Washington DC was a Long Day!!!!!!

Last night we drove 200 miles to Washington DC from our campground.  When we left the campground, the camper was placed in day parking, because all the sites at the campground were booked for the weekend.  Today we got up at 6:30 to begin our day of shooting with Natural Balance Dog Food Company.  We traveled to the Washington Nationals Baseball Stadium and met up with Tillman and his owner and the entire Natural Balance crew.  Norman rode his scooter in front of the stadium with the cameras rolling and he did a great job!  After Tillman the bulldog rode his skateboard, we then proceeded to the entrance of Nationals Park where we met Steve Garvey and his family and led a parade lap with all the dogs and owners that showed up for the event "Pups in the Park".  We stayed until the 5th inning of the game and then decided it was time to head back to the campground. 

Back on the road again for another 200 mile road trip!  While on the way back, Karen called to see if we could get a spot at the campground.  They said there was one cancellation, therefore one spot WAS available.  However, they couldn't hold it, because its first come first serve for same day reservations.  Well guess what?  After 3-1/2 hours in the truck we show up and no campground spot was available!  Plan B -hotel until Sunday night because all the weekend warriors will be going home and the camp empties out! Sooooo we traveled 35 miles south to the nearest hotel that has occupancy and will take Norm! I finish this blog tired of driving and missing our little hotel on wheels.  Just the ordeal of bringing everything into the hotel room reminds me of why we went the camping route instead of hotel hopping.

Williamsburg!!!

Today we spent the day in Colonial Williamsburg.  Its was a short ferry ride across the James River, but a long wait for the ferry to show up.  Colonial Williamsburg is a real working colonial town that you just walk through at your leisure.  We had Norman with us, as dogs are allowed in the town, but they cannot go into the houses.  For this reason, we decided to pass on the $38 per person entrance, which gives you access to all the buildings and the presentations they give when you enter.  Although there was a lot to see, without the information in the buildings you don't get the juicy little tidbits about how they lived back then. For this reason we will be going back without Norman and hopefully the kids can stand a little more history.  The kids are a little like dad, in the fact that, they can handle only so many facts before they start zoning out. We also have learned a valuable lesson with Norman!!!  Everyone likes to ask us what kind of dog he is, how old he is, is he good with children? etc...  No less than 50 times did Karen and have to answer all the usual questions.  Heck,  a couple of times I said "he is a Briard" before they even asked.  I attached a picture of one the many times we were stopped.  Karen wants to make a vest with all the pertinent information to help reduce the amount of questions!  At this point in time, we think that if we are going to a park to see an attraction then Norman may have to stay home, so that we can actually see the attraction and not just answer questions.  Especially when you pay a hefty admission and only have a limited time to see the attraction.

At the campground, Kaylee had been practicing climbing the lantern pole at our campsite.  After much persistance, she finally mastered climbing to the top!!! Go Kaylee!  Hard work does pay off.... Last, but not least, after a hard day of strolling through a park and pole climbing, one must have some burgers on the grill.

JamesTown

Well we parked the camper in a great little park called Chippokes State Park.  We are miles from anything but it is so beautiful!  I posted a picture of "Winter Wheat".  At least that's what a local farmer told me it was when we struck up a conversation while waiting for the ferry to cross the James river. The park we are staying in is right on the river and about 5 miles away is the ferry that is free and runs directly into Williamsburg.  We went to Jamestown this morning and the kids had a blast!  We left stayed until 3:30pm then packed the truck, locked up the trailer and headed for Baltimore over 225 miles away for Norman & Karen to ride the scooter for a local Fox network.  I am typing from the 10th floor of the Hilton and every ones sleeping.  Karen has the wake up call set for 3:45am and starts taping @ 5:30am!!!!!!  I think by the time she gets home from filming the kids and I will just be getting out of bed. We will be heading back to Chippokes tomorrow morning to spend some more time @ Williamsburg and all the other interesting places that Virginia has to offer. What we thought would be a week visit is slowly turning into two weeks!

Assateague & Chincoteague Island

We headed from the outer banks to Virginia's outer pennisula and slept in a Wal-Mart parking lot!  So far, the store managers we have spoken with to ask for permission, are always glad to let us stay the night.  I guess they figure we will be spending money while we are there.  The last two overnight stops at Wal-Mart resulted in over $200 of groceries and miscellaneous items purchased by us, so I guess they know what they are doing!  We then spent the night at a campground called Tall Pines Harbour, which was a nice spot right on the Chesapeake Bay. We took the bikes over to Assateague Island to ride, first thing the next morning, and see the wild ponies.  Well, we found the ponies and the entire mosquito population of the Island!!!!!!  We were riding as fast as we could and they were still biting us!!!  Needless to say, we got some pics of the ponies; then high tailed it out of there!!  Today we said goodbye to Assateague/Chincoteague Island!

Baling Wire & Duct Tape!

The old saying that you can fix just about anything with Duct Tape & Baling Wire appears to be true!  While stopping at a rest area down the street from Grave Digger's (The Monster truck) shop, I did my routine walk around of the truck and trailer only to find the 6" exhaust tip on my exhaust system almost touching the ground!  After some careful inspection I found the rubber hanger had snapped and part of the exhaust was hanging down. I found a coat hanger and wired it up the best I could and proceeded to the Grave Digger's shop!  We had a blast at the shop and even got to ride in a monster truck!  From there we traveled north into Virginia to see Virginia Beach which is where we found the use for our duct tape!  Karen found us a campground that had day parking which we "Thought " we could unhook the camper and drive around.  Not so much!  Upon seeing the entrance, we thought the entrance was on the right, when actually it was on the left.  I proceeded to make the right turn into a different part of the park which was a hiking trail portion.  After speaking with the park attendant he said we could go in and make a U turn at the back.  Well, the turn around wasn't designed for 60ft of truck and trailer!!!!!!  We found some tree branches that took a bite out of the top of our rubber roof!  That repair is currently on my list of things to do now!  Moral of this story... ALWAYS have some duct tape/ baling wire and roll with the punches, because in the end it will be these trying times that we remember the most!!!!

The outer Banks!

Well after some serious driving, we made it the outer banks.  We have the whole campground, practically, to ourselves!  I was concerned about the bikes hanging on the back of the camper and all the weight on the hitch and ladder, so we moved the kids bikes to the truck bed and only the adult bikes are on the back. One of the bike racks was actually bent from all the bouncing around.  Things are so laid back, now we have landed at our 1st campground and set everything up.  We have made several changes to our storage arrangement and we are starting a pile of stuff to be shipped back to our house that we don't need.  This morning I woke up to the seagulls singing, my kids playing in their pajamas on the playground next to the trailer, my wife training Norman, and a cool breeze coming in the window.  Bryson and I went for a nice bike ride around the campground and then the whole family rode down to the beach via bicycles!  Tomorrow we are going to the largest brick lighthouse in the USA and then to Kitty Hawk Museum!

Good Bye Georgia!

Well its official...we have started the trip!  My emotions were all over the map!  The weekend prior to us leaving, there was a ton of stuff to be finished.  We had to move everything to storage, load the camper, transfer all the food to the camper, mount the bicycle hitch and all the bikes, clean the house for the renters and a lot more that I am sure that I am forgetting.  During this period, we were both exhausted and running on empty towards the end of the day.  I found myself thinking over and over -Are we doing the right thing?  Can we really pull this off?  Is this the right thing for our children? 

We left the house @ 2:15 pm and we scrambled our way through the city of Atlanta just in time to miss the rush hour traffic.  Of course, we couldn't leave Atlanta without the usual accident just north of the 285 perimeter!  We drove from Atlanta, to just north of Charlotte, North Carolina.  The kids watched movies with the head phones on and Karen & I chatted about the fact that we were actually doing it!  We ended up boondocking, a term for camping with no amenities, in the Walmart parking lot for the night.

One last note: All items in the camper should be securely fastened!  Live and learn.