First trip of 2012: Shaking off the cobwebs

This past weekend we took a collective deep breath and set off for our first camping adventure of the 2012 season, at Hickory Run State Park. Since we hadn't been camping in five months, and the last time was somewhat of a comedy of errors, we were a little apprehensive about it. Aside from installing our new batteries, we hadn't moved the trailer from its storage facility home in months, and we had a lovely dump station situation to look forward to.

Posing with the new batteries. YAY!

The drive up the Northeast Extension was pretty harrowing. Because of the construction going on, there are only two VERY narrow lanes, and trucks and buses are alerted to stay in the left lane. Nothing about trailers, but we figured we fell into that category. Hauling a trailer in the left lane of a two-lane highway probably doesn't make a lot of sense - at least it didn't to the two million cars that passed us on the right. Eventually we settled in behind a truck that was driving at a comfortable speed, one where my heart didn't drop to my knees every time an SUV passed us.

Steve admitted he was a little rusty on the driving front, but by the time we arrived he was getting the hang of things again. Which was a good thing, considering the road that leads to Hickory Run is one of those winding, steep labyrinthine delights where any wrong move could send you right off the edge. Needless to say, we were both relieved and exhausted by the time we found our campsite and settled in. We'd brought along fishing rods and even purchased fishing licenses, but laziness and our appetites took over and we decided to eat first instead.

After checking in, I insisted that we pay a visit to the dump station, even though Steve wanted to put it off until we left. First of all, our entire reason for taking the trailer out was to dump the tanks (this was also our reason for taking it out in December, but we learned that in the winter, tanks freeze). Even before we took off, Steve had me dump a bag of ice down the toilet, hoping that would break things up. (Sorry for the imagery. Even though we may make it seem that way, trailer life isn't all glamour all the time.) So luckily we had the whole dump station to ourselves. Steve pulled up his sleeves and did his thing, while I sat back and enjoyed the fact that I don't have to deal with that stuff.

Gettin' busy

The campsite itself was fairly quiet. We'd expected to get a wooded site similar to the one we'd had last year, but this time we occupied a space that was more open and grassy. The sites were situated around a field with a small playground. Behind us, there was a smattering of trees and brush, and just beyond that the road.

Road leading to our site

So we really didn't have the feel of a state park as much as we wanted to. It felt more like a campground this time around. But as far as what we needed, it was great. The temperatures varied between 60s and low 70s, which was perfect for our campfire.

Campsite

The one thing we did have to do before fully relaxing was go to the camp store for some necessities (logs, s'more supplies, bug spray). We left Lola behind and set off for the trek on foot, not wanting to disconnect the Mountaineer if we didn't have to. However, we totally underestimated how far away we were from the store. This wouldn't have been a problem, except that Steve had to carry a bundle of logs on our way back, while I schlepped the four or five grocery bags up and down my arms. Lesson learned: Unhooking the car is worth it.

That night was the first time we let Lola out of her crate to sleep. In the past, we had to struggle to set up the crate in between the dinette and the kitchen counter, so if you ever wanted to walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you'd either have to hope you remembered it was there or suffer a painful toe-stubbing injury. Now, we're just using the crate as a gate to section off the bedroom from the rest of the trailer. At our house, we've gradually phased her out of crating and she's been amazing (nothing chewed or destroyed yet, knock on wood!) but we worried that she might whine and cry in a smaller space.

Surprise! She was a real gem and didn't whimper once. I think she's so happy to be able to spend the night on a comfy couch that she doesn't even think about venturing into the bedroom.

Other highlights:
1) Kerplunk. To fill in the "down time" when it's too late to do anything, and there's nothing interesting on the non-cable TV, we splurged on a board game, which happened to be a childhood favorite, Kerplunk. Turns out it's just as entertaining as I remembered (or maybe we're easily entertained) to try to find the perfect spot to pull out one of those sticks so as not to disturb the marbles resting on top.

See all the marbles in my tray? Think this is when I lost

2) Remembering the joys of camping. Even though we didn't go on any extended hikes, it was nice to be able to take a walk around the campground with Lola and check out the other campers. Most of the people there were in tents, but we also spied an Airstream that looked pretty cozy.

I missed posing with Lola!

The area in the middle of the campsites

Steve's mostly successful campfire - the damn thing didn't want to stay lit!

So overall, the trip turned out way better than we predicted. The tanks are finally empty, so we don't have that to worry about. However, we do have to get our trailer in for inspection sometime this month or next (who knew? trailers need to be inspected too) before our trip to Savannah. It looks like all systems are a-go for now! Can't wait to get back on the road. 

Road Warriors

God, I love the South

 By the time we set off for home, we felt like pros. Hitching up, clearing off the tables and couch and dumping our tanks -- no biggie, at least anymore. Before we left, we also got one last visit in with Joey, this time on River Street in Savannah's tourist district (my fave!).

Right before we left

I wasn't super excited about the drive home, but at least I had South of the Border to look forward to. The last time we were there was in late 2006 on our last GA trip, so I was hoping things had cleaned up there somewhat. As a child, a SOB visit was the highlight of any I-95 trip -- everything just seemed brighter, happier and more exciting (kinda like Disney World) in that tiny stretch off the highway. I must've romanticized the crap out of it because when I returned five years ago, it was like an eerie pallor of gloom had settled over the place. The colors and decor were still as bright and in-your-face as I remembered, but they only made the contrast to the lack of visitors and activity that much more striking.

I took a pic of pretty much every sign on the way home...but I'm sparing you the rest!

I remember us sitting down to eat a quick meal of enchiladas or tostadas or something we ended up regretting later, browsing through the near-empty stores, hoping to find a cute knickknack or two to bring home but instead deciding the dust-covered items on the shelves were a little bit too sad, outdated or expensive even for my tastes. (This coming from someone who once had a spoon collection. Oh, and a sugar packet collection too- don't ask.)

So I was hoping there was a bit more spirit, life, vitality at South of the Border this time around.

Well, there's certainly a lot of statues to pose on!

 The verdict: Well, it's still a bit of a ghost town, and I still wasn't willing to fork over money for the selection of souvenirs that I swear haven't been updated since the last time. But we had a delicious meal at the Sombrero Restaurant, shockingly enough. If you read the reviews people write about SOB in general, you'd expect to see roaches crawling out of your chimichanga. That wasn't the case with us (and if there were roaches, they were safely hidden from view). So if you go there, I recommend the Sombrero Restaurant. You won't be putting your digestive system at risk!

The pilot gets a much-deserved break

I won't give up on this place no matter what, dammit!

Thoroughly sated, we took a few minutes to walk around and snap some photos.

On the overlook bridge

I'm imitating the growling bear if you can't tell

Should I regret not buying this?

We returned to our trailer, which we'd left parked in the convention center lot, seeing as there didn't seem to be any other designated trailer/truck parking. Pretty weird for a tourist destination. I guess they think that if you have a trailer, you'll be staying in their campground anyway. In any case, nobody got mad at us for leaving the car/trailer there (we were only gone for 45 minutes at the most).

In no man's land

We got back on the road pretty quickly and driver-of-the-year Steve got us into Virginia by a little after midnight. This time we boondocked at the Pilot Travel Center in Colonial Heights, VA. (From my research it appears Pilot and Flying J have merged, so we were expecting the same standard in quality.) Our stay was nice and very quiet, actually- considering we were parked right by the gas pumps, so you'd think we'd be disturbed by the constant in-and-out of travelers. But, nope. We settled in from some snacks from the travel center and went to sleep.

The view from our sleeping quarters

 The next morning came the hair-raising part. My dad had given us directions for an alternate route through 301 (the old 95, I think) so we wouldn't have to brave the Beltway again. Ah, the scenic route - now we'd finally get to see what exists BEYOND 95 (well, from what we saw of Richmond, it wasn't pretty). The only problem was that there were traffic lights pretty much every five feet. Speeding up only to have to downshift quickly for a red light equaled a jerky, unpleasant ride. So with much consternation, we decided to tough it out for the Beltway.

Ahh! Abort mission!

All was going well at first. Somehow we came upon a high-capacity commuter lane, which apparently nobody else knew about because we were sailing through there, not a care in the world. Well, there's a reason nobody else was on it. It ended up taking us through downtown D.C., which, lovely place but you couldn't pay me enough to drive in that. So THAT was fun. Beltway, you win again.

That sums up the trip, I think...aside from those few hours we had to battle the Beltway, it was a complete success. Especially 'cause we don't feel like such newbies anymore! I-95 turned us into a couple of road warriors.

Now for the ratings:
Pros: beautiful scenery, spacious and private campsite, gorgeous trails and plenty of areas to explore
Cons: no dumping station on our site (but let's be honest, that's a bit of a luxury), the 30-minute drive to Savannah was a little inconvenient

All in all, our best trip so far! And it's only gonna get better, and easier. Thanks for reading -- we appreciate it so much!

Palm Trees + State Parks = Heaven

A long day of driving makes us slightly nutty, which is why we planned to make a couple of stops along the way. The first was JR's in Selma, NC, a large discount warehouse-style place with pretty much everything you could possibly want, all in a true southern atmosphere.

Outside JR's

Mixed in with all the kitchen supplies, bedding essentials and food items, you've got Nascar souvenirs, hunting and camping gear and an expansive selection of religious literature. Yep, we're in the South now. After getting Lola set up in her crate, we headed in for a very brief shopping spree. I had been hoping for more RV-related appliances, but we did manage to pick up at least one exclusively-RV item, a nice stainless steel pot. I also bought some nice-smelling soaps, which officially makes our trailer bathroom more well-stocked than our home bathroom.

Steve was anxious to get back on the road, so we departed after a quick lunch of soft pretzels. Our next stop was about an hour and a half away, my childhood happy place where my parents were able to get a brief respite from my brother and my constant backseat squabbling. I'm talking, of course, about South of the Border. Times have changed, and even though I know it's not quite as magical as it seemed from my five-year-old perspective, I still love to stop there for nostalgia's (and picture-taking) sake.

By the time we got close enough to start seeing the ubiquitous signs dotting the landscape, Steve's energy reserves were a bit depleted. I decided to be magnanimous and offered to take a pass on SOB this time, since we'd be stopping there on the way home anyway. I'm such a good wife. Well, really I was just worried he would get too tired to drive and I'd be forced to take over. SOB would still be there in a few days in all of its neon-lighted kitschy glory.

Tough life...

Destination Skidaway
Five Red Bulls (Steve) and a nap (me) later, we finally crossed the bridge into Georgia. Since neither of us had ever been to Skidaway, we had no idea what to expect. It was about 25 minutes from downtown Savannah, so we certainly didn't think it was going to be the swampy, palm tree-swathed paradise it turned out to be.








At the camp office, a friendly staffer handed us maps and parking passes and told us we had our pick of the land. In other words, we could choose whichever campsite we wanted. What!! So we drove through all four sections of the campground, taking in the damn near-palatial sites and discussing advantages/disadvantages. The sites closest to the wooded areas looked promising, as heavy greenery separated them from neighboring sites. Even better: we could pull right in and our trailer door would face the woods. Our own private slice of this paradise? Don't mind if I do! It didn't take too long for us to find our perfect match:

Not a soul around to bother us...yay!

Boondock Saints

When we first started looking into visiting Savannah, we thought about what it would cost to drive there versus flying. Of course we wanted to drive, but with gas prices being the jerks they are, you just never know if that’s going to be the most economical choice. When we found out the cheapest flight would be around $600 per person – and that’s not even accounting for accommodations – we knew we were doing the right thing.

However, you’re never going to appreciate the value of a gas-efficient car until you’ve driven an SUV towing a trailer. There’s just no comparison to that, because if we were able to get seven miles to the gallon we were lucky. It seemed like every time we turned around (pretty much every hour and a half or so), we were either filling up or looking for a place to fill up. 

Still, all things considered, it WAS cheaper to drive. It also helped that we found such a reasonably priced state park to stay at. Of course, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll start at the beginning!

Free parking's where it's at

Originally, we planned to leave Tuesday after work, drive a few hours and then spend the night at a Wal-Mart along the way. We were making fairly good time and around 10:30 that night, Steve asked me to start calling Wal-Marts in the Richmond area. Apparently, though, either nobody who works there knows about overnight RV parking or it’s not a question that gets asked often, because I couldn’t get a straight yes-or-no answer from three stores I called. 

I did, however, luck out when I researched online and found out most travel centers have dedicated overnight parking for RVs and trucks. When I called the Flying J in Carmel Church, VA, I was greeted with a warm southern accent saying, “We sure do offer overnight parking.” Which was as good as a reservation as far as we were concerned!

Boondocking in style

I'm a big fan of you Flying J

I was a little worried about sleeping soundly after we pulled up next to a truck that apparently was going to leave its engine running all night. But I managed to convince myself the sound was like a white-noise machine designed to lull me into a deep sleep. Wouldn’t you know it? That mind game worked. And I actually appreciated the hustle and bustle of the travel center. It made me feel safe -- much better than the time we were the lone RVers in an empty Wal-Mart parking lot.

A little close for comfort, but we made it work

The next morning my alarm went off at 6 a.m. and we were out the door about 15 minutes later. There was a long day of driving ahead, but thankfully we were past all the congested metropolitan areas of the East Coast.

'Let's get this show on the road!'

Gratitude

We did it! Our first long distance trip is officially in the books. I gotta say, we haven't been doing this for long, but it feels like we're old pros already. Switching lanes on the highway, getting in and out of gas stations, braking, merging and all that fun stuff...most of these things used to at least give me pause, if not completely terrify me. I guess hauling a trailer up and down I-95 for around 26 hours total is kind of like a crash course in everything you'd need to know.

Trip details
Mileage: 1500 total
States: PA, DE, MD, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA
Destination: Skidaway Island State Park
Boondocking spots: Flying J, Carmel Church, VA (on way there) and Pilot Travel Center, Colonial Heights, VA (on way back)
 

One seriously long trip

There is so much to say, but first I have to thank my hubby, the true MVP of this vacation. From the minute he hitched up last Tuesday evening to the very last reverse into the storage spot, he stayed cool, collected and in control. He expertly maneuvered the car/trailer out of numerous situations that could have easily shaken another driver. During the 1500 miles we were on the road, we faced traffic jams, narrow and under-construction highways, brazen drivers weaving in and out of lanes, confusing signage, iffy bridges, constant gas station searches and that monstrosity known as the Beltway. That last one may be the only spot where I saw his nerves starting to fray. It was by far the most stressful part of the trip. They certainly don't make that area very friendly to trailers of any kind.

My hero!

My job during this whole excursion involved keeping an eye out for low overhead signs, speed limits and gas stations and keeping a constant supply of cash for tolls (still cannot believe just ONE of our tolls was $23). I also tried my best to be non-annoying, awake and on alert for Lola misbehavior in the backseat. But there's still no comparison to what Steve did. Maybe someday soon you'll see me in the driver's seat with a trailer tagging along behind, but it'll probably be in a deserted parking lot and not one of the most well-traveled highways in the U.S. For now, I'm happy with my copilot seat.

Now that it's all said and done, I'm still in awe that we managed to pull this off. It takes a special kind of person to even attempt this drive in a car, let alone with a trailer in tow. About a dozen times we must have said along the way, "I can't believe we can actually bring our home anywhere we go." Just having our trailer along with us makes us feel like we are already at home, even when we're not (kinda stole that from an RV dealership sign en route: 'You're always at home in an RV').

OK, I think I'm done being corny for now. Just wanted Steve to get a turn in the limelight. The trailer may have made this trip possible, but his many talents are the reason we made it out alive.

Joking about the being alive part. Well kinda.

More to come!