And Home Again...

We made a bright and early departure from Timberlane Campground in New Jersey hoping to get through the New York City area by noon. We did accomplish that but not exactly according to plan. The GPS was loaded for "Home" and we pressed the button to go but "Miles" always wants to use the shortest/fastest route and that usually means the George Washington Bridge...not my choice...I like the the Tappan Zee Bridge at little further north. The Tapan Zee route is about 12 miles further but with considerably less risk to life and limb.
I didn't bother to put in a way point to force Miles to use the Tappan Zee. How could I miss the exit from the New Jersey Turnpike for the Garden State Parkway but miss it I did and through the heart of New York we went. Many of you know what this can be like but the banging and the pounding on the RV from the roadway physically hurt. We didn't break anything but just winced a lot. Once I was signaling to shift lanes because of the construction I looked (it was clear, waited, and then ...Pat was leaning forward over the dashboard trying to get a good shot as we left the bridge...blocking the right side mirror...as she moved back and I began to change lanes...THERE WAS A CAR THERE! I quickly got back in the lane...I don't know how I didn't make contact. There was a guy calmly drinking his coffee as he drove by me on the right having darted out from behind me...could he know how close he came to measuring the tide in the Hudson River using his car as the dipstick? Just another close call...but the closest of the trip.

We made Conneticut by noon and stopped for lunch in the rest area. The drive continued all the way home and we were in the driveway by two in the afternoon. Home safe and sound but loaded with memories and already talking about what might be next.

Dam Neck

We have not had internet service for a couple of days so I have been catching up with these posts. Our next stop on the drive home was Sea Mist Campground in Virginia Beach. Last year we had gone to Virginia Beach and stayed at Fort Story (Cape Henry) just north of Virginia beach...We had wanted to stay at Sea Mist but they had not returned our call for reservations. So we thought we would stop for one night and see what this campground was all about. Glad we stopped. The campground is brand new with the old campground being renovated to double the size of the FamCamp. All new concrete pads with full hookups but no wifi or cable...ok stop groaning. But the beach!!! Absolutely gorgeous. Not exactly a beach day as we arrived to increasing winds and darkening clouds.The base meteorologist's spouse, camped across the street, told us that severe thunderstorms were predicted around 3 pm. We just got in a walk to the beach and the clouds were coming. Not too much rain but a lot of wind that continued throughout the night and into the next day.

Dam Neck after all is a training base so Pat had plenty to entertain her.

But the wind...it continued to blow into the next day. So much so that we were reconsidering our choice to use the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel. But we pressed on.

I usually do the "white knuckle" thing through the tunnels because of their narrow lanes but this time they were a relief from the wind. The wind was not as bad as I thought because it was not gusty. It was steady and once you put a bit of a "crab" into the steering you were OK. But the surf was wild as you can see above.

We continued on Route 13 through the DelMarVa (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia) and landed at Timberlane Campground in southern New Jersey. There are not many places to stay in southern New Jersey and we have found this to be the most convenient. Our other choice was the Camper's World down the road but we went for the "Full Monte" on our last night.

Timberlane is a great campground if you are visiting Philidelphia as it is less than 10 miles away. It has full service with batting cages and a fishing pond. We'll clean out the tanks this morning and zip up 295 with a wing and a prayer to slip through the New York City area before anyone notices that we are there.

Ships awaiting passage through Chesapeake Bay. I noticed they were all facing away from the port (into the wind) even though they would have to turn around to enter the bay.

Camp Lejeune...an more

The weather here at Lejeune has been great. We have hit the beach every day. The only hitch was some wind that cooled things off but the sun has been warm enough to sustain us. We have done some bike riding and walking around the campground and have enjoyed watching the many, many boats heading north through the inland waterway. We had thought that the waterway was not active at night and maybe the drawbridge was not even manned but that is not the case. Long, narrow barges pushed or pulled by brightly lit tug boats make thier way through the intracoastal during the night as I saw when I was up on night having a cup of tea when I could not sleep.

Some of the sounds of freedom at Camp Lejeune pictured as we drove from the campground.

We enjoyed our stay at Huntington State Park as well. We chose to drive the coastal route, mostly Route 17, beacause of the great improvements that have been made to this road. Most of it is now a four lane with a posted speed of 55-65mph. great for traveling and a lot less stressful...better on the gas tank as well. We're going to stay with the coastal route and make our way up to Sea Mist Campground at the Dam Neck Annex of Oceana NAS in Virginia Beach.

Friends waving goodbye at Huntington State Park.



Camp Lejeune-Onslow Beach

We left Mayport on a beautiful day and headed north. Our destination is Camp Lejeune but it will take us two days to drive it. We were going to drive it in one day 10-12 hrs. but Pat pushed our reservation at Mayport back a day leaving us two days to drive. Our interim stopover is Huntington Beach State Park...just south of Myrtle Beach. We have been here before and really enjoy the beach. Again we enjoyed sitting on the beach and a great overnight in a beautiful campground. We started staying here because we found that the lifeguards at Myrtle beach studied at the Rhode Island lifeguard school of continuous whistle blowing...at the state park it is swim at your own risk but it is quieter. Even now they had only three open sites. No bobcsat sightings like the last time we were here but we did confront that ferocious beast pictured below.

And now, we are at our last planned stopover for this trip...Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. This is one of our favorite campgrounds. It is located between the intracoastal waterway and the Atlantic Ocean. We can see the many boats heading north through the intracoastal from our camper. Every half-hour you hear the bell signaling the opening of the drawbridge. As many as ninety boats per day pass through here. The bridge does not swing up but rather opens like a gate...only one I have seen like that.

We pulled in next to some talkative neighbors...after a few minutes we learned that they are from Foster, Rhode Island and still maintain a home there. Sunshine and Fish keep us talking...
They are doing a lot of work here in the off season. They are building new shelters at each site, a new store, a new office, new cottages, and renovation work to other buildings. It is good to see that our fees are helping to upgrade the facilities. Alas, but as it always is...things are not going smoothly. The store and office are ready to be installed...pre-fab buildings...but there is a snafu. All buildings near the water have to be nine feet above sea level...not...so they have to now install stilts for those facilities while the buildings and installation equipment wait. Gaffe!
The beach is still great though. Continuous rolling surf with many shells for Pat to search through.

Yesterday was a down day. There were on and off showers so we read and napped...tough.
We'll be here until Wednesday when we head for home. That will take us two or three days.