Jerry Takes On the East

It’s Jerry’s turn this week!!  Thank you so much for taking the time to keep up with our travels!  

We’re sitting in our 5^th wheel at the American Heritage RV campground enjoying the view of the park. Ever heard the expression “the more things change the more things stay the same”? It’s Thursday at 4:30 in the afternoon before a major holiday. Earlier in the week we watched campers pack up and leave, nothing too strange about that. Now as the week has progressed, we are watching people arrive and set-up. As I look around the campground and see empty sites, I know by sundown tomorrow, all the sites will be full. Nothing unusual; the first evening of camping will find kids riding bikes, golf carts buzzing around, walking fido and stacking wood for a roaring campfire. The first night is full of excitement…roasting marshmallows, mom and dad relaxing with adult beverages. As the evening moves forward, music and voices’ volume will increase. If the full-time campers are lucky, they (us)  may not be disturbed by the noise. As the weekend continues the second day of the holiday weekend will find mom and dad nursing Bloody Mary’s while the kids wait for food.  We will smell bacon cooking all over the campground yummy!

The most enjoyable part of this adventure is meeting people and sharing our adventures. Full time RV’ers have an instant bond with other full timers! We exchange itineraries, and talk about our favorite and least favorite experiences. Last night we had dinner with two couples that we were introduced to by a mutual friend, Ginny Dye.  Ginny is one of our favorite authors and a great friend.  She has an incredible historical fiction series called the Bregdan Chronicles, and it’s why we are in Virginia!  All because of reading this amazing series.  

We met Captain Ron, a Virginia river pilot, and Captain Jack, the owner of a successful tugboat company. Ruth, Captain Ron’s wife, is a delightful woman. Her smile and countenance lights up a room. Christine, Jack’s wife, was a Fitness Director at a Virginia hospital. As a Chief Engineer of a hospital, I had a connection with the two captains. We could have talked the entire night.  We know that when we come through this area again, we will, absolutely, get together with these folks. Before meeting Captain Ron, I read the first of a series of his autobiography.  The book’s title is “Bohemian Skipper,” a great story of Captain Ron’s childhood growing up in a family struggling to make ends meet. 

Our favorite experiences are sharing our stories with people we meet. While at Colonial Williamsburg, VA we met a couple, Willow and Alan,  who joined us under a shady tree (the only shady tree) while watching the Fife and Drummers perform. A great couple who have similar experiences, are RV’ers, love to travel, and live in a small town in Virginia. We shared a couple of meals and got to know each other better. We cannot wait to visit with them in their town!  Who knows when that will be.  It will happen, I guarantee it, but we know they will welcome us with open arms! 

We have enjoyed our time in Williamsburg, (locals call it Billsburg 😊). Great restaurants, green lush scenery, forests, and well-manicured properties. Of course, in order to have greenery you have to have rain, and rain it does! Virginia is beautiful! If it wasn’t for the humidity and heat it would be perfect for us.  We are wimps when it comes to heat and humidity.  We keep being told, “You’ll get used to it”.  Yeah, not sure about that.

What time is it? With friends and family on the west coast and Hawaii, I forget about the time change and text people only to realize it is hours behind me on the east coast! One of my relatives replied to my text “you know it’s 4 am here! Arrrg!!” OOPS!! Sorry to wake you up!

Fuel prices!!! $175 for 32 gallons of diesel! 

How long have we waited for Top Gun 2? Today is the day, we have our tickets and are ready!! “Sorry goose, it’s time to buzz the tower” “ooh hoo Jester’s dead” “you lost that loving feeling” Ya I know it’s corny! Nothing wrong with some mindless entertainment and popcorn!

We head to Lewisburg, West Virginia on Monday. We will be visiting, Rachel, our daughter-in-law, and the grand kids can’t wait! Stay tuned! 

Just One More….incredible day in Virginia!