Getting Out of Harm's Way

We arrived back Virginia Beach on Sunday afternoon.  We got set up at the Ocean Pines military campground and then went over to see the kids.  Jon and Kelly and the boys were returning from a long weekend at the lake and they arrived in the late afternoon.

Wow!  We were gone 9 weeks and those little boys have changed so much!  They talk more and engage even more.  It is amazing.  We got to play with them on Sunday afternoon and then go see them all day Monday.

But the hurricane was building up and we had to come up with an evacuation plan of our own.  We called around and decided the best escape route was north to the D.C. area.  We called ahead to the Greenville Farm Campground in Haymarket, VA.

The D.C. area doesn't have too many great options for RVing (great meaning affordable, great campground and close to the city), but we've stay there and were able to snag a reservation.  We are about 30 minutes away from Fairfax and about 45 minutes from downtown D.C.

The weather reports were looking grim and the military campground had warned us we may have to evacuate.  We didn't wait for them to make up their mind and departed on Tuesday morning.  The drive to Fredericksburg on I-95 and then over to Highway 17 to Haymarket was actually a pleasant drive.  We expected heavier traffic but it was very manageable.

We got to the campground and were told we'd have to spend a night in partial hookups, then could move to full hookups.  So that is what we did.

Partial hookups were water and 30 amp service in the woods.  That meant no TV but we survived.

The next day moved to our more open site with full-hookups and our DirecTV had no problems connecting.

While here, we contacted friends Jeff and Tiffany.  Jeff and I met with a few of his other buddies on Tuesday night while Pam and Tiffany watched a Nationals baseball game and got caught up.  We are going to be able to spend some time tomorrow with son Adam and daughter-in-law Melissa (who live in Fairfax) and are looking forward to that!

We are glad the hurricane did not continue on its initial projected path and are safe.  Jon and Kelly in Virginia Beach got the all clear word earlier this evening.  They were never in an evacuation zone but parts of the city were.

Our prayers continue for the people in its path.  Even though the initial contact with landfall has been less than expected, there has still been plenty of devastation and it is not over yet.

I hope you and yours are safe!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Short Stop and Off We Go

Our time in Tennessee is always too short.  While there we were able to see family and neighbors and friends.  And we completed a project with Roadrunner Builders.  Mike had been saving the back porch so we could work on it.  He wanted some insulation in the walls and ceiling and a couple of windows trimmed out.

He had the insulation done and we got to do some of the rest.  He insisted on leaving the painting for him and since we ran out of time, that was OK with us.

We worked in the middle of 'errands' we had to do at Wiegel's and Hammer's in  Halls.  We also drove over to Powell's and picked up some things at Lowe's.  Our basic workday M-W was about 9:00 ish to 4:00 or 5:00 in the evening.

The insulation is all in place along the wall and also up top in the ceiling.  Our job was to cover up the walls, finish work on the ceiling and hide the seams.

 The first order was to cut and precisely size the sheet rock for a good fit.

 Next, Pam mudded over the sheet rock screws and taped the seams.

 We added 3" PVC trim under the ceiling where the wall joined.

While that was being done, I added 2 1/2" strips over the seams on the ceiling to cover them and the screws.  Mike's brad nailer came in handy for that.

We also took our time trimming out the windows and adding window sills.  All in all, we had a lot of fun humming along working on the back room.

The next day we headed out of town and found a gem of a overnight stop in Buena Vista, VA.  We're on our way to the Fairfax area to see out son and wife.  We hate paying $40 plus for an overnight stop. And there were quite a few of those within 30 miles of where we wanted to stop for the night.

Even among those expensive places, there is no guarantee that we would get open access for our DirecTV.  That would be frustrating.  But we found a place in Buena Vista, VA.  We checked out reviews for the Glen Maury City Park campground and they were pretty good.  Nothing great.  But we were looking for one night.

I called and asked and was assured we would be able to get an open site with satellite access.  Sure enough, we arrived, paid our $19.48 (with Passport America) and parked in the open field.  We had 30 amp service (which was fine since we did not used the A/C) and water.  Perfect.

It was a tad cloudy for a while but it was a terrific evening.  We had windows and the front door open and enjoyed the fall-like day.  We slept with the windows open and thoroughly love this place.  The cell phone service was great and we had no issues at all with our DirecTV access.  And best on all the  free wifi was excellent!  What?  I can't remember when that was the case apart from the Navy bases where we've stayed.

We will definitely keep this campground on our favorites list for next time.

It was a great time seeing Mike and Joan and all in Tennessee and getting to work on their place.  Always too short, but fun to get some work done with the Roadrunner Builders.  And we look forward to a few days seeing Adam and Melissa.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Moving On - Tennessee then Red Bay

We left Virginia Beach after six months here.  Its the longest stay in one area of our 8+ years on the road.  We arrived in December 2016.

We were here for the birth of Harrison on January 31 and Brooks' birthday on February 15.  We helped with the kids for a couple of months until Kelly had surgery in April.  A large benign (thankfully) tumor was removed from near her intestines and she had a few weeks before she could lift the kids.  But all went well, she recovered quickly and we are now back on the road and doing our thing.

Some great things happened while we were here:

- We got to spend the holidays with our kids and their spouses.  We cherish those times.  Plus Adam and Melissa a three plus hours away in Fairfax so we have had a chance to see them a few times.  We love it every time we can do that.

- We didn't stay with Jon and Kelly, but we were within 45 minutes of where they live.  We went over to their place almost everyday and sometimes during the weekend.  We had a few days where it didn't work out, but we were at their place a lot.  We appreciate them including us in their lives and letting us help out.  We know that its a privilege to be able to be involved in our kids lives and we know not everyone has it.  We don't take it for granted, nor did we want to overstay our welcome.  We found a happy medium.

- Its been great learning how to become grandparents.  We have a lot more to learn but we are getting the hang of it.  Its fun to be helpful.  And nothing beats having the little one run full speed at you when he sees you yelling, "Paaappaaaa!" or "Maaammaaaa!".  We thought we wanted to be 'Grandma' and 'Grandpa' but "Mama" and "Papa" suit us just fine.

- There's a lot to be said being near our kids.  It is only 3.5 hours from Virginia Beach to Fairfax, so we are glad to make the drive up I-95 to see Adam and Melissa when we get the chance to do so.  It was fun to be around a couple of weeks while they were remodeling their kitchen and to see them at birthdays and such.  We found a favorite place at Bonefish (who would have thought?) and always enjoy seeing them and seeing what they are up to in their busy lives.

- One of the joys in the last couple of weeks has been to see some old friends and co-workers from our old life.  We moved to Fairfax in 1992 and left in the Roadrunner in 2009.  In those 17 years we made a number of close friends at church and work and we were able to see some of them during an Open House weekend.  One friend was having an event for other friends who had moved away.  We were able to see folks we hadn't seen in a long while.  It was great!

- If we had to guess today, when the time comes to 'get off the road', we'd probably end up in Virginia Beach.  In the last six months, we have had the opportunity to meet some people at church who are our age.  Its been fun. We were at a get-together with a few other couples and each gave a short introduction of themselves.  Almost everyone was there because of their grandkids!  That was an eye-opener.  Since that evening, its been easier to develop friendships, so that is nice.

- Another big benefit of hanging around VB for six months is how much we have been able to save.  We have shelled out some big $$ over the past two years with medical bills, RV repairs and some hefty maintenance on our car.  It's been great to finally get over the hump on the finances by not paying for diesel fuel or new repairs.  We've averaged under $20/night campground fee since December.  Also -- I was able to get a lot of hours of work-for-pay online during January-February.

- Another nice (and not insignificant) item we appreciate about being in this part of the country is Wawa coffee.  We love the fact, we can do self-serve coffee (Hazlenut/French Vanilla blend please) almost everyday.  We love Wawa!  They also encourage customer feedback on their receipts. After filling it out (takes about 2 minutes), you get an email that has a coupon which is good for a soda or cup of coffee (any size) for the next week.  Free!  How good is that?

There are more things we loved about being in VB for the last few months.  Watching Brooks grow and learn and developing a relationship with him is the best.  He is one precious guy.  Can't tell you how much of a huge blessing this little guy is.  What a wonder.

And then there is Harrison!  He is a cute little fella with the quickest little smile and big eyes.  He's already rolled over and will probably be crawling by the time we see him next in October.  Such a huggable little guy.  So different from Brooks but he gives you the idea he's entirely up for the challenge.  

One thing we wondered about after seeing Kelly and Jonathon was, "How did we do it?"  It seems a lot tougher in our 60's than it did when when we had two kids 19 months apart.  But we were in our 20's.... It's been great to see K & J and see how they adapt and adjust and move through parenting.  They are doing an awesome job.

We had a nice dinner with everyone last night and said goodbye for now.  Thankfully Brooks didn't yell, "Stop!" as he does sometimes when we say goodbye.  It could have been tougher.  But it is time. Time for them and for us.

Today we were up early, dumped the tanks, and were on the road by 6:30 AM.  We ran into rain early, then about 9:30 it started to clear up.  We headed for Richmond, turned toward Charlottesville and then down I-81 and the Shenandoah Valley.  It was beautiful.  Traffic wasn't too bad and we arrived at our stop at Fort Chiswell RV Park for the night.

It is a great overnight stop, didn't even have to unhook.  And the pool is open which was a bonus.  They have a large group here and I got to talk to 4-5 people.  As one said, "We are so lucky to be doing this!".

Yes we are.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles.

Ocean Pines and more RV Friends

We are here for a few more weeks in Virginia and enjoying the nice Spring weather.  The past few weeks we have been staying at the Sea Mist RV Campground on Oceana Naval Station Annex at Dam Neck.

Sea Mist is one of the nicest military campgrounds we've stayed at and we always enjoy being at this place.  The sites are good and what really makes it stand out is the maintenance.  They have a couple of full time guys here that putter around the grounds and keep it well maintained.  It shows with all the grass being mowed, the shrubs trimmed and the pine cones picked up.

Plus, they have a crew that comes in daily to clean the laundry and restrooms.  The office staff is accommodating and have worked with us to extend our stay here.  We got here in mid December and have been here since then.

Last week we went to Fairfax and helped with Adam and Melissa's kitchen remodel.  Its been quite a project but they are in the final stages of completion.  They did a lot of the work themselves with assembling all the cabinets and some ceramic work.  We helped with all the trim and drywall patching, and caulking.

Before

After

It turned out well and I think we are all pleased.  Kitchen and bathroom remodels are based on what one wants and can afford. And its always a challenge in inconvenience and schedules.  They got with five different contractors plus Adam and Melissa and Pam and me so it was a group effort to say the least. It worked out and despite the disruption it was done in three weeks.

After returning to Sea Mist, we stayed a few more days before we had to move 5 miles down the road to Ocean Pines Campground.  This is at Ocean Naval Air Station and one we have visited a few years ago. It also is quite adequate and a little more convenient.

At Ocean Pines, we use a code on a gate that moves back and forth for entry/exit.  And it is closer to Jon and Kelly so it saves us about 10 minutes each way from their house.  The park itself is maintained pretty well as is Sea Mist RV Campground.  Also, the price is right at $25 / night.

An interesting point about Ocean Pines is that it used to be the base mobile home park.  It was converted to an RV Campground years ago.  The streets and layout is the same.  The sewer connections were left where they were for the mobile homes instead of moved to the side of the site.   That means I had to crawl on my back to hook up the sewer hose which is positioned directly between the rear tires.  It was less convenient but still workable.

The site is level and we are able to get satellite TV.  Internet service here is not that great and typical of most RV parks.  All in all it is we're glad we have a spot and I'm glad we are able to stay here.  Lots of RVers are heading north as we move through Spring, so campgrounds are getting more crowded.

Recently I was on Facebook and found some friends from our Hawaii days back in the 1980's.  They posted some pictures of work on their  Airstream.  They live in Georgia and are refurbishing the entire insides of an older model they bought a few years ago.

I got in contact and found out Tim had a Navy reunion this past weekend and was going to be in town.  We had dinner and he came out to see us at the campground.

It was great to hear his stories about the Airstream and how they purchased it and how they are doing a lot of work on it.  Another great reason I love this lifestyle -- we keep running into people who are in various stages of RVing.  And I have often said there are so many ways to do this RV thing, that it is fun learning about their approach.  Hopefully there will be some camping together with Tim and Caroyl at some point in the not too distant future.

I don't think I have mentioned this before, but daughter Kelly is having surgery this Wednesday to remove a fibroid.  Thanks for your prayers for her and the family.

That's about it for now from Virginia Beach!  Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles today!  Would love to hear from you!

Our Days in Virginia April - May 2016

We have done a lot of things the last few weeks since we arrived in Virginia Beach in mid - April.  We are staying at the Dam Neck Annex/Sea Mist RV Campground.  This is a favorite area.

It's a low maintenance kind of place but everything works.  They have a small staff and friendly staff. The grass gets mowed, the laundry room gets cleaned up.  Basically a well run campground.

We've had lots of time with Brooks while here.  He is one amazing little guy.  Here he is deciding which wheel to use while making his way into Krogers on a windy day.

Here he is asking Grandpa if he can have the iPhone.  He does that a lot.  And Grandpa gives it to him a lot.

Another things we've done while here is take care of lots of appointments.  Here is my hygienist Mia after a successful teeth cleaning.

We also had the pleasure of seeing Marg and Bill for a few days.  They stopped by on their way back to Ontario from spending time in Florida this winter.

This is the Collision Center manger taking a picture of the rear deck lid that needed to be adjusted.  We got rear ended in December and got it fixed in Fort Walton Beach.  USAA said if we ever heard any rattles or something needed adjustment after it was fixed to contact them.  They set us up with these folks and it all got squared away.

Then too, there has been a couple of projects around the house I got to work on.  Apart from mowing the yard a couple of times, I finished up some of the flower bed trim logs.  I cut them to size, Kelly drilled holes in them for the 12" pipes to hole them in place.

We also made another trip to Fairfax to see Adam and Melissa for a few days.  While there we drove by our old house.  Kind of sad -- the yard not mowed and the fence needs painting.  No flowers.  The whole place needs some TLC... ;(

Adam and I worked on a new table for his record player and Sonos speakers.  They were looking for something functional and basic.  We measured things out and got a 4' x 8' of birch plywood at Home Depot and had them make two cuts.

Next, we went back to his basement workshop and cut some dividers.  He orders some short legs with a metal plate to screw on the bottom.  

We pre-drilled holes for some screws and also used a nail/brad gun to put it together.

The plates for the screw-on legs went on easily.

We raised the piece that went along the back of the unit which gave us a lip on top and access on the bottom shelf for speaker cords.

It fit nicely under the window.

One thing Adam and Melissa are into is crossfit.  Their group was holding a fundraiser competition and we went to see some of the action.  It was motivating to see all these world class athletes pushing themselves and in such good shape.

They were hoping to raise $5000 to rescue a person out of slavery.  The effort is led by International Justice Mission.  I had no idea slavery is so prevalent around the world.  I've heard of sex trafficking and that kind of slavery.  This goes further and through the efforts of the 20+ competitors and 100? attendees (plus who knows what else went into this event), they were able to raise over $20,000.  Good for them.  They are making a difference.

Back in Virginia Beach, we've spent quite a few afternoons and evenings on the back deck at Kelly and Jon's place.  Brooks has a nice play area and Jon does his magic with his Big Green Egg.  He really knows how to cook on that thing!

A few times while here, I've been able to get together with some men at coffee shops and get in some 1 on 1 time.  This is one of Jon's favorite places in Virginia Beach.  Three Ships Coffee Bar and Roastery is unique and I can see why he likes it.

Then more time with Brooks.  In the few weeks we've been here we've seen Brooks develop.  His little mind is going 1000 miles an hour.  Here he is waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to show up.  He has learned how to move his step stool around and bring it over to places to get things... at 14 months this has to be way ahead of schedule?

Then for Mother's Day, Pam wanted a Radio Flyer Wagon to take Brooks on walks around the neighborhood.  He likes it pretty well so far...

Yesterday we got in on some picture taking after church.  He was ok with it for about 20 seconds, then he got busy and needed to go check something out...

It was a beautiful day yesterday so they came over to the campground and Brooks got to check out the beach.  

It's been a busy time, but we have thoroughly enjoyed it here!  And we have another week to go.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

A First for Brooks!

Yep - today is Brooks' first birthday!  Can't believe it all went by so quickly.  (I know I am not the first to say that!) But it's true.  

And a few things are similar one year later.  The weather for example, last year it was snowing and cold on this day.  Jon called early and said, "It's time!" We told him we'd meet them over at the hospital and a few hours later.  So...
From This:

To This:

He is one little fun loving, walking, running, active, energetic, precious little boy!

We left the Roadrunner for a few days at our campsite in Florida and drove the Honda CRV to Kelly and Jon's to celebrate his birthday.  His official birthday is the 15th but the party was on Saturday afternoon.

All his grandparents and lots of friends and buddies showed up for the big event.

Miss Becky named him the Prince many months ago and that became the theme for the event, "The Prince is 1".

We had way more food than we needed but that was OK.

 It was a good time for friends to get together.  That's Owen - one of Brooks' best buddies.

 When it came time for Meme's birthday carrot cake - Brooks wasn't too sure what to make of it.

 But after everyone sang him 'Happy Birthday' he plunged in with both hands.

 And this friends loved playing together while all the grown ups stood around and talked.

 Adam and Melissa came down from Fairfax for the event and stayed overnight which was great.

 Haven't gotten to see them since their wedding back in October.

The afternoon was exciting and the finale of bubbles was a real hit.

After the party we got to hang out with Jon's parent's (Meme and Poppy) and spent the evening with Adam and Melissa.

 It was a fun day.

Earlier in the day, we got to go to Brooks' "swim lessons" at the local recreation center.

The little ones are in the pool with a parent and basically walk around getting used to the water.  Today they went under for a quick dunk and did good!  So far he is enjoying it and has added water fun to his amazing skill set!

It was really great to see him and everyone again and to help celebrate Brooks' first birthday.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!