Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina

When I was little, I was fascinated by a picture of a tree draped with Spanish Moss in a book I saw. Finally, at the age of 59, I got to see my first moss draped live oak, and my truck was actually parked under it in front of my hotel room. This is a different truck, but it's the same hotel room and live oak. We loved staying at the Waterway Lodge so much in Wrightsville Beach, NC in 2012, that we decided to stay there again this year.

One of the reasons we loved the room, besides the live oak, was because we had our own little parking spot and seating area, away from all the other rooms. I was really excited when the same room was available this year!

The room was the same inside as it was last time, except the bedspread was green instead of yellow.

Another good thing about this hotel is that it is on the inland waterway, rather than on the beach. Sometimes I would rather be on the beach, but sometimes it is also nice to be in a quieter area. The road by the hotel isn't terribly busy, and it is a really pretty walk, with lots of live oaks and beautiful houses.

There are also three restaurants within walking distance. The last time, we went to the Dockside Restaurant and enjoyed our meal, so we went there again this year. They were able to make a meal I could eat on my pureed diet, so I didn't have to make a meal of Ensure, and the view was beautiful!

The last time I was here, we didn't go to see the beach. The girl at the hotel told us they weren't charging for parking yet, so we went down. It was very cold and windy, and the beach was deserted, so we only took a couple of photos and returned to the truck. Unfortunately, they had apparently started charging for parking within the last day or two. We then went toward some stores, and paid for parking again, so I could go into a store for some souvenirs. The store we went into didn't have a good selection, but I bought a t-shirt.

I wanted to get things for the kids, so we walked a ways looking for another shop that was open. Almost everything close by was closed, and it was really cold, so we didn't pay for more parking in another location. I don't mind the idea of having to pay for parking, but when everything is still closed and the streets are deserted because it is really cold out, I would think it would make more sense to have free parking so people would buy things in the shops that are open.

Anyway, we really enjoyed our second visit to Wrightsville Beach. It was quiet and relaxing, and I hope we get to go again sometime!

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, and the Outer Banks

After leaving Rehoboth Beach, we went across the CBBT. We have been across this bridge a few times, and always really like crossing it. They are now working on making the new set of tunnels, rather than having two way traffic in them, and the restaurant and gift shop are closed, and so is the fish pier. I feel really lucky that I got a chance to visit them back when they were open. It was a unique experience!

The photo above is of two very large ships, which had gone over the top of one of the tunnels just before we went through it. The picture doesn't look nearly as interesting as the ships looked in real life.

We were really lucky with the weather while we were gone. The temperatures were way below average the whole time, but the only rain we had was the day we drove between the Delmarva Penninsula and the Outer Banks, a few times at night, and when we drove to New York. The days when we wanted to be outside were generally sunny.

We drove from the CBBT to Kill Devil Hills to spend the night. It didn't matter too much that it was pouring rain, because we have been to the OBX a few times, so we didn't plan on sight seeing there. We spent the night just because we love it there.

This time, we spent the night in a motel we had never stayed at before. The Outer Banks Inn. Unfortunately, when we got there, even though the room was all paid for, they charged us another $60 before we could even check in. It was pouring so hard, and the parking lot was a swamp. If we hadn't paid the extra $60, we would have lost the payment we had already made, so we ended up paying more for this place than we paid at the beautiful hotel on Rehoboth Beach. The hallway to the rooms was a nightmare, and the rooms weren't great. I must say that the workers were very nice, and it wasn't their fault about the extra charges, but I definitely would never stay there again.

The next morning it was cold and extremely windy. We drove to a beach access place and watched the surf for a while. It was pretty neat, because we had never been there during stormy weather before. The photo above doesn't really show just how rough it was.

Sturbridge, Mass and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware

We had planned on taking our Sonic Travel Trailer south with us, but since my husband had never towed anything before, we decided to make the trip without the camper.

It was sad because we were so anxious to use it for the first time, as well as it would have been nice to have a place of our own, but it was also kind of scary thinking of towing it so far from home for the first time. If we had brought it, we probably would have stayed on I95 the whole way south, with no spur of the moment side trips and visits to see friends we hadn't seen in years, but the trip itself would have been more relaxing.

This camper, as well as the trip are bucket list things for me. I have stage four cancer, and have to go back to the hospital on 5 April. I don't know what I will find out, so after spending all of last summer and fall in the hospital, and all winter in the house, we decided to enjoy ourselves for one month before I go back to the hospital. Even though we didn't take the camper, I decided to put our trip on the blog, and talk about some of the places we really liked, as well as what we were disappointed in.

The first leg of most of our trips is almost always as far as Sturbridge, Mass. I was born and raised there, and it is about seven hours from where we live now. Up until a few years ago, my mother still lived there, so we stayed with her. Now, we normally stay at the Super 8. We like the rooms with the balconies over Cedar Lake, and it isn't far from the Sturbridge common where I grew up, so we always go and either drive, or walk around the common to see what changes there are in the old neighborhood. We also love the Host, and it has lots of memories for us, since my father was the electrician there for years. The reason we stay at the Super 8 instead, is because of the continental breakfast. The same goes for the Publick House. My mother, brother, grandfather, an uncle and I have all worked there at various times, and it is right in the same neighborhood as where I grew up, but the breakfasts at the Super 8 are better and easier. The trip to Sturbridge was uneventful, and the next morning, we traveled to New York state, and across the new Tappan Zee Bridge, and over to the Delmarva Penninsula.

One of the interesting things about traveling without the camper, is we randomly pick a place to look for a room for the night. This time, we decided to try Rehoboth, Beach, Delaware. We got down there, and looked at the hotels, and parked at the easiest one. It turned out that we got really lucky, it was the Boardwalk Plaza, and it was wonderful!

The hotel is a representation of the Victorian beach front hotels from the old days, and the rates were off season rates. I also am on a pureed diet, so there are many places where I can't eat. In Victoria's Restaurant at the hotel, they made a nice pureed crab stew for me, and a wonderful smoothie for breakfast. The above photo is of the hotel from the beautiful sand beach.

This is the front desk of the hotel. The minute I went inside, I knew I wanted to stay here, so I was really excited when they told me the off season prices!

The beachfront rooms weren't much more expensive than the side balcony rooms, and now I sort of wish we had gotten one of those, but the side balconies with the partial water view were wonderful as well. It was really cold down there, so we didn't spend much time outside anyway.

This is one of the photos inside the room. It was really beautiful, with lots of extras. The only thing it was missing, that is usually in hotel rooms now is a refrigerator. With my health problems, I really need a refrigerator, but since the weather was cold, we kept my food stuff on the balcony in the cooler, and it was fine.

This is the spa area in the hotel. It is just beautiful, and is an indoor/outdoor pool. I hope so much that sometime I will be able to have my feeding tube and tracheostomy tube removed so we can go back there and I can try it out!

This is the dining room. It is on more than one level, and also has an outside section for when the weather is good. The dining room, (Victoria's), as well as the whole hotel has a lot of Queen Victoria memorabilia. I loved staying here, and would really like to go back again sometime!

We just got home from our trip, and I see that The hotel charged us for taking liquor from the liquor cabinet thing, which we did NOT! I don't even drink, and hate those liquor cabinet things in my room. The same thing happened to us the only other time we had a room with a liquor cabinet thing in it. Now I will have to call them and argue with them, but it will probably be like the last time, and we will have no way of proving that we didn't touch it. I would be really interested in hearing from other people to see if hotels have wrongfully charged them for booze.

Camper Orientation Today

Today we went for our orientation. We loaded up the truck with all the things we have bought for the camper so far, plus our clothes and things for our trip to Savannah and St. Augustine.

My husband has never towed anything, and we are supposed to get another storm this weekend, so he is really nervous about taking the camper on such a long journey. At the last minute, we decided not to take the camper, but to make it a road trip by truck instead. I have cancer, and have an appointment at the hospital on April 5. We don't know what we will find out, and we keep putting off our trip for various reasons. (Last year, I spent all summer and fall in the hospital). It just seemed like if we don't do it now, camper or not, we may not get the chance. Plus, in April, we will owe the IRS lots of money because I didn't qualify for Obama Care, and I decided to see the doctor instead of sending money we didn't have to rich insurance companies. (Last year, I missed four months of drs appointments because of not being able to afford Obama Care, and I might have been better off if I had seen the doctors instead of sending the money to the IRS). We still can keep making hospital payments and camper payments, but we really shouldn't be spending money on taking a trip. Anyway, This may be our last trip together, and IRS or not, and camper or not, we are going to do this. We just hope we will be able to use the camper together at some point this summer.

Anyway, this photo is our camper together with our Sierra. It's the first time they have met each other! You can see the Furrion Observation Camera installed up there next to the lights!

Here are the Sonic and the Sierra from the other side. Today I found out the dealership has upgraded us to a Blue Ox WDH for no extra money!

After the orientation, we put all our new things into the camper. I didn't get everything organized the way I wanted to, because it was pretty cold in there, but at least I got to spend time in the camper, and I loved it. I hated leaving her!

This is the first time I got to take a picture of our outdoor kitchen. It's small by most standards, but it actually was much larger than I remembered it as being!

Getting ready for our trip!

Yesterday we went to Dollar Tree and Walmart to pick up the rest of what we needed. I didn't take photos of the tools, black tank stuff, slide conditioner, a few plastic dishes and glasses, fly swatter, zip lock bags, toilet paper and stuff like that, just the more interesting things. Today I will have to go downtown and register the camper. That's going to be scary, because we live on an island, and registrations and taxes are terrible here.

We have a cap on our truck, so I am leaving the things in the first photo in the truck, and will be loading everything else in during the week. Our camper has a Murphy bed that raises up and there is a couch there when it's up. Those three drawer things at Walmart fit on either side of the bed/couch, and will provide storage, as well as acting like night stands/side tables. They have to be pulled out a bit to open the cupboard, but that won't be a big deal. Our Walmart only had the white ones, and not the "wicker" ones, but I figured I'd buy one white one, just to see how we like it. If we do, we will get two "wicker" ones, (one for each side of the bed), and I'll use the white one at home for crafts.

Next is my pretty outdoor plastic rug. I am really happy to get that, since it will keep my floor much cleaner. (I know my husband will try to sneak in and out without taking his shoes off)!!! I really like the blue one, since there is already so much brown in and on the camper, even though the brown ones probably would have looked new longer.

Then there is my water hose. Not much choice there, only drinkable ones, and different lengths, so I got the longest one. We will be carrying bottled water to drink, at least on our first trip.

Then there is charcoal for our el-cheapo BBQ grill!

You can see part of two bathroom towel bars in the picture. I'm still not sure whether or not I will use these. For one thing, there were only four towel holders for sale in the whole of Ellsworth, Maine, and they only sell one style at Walmart, so there wasn't much choice. It seems like most people don't like putting screws in their camper walls, but I got some really pretty turquoise towels, and I want to display them. I just don't want to be without towel bars, and there is a great big blank wall for them, so I will be using at least some kind of towel bars!

You can also see part of two folding chairs. We've had those forever, and leave them in the truck all the time so we can have tail gate picnics whenever we want!

This is my clearance sale at Walmart BBQ grill. We may like it and we may not. We do have an outdoor kitchen, and most camp sites have either a fireplace or a fire ring, so I'm not worried about it. There were more important things to spend money on at the beginning, like the observation camera, WDH/sway bars, and things like that. I can always upgrade the grill later, if this one doesn't work out.

All of these came from Dollar Tree. The basket on the top left looks like it will be handy for plastic silverware and paper plates. I can carry it in and out easily using the handle!

My four Dollar Tree coffee mugs will make our morning coffee taste much better than plastic, and if I break a cup, it won't be a big deal!

The over the door rack is about 17" long. I think it will work well on the bathroom door, and will be a great place to hang our clothes quickly while in the shower or changing.

Here is my pretty Walmart rug. It is about 20" x 30", and it will be in front of our couch, as you come in the door. It will help make the camper more cozy, and will be easy to shake outside when it needs it.

The big clock came from Walmart too.

The two racks will work in the cupboards over the sink. We want to put adjustable shelves in there eventually, but these will work for our first trip.

The little turquoise oval is my plastic Dollar Tree soap dish. It matches my bathroom towels!

Keep your fingers crossed for us that the weather is okay for us to leave on Friday. Now it looks like we may get a storm with lots of snow through Thursday night, and the weather doesn't look wonderful for the weekend further south of us.

Made an appointment to pick our camper up!

A few minutes ago, I called the dealership to check on the things we ordered, and to ask a few questions I had. The last things we needed to order from the dealership were the vent covers, so we can open the vents when it rains. The observation camera and weight distribution hitch/sway bars are in. The awning for over the slide hadn't come in, but should be there at the beginning of the week. They already have the vent covers in stock, so I don't have to worry about those not getting there. The few other things we need we will get at Wally World for less money when we go in on Sunday.

After checking on the stuff we ordered, I talked to our sales person, and set up an appointment to pick up the camper at 10:00 am on Friday, March 9. One week from today!!! Keeping my fingers crossed that the awning gets here!

Towing Mirrors for the Truck

We are hoping to take our camper to Savannah and St Augustine in a week or a week and a half, so yesterday, we took the truck in for an oil change, tire rotation, and multi point inspection. The truck is ready, and the guys at Varneys were excited for us!

I sent for mirror extensions from Amazon on Tuesday, and when we got home from the truck dealership on Thursday, the mirrors were sitting on the back doorstep! We ordered these rather than buying expensive towing mirrors, because they had excellent reviews, and quite a few people on one of the online groups I belong to love them. We also will have the Furrion observation camera as well, and that will act like a rear view mirror. Now we have almost all the big things we need! It's scary, but exciting to think that we may be heading out on our maiden voyage in a week or so! Keep your fingers crossed for us!