New England Odyssey (Day 12)

(Norfolk, VA to Dumfries, VA)

Got up around 7:00 & took the opportunity to shower in a real shower at my brother's before saying our good-byes and setting out once again.

Our first destination of the day was Colonial Williamsburg about 35 miles north of Norfolk.  With Noah driving, we arrived by about 9:00 a.m.  We parked in the RV/Trailer parking area (which was out in the back 40) and hiked to the visitor center where I purchased one-day passes for us.  Boarding the shuttle, we were taken to Market Square where our day began.

Colonial Williamsburg is huge, so we just started up one of the streets, stopping and looking into any shops that were open.  We visited the tin smith's, the wig maker's, the milliner's, the printer's, and the baker's to name a few.  We also visited the Market House which was where the sheriff and bailiff worked as well as where trials were held. 

Noah put me in the stocks, and by then it was getting extremely hot (the heat index was 107), so we went into a book shop at the end of the street (which turned out to be a Barnes & Noble and the William and Mary College book store) and had a bottle of cold water.  Meandering back up the street, we visited the armory, and then re-boarded the shuttle bus back to the parking lot.

After leaving Williamsburg, we headed north towards our day's ultimate destination:  the Prince William Forest RV Campground in Dumfries, VA (about 30 miles south of Washington, D.C.).  With stops at Cracker Barrel for "dunch" & Camping World for trailer parts we finally got settled into our camping spot around 6:00 p.m.

Tomorrow we are planning to ride the D.C. Metro into Washington to see the sights.  Will tell you all about it then! 

Bye for now,

Buckskin

New England Odyssey (Days 10 and 11)

Wilmington, NC to Norfolk, VA (7/19/17)

Woke up & started getting ready to go.  I was more than ready to leave Camp Deliverance behind.  Had to stop in the middle of preparations to wait out yet another downpour, but once it was over, we beat feet and got out of there.  I did leave my kitty friend a plate of smoked salmon.  I hope she was able to eat her fill before one of the other cats took it from her!

Heading out of town, we spotted a Trader Joe's and stopped in for a quick look-see.  Then it was back on the road heading for Norfolk, VA to visit my brother and his wife. 

Driving, driving, driving…stopped at a place called Ralph's

 (an outstanding BBQ buffet) somewhere in North Carolina close to the Virginia border for lunch and got a photo with "Rocky" 

the world's largest rock fish, then back in the truck for some more driving, driving, driving.

Arrived in Norfolk, and thank God Noah was steering the covered wagon, because we had to go through the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel:

Chesapeake Bay Tunnel, Norfolk, VA

& I would have been sweating bullets and/or shitting bricks if I'd been behind the wheel.  Found my bro's house & Noah backed the trailer into the (very long driveway).

We had a nice visit, dinner & then sat around and watched TV.  It was great to relax somewhere other than in the trailer for a change.

Norfolk, VA (7/20/17)

Gassed up the truck and my brother took us on a tour of Norfolk today.  It was wicked hot, so we did a lot of our sight-seeing from the car!

First he took us to Norfolk Naval Air Station and showed us the various squad buildings.  We were able to get a good look at a couple of aircraft that were being towed down the middle of the road for maintenance.  Then he drove us along the dock where all the aircraft carriers are tied up, including the USS Ford, which apparently is the newest ship in the fleet.

Then we went to an awesome artisanal bakery and had one of the best sticky buns I've ever tasted in my life.  That was followed by a drive through the historic district where we viewed a number of old buildings including a stop at the church of St. James, the oldest building in Norfolk. 

Buckskin Lily @ St. James Church in Norfolk, VA

We lucked out big time, because as we were looking around in the graveyard at St. James:

Ron asked a man who was walking by a question about something:  turned out the guy was the church's historian & he gave us a great impromptu tour.  He told us the graveyard there was the only one for the first 144 years the town existed.  

He showed us the cannonball that was lodged in the church's walls, fired during the Revolutionary War.  He took us inside and showed us all around in there as well.

Next we went to a pull-out area by the airstrip and watched jet fighters flying over and then went back on base to see the display of old fighting air craft.

We finished up by visiting an outstanding antique mall where I bought three new items to add to my collection:  a mother dog with two pups, another pair of duck salt & pepper shakers, and a set of calico dog salt and pepper shakers.  I could have bought several other items as there were so many high quality pieces at this place, but I had to limit myself.

Back at my bro's, he BBQ'd some elk steaks and burgers we brought for him to try.  His wife made some excellent potato salad and guacamole as well, so we ate very well!  After dinner, we sat around & visited some more, watched TV, then went to bed.

Tomorrow it's off to Williamsburg!  

Later, gators!

Buckskin 

New England Odyssey (Day 9)

Wilmington, NC (7/18/17--Happy birthday, dad!  Miss you tons!!)

Woke up to an amazing thunderstorm & downpour.  Took our time getting ready before heading back to historic/downtown Wilmington, so I could dig around in the records office:

New Hanover County Courthouse, Wilmington, NC

in search of any leads on the identity of my great-great grandfather, William Burrell Mobley's parents.  Unfortunately, I didn't come up with anything.  We did find a recording for a deed of land from an Allen Mobley who died in 1840 or 1841 and left his property to James Bond (not 007)!  Got a copy of that to read in case it might yield some clues (so far it hasn't). 

Discouraged, we headed back to our hillbilly RV park and Noah cooked us some lunch.  After a bit of a rest, we drove over the Snow Cut Bridge to investigate Carolina and Kure Beaches.  They were typical southern beach towns--lots of pastel houses on stilts. 

The beach was accessed by wooden boardwalks that were apparently designed to aid visitors get through the sea grass to the sand.  The water was brown and turgid from the high waves being thrown up by the strong wind. 

We walked along the beach to the Kure Pier:

Kure Beach pier, Kure Beach, NC

 which was accessed through a shop selling bait and tacky gee-gaws and bait for the fishermen & women who fish from the pier for mackerel, flounder and sheepshead.  The entire pier was moving and shuddering under us as we walked on it…wouldn't have been surprised if the whole thing had collapsed and dumped all of us into the water.

 Birds included some kind of black-headed seagull and loads of pelicans.  One old pelican was perched on the rail of the pier begging for fish.  He posed for pictures, 

Pelican

but flew away when a fisherman got too aggressive throwing him some fish.

After the beach, we returned to Camp Deliverance & hung out until bed time.  We ate in again & made it official:  the first day of the trip without spending any $ (except 30 cents for my copy at the courthouse).  Amazing!

Tomorrow we head up to Norfolk, Virginia to visit my bro & his wife (they don't have aliases, so their names will not be mentioned to protect their privacy).  Anyway, until next time, hope you have a good one!

With love,

Buckskin Lily

New England Odyssey Day (Day 8)

Florence, SC to Wilmington, NC (7/17/17)

Noah got up at 6:30 to take the truck to the Ford dealership for repairs while I stayed behind to sleep.  However, I couldn't once he'd gone, so I got up and took care of some housekeeping chores:  dishes, laundry, & sweeping.

Luckily, the truck was a quick fix, and we were able to be on the road to North Carolina by about 10:30.  We stopped at the North Carolina Welcome Center for a photo op 

Made it to NC!

and for lunch at Subway (and to buy a basket of fresh peaches from a road side stand) when we switched drivers.  Even so, with only about 120 miles to drive, we arrived in Wilmington by 2:00.

Noah drove to the RV park I'd chosen from the travel brochure we'd picked up at the Welcome Center.  The Carolina Beach Family RV Park is quite an interesting place.  Here's a photo from the window of our trailer.  It doesn't quite capture the ambiance of the park, but suffice it to say, I will be checking reviews on Trip Adviser before making any future bookings.  Live and learn!

Camp "Deliverance"

On the plus side, I have befriended a dainty little feral grey and calico kitty who lives here.  I want to take her home!!  She is so sweet, but will only come to me, not Noah.

After getting set up at the park, we both had a nap before heading to the historic section of Wilmington.  We strolled along the Riverwalk which borders the Cape Fear River:

River Walk, Cape Fear River, Wilmington, NC

and took a horse-drawn carriage tour to see some of the historic buildings and homes:

Horse-drawn carriage tour, Wilmington, NC

Old Wilmington house

Another old Wilmington house

We capped the evening off with dinner at the Cape Fear Seafood Company.  I had my first taste of shrimp and grits, and the bar has now been set VERY high.  It was amazing!  I'm going to try to get Noah to go there again tomorrow night, so I can have some more!

Best shrimp & grits EVER!!

Back at the trailer now & relaxing before bed--gonna read some more in my fabulous Sam Phillips biography I bought in Memphis.  Talk soon!

Regards,

Buckskin Lily

New England Odyssey (Day 7)

Day 7

Madison, GA to Florence, SC (7/16/17)

Got up early & discovered we'd crossed into the next time zone without even knowing it!  So we fixed our clocks, got ready & headed back on the road.

Our original goal was to make it to Wilmington, North Carolina today.  However, the truck had other plans.  The transmission went out three times while we were driving on the freeway:  once while Noah was driving and twice while I was behind the wheel.  Luckily, we were able to pull the truck and trailer to the side of the road, and when we re-started the engine, the transmission was OK (until it went out again and again, of course).

Wanting to avert a worse breakdown, or a breakdown in a worse location like a construction zone (which seem to abound on the freeways around here), we decided to stop in the next town with a Ford dealership and have the truck serviced before going on.  So...we ended up in Florence, South Carolina. But being a Sunday, the Ford dealership was closed.

Undaunted, we found a camp ground, set up our trailer, and decided to make the best of our situation. We had a number of brochures which the extremely friendly lady at the South Carolina Visitor Center in Augusta had provided us, and I used them to determine what there was to see in Florence. (But again, being Sunday, our options were limited as most everything was closed).  However, we did get a chance to visit the (very lovely) Florence County Museum which is located in the (partially re-vitalized) downtown area.

After visiting the museum, we made a stop at Carolina Collections (my one per day antique/junk store stop) to browse.  They sadly didn't have much in the way of what I was looking for, though I did find a pair of porcelain koala bears (?) with blue eyes for $4.

Then it was off to dinner at Wholly Smokin' BBQ and Ribs (an excellent recommendation from our camp hostess).  We took a drive across town to the restaurant, only to discover it had been relocated to the street right next to the museum where we'd just been!  So...Noah drove back across town, and we were able to finally locate our destination.

When we entered the restaurant, I was a bit concerned, because the place was empty.  However, when the food arrived, it was excellent.  We shared a 3-meat sampler with ribs, brisket, and burnt ends, fries and mac & cheese.  I am now a lover of brisket having finally eaten some that tasted GOOD!

After dinner it was back to the trailer.  We've been relaxing inside ever since.  This is the first night in awhile that it's been cool enough to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows.  However, it's been raining since about 4:00 and is supposed to continue until 7:00 tomorrow night! Shnikes!!


And thus ends my dispatches from the road for this evening.  Talk to y'all soon!
Buckskin

P. S.  You might be wondering why we were driving around town if the truck's transmission is going out?  Well, we didn't want the truck to break down on the freeway while towing the trailer, but we weren't as concerned about it possibly breaking down on it's own while we were tooling around town, so we chanced it & everything was fine.  Toodles!

New England Odyssey (Day 6)

Day 6

Memphis, TN to Madison, GA (7/15/17)

Driving, driving, driving!  Did about 450 miles--through Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and into Georgia & aren't even close to New England yet. 

It wasn't a very exciting day, but there are two observations I feel I must make:  

1.) What is up with all the trees around here????  If the good folks of Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia would cut down some of these gosh-darned trees, then maybe us tourist types could see a little more of the countryside, you know?

2.)  The drivers in the aforementioned states drive like IDIOTS!!  Speeding: weaving in and out of traffic; cutting in front of a person pulling a trailer and slamming on the brakes for no reason; speeding up and not letting you in when you signal a lane change!!  Good grief!!  I thought L.A. drivers were bad, but these people are way, WAY worse!  And less skillful.  We saw at least three wrecks yesterday and weren't surprised in the least.  Not at all.

OK.  Rant over.  Stopped in a place called Pell City, Alabama (a  bit east of Birmingham on the I-20) to visit an antique shop and see if I could find anything to add to my Occupied Japan salt & pepper shaker/figurine collection.  Sadly, there was nothing, but I did enjoy scoping out the rooms of old junk.

We were hoping to overnight in a Wal-mart parking lot, but again, the heat and humidity drove us to find a place where we could plug in and fire up the air conditioner.  We found a little RV park in Madison, GA to do just that & after a dinner of left-overs, we made an early night of it.

New England Odyssey (Days 1 through 5)

Day 1
 Cody, Wyoming to Cheyenne, Wyoming 7/10/17

Well...it became obvious right from the get-go that our newly-purchased, slightly-used travel trailer was going to need some help to keep it from swaying out of control & taking us and the truck down for the count.

So, Ron drove it carefully to Casper (luckily and amazingly) there was no wind & we stopped in at Stalkup's RV to purchase an anti-sway bar.  However, they said they were too busy to install it, so we headed down the road a (very short) way to Sonny's RV in Evansville, Wyoming (not to be confused with Evanston, Wyoming BTW).

At Sonny's, their very friendly & helpful service writer, Brandy, assisted us with purchasing a Blue Ox anti-sway hitch, and talked the service manager into installing it for us (despite the fact that they were extremely busy today).

We are currently waiting for the job to be completed in Sonny's super-comfy waiting area.  (I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Casper, Wyoming & need something done to, or for your RV!)  Here I am waiting and relaxing:

After the weight distribution/anti-sway hitch was installed, we had dinner @ Pizza Ranch in Casper and then headed to Cheyenne, Wyoming where we spent our first night in our new trailer camping out in the Wal-mart parking lot.

Day 2 (Cheyenne, Wyoming to Lincoln, Nebraska) 7/11/17

We spent the better part of the day driving across Nebraska on I-80 past LOTS of corn fields and the Platte River.  

Nebraska corn field

The Platte River, Nebraska

We had a stop in Gothenburg to visit a Pony Express station (which had been moved from its original site to the south).  We also popped into the Gothenberg Historical Museum and had a great visit with the two men working there. 

Noah about to bump his head on the door of the Pony Express Station in Gothenberg, NE

Buckskin at the Gothenberg Historical Museum

After our stop in Gothenberg, we got back on I-80 and continued east, stopping in Alda to visit the Crane Trust Nature and Visitor Center.  

Sandhill Crane Sculpture at Crane Trust in Alda, NE

We learned about the sandhill crane migration which passes through Nebraska from mid-February to mid-April every year.  During those months, 500,000 +/- cranes travel north to breed, stopping in Nebraska to feed in and around the Platte River before continuing their journey to Canada, Alaska, or even Siberia.  (I've now added another item to my bucket list!  We will definitely be coming here to view the migration in person!)  After Ron spent half an hour chatting with the staff about wild animal encounters, we headed back down the road yet again.

After dropping the trailer at the Lakeview Campground in the Pawnee State Recreation Area, we headed into downtown Lincoln for dinner at Honest Abe's the Trip Advisor #1 rated restaurant in town.  

Mural on wall @ Honest Abe's in Lincoln, NE

It didn't disappoint.  I had an 1809 (though I don't know what smoked gouda, sliced apples, honey mayo and bacon have to do with the year of Lincoln's birth, and frankly, I don't care, because my burger was out-of-this-world!).  The truffle parmesan fries were OK, but hey, nobody's perfect!

Yum!  My 1809 with truffle-Parmesan fries in the foreground & Noah's World's Best Burger behind

On the way home from the restaurant, I snapped a shot of the state capitol & then it was back to the trailer for some needed shut-eye.  

Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln

Day 3

Lincoln, Nebraska to Ozark, Missouri (7/12/17)

Another day of driving.  Didn't make any stops (except for rest stops & a Wal-mart run), because we were on our way to Lambert's Cafe, the home of the "throwed rolls!"  

We visited the original Lambert's in Sikeston, MO last summer and enjoyed it so much we knew we had to come back again.  This year our travels took us nearer the Lambert's #2 in Ozark, MO, so that's where we came, and we were glad we did.  The food was awesome as usual, and so much that we have enough for another two meals stashed in the trailer fridge.  If you are ever in the vicinity of these fine eating establishments, we highly recommend them!

Dig in!

Noah copied me!

(P.S. In case you're noticing that I'm doing a lot of eating out...I am!  Since my parathyroid surgery in August 2015, I can actually eat food again without pain!!  It's wonderful and amazing!!  Like being re-born!!  I'm now making up for lost time & eating things I never thought I'd be able to eat ever again!!)

Day 4 

Ozark, MO to Memphis, TN (7/13/17)

Driving, driving, driving!  Arrived in Memphis in the afternoon & checked into the Graceland RV Park where we set up camp on Jail House Road.  Weary from another day of driving & needing to beat the heat (95 in the shade with 90% humidity) we spent the remainder of the day holed up in the trailer planning tomorrow's adventures--aside from a quick side trip to the Wal-mart (where we felt a bit out of place) to get a prescription refilled.

Day 5

Memphis, TN (7/14/17)

At Graceland!

We started our day bright and early,  arriving at Graceland a few minutes before it opened at 9:00.  We purchased tickets for the mansion tour & were herded into a theater for a "Pre-Show" that consisted of a short, maybe 5-minute long, video montage of Elvis photos, clips & sound bites.  We were then herded outside and handed an iPad and a set of headphones before boarding a shuttle bus that took us across the street to Graceland itself.

Driving through the famous gates and up to the mansion, I was struck by how much smaller things were than in my imagination.  After exiting the shuttle, we had a quick orientation on the front porch before being allowed inside.  

Buckskin on the front porch at Graceland.

Following the narration on the iPad by John Stamos, we were able to visit and walk through the downstairs and basement of the mansion.  (The upstairs was Elvis's private quarters and tourists are not allowed).  We saw the living room, music room, Elvis's parents' bedroom suite, the dining room, kitchen, basement TV and pool rooms...AND, last but not least, the "Jungle Room."  The floor AND ceiling of the latter were carpeted in green shag (gag!).  The house is a veritable museum of late-50's/early 60's tackiness!  The tour also included a visit to the garage which housed not only Elvis's cars, but his dad's office; The Trophy Room (a collection of family photos & artifacts); the racquetball court; the horse pasture; the swimming pool and the meditation garden where Elvis, his mom & dad are all buried.  Our tour over, we re-boarded the shuttles and were taken back across the street.  There we turned in our iPads & were pretty much shooed out the gates.

Our timing was awesome, though, as we were right on time to catch the free shuttle to Sun Studio.  Noah and I had the whole bus to ourselves on the 15-minute ride to the Studio at 706 Union.  

Sun Studio, Memphis, TN

We purchased tickets for the 11:30 tour and waited around till our tour guide, Leann, called us.  We climbed a set of steep stairs to an upstairs room where we learned about how Sam Phillips started the studio:  he initially recorded "anybody, anywhere, anytime."  Eventually, he began recording singers & musicians including Howling Wolf, Elvis Presley (of course), Johnny Cash, BB King, & Carl Perkins.  The exhibits included the reclaimed studio of WHBQ in which Dewey Phillips played Elvis's first professional recording of "That's All Right" over the radio.

We then went downstairs to the actual studio itself & were able to stand in the same place as all the amazing artists who have ever recorded there.  The studio is still a working recording studio.  Awesome!

Knock! Knock!

Buckskin & Elvis's microphone!!

That tour over, we re-boarded the free shuttle and were taken to Beale Street "where the Blues were born," thought now it's sadly a couple blocks of rib joints and tchotchke shops. 

Me on Beale St., Memphis, TN

Since it was lunch time, we went into The Pig on Beale for a small snack to tide us over until dinner.  If you're ever in Memphis and visiting Beale Street, I would recommend trying a different place.  The food was highly average.  We also went into Schwab's Dept. Store to look at the building which was put up in 1850.  

On our way back to the free shuttle, we noticed a building with a giant Gibson guitar logo on it.  

Gibson factory in Memphis, TN

I went over to check it out & lo and behold, there was a room filled with beautiful (and expensive) guitars that you could pick up and play!

Buckskin playing a $25,000 guitar (worried the guy is going to arrest her!)

I tried a few before Noah came in to investigate as well.  He discovered they gave factory tours & bought us a couple of tickets.  We were then taken on a 45-minute tour of the factory and shown how the guitars are manufactured from blocks of wood through the painting and final assembly processes.

We then caught our free shuttle back to Graceland--they were showing Blue Hawaii on the shuttle TV on the way back (campy!)  On the way back to the truck in the parking lot, we decided to head to dinner at Corky's BBQ (Trip Advisor's #1 BBQ restaurant in Memphis) in an attempt to beat the Friday evening dinner rush (which we managed to do!).  

We split a full rack of half wet/half dry ribs that came along with baked beans, cole slaw & rolls.  I thought it was all quite yummy.  Noah, however, deemed it just average :(

Anyhow, back to Graceland RV Park we went & are now kicking back in the trailer, listening to the rain and the thunder.  Until next time....

BYE-BYE from Memphis!
Buckskin Lily