Home to Washington DC to Myrtle Beach, SC

Jack and Mary's Adventures - Winter 2008 - 2009
We are on the move again after a summer of spending most of our time at home because of the sale of our
home of 28 years and the purchase of a condo in Brantford. When we had a light dusting of snow on our deck
in late October and had to turn the fireplace on, we knew that it was getting to be time to load the RV, hitch up
the tow car and hit the road. Because we spent some time with Derek getting a diagnosis of obstructiove
sleep apnea and fitted with a CPAP machine, we did not leave home until Saturday, November 8. It was a gray
day with the last of the leaves blowing around so we knew we were ready to head out.
A four hour dirve took us to my sister Jacque's farm. Derek followed us back to his "home". We celebrated an
early Christmas with Jacque and Chuck since we will not see them this year as usual over the holidays. Jack got
a digital picture frame that we can load with pictures of family and friends (and past trips, too) so we will not get
too homesick for them while we are away.
On November 11, we began our trip taking the Ohio and Pennsylvania Turnpikes (WOW are the tolls expensive
when you are towing a car - triple the cost of just a car!) toward Washington, DC. The first night we pulled into a
Walmart in the small town of Greensburg, PA. As ususal, we asked at the Courtesy desk if we might stay in the
parking lot. They said "NO" because of a city ordnance against it. We were pooped and hungrey so we had supper,
bought a few groceries and decided we'd risk it. Went to bed early in case we got rousted in the middle of the
night - then slept well and woke to a new day and began our drive again toward the capital of the USA.
Washington was under a gloomly cloud the whole time we were there. The first day it rained HARD all day so we
spent the time in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Jack loved the exhibits on meteors, volcanos and
astronomy. The sun sets early in the Fall, so when we left the museum at 5pm it was getting dark but the lights of
the Washington and Lincoln Monuments as well as the Capitol building at the end of the mall were really pretty in
the misty rain. Our campground was near the end of the subway and bus system, so we could easily get downtown
from our RV and did not have to use the car. The next day we took public transit to Arlington Cemetary, saw the
changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unkown soldier. While we were there, we saw a funeral of a general
with a 6 horse drawn caisson. After walking across the Potomoc River bridge, we walked around the Mall looking
at the Lincoln, Korean War, Viet Nam War and World War II Memorials. Because Veteren's day was just 3 days
previous, there were many wreaths at the monuments - poignant reminders of the horrors of war and the sacrifices
of the young men and women who fought in them. We met a couple from Cape Cod in our campground and they
recommended "Old Ebitts Grill" for lunch. Lots of atmosphere and many White House staffers and Congressmen
go there. But we did not recognize anyone - at least Barak Obama was not there that day for lunch!
We are not big city people so after 2 days we were ready to leave. We took the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to
the eastern shore of Maryland. From Chincoteaque Island we crossed several saltmarshes to Asseteque Island to
see the red and white striped lighthouse - badly in need of new paint. But we were treated with the sight of two wild
ponies on the roadway. Traffic came to a halt while we all took pictures. These ponies are descendents of horses
that swam ashore from shipwrecks in the 1600s. We spent the night at Kipoteke State Park. Their fishing pier was
made up of 9 cement boats from WW 2. Morning came with bright sunshine - something we had missed over the
past 5 days and it made our crossing of Chesapeake Bay on the 17 mile bridge/tunnel a lovely experience.
But our radio antenna on the top of the RV rubbed that top of the tunnel the entire way - fortunately it did not break!
Skirting around Norfolk, Va, we crossed into North Carolina and headed to Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks.
Wilber and Orville Wright made the first successful manned flight here on December 19, 1903. A monument on the
top of Kill Devil Hill was quite impressive.(the Kill Devil name comes from rum washed ashore from shipwrecks that
was so awful tasting that the locals said "it would kill the Devil!") After a stop at the beautiful black and white stripe Bodie
Island Lighthouse we found a campground near Rodanthe on Hatteras Island.
The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, beautiful with a fresh paint job, has an interesting recent history. The land around it
was washing away over the years and it was in danger of falling down so in 1999, they loaded it on a mover similiar to
the one used by NASA to move the space shuttle and wheeled it 2900' to a new location - safely away from the sea.
We took a 40 minute ferry ride from Hatteras to Ocracoke Island. We met a couple as we waited for the ferry who have
been full timing since 1998. They were on 2 BMW motorcycles for 7 years in Europe, Turkey, North Africa and Eastern
Bloc countries. When the euro went too high last year againt the USD they came back to the US and now have an
Airstream trailer pulled by a truck with a flat bed where they carry the BMWs. Lots of interesting stories - after driving
the 12 miles of Ocracoke Island and seeing some more wild ponies (Banker Ponies) - we traveled with Verna and Jim
on the 2 1/2 ferry ride to Cedar Island and then by bridge to the mainland.
Another Walmart stay in Morehead City, NC brought us to Bogue Island, We are trying to follow the roads closest to the
coast. We are now in Myrtle Beach, SC and it is COLD!!!! Tonight the temps are predicted to get to 26F. We are parked
right next to the ocean and the sunset was lovely and we are cozy and warm in our RV tonight. We'll spend a couple of days
here and then head south again toward Hilton Head and Savannah, Ga. More later........
Jack and Mary