Saturday August 4th 2018

It was a sunny day with average humidity for August in Virginia. The weather forecasters say the rainy pattern has broken. The next few days are advertised to by sunny with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. The area really needs a chance to dry out. Areas west of Richmond have been experiencing low area flooding for the last few days and a dam in the Lynchburg area is in danger of giving way.

Flower Blossoms of the day

I stirred the planning pot today. When I move on from here on Monday, I intended to head west for the Shenandoah Valley then north into Pennsylvania. With all the rain, Pennsylvania has a number of areas with flooding issues. I decided to delay my turn west into the Shenandoah valley for a week. Instead I’ll move east on Monday to Williamsburg VA. I need a colonial history lesson at Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown.

Being able to make this kind of a change in plans is the good thing about not making reservations well in advance. The down side of waiting to make reservations is not being able to get the locations you want. I’m experiencing some of that going forward. I’m having a hard time finding reservations for the weekends in August as I move north. Sunday night through Thursday night are not a problem. Chances are I’m going to be in some expensive less desirable places on the third and forth weekends of the month. After Williamsburg my next reservation longer than a week is over Labor day weekend in northern New York.

Today was mostly a day of rest. Other than a brief run to the convenience store near the highway for a loaf of bread, I spent the day watching TV and wandering around the RV park. The sports on TV were entertaining as was the activity in the full RV park. Tomorrow I’ll do some real grocery shopping.

Friday August 3rd 2018

I woke up to rain this morning. Light rain fell off and on all day, but I wasn’t going to let it keep me inside today. Around mid morning I drove about fifteen miles to the Cold Harbor battlefield site.

Cannon on display at the Cold Harbor battlefield.

The area around Richmond, the capital of the Confederacy, has many Civil War battlefields. They are not all from the same campaigns. There are battlefields from the 1862 peninsular campaigns, the 1864 campaigns and the final battles in 1865. The Cold Harbor area saw action in both 62 and 64. The battlefield I visited was from the Overland Campaign in the spring of 1864. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia fought Grant’s expanded Army of the Potomac in a series of battles starting south of the Rapidan in the Wilderness, followed by Spotsylvania, eventually reaching Cold Harbor. This campaign was unlike previous years when the armys withdrew for long periods of time to recover and rebuild between battles. Grant continued to pressure Lee by continuing south around his flanks toward Richmond. The Union needed victories to get Lincoln re-elected in the fall of 1864. All of the battles were pretty much draws from a strategic perspective. The Confederate positions held, but the Union was able continue to put pressure on Richmond.

One of the trenches dug and used by the soldiers in the Cold Harbor battle. It has been filled by vegetation over the years.

At Cold Harbor and most of the battles in the campaign the Confederate troops were intrenched in elaborate breastworks. Unlike earlier in the war when battles were fought out in the open, these battles were from trench line to trench line. The casualties were very high during the whole month and a half campaign. At the Cold Harbor battlefield park, I walked a mile long trail in the rain. It crossed a field and proceeded up and down across streams and trenches now filled with trees. The park area is at the center of the seven miles of battle lines established during the battle. Similar trenches existed for the troops up and down the long line of battle.

It was raining while I was at the battlefield. I was more than a little damp by the time I completed the walking loop around the battlefield, but it was worth it. Learning about the trench warfare in the Civil War was interesting. I thought the concept of dug in opposing lines of troops didn’t materialize until World War I.

Flo

Thursday August 2nd 2018

I let the weather control my activities again today. When you combine a confusing, but dire sounding weather forecast with a few early morning clouds you can easily convince yourself that the day is best suited for hibernation. This evening I’m kicking myself for my lack of motivation. It was not that bad a day. The sun was out for most of the morning raising the temperature into the mid eighties with lots of humidity. Shortly afternoon a thunderstorm moved through the area. It has rained lightly ever since. Tomorrow is forecast to follow the same pattern. Hopefully I’ll handle it better.

The clouds were both pretty and threatening.

The big event for the day was a visit to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World store on the other side of the Interstate. It was a sight seeing trip not a shopping trip. They decorate the stores with the outdoor life of the area. Everyone I’ve been in has had large aquariums with native fish and many stuffed animals representative of the region. This Bass Pro Shop was a little smaller than some of the others I’ve been in. It only had one aquarium with some bass and one very big catfish. Most of the decor was made up of stuffed animals including a large bear posed on its hind legs. It was a big attraction with the kids in the store.

Being only one hundred miles from the Atlantic Ocean and even less from the Chesapeake Bay this Bass Pro shop had a mixed focus. The boats and fishing gear for sale were split between fresh and salt water. The Bass Pro Shops I went to in the Midwest were focused on lake and river fishing. Along those lines they were pushing fancy bass fishing boats. Here the boats were more diverse including pontoon boats. To me, the boats for sale are just another part of the shops decorations. I’m not in the market.

Wednesday August 1st 2018

The rain stayed to the west of my RV home overnight. Everything was dry while I finished preparations for today’s travel day. Watching the TV weather this evening, it sounds like the rain moved into the area after I got underway. My travel day was mostly dry. I drove through a few light showers, but not heavy enough to even warrant tuning on the windshield wipers.

Site E-25 at the Americamps RV Resort in Ashland VA.

I got on the road right at my planned time of 10AM. Traffic was light and I made good time going west to Interstate 95. The north bound traffic on I-95 was even light until I reached the Richmond VA area. I found the road surface on the Interstate 295 beltway around the east of Richmond in need of assistance. I don’t know what the economics of concrete road surfaces is compared to other road surfaces. I suspect they cost more to put in, but they may last longer. What I do know is that once they get a few years old they can be very uneven. A few places today had my RV bouncing as I transitioned from one piece of concrete to the next.

My location for the next five nights is the Americamps RV resort in Ashland VA. I arrived shortly after 2PM. The campground is located beside Interstate 95 just north of the intersection with the Interstate 295 beltway. I’ve stopped here many times over the years. Recently they’ve made a number of improvements to live up to the word “Resort” in their name. The park now has a fitness center, a new pool and serves a complementary waffle breakfast most mornings. Tomorrow they aren’t service breakfast, but a pizza party at 6pm.

It was in the mid eighties with high humidity and full sun when I arrived. The rain is forecast to return in the morning. My site was dry and level with good utility connections, but the heat made it difficult to setup. Sweat was dripping off of every piece of exposed skin and my shirt was soaked through by the time I finished the outside tasks. Once the air conditioning was on I toweled off and took a nap.

For the last year and a half I have used a feature of the Word Press hosting software to automatically cross post my blog to Facebook. That capability is being removed my Facebook. I am going to try and manually cross post to Facebook from now on. It may not look the same and I may miss a night now and then, so if your used to reading my blog on Facebook consider checking the main site at https://robsramblingroadtrip.com/.

Interesting take on a flower bed.

Tuesday July 31st 2018

It rained lightly overnight and into the morning. It was just hard enough to be heard over the noise of the air conditioner. Shortly afternoon the sun started to burn through the cloud cover. The temperature made it into the mid 80s. The current forecast calls for a little more sunshine in the next few days, but the rain is still going to be around.

Rainy weather starting to breakup this afternoon with a couple of jets passing above the clouds.

My focus today was on getting ready to travel tomorrow. I’m moving north to the other side of Richmond VA for the next few days. I wanted to do a shorter hop north followed by a few days in the Charlottesville VA area, but I couldn’t find a site for the coming weekend. Instead I’ll spend more time at a familiar stop in Ashland VA. There are a number of Civil War Battlefield sites in the area that I would like to check out.

‘

Getting ready to travel has been a little different this time around. My living pattern over the weekend was different. I got up in the morning had a quick gulp of coffee and food then departed for the day. I usually got in late after a busy day visiting with family. The result was a sink of accumulating dirty dishes and many other things not getting put away. Today I worked on the dishes and putting the clutter away in addition to all of my normal day before travel tasks. I plan to be on the road by ten, but the weather will have a lot to do with the timing.

Rose blossom of the day,

Monday July 30th 2018

After a weekend off from daily blogging, my occasionally interesting, often boring attempt to chronicle my Rambling Road Trip continues. As a reminder to new and occasional readers my goal for this blog is multifaceted. In addition to providing a history of my travels, I also want the blog to be useful for readers considering this life style. The blog also adds a little structure to my life. Having to sit down and write something every night means I have to reflect on what I’ve done each day. It seems like I end up dwelling on the weather when I don’t do anything interesting during the day.

Ugly weather moving in.

I spent this past weekend on the Pamlico River in Eastern North Carolina attending a family gathering. We’ve been getting together here most summers since 2009 according to my records, but there is some debate about the exact year. I thought it was 2008 until I dug up a list I’ve maintained since the mid 1990s of my travels. It doesn’t really matter how long we’ve been getting together, we have fun and catch up on all the goings on.

Sunset along the Pamlico River.

This year the weather got in the way some. The rain in the area was unpredictable. Lines of thunderstorms moved across the area at the beginning and end of most days. A few pop up storms also put a wrinkle in outdoor activities. The available time to be out on the water was restricted by the weather. High winds and lightening make for unsafe conditions. Perhaps the biggest annoyance was all of the standing water. After more than a week in a similar weather pattern, the water has nowhere to go. I stepped into water above my ankles a couple of times. In case you didn’t know, wet squeaky shoes are noisy and uncomfortable.

Fireworks on the dock.

Tomorrow I have to get back into planning and travel mode for my trip north into New England. I’ve got some reservations locked in, but I still have to fill in several gaps.

Blossom of the weekend.

Friday July 27th 2018

My daily blog will resume on Monday.

Sunset

Thursday July 25th 2018

The weather talkers got it wrong again. It didn’t rain at all today. This morning the sky was blue, the sun was shinning and I couldn’t see any clouds in the sky. It was still humid and the temperature got up to about ninety. The heating of the air produced clouds late in the day, but it didn’t rain. It was a beautiful day. A few more like it would be nice. The weather talkers say we’re back in a “normal” summer weather pattern, so there should be more days like today to follow.

Clouds that developed late in the day blocked the sun for awhile.

Today was a day for chores around my RV home. Before it got hot outside, I finished getting set up for the week, I took the bicycle off the car and connected the motor home to the sewer. Once the sun got high in the sky I retreated inside. Climbing up on the roof to work on the satellite antenna will have to wait for a cloudy dry day. In the mean time I’m stuck watching the over the air television stations. There are plenty to offer at this location including three sets of the same North Carolina PBS stations.

This bugs are as big as a small bird. They are all around my RV home. This one paused on the fireplace grill long enough for me to take its picture.

This afternoon I made a grocery run that turned into more of a restocking trip than a simple food buying trip. I ended up buying many occasional purchase items like coffee, dish detergent, plastic bags and air freshener. Of that set of items only the coffee was on my list. The other items were the result of walking up and down the aisles. I kept having, “I need that” moments. Today I seemed to be a bit of an impulse buyer instead of my usual analyze the need to death before purchase type buyer. Luckily, I really needed all of the things I bought and had a place for them in my limited storage space.

Sunset

Wednesday July 24th 2018

Today was a travel day so I couldn’t sleep in, but starting the day at 3AM was not part of the plan. Nature’s predator and prey had an encounter near my RV around that time. I don’t know exactly what it was but the screeching and banging noise was enough to wake me from a sound sleep. Looking out the windows I couldn’t see anything and there was no signs of any carnage this morning.

Site 219 at the Tranter’s Creek Resort and Campground.

After getting back to sleep I started the day around 7:30. It was cloudy and humid with the temperature in the seventies. I took my time getting ready. My plan was to depart as close to the 11AM checkout as possible. I only had one hundred and thirty miles to travel and I didn’t want to arrive until around 2PM. It was ten thirty when I left the Wade NC campground. To kill time I planned to stop at the rest area on Interstate 95, but it was closed. Instead I spent extra time at the gas station after filling the tank.

Most of my travel day was in dry conditions. I needed to run the windshield wipers intermittently once, but I was clearly moving into an area that had experienced more rain than where I’d been. I arrived a few minutes after 2PM shortly after a shower had moved through the area. It was dry but very humid in the mid eighties while I setup the RV for my weeks stay. Getting the AC on in the RV was a priority. Around five the rain started up again. It has rained off and on since then.

Yesterday the forecast called for a return to normal weather tomorrow. Today the forecast for tomorrow is rain in the morning and clearing toward the end of the day. The window of normal weather is now forecast to continue into Sunday, so I guess everything has moved out by twelve hours.

The ghost in my generator returned this afternoon. It had been gone since Sunday, but the generator started without cause while I was setting up. Traveling on wet roads seems to have allowed water to get into the connector again. The connection is exposed to the spray from the drivers side rear wheels. I’ve disconnected it until it dries out. I need to find a water tight sleeve for the cable and connector. Just wrapping it up in layers of electric tape didn’t work. Water dripped out of the connector when I disconnected it.

Tuesday July 24th 2018

The surrounding trees and the heavy cloud cover kept it dark enough that I slept late this morning. I didn’t have anything planned for the day and the forecast was for rain. It seemed like a good excuse to sleep in this morning. It was noon before I stepped out of the RV.

‘

The forecast for today on last night’s TV news was for heavy rain with flash flood warnings. This area didn’t align with that forecast. There was heavy rain to the east and heavy rain to the west. This area was cloudy with occasional filtered sunshine. The area I spent the weekend near Charlotte got severe weather with floods and the area I’m heading for tomorrow was getting rain today according to the radar. This was a good stop for a couple of nights.

‘

If one is to believe the forecasts, tomorrow is a transition day followed by a few days with normal weather. I think normal means hot and humid with a chance of late in the day thunderstorms. That’s the problem with some of the forecasts you get on local TV. They assume you know the area. The next days with above normal rain chances is Sunday and Monday. This pattern with a tropical flow of moisture seems to be in play for another week or so.

I spent the day reading, watching TV and walking around the campground. Most of the people that came in yesterday departed this morning. For some reason, perhaps because there wasn’t an immediate threat of rain, the park didn’t fill up near as much tonight. There are still plenty of people here. The campground also hosts people visiting the area and working at the area military bases. The focus on the military is clear by the display of the various service flags along with the American Flag.

‘