April 11th - April 18th, 2023 - TRIP TO THE OUTER BANKS

 Before I begin this blog: 

You will notice that the layout of the blog has changed. I have been playing with it for several days trying to make changes. Blogger is very complicated to use in my opinion. There are so many options for how to set up the page that it becomes very confusing. I have saved dozens of changes and will stay with this one for now. I may end up moving away from Blogger to something easier to use. I even bought a "Google Blogger for Dummies" book, which hasn't helped.

TRIP TO THE OUTER BANKS:

Kelly's youngest sister. Alexa, who lives in Durham, North Carolina, celebrated her 60th birthday by renting a house for a week on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and inviting all of her siblings and spouses to come and enjoy. The week started on Tuesday April 11th and ended on Monday April 17th. Three couples from Missouri drove out, one couple flew in from Indiana, one couple flew in from San Antonio, and one couple couldn't make it.

We were one of the couples who drove from Missouri. It was a little over 1,000 miles from Perryville to the rented house. I had never been to the Outer Banks so I was looking forward to it. Kelly loaded the car with lots of groceries and spices to cook a couple of meals for everyone. She also packed a box of games for all to enjoy.  After adding two suitcases, my CPAP, Kelly's pillow, a swim bag, a small cooler, and an overnight bag for the motel stops, the car was full. It was a two-day road trip with our first stop in Sevierville, Tennessee, for the night. The trip out was fine, good driving weather, but long. We got to the house about 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday the 12th. 

The couples who drove out all arrived on Tuesday. The couple who flew in from San Antonio arrived on Thursday, and the couple who flew in from Indiana arrived in Norfolk at midnight on Friday. Due to work commitments they couldn't come any earlier in the week. They opted to stay in a motel in Norfolk Friday night before making the three-hour car trip to the Outer Banks on Saturday.

I must admit I was a little disappointed that from the house we could barely see the ocean over the sand dune. Here is a picture of the view from the upper deck.

It was about an eighth of a mile walk out to the beach but once there it was quite nice. Here I am stretched out all by myself enjoying the view one day. The rollers were constant.

Here is a picture of the rented house from atop the dune. It is the gray one in the middle. It has four levels, seven bedrooms, and six bathrooms. All of these houses are rentals. Four levels meant LOTS of steps. The bedrooms were on the second floor, the kitchen and living area on the third floor, and a master suite on the fourth floor.

On Wednesday we made a day trip to Kitty Hawk to see the Wright Brothers Museum and Monument. It was well worth the trip. Here is picture of a reproduction of the first airplane to fly.

It is a reproduction because on the day they flew they made four flights. After the fourth flight they were in their cabin warming up and relaxing when a wind came up and rolled the plane across the dunes damaging it beyond repair.  This is a picture with stone markers showing the end of each flight. The marker way to the right, where the people are gathered, was the longest at 813 feet.

Kitty Hawk was picked as a launch location because it was one of the six windiest places in the U.S., it had large dunes to help with takeoff, and there were the least number of people around. The Wright brothers did not have a runway, so they made "takeoff gear" out of rollers on the plane that rolled on a rail made out of 2 x 4s with a metal band on top. To balance the plane as it took off there was a person on each side who held up the wing. Here is a section of the rail.

This is a picture looking up at the takeoff point high on the dune. There is a large monument to the Wright Brothers at the top now. The path where the people are walking is the path the plane took.

This is a photo from the top where the takeoff began. Those holding the wing up while careening down this hill in the cold December weather had to be dedicated and agile.

We were all very glad we made this day trip. It was informative and memorable. Of course, the area has totally built up since then. Here are a couple of pictures of the surrounding area taken from the monument plateau.

The next day we just hung out around the house. I bought a couple of long sleeve "tourist" shirts because the weather was cooler than I expected when I packed. Kelly thought she would get in the pool, but it was unheated and way too cold to get in this time of the year. We just laid around and enjoyed the sun.

There was a hot tub on the deck which many of the group enjoyed several times throughout the week.

On Saturday we drove to catch the ferry to Ocracoke Island. The ferry was busy and we had to wait our turn to take the one-hour ferry ride to the island. The ferry system is run by the State of North Carolina. It is very well run and free.

Kelly and I were a little disappointed with the island. The Visitor Center and many other places were not yet open for the season. The place is now basically a tourist trap. After driving around, we stopped for lunch at SmacNally's Waterfront Bar & Grill.

There was a 45-minute wait so we walked around the area to kill time. I took these pictures. The first is of the docks between boats. They went from three feet wide at one end down to eight inches wide at the other. I had never seen this before. I guess it is to accommodate wider boats.

This is a picture of the inlet looking out to sea. Very calm and picturesque.

With a forty-five-minute wait in the off season we wondered what the wait time would be during the season.

The claim to fame of Ocracoke Island is the "Lost Colony of Ocracoke". The colony consisted of about one hundred people and soldiers. It was an established colony. At one point a ship went back to England for supplies. Due to a war with the Spanish, they were not able to obtain a boat to go back to the colony with supplies for three years. Upon returning they found the settlement gone. The settlers had no boat, the houses were gone, the people were gone, and there was no evidence of violence by the Indians. The only thing left were a few sections of the fort palisades. To this day they have no idea what happened to the people. The theory I liked was that they moved inland and assimilated into the various Indian tribes. 

At the Fort Raleigh Visitor Center we listened to a wonderful talk by a docent. 

Here are pictures of the re-created dugout fort. I couldn't believe how small it was in height and width for the number of people it had to accommodate. I assume there were originally palisades on top.

We stopped at the island lighthouse. It is the oldest lighthouse still standing in North Carolina and the second oldest in the U.S. standing at 75 feet. Unfortunately, you cannot go up in it. 

After that stop we made the obligatory stop at a souvenir shop and then headed back to the ferry. When we arrived at the ferry there was a long line of cars. We doubted we would make this ferry, which runs every hour. Luckily, we were the last three cars to get on. 

On the drive back to the house we stopped at a beautiful beach. Most walked the beach looking for shells.

I didn't stray far and got this picture of everyone walking back. A motley crew of old beachcombers!

Arriving back at the house, Kelly cooked a wonderful meal of Crab Imperial for all to enjoy. It was a meal requested by the birthday girl. An ice cream cake had been purchased earlier, along with candles to be blown out.

Here is a picture of the group enjoying one of several great meals prepared during the week-long visit.

Monday morning was hectic. Those flying home had a three-hour drive to the Norfolk airport, which meant they had to leave early. We had to be out of the house by 10 a.m. Those of us driving left about 8:00 a.m. for the two-day drive back to Missouri.

The weather was wonderful on the drive home. We arrived in Knoxville during rush hour, so we got a motel room there rather than trudging on. The next day there were no traffic issues except for a major slowdown getting through Nashville. After that it was clear sailing. We got home about 3:00 p.m. Tuesday, which was much earlier than I anticipated. It left me time after unpacking to cut the grass, which had grown quite a bit in a week.

A beautiful sunrise one morning as seen from the deck.

 

All in all, it was a very nice trip and a great opportunity to see all of Kelly's siblings and their spouses, who are scattered around the country.

April 1, 2023 - April 5, 2023 - We Are Home Dealing With Issues

There is always lots to do when you get home after a winter away. Sunday, after getting the grass, cut I was able to get all the tax information together to take to the accountant. It is always a challenge to assemble all the 1099s when you have a temporary Florida address during the winter. I took the paperwork to the accountant Monday morning. We will be gone to the Outer Banks all next week and won’t be home in time to sign and file so he is getting an extension for us. This is the first time I ever sought an extension in my life.

Vehicles:

The license on the Chevrolet HHR (Bart) comes due in February. This is a terrible time for us since we are in Florida then. Due to his mileage he has to be inspected every odd numbered year. Because of this I can’t renew the license online. Knowing this, before leaving Florida, I made an appointment to get him inspected and for a much-needed oil change on Monday morning. I also made an appointment for an oil change on Kelly’s car for Monday afternoon. The license on Kelly’s car is always up in March, again not a good time but we can usually get her quickly licensed once home in April.

We dropped the HHR off and headed to the Post Office to pick up our mail, which they had been holding since we left Avon Park on March 1st. We had a lot of mail to go through. I was most concerned about getting the titles to the Florida mobile home. Thankfully they were in the mail, along with two Florida bills for going through tolls. Twice, as we drove through on toll roads, they did not give us an option to pau. They sent us a bill for each and each had a $2.50 handling fee. When we get back to Florida in the fall we are going to look into getting a Sunpass for tolls.

In the afternoon we switched out the cars at the shop and headed to the DMV to renew the plates on both cars. When I sat down I told the clerk that we are always in Florida until April first. I asked her if there was any way I could get the February plates changed to April. She said “no problem”. She then asked if I wanted to change Kelly’s plates, which were due in March, to April as well. That would be great. We got new plates for both vehicles and that problem is solved forever. I really appreciated her help.

When delivering Marge to the new owners I had to put the truck in 4-low and back up pushing the trailer uphill in sand. The hard turning of the wheels at times screwed up the front-end alignment. It wasn’t too bad when I left Florida but by the time I got home I had to hold the steering wheel a quarter turn to the left to stay straight. Monday morning I called for an appointment to get an alignment. They had an opening on Tuesday. Yippee!

Chair Repairs:

The porch chairs in Florida had plastic rollers on them. Several rollers were falling apart and several wheels fell off if you lifted the chair. (I hate plastic.) These are what I am talking about.

I didn’t have the tools in Florida to get the old roller stems off to install replacements, so I brought them all home to work on. I ordered one set of steel replacement rollers to see how they worked out. I installed them yesterday and they worked out perfectly.

I ordered three more sets. I will take all rollers and fittings back in the fall and reinstall them.

Another trip:

Next Monday we leave for a week on the beach on the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Kelly’s sister, Alexa, rented a place for all of us to gather to celebrate her retirement. More driving, about nine hundred miles each way, but we will have a great time. I've never been to the Outer Banks so I'm looking forward to it.

When I get back I will have a lot of yard work to do. Also, I will need to get busy cleaning up the truck and putting it up for sale, as well as the fifth wheel hitch. After over thirty years of owning fifth wheels, it will be weird to never tow one again, nor have a need for a big truck.

Really bad weather around here during the night and today. Last night a tornado virtually wiped out the town of Glen Allen, about 30 miles from here. Several were killed, not much on the news yet. Too close for comfort. We are under a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. Hopefully it will pass without damage or injuries.

March 31, 2023 - April 1, 2023 - The Trip Home

NOTE: I tried to change the header to include both RVs and the new home in Florida. I haven't figured out how to do it and accidentally deleted the photo of Marge. I will work to correct that. Designing the layout for blogspot is quite confusing.

Well, the trip home is never fun. This year with not hauling a fifth wheel home, we thought it would be better. WE WERE SO WRONG. 

We left Golden Gate at 7:00 a.m. on Friday with our goal of getting to Atlanta the first night. Everything was fine until about forty miles South of Atlanta. The traffic slowed to a crawl with no end in sight. We had been in the traffic jam for an hour or more when we decided to pull off and find a room in McDonough, Georgia. Once settled in the room Kelly broke out the sandwiches she had made for the trip. We went to bed early with the intention of leaving early in the morning. The drive from Atlanta to Perryville is about eight hours. We were up at six and hit the breakfast buffet before taking off. Our plan was to leave by 7:00 a.m. expecting traffic to be a breeze on Saturday.

Upon watching the weather we learned that very severe thunderstorms were coming into our area and the Atlanta area. We decided to let them pass through before heading North. After three boring hours sitting in the room, we left at 10:00 a.m. Upon getting back on I-24 we found the traffic immediately backed up almost the entire thirty-five miles from McDonough to Atlanta.

We assumed the backup was due to hard rains at the time. Finally, we made it to Atlanta and sailed right through downtown on a Saturday morning. Then the trouble began.

For whatever reason, the traffic was “stop and go” from North of Atlanta all the way until about ten miles North of Chattanooga. Over 130 miles! We couldn’t believe it. I doubt that we averaged thirty miles per hour the entire time. This was a Saturday. What was going on? We never did find out.

We never saw a cause for a traffic backup anywhere. There were no construction zones nor any accidents. It appeared just to be a volume issue. It took us over five hours to get from South of Atlanta to North of Chattanooga. Normally this is a two-hour trip.

North of Chattanooga the traffic started to move near the speed limit, yet there were still areas where traffic slowed down for unknown reasons. It was crazy bad driving the entire day.

Due to the traffic backups, we did not arrive in Perryville until 8:00 p.m. We had gained an hour so we actually drove eleven hours on the second leg of the trip. We have been taking this route for over ten years and always experienced slowdowns in Atlanta and Chattanooga. This trip the slowdown was over a hundred and thirty miles long between the two cities. This was the absolute worst traffic we had ever seen. We don’t know if this was a fluke, or if this is what is to be expected on I-24 from now on.  We are going to look at other possible routes for our trip back in the fall.

Arriving home, we found everything to be in order except the guest restroom toilet kept leaking every five minutes and filling the tank back up.  It was the flapper. I bought a new flapper after church on Sunday and installed it. Problem corrected.

Sunday after church we unpacked the car and truck. We now have lots of items to dispose of out the fifth wheel. Most will go to the thrift store. Sunday was a beautiful day - sunny and in the 60s. I mowed the grass and then grilled some pork steaks while sitting on the deck with an adult beverage. It is good to be home. Now I have to get everything together to get my taxes prepared. ARGH!