Greenville NC

took about 3.5 hrs to get here.  This was the first ride in the truck with the cats and they did terrific.  Jackson slept on NJ's lap the whole way and Harpo sat between us looked out the front window and napped.  It is very very hot here, 95 when we got in.  the trip was mostly on I13 & I17 which are 2 way highways and are very narrow and periods of low maintenance.  We passed thru huge acreages of row crops which we came to believe are probably peanuts.  Also a lot of corn.  We will be here until next Wednesday.  We are coming to learn that more and more parks do not have cable TV so we are exploring dish TV.  Also found out that the park in Livingston, TX also has no cable and that is where we will winter over so 6 months without TV would be a bummer.  We will explore the $$$ involved tomorrow. 

Last Day

wow its hot here today, 94....Went to the LL Bean and I think that everyone in Williamsburg was at this outlet, you could barely move around the lot. There are probably a hundred stores in the place. The park emptied quickly this morning, might be able to get in the pool this eve.  Found diesel for $3.95, best price since we've been on the road.  Leave tomorrow around noon, 3.5 hrs to greenville.  Been looking ahead to the next few stops and all are in the 90's.  Cats will ride in the truck tomorrow for the first time.

Heritage Park

The park that we are in is very large and we have seen license plates here from 15 states.  I get the impression that this is a very popular get away destination for this area.  You can see by the photos, there is a huge water slide here.  there is also every kind of camper or rig you can imagine.
tomorrow is a big trip to your local wall mart and yes my Maine friends there is an LL Bean outlet here we will be visiting, who knew......

Yorktown Battlefield

Yorktown is most significant for the siege of 1781 which was the last major battle of the American Revolutionary War.  It is also remembered as the site of the first siege operations of the Civil War in 1862 and as a Union military garrison, called Fort Yorktown.

Fun at the RV park & 5th wheel envy!

Yorktown - Revolutionay War Battlefield

Jamestown Settlement

This is the location of the landing of settlers from England to establish the first permanent settlement in America.  This is also the place where Pocahontas hung with Capt. John Smith.  Little known fact about her, i suspect, is that when she died, they took a native born indian woman back to england to bury.  Still trying to figure that one out.  The entire area is one very large archaeological dig and the sheer amount of material they have taken from the ground there is astounding and has given modern day archaelogists the ability to re-create the colony pretty well.  We are off tomorrow to the Yorktown Battlefield.

Dinner

Went to the Hog Wild Smokehouse, OMG you talk about southern BBQ (sorry Christina) was to die for.  this park is filling up quickly for the mem day weekend.  no pics today didn't do anything of interest.  Will probably just hang out for the weekend.  pool is open, thankfully as its been in the high 80's and low 90's.  For those you of you in maine, I thought the coffee news was a maine publication, but there it was on the counter at the restaurant.   Have a great holiday weekend all.

The Revolution

Back into history we went yesterday.  Had a chance to see a renactment of the start of the revoluntary war up to the signing of the derclaration of independencer.  was interesting that all the people involved remained in character even when talking with people in the crowd. 
Some of you may know that we are traveling with 2 dogs, Missy & Sadie and 2 cats, Harpo & Jackson.  We knew going in this could be a challange but so far its working OK.  there was no way we were going to turf any of them off so it was a no brainer.  both of the cats, so far, have ridden in the trailer from point to point,, but i'm sure that will change as we get into hotter country.  they seem to handle the ride ok, Harpo threw up once, but he's 17yrs old so he's allowed.  Jackson, the one eyed, 8 toed youngster just keeps running around.  The next challange will be all of us riding in the truck.  The dogs enjoy their frequent walks in the park and Missy seems to think that the squirrels are her's to catch and if you aren't paying attention she will take your shoulder right out of the socket at the end of the leash.
Have to laugh at NJ, she is in search of a good shower.  so far most of the campgrounds have not had really good showers until we got here and they are really nice.  private room for the shower, lots of counter space around the sinks etc.  she goes yesterday and is back in short order.  she goes into the room, gets undressed, steps in the shower and no water.  gets dressed and goes to the next shower and no water, flushes a toilet and the water goes down and does not come back up and none of the sinks are working.  i make the mistake of saying, hummmm worked when i was over there.  LOLOLOL.  we stopped by there last night on our walk and they werew working so she'll try again today.

Historical Williamsburg

Very nice day in the old town.  Finally got the warm day i've been looking for but coulda down without the humidty.  NJ said that this was the first time in years i've been under control.  I gotta tell ya those stocks are hard on the knees.  It would have convimced me that i wasn't going to be a "repeat offender".  We also got to sit in on a local court docket session, interesting how simple & practical the law was in the 1700's.  We have a 3 day pass so are back tomorrow as there is a huge amount of things to do here.  I would tell any of you that have the opportunity to not miss this place.

Cicadas

We are in cicadas country.  this bug only comes out of the ground every 17 yrs then takes to the trees and the males begin this very loud sound to attract females.  the sound is pretty erie like a high whine pitch, much like a coach when you're trying to explain a rule (this was for you Jay) LOL.  very hot and humid today, kicking back in the AC, into town tomorrow.

Williamsburg

Not much to say today.  3 hrs drive through rolling hills farmland.  In a very nice park called American Heritage.  Still in potential thunderstorm country, had a very big one last night in Luray.  Into the town tomorrow to see what its all about.  We will be here until the 31st before going to Greenville, NC.

2nd Day Luray

spent some time in the "historic" part of town, looks much like any "unhistoric" town would.  took a walk along the hawksbeak creek where sadie, normally afraid of everything went right down to the water and in she went.  It was rather warm so i guess she needed to cool off.  park is pretty much empty tonight.  we will be on the road tomorrow to "truly historic" Williamsburg.  This will be our first experience of having the cats in the truck with us along with the dogs, as temps are going to be near 90 most of the trip.  Gonna be inbteresting.

The Park

Well Shenandoah NP is a very beautiful place, but seems to be geared to hikers, motorcycles, horses and bikes.  20 miles from the gate to the visitor centetr and 15 miles out the other way...so.   We did get a couple pictures, NJ has one next to the Thornton Gap entrance, Thornton being her maiden name.  Will explore Luray's historical downtown tomorrow and will head for Williamsburg monday afternoon.  pics to follow.

Shenandoah, VA

2.5 hr ride to beautiful Luray, VA.  Very nice campground and while setting up drug out the coaxial cable and started looking fot the TV hookup and none to be found.  Along comes a guy emptying trash cans and i ask him and he says don't have em, not even any cable tv in the area, then he says "can't get along without TV huh?"  point taken.  too funny.  as soon as we crossed the West Virginia line Norma started saying "y'all". We are getting a break on diesel here, was $4.19 in Maine and its $3.89 here.  For you Mainers reading this, when we crossed the VA border the welcome sign said "open for business" now we know that LaPage didn't dream that one up, he stole it.  Also yesterday at the campground a motorhome pulls in with calif plates and they were from Hermosa Beach (LA area for u new englanders).  Into the park tomorrow.

Little Round Top

Back to the battlefield today to find Little Round Top, perhaps the most significant location of the entire battle.  Col. Joshua Chamberlian from Bowdin Maine led the Maine 20th and was ordered into a defensive position basically to the rear of the valley.  As you can see in the pics there was a left and right flank.  On July 2d he won the congressional medal of honor for courage and brilliant leadership.  While holding off superior numbers of confederate attackers until his regiment ammo ran out he ordered a bayont charge that cleared Little Round Top, captured  400 hundred, twice the number of unwounded 20th maine and is credited with saving the day and perhaps the whole battle for the union.

Gettysburg The Battlefield

At the park today.  We took the auto tour and was amazed by the sheer number of different military companies from different states that were in the battle.  As you progress through the park there are different monuments that give the name of the unit and the number of killed, wounded and missing & what state they were from.  It was strange to stand in the spot where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address.  1 more day here then we will move onto Shanenandoah Natl Park in Virginia.

Gettysburg

light day in the blog world.  short ride over to gettysburg in the pouring down rain.  looks like we will be in rain until at least the weekend.  we are in a very nice park with a lot of canadian geese roaming freely.  will hit the park tomorrow and have more pics and things to say.  we have modified our trip to include Williamsburg, VA before going down to Greenville, NC.

Amish Visit

well right off we have no idea why these pics came out so big but the pic of missy didn't.  Went over to Lancaster County to experience the amish.  Was a very interesting day.  Had to wonder why someone would name a town "Intercourse" and "Bird In Hand" so did some research and found that in 1814 when Intercourse was re-named, the term had a different meaning, it meant "pleasant mutal fellowship" and since the area was a crossroads for commerce that name just seemed to work.  As far as Bird In Hand, many of the germans coming thru the area did not speak english and could not read or write but used visual signs as markers of where they were so a picture of a man with a bird in his hand won the day.  2nd day of heavy rain coming down with thunderstorms.  Love the pic of missy after the ride out.   1 of the parties here in the park is from Grass Valley, CA up near Logan & Kristy and they are headed to Maine where he says he intends to put a serious dent in the lobster population. Off to Gettysburg tomorrow.

Hershey Pics

we went to hershey world today, nearly a disneyland type with a park that has 65 roller coasters.  Neither of us into coasters so didn't pay the $39 per person (gulp) entry fee.  As you can see the town street lights are in the shape of hershey kisses.  We are headed to amish country tomorrow, about 10 miles from here.  Some of the highlights will include the towns of "Intercourse" and "Bird In Hand".

Hershey Museum & Chocolate World

Hershey PA

Nice drive over from Wilkes-Barre.  Lots of rolling hills, very lush and green.  A significant amount of the trip is climbing grade and with permanent signs along the road that say "fog area" and it was.  people passing by were driving close to 70mph and there was very little visibility on the road.  We are in Elizabethtown at a KOA, nice to finally have power and water.  Last night after the hanging clothes fisaco we took stock of what we really need and we are UPS'n 2 boxes back to Beth to put in the storage unit.  Also forgot yesterday to say that diesel was $3.99 in Kennebunk but jumped to $4.39 in NY but was back to $4.15 in PA.  Will be here until tue and hope to get some time at Hershery Park and hopefully a tour of the chocolate factory.  Animals are traveling well.  Cats do not seem unduly upset during their ride in the trailer.

2d day out

we are in wilkes-barre, PA.  This morning before we left kennebunk rest stop the ceiling in the closet with ther hanging clothes came apart and the rod the clothes were on detached from the wood so the clothes rode in a heap until we got here.  we are in a wall mart so NJ went and bought a shower rod that extends and that seems to be working.  the origional rod is cheap pot metal and the ceiling is very thin paper board, don't know how they expect 56" of that to hold clothes.  we head to hershey pa tomorrow for a 3 day stay.  will be nice to be hooked up to power.  one other item of note for you new englanders, I84 & I81 in PA are the most brutal road that someone has the cajones to call interstate, my eyeballs are still bouncing up & down

Get Away Tomorrow

Well tomorrow is close day around noon.  back to the house and hook up.  Probably will not get out of Maine tomorrow but will stay over at the Kennebunk rest stop.  Will then start to work or way to Hershey PA for a little "chocolate" before heading to Amish country.  Was a rough day for both of us saying goodby to very good friends.