Atlantic Ocean to Pacific Ocean in 7 days

We did an overnighter at a COE campground, Rudd’s Creek campground near Boydton, VA. This was a nice campground, sites spacious and semi-private hidden amongst the trees and brush, right on the banks of the John H. Kerr Reservoir. It was a bit pricey as far as typical COE’s go, $26 per night but with full hookups.

Home sweet home at Rudd's Creek COE.

John H. Kerr Reservoir

Eastbound and down, we arrived at Virginia Beach. Our first stop was the North Landing Beach Campground just 40 minutes from downtown and the main beach area. This was an RV “resort” that was undergoing massive construction, non-stop dump trucks full of dirt for fill along the waterline all day long. The sites for RV’s were not well maintained, with knee-high weeds growing through the gravel/dirt, terrible knuckle-busting access to the water spigot that was in-ground, and the sewer hookup was too high off the ground for gravity dumping. Nevertheless, we stayed here for a couple of days to check out Virginia Beach. Very nice beach area, nice boardwalk, but the military aviation traffic is all day long, with fighter jets, some solo and some in groups, taking off from the nearby base creating a deafening jet noise. I’m not sure how the residents of the area maintain their hearing, the jet noise is so constant and loud.

Virginia Beach

The boardwalk at Virginia Beach

A cute babe posing in front of the statue of Poseidon, Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach Law Enforcement Memorial

One of the noisy neighbors...

Jeanne helping herself to some of the ample strawberries that are grown in this area, big on their Strawberry Festivals.

The Heritage Plantation at Virginia Beach.

A fixer-upper we found just down the road from the Heritage Plantation. I think I see some Poltergeists...

After nearly going deaf, we headed up to Williamsburg/Jamestown/Yorktown to hang out in the middle of some of the Revolutionary War historical areas. Somehow, just standing in the different historical areas is an awesome experience. All the old buildings, monuments, gravesites, and an on-going archaeological on-site dig stir up all kinds of thoughts about our past, how things turned out, what-if’s had circumstances been different, etc. It all makes one’s head swirl... We stayed at a really nice Christian campground called the Williamsburg Christian Retreat Center in Toano, VA. This was a Passport America park, at $15 per night, for full hookups set amid a thick tree stand, so don’t hold out for any satellite reception here.

The Governor's Mansion at Williamsburg, from days gone by...

One of the grave sites, adorned with the skull and crossbones evoking visions of the pirate life.

Take a ride down the main drag in Williamsburg.

Example of the old buildings

The main drag in Williamsburg, tourists included.

Active dig going on at Jamestown.

Remains of one of the churches.

The church had a pretty good view...

May they rest in peace

Site of the first landing.

Victory Monument at Yorktown.

Yorktown architecture.

More Yorktown

Where's Waldo? Find the turtle in the muck...

Snakes in the muck...

More tourists, sunning themselves...

Sadly, while here in Toano, I got the call from my sister that my mother had a stroke back in Sacramento, CA. She has had a couple of prior TIA incidents, but this one was a full on stroke. We terminated our stay here and headed directly across country (2,800+ miles worth) to return to Sacramento. We traveled about 400 miles per day until our return. That was a bit tough on the nerves, we caught Hwy. 80 in Iowa and rode it in, staying at several Cracker Barrel restaurants, WalMarts, and the Cabela’s in Boomtown along the way, with an occasional park for hookups mixed in for laundry. I say, if you have not tried Cracker Barrel for free overnighters, it is worth a shot. If you take your significant other out to dinner there, you can plan on a meal for 2 & the dry-camping overnight space for about $30, not a bad deal at all. They even have a free map of all the Cracker Barrel locations nationwide, ALL of them allow free RV overnighting (just make sure you do not ruin it for others by abusing this privelege---no slides, no jacks, no set up of any kind, be “drive-ready” at all times, and for Pete’s sake, CLEAN UP after your pets!) This goes for any and all other business establishments that allow RV overnighters. And a little hint for Cabela’s-they post signs all over the truck/RV parking areas (“No Overnight Parking”). They DO allow overnight parking, just go inside and talk to the manager or customer service person. They may request you pay a $5 overnight fee, or if you happen to need to buy anything in the store, just show your receipt and you are in for the night. These overnight stops are real handy for we who need to cover a lot of distance in a short time.

We got to Sacramento as my mother was just finishing up at the rehab hospital in Roseville. She recovered pretty well, with her main issue now being her speech. I got her settled in back at her house and she immediately got back into her usual routines, mobility not being an issue. We stayed with her for a little over a week, then hit the road again leaving the job of overseeing her recovery to my sister who also lives in Sacto.

Our next order of business is to pay a visit to the Gladiator, our grandson Maximus in Santa Rosa. From there, we just aren’t sure of which way we will be heading...