Our Virginia Backyard...............

We've been busy with family here in Virginia, but we took some time to spruce up our outdoor patio. We will be here for about 3 months, and we enjoy being outside a lot when we are "home". The bistro table/chairs are the best! It really adds some atmosphere to our site...hahah....and makes our outdoor meals much nicer. Of course we have a picnic table that came with the site, but this is SO much nicer for the two of us. The bistro table folds up nicely so can be stored easily when we travel. The rug is perfect for the site as well...its open weave allows water to go through it. After a recent deluge, we really appreciated that rug as we didn't have to "puddle-jump" our way to the car.

Cheers!

Red meat for Tom, Salmon for Sue :)

We chose this campground because of the convenient location to our kids, but we really are thrilled with it. For more information, click here. It is very large and has a lot of activities if you chose to participate. There are a few playgrounds scattered throughout the park. Though we don't need them, it keeps the kids busy and happy, which is good for all of us:) The pool is quite a happening place with the kids too. Its been pretty hot, so a nice way to cool off! The other end of the campground features the lake, complete with boat rentals. Lots of folks go there to fish. The mini-golf is nestled in among the campsites, and is actually quite impressive. We haven't had too much free time to enjoy some of these things yet, but we will.

Not sure if you can see the bouncy thing where all the kids are...its like a trampoline and all the kids LOVE it!

the pool

mini golf....and its a good one!

the lake

row boats and kayaks for rent

Lots of walking opportunities available to us too! The long walk around the lake is perfect in the evening, when the weather has cooled down a bit. Just walking around the campground itself is great too. There must be 2 miles of "streets" to walk; there are so many campsites.

the path that goes all the way around the lake, through the woods, over hill and dale, and is half hour walk! (Good one!!)

our "street" (we are on top of the hill in the field)

One afternoon we took a field trip to Carter Mountain Orchard to pick our own peaches. For more information, click here. We'd never done that before, and were looking forward to it. On the way over, the skies opened up and it poured, but we could see blue sky moving in so we continued on. After a few minutes hanging out in the car, it was like a new day. Unfortunately, there were no more peaches to pick, but....the gala apples were ready! So, we picked apples! There were plenty of peaches for purchase as well, we just could not have the picking experience. The fruit was fabulous!! Just sayin'.

going to pick peaches

fruit and locally crafted gift items available 

the Gala's are ready!

-

oh good, the trees are short

lots of fruit ready

filling up our bag with apples

these look so healthy!

going for some red ones

lots of ripe fruit here

some of the trees aren't ready for picking yet and are roped off

Besides the country store, there is also a "grille" with outdoor music on specific days, and a winery. We were short on time, but we will be coming back here a little later in the apple picking season. Highly recommend this orchard. Its also just a bit of a thrill thinking that Monticello, Jefferson's home, is just down the street. Perhaps he had some of this same fruit back in the day?

what a great farm...lots of variety....and its so scenic!

pretty

a view of the country store from the "viewing tower"

its quite muggy, but you can see forever from the top of the hill (By the way, the hillsides are quite steep and drop off severely. The orchards are along these hills. Very nice-but hard to photograph!)

the views over Charlottesville are really nice

most of the apples aren't ready yet

grapes too!

i think these are for the winery (not for u-pick)

the orchards are well cared for

Virginia at Last..........

We've been here in Virginia for almost a week, but kinda too busy to post! Last week, we drove through West Virginia and Virginia, which was so beautiful...rolling green hills...lots and lots of green! A sight for sore eyes, as its been very dry out west. We pulled into our last "travel night" campground in Natural Bridge, Va, where we enjoyed the campsite and the pool after a drive up and down the hills of West Virginia. We did have a problem at the site trying to level the RV. According to the level, it was off by 6 inches. The RV slanted towards the driver's side, so it was really weird...almost like walking on a ship. That was the best we could get though, and we looked around and it seemed none of the open sites were too level. So...eh...one night... we figured it would be okay to be slanted. Still, we were a bit worried though, and looked through all of the RV information, and it turns out being unlevel like that is very bad for the refrigerator. The cooling system in the RV fridges (that run on propane or electric) can be adversely affected and ruin the refrigerator, which is a very expensive repair. So...long story short...we turned off the fridge! Since we didn't have much food because we were down to our last travel day, it was no big deal. Sometimes its good to have things like this happen so we review the specs and not get cavalier and complacent with the proper way to handle the RV without doing damage.

up, over and through the hills of West Virginia and Virginia

beautiful...and so green!

As we were checking in at the campground, I spotted the pool next to the office and it looked so inviting.  I mentioned it to the staff, and they told us the pool is brand new this year. There was no one in the pool, and so we took advantage. Well, one of us did! We were there at a good time too, before all the kids arrived in the late afternoon back from the family excursion to points of interest...haahha.

the lifeguard

brand new pool!!

the water was just so inviting!

Tom is cool enough....not much of a water baby...see our RV behind him?

the site was not level at all, but it was really nice

The next day (last Thursday actually), we had a short drive to Louisa, Va and arrived at our new "backyard". We were having such a hard time leveling the RV at a nice wooded site, and as we were standing there, a giant tree limb from one of the nearby trees snapped off and fell onto a site just two down from us. Uh oh! We looked at some of the trees, and shook our heads since we were planning on being here for 3 months. So, between the leveling and the tree issue, we went back to the office and secured a spot in the field on a hill. Perfect! We set up with no leveling issues and felt much more confident that a tree wouldn't damage our "home" or our car!

We started to become familiar with the area, finding the foodstore, post office, etc in town on our way to see Jess and Andrew. We even ordered a few things to make our patio comfortable since we will be here for a few months. We are lazy that way, and only set up nicely if we are going to be in a location for a few weeks or more.

It was great to see Jess and Andrew (they look great), and we are thrilled to be able to help them out a bit with their business so Jess can take it easy and be more or less on maternity leave. Its hard for her to slow down though. (Wonder where she gets that from? As Tom says, "we is like that"). We are looking forward to seeing our son Chris soon too. He's about 2 hours away, and will be visiting us soon. It will be nice to be in the same state as our kids for a little while!

Tom and I are preparing for the arrival of the baby as well. We got our "Whooping Cough" vaccine (Tdap), which is recommended for anyone that will be around babies-like a grandbaby! Even though we were vaccinated as kids, the protection of the vaccine wears off over time. Whooping cough is still common in the U.S. and large outbreaks occur every few years. Whooping cough can be deadly for babies. 'Nuff said. Being that we have been in several national parks with lots of visitors from all over the world, we figured it would be a good idea.

Over the past few days, we have been training with Jess and Andrew, and getting into a routine. They let us off early yesterday (hahah) and they were able to come over to the campground for a barbecue. Again, we were so excited to have "company"! Tom cooked up some nice steaks and burgers, and we enjoyed our dinner inside in the air conditioning without mosquitos. Just after dessert, the skies became really dark and threatening. After a hasty "goodbye", the skies just opened up and flooded the campsite. Luckily, Jess and Andrew escaped the bad weather until they were very near their house. It was quite a deluge!

getting ready for our guests!

The chef! Preparing a delicious barbecue meal for us!

Andrew and Jess....relaxing after a long day training us!

Nice to have company! They haven't been to our "house" since over a year ago, when we first started out with this lifestyle

Red meat!! (Tom is thrilled with that!)

Enjoying the air-conditioning as we eat:)

Last one at the buffet:)

a fast moving severe storm moving in

looking for funnel clouds

hope the kids made it home!!!

Severe weather alert!

Heading East.................

We've been making our way East, heading to Virginia because...................



there is a very special event happening very soon! Jess (our daughter) and Andrew (our son-in-law) are expecting their little one early September, and since our house is on wheels and we can "live" anywhere, we will be living in Virginia for a couple of months.

We've been traveling across....North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana over the past few days and staying at a variety of campgrounds. They have all suited our needs, which are few. Some have been nicer than others, but we are just traveling through. All of the sites have been pull-thru's able to accommodate our car as well so we don't have to unhitch each day. Most of the campgrounds have been right off the interstate as well, and conveniently located near a gas station! Bonus!! We tank up in the morning as we head out onto the interstate and we are good to go for the rest of the travel day.

cornfields in North Dakota

this campground was behind a Days Inn...and was perfectly suitable for our overnight stay

we were able to keep the car  hitched, which is great when you are just traveling through

once we are set up, we spend some time walking around the campground to stretch our legs and check things out

In the morning, we pretty much have it down to a science to pack up and go as efficiently as possible. Most of our loose items are stored already. Museum putty keeps our few decorations in place as we travel. Some extra items that can't be stored easily are put back on the bed so they don't go flying. Unhooking the water/elec/sewer and putting in the slides takes a mere few minutes when we both work together. We check our brake lights and signals on the car and RV, and then we are off to our next destination. (Of course, we use a checklist as well, so we don't forget anything...safety first)!

Just an aside, when we first began this journey, we didn't even put the slides out on traveling days because it took us so long to do everything. It was fun, sort of like living in a treehouse....but it is WAY more fun and convenient to have the space with the slides out. We've come a long way in a year plus!! (We also now have to use the bed for extra storage when traveling...much easier to travel light....I need to work on that)!

extra stuff stored on the bed so it doesn't go flying

plants in the sink-rugs up and stored on the dining room chairs-shades open

ready to put in the slides

museum putty keeps things in place (oh, and i see some dust!!!)

For those non-RVers that may be curious, when we travel and the slides are in, we can still reach the bathroom and the kitchen. There is a narrow aisle down the middle of the camper. The dining room chairs are buckled together so they don't slide all over the place when we are in motion. Sitting on the couch is an option...and it does have seatbelts....but I'm usually co-piloting so I'm not sure how the ride is back there. I do know its not a smart idea to be walking around in the RV while its in motion. Its a pretty bumpy ride, and you can get thrown all over the place. I've done it to check on things falling out of the cabinet, but I would never just go back there and make lunch, for example. When we stop at a rest stop, we can use the bathroom and usually I have lunch ready and we just sit on the couch and eat it. This may be too much information, but maybe it will help another RVer out there!

stopping for a quick bio break

ready to roll again

that's a lot of hay!!! 

So, about the trip itself......On Saturday, in Minnesota, we stayed at a lovely campground, with a great laundromat. I was able to do a few loads of laundry, make a nice dinner and still have time to knit and read. Hhahahha. In fact, we were outside enjoying the perfect weather and reading, when my eye started to hurt....almost like a bruise. A few hours later, my eye was all red. Ugh! I didn't remember anything hitting my eye or getting anything in my eye, so I was googling all about eye pain, eye injury, etc. and reading all kinds of things it could be. I finally admitted I should see a doctor-after all, its my EYE! Of course, this happened on a Saturday night! The next morning, Tom asked in the camp office about the nearest Urgent Care type of facility, and as luck would have it...it was right next to the highway we needed. And would you believe-the hours were 8am-8pm on a SUNDAY! So, after packing up....we hit the road in the RV and drove to the Urgent Care, which was right next to the hospital so there was plenty of parking for us. The doc was great...examined my eye with flourescent dye and saw I had scratches on my eye....and thankfully the "foreign body" was no longer there. What a relief! I left with a prescription for antibiotic eye drops, and relief that I didn't have something more serious like glaucoma or something like that. (I know..I sound like a hypochondriac, but my eyes are precious! And I had actual eye PAIN...not just a scratchy feeling...and you know how webmd can be). More good luck....Walgreens was 2 blocks away! We were so pleased with the quality and ease of getting that medical attention! No need to sacrifice good health practices just because we are on the road.

cooking dinner!  Really!!

Using a magnifier to see google maps a little more distinctly!

aahhh...chores done and time to read and relax

well deserved break for the driver!

On Sunday morning, with just a two hour delay at the doctor/pharmacy (not that it really mattered), we headed out to our next overnight destination near Madison, WI. Well, let's just say it was HOT HOT HOT! The campground was an old KOA, and the electric was not upgraded so....being that it was at full capacity with a lot of big rigs with a/c's.....our power kept going off and it was about 92 degrees in the camper. UGH! Eventually, it cooled off and we had a good night's sleep. It was so hot, I forgot to take pictures of the campsite.

gross, i know....hope the eyedrops work

lunch stop somewhere in Wisconsin

enjoying that steak sandwich?

Next, on Monday morning, it was on to Illinois, and Indiana, where we were staying at a lovely campground with a lake and lots of water activities for the kids. Our kids would have had a great time here, back in the day. Haha. We arrived early afternoon, which was good. We got to relax....especially Tom the driver...who drove in city traffic with road construction for about 5 hours today. Ugh! The campground was pretty big and we enjoyed a nice long walk after dinner to stretch our legs and move around. I probably would have gone in the lake, but the eye incident stopped me. Didn't want a blooming infection going on over the scratched surfaces.

the traffic and the road construction were amazing...all day!

another nice and peaceful campground  (Tom deserves a good break after THAT drive)!

view from the campsite

our kids would have loved that lake and all the fun things in it (when they were kids!!)

peacefully floating along

Next its off to Kentucky, and then Virginia!

For my knitting/crafting friends:  I've finished a few more things for the baby. I hope to have more storage room in the camper now...hahahha! (Actually, I have a few more things that I've bought along the way, but I don't want anyone to think I would spoil our grandchild)!

little lovies

he may need some of these little things early on

a few sweaters for when the weather chills off....

another blanket

a quilt...first one I've made in 20 years!

green on the back...

we just had to get a grizzly bear and a prairie dog!!