Other than a few quick visits, we have not spent much time in Chincoteague, Virginia, since my mom decided to sell the camper at Tom’s Cove Campground after my dad died in 1999. It was heartbreaking that we decided not to buy the site from her, but we only made the trip a couple of times the prior year because the kids had so many activities. We just did not have the time to enjoy all that Chincoteague had to offer. Life changed drastically for us when we no longer had J48 at Tom’s Cove.
At the time we had several smaller boats, including my dad’s 20′ Mako, so we sold everything and bought a larger boat that we kept at Podickory Point Yacht and Beach Club. An hour drive to the boat near the Bay Bridge was much easier to make for a weekend, or even a day, instead of the four and a half hour drive to Chincoteague. Boating instead of camping took most of our free time for quite a few years; especially when we upgraded to Liberty, our 41′ Silverton. It wasn’t until we decided to buy The Dirt Yacht to use once we retired that life changed again. With my hearing loss and cochlear implant surgery, vertigo made any long-term boating impossible for me. While i can still enjoy short fishing or boating trips, I can no longer spend hours or days on a boat.
When Kat bought her Tiffin Motorhome last year, she asked us to go on a shake down run with her to make sure she was comfortable handling her new-to-her motorhome. She asked to go to Chincoteague. I was reluctant because it was supposed to be a cool, wet weekend, but I am glad we decided to go. Tom’s Cove has not changed at all, except the campers have gotten older. J48 is still there, but it looks nothing like we remember. Our old travel trailer and the room Randy built onto it are no longer there. Its one of the few that have been upgraded. The town itself still has most of the older homes we remember, but there are more new stilt homes along Main Street. Randy’s favorite “little pink house” is gone! The most notable change we just happened to notice while driving around is that Inlet View Campground was leveled to make room for Sun Outdoors – Chincoteague Bay. Captain Bob’s Marina is now BluFin Bungalows & Marina. And these new businesses look nothing like the originals. No more falling down campers and old docks. We were excited when we found that Sun Outdoors was brand new and still had seasonal sites available for the 2024 season. We again made some drastic changes and cancelled our trip West with Fantasy RV Tours and booked the summer at Sun Outdoors and a seasonal boat slip at BluFin.
Checking in at Sun Outdoors – Chincoteague BayBluFin Marina where we have a seasonal boat slip reserved. Hopefully they will get their permit to open soon. We have slip No. 3 at BluFin
I have not been posting anything in my blog for quite a while, but now that we are going to somewhere new for the summer of 2024, I have started posting again. Maybe not so much new, as a return to the old. We left the Keys at the end of April to head to Chincoteague, Virginia, where I spent many fun days with my parents and later with Randy when our kids were younger.
This year’s trip North was one of the easiest trips we have encountered. We left on a Sunday with very little traffic, especially around Miami. We stopped at Sunshine Travel RV Park outside Vero Beach which is where we typically stop for our first night. The next day was another easy day of traffic with only one small traffic backup. We again stopped at our normal stopover at South of the Border. We had more traffic through North Carolina the next day, buy still not bad so we made good time to get to Ryan’s for the night. We arrived in time for Randy to help Ryan install a new dishwasher to replace his old one that had died the day before. We still had plenty of time to get to Smithfield Station for dinner. Since we were only staying one night at Ryan’s we knew that Station was where we wanted to go. Randy and Ryan both enjoyed a Station Bloody Mary. We shared a plate of Oysters Rockefeller and Randy and I shared our dinners. I had fried oysters, Calabash Style, and Randy had a seafood platter. Since the platter does not come with oysters, I shared some of mine with him, and he shared his flounder, crab cake and shrimp with me. It was delicious as always!
The next day we had a short drive to Sun Outdoors at Chincoteague Bay. The only part of the trip I dreaded was the 20+ minute drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. Fortunately the traffic was light so the drive across was easy and not as bad as I feared. I did not particularly like towing the utility trailer with the golf cart through the 2 tunnels, but I did not have any problems. Again, the traffic was light so only passed a few semi trucks that caused me a little bit of anxiety.
We had been told prior to arriving that there was a problem with BluFin’s occupancy permit so our boat slip that we had rented for the season would not be available. We were fortunate that we could get a slip for the month of May at the city owned dockage at Curtis Merritt Harbor that is next door to Sun Outdoors. We got a partial refund from BluFin which paid for most of the monthly rental. We were told today the permit has probably been approved and our slip should be ready to use shortly. I am not sure which one will be the nicer slip, but the city dock slip is not available for the rest of the year. We were able to get gas for the boat but the wind picked up so we decided not to go fishing. We did take a quick ride down to BluFin just to look at their entrance from the water. Looks a lot like it did when the marina was Capt. Bob’s. Just 2 bubba stakes outlining the narrow channel. Hopefully it was dredged so we can get in once it opens.
We have gotten most everything set up for the season except for the fence we ordered for Skip. He will like having an area to get outside without being restricted on the leash. It is scheduled to arrive in about 2 weeks. We had one concern that the Airstream that backs up to us was over the property line by several feet. Katerina, the resort manager, talked to the renter today and they told us they will move their RV forward a few feet so we can put our fence along the back line without them being in the way. Now that we have gotten permission for packages to be delivered here at Sun Outdoors hopefully there we not be any problems with shipping. The local Pack N Ship company closed about 10 days ago so the only other option for getting mail is a P O Box at the Post Office. However, they do not have any way to receive packages delivered by UPS or other carriers after they are closed for the day/weekend. Small packages that are shipped USPS are just kept in a storage box or our mail box at the Post Office, until we can pick them up, but they will not accept larger packages. We found this out when Skips canned dog food was returned as undeliverable. Even though Sun Outdoors says they will not accept packages, they have been very gracious about accepting them since there is really no other option. Katerina did warn us that we would have to take any return packages to Pocomoke City or Berlin for pickup. Hopefully someone else will re-open the local packaging shop.
I am looking forward to the weather improving so we can get out to do some exploring on Assateague and hopefully some flounder fishing. It is a big adjustment to the cooler temperatures here in Chincoteague . And the fog has been heavy at times. We are definitely not in the Keys anymore! We did find time to make one quick trip to Assateague but it was very windy so not a good day to explore the island. On our way back from Assateague, we made a stop at Island Creamery for 2 small sundaes. They were great but I miss their Fruit & Fudge sundaes. I will have to see if I can get them to make me one! Skip had a terrible flare of his inflammatory bowel disease during our move so hopefully staying stationary for a while will help him. Stress is a big trigger for him so all of the moving around did not help his condition. He seems to finally be stable and eating consistently again. Now if I can just get him to sleep overnight without having to go outside, we can enjoy our time here! Ryan is coming to visit tonight so maybe Skip can sleep with him.
All packed up and ready to head North Ryan’s new dishwasher Bloody Mary’s Oysters Rockefeller Fried Oyster dinner at Smithfield Station The trailer has been unloaded! Settling into our summer spotIsland Creamery 2 Scoops please BrrrrrrChincoteague BayBeautiful views from the waterfront sites The fog has been rolling in off and on all day. The fog rolled in again. We were able to tour the cottages and glamping tents available to rent at Sun Outdoors-Chincoteague Bay. Randy loves the rooftop decks on the non-waterfront cottages. SweetThing docked at Curtis Merritt Harbor
Plans for our summer, including the trip to the Canadian Maritimes with the Fantasy RV Tour, changed drastically this year due to my health issues. I was really looking forward to this trip since a lot of the people from our Alaska caravan were also going, but when my doctor could not guarantee me that I would be sufficiently recovered to travel after my surgery, we decided to cancel our summer plans. One of the disadvantages of taking a Fantasy tour is the requirement to pre-pay for the tour with a large penalty for a late cancellation. Because we would have lost a lot of money for a last-minute cancellation, we thought it was best to cancel the trip before the 90-day cancellation cutoff which meant we would not join the caravan this summer. Hopefully we will be able to reschedule for another time!
Cancelling the trip really was a blessing in disguise because our renters also gave notice that they were moving out this Spring so being home for several months gave Randy time to make some needed repairs to our home. We did not want to leave our home empty while we travel so we were lucky that Kat agreed to move into the house once our renters moved out. Kat now works from home the majority of the time, so the long commute to her job was no longer an issue like it was pre-COVID. Before getting our home repairs done, Randy helped Kat get her home ready for sale. Our first priority to our house was getting the back yard fenced for both her dogs and our new puppy, Skipper. The new fencing actually makes the back yard appear bigger, even though the entire yard was not fenced. And Skipper loves having the room to run and play with Kat’s dogs! Randy also power washed the entire outside, replaced outdoor lighting, trimmed and cut down trees and spruced up the outside. Once that was finished he started on the interior of the house. He painted two bedrooms and the hallway. He still has to completely renovate the master bathroom and finish painting the rest of the house, but he won’t start on that until we return from a trip to Swan Bay Resort in Alexandria Bay, New York.
We already had a couple of weeks reserved in Swan Bay for the end of August, when we anticipated stopping after our Canadian Maritime trip. We wanted to have some fun time this summer and the Thousand Island area is one of Randy’s favorite, so we extended the reservations at Swan Bay for the entire month of August. We could not get a waterfront site, but at least we were able to secure a water-view site. At least it is water view from inside the RV. I don’t particularly like being in the middle of the park with kids and dogs everywhere, but it is better than sitting at home and gives Randy a much needed break! Other than going to dinner with Bill and Gail since arriving, we have not done a lot since it has been windy and its a rainy day here today, but hopefully we will get better weather to explore the area again!
We made it back home for the summer of 2022We decided to have the back yard fenced so Kat’s dog and Skippy would have room to run. It only took them 2 days to get the new wooden fence installed! Skippy at 9 months old! Randy spent time while we were home this summer power washing the entire exterior of the house. Randy painted the master bedroom as well as Kat’s bedroom and the hallway. Randy painting the master bedroom ceiling. Randy painted all of the trim too! While home we had dinner with Bill and Cheryl at the Maryland Mallet to celebrate Cheryl and Randy’s birthday. It was great as Ryan was home for the weekend so him and Kat could join us. Skippy loves playing tug with Keira. While home we visited Ryan and had dinner at Smithfield Station. A great softcrab dinner at the Station. We had an awesome dinner with Bill and Gail at Rainbow Shores on the first night in New York. We mooch-docked at Bill’s shop so we could arrive at Swan Bay early in the day. I made a Chesapeake Bay dinner and invited Bill and Gail . I think they liked the crab cakes! I made a soft crab and crab cake for dinner! Our view from the campground in Swan Bay Resort for the next 2 weeks. Randy will like the view from the waterfront site we will move to the middle of August. Randy finally relaxing while enjoying the view of the St. Lawrence.
Heading South, October 21, 2021 The first night we stopped at our normal stop, South of the Border. There are several sites that can handle our entire caravan. The second night we stopped at Flamingo Lake RV Park in Jacksonville, Floirda. This was our first time at this park and the park was very accommodating to our long length. They gave us a nice pull through site and allowed us to park the Jeep and trailer across the street, for no additional charge. Randy had to back out since he did not think he could make the sharp right turn out of the site . He still had a tough time getting around the corner at the end of the street. Flamingo Lake RV Park in Jacksonville, Florida. View from Brian’s house where we parked the Dirt Yacht. Looking out over the peanut and cotton fields between Brian’s house and Aunt Rene’s house. The bales are peanut vine bales that the cows love. Randy listening to Aunt Rene’s stories on her front porch. Randy with his Aunt Rene Randy enjoying time with Aunt ReneAunt Rene with Randy and Karen at her 100th Birthday Celebration Randy with his Aunt Rene at her 100th Birthday Celebration! Beautiful decorations for Aunt Rene’s party. There were also photos of Lorene and even some of Randy’s mom decorating the tables. Randy visiting with his cousin, Charles Reichert Jr. during Aunt Rene’s birthday party. Entertainment for the kids during Aunt Rene’s 100th Birthday Celebration Kids having fun in the tractor ridesAfter leaving Aunt Rene’s in Georgia, we stopped in Ocala Ranch RV Park in Ocala, Florida. The sites were huge. Ocala Ranch RV Resort had plenty of room for everything! Big Daddy Don Garlits Museum Outside the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing Randy with Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat I. This was Don’s first Chrysler Hemi powered fuel dragster that he built in his home garage in Tampa, Florida. On November 10, 1957, Don set his first World Record of 176.4 MPH in 8.79 seconds, the first over 170 MPH in the Quarter Mile. Restored in 1978 by Don Garlits and Tommy Lemons for the Museum. Early model dragsters. 1959 T.V. Tommy Ivo’s Buick Dragster. Tommy Ivy was known as the “King of the Dragsters.” This twin-engine, gas, unblown, Buick had a top time of 180 mph with a low ET of 8.69 seconds. Shirley Muldowney’s 1980 Top Fuel car. Shirley “Cha-Cha” Muldowney considered the first woman of drag racing, is a 3 time NHRA Top Fuel World Champion. We were in the stands when the 1983 movie, “Heart Like a Wheel” about her life and drag racing career was filmed in Pamona, California, during the Winternationals. Randy loved the 1973 Triumph Bonneville on display at the museum. 1934 Ford Coupe and 1948 Ohio George Anglia One of several Moonbeam cars designed by Bill DevinConnie Kalitta’s Bounty Hunter 1962. Don Garlits was named “Big Daddy” when he drove the Bounty Hunter so Kalitta could observe the run when the car was not performing as expected. Don set the NHRA National Record (180.36 mph) during the run and the announcer , Bernie Partridge, nicknamed Don, “Big Daddy”. Swamp Rat X – 1965 – 1967John Force’s Funny car body on display at Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag RacingJohn Force Funny Car Tom “Mongoose” McEwen’s Funny Car Jungle Jim Funny Car The only remaining Shirley Muldowney Funny Car that she drove before switching to Top Fuel dragsters. Purchased from the Bowling Green Hot Rod Reunion and scheduled for restoration. 37 Willys Coupe – The first woman in drag racing history to receive an NHRA license for driving supercharged cars, Barbara Hamilton and her best friend Nancy Leonello campaigned this 37 Willys Coupe from 1964 through 1971. Barbara won the 1966 NHRA Springnationals and runner-up at the 1968 Indy Nationals, all the while holding the NASCAR C/Gas Supercharged E.T. record of 11.94 seconds. Barbara is one of only a few women who built, owned, wrenched and drove her own car. She was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. 1904 Orient Buckboard on display in the Antique Car Museum. Built by the Waltham Manufacturing Company of Waltham, MA. Original cost $375. 1 cent, 10 cent and 25 cent slot machines on display at the Antique Car Museum 1923 Ford Depot Hack on display at the Antique Car Museum. The beginning of the station wagon, these cars were called depot hacks because they were used to transport people to and from the train depot and hotel. This particular car is still driven occasionally. More model cars! More model cars The museum had LOTS of model cars Juke Box in the Don Garlits Antique Car Museum Great spot at the Upriver Campground RV Resort in North Fort Myers. There was plenty of room for everything. We unhooked the trailer and parked it on the patio. Standing next to the small boat ramp at the Upriver Capground RV Resort in North Fort Myers. No Swimming sign! There were several signs warning about alligators near the boat ramp at the Upriver Campground RV Resort. I believe the only canal at the Upriver RV ResortSpent part of the day looking for shells on Turner Beach on Captiva Island. There were sandpipers all over Turner Beach. Based on a recommendation from Deb Stewart, we had dinner at the Lazy Flamingo on Captiva Island. There are several Lazy Flamingo restaurants. This restaurant was very close to Turner Beach. The conch chowder at the Lazy Flamingo was outstanding! The fried grouper and conch fritters were fabulous. Some of the best ever! Randy liked the sign at the Lazy Flamingo “Free Beer Tomorrow”It was great catching up with Larry and Karen again! Dinner with Larry and Karen at the Shrimp Shack! The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel. This is the only accredited museum in the US devoted soley to shells and mollusks. Some of the fish in the aquarium in the Shell Museum More fish in the aquarium in the Shell Museum Sea horses in the Shell Museum Chambered Nautilus Shells reminded me of the shape of my cochlea when learning about the implant I had in 2017. Parking at the Naples/Marco Island KOA was very tight but the hosts at the campground were very accommodating. We parked the Jeep and trailer in the camping spots across from us. Those spots were not open due to high water levels. Crossing over to visit Marco Island Marco Island Enjoyed our walk on Via Miromar Beach in NaplesVia Miromar BeachIt was a windy day so perfect for parasailing. We had to stop at the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge since we spent the summer at the Thousand Islands! Grasslands with a hammock in the background at Shark Valley Alligator spotted during the tram tour around Shark Valley Momma alligator hiding in the grass. Alligator eyeing us ! Close up of alligatorMomma alligator watching over her babies Baby alligator spotted during the tram tour around Shark Valley Baby alligator Blue Heron spotted while on the tram tour at Shark Valley We made the hike up the tower at Shark Valley Egret Anhinga Blue Heron in the sawgrassHalloween Pennant Dragonfly Anhinga in the pond apple trees White Heron Gar
Even though the summer season is winding down, Swan Bay Park is very busy. We noticed quite a few large Class A Motor Homes pulling in. After googling events in the area, I discovered there was an All-Inclusive Motorhome (AIM) Rally here next week. I had never heard of this club and even though I read that it is open to Class A, B or C type motorhomes, the majority appear to be high-dollar Entegra Class A’s. There are several million dollars worth of RV’s in the park!
As busy as the park has gotten, I guess it is good that we have started packing up to get the Dirt Yacht ready to head home for a few weeks. The weather forcast is for some rain next week so Randy decided to pull the boat yesterday and he loaded the golf cart today while the weather is still dry. Randy was busy today rolling up the carpet, puttiing away all but 2 of the chairs, removing the wheel covers and polishing the wheels. Tomorrow he wants to take down the weather station and the DISH. He will probably keep the DISH hooked up, but just place it on the rocks in the back where we can still get reception.
in anticipation of Tropical Storm Laura, Monroe County declared a State of Local Emergency on Friday, August 21 requiring the evacuation of liveaboard vessels, mobile homes, RVs, travel trailers and campers effective noon on Sunday August 23. At the time we were not sure how bad this storm would be in the Keys so we spent several days packing up the RV in case we needed to evacuate. After being in the Keys for almost 10 months, we had accumulated a lot of stuff that needed to be put away, even if we did not leave. Randy power washed the boat and even stored my trike on Sweet Thing since it would not fit anywhere else. Monroe County eventually rescinded the evacuation order, but not until late on Sunday morning. After 3 days of work to put everything away, i knew i did not want to do that again, if another storm came through. Even thought TS Laura looked like it was heading South, we decided that we were going to make a run for home. Another deciding factor for me was that the pool at VO was closing for repairs in September so i would not be able to enjoy my morning swim. Tropical Storm and then Hurricane Laura eventually passed over Cuba on its way to the Texas/Louisiana border.
Due to the COVID-19 virus, the Keys have been shut down since March 21, 2020. Only long-term residents (181 days), property owners, and workers such as first responders, healthcare workers and active military are allowed through the road blocks on US-1. We were very fortunate that we extended our lease early and our original lease was for 6 months plus one day so we had the option to stay and were not forced to leave like many of our friends.
Our lifestyle did not change very much after the road was closed and non-essential businesses were shut down, except that we were not going out to dinner when most everything was closed. Since the reopening plan that allowed limited access to restaurants, stores, etc. has been in place, we have been enjoying some of our favorite spots in the Keys. We finally were allowed to go to Nadine’s to see Susan to get our hair cut with a pedicure from Connie for me. That was a priority and i called the first morning to get appointments!
October and November were busy months. We had a lot to do once we got back home from our summer adventures. Just cleaning out the Dirt Yacht took quite some time. From storing our cold weather clothes to getting rid of all of the dust in the motorhome and outside storage compartments, Randy and I spent quite a bit of time organizing and cleaning. And that is never my favorite thing to do! While we were home we also caught up on some of our doctor’s appointments. I had a few extra tests to check on my kidney stones, but for now at least the doctor just wants to keep watching them to make sure they are not continuing to grow.
We drove 354 miles to make it to Country Roads Motorhome and RV Park in Lake Delton, Wisconsin. This was a beautiful RV park with large grassy lots perfect for us! They advertise their park is for “older kids” so we definitely qualify. Originally we stopped for just an overnight stay, but we decided to stay for the weekend so we could explore the area and iwe didn’t want to get to Elkhart, Indiana, until Monday so we could have some work done on the front drivers seat of the RV. It was a busy weekend because of the Wo-Zha-Wa Days Fall Festival, but we lucked out and could stay for the weekend as long as we moved to another site the following day. It didn’t take long to move the RV and we still had lots of time to explore the town and the festival. We didn’t buy much at the festival, except for some delicious fudge and a new purse for me to replace my damaged small blue cloth purse that I carry when I walk.
We drove over 451 miles on our first night away from the caravan. We were trying to find a nice park with full services. We ended up staying at Shaker’s Acres in Edmonton which had good reviews in one place that I looked, but it was a dump. Afterwards I looked at the reviews in my RVTripWizard program and saw that others agreed with my opinion. We were exhausted after the long drive so all we did was set up camp, have some dinner and call it a night.
