Halloween at Chesapeake

[JEBar]

we are booked to spend 3 weeks at Thousand Trails Chesapeake Bay RV Resort ===> https://www.thousandtrails.com/virginia ... rv-resort/ .... we are booked to arrive on Oct 8, 2018 and leaving on Oct 29th .... it is a beautiful park with a strong family atmosphere .... for several different reasons we haven't been able to camp there since October 2014 and are really looking forward to getting back into that area again .... their Halloween celebrations have grown so large that they are now held on 2 weekends .... I never cease to be surprised at the extent many campers go to in decorating their sites .... this year Oct 19 - 21 and 26 - 28 .... historically we really enjoyed there Halloween related activities, this will be the first time we've been able to be there for both weekends .... with Halloween falling on the 31st, we'll be able to get back home in time to celebrate it with our grandchildren ... if any of our folks happen to be in the area, we'd be delighted to arrange a visit

[JEBar]

when we have a trip on tap, something negative inevitably come up .. .. over the weekend our youngest son pointed out that our camper's OEM steps didn't look right .... upon close inspection, he was right .... the welds holding the support rod, under the front of the second step from the top, had broken on both ends .. .. all but a tiny part of the metal beside the weld on both ends had torn .... weight from folks going up and down the steps caused the tears on both ends to separate .... this in turn caused the lower step to point downward .... through using a ratchet strap and heavy hammer I was able to draw the tears closer together .... with the heat and humidity out there right now that was the sweaty but easy part .... ours 70's vintage Lincoln welder (buzz box) is setup to be used inside of our garage or just outside the garage door .... moving our camper to where the welding leads could reach the steps took come "creative" movement between our house and boat shed .... with my wife's help that was accomplished, sure hope we don't have a need to do that again any time soon .... let me say right up front, I'm not a welder .... not even close .... I'm more of a "dobber" whose welds may not be pretty but usually hold .... OK, given a grinder and can of paint, I can usually make them look pretty good .... I'm just happy that the problem was found and has been corrected prior to pulling out for Chesapeake ..

[JEBar]

if all goes well, we should be able to finish loading the camper, hooking up, and being on the road by 11AM .... today's drive is slated to take us a little over 100 miles to the RV Resort At Carolina Crossroads ===> http://033b649.netsolhost.com/ ... where our camping club will be spending the weekend .... sometime before noon on Sunday we plan to leave Carolina Crossroads for the 130 mile drive to Chesapeake

[JEBar]

5 of our club's 8 campers (meaning RV's not people) are now settled into Carolina Crossroads .... grilled burgers and hot dogs on the menu as well as an evening spent chatting around the gazebo .... when the skeeters came out we moved into our respective campers .... the Battle Bots tournament is now on TV, lots of parts flying all over the arena .... thankfully everyone's drive went smoothly .... north bound traffic on I-95 was surprisingly light .... south bound traffic seemed to be much heavier with a surprising number of RV's .... it almost seems like the snowbird migration has begun ..

[JEBar]

it sure was foggy this morning at Carolina Crossroads .... thankfully, it burned off quickly .... happy to be able to report a boring drive and that we are here now setup at Thousand Trails Chesapeake .... way too hot and humid to complete our setup, plan to get busy on doing so in the morning

[JEBar]

during our first full day we completed our setup (first 2 pictures), took care of a minor repair, grocery shopped in Gloucester, grilled our first South Dakota sirloin (pictures 3 & 4) .... this is our first visit to Chesapeake where we have had to run the campground's water through our softener (picture 7), unsure what has changed in that department .... the leaves on local hardwood trees haven't started to change colors (pictures 5 & 6) .... my hope is to take a series of pictures of these trees to document their fall foliage color change .... right now, all eyes are directed to the Gulf where Hurricane Michael is slated to come ashore within the next few days .... if it follows its projected path, it will blow through our area sometime Thursday night .... talk about a flash from the past .... we are currently camped in a park where the folks with long term sites are required to take care of their grass .... today I watched a lady using a "Manual Hand Push Walk Behind Reel Mower" (last series of pictures) .... I hadn't though (much less seen) one of those mowers in decades .... it did a really good job, it had clippings rooster tailing out of the back of the mower

[JEBar]

another day, another drive over to Gloucester .... today's objective was to pickup meds and a few "specialty" groceries .... the specialty part is directly related to our campground being in almost the center of the "cone of uncertainty" projected for Hurricane Michael .... along with rain and wind from the Hurricane, a shift in the Jet Stream is supposed to bring in considerably cooler weather is slated to roll through Thursday - Friday .... with it being highly likely that we will be spending at least one, if not both, days in the camper .... at such times for us, homemade chili and/or New England Clam Chowder really hit the spot .... see recipe in this thread ===> http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=5304 .... I've saved a couple of inside repairs and my wife plans to break out her sewing machine to work on stuff for the grandkids

[JEBar]

well, we are home .. .. it kind of hard to believe that our last two outings have been cut short by two different hurricanes .. .. last night proved to be a tough one for us and for much of the area around out campground in southeastern VA ... 6 or so hours of hard rain and steady wind left trees down, roads washed out, yard decorations shredded .... it also proved that we pushed the 12 year lifespan of our camper's roof a couple of years too far .... a fact that we must take care of ASAP .... I did fill the camper's 40 lb tank that we've been using and it proved to be a good thing .... sometime after 8PM the power went off .... with the campground having its on well, having its on waste water lift system, needing electricity to fill propane tanks, they were pretty much at a stand still .... our camper's generator fired easily and we ran it for more than 12 hours .... it performed well, we were comfortable .... after breakfast I road around the campground and it didn't take long to see just how much damage had occurred .... a drive over to Gloucester confirmed that falling trees had knocked put power for a wide area .... speaking with local folks, it was clear that it will take several days, if not, weeks to fully restore power .... we can an have camped without water, sewer, and electrical hookups but we quiet simply weren't of a mind camp that way for who knows how long .... so we packed up and as noted have returned home ... we saw an unusually large number of wrecks on the way home .... a particularly rough one is shown in the last two pictures .... in the first the wrecked car can be seen off in the woods .... the last shows the damage from the impact .... oh well, hopefully we can reschedule this trip for next October

[JEBar]

well, here we go again .... as noted last year when we started this thread, we thoroughly enjoy visiting the coastal Virginia area around Thousand Trails Chesapeake Campground .... its nice any time of year but specially so in the fall when the leaves are changing color .... as can be seen in the post above, the eye of Hurricane Michael passing directly over our site brought an abrupt end to that trip .... yesterday we booked a site for 10/6/19 - 10/20/19 .... the reality is October is prime Hurricane Season for our part of the country .... hopefully this year we will be spared any storms while up there ..

[markiver54]

Very nice travelog Jim! Thanks for all the pics from your journey so far!

[JEBar]

we started camping there back in '02 and really do enjoy the area .... Michael wasn't first Hurricane to impact one of our visits there .... it would be nice if it proves to be the last .... they have some really good seafood out there

[JEBar]

two weeks from today we are booked to return to Chesapeake .. .. hard to believe that time is passing so quickly .... but then, that's gotten to be pretty much the norm .... thankfully, I don't know of any major things that need to be taken care of with either the camper or our truck .... that said, history makes it clear that something will most probably develop with one or both .. .. do have a few "want to's " to take care of on the camper but there is no hurry .... I also want to take a good number of multiple tools out truck .... simply no use in carrying then all around the country

[JEBar]

looks like our well established history of bringing rain with us when we travel .. .. will most probably follow us to Chesapeake .... one day with any mention of possible rain between now and when we get there and it in the forecast for each of the first three days we are there .

[JEBar]

for us it is a taking care of last minute things at home, packing up, and moving out morning .... per Google Maps, a short 102 mile / 1 hr 37 min tow on tap to Carolina Crossroads at Roanoke Rapids where we will be camping with our club .... long range weather looks good, if forecast are correct, Fall 2019 is arriving .... Sunday morning we are slated to continue onto Chesapeake Thousand Trails, projected to be a 132 mile / 2 hr 4 min drive

[JEBar]

after a relatively short (for us) day's drive we are setup at Carolina Crossroads .... as anticipated, one heck of a temperature drop .... tomorrow's forecasted high is only a couple of degrees higher than last night's low .... other than enjoying some really good food, not much on tap for tomorrow

[JEBar]

following an uneventful drive of 137.7 miles / 2 hrs 25 min / 1 brief rest stop, we have reached Chesapeake Thousand Trails and are settled in for the night .... we simply didn't feel like completing our site setup, plan to do so in the morning .... in addition to finishing setting up our site, filling one of the camper's 40 lb propane tanks and finding someone to repair the camper's water heater .... to soon to know if doing so will require us to drive over to Gloucester .... need to get all of that kind of stuff out of the way so that we can get down to some serious resting ..

[JEBar]

busy morning ....after breakfast I rode up to what Thousand Trails calls their Ranger Station .... it is the place by which all traffic coming in or out of the campground must check in .... I found out the times they fill propane tanks and contact information for the local mobile RV tech that they recommend .... after returning to our site I called the Tech and had to leave a message ... we then resumed out site setup .... a short time later I received a call back in which I learned he had just finished another job in our campground and would be over to our site in a few minutes .... I'm not an RV Tech nor do I play one on TV but I worked in the industry long enough to know a good one when I see him .... the second couple of pictures show a burned wire he found .... he also found a burned relay and recommended the water heater's OEM electric coil be replaced when comes back to replace the relay and a small leak which hasn't caused any problems yet .... after watching the way he approached the problem with our camper, I can highly recommend him to anyone who happens to be in the coastal Virginia area and may need service

[JEBar]

happy to say that we've completed most of our outside site setup .... only thing remaining is our outside cooking area .... that will take place shortly before I'm told that I'm to prepare our next meal outside .. .. in thinking about it, with the chances of rain going up over each of the next few days, that may be a while .... Chesapeake is one of the few campgrounds where I like to fill our propane tanks .... here they charge by the gallon, in many they charge by the tank capacity regardless of how much, if any propane the tank may have in it

[JEBar]

its been a cloudy, calm, cool, misty at times day .... we did get out and ride over to Gloucester where we stopped by Lowe's and Walmart .... at Lowe's I purchased a Kobalt 45-oz Smooth Face Plastic Head Plastic Dead Blow Hammer needed to make a few delicate adjustments .. .. at Walmart we shopped for groceries and large stock of candy to pass out to Trick-or-Treaters on the 18th .... traditional Halloween activities have become so popular at this campground that they have to hold it on two different weekends .... the amount and complexity of site decorations is really something to be seen; as is the decorated golf cart parade and pet costume contest ....

[JEBar]

some of the folks are starting to decorate their campers for Halloween .... beginning to think I may need to keep an eye on the lady in the two sites from ours .. ..