Author Archives: Sparky
STS Hop 8: Myrtle Beach SC to Charleston SC
94 miles via mostly US 17. The only thing difficult about this trip was ignoring the GPS when it told us to make a U-turn. I don’t know what is going on with our (relatively) new Rand-McNally GPS, but on the last two hops it has insisted that we make a U-turn when none was … Continue reading
Ocean Lakes Family Campground, Myrtle Beach SC
We planned originally to stay 3 nights at Ocean Lakes Family Campground in South Myrtle Beach SC. But we lost a day due to our truck problems. Then the forecast turned bad – the day we were scheduled to travel to Charleston was to be windy, with heavy rain. It is never fun to tear … Continue reading
STS Hop 7: Stony Creek VA to Myrtle Beach SC
302 miles via I-95, US 117, I-795 (through Goldsboro NC), I-40 and US 17, with a refueling stop near Sharpsburg NC. It is true: the night is darkest before the dawn. The plan was to do a 20-mile test drive, hauling the RV, around 8am. If the check engine light came on we would book … Continue reading
STS Hop 6: Petersburg VA to Stony Creek VA
27 miles via I-85 and I-95. Well, you guys obviously did not wish hard enough. We made it just over 10 miles into our planned 300-mile trip before the “check engine” light reappeared. We limped (which turns out to be exactly the right word – more on that later) to a truck stop just north … Continue reading
STS Hop 5: Lorton VA to Petersburg VA
128 miles, mostly via I-95. This was not the hop that was planned. We had to abort about 100 miles short of our intended destination (Wilson NC) when the “check engine” light came on just north of Petersburg VA. Accompanying the light was an alarming loss of power: I had difficulty maintaining 45 mph going … Continue reading
Gunshots, acorns and drag racers
Answer: gunshots, acorns and drag racers. Question: what noises have kept us awake in the last 3 campsites? Explanation: I told you about the shooting range near us at Pinch Pond. That was followed by 7 nights of staccato acorn explosions (at least they sounded like explosions) on the roof of the RV at Pohick. … Continue reading
Manassas
In case you didn’t know, I am a bit of a Civil War buff. I think Ken Burn’s Civil War series is the best documentary I have ever seen. I have visited about a dozen Civil War battlefields and think Gettysburg is one of the 5 most interesting places in the US. So it is … Continue reading
Boo to you, too
The Pohick Bay Regional Park Campground is really into Halloween. Besides having a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt this past weekend, they also sponsored a campsite decorating content. Which our neighbors won, hands down. They put a lot of effort into building a little Zombie town on their site, populated by 4 animated zombies, a very scary … Continue reading
STS Hop 4: Manheim PA to Lorton VA
161 miles via I-76, US 15, I-270, I-495 (MD and VA) and I-95. This was, for the most part, a familiar trip on familiar roads. We have done it before, most notably on our GTW way back in 2012. US 15 in MD is memorable as the site of our very first (and very traumatic) … Continue reading
An introduction to the pumpkin patch lifestyle
When I was a kid Halloween was a one-evening event. You dressed up in some wacko costume, grabbed a large shopping bag and went out – without adults – and extorted as much candy booty from your neighbors as time and upper body strength would allow. Followed by a week of sugar overdosing. But now … Continue reading »