Vacations over, back to RV'ing

First off a big Thank you to all the past, current and future Veterans.  Hope you all have a good Memorial Day with family and friends.

Last Friday, May 17, our first priority was to find a place to park the RV for a week, while enjoying the family vacation on Salter Path.  It took us until about 2:00 until we found a place to park, paid the whole $9.00 bill for the week, plan on pulling in Sunday, May 18 to Sunday, May 26....not a bad rate.  We felt better having that figured out, so back to the RV and a little bike right around the CG. 

 

Saturday we headed up Emerald Isle, to 'Mike's' for breakfast.  Did a little touring around the island, then back home.  We ended up going for a bike ride, Route 24 towards Swansboro.  We toured around this development along the Bogue Sound, found some nice homes and then again some not so nice.  We were gathering up and making our lists of things we'll need for Sunday.  Chris, Thom and the kids are coming down EARLY, so off to bed by 10:30, phone plugged in for when she calls and a restless nights sleep followed. 

 

I woke up about 4:00 am, only to find my phone was totally dead.....not plugged in tight, so then I worried that Chris wouldn't be able to get a hold of us.  No problem, about 5:45 my phone rings,  they are here.  Well actually they are at the wrong CG, I had actually given them the address for the CG just down from us, but that is easy to fix since we are directly across from Dunkin Donuts.  I took my morning coffee and headed up to let them in the gate....and where are they...at the donut shop.  I wouldn't have minded, but I was out of coffee and it is 6:00 AM.  They made it over, brought donuts and we all slowly woke up.  Thom and Chris got a little cat nap or two,  Meghan and Grady wanted to be outside as much possible, the only bad thing is there is no beach where we are at and it is almost too hot to walk.  Well we made it through the day, then Brad, Thom and Weston headed up the road with the RV while Chris, Meghan, Grady and I headed to the grocery store.  We got done at the store, stopped and got the key, then off to the house.  Brad and crew pulled in shortly behind us, with Rick on their heals...we unloaded the vehicle and then waited for Lynne and dad to show up to sort out sleeping arraignments.  A little tension at first when everyone got there....but it all got sorted out and we settled into our rooms.  Pork BBQ for dinner and an early night for all.  The sad part is they are calling for rain all week.

 

Ocean View

The week was relaxing, I don't think anybody ran around as much as we usually do, maybe the heated pool helped.  Lynne and I managed to hit a couple of junk shops right of the island, a trip or two over to Beaufort, where we hit an arts and craft show, and did a self guided tour of an old cemetery.  We managed to eat dinner out most evenings, but I think a couple of days were just spent sitting around the house enjoying the place.  We had a little bit of a drive way, so there was no street in front of us and the view towards the ocean was absolutely beautiful. 



Pool

Our Vacation
House

 

One day Lynne, Rick, Brad and I went over to Jacksonville for a bike ride.  All went well, 6.5 miles one way and as we were headed back, what do I do...run into Rick who was stopped in front of me.  I was too busy talking with Lynne to notice and when she yelled look out, I had an elbow in my forehead.  Other than the knot on my head and a few aches and pains, we were lucky and finished the rest of the 6 miles back with no more incidents. 

 

Thursday Lynne, Rick, Brad and I went to Beaufort to walk around and then headed to our favorite restaurant, Floyds.  They always have great appetizer and specials and as usual, we were all stuffed when we left.  But it was a nice day and a great dinner ended the evening. 

 

We did manage to get a family dinner in at Snapperz and the bar maid was nice enough to come outside and take a picture of our crew.  We were missing Rick, Deb and Jim, but the rest of us were there.  We all had and enjoyable dinner and great company, kinda of sad as well, it's Friday night and tomorrow Chris, Thom and kids are leaving, Karen, Mike and kids are heading out about 6:00 AM on Sunday, with Lynne and Dad following.  Brad and I will be staying behind, finishing the clean-up, turning in the keys and heading over for the RV.  

 

 

 

Some more vacation Pictures

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115574168101787483704/NorthCarolinaVacation?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCPaQ5-n7x8P7wgE&feat=directlink

 

Brad and I left the house and returned the keys about 9:30.  We then got to the RV, started the refrigerator and headed next door to the gas station.  We filled it up, hooked up the car and were on the road about 10:30.  We are heading to Smithfield, NC, right off  95, so we are in no hurry and when we got to Goldsboro, decided to stop at McCall's for lunch.  We ate our sandwiches, then got back on the road, and pulled into the CG around 1:30.  We found our site, got set up, hopped on our bikes and went for a buzz around the CG.  Surprisingly there are only about 2 sites left, and they filled up before nightfall.  We headed out to find a grocery store to pick up milk and just one or two other supplies.  Back to the CG, planning chicken for dinner, but the hot dogs were thawed, so we had them instead.  We finished unpacking the car, got everything back in the RV and put in its proper place, yea.  After dinner we were sitting out side and notice two stray dogs running around, so we fed them one of the left over hot dogs and gave them some water.  It was a bit of a teary eyed day for me.  First off, I said good-bye to the last of my family after a week of wonderful vacation.   Then cried a bit watching a Father/Daughter dance on u-tube (go figure) and after feeding the dogs, UNC-TV had on a Memorial Day Special that just brought me to tears, again and again and again….no I’m not a tender heart or emotional (ha ha).  Well at 10:00 the special was over, so out for a walk only to notice that whole CG was trying to catch the little dogs, they had the cops there, but animal control is closed until Tuesday....really.  They finally got them locked into the dog run area, but about 1:00 AM the little dog escaped and the bigger one was barking and barking and barking, so they left her loose as well. 

 

I get up Saturday to find Brad outside with pieces of a hot dog, trying to get the little dogs close to him again.  They would get close, but not too close.  Finally I tried, and guess what, they actually, very gently took the food from my hand.  I couldn't touch them, but that seemed like a step in the right direction.  They are still hanging around the CG, so off to the store for dog treats, we ran out of left over hot dogs.  We just hung out here for the day, watching everyone pack up and pull out.  We managed to sort out mail and try to do some planning for tomorrow.  We have a 5 hour drive (long for us), so we made sure we have dinner and all the necessities for the next few days.  I texted Shane and Lynne, called Melanie and have been working on this blog, on and off all day.  I think at this point I am finished and will be back in a day or two to let you know how we make out in Gaffney, SC.

Two lost dogs

 

Thanks for visiting our site,

Diane

Goldsboro to Cedar Point, NC

Monday and Tuesday are pretty easy to describe.  Didn't really go anywhere, hung out, did laundry, some walking and bike riding.  It has been pretty nice couple of days, talking with the neighbors. We just relaxed, enjoying our time.  In the process of numerous walks, we did find a dead tree that has the nest of a Red Headed Woodpecker and the nest of a Pileated Woodpecker, one at the top and the other about half way down the tree.  It was pretty neat, you could actually see the little ones in the tree hole when mom was coming back to feed them. 





Luna Moth
Found on one of our walks.



Wednesday, the day before our planned moved, I did a load of laundry then headed out to get a pedi, they did ok, but I miss my regular pedi place.  I got home about 1:30 and we were sitting out side talking when the neighbors (Joe and Sue) walked over and asked if we wanted some company.  They came over and brought Chewy (a not so nice Chihuahua), and we were chit-chatting and the next thing we realized, it is 4:30 and getting on to dinner time.  They left about 5:00 and I started dinner, spaghetti and started packing up some of the little things in the RV.   We really didn't do much packing, not hurry to leave tomorrow, only about 90 miles or a 2 hour drive.

 

Today we got up and didn't move very fast.  A lite breakfast and slow packing and we are still ready to leave by 10:00 (when we hurry we don't get out any earlier).  We ended up just sitting around talking for a while, and then Gene (pulled in across the street) came over to talk with Brad, and Joe, Sue and Chewy came out to say good-bye.  We finally pulled out about 11:15, Brad in the RV and me in the Honda.  I stopped to get cigs and then headed over to McCalls' BBQ place to get BBQ for Sunday and meet up with Brad to hook up the car.  We are in the parking lot hooking up the car when we realized we are in the flight path for the jets landing at Seymour Johnson AFB and if you look close you can actually see the pilots, pretty awesome.  We get on the road and pulled into Waterway RV Resort about 1:30.  Not much of a resort, the first site they put us in we sunk into the sand, so we moved and are right across the street from the sewer plant.  In my opinion they should not call this as RV Park as 99% of the sites are permanent sites.  Oh well, we will make the best of it.  We got set up then headed over to Lowe's for outside ant spray....yes lots of them, back to the RV and spray.  After that we head up the Island to look for our rental next week...no parking the RV there.  We headed back down the island and stopped at the boat ramp, took a little stroll out to the point, then off to the VFW to check that out.  We had a beer then left and headed back to the RV.  A short little bike ride then burgers for dinner.  Now it is TV time and settle in for the night. 

Until next time, Diane

Still in Goldsboro

Saturday was another nothing day.  We headed out for Breakfast, then back into Goldsboro to do one more geocache, this one is an Offset-Cache that involved a trip around an old cemetery.  I must admit that neither Brad nor I have a problem with old cemeteries and one of the stones that we had to find was rather interesting and was dated 1910.  We managed to find all the cemetery sites, but since we don't have an actual GPS (I've been using the iPhone), we couldn't plug in coordinates for the last site.  I guess we'll have to try this one again.  Back home we headed, worked on the grocery list then off to the Commissary.  Surprising to find it not crowded and we were in and out of there pretty quick and back home by 4:00pm.  The rest of the day we just sat out side, reading and crosswords for me, talking to the neighbors.

 

 

Sunday  "HAPPY MOTHERS DAY"   The clouds gave way to a beautiful sunny day.  Brad cooked a wonderful mother days breakfast on the grill for us, omelets and sausage.  We biked around the base a little and  back  to camp.  We had some more coffee then biked over to the plane display on base.  Walked around and took some pictures of the old planes.  As we continued our ride we keep smelling sweet smell of jasmine but couldn't find the source.  Finally as we rode into the senior enlisted quarters we found these very large jasmine bushes.  The aroma was just about over whelming. We checked out a dirt road under the power lines and found it led to the perimeter road and a back way into the campground.  We washed the front of  the RV trying to get the bugs off  and the windshield cleaned for the trip to Emerald Isle.  We took a little break, sat in the shade, talked to the neighbors and then went for a little walk.  Several new campers showed up and  pulled in, 

now there is only one site open.  Brad once again out did himself making  steaks on the grill, mushrooms and grilled bread.  What wonderful end to the day.  

Goldsboro, NC

Sunday - May 5

Off to the Exchange, were we did find a pair of jeans and kaki pants for Brad, then headed over  to the Commissary.  We were out of food in the RV so we did some grocery shopping.  Back home put it all away, then just hung out did some bike riding and more hiking around the CG.  Now I know that going shopping doesn't sound like much, but we did a lot of looking around so it was actually a 3 hour trip.

 

Monday - May 6

Brad headed out to find the MWR to pay for the campground and then came back.  After that we headed out for lunch and to do some more shopping.  We had lunch at Ruby Tuesday, not my favorite, but we were hungry.  We still needed a few things so off to Target to get them.  It has been a gray and drizzly day, so needless to say, we have no desire to do much.  Back to the RV, dinner on the grill and tune in Bones.

 

 

Tuesday - May 7

Brad headed out for a hair cut and to find the alteration shop, while I got showered and ready for our ride.  We headed out about 11:00, off to find Cherry Point and their CG.  It was about 1.5 hour ride there, but we managed to find it.  They actually have a brand new CG, which won't be opened until the weekend of the 18th, so we won't be able to use it.  We then checked out their old CG and to be honest, they couldn't pay me enough to stay there...ugh.  Well now we are only about 30 miles away from the CG we are heading to next, so off we go.  We found the CG....OK, but we are only there for 3 days and we'll have a lot of running around to do, so we can survive.  We did check into a couple of storage places while there, some will store the RV for a week for $1.00 a day, I guess we'll need to finalize some plans while there.  (Getting ready for the family vacation on Salter Path)

 

Wednesday - May 8

Today was our do nothing day.  Stay home, do laundry, clean the RV, Brad washed the car, and after that we just kind of hung out.  We had a nice day and around 2:00 decided to do a bike ride.  We ventured to parts of the base we usually don't get to see.  We went over to the flight line, but didn't get to see any of the planes land or take off, then headed down these roads, with no idea of where we were headed.  Well 45 min. later we finally find our way out of housing, our quick little ride lasted over about 2 hours and was a little over 7 miles long.  We just had dinner here at home and a nice lazy evening.  We both have noticed that we are spending a lot more time sitting out side here. 

 

 

Thursday - May 9

Today we had breakfast at home then headed out to find the 'Cliffs on the Neuse' State park.  We found the park, stopped in at the visitors center and got a map, off to check out the swim area which looked nice then off to the cliffs.  You really couldn't see a lot of the cliffs, since you were standing at the top of them, but there definitely was a 90 foot drop to the water.  We did the 1.5 - 2 mile hike then headed out.  It was a beautiful walk, other than the ants.  I stopped at one point to look at something, and looked down to see my foot covered in ants.  My sneaker was off and I was hopping around on the other foot, before Brad could even blink.  We did manage to get me back together and finished the rest of the hike with no more incidents.  There was another trail we were going to walk after a water break, but I had enough ants for one day, back to the RV. On our way home, we headed down some back roads and actually found our way back to the back gate.   Dinner was in the crock pot, so we just relaxed, strolled around the CG and had a quiet evening. 

 

 

Friday - May 10

Today we planned on a bike ride, but the temperatures to reach 90, we decided another day would be better.  We headed out this morning for breakfast, then in search of a post office and off to find something to do.  We decided to try our hand at geocaching....didn't do to bad.  We started out about 11:30 and didn't quit until 3:30.  We managed to find all 4 that we looked for and ended up seeing more of downtown Goldsboro walking around geocaching than we normally would have seen.  We checked out the old train station, the Court House and a couple of old churches in our travels.  We both were surprised by some of the large old homes and kind of sad that a lot of them were is disrepair.  It was a little warm, but was an enjoyable journey.

Marion to Goldsboro, NC

Wednesday was a stay at home day.  We had breakfast and lunch at the TJ Cafe, while doing laundry, bike riding around the grounds and over to see the new RVs.  Then off to the grocery store and dinner at home.  We are hoping to leave on Thursday as we have already been here too long..too foggy to see any of the mountain sites, so we should move on.

 

Thursday we got up with the plan of leaving.....but it rained all night and is still raining at 9:30.  Up to the Cafe for breakfast and a stroll around the corner, staying one more day.  A load or two of laundry and another bike ride.  The rain has let up, so the outside packing is underway...at least the stuff isn't dripping with rain water any more.  We talked with Keith and Carol a couple of times, we are a lot alike,  they planned on leaving tomorrow, but have already changed their minds and aren't leaving until Saturday, got to love this life.  Since the grill and all is packed off to 'Fatz Cafe' for dinner.  I must recommend that if you get the chance to, go there.  Make sure to let them know you have never been there before and you will get complimentary tasting.  We had their Calabash Chicken and a sampling of three of the soups, and it was all delicious, the Tuscan Tomato soup was the best.  We then had dinner and they gave us a sample of their Peach Cobble....oh my.  We ended up leaving with left overs and we were both stuffed...great place and very good food.   Back home, a couple of walks around the CG and up through the service department, and a little inside packing going on.  Off to bed and see what Friday brings. 

FamCamp

Friday we get up to a very lite mist and gray skies, but we decided we are moving any way.  Keith and Carol came over said good-bye and about an hour later we were pulling out.  We left the CG by 10:00, stopped for gas, groceries, hooked up the car and hit the highway at 11:00.  We actually traveled 280 miles....yea for the sun shine, then we found the CG and were parked at 4:30.  We are now at the Seymour Johnson AFB FamCamp.  There are only 8 sites, but the people are friendly and we know nothing about the base and area since we were too tired to go anywhere...burgers on the grill for dinner and a stroll around the area to check it out. 

Saturday we actually found the biggest Pork BBQ Festival in Kinston.  We were headed out about 10:00 and ran into Rob (next door camper), so it was finally about 11:00 until we got on the road.  Our biggest mistake was we stopped to eat on our way there, missed all the good food.  We got there about 12:30 and walked around until about 3:30.  Lot's to see, do and eat.  We didn't eat anything, but we did go through the the USS Neuse replica, walked every street of the festival, saw some pretty neat BBQ smokers and bought some BBQ sauce for another day. 

We ended up stopping for dinner on our way home and the meal was great.  They had an all you can eat buffet, but we didn't need that to be full and bring home left overs, Pork Sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.  We finally get home, get the satellite set up and working, then went for a walk.  We got back from our first walk and decide to put the awning out and strap it down, before our second walk.  This time we head down a dirt road, not yet adventured and really enjoyed the walk.  We found a few interesting things and we don't think this is a road for the campers, but hey...not posted.





 

 

We are back home, Clint Eastwood is on TV and Brad is a happy camper...I guess that is why I'm working on the blog.  Tomorrow we will do some shopping and find out what the rest of the base is like.

Diane
 

Rally Park to Camp Ground

We got up Monday to a gray and drizzly day so we decided to get out of the Rally Park and go to the CG where they have cement parking spots  and you don't have to walk through the wet grass.  We got here, set up, did a couple of loads of laundry and just hung out for the day.  There are 5 or 6 other RVs here that were also at the rally, they came over to dry out as well. 

 

Tuesday we got up, had breakfast and were on the road by 10:00 AM. We are heading to Grandfather Mountain, hoping to spend the day.  It is only about 35 miles away, but with the winding, twisty roads, it is an hour drive.  We get there about 11:00, to drizzle and fog....no sunshine and the lady at the gate was very nice and advised us not to waste our money, no clearing today and you would not be able to see much at all......now what.  We take a break, check out the map and decided to head over to the 'Mast General Store'.  It was a beautiful drive, stopped for lunch on our way and when we got there, it was well worth the trip.  We did some shopping, picture taking and a lot of looking at all the unique and old items for sale.   The top picture

is the back entrance of the store and the one here on the right was taken inside as I sat by the pot belly stove.   The store was very nostalgic and had items that we got as kids, things you just don't see any more.  The store itself dates back to 1882 and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.....

Rocky Pathway

We decide to head back to camp via the Blue Ridge Parkway....but on our way to an entrance, we stopped at Linville Falls.  OK, park and go for a hike.  The hike is much different than things they develop today.  A lot of rocks, tree roots and steps that could be 2 foot high.  We were probably there about 2 hours before we got back out and finally headed home. 

I have also added a link that has more of the pictures from the falls, a scenic over view that we stopped at and a couple of the road signs found on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  All in all, it was a good day, home for dinner and then a good nights sleep. 

Linville Falls and Scenic Overview

https://picasaweb.google.com/115574168101787483704/LinvilleFallsAndSenicOverview?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNT_o7Pg_NmEMg&feat=directlink