Home and Statistics

 On Sunday morning at Gabe's it was 31F, a far cry from Saturday's temperatures. We left for home a bit after 8AM. We stopped in Ticonderoga and visited my mother, she seemed in good spirits. 

We arrived home around 1PM, it was cold but sunny, it was good to be home. 

We all like data...right.

We drove almost 4000 miles, 3986 to be precise. We used 245 gallons of diesel, at an average of 16.3 mpg, which seems the norm since Mercedes did the emissions recall on our Van. Our worst mileage was 14.0 mpg in NY/PA on our way south in a snow storm. Our best milage was 18.3 mpg when we had that rare tail wind when we left NC and headed for VA. 

We covered 14 states on this trip, but none we had not visited before, no new stickers on the Serenity Falcon door. 

Below is my milage log. Fuel prices vary widely in the east, the cheapest was NC and the most expensive was NY. However even withing NC the prices varied significantly. Getting fuel is a crap shoot, you can fill up and drive 10 miles and see it 50 cents to a buck cheaper, it makes you crazy, end of rant. 

I don't have Ed's fuel data, his RV is gasoline powered, so he did use more fuel but it was typically at least a dollar cheaper than diesel. 

Day 15 - Making our way Home

On Saturday morning we visited with the Malloys over a nice pancake breakfast prepared by Maribeth.  There is something about old friends, we had not seen the Malloys in over two years but it seemed like we see them everyday. It was great to catchup with the Malloys and we hope to see them more often in the future. We said our goodbyes and set off for home around 9AM. 

The weather leaving VA was heavy rain and strong wind, but the Serenity Falcon is pretty much a seasoned vessel when it comes to navigating these conditions.  It seems we are usually traveling in March and April when spring is roaring in like a lion but has not reached the lamb phase. Regardless, we had a pretty uneventful drive north, it was still windy in PA but the temperature was 70F. 

We debated going all the way home but with bicycles on the front rack they obstruct the headlights a bit, so I would rather not drive at night. We called my nephew, Gabe, in Troy and reserved his driveway for the night.  When we arrived it was still 70F and he was out working in the yard. For dinner we took Gabe's Tesla into downtown Troy and I got to drive it for a bit. I will say it is an impressive vehicle and the autonomous driving is pretty unsettling when you are in the city, but very cool. We ate at the Bacchus Wood-Fired Pizza place and it was very good. 

After dinner Gabe and I watched 'Jackass Forever'. I had seen clips of these movies but never watched a full movie version and I am not sure why I sat through all of this one. Wow, they are Jackasses. 

Today we will make the rest of the drive home and plan on visiting my mom in Ticonderoga on the way. We should be home by noon. 

Day 14 - Monticello and Friends.

 Friday we had a 10:15 tour reservation at Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's Virginia plantation. As everyone knows Thomas Jefferson was the author of our Declaration of Independence but he really was so much more. He was a self taught engineer that designed and had built his magnificent home, Monticello, over a 40 year period. 

Monticello was a 5000 acre estate in central Virginia, like all plantations of that time, he had slaves that worked the land. It is called the great contradiction, Thomas Jefferson penned "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" yet he owned hundreds of slaves. Much of the exhibit is a discussion on this contradiction, I will just leave it at that. 

Monticello is a beautiful estate thanks to the Levy family and now the Thomas Jefferson Foundation. Thomas Jefferson was in serious debt when he died, Monticello was sold but within a few years came into the possession of  Uriah Levy, the first Jewish Commadore in the US Navy. Levy greatly admired Jefferson and used private funds to repair, restore and preserve the house. The Levys cared for Monticello for over 100 years and preserved much of the original estate. 

Thomas Jefferson was an amazing man. Monticello contains many items from his travels, engineering feats, famous people he worked with and much more. You can also see the University of Virginia from Monticello which Jefferson founded.

The tour takes about 2 hours, but you could spend all day at Monticello, if you get the opportunity, you should visit. 

After Monticello we headed further north to drop in our our lifetime friends, the Malloys who live in Fairfax, VA. We arrived around 4PM, it was in the 60's and breezy. Maribeth prepared a lovely dinner. it was great catching up with her and Bob.

Day 13 - Wright Brothers

 Thursday morning we drove up through Nags Head to the Wright Brothers National Memorial. 

Before leaving the campground I took a walk on the beach, it was around 50F with a strong wind, not sun bathing weather.

We drove by the light house on Bodie Island which was close to our campground but it is closed for 2023 due to renovations. 

We arrived at the Wright Brothers Memorial around 9:30, we definitely beat the crowd. We toured the museum and displays, they are very well done and really conveys the effort the brothers put forth over a 4 or 5 year period to realize powered flight. 

We got our morning walk in touring the outside displays and reading about the historic 1903 flight and the 4 years of glider development that led up to the powered flight. We pretty much had the place to ourselves. 

The full size statue of The Wright Flyer and the people present that day is made of bronze or copper.  It is impressive. The people were getting pressure washed when we visited. 

After touring The Wright Brothers National Memorial Jean and Ed set off on their own since they were going directly home.  June and I plan to make another stop or two but will not be long behind them as we make our way north. 

June and I booked another Harvest Host in Charlottesville, VA, the Wood Ridge Farm Brewery. We got 'googled' on the way there, I am still unsure what happened but we ended up on a narrow road that no RV should be on and then when it said turn left on a goat path, we knew it was not right. We got back on the right route, but even that has a turn that definitely is a sobriety test for anyone leaving the brewery. 

The Wood Ridge Farm Brewery is set on 300 beautiful acres, surrounded by mountains.  They raise their own grain, veggies, beef, pork etc. The food truck uses their stuff. 

They have a driving range, corn hole, volley ball, etc. I had a nice conversation with the manager, he said they want people to come here and be outside, not sit at the bar. 

The place is huge, they have several bars, outdoor areas and you are surrounded by gardens. They have banana trees planted everywhere that they say provide lots of shade in the summer, they cut them down each fall. 

I found my namesake at the door to the main bar. 

When we arrived around 5:15PM, there were few people around, but it was corn hole tournament night, and it did fill in.  They lit a bon fire and played corn hole well into the night. 

It was a fun place. 

Jean and Ed drove to Hagerstown MD and booked a harvest host at Think-N-Thin Brewery (TNT). We heard from them this morning, their experience was not that positive, mostly due to the parking situation. They ended up moving to a CB for the night and got the full dumpster experience, at least they got on the road early.. :-).

Friday we plan to stop at Monticello, the Thomas Jefferson Plantation. We were informed by one of the patrons that it is pronounced "mon-ti-chel-oh", he said it will save us the embarrassment of being corrected (but he just did). It was all in good fun. 

After visiting TJ, we will make our way to our friends in Fairfax, VA. 

Day 12 - Driving to OBX

 Wednesday morning it was in the low 50's and breezy when we woke up. We debated taking the scooters downtown to go see Fort Sumter and maybe a plantation, but decided it was a bit cool for that. I guess that means we will just have to come to Charleston again in the future, oh dang. We decided to head for the outer banks of NC.  The drive was uneventful, traffic was light and we booked a campsite at the Oregon Inlet campground on Hatteras when we stopped for lunch.

We arrived a bit after 6PM and our sites were reserved with our name on them, for the federal government, it was pretty efficient. With the senior parks pass, sites are $14 per night, hard to beat that. 

The ocean was just over the dunes behind our site, but there was a pretty strong breeze, as there always is on the outer banks. 

We decided that it was time to get some seafood, and headed back north to find a good place to eat in Nags Head.  We picked Miller's Waterfront Restaurant, which is on the western shore of Nags Head.

We were seated a window table with a unobstructed sunset view. We would definitely dine at Miller's again. 

The sunset was beautiful.

It was mostly a driving day, but it ended nicely. 

Thursday, we will continue to make our way north, we will likely stop at Kitty Hawk since it is on the way.

Day 11 - Charleston, SC

 Tuesday we set out for Charleston. On Monday we decided to request a HH stay in North Charleston at Tideland Brewing.  Ed was approved, but it must have filled them, because the date was blocked when I tried to put in a request. I sent them a message and they said come anyway, nice folks. The funny part was when we pulled in, it appeared that they were closed.  We found two guys making beer and they were the owners, Hunter and Jonathan.   It turns out they are closed on Monday and Tuesday, but accept HH anyway. They gave us directions on where to park downtown and we left one RV at their place while we checked out Charleston. 

We parked at Battery St and walked the streets of Charleston to the French Quarter and the open Market. 

The parks with shade trees are beautiful. 

We basically wandered the streets, we stopped at St Phillips Church built in 1836, the ladies at the entrance were very nice. 

After wandering the streets we made our way to the east shore.

We had a great view of Fort Sumter. 

We walked roughly 4 miles, according to Ed's watch, our dogs were tired, so we headed back to our HH. 

The boyz at Tideland Brewing were still hard at work, brewing and cleaning but they stopped to serve us a few brews. 

They are a pretty new company, opened on 27March2021, but have built a beautiful facility.  The bar is polished concrete and is just beautiful, as is the polished/epoxy floor. 

Hunter and Jonathan spent at least an hour with us and we had a very nice conversation about their business.  They even said come back and stay another night if you want to, they were very welcoming people. 

We got back to our RVs and pulled out the grill, cooked burgers and had a nice dinner. It was a good day. 

What we do today, Wednesday, is yet to be determined. 

Day 10 - Chillaxing on Tybee

 Monday we spent the day mostly on Tybee Island.

After breakfast we walked the beautiful beach for about 2 or 3 miles. It was sunny and warm with a nice breeze. 

We found this guy, he was a slow mover, I expect he is a future seagull meal. 

This guy was giving me a pedicure.

After walking the beach, we toured the old Tybee Light house. It has quite a history going back before the civil war and for $10 you can climb the 178 steps to the top and tour the museum. This picture is my creativity coming out, showing the light house and our tiny scooters. 

The museum is basically a preservation of the homes of the light house keepers, it is a bit like walking into yesteryear. 

After the lighthouse and museum we rode our scooters around the island, it doesn't take long, but I would not want to have to walk it. Ed and Jean finally got to use their new ride, I think they like it. 

After checking out the island we went back to camp for lunch, we knew the weather was turning but were not sure when, the thunderstorm warnings were abundant. We decided to take the chance and jumped on the scooters to go tour Fort Pulaski. Pulaski is on Cockspur Island, between Tybee and Savannah. The short version of history is that during the civil war the Confederates took Pulaski to control the port into Savannah.  They spent 14 months fortifying the fort. The Union snuck their latest technologically advanced rifled cannons onto Tybee Island. The Union blew thru the 7 1/2 inch thick masonry walls in about 30 hours. The fort was surrendered. All masonry forts became undefendable over night, due to the rifled cannon. 

We looked west and said oh s__t, and sprinted for the scooters.  As we left the Ranger was telling everyone to get off the walls due to lightning. We made it to camp with less than 5 mins to spare before the heavy rains hit, we lucked out. 

We planned to go downtown by scooter after the rain passed, but it never completely passed, so we took the Serenity Falcon downtown. Over the winter I put hydraulic levelers on Serenity, it makes it really easy and quick to setup, so it is really no bother to take the RV when we need to. 

We stopped at the only Brewery on Tybee, Back River Brewing, it was nice but the beer needs further development. Downstairs from the Brewery was a Mexican Restaurant, this we highly recommend. It was one of the best Mex places...ever.

After dinner we went to camp and chilled out.  It was my birthday and it was good. 

Today, Tuesday we will start north, our first stop is Charleston, which we skipped on the way south.