rain in the forecast so we donned our Frogg Toggs, scooter trash knows what I'm talking about, and headed out on rounds. Cool and overcast this morning. We did our early round and took the occupancy report to the office. Then it was time for a cooked breakfast.

As the campers started to leave we checked and cleaned their sites. We found a snake skin and gave it to one of the Tiger Cub leaders. They said they would use it at their next court of honor.

We visited with several campers and several took the time to tell us what a good time they had and how much they liked the campground and how well kept it is. That was our bonus for the time we put in.

About 1500 it poured for several minutes, maybe as much as 30. We hid out in the south bath house area waiting for the worst to pass. As we were headed back to our site we noticed that one of the campers had left their roof vent open. I'm sure they had a few wet things.

By 1900 it was clear and the wind had become calm. We made our last check of the campground at 2000 and there were only 4 tent campers on site, one tent still pitched but no one had been their most of the day, and only 1 RV in the W/E loop.

All in all a good day.

Sunny Saturday

What a beautiful day. Sunny and in the middle 70's.

There has been a steady stream of campers arriving most of the day, 40 of 46 sites are occupied as well as 2 of the 6 camping cabins. The high cost of fuel doesn't seem to keep folks away. Yes there are a lot of folks from VA here but we have a good representation from PA, NJ, MD, WV. Everything from tent campers to Class A's. There is also a lot of boating activity.

We did get a chance to visit with our friends Gordon and Sandy and their grand children as well as many of the other campers. Gordon and Sandy borrowed our bikes so they could accompany their grandchildren on a long ride.

There is a group of Tiger Scouts here and they are having a good time and they sure are eating well. Glad to see the adults and kids having a good time together.

Meet Greet and smile

Yep we do that and clean a few toilets also.

Seems like we spend a lot of time and then can't seem to remember what we did. Our day today was to make a loop around the campground and note which sites were occupied for our AM report to the office. We checked the bath housed to make sure they were clean and had enough supplies and empty trash.

Two sites checked out today so we had to clean those sites. Not really much work as both campers kept a clean site.

We made some changes to the bulletin boards adding new information. We took a ride around the park to see what had changed and what was new. Found that there is a new car top boat launch in picnic loop B.

We made several loops of the campground doing a little of this and that.

After supper we made more loops of the campground talking to the new arrivals and visiting with the Kane's who arrived with their grand-tots.

Since there had been some raccoon activity we visited all the tent campers and took their trash to the dumpster.

The nice part of this "job" is meeting and talking to the campers.

Free Pipes

Free if you don't count the volunteer work.

After a few miscue's we were accepted to be camp host at Lake Anna State Park.

When we arrived and notified them that we were the camp hosts they were happy to see us. Before we were completely disconnected Rich, one of the rangers, came by to talk about us getting a tour of the campground, keys, ... A few minutes later Cliff, the ranger that is responsible for the campground arrived. We talked for a while and they left.

About 15 or 30 minutes later Cliff returned with the golf cart and a set of keys. Then we were off on a tour. I think they were glad to see us.

The next day, Wednesday, we checked out a few sites and cleaned their fire pits and then spent the rest of the morning going over responsibilities, signing more papers, and meeting more of the staff. After lunch we headed out to get a couple of papers notarized and look at a little more of the surrounding area.

So far not bad. There were 3 campers here when we arrived and another one arriving later in the day Wednesday.

Today, Thursday, we did a light cleaning of the bath houses and just chilled in the afternoon. We we did a little light work with Logan riding along in the golf cart. He seemed to like that.

We decided to leave the park for some grocery shopping this evening after supper. Of course on our way out we were met by several campers arriving. When we returned from our shopping we found that there were two pop-up and a tent camper set up and it was raining lightly.

Weather radio, damn weather radio

Well I am a little behind on posts so this one will cover the last week in North Carolina.
Suzette has been busy making pine needle baskets and visiting with one of the gals in the campground.

After work on Tuesday we took the kayaks down to the boat launch are and put in along the beach. Our objective was to paddle out and view the sunset. Not a good sunset night but we did have a nice paddle.

Although it is late to be looking for camp host opportunities we set the wheels in motion to see if there is anything available in Virginia and there may be a fill-in assignment or two so we will see what happens.

The weather again. I didn't bother to set the S.A.M.E. codes for the counties near where the campground is. Not a good idea. The darn radio was going off constantly as the storms moved from west to east. After the alert about 0030 we decided to roll up the awning and take up the patio mat. NOAA. Yep there were storms but not nearly as bad as they forecast in our area. Some of the other area's were hit pretty bad.

Oh well that little middle of the night exercise made for less work in the morning to get hooked up and on the road.

It looks like we will have a camp host job starting in the middle of next week.

44/144 F54

Yes you got it. 44 days of camping in 2008, 143 since we purchased our first trailer in June '06 and 54 days since we purchased our Fox in September '07.

Yesterday we got out early and waited at the gate for the park to open so we could leave. Yep locked in at night. Kinda like a gated community. Gotta keep the campers safe from the hoodlums that are about.

Well anyway, we made it to our friends house a little after 0830 and the ladies headed out for a pottery show in Sanford. The guys loaded up kayaks and headed for Falls Lake. Who had the better time? Depends on where you were.

One of the highlights of the pottery show was that Suzette met friends that we had not seen since 1996. The Mettlers who now live in Southern Pines. Really cool to be at a big show and meet old friends.

I, with my 9'6" Manatee kayak from LLBean, was off to play with Greg and Eric. They had 17' and 16.5' Wilderness kayaks. We spent about 2 hours kayaking on Falls Lake. I got to take a turn in one of the Wilderness kayaks. That sure is different than the wide Manatee. I thought for sure I was going to go swimming. I did keep it upright and was feeling quite comfortable by the time we reached the take-out location. I guess I paddled the Wilderness about 1/2 mile or less.

Today was chores day. Laundry, shopping, diesel-up. You gotta love WW. In the east Murphy USA has stations associated with WW and diesel today was $4.129 or $4.099 if you had WW's credit card. Other local stations are at $4.199 or higher.

Later in the afternoon we decided to do some paddling in this section of Falls Lake. We put in near the swim beach here at Rolling View CG and paddled for about 2 hours. Then supper and relax.

Suzette enjoying the paddle


Osprey nest and picnic shelter on shore



The swim beach

What's new?

Well the weather has been varied. It has warmed up today and should be nice for a few days before the rain returns. I have been working and Suzette keeps an eye on the campground. We have made friends with the camp host and given him some help with his trailer.

On Wed. we went to Greg and Barbara's for dinner. Great food and a good visit. On Thursday they came to the campground and we did burgers, dogs, potato's carrots and onions in foil cooked over a wood and charcoal fire. Just before we sat down for dinner I put the dutch oven dessert, peach cobbler, on the coals.

We had invited Ed and his wife from a class A near by to come by for desert. Ed brought a pot of coffee. Good visit and good company.

Today after work it was time to make a trip to the dump station. Oh what fun. Well it really isn't such a job and we have made a game of backing in and trying to hit the same spot we were in when we left. Getting pretty good at it. Only had to slightly move the boards we used to level things up this time.

Suzette has been keeping busy making pine needle baskets and doing an interview for a local TV station, Fox 8. They are doing a program on things to do during the summer months in the area. The program should air in a month. Nicole Fergurson, who did the interview said they would send us a video clip. We will post it when we get it.

We really don't run much

What a fine job.

When we were in Florida having a slight problem with our dump snake the camper in the next site offered us his hose support. I liked the idea so much I made my own. It consists of a 5' section of pvc waste pipe cut in half. I cut it on a table saw with the fence set to half the diameter. I kept the blade just high enough to make the cut.
Works great.

Sewer hose support.

Rain Rain ...

Today was laundry, shopping and check out the sites at Jordan lake. We drove to Wake Forest to a laundromat we found in the trusty internet. There was also a Wal Mart near by so that made it a good deal. While we were waiting for our clothes to be washed we went across the plaza to the local dough nut shop. Good stuff.

After we got our supplies stowed we headed of for Jordan Lake. We went to Crosswinds campground area and looked at sites in loops B and C. Loop A is not water electric. We talked to the volunteer at the entrance station and she said reservations were recommended in season for long stays. We saw a number of sites that had reserved signs on them. All reservations were for a week or more. We found a number of good sites for the week of 5/4-10th. Looks like about a 30 to 40 minute commute. Of course the official gate opening time is 0800 there is reason to believe that the gate may be open as early as 0700. That will work good.

After supper we secured things for the expected T-storms. So far, 2220, all we have had is rain. Heavy at times. The weather radio we purchased last year has been going off quite a bit. Nothing for the county we are in or the ones to our west and south. Hail and 58+mph in Wake county which is East of us. The weather map on weather.com shows a lot of rain west of us so I think we are in for a long night.

I just checked the awning and all is well and the water is draining off well. I'm sure the slide topper is sagging nicely. We will deal with that tomorrow.

A view from the main slide looking toward the wardrobe

Rain off the awning

The USB broadband modem, antenna and router are working well with download speed above a meg and 200k to nearly 400k upload speed.

Oh the excitement

As last night progressed a few more campers arrived, several tent campers.

We had a large breakfast and since the tanks were both reading 2/3 we figured we had better make a trip. It took about an hour to break camp, take care of the duties and setup again. We didn't think that was to bad. More backing practice. Almost hit the same spot. Well the tires were on the boards that we used to level the trailer but the tongue angle was about a foot off.

Then it was off to the Duke Homestead. We made our donation and toured the museum waiting for the guided tour. Jason did a very good job, very interesting. Heading back to the park we stopped for lunch, a tour of the local Dollar Store and Food Lion.

We decided to take a ride to the Information Center. Well what do you know. Closed Saturday and Sunday. I guess you don't need information on Falls Lake State Park on the weekends. While we stood on the porch of the closed building, flash-bang! That was close. We don't know where it hit but we figured we shouldn't be at a closed facility and we left.

Back at our campsite we watched as a few more campers arrived. LOUD music. But after a while one of the rangers came by and it quieted down. Watched the NASCAR race then supper.

We had planned to do a little paddling but with the flaky weather we just sat out and enjoyed the evening.

Where in the world are Larry and Suzette

Well Larry is out of retirement for a few weeks doing some "consulting" in North Carolina. I did the first week and stayed in a hotel and took time to check out a couple of campgrounds in the area. One, Birchwood RV and Mobile Home Park, didn't look to inviting but Rolling View Campground at Falls Lake State Park has nice sites. Only loop B is currently open.

The next week, the current one actually, we dragged the Fox down US 15 in VA and found our way to the SP. For our safety NC locks us in at night. In April the gate opens at 0800 and closes at 2000. However the camphost is willing to open the gates if needed. Next month, May, they only protect us between 2100 and 0800.

I was able to adjust my hours but found that the CG supervisor usually opens between 0730 and 0745 so that works out pretty well. I did ask if I could extend to a 3rd week and NO. Oh well we will check out the campsite at Jordan Lake.

Site B29 at Rolling View campground

I'm not sure what is happening but blogger will not let me use the icon to add pictures so I had to use some html. Could the problem FireFox or is Norton Internet Security doing this to me?

Travel Day

We had stayed another day at Santee SP and there were severe storm warnings but we all we had was rain. We had prepared for the worst so we were ready to get going this morning. As we were hooking up we could hear thunder in the distance. Sure enough as we were ready to pull out it opened up. We sat for a while until it abated, about 10 minutes, and headed for the dump station. Of course as I put the hose away it completely quit.

We had planned to travel to Jordan Lake rec area south west of Raleigh. But as we drove in the rain on I95 we decided to just head up 95. Man what a drive. Lots of rain with both heavy and light traffic. Of course some folks figured that 70 or more was the way to drive. They would quickly slowdown only to speed up again then lane diving to beat the slowdowns. One guy that hadn't taken his patience pill slammed on his brakes only to find the guard rail on the left lane. That was the only close one.

Anyway we decided to stop at a KOA north of Rocky Mont. We didn't even disconnect. Just parked the rig and cooked supper. We will be home tomorrow.

Santee Cont.

Lazy getup today. Cold so we put the furnace on for a while. Since we didn't want to cook outside in the cold we had a lite breakfast and started gathering things together so we could move to site 12 as soon as it was empty. Well the folks were using all their alloted time so we biked to the boat ramp for entertainment. We were not let down. Two guys were trying to get their boat secured so they could pull it out. One guy was in the water up to his arm pits trying to hold the line they had gotten on the bow fitting. The other guy was rushing to back the trailer in. The boat was rather low in the water at the stern and listing some. Hummmmmm a missing plug perhaps? We watched as they finally got the boat mostly on the trailer and pulled it enough out of the water that we could see water pouring out of the stern. Yep plug. A boat ramp is a good spot on an otherwise dull morning.

When we headed back to the campground loop we saw that the folks were at the dump station. We stopped and talked for a while and then went to move our camper to site 12. I was in the road and had it tied up and there were 2 or 3 new arrivals so I went around the loop to allow them to get to their sites.

We got ourselves in where we wanted and once setup cooked Cheese Burgers for lunch.

We took a bike ride to the visitor/interpretive center and looked at the displays. It was disheartening to see the pictures of the area before the dam was built and realize that a lot of folks lost their homes. Was it for the better? You be the judge.

Since it was late in the afternoon we decided to take a ride on the Mountain Bike Trail. This is a 6.5 mile loop. We rode a little less than half and returned to the trail junction that led back to the campground. The section of the trail that we were on was easy with only gentle grades and not a lot of roots or other obstructions. A nice ride.

We took care of a few more things around camp because the forecast is for T'storms and tornado's in the evening and night. Then it was back to Lone Star BBQ for dinner. BBQ Ribs were the main attraction and there was the usual southern food items. We had a good dinner and had peach cobbler for desert.

Back at camp we finished putting away as much as we could and make things secure for the expected weather. We then just sat outside and relaxed and watched the world go by.

A good evening.

Once we were inside and had the TV on we were looking at the network weather channels, the digital -n channels, and could see where the storms were forming and their direction. Most are west of us moving NE. However there is a line SW of us moving NE and we may get some of that.

Oh I hear the wind picking up now. Should be an interesting night. Glad I took out a full value policy on the camper.

Santee State Park, SC

We arrived yesterday after an easy 112 or so mile trip from Hunting Island. After we had made the reservations for here we thought perhaps we should have stayed at Hunting Island if we could have moved to another site. Maybe next time.

We had picked site 39 in Cypress View campground because that was all that showed available for our size. What a good choice. Most sites in this figure 8 campground are very nice however a few are to small for the 30U or are not very level. Since we had to add a day or two to our trip we decided to add an extra day here. However we have to move to another site. Site 12 is a back in with a nice lake view. It should be real nice with the big windows in the rear of the 30U. The only bad thing is the possibility of thunderstorms. Rats.

This morning it was 46 an rainy when we go up. So we decided to hit the local Country Bucket, aka Cracker Barrel, for breakfast. We then did some shopping but were disappointed that many of the stores in the Santee Outlet Mall were EMPTY. However we were able to find some new sneakers to buy and help the local economy.

We watched a DVD, "Good Night and Good Luck", in the afternoon. Wow what an exciting day. It never got above about 56 and was just plain cold and nasty out.

For supper we decided to eat at "Lone Star Barbecue and Mercantile", where we had eaten 3 years ago. Cool place, Good Southern Eats. If you are in the area give them the business.

More storms are in the forecast so we may not be able to enjoy much of the park. There is a 6 or 7 mile mountain bike trail I would like to try as well as do a little paddling on the lake or nearby feeder streams. Since we didn't bring much of a video library we may only have "Bullet" and "The Worlds Fastest Indain" to choose from. Both are good.

We do plan to have dinner at Lone Star. Tomorrow is BBQ Ribs night.

Next stop will be one of the campgrounds on Jordan Lake near Raleigh NC.

Hunting Island State Park SC

What a beautiful day, sunny and warm. After breakfast we head out on a bike ride to the lighthouse by the hard road. We make the turn and decide that we will return to the campground area. We take the trail back which is a challenging mountain bike and hiking trail. Roots, sand traps, up/down hill. Just like the old day's in Essex Vermont. As we remember it was easier back in the early 1990's. Must be the bikes?

After our calorie burner we take the truck and head to the boat launch at the end of the island. We talk with a couple from Maryland for a while. They decide that they don't want to go out since it is windy and very choppy in the bay. We decide to head out and take a estuary that is just off the ramp. We paddle for about 2 hours exploring all the channels that are cut by the tide and storms.

Since we are low on diesel we head off the island to the first station we find that has a sign for diesel. Citgo, damn, $3.859.

Now it is off to the lighthouse and climb the 90 or 100 steps. A new definition of triathlon.

We received a call from our Realtor that our house would be included in a group open house on Saturday so we need to add a couple of days to our trip. We made reservations at Santee SP in South Carloina. We would have like to stayed another day here but the site was not available.

Suwannee River SP FL to Hunting Island SP SC

We got hooked up and pulled forward about 3 feet to attempt to use the sites sewer. Not a good plan since there was almost no slope and the sewer hose was an ugly snake full of ... The camper in the next site came over with his home made sewer hose holder a section of 3" PVC cut in half lengthwise. It worked well and I will make one we get back to VA.

On the road. We had decided to take mostly US highways and only a few miles or interstate 95. It seemed to take forever but it was only about an hour longer than the slab. Either way it was boring. The traffic was lite and the drive was better than the slab. I would do it again.

The longest section was the seemed to be from I95 to Hunting Island.

We are in site 159 which is an eyebrow pull through. There are 200 RV sites plus about 10 tent only sites. Most of the sites are quite close but not any worse than other large campgrounds. There are several sites that are very close to the ocean.

We did get down to the beach and talked with a couple from Upstate New York.

Suwannee River State Park FL

Saturday March 29

It was about 50 when we got up. After breakfast we walked the trail to the Columbus Cemetery. There was a town near here in the 1800's or so.

We put the kayaks in and paddled up the Lime Sink Run a good way. I went up past a narrow part where the flow was very fast. Man what a work out. When I returned it was like I was shot out a pipe. When we got pack to the Suwannee we turned up river and paddled for a fair ways. It was hard to judge how far since the river was running at about 5 or 6 mph. Lots of work for a short distance.

Free ride back past the ramp and we turned up the Withlacoochee. We did not go very far since we were getting tired and figured we had better return to the launch ramp.

Temp got into the 80's and we relaxed and biked and walked around the park and caught up on laundry.

Sunday March 30

In the 60's this morning but dark and cloudy. We decided to go to Wal-Mart in Live Oak to fuel up and get some needed groceries. We picked up a ThermaCell bug repeller that the camp host recommended. The park is having it's worst time with mosquitoes because of the high water they had here a few weeks ago.

We just chilled, watch the NASCAR race, walked, biked and took it easy. It never did get very warm and it was overcast most of the day.

Tomorrow we head for Hunting Island SP in South Carolina where we will be for at least 2 nights. We will be traveling on non Interstate roads most of the way.

Diesel at Murphy USA is now $3.95, it was $3.89 a week or so ago. On this last tank we got 12.6mpg. A lot of slowdown/speedup on I75 when we traveled from Oscar Scherer.

Another week in paradise

Another catch-up post.

Sunday March 23 (Myakka River SP)

Cloudy and damp for Easter Sunday. We cooked a big breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs to see us thru the day until Easter Dinner. After we had things cleaned up we decided to catch up on the laundry. Off to Old Prairie campground where the laundry is. The sun started to make a showing so after getting things started Suzette did some knitting while I went across the road to look at where they had staked out the new campground. The information from a campground host is that the new campground will have 50A service as well as sewer hookup's and water. He also said that sites would be removed from Big Flats. When that is completed Myakka will be very nice with the new outpost building.

After the laundry was done and put away we headed for our dinner date in Sarasota. We had a very nice time with our friends Wally, Ann, Judy, Matti, Jean and a great dinner.

Monday March 24 (Myakka to Oscar Scherer)

After breakfast we rode our bikes to the new outpost to take a few pictures and have a look at the lake. It was very windy and the lake was more than we wanted to kayak on. They couldn't take the tour air boats out. Since this was a travel day we decided to just chill for a while before we hooked up and headed for Oscar Scherer.

We arrived about 12:30 and got checked in and headed for our site, 11. Another pick via Google Earth and ReserveAmerica. When we approached the site we saw another camper backing their 5er in. Their truck was half on the road when they unhitched. What did we get into? So I got out and walked to our site. Narrow entry, hummm. But it opened up in the back and was quite roomy and deeper that site 10. It was an easy back-in. The sites are somewhat close but there is sufficient vegetation to provide a nice separation between the sites.

Off to Wal-Mart and Tervis Tumblers and then back to camp. We left for Steins and then Ed Smith stadium to watch the Reds and Blue Jay's play. Reds won.

Tuesday March 25 (Oscar Scherer)

Cold 44 this morning, well it is Florida. Furnace on! The Nature Center is open for coffee from 8-10 so after our breakfast we head over for more coffee and to see what is going on. Later we biked to the ranger station and looked at the picnic area and canoe/kayak launch and marveled at how low the stream is. Duh tidal. Back at the site we picked up the green trail and did about an hours ride.

Steins arrived about 1pm and we headed out for a ride. Took part of the yellow trail over to the new bike path, Legacy Trail, which was still being worked on. I guess we weren't susposed to be on it yet. The grand opening is Friday. Oh well there were lots of folks on the trail. We rode about 3 miles from the park to Laurel Road and back. We were pretty tired so we just chilled for a while then off to Capt. Eddie's for dinner followed by a trip to North Jetty at Venice Inlet to watch the dolphin's. Well we saw one and a lot of birds. We watched the pelicans dive into the water for fish. Cool.

Back to the park and visit for a while.

Donna called to let us know that Matt and Tyra had a new daughter, 9#7oz, 20&1/2. All are doing well.

Wednesday March 26 (Oscar Scherer)

Rich and Linda arrived about 9:30 and we had a nice long visit before lunch. After lunch we headed out for a bike ride on the Green trail. While on the trail we saw a gopher tortise. It watched us for a while before heading off into the brush.

More visiting before supper. Linda had brought a Key Lime pie and several gifts, we were kind of "flocked" since everything had Flamingo's on it. Really cool.

After they left we went to the Nature Center for ice cream, 2 scoops for a $1.

Thursday March 27 (Oscar Scherer)

Today is beach day. We went to the Nature Center for pancake breakfast and of course we took our own Maple Syrup. I'm sure not using Maple syrup on pancakes is against some Vermont law. Great breakfast for $4 each.

After taking care of Logans needs we headed for Casperson Beach in Venice. Steins catch up with us along the way. They had rented a 2 person kayak so all of us were able to paddle. We headed thru the mangroves to the intercostal. I'm not sure how far we traveled but we were out for about 2 hours. When we returned we had lunch and then the girls headed for the beach while Wally and I went out for another paddle. We were gone for about an hour before meeting the girls at the beach.

We soaked the sun and walked along the beach getting our feet wet in the Gulf. We left about 3:30 so we had time to clean up and meet for dinner at the Schrine. After dinner we returned to Steins and played a few games of Rummikub, Suzette won 3 games and I won 1.

On our return we stopped at a Shell for fuel, $4.039 but I get -5%/gal for using my Shell CC.

Friday March 28 (Oscar Scherer to Suwanee River)

Traffic was a bitch on I75. On and off the brakes a lot. No accidents but a lot of rubber necking for any stopped vehicle. We arrived at Suwanee River about 3:30 PM and backed into site 25. This is a nice little state park in the middle of no where. For $15/night we get WSE as well as a listening to a train on occasion. The sites could use a little grading but otherwise all looks very new. Very nice. Shower house is very nice and clean. We biked around a little and checked out the boat launch area. We will do the river tomorrow.

The Weather is here .....

Thursday March 20

We had sprinkles about 0500 and a soaking about an hour later. They were over by 0700 but we had a late get-up and breakfast. We cleaned the "house", AKA boat, and just relaxed. Suzette made potato salad for dinner and we just chilled out. We did talk to our friends Rich and Linda about getting together but they are tied up until after we make the move to Oscar Scherer.

Ray and Ann arrived mid afternoon for a visit. After a tour of the boat we went for about a 2 hour walk along the river to the suspension bridge. Ann took lots of pictures. Back at the camper we cooked cheese burgers and had strawberry shortcake for desert.

After Ray and Ann left we took Logan for a walk and stopped to talk with some campers from New Hampshire. They said the campground at South Of The Border was a good deal but that SOTB is a tourist trap, you see the signs for at least 100 miles in each direction. They also told us that the best kept secret was the breakfast at the parks Outpost.

I walked the campground and took note of the sites that would be good for a next visit.

We did some pre departure packing and retired for the night.

Friday March 21

Spring has sprung

About 4:30 I awoke and it was 43 outside and about 50 inside. So I closed a few windows and plugged in the electric heater. We awoke later to a nice warm camper without listening to the furnace blower. Later we biked to the outpost to cook our own pancakes on their griddle, one on each table. It was pretty good and we didn't have to clean up. Of course we took our own Maple Syrup.

Hooked up and headed for the dump station. There was a line. We waited. About 12:35 we were on our way to Myakka River SP. When we arrived we were told we could not check in for about an hour because they were having computer problems. After a few minutes and visiting with another camper waiting to check in I went to the station so see if we could go to the site since we had reservations and the paperwork from Reserve America. We gave the ranger the information and headed to the Big Flats camping area and site 28.

Of course I didn't make the best pick as far as backing in. I jigged and jogged and we got in fine. Far enough from the cement post and trees that we could open the slide but not quite enough room to open the awning, oh well.

After we got set up we went to the outpost to see what was going on and found that they are constructing a new outpost building. Up on pilings so it won't flood as it has in years past. We decided to drive back to the ranger station to pick up a couple of items that were not available at the outpost.

Talked to our friends and made plans for Saturday and Sunday. Had supper and took a ride to the bird walk where we visited with some of the folks that were there.


Saturday March 22

Sprinkles when we got up. I took Logan for his morning walk and saw 2 deer and about 3 turkey's. Breakfast was steak, eggs and hashbrowns. Umm good.

We relaxed, read and Suzette knitted. The Steins called and suggested we bring dinner to their house because the forcast was for more rain and they didn't want to ride in the rain here at Myakka. So we took about a 4 mile ride before leaving for Sarasota. Stopped and did a little shopping along the way.

Hillsborough River SP FL

I will try an catch up the last few days.
Sunday the 16th we spent time riding around Stephen Foster and into the town of White Springs. It is a quite interesting town. The town library is in an old gas station. The style that had a portico.

On Monday the 17th we left Stephen Foster to travel to Hillsborough River State Park. We arrived a little after 1 PM and were checked in. There were about 5 other campers waiting to checkin after us.

We drove to our assigned site, 57, and as we stopped to assess how best to get backed in the lady in the car following us demanded that we move over on the one way narrow road so they could pass us. I just couldn't find the thruster switch that would allow us to move the truck and camper sideways just for them. They were not happy. To bad for them. Take a pill.

After we got mostly backed in we found that we could not position the camper so we could use it. If we were far enough away from the services that we could open the slide the steps were over the fire pit. That wouldn't work. So we pulled out and went back to the ranger station to see if we could get another site. That only took about an hour because they had to verify the vacant site with Reserve America, the computer locked up, and they are on a dial up connection. What fun.

Now we are pointed out of the park with no place to turn around. So we head South on US301 and follow the trusty GPS to lead us on an around the block trip. Well arn't GPS's great? It sent us down a paved road for 1.5 miles then right on an ever narrowing dirt/sand/gravel road for about another 1.5 miles. Then right on another dirt/sand/gravel road for another 1.5 or so miles. I could just see us getting to the end and not having a clear path to US301. But we made it ok. I figure that was just to get us in the mood for a western trip and blm lands. Sure glad we have the fox with 16" wheels and under slung axles.

Back at the ranger station the ranger said "... you sure took the long way..." anyway we got to our new site, 71, which is paved, wide and deep. Nice site.

We called our friends in Zypherhills and were invited for dinner. That was really welcome after taking over 2 hours to just get parked and set up. On our way to our friends house we stopped at Wal-Mart Murphy for some of their $3.85 diesel.

We had a good dinner of corned beef and cabbage and a very nice visit.

Tuesday we did some biking and paddled on the Hillsborough river. Very nice and the weather was fantastic. We spent some time talking with some Vermonters, Ray and Patty, from Bolton. They are also good friends of some folks that were neighbors of ours when we lived in Vermont. We had a nice visit with them.

We returned to Zypherhills to do a little shopping and have dinner with our friends again. Another good meal. We had a good visit and helped them determine added memory needs so they could move one of their computers to Vista. They also wanted to get away from AOL so I helped get them set up with Thunderbird and Firefox and their Verizon DSL.

Home late.

Wednesday 19'th.
We had a lite breakfast today and went back to town to get meat and a couple of items we forgot on the trip yesterday. We also took some pictures of the park which I will post later, most likely on Picasa web.

A snack lunch an off for a 1.5 or so mile paddle down stream. We saw about 5 alligators and quite a number of turtles. We reached the park boundary and made our turn to head back to our launching point. We had a good paddle.
Now off to the pool for a little swim and relax in the sun. The pool is large but only 2-5' deep so you can't really swim much. After relaxing in the sun we headed back to camp to just chill out for a while.

Dinner and then a 2.5 or so mile bike ride around the park. Then set out and relax some more.

Azalea Festival

Saturday March 15th

Warm, windy and overcast most of the day. It got up to about 85 by mid afternoon.

After breakfast we went to White Springs to the Azalea festival and visitors center. The festival in quite small but folks seemed to be having a good time looking at the crafts and visiting. There were at least 3 food vendors offering BBQ of one description or another. Suzette and I shared a BBQ Rib sandwich, 3 ribs and 2 slices of white bread. We were not sure how to make a sandwich out of that so we just ate the ribs and then took a couple of bites of the bread. I guess that is kind of an open face sandwich.

There was a crafter making wooden spoons and bowls and I spent some time talking to him and he had me use one of his bowl adz's that he got from Africa. Neat tool. We talked about making spoons and he gave me some tips and advice on tools.

Suzette saw a couple of things she liked in one of the stalls where there was some crochet items which she bought for gifts.

After our lunch we visited with a local outfitter and discussed the current river conditions, 8' above normal and out of it's banks. He said folks were paddling but to stay in the main channel so you don't get clipped by an overhanging branch.

We took a ride to Lake City to get a few items for dinner and desert. On our way back we went by a Wal-Mart with a Murphy station and diesel there was $3.89 so we topped off. Earlier we had seen Shell at $4.05 so we figure Murphy was a deal.

After we returned to the camper we decided that we didn't want to make our first paddle on a swollen river so we will hit more of the bike trails.

A cold front is making it's way through overnight so we will have some lower temps and dryer air. I think the weather folks said it would get down to about 60 overnight.

Sunshine state?

It was an easy drive to Stephen Foster Cultural Center State Park. This is a well laid out campground with good site separation and decent space between the sites.

We cruised around the grounds to see some of the sites.

We only wonder where the sun is? Maybe tomorrow or the next day or ...

Larry

Spring Break 2008

Since we haven't been able to have internet access each day I will combine days when we do get access.

Sunday March 9 was our first day out. We had an uneventful drive to Staunton River State Park in Virginia. This is a nice park and we were here last year. It makes a nice first day and short trip. We attempted to pull into one of the 3 sites that are said to be for larger rigs but didn't initiate the turn correctly so we decided to go to site 13 where we were last year. Nice site, easy in and out.
The temperature dropped to 24 overnight but we were quite warm in our camper. We had our furnace set to 60 or so and used a small electric heater to maintain about 64 overnight.

Monday March 10 Staunton River to Little Pee Dee State Park South Carolina.
Again an easy trip combining both back roads and interstates. We arrived at Pee Dee about 2 PM. But this was not my best day towing/parking. First I noticed in a shadow of the camper as we were leaving Staunton River that I had left the TV antenna up. I pulled over at a wide spot before we left the park and lowered the antenna. No damage. Whew!

Later I realized that I wasn't sure I had picked up the 6x6 blocks I used under the tongue jack. I didn't.

When we arrived at Pee Dee there was no one at the Ranger/Check-in station so we went to the campground. The site numbering is a little strange and we had a hard time finding site 15 which was a pull-thru. Once we found it looked like I had to go thru site 14. NOT. But I found myself in the site heading the wrong direction. I had thought I could make a loop through 14-15 and be heading in the correct direction but couldn't make that swing. So I figure I will pull out and drive the one way loop backwards and get to where I can reenter the campground in the correct direction. That's where things went from bad to worse. To make a much to long story a little shorter I kissed a tree with the trailer breaking the lower awning bracket and enduring much discussion from Suzette. Well with several attempts we were able to get out of the site and turn around and back in. Now what?

Oh that little episode only took about 2 hours.

On Tuesday we headed to Myrtle Beach to see if we could get parts. There is a Camping World there but they don't carry our brand of awning. But they did give a business card for "The Awning Man" and he is the MAN. I contacted him and was told to meet him at his shop. Not finding his shop I called him again and he drove by to have me follow him. He had the parts so I bought 2 lower brackets and needed screws. All for $20, not bad. Now to find Margaritaville Cafe for lunch. We found it and had a great lunch.

Back at Pee Dee I replaced the bracket and adjusted the upper bracket. I choose not to roll out the awning fearing that there might be other damage that I couldn't see in the upper bracket. We will make that test when we will be one place for 4 or more days.

Wednesday March 13 Little Pee Dee to Crooked River State Park in Georgia.
When we left Pee Dee we decided the dump station wasn't worth the effort since the twists and turns and trees were not to our liking. We drove back road to I95 and stopped at the Petro at x169 to dump and top off. The drive to Crooked River was just following the slab to GA exit 3 and then about 10 miles to the park.

Crooked River is a very nice park. All sites will take 50' units, water, electric and cable TV. We took a nice eyebrow pullthru site. Lots of folks camped here and there seemed to be a Casita TT convention with about 8 of the little trailers here.

Ed did a little shopping, site seeing and fueled up. Back at the campground we rode several of the trails and considered taking the kayaks out but decided to just chill out since we head for Stephen Foster SP in FL tomorrow.


Larry

Some readers may be interested in what we are paying for fuel and what we get for mileage pulling this heavy trailer so here goes;

We are averaging about 11.8 mpg and we have paid between $3.599 and $3.819 per gallon. Outside of Viurginia, where we paid $3.59 the day before we left, South Carolina at $3.659 was the best price we found. Today we tanked up at Murphy USA (Wal Mart) at $3.799.

T minus 1 (T-1)

Tomorrow, Sunday, we leave for Florida. We are taking an easy trip down with 2 nights at most campgrounds. However Sunday will be a short trip to Staunton River SP and we will only stay there 1 night.

Our itinerary.

I de-winterized the camper today and all systems are go. We loaded stores and clothing and stowed everything for the trip. There will be a couple of items added just before we leave.

Checked the tire pressure on the truck and will check the campers tires in the morning.

Since we connect to the internet using our cell phone I may not be able to make daily updates so check back often.

Sign's up

The For Sale sign went up Feb 7th. Look here for the listing. We have only had 1 looker so far.

We are still working on packing and eliminating stuff. We rented a storage unit and it is about 2/3rds full.

Auction Day

Today was auction day. We decided to attend and watch. It was very entertaining and our stuff sold well. You just never know what folks will want. The auctioneer seemed to do a good job of grouping items into lots where he felt it would bring more money.

Not everything we took to the auction house was on sale this auction. He will be having another in a couple of weeks and the remainder of our stuff will be in that auction.

We didn't feel any sellers remorse.

Moving forward.

Sign's UP

Today we met with our Realtor and signed the papers, measured the rooms, took pictures and put up the For Sale sign.

We had taken 5 pickup truck and 2 car loads of things to the auction house in January. We also rented a 10x15 storage unit, as a special we get first 2 month free, and since I am over the age I get a 5% discount on the monthly storage fee starting with our first payment in April.

We have taken a lot of stuff that we plan to keep to the unit, valuables and firearms have been taken to a friend who has a big safe with extra room. All of our items in the safe are identified with us as the owner along with our contact information.

Still cleaning out the workshop and I plan to keep the power tools. Some of the fixtures I had made will be given away to our friends here. I will make new ones when I need them.

We will be continuing to organize things and make decisions on which items we have left that will go in the next auction. More decisions.