We spent today getting everything ready for our trip to Scott's in Alexandria, Virginia. This is the first trip we have taken since the explosion of the Covid-19 pandemic. This makes everything very different. We are taking our trailer so that we do not have to go inside any business on the way and so that we don't have to hang out in Scott's house. We are being very cautious about exposure to the virus. We are so excited to leave in the morning. We will spend 3 days on the road. Even with the new dynamics of the pandemic, we have the same feelings the day before a trip; excitement, nerves, anticipation. Ready to be "On the Road Again".
Wednesday - July 8, 2020
We got up early and left the house around 7:00. We drove through Fayetteville to Hwy. 45 then hit Hwy. 412 to Hwy 65. At Springfield we got on Hwy. 60 and stayed on it until we hit I24 in Paducah, Kentucky. Driving was okay, it was just hot out. When we stopped to get gas just before we got to the KOA east of Paducah, oil was sprayed out of the engine all over the passenger side of the car and trailer. Mike discovered that he had left the oil cap off when he added oil on Tuesday. Luckily the oil cap was still trapped on the engine. Mike bought a quart of oil and added less than half a quart. It was a mess. When we crossed over the Mississippi River and then immediately started over the Ohio River. There was construction on the bridge and we sat on the bridge for about 15 minutes. We did not like that at all because the bridge rattled as the traffic passed us in the other lane.
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| Bridge over the Mississippi River |
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| Bridge over the Ohio River |
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| Ohio River |
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| Another view of the Ohio River |
We got to the Paducah/Kentucky Lakes KOA at about 4:30. This KOA was pretty nice with lots of shade.
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| Campsite for the night |
It has been different traveling during the pandemic. We are extremely careful about wearing masks inside, keeping our hands clean, and not touching anything outside the vehicle as much as possible. It did feel good to get to go somewhere away from home.
Thursday - July 9, 2020
Not much happened today. We fixed coffee and pbj sandwiches for breakfast and got on the road by 8:00. We traveled through Kentucky most of the day. We spent the night just inside West Virginia at the Huntington/Fox Fire KOA. It was an okay KOA, but our site did not have much shade and it was hot again. I was bothered by the fact that no one except me and one other person in the office were wearing masks. It was kind of hit and miss about the mask wearing. We had leftovers for dinner then just sat around inside the trailer until time for bed.
Friday - July 10, 2020
We got up around 7:00 am, walked around the campground a couple of times, had coffee and breakfast, and got on the road by 8:00 am. We traveled on I64 through West Virginia. This stretch of road has a toll road through the mountains. It cost us $10, but was well worth it. It was another hot, steamy day. We stopped for gas late in the afternoon at a Love's that had a Wendy's so we splurged and both had a Frosty. YUM!
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| Bridge over the Kanawha River in Charleston, WV |
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| Kanawha River |
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| Traveling through the Smokey Mountains |
We got to our campsite at the Fredericksburg KOA about 4:30. This is a nice KOA just about 1 hour out of the DC area. We stayed here so that we could get to Scott's house on a Saturday morning when the traffic on Franconia will not be as heavy. We had leftovers for dinner, sat around reading, and called it a night early.
Saturday - July 11, 2020
We got up, had coffee and breakfast, dumped both tanks, and got on the road about 8:00 am. The traffic into Alexandria wasn't too bad. We took I95 until the exit for Alexandria. When we got to Scott's, Mike had to pull the trailer onto the road across Franconia from Scott's driveway. Scott and I waited until no cars were close then stood in the road stopping traffic while Mike backed into the driveway. It really wasn't too bad, Mike got the trailer where it needed to be on the first try.
We were so happy to be here. We hadn't seen Scott and the kids since Christmas. That is too long!. We spent the day hanging out in the back yard, moving our chairs and fans so that we could stay in the shade.
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| Where we parked our trailer for 10 days |
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| Social distancing in the back yard |
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| Aslynn, Elli, Hunter, and Oscar enjoying the pool |
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| The kids spent a lot of time in the pool |
We social distanced outside so that we didn't have to wear masks all the time. It was hard not hugging the kids and doing stuff real close, but we at least got to see everyone. Cristin, Aslynn, and Hunter were staying at Scott's while we were there, so we got to visit with everyone.
Sunday - July 12, 2020 through Tuesday, July 14, 2020
Not much happening these days. It was really hot so we hung out early in the day and of an evening. Mike and I rested in the trailer during the hottest part of the day. It got up in the upper 90's every day with a heat index over 100. Scott had to work some of the time during the week. Mike and I did everything in our trailer, except for using the bathroom during the day. Scott sanitized his downstairs bathroom so that we could use it safely. Trying to not spread the Covid. Mike and I were able to use the shower in the trailer because we could empty the gray water tank into Scott's flower beds. We couldn't dump the black water tank, so we had to quit using it at all eventually.
Wednesday - July 15, 2020
Another hot day, but we went for a hike not far from Scott's house pretty early in the morning. We walked on the trail for about 2 1/2 miles. It was a fun hike and good to get away from the house.
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| Hiking in the creek bed of Clermont Park |
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| Kids found a frog in the small pool of water |
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| Oscar, Hunter, Aslynn, and Elli |
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| Mike and I enjoyed hanging out with the grandkids |
We spent the rest of the day hanging out in the back yard.
Thursday - July 16, 2020
We got everything ready on Wednesday to head to the beach on this day. We left the house around 9:30 for the 45 minute. drive to the beach. Scott, Cristin, and the kids went in Scott's van and Mike and I took our car. When we got to the beach there were so many people there that we were not comfortable staying there. It was a major disappointment. It seemed like every fun thing we planned had to be cancelled because of Covid. We had been to this beach before and there never were more than 2 other families there. We left the beach and stopped at a park on the way back to the house to eat a picnic lunch. After lunch we did about a one mile hike then Scott and the boys tried flying a kite before heading back to the house.
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| Scott flying a kite |
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| More kite flying |
After getting back to the house, the kids and I made a pretend amusement park in the backyard. We made a couple of places to play 'miniature golf', had a ring toss, an obstacle course, and a photo booth. This was our way of compensating for not getting to hang out at the beach.
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| Elli and Aslynn with photo props |
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| Mike with a fake mustache |
We had dinner outside and sat out visiting before calling it a night about 9:30.
Friday - July 17, 2020
Another hot day. Cristin had gotten supplies for tie-dying t-shirts, so the kids and I spent the morning making each kid a tie-dye shirt. This was a fun activity to do on a hot day.
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| Helping the kids with their tie dye shirts |
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| More tie dying |
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| Everyone worked hard on their shirts |
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| Hunter and Oscar making 'lava' shirts |
After getting the shirts in bags soaking up the dye, Cristin and her kids went on a 'play date' by her house. While they were gone Elli, Oscar, and I played in the pool. The pool wasn't big enough for me to get into with all 4 kids there. I had fun getting to play with Elli and Oscar and it felt good to be in the water on this hot day.
Saturday - July 18, 2020 through Tuesday - July 21, 2020
We just basically hung out in the back yard these days. Elli and Oscar went to Beth's house on Sunday and were gone through Tuesday. We went walking in the neighborhood most days, and occasionally the others joined us.
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| Aslynn in a flower garden on one of our daily walks |
Scott had to work every day during the week so Mike and I mainly hung out by ourselves. Cristin spent a lot of time moving things to her house and getting things organized for when Scott, Elli, and Oscar move over there. Scott moved a tv and his Switch into the garage so that the kids could play a game out there one night and then he and I played Mario Kart another night. It rained hard and stormed the last 2 night we stayed at Scott's house. One night it was so bad that Mike and I had to go sit in the house with them with our masks on. This will be the last time Mike and I come to this house since Scott is moving in with Cristin.
Wednesday - July 22, 2020
We got around and prepared to leave Scott's. Cristin's parents have a house in the mountains that we are going to spend a few nights at. Her parents were at their condo in the Florida Keys. Mike and I left at about 11:00 am since we had to go by the Fredericksburg KOA to dump our tanks. The trip to the KOA was uneventful and we were able to get our tanks emptied. It was a bit pricey ($30) but had to be done. Shortly after we left the KOA we were hit by a thunderstorm with lots of lightning and heavy rain. Luckily it only lasted for about 5 minutes. Scott and Cristin weren't so lucky. They took a different route and basically followed the storm the whole trip. Their drive took 5 hours instead of the normal 3 hours. Mike and I got to the house about 20 minutes before the others. Since we didn't know where to park the trailer, we just hung around while we waited.
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| The house in the mountains where we stayed for 4 nights |
After Scott and Cristin got to the house, we tried to pull the trailer to the top of the driveway so we could have a level spot to park close to an electric outlet. However, the driveway was so narrow, steep, and wet from the rain that we couldn't get the trailer to the top. Mike got stuck because the drop off by the driveway was to deep to drive over and the grass and dirt were so wet the tires just spun out.
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| This shows the drop off on the right side of the trailer |
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| The front tire was off in the grass |
We decided to leave the trailer overnight. There is a spare bedroom and bathroom downstairs that we could use and not be breathing air from the others. Once we unloaded the cars and rested for a bit we all walked up the hill to the fence by the horse pasture. The kids enjoyed petting the horses and feeding them grass.
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| Oscar really enjoyed the horses |
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| Elli trying to get the horse's attention |
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| Oscar watching while Aslynn fed a horse |
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| Aslynn feeds her favorite horse |
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| Mike, Cristin, and Elli with the horses |
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| Aslynn, Hunter, Cristin, and Oscar |
It had been a long tiring day, but this is a nice place to stay for a few days. Scott needed to get out of the city, even if he had to work some while we were here.
Thursday - July 23, 2020
Another hot, humid day. We basically hung out in the house. Right after breakfast Mike and I were able to get the car and trailer moved since the driveway and grass had dried off. We just moved the trailer to a parking spot at the bottom of the driveway. All the adults kept masks on while we were in the house. The kids did a lot of playing outside on the swing set and went exploring on the trails in the woods. In the afternoon, Cristin took the kids to the nearby lake to swim. It wasn't crowded so they got to have lots of fun.
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| Field just below the house. There is a deer in the back of the field. |
After dinner Scott and I stayed up late doing our normal talking about world problems. It was after midnight when we went to bed. Cristin's dad has a room filled with stuffed game that is next to Mike's and my bedroom. The kids had left a light on in the far corner. I went to turn it off and on the way back ran into a sharp place on the ear of an African caped buffalo.
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| The game room with the African caped buffalo |
It split the right side of my forehead open and Cristin had to drive me to the hospital in Waynesboro - about 30 minutes away. I got 10 stitches and we were able to get back to the house at about 5:00 am. We were extremely tired. It made us nervous to be in the emergency room because of the Covid - 19. There was even a call to do a Covid test 2 rooms down from us. We made it back safely and immediately went to bed.
Friday - July 24, 2020
Cristin and I both spent most of the day sleeping. Scott took off from work so that he could take care of the kids to let Cristin sleep. That evening after dinner, Cristin and Scott took the boys outside and let them use the golf clubs at the house to learn how to hit golf balls. Both boys were pretty good at it.
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| Scott, Cristin, Hunter and Oscar hitting golf balls |
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| Another shot of the golfing |
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| A beautiful sunset |
Not much else happened this day. We all called it a night fairly early after the tiring night on Thursday.
Saturday - July 25, 2020
Today Scott and Cristin took the kids back to the lake right after breakfast. They wanted to get there early to avoid the crowds. They all had a good time. They made it back to the house about 12:30. While they were gone Mike and I did some cleaning at the house to help get ready to leave the next morning. Mike and Scott went to a barbeque place to get take out for dinner. After dinner Mike pulled the trailer and car through the yard to get it turned around. That turned out to be pretty easy. Our whole problem on Wednesday was due to the heavy rain. Not much else happened this day.
Sunday - July 26, 2020
After breakfast, Mike and I got our trailer and car packed so we could get on the road. We left Cristin's parents house about 10:00 am while Scott and Cristin were finishing getting all of their stuff ready. It was really hard to leave. It was probably the most tearful that I have been since Scott first moved to the DC area. We took I64 west to the Huntington/Fire Fox KOA. While still in the mountains we saw a young black bear run across the interstate. That was exciting.
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| A view of the Blueridge Mountains |
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| Another view of the mountains |
We got to the KOA at about 4:30. I had asked for a shady spot and we were given a nice place. Had a lot more shade than when we were there on our way to Scott's. I fixed chicken alfredo with canned chicken and peas for dinner. We called it a night pretty early so we could get up and on the road fairly early the next day.
Monday - July 27, 2020 and Tuesday - July 28, 2020
Not much happening these two days other than driving home. We basically just reversed our drive out to Scott's. We stayed at the Paducah/Kentucky Lake KOA on Monday night. Then on Tuesday we had a 10 hour drive to get home. It was a long drive, but we had a good trip and really enjoyed getting to see Scott, Cristin, and the kids. As always, we were glad to be home.
