Making our Way Down to Camp Lejeune

As planned, yesterday we left Sea Mist RV Campground in Virginia Beach and drove south for about five hours.  The Daylight Savings ended on Saturday night so we were ready to go.  And a bit early.  It was still pretty nippy outside when we pulled out at 7:44 AM.

We almost didn't pull out.  We turned on the 'Engine Pre-heat' button on the DS console about 30 minutes before we were ready to start it up.  We got it started on the second try but it was very sluggish.

Yikes!  Not sure what that means except it bears watching and is cause for our attention.  There must be something causing this.  Top guess is the chassis batteries that are five years old need replacing. Another possibility is Engine Pre Heat.  During our two days at Camp Lejeune Pam was searching the web and found an article that discussed the value of hours of Engine PreHeating.

The weather was in the low 40's and in the high 30's so we turned on the Engine PreHeat switch overnight.  It fired right up when we left Camp Lejeune.  We also took an appointment for service technicians in the Ocala Cummunis shop to take a look at things on November 21.  Hopefully we will be OK for the next couple of weeks.

On Sunday, the route we picked from Virginia Beach to Camp Lejeune was along the coast and away from I-95.  Turned out the road was great and I love seeing the country from the smaller highways and back roads.  I am a little leary of some of the roads on the map because I don't want to get on narrow two-laners or ones that need some maintenance.  But today it all worked out nicely both on the four lane and two lane roads.

 Once we got to Onslow Beach, we discovered we were right next to the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.  The beach and campground are right on the other side of this drawbridge.

 The check-in and site assignment went fine and we got one that was about 200 yards to the beach and the same distance in the other direction to the waterway.

After getting set up.  We walked over to the beach.  It was calm and flat.  One thing we noticed was the damage from Hurricane Matthew.  They lost about 12 feet of sand dunes.

 Some day-units were damaged and we were told they would not be replaced or repaired.

 Later, we walked the other direction to the intracoastal waterway and watched some boats pass by.

It was very interesting so see this substantial bridge turn sideways and let boats through, then return to its original position with precision and clearances down to inches.  It was impressive. 

The next day we went across the channel and looked back from the other side while watching some other boats go through the drawbridge.

 We took a windshield tour of Camp Lejeune and saw a small portion of it.  We decided to go out to the golf course and found some interesting memorabilia on the walls of the clubhouse.

 The course was built in the late 1920's.  One member donated a set of clubs that was among the first steel shafted clubs.  Interesting.

 The information on this wall had a very interesting tid bit of information.  Paradise Point is the oldest golf course in the Marine Corps.  Also, George Cobb, a former marine designed original course there at Paradise Point.  Of note, this is the same guy that designed the Par 3 course at Augusta National Golf club.  Who knew?

Yesterday before we departed, I got up and went over to the beach.  It was 39 degrees cold and crisp.  And there were 20 or so marines over in the adjacent parking lot getting ready for their morning run in shorts and t-shirts.

 We were glad we got to visit the beach campground at Camp Lejeune.  It is worth seeing again.  Hopefully we'll be able to do that.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Overnight at Hilton Head

In this lifestyle, you never know what the new day will bring...

We were at our new campground at Mayport Naval Station and ready to drive to Virginia Beach in a day.

Pam saw on FaceBook that friends Steve and Therressa had been in Hilton Head SC.  She thought we might be able to stop along the route to Virginia Beach and have a late lunch or early dinner with them if they were still there.

Sure enough, they were there for a few more days.  And not only that, they invited us to stay at their space bedroom in the condo they were renting!

We decided 'Why Not?' and made it to Hilton Head in time for lunch.  They suggested a restaurant they liked - The Black Marlin - and it turned out to get a great choice.  And -- they had a coupon book with 'Buy One Get One - BOGO' for it, so it was even a bargain.

Talk about a great time!  It was fun seeing them again.  I think the last time we were together was in Sioux Falls when we went through there a couple of years ago to get Pam's driver's license updated.

We have been to Hilton Head a couple of times but we must have missed the main area.  They were staying in a development called The Shipyard in a condo that was on the golf course.  Like a lot of other places in the area, there were miles and miles of bike paths on the property.

And -- each condo unit had a shed with 2 adult bicycles.  No need to rent any.  The place itself was exceptional.  Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, fully furnished including kitchen and appliances and dishes.  Very nice.  Therressa was in the travel industry for years and found a deal online.  Under $350 for a week!

After lunch, we drove around the island.
First stop was Cligny Beach

 It was a pretty beach with hard packed sand which would have been great for bicycles.  Unfortunately it was windy and freezing!!

 There were a few other tourists like us checking it out.  I can imagine it would be a very crowded place in warmer weather.

 Next, we went over to the Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge.  It looked interesting but it was closed for the season.

 We went over to the pier and saw how low the water was.

 It was quite low and the decking and ramp are designed to fall and rise with the tides.

 Interesting look where the barnacles had attached to the posts.

 We returned to the condo and hung out for the rest of the afternoon before the next task at hand -- selecting a good venue for dinner.

Once again we were able to use our BOGO coupons and ended up at the Skull Creek Boathouse.  Another fantastic seafood meal.  I opted for the shrimp and grits and thought it was very good.

After dinner we went back to the condo, had some dessert and got a demo on taking pictures with Therressa's Apple Watch and iPhone.

 The next morning we got up early and were on our way back to I-95 before the sun came up.

 And on our way to Virginia Beach.  It was a nice way to break up the long drive.  And fun to spend the day - with good friends at Hilton Head.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Dunedin with Friends

Patty got in touch with us and suggested we meet halfway between where they were staying (Hudson FL) and where we were staying (MacDill AFB).  We said:  Deal!

She suggested we try Dunedin FL.  We checked it out online.  It has a good website and the place looked like an interesting town with some fun things going on.
Turned out to be perfect!  We met at 11:00 AM at the Chamber of Commerce in the historic section right in the middle of shops and the city park and a couple blocks from the waterfront.

We first got to know Bob and Patty five years ago while volunteering for a project in Moss Point MS. It was part of the Disaster Recovery efforts of the NOMADs group.  Since those days we have kept in touch with occasional emails and blog updates.  It was great to see them!

 We started out by wandering down to the waterfront and the pier.

It could not have been a more perfect day.  Mid 70's, bright sunshine, a little breeze -- It was beautiful.

Next we walked back to the center of town and meandered through a lot of booths that were set up.
I think it was billed as a produce market but there was a lot of other things.

Plus they were celebrating the kickoff of Martin Luther King weekend.  I believe they had a fun run earlier in the day.  They had a gospel group on stage at the park 'shell' and everyone was having a good time.

We did not see anything that we could not do without, so we went across the street and down the block to have lunch at Kelly's which appeared to be a pretty popular spot.

We opted sit outside and spent the 20 minute wait by going down a few stores to the Chamber of Commerce where Bob and Patty picked up a bike map. 

We got seated outside and hand sandwiches, soup and salad.  It was good food.  The conversation was even better.  

We enjoyed hearing of all their travels and they volunteer assignments and work camping experiences.  

There are so many ways to do this RV thing...

And there was more to see in Dunedin.  We will have to save it for next time but we sure enjoyed the town and most of all spending time with Bob and Patty.

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!