Across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the East Shore, VA

Sometimes I choose which blogs to read by their titles. My last post was titled "Into Virginia" and it was indeed about the things we did at Virginia Beach, but I think the end part of the post might be of some interest to RVers who are planning to visit the East Coast and might wonder about driving the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnels in their RV. I hope the little I did write there, might  reassure anyone who has misgivings. 

The southern end of Delmarva Peninsula is known as Virginia's East Shore. We stayed at a Thousand Trails / Passport America park called Virginia Landing in Quinby VA. We do not have a Thousand Trails membership, and honestly, so far the few parks in their system we have stayed at have been less than impressive. Our Passport America only applied to two of our four nights there, but that discount balanced the very high, Thousand Trails non-member rate for the other two.

 Note: I have researched Thousand Trails and do not feel it would work well for us. Some claim to save a lot, but for me the up front cost and annual fees are prohibitive. It is rare that one of their parks is the only option in a place we want to be. This was one of those times.

Virginia Landing was an older, open grass RV parking area. There were numerous dry camping spots, and many of the power pedestals were marked with big red Xs. I wonder if that meant they were out of order. No one was using such a pedestal. The majority of the 50 amp sites were a bit muddy due to the rain, which may be why the several RVs that were there were all in the same area. 

Our time there was not particularly peaceful, but that was not the fault of the park management. They were nowhere to be seen after hours. There was no camp host on site.

The first night we were there, the three young people who were in the trailer next to us were up drinking, laughing and talking very loudly, just outside our bedroom window, past midnight.  We didn't want to be grumpy old people, so we said nothing. Craig fell asleep, but they kept me awake. On our second night, just as I was getting ready for bed, I looked out and noticed they had built a huge fire using scavenged logs that were at least three times the width of the fire ring. As I watched, one of the guys started pounding on the middle of a burning log trying to break it. This caused a big "fountain" of sparks that were caught by a rather brisk wind.  Since it was right next to our rig, I was concerned about our canvas slide toppers catching the flying embers. Craig went out and asked them to be careful, which they did by pulling the two longest logs off the fire and dousing them with water. I don't think they meant any harm. I doubt they realized the sparks could do damage since it was a wet night. But as long as the situation persisted I could not go to bed. On the third night it was pouring rain so they stayed inside and so did we. I guess it's all part of the experience.

It did not rain constantly while we were there. On one of the drier days we went up to Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge. It is one of two areas where there are herds of wild ponies living on the coastal islands. We found the refuge on Trip Advisor. We learned about the ponies by watching the park movie and reading the posters in the Visitor Center. 

A ranger told us where to go to look for them, and we did see a few very far off across a large marshy area. This picture was taken with our lens fully zoomed in: 300 mm. With our naked eyes we could barely tell they were horses.

A better part of the day was a pleasant two mile forest walk. 

Yes! My broken foot has finally healed enough to really start enjoying a walk.

Part of the trail led us to the waterway that separates the peninsula from the sandy barrier islands that protect it.
The water here was very still, unlike the breaking waves on the beaches, but it is connected to the ocean and still salt (or at least brackish) water.  The rusty color you can see in the trees is from the bark beetle infestation. 

We walked through areas of trees killed by the beetles and then stripped of their branches by recent winter storms. It is all part of the ever-changing landscape. 

Back at the Virginia Landing RV Park we checked out the waters edge at low tide.
There were large marshy mudflats between the tall grasses edging the RV park and the water. Scattered among the grasses were clam shells left there by some creatures, probably raccoons.

This pair kept their little ones close to the bushes

There were a number of Canadian Geese at the park pond. We noticed that most of them were hanging out in distinct pairs. Two by two... We delighted in seeing some of the results of this canoodling.

On Monday we went over to the Barrier Island Center, a small museum of artifacts from the last community that lived on Hog Island. It is housed in a former County Almshouse from the early 1900's. 

It seems every park or small museum has a movie. We enjoy seeing these because they give us a starting place to understand what we see. 

This time, the movie was narrated by
several of the last people born and raised on the island. The making of the movie was spearheaded by one of them when she realized many of her peers were passing, and soon there would be no voices left. I find this type of oral history keeping very special.

The items in the collection were varied from simple household goods, handwritten recipes, personal treasures and tools and items from the ships in the area. This case of navigational equipment made me want to call it "before GPS."

The free, Barrier Island Center is well worth a stop. It is located in Machipongo VA, on Highway 13. 

I close this post with a couple of pictures of this most amazing Azalea display.

One of the things I had hoped to see on this Spring trip up the East Coast were the Spring flowers. We have been to parks and to gardens, but I think the best single mass of flowers we have seen was this grouping of Azaleas along a side road near Quinby VA. It seemed bigger than the house it was in front of! I am sure it has been cultivated with a great deal of love from the people living in that quite modest home.

  
There are so many interesting and beautiful things to see in this wonderful country of ours. We are so lucky to be able to travel the way we are. Interstate Highways are great for getting from area to area, but it is the side roads that reveal our simple treasures.

What have you seen on your travels that was extra special?

Houston

After our weeks on the seashore, with little else to do than take walks on the beach and hang out in the Alfa, we arrived in Houston to many wonderful activity choices.

The azaleas were in full bloom on an afternoon spent at the Bayou Bend Gardens.

I wore the pink butterfly cap I bought in Arizona. It fit in well with the flowers

Not all were shades of pink.

Sunday evening we went to dinner at the beautiful home of one of our college friends and his wife. Although we have not seen each other for 40 years, thanks to the internet and email we are still connected, and reminiscing and conversation came easily.

Image from the Web

I'm usually not impressed by seeing famous people.  Meeting them, perhaps, but not just seeing them walking by on the sidewalk. But, at one point, while we were sitting in their wood paneled library, our host called me over to look out the window. A spry looking, white haired lady was taking her evening walk with a burly man in a dark suit. It was one of their neighbors, Barbara Bush!

The next evening we all went out together to a Brazilian steakhouse,
Chama Gaucha. It is one of the top 100 restaurants in the country as ranked by  Yelp. Craig likes to use it and Trip Advisor as we travel through cities we are not familiar with. He keeps the top 100 list on the desktop.

It sure was good! If you like beef or other grilled meats, it is a joy. There is no menu. After having a small salad at the salad bar, the diners stay at their tables while waiters bring selections of perfectly grilled meat around. You tell them if you want rare or well done or something in-between, and they slice a beautifully thin slice for you. They also offer chicken, lamb, and shrimp. New items are constantly offered, and you have a little card that you have at your place to let them know when you are ready or not.  

Yumm! There is also a Chama Gaucha in Chicago. 

We are still very much tourists. We were discouraged from trying to go to the Houston Museum district by very heavy traffic and road construction. I think every family in Houston was trying to take their kids to the Zoo or Natural History Museum on Tuesday. It is spring break time so I guess that could be expected. 

So, when we couldn't find parking, we headed across town to the NASA Space Center.

One highlight for me was seeing the 747 with the shuttle on its back. We were able to go inside both.

We also were interested to see the command center used for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. I remember seeing it on TV and thinking how modern it all was. What you see in the room are not computers. The actual computer was on the floor below. Although I did not take a picture of it with someone's hand holding a cell phone in it on purpose, the image brings to mind what the guide told us about the computing power used. The computer had two megabytes, which is what a few pictures on a smartphone use! 

I knew the launch rockets were big, are big, but knowing and standing next to one are two different things.  They have a building with a complete Saturn V rocket in it.

In our down time at the Stephen Austin State park, we were not really able to take any short hikes. We could have walked the park road, but all of the trails were closed due to flooding. 

We were able to get a look at part of the river. After we saw the Brazos River at I-10, we decided that this was not the main river, just a flooded side channel.

Although the skies were overcast all week, we only had actual rain during the night. The humidity was very high, and I was amazed there were no mosquitos.

Without pesky bugs, I could spread out my books and maps to start making plans for our route up the East Coast. For me the first step is to work with the truckers' map book and my calendar to estimate the distances between places we want to see and the dates we will be in any particular place.

We prefer to either stay in the outskirts of small towns, or at state parks. Most of them take reservations. I have a feeling that I should be making reservations now, rather than waiting too long.  

After I get a rough list, I check reviews and availability on the computer. If we can't get into the state parks I look into private commercial parks, starting with places that give a discount to Passport America, Escapees, and Good Sam members.  

Some people say they just drive along and stop when the mood strikes them. The few times we have done that, I was uncomfortable all day.

How do you plan your trips?