Road Trip 2005 - Days 4 & 5

These 2 days are getting lumped together because they were relatively uneventful.....and I'm tired.

Day 4 - We got up early so as to depart from Chattanooga at 8am, which we did. The only problem was that PawPaw wanted to stop at a Lowe's to get some stuff for the RV. We got directions from the campground and headed out. An hour and a half later, we pulled out of the Lowe's parking lot.....without having found what we came for, despite 3 trips in for returns/exchanges. Now we're running behind on a very long day of driving. At one point, we look around for Big J and discover him sitting on the night table in the back, looking out the window, and waving to all the truckers....they loved him!

Luckily, Big L makes great time and we get to our beautiful campground in Staunton Virginia in time to pull in a get set up before dark. (We also discover that they only offer dial up internet service, which Big L and I decided wasn't worth the trouble.) This was the plan because the kids are getting what we've now identified as the fateful disease "RV-itis". We hoped to get to our new site in plenty of time to run and play at the playground, fish the lake with Daddy and explore. Too bad it poured down rain from the moment we arrived until after we were asleep!

Day 4 - Well this was the easiest day of travel so far....only 3 hours! Shortly before making the necessary exits to find our campground, I call ahead to assure our reservations, etc. I am informed that their wireless high-speed internet connection is not complete and won't be for another 2 weeks. I cancel our reservations! I exhaust all the campground brochures we have on hand to no avail, so it is time to call in the internet troops. Big L and I begin calling internet-savvy friends who can help us find a new campground in our area. KoOk comes through and finds us a gem which we quickly relocate to and settle in. It is fabulous!

1:00pm - The ankle-biters and I head out for "my event" of the trip. I have been a part of an email group since the days of onelist (remember that??) that revolved around women who were pregnant and due in March of 2000. The March Moms is what we call our group. These ladies and I have bonded and formed a friendship that is now approaching 6 years! Today I got to have lunch with (if you can call Mickey D's lunch!) and meet "in real life" 3 of those wonderful ladies. It was great! Our kids played on the playground and we got to see each other and actually here each other's voice instead of the usual.....reading daily emails to/from one another. Of course our time went by too fast, but it was super fun.

3:30pm - I return to the campsite to find clean towels (compliments of Granny), an outstretched and secure awning (compliments of PawPaw and Big L) and 3 tired campers! We decide to take an evening drive and go to dinner. This, I now realize, is going to be the sticking point of the trip. Up until now, we've eaten aboard our mother-ship almost exclusively. We have planned, however, to start eating out the next 3 days because we plan to be away from motorhome during meals. Let me just say it this way....PawPaw don't like "fancy" food. And by fancy, I mean anything seasoned with something other than salt & pepper. Also, anything that doesn't include a very large portion of beef. We chose Italian because Big L knows me well and he knew I was long overdue for a pasta fix. Not to mention the T-Bug spawn love their "noodles & cheese". PawPaw couldn't even read the menu so he didn't try. He split a pizza with Big L and was fine. Big L and I love to eat at restaurants, try new foods, and especially sample the local specialties when we travel. PawPaw and Granny like easily identifiable, country-style food only. I'll keep you posted on how it unfolds.

Right now, Big L and I are scheduling our activities for tomorrow a bit differently because it looks like PawPaw is going to wear out before our time here is up. He's already rubbed a big blister on his foot and we haven't even gotten started. Thank goodness we brought the wheelchair! Tune in tomorrow for news of our first day of sightseeing......have you guessed where we are yet??