Reaching the Outer Banks

As we continued to push north, we passed thru the town of Wilson, NC.  The Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park is in the heart of town.  We walked thru the park and enjoyed the many designs.  It would have been better if we had some real wind.  If you are in the area, it is well worth visiting.  The whirligigs were designed and built by Vollis Simpson, a farm machinery repairman.  He worked on the sculptures seven days a week until about six months before he died at the age of 94.

We then entered the Outer Banks of North Carolina and stopped for 2 nights at the OBX campground along the water.  We had made a reservation, as we wanted to have a waterfront site.  Being the outer banks, we were some distance from the water, but that meant we had a huge backyard to enjoy.  It was a very nice park with level sites and full hookups.

It also had an unusual feature for a campground, on the highest point in the campground was an old cemetery.  While I did not find any info on the cemetery, it was clearly located on the only high ground in the area and seems to have been used into the 1930’s.

Pushing North

29, 30 May 2019

The weather continued to be very hot as we pushed north towards are first main objective, the RV rally in VA.  Our next stop was at the Heritage park campground in Augusta, GA. It apparently was so hot we did not even go out to take our usual campground pictures.

On the way to Selma, North Carolina, we spotted the signs for the South of the Border tourist trap.  We had been there many years before, when we traveled to Fl by RV to visit my mother.  The temperature hovered around 100 and there was surprisingly almost no one there.  Most of the structures looked in need of serious repairs.  It seems that its days may be numbered.

Our next overnight was in Selma, North Carolina at the RVacation RV Park.  It is right alongside the interstate.  It cooled down enough that we could spend some time outside as the sun went down.

Five weeks on the road

We recently returned from a motorhome trip up the east coast and heading along the south coast of the Great Lakes and then turning south for the journey home.  In all we traveled in 13 states on this trip. 

What made this trip different for us was the addition to the team of our dog Halley.  She traveled with us the last two years of our full-time adventure but remained home since we started traveling in the Winnebago View.  The last few trips without her, she had become quite sick and we had to rush home to take care of her. We thought her time was coming to an end. She was in sad shape.  After multiple vet visits, she was found to have numerous problems, but the thing that changed her fate was the discovery that her thyroid had failed. With the pills to help that and the other issues, it was clear she needed too much attention to ask our family to take care of her, so she is back on the road.  Surprisingly, this has been no problem and she seems to love traveling again.

The main destination for this trip was a large View rally being held in Cape Charles, Va.  75 RVs participated in the well-planned rally which was a lot of fun.

 As we were traveling along Interstate 10, I glanced down and saw the check engine light was on.  This was the first time in 7 years and over 70K miles that it has come on. We diverted to Dothan, AL for a Sprinter service check.  Long story short, it was a clogged Def metering valve.  I could fill a blog post with the service visit oddities, but everyone, I am sure, has had similar experiences.  The good news is we had no more issues the rest of the trip.

Our first stop was the Eufaula, AL ACOE park in time for a great evening along the water.

To kill a mockingbird, Monroeville, AL

Our second weekend trip was to Monroeville, AL to see the play: To kill a mockingbird.  We camped about half an hour out of town at Isaac Creek ACOE park along the Alabama River.  It was a rural park with very large paved sites.  We came with our FMCA group to enjoy the play and a weekend of social gatherings.  Unfortunately, the weather was very poor with near constant rain and thunderstorms.  No outside activities were possible.   Almost all of us decided to return home on Saturday, since the forecast offered a small break in the storms to have a decent return trip.

On Friday afternoon, we headed to Monroeville to see the play: To Kill a mockingbird.  The play is based on a novel by Harper Lee who lived in Monroeville.  You can read more about the play here.  The short version is that a black man in the 1930’s was accused unjustly of assaulting a white woman and the trial that followed.  The play is put on annually by local nonprofessional actors in the old courthouse. We were able to tour the courthouse museum before the play began.

The first part of the play takes part outside the courthouse in a mockup local neighborhood where you get a glimpse of some of the people involved in the trial and a sense of their attitudes about life in this period in Monroeville.  The second half takes place inside the courthouse where the trial is conducted.  No photography or video was allowed during the play. 

It was truly a great experience, the actors were all amazing in their performances, especially the young children who had important roles with lots of dialogue.  Highly recommended!

Our dog Halley is traveling with us again.  She has developed a number of medical issues that require personal care that we need to do.  She seems to have adjusted quickly to the traveling mode.