Well, the rest of our windshield install at Newmar went fine. On Friday, September 27th, we woke up and wished each other a Happy 33rd Anniversary, and then once again left Newmar happy campers. We headed east to Westerville, Ohio to visit Jen and Pat Miller. Jen is the daughter of Lisa's cousin Rick (& Judy) Jahn. We had planned to try our first night of Walmart camping, but due to a late start from Camp Newmar decided to go straight to Jen & Pat's house. This allowed us to get there in time to meet year and a half old Holden, and 6 year old Sydney before bedtime. 11 year old Maddie came home later after the local high school homecoming football game. Jen and Pat have a fantastic home and offered to let us spend the night in their guest room which we took them up on. Although we are happy with the shower in the BBB it doesn't stack up well against a full sized house shower. So we'll take those as a treat when offered.
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| Sydney, Holden, Jen & Pat Miller |
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| Jen & Pat's home |
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| Maddie & Jen |
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| Holden |
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| Maddie & Sydney |
Saturday, September 28th, was our longest driving day thus far at about 425 miles. The goal for this journey was to visit Don & Liisa Morgan and Dick & Chris Morgan. Don and Dick are Dale's cousins. We camped at Lake Fairfax county park. We had camped in this same park 12 years ago during travels with our girls in our old Itasca Sunrise. The park is very large with a wide assortment of activities including a water park for day use visitors. However, at $45/night for a 50 amp site it is pricey for just electrical hookups with dusty gravel sites and roads. The location is good for touring Washington, DC and probably explains the high price. Upon arrival we were met immediately by Dick. After a quick plug-in we were chauffeured and treated to dinner along with his wife Chris. Dick's daughter Lauren, also joined us at The Tavern in Great Falls, VA. Although Dick is in the midst of an 8 year battle with Multiple Myeloma, and the associated neuropathy in the feet and hands, he doesn't let it stop him. He managed to get up our high first step into the motorhome so he could see our new digs after dinner. Don't tell the park, but Dick and Chris stayed well past the 10:00 visitor curfew. It was nice to catch up and talk about old times. On Sunday morning we met the Don Morgan clan for brunch at the very posh Clydes of Reston. Don's treat. The gang included Don's wife Liisa, Don's son Dean, his wife Christine, their daughter Ashley, Don's daughter Leea and her husband Ted. After lunch Don took Lisa & Dale out on his boat. We motored down the Potomac to Mount Vernon. Seeing it from the water provided much better views than anything we could imagine on land. Sunday evening Dick and Chris came back over to the campground for a campfire (courtesy wood from Don). Once again we blew right through the 10:00 curfew. Dick brought family memorabilia which was neat to see. Monday evening we met Dick and Chris one more time for dinner. We came away armed with two large briefcases of family history which Aunt Ruth and Uncle Freeman (Don and Dick's parents) had gathered during their genealogy days. Our mission will be to pass these heirloom documents on to Dale's cousin, Dianne Dau, who is attempting to maintain the extensive Peterson family tree put together by Uncle Freeman in the late twentieth century. Tuesday morning we left the park and drove the motorhome and Jeep over to Don's house. He was kind enough to let us wash both vehicles in his driveway as they really needed it.
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| Lauren, Dale, Chris & Dick at The Tavern at Great Falls |
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| Dale, Lisa, Leea, Ted, Liisa, Don, Ashley, Christine & Dean |
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| Don's boat |
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| Don & Dale |
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| Where are we? Which way do we go? |
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| Captain Lisa |
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| Don enjoying a ride for once instead of manning the helm |
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| Mount Vernon from the water |
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| Dale & Dick around the campfire |
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| Getting ready to wash 'Pigpen' in Don's driveway |
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| Don, Lisa & Liisa in front of the cleaned up BBB |
Our intent for Tuesday, October 1st, was to camp in the Shenandoah National Park just off the Skyline Drive in Big Meadows, a national park service campground. However, our wonderful government had other plans. Due to the government shutdown we had to go with plan B -> Walmart. Yes, we finally got to spend a night in a good ole Walmart parking lot. We chose Harrisonburg, VA for this special event. Upon pulling into the lot we realized this particular Walmart was in one hoppin' shopping complex. After a tentative drive through the busy lot Dale found a spot big enough to accommodate us without blocking essential parking spaces. However, signage posted in this portion of the lot, which appeared somewhat separated from the Walmart, clearly stated no overnight RV parking. So later in the evening, after the Walmart lot had thinned out, we took another careful lap around the lot, and settled in closer to Walmart and a couple class C motorhomes also overnighting. This first experience was, thankfully, uneventful. Wednesday, October 2nd, was Dale's 57th birthday so Lisa took him into the Walmart first thing in the morning and showed him a birthday card. That's all, just showed him and then put it back. We then proceeded to the grocery section where Dale got to pick out his very own box of cereal. We actually bought the cereal, along with a few other items to fulfill our duty as good Walmart overnighters. After pulling out of our Walmart campsite we continued with plan B. We drove down to US64 and across to the northern entry to the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those not familiar with the area, the Blue Ridge Parkway is the southward continuation of the same stretch of asphalt as the Skyline Drive. However, unlike the Skyline Drive, the Blue Ridge Parkway was to remain open during the shutdown. Upon arrival at the Blue Ridge Parkway we looked north toward the southern entry point to the Skyline Drive and, sure enough, the gates were closed with a Ranger patrol car crossways across the closed gate. We drove the Blue Ridge on Wednesday down to Monroe, VA and camped at the Lynchburg KOA (formerly Wildwood Campground). The KOA was just OK, nothing special. The BBB did its impression of Pigpen again driving in the dusty driveway. So much for a clean motorhome. : ( At least it was clean for more than 24 hours. This Pigpen impression is getting old fast. The owner of the campground assured us we weren't unique in this regard "Oh yeah, every time we get a diesel pusher in here it creates a big dust storm." Wednesday afternoon and evening we visited the Natural Bridge of Virginia. It was well worth the entry fee to see this privately managed wonder. We saw it first during the daylight and then went back at night to see an inspirational light show up on the historic landmark while they read the story of The Creation and played appropriate Christian themed music. You would definitely be selling yourself short to miss the light show. Thursday we continued our journey down the Blue Ridge to Roanoke, VA. We've decided that the Dutch Star is probably not the ideal vehicle for that type of road. From now on we'll try to set up a base camp near such roads and use the Jeep on the twisty, turny, up and down scenic routes. Besides the slightly tense driving conditions our fuel economy dropped to less than 5 miles per gallon for those 100 or so Blue Ridge miles. Thursday night was our first night at a Cracker Barrel. Much quieter than the 24 hour Walmart. And a good home-cookin' breakfast in the morning!
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| First night in a Walmart |
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| Entering the Blue Ridge Parkway |
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| Sign on one of the facilities along the Blue Ridge Parkway |
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| Or take advantage of the woods all around |
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| Now there's an ambitious sightseer |
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| Even more ambitious sightseers |
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| Oh Oh!! Duck! |
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| Made it! |
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| Natural Bridge actually has a US highway passing over the top of it |
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| Natural Bridge evening light show |
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| Hitchhiker |
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| Another hitchhiker |
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| First night in a Cracker Barrel |
The trip to Crossville, TN on Friday, October 4th, was a nice easy drive on the interstate; a few hills and a gradual climb to almost 2000 feet at Crossville. Even with the climb it appears our fuel economy hit a new high of just over 7 mpg. Still not real happy with that, but at least it's getting better. In Crossville we camped in The Gardens RV Village, a community where we own a lot. An area up near the entrance to the community is called Homeless Hill. This is where people, who are in the process of building their home, camp so they can be on premises to keep tabs on the build process. This area is also used to host potential buyers, who have an RV, while they tour the community and talk to the developer, Tim Wilson, about potential home designs on lots they may be interested in. Finally, this area can also accommodate existing lot owners, such as us, who are just passing through the area and want to stay a few days to visit. All of these scenarios are full hookups free of charge. It's really a neat community where virtually all the homes have an RV garage as part of the home. The concept of a whole community like this is rather unique and seemed like the perfect place to retire when we bought in 2006. Everyone is so friendly, it's like living in a campground. However, with our decision to go full time, it doesn't really fit anymore so our lot is for sale. Anyone interested? Friday night the next door neighbors to our lot, Dave and Mary Jo Deming, came up to Homeless Hill to visit. Saturday afternoon Dave took us around the neighborhood on his golf cart to give us the update on happenings in the sub. Saturday night the four of us went to dinner and back to their house after. It's so easy to spend time with Dave & Mary Jo. They're originally from Michigan and Dave is a fellow Ford retiree. Long time friends, Don and Pam Weeks, who lived down the street from us in Commerce Township years ago came to visit Sunday. They now live in Cookeville about 30 minutes west of Crossville. Another wonderful catching up session with great friends we miss.
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