RV Trip July 2016 -NC, DC, PA, NY

July 6-19 – Y’all know we were stranded in Brunswick in a long and VERY frustrating stay.  All 3 a/c units went out – the first guy was able to fix the dash a/c at a cost of $450 but could not fix the dual a/c units on the top. So we took it over to Southern Auto and Diesel RV Repair, and checked into another hotel.  EVERY single day, we wondered if we should not just go back home, but each day we thought surely it would be fixed the next day!  We were told SURELY on Wednesday, then DEFINITELY on Friday, then WORST case scenario on Monday. Monday morning the mechanic texted and said he was in the ER with his wife, so we assumed that there would likely be no work done that day and after $1200 of hotel bills, we went over there to check on any progress around 1:00 p.m. and the office was closed and with no one there, we decided to just go on home and hope for the best. So we did.  And wouldn’t you know, he called JUST as we were entering our subdivision before we even got home and said it was ready (except for putting it all back together!) We told him we’d call him the next morning to see how he made out and we were not coming back until he could tell us it was ready to drive away!  So we called first thing Tuesday morning and sure enough, he said it was ready with a few minor things to do which would be finished by noon. So…..off we went with a prayer and a hope. We got to him about 1:30 and paid our $4,500 bill, gulp!!! And set out! We were about a block away and ready to hook up the car, and Earl noticed the rear camera was not working, as well as the cigarette lighter where he plugs in his phone for GPS, so we just went around the block to go back.  You can imagine his face when Earl walked in!  haha He came right out and it was only a couple of blown fuses, probably from when he was re-doing all the electrical wiring, so we were good to go!  Almost with bated breath we set out, and after a couple more hours we stopped in Walterboro, SC at New Green Acres RV Park. Big grassy areas, and really long pull throughs which was nice as we were not unhooking the car. Cost was only $32, really cheap!

I just made dinner in the RV since we were not unhooking the car and we watched C-SPAN all night with the GOP Convention providing entertainment. Actually it was really good.  Donald ! Trump, Jr. was awesome – and others quite enthusiastic.  It gives me a wee bit of hope to see all the energy and enthusiasm, but will it be enough?  Heavy hearted about the election this year, I must admit.

We left around 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, the 20^th, driving all the way to Roanoke Rapids, NC.  We’re at RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads – SUPER nice park!  This is the kind of park we’d love to stay in for awhile, but after losing two weeks, we have to really boogey to get to Canada.  It was hard driving through Fayettville today as we’d planned to go and have a nice visit with my sister in law, and then go east on to my home in Hertford. I had so looked forward to going home, seeing childhood friends and family, but…..we had to sacrifice going home on this trip, maybe we’ll just do that on another trip up. 

This park was only $35, also nice pull throughs and just beautiful area and site, so definitely a “come back to” place.  I think parks on the east coast are evidently way cheaper than out west! We paid $60-$80 most of the time and often $100 or more, so this is awesome, although we’ll have to save a lot to make up for the repairs we had, sigh…. We are just so thankful to have a/c! In this heat, it would be absolutely miserable to travel without it. We did unhook tonight as we were in the mood to go have a really nice dinner.  We were in the mood for good steak  so went to Texas Roadhouse, and during our meal, I got called Honey Pie, Sweetie Pie, Hon, Sweet Thing, Darlin, and on and on…..crazy.  I’m from the south and used to SOME of that, but whoa, this was over the top! I’d be having a talk with her if I was her employer. Haha  I guess that was way better than her being rude and pushy.

Thursday, the 21^st, we drove on up through Washington, DC.  I had said to Earl so far, we sure haven’t been doing anything too blog-worthy!  We’ve just been chewing up the miles on the interstate, so haven’t seen lots of cool things yet. We’re not used to traveling every day like this.  We like to stay 2-3 days on every stop to see the area, etc. but making up for lost time.

I would never in a million years want to live here!  WAY too many people! WAY too much traffic! Yuck! Ask me how I really feel.... ha

We are staying at Cherry Hill Park right where I-95 meets I-495. HUGE park, with I believe about 400 sites! And they are FULL!  We only saw 2-3 empty spots, so it’s quite congested at this time of year, and this park is open to everything from luxury Class A’s to tent camping. That is not always the case, so it was fun to drive around and see how people travel. There are lots of $2-3 Million Dollar coaches in here, as well as pup tents and everything in between. 

Lovely landscaping all throughout with lots of beautiful trees. 

From our spot we see only woods across from us, very scenic, but OH the weather!!! I thought we’d be getting cooler weather as we got farther north!  It’s blazing hot here!!!  Way hotter than Florida – triple digit temps expected all next week!  We have to get NORTH!  This park for my RVing buddies was $85 night. This is where we had reservations in May to come and see the cherry blossoms, and we missed the blooming season when they bloomed about 4 weeks earlier than usual.  So….we’ll come bright and early next year so as not to miss them. Tonight we went out and enjoyed sharing a delicious baked spaghetti at Mama Lucia’s. yum….

It is more than a little harrowing to go through a long tunnel when you feel like the lane is just barely big enough! It feels on MY side like the mirror is an inch from the wall, though probably more than that. Add a big semi coming alongside you and YIKES!!

This is the park we stayed at once we got to our short destination near Earl's sister, near Souderton. For my RVing friends, $40 night - only power, no sewer or cable.

This is where our neices work.... in Sellersville, PA

Downtown Sellersville....

July 22-25 – We really enjoyed time with Earl’s sister and family. It’s rare for us to be with Frank and Dot and the girls. Also a little sad - it's hard to see the effects that have devastated Dot's life ever since that drunk driver hit her many years ago. And now Frank is legally blind, so you can just imagine the challenges they face on a daily basis. The girls (indeed all the family!) are wonderful to help them as much as possible. Tammy and Al and Tara and Don have raised 8 amazing children.  We’ve always been impressed with their behavior ever since they were toddlers, but to see them as almost teens, teens and adults now is just incredible. Gives me hope for our future in America. 

 We finally flagged a neighbor to come and take a photo of all of us - these selfies don't work too well for a big group. 

We all enjoyed sloppy joes, macaroni salad and Frank's famous ice tea, which is the only ice tea I've EVER been able to tolerate, and that's because it's mostly lemonade! 

Yummy desserts and we said our goodbyes....we'll see the 2 couples at the wedding this weekend, but who knows when we'll see the kids and Frank and Dot again. Sad for families to be so spread apart.

I made the herculean effort to get my hair done while I was in this area.  I’ve been needing it and kept thinking I’d do it while we were in Brunswick, and just never did as we thought every day we’d be leaving the next day (yeah right) and I’ve just been putting it of.  That’s been one of the worst things when we’re on the road, as even though my hairdresser at home gave me the “formula” for the color, etc. – I have yet to find a salon that uses that same brand, so they’re always kind of guessing.  This time I had a young girl who I’m sure must have just gotten her license the day before.  I told her I wanted a very slight trim, but I think she decided while she had an actual client, she’d take advantage of it, and cut and cut and cut!  I wondered what was taking so long, as I was turned from the mirror.  She cut on it for almost an hour!!!  Whaaaat? I’m chatty so we were just chatting away, and I was asking all kinds of questions about her life and background, etc. and so I ended up quite “shorn”! Worse than that, as hair will grow, is the color mess up!  Yikes, not too bad in the front but in the back – ugh….  I have both hi-lites and lo-lites and so I ended up with let’s just say a bit of a patchwork look in the back. Hmmmm oh well – it is what it is and isn’t a forever thing.  Amanda is going to have quite a job “fixing” when I get back home.

It was hotter than blue blazes here! WAY hotter than FL – sometimes as much as 10 degrees! Yikes! Let’s just say, we have yet to enjoy what we like so much about RVing – spending lots of time outside!  But…. I’ve gotten lots of reading done.  We’ve watched all the GOP convention and last night a wee bit of the Democratic Convention, but I couldn’t take too much of that, and once I realized I didn’t have even one American flag it turned me off so much, we decided to go back to Netflix. Someone later said they did put some out for one event or something.  Heavy hearted for our country right now. I just have to try to limit news coverage as it can really affect my peace of mind.  And ultimately we’ve read the end of the Book and we know we WIN.  I just hope that Christians will not abdicate their responsibility to vote like they have in the past!

On the road to beautiful New York.

Ahhhhh FINALLY some cooler weather!

We spent one night in Binghamton, NY at Belden Campground.  We came here specifically because the former owner is my sister-in-law’s brother, and we’d heard about this park for years.  It’s about 120 site park and we are in the front of the park where they have long pull throughs for overnighters so it’s not necessary to unhook the car.  Because of our location we have a magnificent long range view!  For my RVing friends, it is only $34 night!  A lot of the people here are seasonal and leave their RV here for a 2^nd home.   

 

We got to meet the new owners, Joe and Vicki, and enjoyed sharing ice cream with them on the store porch. We also have wonderful neighbors, Paul and Darlene from Pittsburgh. Lovely people – we had some quite amazing conversations about politics among other things. We really enjoyed meeting them. 

 
Since we didn’t unhook, we grilled filets tonight and it was delicious and nice to be able to eat outside again. 

Just beautiful here, and it is heavenly to get a break from brutally hot weather! It was 78 when we arrived about 3:00 and will get down to 58 at night. Sigh…..only if you’ve been in near triple digit temps for days can you know how good this feels!  First time since we left home we were able to sit outside and read! What a beautiful area it is around Binghamton, just our drive down the interstate held amazing views. Another year we may plan to come and stay here for a week or two. I’d actually consider this location for a summer home but it’s so stinking far from FL!  I guess we’ll stick to our plans to have a summer home in the mountains of NC or TN.

We hated to leave this lovely place, but we have to get on up toward Canada for the wedding this weekend. So we left about 11:00 and headed to the Thousand Islands Campground – it’s $40 for my RVing friends and I would not recommend this park – very rustic, no TV, but it’s not too important, as it’s mainly just a place to leave the RV while we drive up into Canada. We were surprised how hot it felt when we got here!  I thought we’d have cool temperatures from Binghamton on, but it is HOT in the sun! Temp is only 85 which isn’t too bad, but after our cooler Binghamton weather we were a bit disappointed.  The difference is it does cool down at night – I think tonight it’s supposed to be in the low 60’s.  We went and had dinner at Foxy’s Restaurant on the St. Lawrence River.  Beautiful views of some of the “thousand islands” – wow, can you imagine owning your own island and just having your home there with no neighbors except those on the other islands?  Pretty sure these people are seasonal.  I cannot imagine being isolated like that in the winter here!  Yikes! 

The St. Lawrence River.....

When we were leaving the restaurant, Earl noticed the left rear passenger tire looked exceptionally worn on the outside – we don’t know if the last time it wasn’t aligned properly or if it has something to do with towing?  Anyway, instead of going on up into Canada in the morning, Earl is going about 30 minutes back into Watertown to get 2 rear passenger tires an a good alignment. Fun times….sigh.  Hoping it doesn’t take long as we’re anxious to see the family.