On the Road Again Only Different...

We don't close on our house in Norfolk until the last Friday of the month, so we are taking a road trip to TN, AR, OK, NM, AZ, TX, AL and NC to see family and friends.  This post is about our first two days where we went as far as Conway, AR.

We thought, "Why not?"  Maybe we should re-think buying another RV and just take road trips. We shall see, but since we have a three weeks it was a good time to travel and see how we like it.  My hypothesis is, "it will not compare to the wonder and joy of RV living, but it can still be good."

On Day 1 of our trip, we made it to Maynardville, TN for an overnight stop.  We like to get on the road early and crept out of our 5-star accommodations at Goldmanor (Kelly and Jon's house where we are staying) and made stops at Wawa for coffee and McDonals for a couple of egg McMuffins.

We crossed over the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel as the sun was rising. Then it was on to Richmond on I-64 over to I-81.  Before we got there we crossed through the Shenandoahs and were greeted with this.

Yikes!  Snow!  It only lasted for about 20 minutes but it definitely got our attention.  We keep thinking we have avoided winter but that hasn't happened entirely.  The last three weeks in Virginia Beach have been a mix of different weather with some warmer days and some cold ones lately.

We pulled into Mike and Joan's neighborhood about 3:30 PM and since we were only going to be able to stay overnight, we better see Helen and Bill first.  Chances are that we would not be leaving Joan and Mike's once we got settled in.  So we stopped in to see Helen who had just returned from Physical Therapy.  She had knee-replacement surgery and Bill had her all set up in an easy chair with her knee raised.  Everything is going well with her recovery except the pain.  Ouch! She did say to much about it but once we asked questions she indicated it is some major pain.  But she is dealing with it and getting a little better each day.

Next stop was Joan and Mike's.  We unloaded our suitcases and air mattress and sleeping bags and it worked out fine.  Mike had fixed dinner and we had some great fajitas and beans.  On our way to Virginia Beach after selling the Roadrunner, we stopped in to see them and they were both ill.  They were much improved and were like their old selves so we were thankful for that.

On Day 2, we headed out of the driveway before six AM and got on I-40 heading west.  We refueled a couple of times along the way.  It is a bit of a shock to fill up on a road trip for under $30 when we were used to filling up the Roadrunner for $250-$300 a pop.  We like the lower numbers.  I noticed its not as easy to take a quick nap in the car as it was in the Roadrunner, but it is manageable.

The weather forecast didn't look too good on our route because of high winds, rain, and the threat of tornados.  We didn't want to do anything crazy, but we kept on eye on things as we traveled. We hit some rain for a couple of hours then it was mostly high winds toward Little Rock, AR.  About noon the east bound traffic on I-40 was backed up for a couple of miles as they cleaned things up from a tractor trailer that over turned.  Not sure exactly what happened but he may have gotten blown into the side rail in the passing lane and went over.  Out side heading west was fine.

We arrived in Little Rock and drove downtown to the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum.  It is one we had not seen before so we were hoping to see it and the Arkansas State Capitol.

The grounds are well maintained and in a great location a few blocks from downtown Little Rock.  On thing that struck me was the size of the building.  I might be the largest of the Presidential libraries we have seen in our travels.

 Both outside and inside the grounds, we saw artwork of Dale Chihuly.  We love his work.

Inside, the security was friendly and we paid the $8 fee before going to the third floor and taking a self guided tour.

 View from the third floor toward downtown Little Rock.

The Oval Office is always an interesting place.  Many of the presidential libraries we've seen have life-size replicas like this one.  For $50 we could side behind the presidential desk and get our picture taken.  Yikes!  We passed on that one.

We weren't able to spend the time it deserved, but we were glad for the chance to see it briefly.  It is one of the more well done presidential libraries we've been to and I was very impressed.

The afternoon weather was a big change from what we had experienced most of the day.  We drove over to the capitol building.  I was closed but I managed to take a few pictures.  

We thought we could drive some more and continued on I-40 to Conway AR where we got a motel for the evening.  After two hard days of driving, we went to dinner and then back to the motel and hit the sack.  

That's all we will relay for now and I'll save some more for the next couple legs of the trip to Tucson. Thanks for joining us on this adventure of the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Loving the RV Life

Here's a look at the route we've been on since we left Virginia Beach on Saturday.  

Everything doesn't have to be going our way all the time for us to love the RV life.  There are ups and downs.  The last few days have been a wonderful with a few things that went a little sideways.  We notched a couple of "wins" however, and are happily camped at the Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground (private) in Maynardville TN, for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We've been here many times over the years.  This is one the Roadrunner's favorite spots.  We're on Joan and Mike's property with water, 50 amp service and a dump station.

Here are the wins:

• Traveling in beautiful weather
• Visiting with good friends
• Catching an uninvited guest: a mouse
• Attending a good church
• Safely boondocking/dry camping in sketchy area of town
• Terrific early morning breakfast in Greensboro
• Getting in to the Cummins Coach Care facility first thing Monday morning
• Correctly diagnosing the engine hesitation with new fuel filters
• Getting underway before 10:00AM
• Seeing the wonderful Shenandoah Valley
• Not more engine hesitation
• Arriving safely in Maynardville TN

During Saturday's drive from Virginia Beach, we noticed how well the coach was running.  It was a smooth, comfortable ride at 62 mph.   We love traveling done the road and enjoying the ride.

We are grateful for good friends and love to visit when we have the chance to see people.  We had dinner and went to church with D and Jackie and got to catch up with each other.  Great times!

3 or 4 days after Halloween, we had a large bag of candy in our snack drawer.  That is probably not a good idea on a number of levels.  One morning Pam sadly announced we had evidence of a mouse in the Roadrunner.  One had eaten through a candy wrapper and apparently enjoyed a portion of a Reese's cup.  Yikes!  I got out 4-5 mouse traps we carry and set them up.  It took another 6 days before the munchy mouse met his match.

We always enjoy a good church service. We were able to attend Freedom Church with D and Jackie in Lincolnton, NC and were refreshed, renewed and encouraged.

After church, we decided our fuel hesitation issues required us to find a Cummins Coach Care facility and get it properly diagnosed. En route to Denver (near Lake Norman) the Roadrunner began hesitating slightly going up hills.  It has previously been an issue.  We guessed it the coach needed new fuel filters.  A similar issue occurred last December when we left Virginia Beach.  After sitting for months, the coach began slipping going up hills.  We guessed it was the same problem this time.

Unfortunately we had to back track 90 miles and arrived at the Cummins repair shop in Greensboro NC.  The gate was locked and it didn't look as if the electric hookups in back were being used.  We realized we had to find a place to stay overnight.  We first parked on the street outside of the gate. Our  satellite wouldn't lock on, so we looked around and decided on the abandoned restaurant next door.  It  had a parking small parking lot on one side and a staging area for a septic service on the other side of the building.  Surprisingly three truck came and went using that side of the parking lot.

We found a level spot and backed up the street 50 yards into the parking lot.  We were hoping we could stay there all night without causing problems.

We opened the Passenger Side slides but did not put down jacks.  We fired up the generator for a couple of hours.  Our TV satellite dish didn't work in that location, but at least we were off the street. Our Over-the-air (OTA) digital antenna picked up 22 stations and we watch some sports, read, and had frozen dinners.  It also was a restful night.

We were up early and went to breakfast at a local place and it was a real treat.  Lots of local folks there early getting a bite before work plus a few retired people.  Good food, huge biscuits.

We were first in line when the Cummins repair shop opened.  We carry spare fuel filters and left them on the seat of the coach for the mechanic.  It took about 90 minutes and we were done and back on the road.

There was some road construction and detours and we found ourselves on I-81 going through the Shenandoah Valley.  It is one of the scenic drives in America!  It was a clear day and we loved it.

We went up quite a few hills and had no more engine issues!  The Roadrunner ran smoothly up big inclines and we're thankful for that.

We continued over to Morristown TN and then to Tazwell TN before arriving at Joan and Mike's in Maynardville and our site.  It was late afternoon and a nice afternoon.  We got set up and are ready for a nice Thanksgiving.

Hope you and yours are enjoying the week and have a nice holiday.  Where are you for Thanksgiving?


Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Stumbling Out of the Chute

We left Virginia Beach this morning for our Winter Travels 2018-2019 trip.  It didn’t quite go like we thought it would be we managed to get on the road by 7:00 AM.

I got up my normal time a little after 4:00 AM.  I love the morning time to get some reading and reflection time in before the day gets going.  Pam got up at 6:00 and we went a about our normal routine and had breakfast, got dressed and stowed things for travel.

I had already put away the sewer hose and water hoses, packed up the grill, and rolled up the front door mat.  I went outside, took the cover off the tow bar, rolled it up and put it away.  Next, I moved the car from in front of the Roadrunner and parked it across the street out of the way.

It was about 6:20 by now and time to fire up the coach.  Pam turned the key and the engine was barely turning over.  Oh no!  Maybe we weren’t going anywhere today!  She let it sit for a few minutes and tried it again.  It wasn’t happening.

Now what do we do?  (We seem to ask that question a lot at times like these.)

The engine was trying to turn over so I figured maybe the chassis batteries were dying.  I got the car and pulled it alongside the coach on the passenger side (PS).  Then I got out our extra long jump cables and connected the car batteries to the coach batteries.  We waited a couple of minutes and Pam turned the key on again, and the engine struggled once and caught.  It fired up and we were back in business!

I went around to the driver side (DS) and disconnected the electrical cord from the pedestal and reeled in into its bay.  It was about 6:35 AM and then the air horn went off!  Apparently over the last few weeks of being stationary, I pressed the horn button.  Now that the air bags were filling the air horn went off!

Yikes!  Not exactly the way to win friends at the campground on an early Saturday morning.  Not knowing that I had accidentally turned the air horn button on, Pam turned off the engine thinking it might affect the air horn.  Nope!  She then found the switch and turned the air horn off.

This is the same horn that gave us issues last summer while traveling to Watkins Glen NY.  It is on the list to get fixed at Red Bay when we get there right after Thanksgiving.

The air horn had been blasting loud and clear for about 15-20 seconds. It was long enough to completely wake up people in 20-30 rigs.  It finally went off. Oh man.  We felt terrible!  But what could we do?

I did a quick walk around and looked underneath the Roadrunner to see if we had left anything.  That looked good.  Pam opened the door and said the front DS jack would not entered raise.  This is not uncommon.  I got out two blocks of wood and my crowbar and pryied the jack all the way up into its cylinder.  It stowed correctly this time and we were set to pull out and connect our toad.

Pam lined up our Honda CRV, I connected the safety cables, lights, and Air Force One brake.  We did a signal and brake light check, prayed for protection and safe traveling and got underway.

Whew!  Looks like we will add two chassis batteries to our list at Red Bay but we are thankful to be on the road again.

We are heading to Maynardville, TN for Thanksgiving with a couple of nights in Denver, NC to see friends.  After driving for an hour and a half, Pam took over.  I got in a 20 minute nap and decided to get a jump on my blog post for the day.

We pulled into a rest stop to stretch or legs and use the facilities. When we returned a couple in a motorhome had pulled in next to us.  I waved, he walked around his coach and we ended up in a short conversation.  Their motorhome was new to them and they were on their way to Mississippi.  He had been to a 60 day school in the DC area and she flew in to join him on the return trip home.  It was fun to meet some new people.

While driving along a slight upgrade I noticed a slight hesitation in engine.  It wasn't chugging badly (we know what that is all about) but it was running less than smoothly.  Later, when Pam was driving again, it began acting up slightly.  In our experience, "slightly acting up" usually leads to "acting up" so we figured we need to get it looked at before we continue on to Maynardville.  We looked at a Cummins Coach Care which is 90 miles east of us in Greensboro.  We'll decide on that later since they are closed on the weekends.

We continued on and stopped for fuel a couple of hours later.  With news of falling gas prices around the country we were hoping fuel would also, but it hasn't happened yet in North Carolina.  We got to our campground near Lake Norman and found it to be congested.

We arrived at our campground about 2:30 PM and saw that our front HWH jacks would not fully extend.  They are only 2" off the ground but for some reason will not extend.  Hmmm.  Another item to address.  They are really adding up on this trip? 🙁

We passed by a Publix grocery store that was only 3 miles from the campground.  After getting set up, we went back to the store for some Key Lime pie.  We also picked up their own brand of Seafood mustard which we think is yummy.

Then we went over to D. and Jackie's place for the evening.  We had a great time catching up and seeing their new place again.  They moved to the area last July.  They are settled in now and have plans for more work on the house and property.  We had a terrific dinner and a great time of fellowship, topped off with some pie and coffee.

They are Oklahomans and we watching an excited end to the OSU - WVU football game.  OSU won a nail biter which made them pretty happy.  There is never enough time with good friends, but we bid them farewell and returned to the coach for the evening.

It was a long and eventful day and we were read for bed!

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Heading South to Gaffney

We left Virginia Beach after a great 10 week stay.  We were sad to leave behind the grandkids but we will be back in the area for the 4th of July.  This is a quick trip to Gaffney SC for some regular and new maintenance items at the Freightliner Truck Service and Training Center.

They work on RVs of all types with Freightliner chassis.  We have been here a couple of times before so we have confidence in their work.

We were up fairly early and got loaded up and hooked the tow vehicle up and got underway shortly before 7:00 AM.  We like getting up and at it early and we had a pretty long (350 mile) day ahead of us.  Traffic was a little on the busy side which was not surprising.  I think a lot of folks were getting to their 4th of July destinations.

The drive was pretty smooth and the weather was hot but it was a very pretty summer day.  We traveled West Southwest from Virginia Beach on Highway 158 over to Interstate 85 and headed south on i-85/I-40.

After about 30 minutes we turned on the front cockpit dash air conditioning.  We quickly found it was not working and just blowing regular air.  That was OK for a while but as the day got hotter, so did we.  Next we fired up the generator and put on the front a/c.  That worked pretty well until Pam noticed the generator stopped.  We turned that off and I searched the internet for "Service Fault Code 36".  I got conflicting information as to whether or not it was fuel pump problem but it seems related to lack of to the system.  I think the Roadrunner knows we are headed in for maintenance first thing Monday morning.  We're hoping Freightliner has an ace mechanic/tech from Onan on the payroll.

I drove for about 3 hours covering about 55 miles per hour before we stopped for a driver change.  Pam took over and drove a couple more hours when we stopped at the North Carolina State Line Visitor Center and made some turkey sandwiches for lunch.

The next couple of hours to our campground were a little uncomfortable though we had fans running. The temp gauge was 94 degrees outside and 85+ inside.  Not horrible conditions but cause for concern and hoping to get it fixed quickly.

We skirted Charlotte NC on the north side of town and then picked up the highway over Lake Norman and into our campground at Cross Country Campgrounds.  We were looking for a decent, level campground with good internet and open skies for our DirecTV,

We got 2 out of 3 which wasn't too bad.  We had easy access into a level asphalt site with open skies. Our DirecTV worked great.  Wifi was pretty typical and not very good.  Our Verizon Jetpack and the campground wifi both were weak.  I think the campground is in a bit of a valley.

Instead of spending a lot of time on the computer, we ran out to a new Publix grocery store that we passed coming into town.  We picked up some key lime pie (they have excellent key lime pie!) and a couple of other items.  Returning to the campground, we chilled out for a while before drive the car over to D and Jackie's place.  They recently relocated from Virginia Beach and that is why we picked this location for our overnight stop.

We had dinner and another great time with them.  They showed us around their place and got caught up.  We were on the back porch for a while but the mosquitos were there too.  It started raining hard for a little while so we moved inside for the rest of the evening.   Our visit was too short but we loved every minute of it.  They are such nice people.

Returning back to the campground, we read and watched a little TV before turning in.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Roadrunner Travel Plans June 2018 - February 2019

Thought I'd send out an update on what we think our travel plans are going to be for the next few months.  You never know, maybe we'll get a chance to say 'Hi' along the way.

This is our proposed route from June 2018 to February 2019.  We're planning on going to the NorthEast for the summer, then back to Virginia Beach for a while before we start our late fall and winter travels to FL.

*Please disregard the waypoint letters. I would change the letters to the waypoints if I knew how to do that.

June 2018

• 1 - 29:  Sea Mist Military RV Campground, Virginia Beach, VA
• 30:  Country Campground, Denver, NC

July 2018

• 1 - 2:  Freightliner Service Center, Gaffney, SC
• 3 - 5:  Newport News Campground, Newport News, VA
• 6 - 20: Cheatham Annex, Williamsburg, VA
• 21 - 25:  West Point Military Campground, West Point, NY
• 26 - 28: Haven Family Campground, Wales, MA
• 29 - 31: 4th Cliff Military Campground (near Boston, MA)

August 2018

• 1 - 5:  4th Cliff Military Campground (near Boston, MA)
• 6 - 9:  Ellacoya State Park, Gilford, NH
• 10 - 18: Forest Ridge Campground, Ellsworth, ME
• 19 - 21:  Cedar Haven Campground, Freeport, ME
• 22 - 23:  Central Bridge Hide-A-Way, Albany, NY
• 24 - 27:  Clute Park and City Campground, Watkins Glen, NY
• 28 - 30:  Darien Lakes State Park, Darien Center, NY
• 31:  TBD

September 2018

• 1 - 30:  Sea Mist Military RV Campground, Virginia Beach, VA

October 2018

• 1 - 31:  Sea Mist Military RV Campground, Virginia Beach, VA

November 2018

• 1 - 18:  Sea Mist Military RV Campground, Virginia Beach, VA
• 19 - 24:  Maynardville, TN (Joan & Mikes)
• 25 - 28:  Red Bay, AL, Tiffin repair work/maintenance
• 29 - 30:  Oak Grove Military Campground, Pensacola FL

December 2018

• 1 - 2:  Pensacola NAS Military Campground, Pensacola FL
• 3 - 6:  Clearwater, FL
• 7-14: MacDill AFB Military Campground, Tampa FL
• 15:  Overnight stop at Muskogee Casino, FL
• 16 - 31:  Sigsbee NAF, Military Campground, Key West, FL

January 2019

• 1 - 31:  Sigsbee NAF, Military Campground, Key West, FL

February

• 1-5: TBD en route to Mayport NAF, Florida
• 5-12: Gold Manor, Virginia Beach, VA
• 6-28: FL TBD

That's the plan - we will see how close we come to that.  Campgrounds get busy and hard to reserve in the winter time in Florida, so the earlier we decide what we are going to do the better chance we have of getting a campsite.  

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  

First in Flight

The motto on the North Carolina license plate motto is:  First in Flight.  I remember first reading that many years ago and thinking something like, "Really?  I thought the Wright Brothers were the first ones to fly an airplane."

Turns out they were and they did -- in North Carolina.

Pam and I took another druve from our campgrounds just inside the southern Virginia border.  Google maps said were only 47 miles from Kill Devil Hills and we took a drive down there.  We not only saw the National Memorial site at Kitty Hawk, but also had a nice lunch and did some shopping.  It made for a very nice middle-of-the-week day trip.

We drove up to the memorial site and found the visitor's center to be under renovation.

The building was built in the 1960's are apparently had a number of leaks that needed to be addressed.

The temporary restrooms and check-in point were well manned with knowledgable people and plenty of merchandise.

 We were more interested the warehouse/buildings that became the workshop and living quarters of Wilbur and Orville Wright.

This is were they parked their plane as it was being built and worked on.  This building also served as their home, where they slept in slings hung from the rafters.

The Park Ranger was telling their story. Though they had a successful bicycle business in Dayton Ohio, they were fascinated by the idea of flying.  Wilbur wrote the Smithsonian Institute in 1899 and inquired about literate on the subject.

Based on the information they received plus their inquisitive and engineering mindset, they developed their own theories of flight.  This is impressive since both young men did not finish high school.  Hard to imagine how they became inquisitive, self-taught scientists.  Clearly a different breed.  They experimented with various gliders and used Octave Chanute's design for a model of their own biplane.  In fact, they contacted him and were friends until his death in 1910.

I found this tidbit particularly interesting since I was born at Chanute AFB, in Rantoul, Illinois.  I don't know why, but I never looked up the significance of that name or why the AFB was named after him.  Now I know.

They picked the Kill Devils Hills area for their research and tests based on information from the U.S. Weather Bureau that described the high hills and good winds.  They visited Kill Devil Hills, NC from their home in Dayton Ohio in 1900.

From that point they regularly returned during the next four years.  They conducted months of testing and learning about glider flying  as they developed their thinking on wing design and mechanics.

Finally, in December 1903, they were ready to fly the plane.  Their first attempt on December 14 did not go too well and some repairs were necessary.  Then, three days later, they got the results they hope for.  They produced powered flight four times.  Adjustments were made after each flight and they knew they were on their way.

The National Memorial grounds are laid out to show the high point of the area where they launched over a thousand glider flights leading up to their first four powered flights.

 This stone marks their first of four flights on December 17, 1903 using a 12 horsepower, 180 pound engine.  They launched it from a single wooden rail. They flipped a coin, shook hands and Wilbur laid down on the craft.  With the noisy engine started, they flew four times that day:

1. First flight:  lasted 12 seconds, went 120 feet
2. Second flight:  12 seconds,  175 feet
3. Third flight:  15 seconds, 200 feet
4. Fourth flight: 59 seconds, 852 feet

At the other end of the grounds was a memorial on top of the high dune in the area.  Since the Wright Brother's arrival in 1900, the whole area was planted with grass to preserve dunes.  The site was designated for commemoration in 1927 by Calvin Coolidge and it was dedicated in 1932.   

 Orville Wright and Ameila Erhardt attended the dedication of the site.

At the back side of the memorial a bronze series of sculptures is used for a play ground.  It is based on the photograph of the Wright Brother's first powered flights.

They had a small group that day to help.  Less than ten people were there, including Wilbur and Orville.  And three people from the nearby Life Saving Station, one of whom they asked to take the photograph with the camera they set up for the occasion.

After seeing the memorial, we found a great place to have lunch:

Though it was a bit of an overcast day, we enjoyed it.  Our server, Hristina, added to our time there.

We arrived before the lunch crowd rush and had a few minutes to chat with her.  She's a summer worker from Macedonia with a very friendly way and told about her home country and life back there.  She's a graduate student and is in law school and has been coming to the Outer Banks for the last three summers.  

Next on the agenda was a stop at the Outlet Stores.  We don't often find bargins or things that we can't do with out but we did manage to get a new wallet and handbag.  

We also made stops at Starbucks and Walmart before the drive back and it was another great day trip.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  

Crossing the Border

It was time for another day trip but first we entertained Jon and Kelly and the boys.  They drove out to our new campsite at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads which is near Chesapeake.  The Stewart Campground is a good find and we like it out here.

With the summer upon us, there are a lot more people out camping.  We were not able to extend our stay at Ocean Pines RV Campground (military) in Virginia Beach, so we came farther south to Stewart Campground.

Instead of the $50+ per night camping fees at commercial campgrounds in Virginia Beach, we pay $18 for this site.  It has a lot going for it.  Despite gravel roads at the campground, they are well maintained.  And the site is level.  We have room to park our car (though it is pictured at the next site while we got set up.)

The campground has 18 sites and all but one are full for the weekend.  We have 50 amp service and had no problem getting DirecTV satellite reception.  Cell phone service is OK and we are on our own for internet.   Our Verizon Jetpack works fine, though a little slow.

And we are out in the country!  It is a beautiful drive here and quiet and we can listen to the birds and frogs outside our bedroom window.  This campground is about 45 minutes away from Jon and Kelly but the roads to here are excellent and it is a beautiful drive out here.

On Saturday morning Kelly and Jon and the boys came to see us.  I went to escort them into the base (since I have a retired military ID card, I can sponsor them on base) and met them outside the gate in the parking lot.  Except I drove out there and left my wallet in the Roadrunner.  Yikes!  Now what to do...

The Security Police were nice enough to drive over to the campground five minutes away. Pam retrieved my ID card from my wallet and the Security Police drove out to meet me in the parking lot.  That was awful nice of them!  It was a slow Saturday morning for them I guess, but I really appreciated that!

Once at the campground we fields and played some.

Brooks had a snack and Harrison got fed and changed.  And we went over to a playground a while and they enjoyed their short stay with us.  They needed to get back by noon for naps.

We thought about taking a day trip across the North Carolina border and did just that.  We had a few hours and it was a beautiful day.  So off we went.  First stop was the drive-thru at Chick-Fil-A and then on down Hiway 168

Before we knew it we were across the border and into North Carolina.  I'll bet it wasn't 15 minutes.  We found the Information Center and went in for some maps and such.

We find it is always useful to see what we can find out at these places, so if we often stop and check them out.  It was a good choice.  The friendly folks at the desk were full of good ideas and very helpful.  We met Debra who is going on an RV trip later this summer with her husband along the Eastern Coast into South Carolina, down to Florida and over to Louisiana.

 That was fun!  And she gave us some good tips of what to see in town.  We found the local Sports store and picked up a couple of hats and such.  Next door was Skip and his chain saw sculpture/woodworking business.

 He was the friendly sort and does some nice work.

 He also has some great looking rustic cabin tables and furniture which were beautiful.

Debra told us we needed to stop in and get some 12 layer chocolate cake at Kevin's down the road.  It was another place that normally wouldn't catch your eye but we were on a mission.

Cindy's kitchen is next door but she has a lot of shelves in the gas station convenience store dedicated to her cakes and desserts.  We say the cake but thought those layers were a little thin and opted for the massive chocolate fudge brownie.  We saved it for dinner last night and it hit the spot.


We continued our drive around the area to see what we could see and found Bells Island Campground on the water.  It was a crowded place but there were a lot of people there for the weekend.  Not sure we'd ever stay there but there were a lot of folks who did.  RVs and tents.

Not far from there is the Currituck Ferry Terminal that goes over to Knotts Island.  Might be another fun day trip some time.

On the way back to our campground we stopped at a produce market on the highway.  This was a real treat!  The Morris Farm Market has a lot of great fruits and vegetables.  And it is an attraction with more that just the produce.

 We looked around and listened to some music for a bit at the outdoor bar and also took a minute to go to the restrooms.
They know how to do restrooms right at Morris Farms.  They have six individual he/she rest rooms that are private.  Once in there, you do your business but I couldn't help but admire how they have done things.

 Each rest room is an experience and well decorated and clean and just a nice place.  And its the first place anywhere I have seen where they put paper towels under the urinal (that gets changed every day I assume)to collect males that can't hit the urinal.  Nothing more grungy than seeing that all over the floor.  It made an impression.  It was very clean.

Next we took the 20 minute drive and before we knew it we were back at the campground.

Another memorable 'day in the life of a full-timer'.  It was a beautiful day for a short drive and we saw and met some interesting people across the border in North Carolina  We are going to enjoy this place for a few weeks.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Roadrunner Financials - December 2016

Roadrunner Recap
In December,  we visited the following locations along the  

• Gulf Waters RV Resort, Fort Myers FL
• Manatee Springs State Park, Chiefland FL
• Ho Hum Campground, Carrabelle FL
• Hurlburt Field FamCamp, Fort Walton Beach FL
• Oak Grove MWR Campground, Pensacola NAS FL
• Gunter Hill US Army Corps of Engineers Park, Montgomery AL
• Downtown RV Park, Red Bay AL
• Camping World Campground, Anniston AL
• RVacation Campground, Selma NC
• Sea Mist RV Campground (military), Virginia Beach VA

Here's an interactive map of our travels:

Or, if you prefer and find this easier to navigate, here is a static map:

Good News Areas We Are Under Budget

Biggest Expenses

Highest 1 Time Cost Item
We had toppers replaced at Brannons and also had a list of things for him to check out including replacing the motor on one of the fans, troubleshooting a faulty light switch, replacing the 'eye' on our DirecTV, and downloading new software for our Razor Over-the-Air antenna.  $1400.

Monthly Average

The hits just keep on coming...We were $2100 over budget this month and the average climbed another couple hundred dollars again.

So this is a look at where our money went during the second month of the new year.

As always, if you think this spreadsheet might be useful I'd be glad to pass it along at no cost.  Just let me know.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!