NH to Hubert, NC

Tuesday, Sept. 15th, 2020 

After two days of goodbyes, we left Old Stage Campground in NH on Tuesday, the 15th. We had one last visit with Mom on Monday. That was a little tough saying goodbye. She sent us off with a wave, a smile and a virtual hug. I was the one wiping a few tears away. She’s amazing! Our Safari Field friends all came by to wish us a safe journey and say goodbye as we were the first to leave. The others will leave in about two weeks when the campground closes. All summer we had done elbow bumps for greetings but Gary & I got real hugs during the final days. So sweet. Wendy and Vin came by Monday late afternoon with a bottle of wine so we could all toast and Wendy came with two red apples for a safe journey… a Chinese custom. I’m not sure if the custom is the apples or that they’re red, but we certainly appreciated the sentiment. Red seems to be a significant color in the Chinese culture. I’m determined to learn some of Wendy’s language next summer. 

We had one hiccup on the last days prior to departure. Gary was checking tire pressure on the truck and realized one tire wasn’t holding air. Faulty valve stem. He was able to get a quick (same day) appointment with a tire place and got it fixed. The guy didn’t even charge Gary, just told him to give a good Google review, which Gary happily did. For our local family/friends, it was the Tire Warehouse in Somersworth. 

The morning of our departure Buddy came by to say final goodbyes and our next door neighbor Ron. Ron and his family had moved into Safari Field just a few weeks prior. They were relocating to the area. His wife is in the military and he is a retired marine who now is a stay-at-home Dad. They had just received good news that they finally found a home to rent. They were beginning to worry with camping season coming to an end. They couldn’t get their kids enrolled in school until they had a permanent home address. Glad to know they will be settled soon! I would have worried about them! 

The last hurdle to our leave taking on Monday morning was driving around the narrow bend out of Safari Field towing 40 feet behind us. My role was to walk outside and direct Gary. Fun. We managed to safely navigate the turn out and were on our way. (In the spring coming into Old Stage our awning had tagged a tree and we had some awning damage. Our fault. But glad we could avoid any repeat of that on the way out!)

We had an uneventful ride through NH, Massachusetts, and CT, and landed for the night in NY about 40 miles south of Albany at Schodack Island State Park. We’ve stayed here before. Nice state park along the Hudson River. Due to Covid, we were asked when we were checking in if we had been in NY state for two weeks. I said no and then told them that we had arrived there via NH. She checked her cheat sheet and said that state was ok. They had sent an email warning that if you were from one of the other 30+ states that were more Covid active, you’d either have been turned away or would have to quarantine for 14 days. Not sure how that would have played out. I didn’t ask since it didn’t apply to us. I took a nice walk in the campground down to the Hudson River and along one of the bike paths. Pretty day and the campground was fairly empty. 

Wed., Sept. 16th, 2020

This morning we traveled through NY and into Pennsylvania for a stay at Twin Grove RV Resort.  Another beautiful day. We had stayed at this campground in the spring coming back from TX. It’s in a pretty area (Pine Grove near Hershey) with several state parks nearby. We were originally due to be here with our friends Johnny & Stacie who were coming here to attend a big RV show in the fall, which got cancelled because of Covid. We decided to still make it a stop on our way south. This campground, too, was fairly empty this time of year and it has some terrific views of the surrounding countryside. After riding in the truck for 5 hours, I was ready for walk around the campground. This campground is hilly so my 2 mile walk was good exercise. Some of the seasonals had Halloween decorations up. Nice touch! 

Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020

As we were leaving this morning. I noticed a motorhome from Massachusetts pulling out just ahead of us. They waved and we waved. Our drive today took us to a KOA in Luray, Virginia where we saw the same MA couple pulling in with their motorhome shortly after we arrived. Small world. 

Two years ago in the fall we were due to come to this campground and have a chance to see the Luray caverns on our way down south. We had to cancel because of a bad hurricane in the area with massive amounts of rain. This year we only planned an overnight because we figured it wasn’t the best time to be exploring caverns with covid going on. We were just using it as a stop over. Next year we’re determined to have a chance to come back to this area and actually see the caverns. The last 20 miles getting here on US 340 South was a gorgeous ride once we got off the interstate, even if the road was a bit narrower than I ideally like. Virginia has some beautiful country. But, this particular campground was too tight for us, and ridiculously expensive. Plus the one lane road entering the campground is a bit of a problem, particularly when they have a check in/check out time of 1PM. Whaaat? Meeting another RV on that road coming in the opposite direction would not be fun. Next time we will try Shenandoah River State Park. But, I got a nice walk in before the rain came. The campground does have some pretty sites and pretty views but better for a smaller rig. We were treated to views of rolling hills, cattle grazing and a mountain backdrop. This campground was surprisingly packed for mid-week and in September. I think the fact that kids are doing online learning in many school districts is prolonging the camping season this year. 

Friday, Sept. 18, 2020

We left the Luray KOA this morning and funny how the 20 miles of the narrow pretty roads didn’t bother me on the way out. Once we’ve done it once, I’m usually fine. Gary thankfully is fine on Day 1. We drove about 230 miles and enjoyed a beautiful ride through Virginia and arrived just over the Virginia border into Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina at Carolina Crossroads RV Resort. We’ve stayed at this campground before. It’s nothing special but an easy on/off of I-95 with nice Pull Thru sites. I got a walk in once again. 

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020

Today we arrived at our friends, Johnny & Stacie’s house in Hubert, NC! We’ve visited their house before but never camped in their driveway! They used to have a 43 foot 5th wheel and parked it in their driveway. They have since downsized to a small travel trailer. Backing into the parking space in their driveway was actually quite easy… particularly since Johnny helped direct Gary. (We did not have to pull a Lucille Ball or Desi Arnaz The Long, Long Trailer moment. If you haven’t seen the movie, you don’t know what you’re missing!) We quickly got set up and then sat and visited all afternoon… except for the part where the boys tackled adjusting our trailer brakes. Gary thought they needed a little adjustment, and Johnny is always willing to help out. I think Johnny did more work on that than Gary. Stacie cooked a delicious dinner and we had a very enjoyable evening catching up with our wonderful friends who we hadn’t seen since Christmas in New Orleans last year where we had camped together with other friends. 

They have a lovely home with lots of land and Johnny feeds the deer nightly so tonight we were treated to 6 deer in the yard. So picturesque!

Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020

Our 40th wedding anniversary! We were just babies starting out 40 years ago… 21 and 22. We gave each other space to grow, respect, love and willingly compromised with each other when necessary. 40 years has passed in a flash! Still enjoying this amazing ride with my life partner. 

We had a lovely day today. Funny thing last year we were with Johnny & Stacie on our anniversary as well when they visited us in NH for several days and stayed in our driveway with their camper. Today I started out with an hour long walk with Stacie. Just the girls. The boys did not join in. Stacie walks about 6 or 7 miles every morning. We didn’t walk quite that far but we did well. After our walk and breakfast, the four of us headed to Atlantic Beach where we witnessed an amazing high tide, very windy conditions, and high surf… in part because of the remnants of Hurricane Sally. With the wind, the sand felt like needles hitting our bare legs. The water was warm wading our feet in it. So amazing to see mother nature’s beauty and force. After that we continued on to Fort Macon State Park, the second most visited state park in North Carolina. It is surrounded almost entirely by water at the eastern end of Bogue Banks and is a restored Civil War era fort. We wandered the grounds of the fort and climbed the stairs to the top to see some amazing views. From there we drove to Beaufort, NC which is a picturesque city on the waterfront where we had a late lunch outdoors at The Dock House. A perfect way to spend our anniversary! Then came back to sit on J&S’s deck and see more deer! 

Monday, Sept. 21, 2020

Today was a chore day. I did laundry at Stacie’s house. Gary & Johnny washed the RVs and our truck, and Gary and I filled up on fuel and got some groceries in. 

Tomorrow we head further west with Johnny & Stacie!