Days 4,5,6,7 (May 27,28,29,30)

photos from Assateague Island National Seashore

photos from Pine Grove Campground

Day 4 - Friday, May 27th
It is mosquito central!  It is so bad that the county comes through the campground in the evenings and sprays and at 6:30am a plane flies over and sprays, and it is flying so low that the motor home shook.  But at least it helps with the mosquitoes.

We rode our bikes out behind the campground and found that the owners have ponies, horses, geese, chickens, goats, donkeys, an ostrich, a llama, peacocks and swans.  In the afternoon, we took a ride around Chincoteague and drove through some of the other campgrounds.  While they all have the pluses and minuses, we are very happy with where we are staying.  We saw some cool souvenir shops that we'll go back and check out.

We took a sunset ride out to Assateague and drove "The Loop".  Unfortunately, we couldn't even get out of the car because of the mosquitoes.  While they spray on Chincoteague, they do not spray on Assateague.  I'll assume it is because it is a preserve.  I'm not even sure if we will go back over because it was so buggy.  I can't really even take pictures because I have to shoot through the windows.  We even drove to the beach and even there with all the wind, there were still too many mosquitoes to get out of the car.

Day 5 - Saturday, May 28th
Didn't do much today.  Cass and I went souvenir shopping and bought t-shirts and our magnet for the RV fridge!

Day 6 - Sunday, May 29th
The weather was absolutely gorgeous today.  We didn't go back over to Assateauge because the mosquitoes are still so brutal.  Cass washed the windows in the truck so we can try and get some pictures through the windows at least.

Day 7 - Monday, May 30th
Happy Memorial Day!  Cass and I went for a ride over to Assateague this morning but honestly, the mosquitoes are so bad that not being able to get out of the car to try and take pictures is just frustrating the ever living crap out of me.  The mosquitoes dive bomb and slam up against the windows.  It's like they're crazy!

We got back to the campground in time for breakfast and the singing of "God Bless America" by Kate Smith and the RVW group!

And Looks like we are heading to Lancaster, PA for more RVW!

On the road - Days 1,2,3 (May 24,25,26)

Day 1 - Tuesday, May 24

Day 1 and we were on the road at 10:05am. We drove mostly Route 17 north to our first stop in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. Route 17 is mostly farmland and tractors own the road. There were also so many condemned or abandoned buildings.

We saw inmates on the side of the road, under the watchful eyes of Correction Officers and their shotguns. And passed through Herford, North Carolina... home of Jim "Catfish" Hunter.

We arrived at 4:00pm and are staying at the Elizabeth City Coast Guard Station on the Pasquotank River. Cass even managed to fish off the dock.

Day 2 - Wednesday, May 25

Campsite with view of the river

We had rain, 40mph winds, thunder and lightening last night. The motorhome is not the most comforting place to be in such weather. Cass tried to play an episode of "Modern Family" on her iPad to keep me from worrying so much and when that didn't work, she played music from "Glee". There was more lightening during the night. Patrick and I kept our eye on it while Cass slept. She can sleep through pretty much anything! :)

It was a beautiful morning though.

Day 3 - Thursday, May 26

Cass' new ride?

Looking ahead from the bridge to the tunnel

We were up, packing and securing the RV and heading to Chincoteague, Virginia. And weather wise, it looks like it will be a fantastic week while we are there. We gassed up on base, hooked up the car and were on the road at 10:50am. It was a nice campground with all the amenities but there was really nothing to do. Cass did manage to fish some but we are so spoiled by NS Mayport and all that there is to do there.

As we were driving off the base, Cass spotted this Dodge...



We crossed the Virginia border at about 11:30am. We crossed the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel Bridge with relative ease. Cass did fantastic. It is a two lane road while it is a bridge then goes down to one lane while you are in the tunnels.

Entering the tunnel

It costs us $15 for the motorhome towing the MKX to cross.  It really is a beautiful bridge/tunnel.  You can see the spot where we are on the bridge and you can look ahead to where the tunnel is and realizing that you are under water with huge ships going over you.

We are staying at the Pine Grove Campground here on Chincoteague. We ordered out from a restaurant close enough that I rode my bike to go and pick it up... especially since we put baskets on the bikes! We had our first crabcakes. And then after dinner we rode our bikes around and ended up by the water.

 

Huntington Beach State Park (Tuesday - May 17, 2011)

We left for a weekend away at Huntington Beach State Park in Murrell's Inlet, SC.  It was the first trip of 2011 for us.  It was also for Cass' birthday.  It was a beautiful state park with nice sites.  There are only a handful of sites with full hook-ups but since we were only going to be there for 4 days, we felt it would be a good "test" for us to see how we could do without sewer hook-ups.

We brought our bikes with us and we both really enjoyed having them with us.  This was our first trip with Patrick being on his own and he did great!

We visited "Atalaya", the home of the original owners of this state park and Brookgreen Gardens across the street.

We're already planning a return trip for next year.