March 10th...our last night on the road...

Missed the turn from the NJ Tpke to the Garden State so we ended up going over the GW Brridge.  We are spending the night at a Walmart in Norwalk...we just couldn't go any further...we were on the road the longest today!

Feb. 2-Mar. 11, 2014

At the end of this journey I wanted to provide some fun facts, so here goes!

License Plate Game:  We spotted 27 states, most notably Washington, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, and North Dakota.  We also spotted three Canadian Provinces, of note Manitoba.

Mileage/Gas:  Our average mpg was 8.4!  The average price for gas $3.34/gal.  We traveled almost 2800 miles!

Tolls:  $132

Passport America:  We saved $274 using Passport America campgrounds, not counting the $45 sign up fee for 2014.

Money spent on eating out:  $101. Money spent on groceries:  A lot.

------------

Notes for next year:

Get EZ Pass for tolls!  Joe is right!

Need bigger rig with two slides, more storage for clothes and food, more comfortable cab and better suspension.  First priority will be a visit to Lazy Days in Tampa!

Utilize space outside of rig more to extend living space.

Make beaches a priority!

We need Tv with cable hookup at campgrounds so we can relax with our favorite shows.  Robin sit in comfy chair with feet up, blanket on legs so Pip can relax into her spot!

Robin needs to be the one to sometimes go into stores leaving Pippin with Steve so she remains used to being apart from Robin for short periods and so Robin can enjoy shopping!

Stay in one place for a week or so, so we can really unpack, set up and relax!

       Manatee Hammock in Titusville

       Phipps Park or Army Corps of Engineers in Stuart

Drive more miles every day...200+/day if Robin can be more comfortable.

Can we figure out a route that avoids the NJ Tpke...the tolls are exorbitant!

Walk Pippin everyday we can on a leash so she gets exercise.

------------------

This is the route we took which combines Frank & Julie's way with Carol & Jerry's way (Barb, this is for you!)

95S to Tappen Zee Bridge to Rt, 287W, exit 14A to GS Pkwy, exit 129 onto Nj Tpke/95S over the Del/Mem'l Bridge, exit 1A onto Rt 896 to Rt. 301/50 continue to Rt 207 to 95 in Richmond, continue on 95s

This route bypasses Baltimore, Philadelphia and DC!

3/9 -10/14

Woke to a chilly but delightfully sunny morning in Milford, VA.   We are headed to Middletown, DE today taking scenic Rt 301.  Not sure where we'll stop, but that's how we roll...

We made it to Frank & Julie's Walmart in Middletown, DE!  

Just wanted to let inquiring minds know of something Steve found at the last Walmart we stopped at:  In the frozen case he found Wild Salmon Fillets distributed by The Fishin' Co. in Seattle...six individually wrapped fillets for $9.68...that's a fantastic buy for wild caught salmon!  

Back to the Walmart in Middletwon, we don't have wifi so that's why two days will be posted tomorrow.

--------

It's Monday the 9th and we finally took the plunge and bought a Straight Talk Mobile Hotspot at the Walmart we are parked at.  It's the TracPhone of Mobile Hotspots, and I can't believe we only have one more night on the road when we finally bought one of these!!!  But that's how I am posting this!

We are going to continue north stopping one more time.  We called Joe to figure out how to start winterizing.  We can't get the plug off the hot water heater to drain that, but we did find the plugs under the rig to drain the lines and we are going to let the water in the holding tank drain as we drive.  We will try to stay in a truck stop tonight and perhaps they will have a place to dump our tanks.  More tonight!

First Snow Sighted, in Virginia

Woke to a beautiful sunny day...the weather so far has been either beautiful or horrible, very few so-so days.  We are headed for Ashland, VA to look at Class As.  Steve got some very good advice in the laundry room last night from a seasoned RVer...his perfect rig would be 32 feet and no more than 12 ft high with two slides...make sure when the bedroom slide is in you can still easily get to the bathroom...really check out whatever you think you might buy...lie down on the bed and the couch...make sure you fit...can you see the TV from wherever you might sit or lie without craning you neck, etc.  The rigs we expect to see are really too long, but at least he can test drive one.

Well, the first RV dealership was closed when we got there, and when we pulled in we couldn't turn around so Steve had to unhook the car, get both vehicles turned around and then had to retook the car.  By that time he had had enough!  So we saw a Goodwill that we are going to, and then the campground.

It's absolutely beautiful today, but sad to say we have seen our first snow here in Ashland, VA!

We ended up at R&D Family Campground where ironically we stayed on the way down!  Passport America (even though they say not on Fri or Sat, they gave it to us anyway!) and we paid $24 for the night, saving us $24.  Can't wait to tally up at the end to see how much PA saved us!

For the record the wifi is only so-so...

Rain, Rain Go Away!

Pouring rain and driving wind turned this day into a sleep-in, shower, laundry, clean and reorganize the rig day--maybe even watch a movie day, here in northern NC.  Good thing we topped off the propane recently because the furnace has been crankin'!  It seems very strange to be thinking about "coming off the road" soon.

Our next stop is McGreggor RV dealership in Ashland, VA where Steve wants to look at some used Class A Motorhomes.  We really need more space if we're doing this every year...two slides, one in the living area and one in the bedroom, more storage for clothes and food and a more spacious cab.  It would be great if he could test drive one to see how it feels.  We need it to be older but still nice and especially affordable.

Taking on water in the cabinet under the refrig and sink...it's always something!  

(This campground has cute little rental cabins, furnished, for $69 a night...Gram?  The wifi wasn't too bad.)

It's Cold in the Rockfish Capital of the World!

Woke to something new this morning...no water.  Steve did some investigating and the water from the site coming into our hose had frozen overnight.  He boiled some water and poured that on their flexible  rubber hose that was our water connection (unusual, usually it is a stationary spigot on a post.). Then he stretched as much of their hose as he could into the sun to speed the thawing.  After about an hour he was able to reattach and voila, water.  Tonight it's supposed to be a bit warmer so we'll probably be okay.  Good thing we had some water in our holding tank!

This gazebo was outside of our camper!

Today we looked for some thrift shops, etc.  We came across the Rockfish Capital of the World!

Then Steve saw this sign and thought it was funny; guess you can only get the shot in your left arm!

At one of the thrift shops the ladies were telling us how they had just had really bad weather over the last few days...snow and ice; then we saw this on a sidewalk...hail that had still not melted!

As we were driving out of town, we saw this fountain in a very nice front yard and just had to stop and take a picture!

You can't tell in the picture but water was freely flowing still at the very top of the fountain.

Roanoke Rapids, NC

Woke to a chilly rainy day in SC.  We decided to blast north through NC almost to VA because we found a campground with a heated pool...yippee!  Long drive but we finally made it...but the pool isn't open yet because it's been so cold here!  😡

Decided to stay for two nights anyway so we (I) could have a little break from driving.  Steve picked up pamphlets in the office and there are three thrift shops in the area, so I'm happy (well, not as happy as I would be if I could swim a couple of times tomorrow, but this is second best.)  Decided to put off the Walmart run until tomorrow, too.  

This is our little Pippin where she rides every day on my lap. She needed her coat this morning in SC!

  

Dillon, SC and Storm Damage in SC

Woke to a very chilly day in Walterboro, SC (30s).  Stopped at Walmart yet again for supplies.  We are noticing a lot of damage to some substantial trees along 95N...wondering if it's from the snow and ice they had here recently.  Trees just snapped in half, and the wood looks fresh so this damage is recent.

No real plan today except to travel north at our customarily slow pace.  

Here is an example of one of Steve's little projects to organize all of our keys:

May not look like a big deal but he's tickled by it!

While on the topic of Steve, he has begun chattin' up everyone he meets!  I know, quiet Steve!  He's been so relaxed on this trip that even our crises haven't upset him!  Well, he was a little nerved up waiting for the guy to come yesterday with our oil but that was because it felt like every big rig that passed us on the side of 95 was going to blow our rig right over, and at times it was very windy and pouring rain.  It didn't take much to talk him into looking for a Cracker Barrel or a Walmart after that!

The oil guy said you burn more oil when you are towing...but a whole six gallons?  Joe, any ideas?  Steve checked under our rig this morning and thankfully there was no puddle, and he checked the dipstick and it was right up to the top.  He will continue to check that now that we know.  

We made it to Dillon, SC (almost to the border of NC) after sitting in bumper to bumper traffic for an hour.  Saw many crews along the way clearing the storm debris...they'll be a year at this as we saw snapped off trees and branches from one end of SC to the other!  Hopefully it will put some unemployed folks back to work!

Just got the winter coats out...it's 38 degrees here!  

Whole Foods in Savannah and then some more excitement! 3/3/14

Left our campground in search of the Whole Foods in Savannah.  Success!  Robin stocked up on her diet necessities, and we were on the road agin, headed for a new campground in SC.  

A smooth ride was not to be...along the way, Steve noticed the oil pressure gauge starting to drop and then rise, drop and then rise.  All of a sudden it went down and stayed down!  Screech, we pulled over,again on very busy Rt 95N!

Called Good SAMs Roadside Assistance for help...they asked Steve to check the oil level and sure enough, the dipstick didn't register anything!  We had the oil changed before we left on this trip but evidently we're burnin' oil!  We had extra oil on board, but you may recall the incident where we went around a corner and one of our compartments flew open and we lost some stuff?  Yep, some of that was the oil!

Well, it took two and a half hours and $150 dollars...come to find out running out of oil is not covered!  It took six full quarts, so thank goodness Steve pulled over where he did!  

Decided to ditch the campground idea and pulled off when we saw the next Cracker Barrel sign in Walterboro, SC.  Dinner and bed!

Historic Savannah

Our last day of beautiful weather I'm afraid (even broke out the short sleeves and shorts today!) was spent taking a trolley ride around historic Savannah.

Open air windows and bright sunshine; Pip was a trooper!

Beautiful iron work

Beautiful iron work

Beautiful parks

I remember this house...the whole thing was purchased from the Sears catalog but there were no instructions for how to install the windows, and they were all put in upside down!

This was one of two character actors that boarded our trolley along the way to tell the story of the historic person they were portraying.

Keller's Flea Market in Savannah

Today was flea market day for us here in Savannah.  This one was not as good as Pecan Park in Jacksonville, but we scored something we've been looking for for quite awhile:

We need to polyurethane it, and then attach the two pieces with little chains and then figure out a way to hang it from a shepherd's crook so we can display it outside of our rig on our camping trips, but Steve loves projects like that!  

After the flea market, yet another trip to Super Walmart and then home to make a big pot of soup and then relax.  Got another rotisserie chicken for dinner...

Tomorrow we are going on a 90 min trolley ride around Historic Savannah, and I found a dog-friendly one!