Wow, It's Cold Outside, Baby!

Today, we have been on the road for 9 hours. From Freehold we went to I-287, following it to Newburgh,NY. Via Danbury,Waterbury and Hartford,CT we made it through MA and finally NH. Since it was a bit too early in the day to camp out at the NH Liquor Store at I-95 we went into Maine and finally stopped at the Kennebunk Service Plaza. When we got out, we were shocked to feel the cold. Gone were the blooming trees, any sign of green and the general feel of spring time. Instead we got a strong blustery cold wind from North-West. It was time to break out Long-Johns and winter clothes.

From 29C and beach life at Norfolk, VA to freezing cold blustery Maine in a few days

Every year we have the same negative experience when returning from the south. Spring time is still far off, and generally behind the calendar.

Good thing we stocked up on propane and water 2 days ago. We also found a dump station today and got rid of some dead weight. So tonight we run the propane and stay toasty warm.

Tomorrow it's another 6hrs on the road and we'll be home. The house will be cold, but we will start a wood fire in the stove. We'll also turn on the power and the water pump. 

I must mention that we also have a lovable neighbour who's gonna wait with a delicious welcome-back supper for us.

And it is Easter!  HAPPY EASTER to everyone!

We Got Up Real E a r l y!!

 As announced yesterday, we heard the stakkato sound of the wake-up ring from Bea's cellphone. I realized the night would be over. It was 3:30am. Thanks to us moving the trailer to a quiet corner of the parking area, we had slept not too bad.

After a quick coffee, we hit the nightly road towards Lewes/Cape Henlopen. As usual, Bea was the co-pilot and she guided me down the right road and around the right turn-offs. After arriving in Lewes we still had an hour to spare, which we used for having breakfast. The departure area was still closed, but they have terminal parking. One can also stay overnight there.

When the gates opened up, we went over and got in line. 

This was the image she could see via webcam in Germany

We had called a German friend, telling her that she could go online and see us on the webcam, which she did. Stuff like that would have been unthinkable only 15 years ago.

First in Line

The yet-empty Lewes harbour

The ferry ride to Cape May, NJ takes 90 minutes, and it all went down in the most beautiful weather. While Bea took a nap in the van, I went upstairs and had a couple of nice chats with other passengers.

New Jersey countryside

Coming off the ferry at Cape May, we had only 130 miles to cover to a Walmart in Freehold, NJ. With that much time at our hands, we pulled into a mall parking lot and now it was my turn to take a nap. 90 minutes later we left and reached Freehold, NJ.

Tomorrow we plan to circum-drive NYC and hope to reach a few miles beyond Portsmouth, NH.

Leaving The South

 It is only an hour and a few minutes or 74 miles from Columbia to Florence. And Florence marks the end of the I-20. We finally found ourselves back on the trusty old I-95 and heading in northerly direction towards more homely fields.

The I-95 is obviously under major construction and widening, and I'd say it is needed for sure.

At Emporia, North Carolina we left the I-95 again and continued in North-easterly direction on HWY 58 towards Norfolk, VA.

Now, Norfolk, Suffolk and Virginia Beach are three very chaotic cities. Chaotic in traffic. Two major inroads were just clogged solidly. My mastermind of a street finder, Bea, though found another alternative road to avoid all the traffic jam. She finds good help in using Mr. Google's maps which also gives traffic updates.

So we made it onto the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge-Tunnel.

This route is always quite the highlight on our journey home. The construction is truly outstanding in the U.S. Currently work is underway to widen the tunnel through-ways.

Arriving at Cape Charles on the other side, we pulled in at the Welcome Center.

A huge parking lot allows for 48hrs parking allows for 48hrs parking. Very unfortunately, the truckers have long since kidnapped the area, and are making a peaceful overnight stay for an RVer almost impossible. It is 66F outside but some let their noisy engines run, nevertheless. After we had set up camp they came left and right and even though lots of space was available elsewhere they joined us wall to wall. Are they doing this on purpose?

Well, we packed up and moved to a more peaceful edge of the parking lot.

The nice side of the Welcome Center is the adjoining wildlife refuge trail, which is worth exploring.

We hadn't booked our ferry from Lewes to Cape May yet, and when I tried doing that I got a bad surprise. The only 2 departures left were at 8:45 and 7:45pm. We booked at 8:45am, which means that we have to get up darn early tomorrow.

We Are Only 3 1/2 More Days From Home!

 It is now 5 days ago we left Why/Ajo, AZ and we will have 3 1/2 more days until rolling across the FDR Memorial Int'l Bridge onto Campobello Island.

Our last overnight spot, a rest area, got filled up with truckers over night.

The day started out with a lot of fog and it was very muggy.

Underway we saw a terrible accident had happened only moments prior. A semi had crashed on the opposite side of the highway. Smoke was rising from the wreckage and people were on their way across the median to help and assist if possible.

Traffic was terrible again, this really is the thing I hate most about the east coast.

Today we made it into the Columbus, SC area where we parked at a Walmart. It must be the worst Walmart parking lot we have ever experienced. Drug dealing and noisy joy-riding is going on around the perimeter. And the police was here only once.

But we have chosen this place and we are gonna leave early in the morning. We ran out of tank water this evening, so tomorrow we are gonna stop at a Flying J dump to refill water. Of course, we shoulda done that in GA or AL while we had the chance.

Let's see whether the noise outside will eventually quiet down a bit.