Home!

We left Mebane yesterday morning pretty early (for us) and even though we faced an 8 hour drive, we were pretty confident we could make it home that evening.  We pushed through and stopped only when necessary, eating lunch in the RV in the parking lot of a Pilot travel station.  I realized last night that we have only eaten out on this trip four times: once at Pork Bellies in Damascus, the cafe at Monticello, Shorty's Diner in Williamsburg, and the Outer Banks Brewery Company in Kill Devil Hills (The best being either Shorty's or Outer Banks Brewery.). In the between those, we did not buy any food from a convenience store or fast food restaurant. We did go to the grocery store a few times to buy a few items like ice cream and coffee, but otherwise, we brought everything with us and I cooked most things in advance, like chili and taco meat.  We all agreed that we ate very well and found it much more convenient (and healthful) to make a sandwich for lunch or heat up a bowl of chili for dinner when we arrived at the campground and were all tired from traveling. Nothing worse than having to jump in the car and take two tired kids to a restaurant where we would overpay for a meal that might not even be that good anyway.  The meals that we had were enjoyable and appreciated all the more because we didn't go frequently. I was happy not to have to cook a meal on those days and we still were able to sample the local joints a few times. Win win.

Anyway, despite our usual delays with towing trailers and traveling with kids, we were able to make the 8 hour drive in 9 hours, which may be a record. We arrived without incident and were so happy to be home, even though we had a great time and are really looking forward to our next RV adventure.  Our first time out was certainly a success and we learned a great deal about RV camping. Here are some of our favorites from the trip (Edited to add, I stole these questions from Jan Holmes, my RV idol):

Favorite Meal
Shelby--Tacos (homemade).
NK--chicken nuggets (frozen, from Costco).
Glenn--chili cheeseburger from Outer Banks Brewery.
Rachel--Oyster poboy from Outer Banks Brewery.
Cindy (mom)--Spaghetti (homemade).

Funniest Moment
Shelby--when Dada got knocked over by a wave and lost his shorts.
NK--same.
Glenn--same.
Rachel--same.
Cindy --same.

Favorite Sayings
Shelby--Moo.
NK--My eye!
Glenn--I like this truck. Maybe I'll get one like it. (talking about Mom's truck that he sold her).
Rachel--Ha ta ta ta ta (G's Chinese voice).
Cindy--When NK said as we wiped her face, "How'd that get there?"

Something New That I Learned About RVing
Shelby--It's good to break up long drives into pieces.
NK--Be careful not to get your fingers smushed in the door.
Glenn--Sometimes there is a secret sewer hookup like the one at the Creeper Trail Campground we discovered as we were leaving.
Rachel--Build in rest days to avoid family mutiny.
Cindy-That I can do it.

Best Thing Overall
Shelby--Virginia Creeper Trail.
NK--Meeting Charlotte (friend she made at the Creeper Trail Campground).
Glenn--Relaxing with the fam.
Rachel--Virginia Creeper Trail.
C--Family (specifically having the indispensable Glenn on the trip).

What Did You Miss Most?
Shelby--Junebug and the kitties.
NK--Junebug and the kitties.
Glenn--Sitting on the porch.
Rachel--Running with my friends.
Cindy--Private toilet and not having to empty mine when I did use it.

Favorite City
Shelby--Williamsburg.
NK--Charlottesville.
Glenn--Rodanthe, NC (where our campground was on the Outer Banks).
Rachel--Damascus, VA.
Cindy--Charlottesville.

Coolest Thing You Saw
Shelby--Monticello and Colonial Williamsburg.
NK--Beach.
Glenn--RV park on the beach.
Rachel--Bridges on the Creeper Trail.
Cindy--Whitetop, VA.

Biggest Disappointment
Shelby--Couldn't go in the lighthouse.
NK--Not going in the lighthouse.
Glenn--Truck breaking down.
Rachel--Not going into downtown Charlottesville.
Cindy--That it was so hot at the beach.

Overall Takeaway
Shelby--There is a lot of history in one place.
NK--Didn't you already ask me this?  Oh, that the tours are long.
Glenn--Maybe I need a Ford.
Rachel--NC and VA are very beautiful and I don't think I could ever get tired of them.
Cindy--Staying two nights in one campground is a lot easier than moving every night.

Day Eight

Catching up on my posts bc I skipped my update last night. Just too tired to do it last night. Yesterday we started out in oppressive heat of the Outer Banks. Seriously, when I stepped out the door of the camper about 8 am, it was like walking into a brick oven with the heat of a thousand suns and the air cooking my lungs. It made me not even want my coffee. We wanted to get out of there as soon as possible anyway but with the heat, we weren't really sad to leave the beach.

The girls wanted to go up in a lighthouse so we found one on our route north, Bodie Lighthouse (pronounced Body). It had just been renovated so it was in beautiful condition, and they had just reopened the staircase to visitors.

 I knew it would be a long walk, something like 238 stairs but I thought we could give it a shot. However, when we reached the park HQ (it's part of the Cape Hatteras National Seashore), we learned that a) guests had to be at least 42" to take the tour and b) it was 100 heat index inside the lighthouse. So we would not be taking the tour on this trip! Sad, but the girls are young. We have plenty of time to come back and see the lighthouse again.

 We picked up a couple of books and some maps in the gift shop, including a book of ghost stories of the Outer Banks for Shelby.

Maybe next time we can also visit the Cape Hatteras lighthouse that was recently moved inland due to beach erosion. Kind of impressive to move an entire lighthouse but there you go. I would also love to see some of the wild horses that roam the beaches in certain parts of the Outer Banks. So much history there! I had been several times, and even went to hang gliding school before, but never visited the area with kids of my own, which is always more fun.

Another aspect of the history of the area is the Wright Brothers' first flight at Kill Devil Hills. So we drove up to the memorial, which is part of the National Park Service, and looked around a bit. The memorial museum is quite dated and in need of renovation, but they do have a pretty cool life size model of the first plane. It's so impressive to see their invention up close, and see what a marvel of engineering they achieved. Pretty good for a couple of bachelor bicycle mechanics. They flew it four times on the historic day, the fourth flight reaching over 800 ft in distance in a 21 mph head wind.

The hill above the museum has a large monument dedicated to the historic event but it was much too hot to be walking around outside so we just paid our respects and left.

We decided to head west from the Outer Banks and start the long journey home, but not before stopping at the Outer Banks Brewery Company for lunch. They had excellent food, one of the neatest backyards I had ever seen at a restaurant including a fantastic pirate ship playground and a beautiful flower garden, and most importantly, a parking lot that would accommodate two travel trailers. Priorities.

From there we drove west towards Raleigh-Durham, opting to stop at one of the few RV parks in the area in a little suburb called Mebane. Jones Station RV Park is a brand new park, very well landscaped and quiet in the country but close to the interstate and all the shops and amenities of the area. I wonder what it would be like to own an RV park. You would never get to travel yourself, but just meet other travelers and be available at all times. Much more fun to think about that job than to actually do it, I suppose. Highly recommend these folks, though, if you are ever in the area. We were there for barely 12 hours before heading toward home this morning. We are choosing to play this return journey by ear and stopping if need be, one of the beauties of RV travel where we can just pick up and move where the spirit takes us. We are all tired and ready to get home, though, so we may try to push through these last 8 hours and sleep in our own beds tonight. One day early but won't it feel good? If the Outer Banks weren't 12 hours from home, we would be all over it like sand in a swimsuit. Really nice area and in one of my favorite states. I would love to retire to North Carolina one day or maybe just drive all around it in my RV. 

The kids are really tired and a little homesick but I dare say they have had a blast, as have we all. The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, but miles to go before we sleep. See you back in Kimberly.

Day Seven

Today we were able to spend the day doing what we really needed to do:

Resting on an Atlantic Ocean Beach is different from resting on a Gulf Coast beach. It takes serious determination to  swim, for one thing. The waves are best experienced from the ankles down. Or else risk serious bodily injury unless your lifeguard skills are up to par. The sand will take off a few layers of skin as you collect the numerous shells and bits of sea glass, so many more scavenging opportunities churning around your agitated ankles.  I think I cleaned sand out of every cracked and crevice of my body and I never actually went swimming. That sand is no joke.

We took all these differences in stride, of course, because every beach is awesome at its core.

We played and collected shells all day, pausing only for lunch back at the RV, which was so close it was nothing to return for every little thing, unlike where we camp in Destin where it is a one mile bike ride each way.

In the late afternoon, Mom took the kids to the resort quality pool here at Camp Hatteras, one of the best little RV parks we've been to yet. I cooked dinner (pork loin, rice pilaf, and corn on the cob) and now we sit out enjoying the ocean breeze and cool evening.

Tomorrow we head out for home, stopping at a lighthouse and the Wright Brothers Memorial. We'll sleep a couple of nights on the road before we make it home, but this way we won't be so miserable with our driving days and maybe we can see some cool stuff along the way.  Looking forward to getting back home to our activities and our school year that only just started. Nice to squeeze the last bits out of summer while we can. Such a fun experience and I hope we can have many more of them to come.    

Day 6!

Another marathon day! I am so tired that I'm posting from my phone in bed bc I'm too lazy to get out my computer. So I apologize in advance for any typos.

This morning we really did not know what we would be doing today or where we would end up, but we knew we had to get Glenn ' s truck fixed. He called a tow truck driver who arrived by 8:30, which was the earliest they would send someone. The tow truck took it to the dealership in Williamsburg, Holiday Chevy, in case you are ever in the area, who bc of our situation moved us to the front of the queue. G went with the truck while we got ready to go to Colonial Williamsburg.

The kids did a little school work and I called to tell the campground in Cape Hatteras that we didn't think we would make it tonight. A sad call indeed. We were ready to leave and we're going to pick G up from the dealership,  presuming that it would take hours to fix the truck, but we're surprised to hear that the problem had been found (not surprised at all to hear he'd been crawling under the truck with them to help diagnose it--wires running to the starter had melted from the heat of the engine block), and the truck would be ready in two hours. Soooo I called the campground back, after some discussion, and told them just kidding, we would in fact be there tonight.

The campground in Williamsburg was nice enough to let us leave our RVs until 4 without charging us another day, so after lunch with G at a yummy diner, Mom, the girls, and I headed out to Colonial Williamsburg (CW) to make the best of it.

About CW, I'm not sure what I expected, an amusement park for history buffs I guess, but what I found was so much weirder and overwhelming than merely a theme park. I was so confused at first where the park began and ended but then I learned gradually over the next few hours, and then from Wikipedia later out of sheer curiosity, that CW is not merely a park that opens and closes at a certain time for which you pay admission, but it is in fact the town of Williamsburg, open 24/7 like any normal town, with the obvious exception that everyone there wears costumes and pretends it is 18th C. Colonial Virginia. It is a town that in a strange historical Stepford Wife way is meticulously curated to recreate each detail from the daily lives of its inhabitants so that when you visit the blacksmith's shop, for instance, the random bits of paper plastered to the wall on his work bench are articles from colonial newspapers. A little about the history: Apparently around 1900 residents became alarmed that important Revolutionary War era buildings were being abandoned so they convinced John D. Rockefeller,  Jr., to start buying up all of downtown, tear down everything that wasn't period, and reconstruct the rest in meticulous detail. The whole city went in on the plan and boom, instant history.  So in retrospect, as a visitor today, you don't actually NEED to buy a ticket, only to get into certain tours and such. You can just waltz in whenever you like and pretend you've gone back in time. It's quite weird and wonderful all at the same time.

While all that is well and good and I would highly recommend it to others, it was freaking hot outside, very humid, and my 4 yo was quite grouchy, not handling any of the tours where anyone had to talk for more than 2 minutes.  So we did the kids' scavenger hunt which led us to 7 different buildings and the whole thing took about 3 hours which was perfect for our short attention span crew.

 My goodness we were all wiped out anyway, and, oh yeah, we still had to drive 3.5 hours to Cape Hatteras.

What.were.we.thinking?

We were thinking we wanted to go to the beach, that's what. So we went back to the campsite to hook up the RVs,  and pulled out by 4pm. After a (thankfully) uneventful drive, we arrived just past dark at Camp Hatteras at our beachfront (!!) campsite.

Not an accident that we are just across the dune from the beach as I reserved these spots several months ago, but dang was I glad to get here tonight.  And you can bet that G didn't turn off his truck until he was sure the rv was in the right spot. Just in case, God forbid, it wouldn't crank again.

Pics upload plus Day Five Adventures

Before I relate today's adventures, I wanted to catch up with the pics from our previous days' fun.  

 At Sweetwater, TN KOA we found this jumping pillow, which we thought was full of water but is really just a big pillow-shaped trampoline. Apparently it is a thing at KOA campgrounds because there is one here in Williamsburg, too. The kids loved it.

When we arrived in the Creeper Trail Campground, we just had to make room for our camper wherever we could. So here we are wedged in between a pop-up and a vintage tin can trailer. I'm sure they loved us. 

Here is my mom's Airstream parked in her choice sweet spot. She ran extension cords and a long hose across the road for power and water. Cuz that's what us mountain folk do.

Wasn't it so pretty?

The view from our ridge line was pretty great, which made all the other stuff worthwhile. 

NK doesn't have the market cornered on silly faces. 

Our dinner spot had a nice view.

Because everyone rides bikes in cowboy boots.

The next day on the Virginia Creeper Trail, there were just too many scenes to take in. It was all so beautiful.

I'm sure I was offering encouraging words to Glenn who had stopped in front of me.

 Six miles from the end we found this little restaurant for people on the trail. We didn't eat there but they had a nice bathroom. The trail was so crowded that the line was pretty long.

After Shelby and I fell off the bike and the tagalong, we had to have some more pep talks and talk her down from the ledge. It all turned out ok in the end. 

We did manage to get a nice family picture before it was all over. Wish I had taken more of the trail!

Mom had a great time, too.

After spending last night in Charlottesville, we woke up this morning and got Mom's tires fixed (she actually had two that needed repair). Then we made our way to Monticello. Lots of debate about how to pronounce it. Like "cello" the instrument. Put "monti" in front of it. "Mont-i-CHello." I was really excited about seeing it since the last time I had visited I was in the 8th grade and I don't remember anything at all. I love history and Thomas Jefferson in particular. I was excited about taking the kids because we are doing the American History cycle in CC this year and I wanted to give them a frame of reference when we talk about the Declaration of Independence, etc. This is the only Presidential home that is recognized as a world heritage site. It's pretty awesome.

Here we are in front of the home. Jefferson copied neoclassical architecture from his five years he spent in Europe as the French ambassador. He brought back a lot of the ideas he learned there to implement in the building of his home.

He chose this spot on top of a mountain for the views. He said the only things that would have made this view more perfect would have been a body of water and an active volcano. It wasn't very common to choose to build a house on top of a mountain because it was far away from the river and it was hard to get building materials up there but he was not to be deterred.

We waited for the tour to start (they give you a time slot when you buy your tickets). It was extremely hot today, so we stayed in the shade as much as possible.

I wish I could have taken pictures inside but picture taking wasn't allowed, so I just listened instead like a good girl. :-) We all found the house tour extremely interesting, especially the thought that went into every single detail of the its design and construction, including the clock that measure hours, minutes, seconds, and even the days of the week, but which had to utilize a hole cut into the floor in order to do so. Not many grandfather clocks have pendulums that extend through the floor to the basement. My favorite room was probably his bedroom and office, which were connected by an alcove bed. He could swing off either side of the bed when he woke up, depending on what he felt like doing. I guess he never really got away from his work.

The entrance hall included many artifacts that had been brought to him by Lewis and Clark. I loved looking at the authentic replicas the museum had had created by descendants of the Indians whom Lewis and Clark had met on their travels. I loved reading the journals of Lewis and Clark, so it was really neat to see where they had brought all their specimens when they returned. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to hear the conversations they had with Jefferson after their two year journey.

I was so pleased that Shelby especially loved listening to the tour guides. She specifically asked to go on the slavery tour, which discussed the slave quarters and jobs on the plantation. I don't know that we've ever actually talked about slavery but she seemed to know what it was and didn't ask too many questions. She's probably read a book about it. I'll have to read her journal entry about our visit today to see what she took away from our visit.

The tour guide did an excellent job relating stories about the life of a slave on the Jefferson plantation. He even addressed the controversy about the illegitimate children by the slave Sally Hemmings. The Jefferson descendants have voted against allowing descendants of the Hemmings family to be buried on the property.  It seems a little crazy to me that they are still fighting about this 200 years later. But really interesting nevertheless.

I will definitely be reading a biography of Jefferson soon.

After Monticello, we drove the two hours to Williamsburg and checked in to our KOA campground. As Glenn tried to move the RV to level it, he jumped into his truck to pull the RV forward, only to find his truck wouldn't crank. We had driven for two hours and stopped for gas and the truck decided to break down at our campsite??!! We could not have been more fortunate. Not only were we already camped, but we have another vehicle (my mom's truck) to drive tomorrow so that when the tow truck takes the broken one to the dealership to have it fixed, we can still go to Colonial Williamsburg as planned. Maybe we can even leave town tomorrow and make it to the Outer Banks on time. Who knows? We are thinking it's just the starter, so maybe it will not take long.

Fortunately, our KOA has a nice pool, which is deserted because our kids are the only ones at the entire campground. Thank you, homeschooling.

This place even has a splash pad?? When I was a kid, we were lucky to play in the hose.

God has really watched over us on this trip. We could not be more grateful.

Days 2, 3, and 4

Just got to a campground with WIFI so I could post what I'd written on my laptop. It is late and the WIFI here is not letting me upload pictures, so I will try to post what I have and add pics later.

Saturday, August 30, 2014

After leaving the Sweetwater KOA, we drove to White Top, VA, a drive that Google Maps said would take us a little over 3 hours, which took us about 5. This is becoming a theme. Apparently, when traveling with a family and an RV, road trips have a way of extending themselves like a waistline in an old pair of jeans. So we drove most of the day and arrived in the town of Damascus, VA, a few hours before dusk, later than we had intended, but at least it wasn’t dark. We had to drive 15 miles or so past this little town (very cute, catering to hikers from the Appalachian Trail, which runs through the area, and bikers on the Virginia Creeper Trail) up the mountain to reach our campground. We had called ahead and confirmed our reservation. Since they hadn’t asked for a deposit or anything other than my name, I was a little nervous about showing up and their telling me oops, sorry, they had no room for us, but everything seemed to be fine. We became a little concerned, however, when we saw the sign for Highway 58 east, before we began the last 15 mile leg of our journey, which advised trucks longer than 35 feet to take the interstate instead.  With our truck and trailer together, we were well over 35 feet but we hadn’t been able to find another campground in the area that wasn’t booked over the holiday weekend, so we soldiered on. We wound up the mountain, around switchback after switchback, looking over the shoulder of the road into the beautiful yet treacherous ravine below. It wasn’t for the feint of heart, but our fearless driver continued to lead us up to whatever was waiting for us at the end, we didn’t know.

After a few dodgy turns when only the signs for Creeper Trail Campground confirmed we were on the right path, we rounded the turn to see a steep gravel driveway into the parking lot of the campground store.  Glenn had to put the truck into 4WD, and this should have been a clue of what was to come.  We checked in and she waved us up another steep gravel drive onto the ridge overlooking the store and the surrounding Christmas tree farm, which was already populated with campers and tents, but mostly tents (also a clue).  She told us to pick any spot that was open. Ha! Easier said than done. The campers who were already there had claimed various level areas, not all of which corresponded to an actual electrical hookup. Some had extension cords running to their sites, and since there were no concrete pads or anything differentiating one site from another, it was impossible to tell at first glance what was available. We had to make the loop twice, incredulously wondering 1) how we were going to make it down and back up the ridge with camper swaying behind us, and 2) if we were going to make it, where in the heck could we set up that gave us access to power and water. It took a lot of negotiating with the trail and the other campers before we found a spot for my mom’s Airstream and our fifth wheel, which are by far the largest campers up here.  Go figure!  I would like to add that I read no reviews that even remotely indicated there would be trouble getting a camper in here. Which just goes to show you can never trust reviews, and should always do more research, like say, calling the campground to ask about potential pitfalls before arriving with your entourage in tow a few hours before dusk on a holiday weekend.  I should have known when they didn’t ask for a deposit that no one was clamoring to get in here when all the other campgrounds were booked that it would be either too sketchy or too remote for us, but without any other options, I went ahead as planned.  Since, as I write this, we are still here and have not tried to leave yet (we depart tomorrow), it remains to be seen if we can leave here without incident, as we know that going down the mountain is harder when towing a vehicle than it is going up. In addition, there is a dump station on top with us, but no sewer hookup, so we will see how we shall finagle our camper into that slot so we can dump before we try to drive back down the mountain with black and grey water sloshing around in our tanks. To make matters more complicated, it is supposed to rain tonight, so the only thing that might make a steep gravel drive more difficult is a little water thrown on for good measure.  Good thing we have a spirit of adventure.

Promptly upon arrival, we met our friendly neighbor, Bill, who gave us the lowdown on the Creeper Trail and the campground where we stayed. All in all, this area is quite beautiful, nestled in a holler among the peaks around us. The drive, though treacherous, can’t be beat for scenery, and had we arrived earlier before the holiday crowd, we could have snagged some primo views with our choice of campsite. Still, it’s very quiet (except for the boy scout troops and the raucous group of families down the way, but all in good fun) and relaxing here. It’s much more rustic and primitive than we anticipated, but I would recommend it to people in small RVs or tents.  Absolutely no cell phone service in the area, which is to be expected, and WIFI that pretty much only works in the camp store, but we didn’t come up here to surf Facebook, so we don’t mind.  It is hard to update the blog with no Internet, but I can at least write my entries on my laptop to be uploaded later.  The girls have made a few friends and really gotten a taste of “real” camping, even though we still have a hot shower and air conditioning (not that we need it since it is so cool in the mountains, but nice to have nonetheless).  It’s places and experiences like this that make me love RV camping, as imperfect as they are.  You just can’t make this stuff up.

Sunday, August 31, 2014

This morning we wanted to get up early and get a head start on our planned trip down the Virginia Creeper Trail, but as always, the best laid plans… The Creeper Trail is an old railroad bed that has been transformed into a really long park only accessible to hikers, bikers, and horses, and it extends from Abingdon, VA, up the mountain to the trailhead in White Top, VA, around the corner from our campground. Most people stay in Damascus and take the shuttle up to the top where they coast back down for 17 miles. Since we started up at the top, AND we had two vehicles with us, we decided to drive one vehicle down to the bottom and leave it so we could save $15 a person and drive ourselves back up. After much debate, we also decided to rent two tagalongs, which are the single-wheeled extensions for the kids to ride on behind the adult bikes, which we obtained from the campground store.  We had discussed starting about 9 am, but after cooking breakfast, cleaning up, renting the tagalongs, and running our shuttle, we didn’t arrive at the trailhead until about noon. Oh well.

Glenn hooked up the two tagalongs to our bikes, and we sat on the trailhead with dozens of bikers going past, who had just unloaded by the vanful from arriving shuttles. We tried to get situated, adjusting seats and shifting backpacks, tightening helmets, and gearing up for what was supposed to be a 3-4 hour ride, the longest ride any of us had ever taken on a bike.  However, NK couldn’t reach the pedals. Then Shelby and I tried to shove off, her on the tagalong behind me, but her tagalong wobbled, she panicked, and I couldn’t steer with her flailing behind me. We readjusted the joint, trying to tighten it up well, gave her a pep talk, and tried again. Still, to no avail. Last try, girding our loins for success, aaaaand we both fell over and crashed, the handlebar hitting Shelby in the forehead and the ground scraping my leg.  OK, time for Plan B.  

Glenn drove the tagalongs back to the camp store, brought our homemade bike trailer with bath mats from the RV lining the bottom for the girls to sit on, and fastened it to the back of his bike.  Then we were finally off. The trail was mostly smooth sailing, in addition to being possibly the most beautiful park I’ve ever seen. Mile for mile, I can’t think of a place that beats the sheer number of amazing vistas and natural beauty. The temperature was cool and fresh, as mountain air is supposed to be.  As we rode down the trail, we passed over dozens and dozens of bridges, from small wooden spans to larger train trestles, underneath which flowed a swift and rocky stream, cold and clear. With the sound of the rushing water alongside us, and the intermittent cries of “On your left!” from passing bikers (for safety), we coasted down all 17 miles, stopping periodically to allow the girls to swap seats in the trailer, or to grab a snack, or even to rest at one of the restaurants that caters to Creeper Trail bikers along the way.  My husband would certainly disagree with my use of the words “coasted down all 17 miles” as he would like to remind me that he had to pedal a great deal when the incline leveled off or when we rode up over a bridge. By the end of the trip, he was definitely feeling the strain, having pulled close to 100 lbs on a trailer behind him for several hours. The last mile or so was very level and required a lot more pedaling, which was almost a cruel joke after having come so far, only to have to work even harder to reach our destination, but reach it we did, in under four hours to boot.

We rewarded ourselves with a dinner out, one of the very few I can remember on all our RV excursions. We usually eat really well when we camp, and I cook most of the food in advance, but tonight, I just knew I was going to be too tired even to heat anything up. So I was grateful for that beer, hamburger, and French fries, from a local joint called Pork Bellies. We even grabbed some ice cream from the grocery store since the ice cream shop didn’t have any nut-free ice cream for Nora Kate, and capped off a really long, but fun day.

I have thought many times today if I would do this trail again. On one hand, it was a very long way, and we drive bikes we bought at the thrift store with a homemade trailer.  While I do exercise, I am not used to riding my bike for so many hours. I am going to be very sore for a few days.  In addition, the girls are too young to have driven the whole way by themselves and for whatever reason, tagalongs were not practical for us. If I can talk my husband into doing the trail again, it will be in a few years when one or both of them are old enough to ride the whole way by themselves.  Two kids on a bike trailer for 17 miles are too much for one person to tow, even mostly downhill, and I was certainly not strong enough or a skilled enough biker to tow one or both of them that far. However, when the kids are older, I would definitely like to come back and take more time, allowing for more leisurely stops and rest breaks. I kind of felt like we were on a mission to finish, because we knew G had to tow so much weight, and weren’t able to stop and appreciate the scenery more often. Other than that rushed feeling, though I really enjoyed this very unique adventure and was glad I got to experience it with my family and that the children are old enough to remember it for years to come. 

Monday, September 1

This morning we loaded up and were able to dump the tanks pretty easily. We also managed to exit the campground successfully. Yay! Heading down the mountain, however, Mom realized she'd run over a hook of some sort which was lodged in one of the RV tires. The tire wasn't flat, so we were (thankfully) able to continue our trek to Damascus without having to pull over on the non-existent shoulder.  We stopped in the grocery store parking lot where G changed the tire and were finally able to leave (at 2:00!) for what was supposed to be a 3 hour tour...a 3 hour tour.  It being Labor Day, the traffic was a bit rough, and then got rougher, so we detoured off I-81 through the town of Salem, VA, which was supposed to be faster but it appeared to be rush hour, so we were never sure if it was worth it.  We had to stop a few times, which is par for the course, and Google Maps kept adding minutes to the trip, which is never a good sign. Anyway, we didn't arrive at the Monticello KOA until 7:30 pm. We are not sure about trips like this where we have to move around so often and have such long driving days. We need more play time! Granted, the traffic was horrible, so it should not have taken so long, but I will know in the future to plan more flexibility. If we had not already reserved (and paid for) our night at the Monticello KOA, we would have stopped somewhere several hours ago and had more time to chill before bedtime. However, one of the reasons I planned this trip is so we could figure out what the best rhythm for our family would be on a long road trip like this. I am learning a lot, to say the least. 

Onward and Upward

Yesterday we spent the morning packing up and readying our camper that we had never used before. It was quite taxing bc I had just taught my first class at our homeschool co-op and I had been really preoccupied during the week. To pack up a camper requires days of prep and planning, even for a short weekend, and my mind had not been able to focus fully on it as I would normally have done. Maybe I should not have planned such a big trip the first week of school but it is Labor Day and it was a way to maximize our holiday. C'est la vie. It will all be worth it even though it was a bit stressful trying to remember everything with a serious case of mom brain.

We packed and headed out about noon, going up back roads through northeast Alabama through Chattanooga at rush hour (not fun), and up the road a bit to Sweetwater, TN, where we found a KOA with a pool and some other fun things for the kids to do. We arrived early enough to set up camp and have plenty of time before dark to play and relax. I'm glad I built in time to make this trip more laid back than it could have been. Even though the campground was crowded, we were able to get a couple of sites last minute and they even moved people around to accommodate us. Nice people. This morning we woke up with some time to drink coffee before we packed up and headed out. Easy camper to set up and break down, which is nice because we will have to do it a lot.

I have reservations at Creeper Trail Campground, which is a Christmas tree farm and RV park in Whitetop,  VA, a little place on top of a mountain, which also happens to have no sewer hookups, just a dump station. We are staying there 2 nights and while it would be nice to be able to take long showers (one of us who shall remain nameless enjoys a good 30 minute shower before bed), it is camping after all. We shall persevere. No other campgrounds with sewer hookups were available over the holiday weekend anyway so it could not be helped.

Whitetop sits at the trail head for the Virginia Creeper Trail, a rails to trails park that extends 17 miles from Whitetop to Damascus, running almost exclusively downhill the entire way. It is supposed to be an easy ride and great for people of all ages, which is great because we will have 2 small kids with us and a bike trailer. Excited to see what this trail is all about. Tomorrow morning we ride the trail and take the shuttle back up the mountain. Wish us luck!