VA
TN4 wrapup
I am belatedly doing the post-mortem on the Fourth Trip North (TN4). By the numbers: 17 nights in 8 hops, 1664 tow miles, 1930 truck miles, $757.93 in campground fees ($44.58 per night). The campground total does not include the 2 nights we spent in the Quality Inn in Lexington MA and if I were … Continue reading
TN4 Hop 5: Lorton VA to Gettysburg PA
97 miles via VA 242, I-95, I-495 (around Washington), I-270, US 15 and local roads. Truck miles: 224. Cumulative tow miles: 1236. Cumulative truck miles: 1409. The trip itself was uneventful, but was on a dreary, rainy day. The drama came when we arrived at out destination – the Gettysburg Campground – where we were … Continue reading
TN4 Hop 4: Wilson NC to Lorton VA
237 miles via US 301, US 64, I-95, I-295 (around Richmond) and VA 242. Truck miles: 254. Cumulative tow miles: 1139. Cumulative truck miles: 1185. The first “adventure” of the day occurred as I was on my way to fill the tank: the “check engine” light came on as I was idling at a traffic … Continue reading
TC1: Our first transatlantic cruise – prelude
The start of our first transatlantic cruise has arrived! For the next 27 nights we will be aboard the Holland America Oosterdam, first crossing the Atlantic Ocean, then cruising the Mediterranean Sea, followed by two nights on land in Venice. It should be an epic vacation! To get started we had a day of very … Continue reading
TTS Hop 5: Natural Bridge VA to Asheville NC
279 miles via I-81 and I-26. Cumulative tow miles: 1,171. This was another “easy” hop in terms of navigation: down I-81, then down I-26 to Asheville. But it was a long trip, with a refueling stop, and a couple of problems arose. First, some rubber molding on the RV came loose several times, requiring uncomfortable … Continue reading
TTS Hop 4: College Park MD to Natural Bridge VA
212 miles via I-495 (around DC), I-66 and I-81. Cumulative tow miles: 892. I consider this a “low stress” hop because it was almost entirely on interstate highways. I was worried that the first 50 miles – on the I-495 DC Beltway and out I-66 – would have a lot of stop-and-go traffic, but there … Continue reading
STN Hop 4: Hamer SC to Emporia VA
202 miles, almost entirely on I-95. Cumulative distance: 932 miles. The trip itself is hardly worth noting – 200 solid miles of interstate travel. Uneventful. Boring. Efficient. We didn’t stop until we arrived at our destination: Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park at Emporia, VA. I had avoided Jellystone Parks in the past because… well, because it … 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