Catching Up with the Past Week

2019-08-15

A week has passed since the last blog entry, and most of it has been lovely. So I am going to catch up with my blog as quickly as possible.

Last Friday, we woke up in the RV and got a relatively early start toward Oak Island. Our goal for the night was to get to the Walmart in Leland, NC, for our overnight stay before checking into our beach vacation house. We really enjoyed our drive on Route 301 through Virginia— it is so green and pretty, and far preferable to taking the I-95 route. Far less traffic, too! Unfortunately, all good things must end, and eventually we segued onto I-295, parallel to I-95 (and still far preferable and prettier!) to bypass Richmond and Petersburg, VA, before inevitably having to join I-95.

Our GPS alerted us to some kind of construction backup about 20 miles north of the state line. We were happy to exit in a timely manner, especially because it was lunchtime. We were expecting to just find a parking lot and make some lunch, but we immediately noticed at the exit not only a huge parking lot with a sign for “truck parking”, but the same sign announced “Granny’s Fried Chicken”!  Joey immediately jumped out of the RV, with a cry of “FRIED CHICKEN,” and he disappeared into what looked from the outside like a gas station (which it was.) But he soon reappeared, with a box in his hand containing 6 pieces of delicious fried chicken. So we had a fast and very easy (also very inexpensive) lunch of chicken, before stretching Cassies and our legs. Then we stayed on the 301 route again until we passed the point of the I-95 tie-up, and rejoined the interstate for the rest of our journey.

We arrived in Leland without incident, and with the added advantage of going past some of our old scenic wayside markers such as the Battleship Memorial in Wilmington. The Walmart lot was surprisingly busy, but we parked at the outside perimeter as usual and went inside to do some brief shopping. When it came time for dinner, though, I was still too hot to be comfortable. So we ended up at TGI Friday’s just across from our RV, for a nice dinner and DRINKS. We followed that up with a stop at the Fuzzy Peach Yogurt Bar, where we sort of went overboard on yogurt and toppings. By that time, it was much quieter, and we crashed for the night.

Saturday morning we woke up and spent some time organizing our belongings. The idea was to identify what was coming with us to the beach house, vs. what was staying in the RV for the week.  A number of bags had ridden in the Jeep from NJ, but we had other things which had been with us in the RV. We seemed to have a surprising amount of stuff coming with us! Then we drove about 20 minutes further, to the Lowes parking lot not far from the Oak Island bridge. We unhooked the Jeep from the RV, and then, leaving the Jeep parked in the lot, drove the RV back up Midway Road to Adam’s Folly Bed & Biscuit, the kennel where Cassie was to spend her week. Our original plan had called for transferring all the Jeep items into the RV and taking Cassie to the Bed &Biscuit in the Jeep, but i realized it would make more sense—assuming the RV could fit into the parking area at the B&B—to just take her in the RV instead, and not have to transfer everything twice.

This plan worked well, although we were very glad we hadn’t tried to get into the B&B parking area with the Jeep attached— it was NOT large and we needed to K-turn the RV around in it. The people at the B&B seemed nice, and we left Cassie in her “suite” at the B&B, looking a little bit surprised that she was being left behind (i hate that!) Then for us, it was back to the Jeep again. We spent the next 30 minutes or so cramming a huge amount of STUFF into the back of the Jeep— it was totally full. We’d not only had to collect personal items, but take out all the food from the refrigerator and two cases of non-refrigerated food (staples etc) which we would need on our trip, but also at the beach. We left the auxiliary brake for the tow set up in the RV for the duration to give us more room. And then, finally, our last logistical task was to drive separately to the storage yard where we would leave the RV. This part all went smoothly, and after turning off the electrical connections inside the RV (so the battery wouldn’t drain) and making sure the refrigerator door was open (so it wouldn’t get moldy), we left the RV in storage and drove our packed-full Jeep to Oak Island. YAY!!!!

By this time, it was a little after noon, and we headed for our favorite island treat, the BBQ House. We knew we had time to kill, because we couldn’t check into our house before 3pm. So we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch, and also hydrated ourselves with huge cups of iced tea— i didn’t emphasize how incredibly HOT it was in the parking lot while we were transferring everything to the Jeep, and how sweaty we were. We left the BBQ House and, considering we really had nowhere else to go, went to our beach house to wait in the shade of the driveway (under the house) for our friends to arrive. We had actually planned to take showers meanwhile, in the outside showers under the house. But we were so tired, that when we discovered two lounge chairs and the lovely breeze which passed over us as we got out of the car, we just lay down on the lounges and relaxed until 2pm, when Howie and Lois arrived to keep us company. The house itself was locked with an automated lock, and the realtors stubbornly refused to release it until 3pm (even though we’d seen the cleaners leave as we arrived at 1:00). So the four of us hung out until we were suddenly allowed to enter, and our beach vacation could truly begin.