Into Virginia

From Myrtle Beach we headed north. It was too far to drive to Virginia Beach in one hop, so we stopped over at Medoc Mountain, a quiet North Carolina State Park. It rained the day we spent there, so our exploration of the area was limited to a short drive. We could not find a mountain. 

Some may wonder why I continue to include pictures of our spots at the parks we stay at. This one was of our site at Virginia Beach. I include them for myself, so that someday when I look back at these posts I will recall the parks we stayed at.

At First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, the beach was just a short boardwalk away. 

The Atlantic Ocean  looked very much like the Gulf to me. Well, maybe a bit colder. 























We often look up "Things to do... " on the internet, in the places we stop. On Tuesday this resulted in our spending an afternoon at the Virginia Aquarium.

I love to see the underside of the rays as they swim up along the glass of the large tank.
It looks as though they have a smily face. I think their eyes are on the top side, but you can't help feel happy when you see them glide by.




















On Wednesday we drove up to the reconstruction of the Jamestown Settlement which was founded in 1620. The actual historical location is a protected archeological site not far from the gallery and museum.

We enjoyed a guided tour of the Indian village, and the representative colony structures inside a fort barrier fence. It was neat that we were able to go into them and see lots of items that were representative of things they might have had.  Costumed docents gave demonstrations of period activities, and our guide gave a good talk about the life and difficulties the original settlers experienced. 

We were also able to go aboard two reproduction ships. Again there were costumed volunteers that shared stories and information in a casual, believable way. If you allowed your imagination to suspend reality, it was almost like taking to someone from "then."

Thursday was a day to take care of everyday business, and seek out and shop at Trader Joe's food store. 

I did not sleep very well that night, because a drive across the Chesapeake Bay bridge and tunnel was our planned adventure on Friday. I had read so many scary things about the bridges, tunnels, and toll roads of the East Coast, that I feared we would end up squashed in a tunnel or toll-booth, or possibly floating in the bay.

We did do our homework, and got an E-Zpass. We learned the 
E-Zpass lane for trucks was wider than the regular toll lanes. This is good, since we've heard that car lanes are eight feet wide, and the Alfa is 8'6" wide. I was also concerned about the height of the tunnels. The information available says the maximum height is 13'6". We had a Wilson booster antenna mounted on top of the Alfa, and with it our height is 13'6". Craig called Wilson and was told he could unscrew the top part of it. Unfortunately it broke when he did. However he says he has wanted a new, better antenna anyway, so the loss of this one is not the end of the world! Just a temporary reduction in our internet speed.

As it turned out, the seventeen mile drive over the Chesapeake Bay was rather anti-climatic. 

The tunnels felt higher than I expected. No problem!

Our crew of stuffed mascots kept quite calm. 

We drove through a light rain, but fortunately there was no strong gusty wind.

Our destination was a private park in Quinby, VA, about halfway up the peninsula known as the East Shore of Virginia. We will be here for four nights. So far the weather has been a bit rainy, but we have had nothing like the violent storms we've have heard about in Texas and Oklahoma.  I hope all of our RV friends around the country are safe and dry!