Norm

I had been parked at the Holiday-Trav-L RV Park in Virginia Beach since I moved out of First Landing State Park.  These two places had the same cost of $34/night and it was night and day difference on the conditions of the two places.  The Holiday park tho… was HUGE!  Over 600 sites. Not the best of conditions either, but I had full hookups and the site was level, but it flooded in all the rains.  There are slim pickings for RV places in this region. State Parks did not open until March 1st and many did not meet that deadline this year.  In Virginia Beach, besides these two places, there is a KOA – that goes for $46/night. Other then staying at a military base – that is the sum total of places to stay. I had hoped I could have parked at my cousins home, but the city bans parking of RV’s on driveway or on streets in residential areas. Bummer.  But that is not all that unusual around suburbs and in cities.  Just surprised there were not more options for RV’s.

I think I had mentioned previously, that I stayed off the bases, so my cousins & family friends could pick me up or drop me off without much ado.  Well, yesterday, I moved onto base.  Yesterday before entering the base, I did some commissary shopping and then I came on into the base. I was impressed in finding the park – very pretty RV park nestled in the trees and sand dunes.  There are two sections. The newer section where the office is now, has less trees, but it is obvious its all very new. They have access to the beach as well, which is not posted on MilitaryCampgrounds.com.  I had heard the old section had more trees and at one time the only access to the beach.  All sites are paved and level.  Older, but no less functional as the new stuff. Nice. So I took the older section and got a primo site. I will take pictures tomorrow.

Today – morning was recovering from bad leftovers from night before, then 2 weeks of laundry and getting a pass for my cousins.  It was a beautiful, beautiful day, a good day to getting all this done.  Getting a pass for my cousins is a true pain in the ass… I had to fill out a form, submit it to the pass office and on weekdays they go to that pass office (which is not at the gate to the base I’m on) to get a pass, but on weekends, when the pass office is close – I have to meet them at the gate then bring them on in.  A nice hike in good weather, lousy in rains and frigid temps. So…  I’ve learned of a different military RV park that one does not need to go thru a manned gate… its an electronic gate.  It should be easier to get my cousins into the park.  Its closer to a military runway… so still need to do some research and time will tell on moving.  But the price is right at $22/night. If I have to pay, this is doable.

The weather is still quite ridiculous north of here… My next destination is Winchester, VA, is where my mail has filled a corner of my cousin’s house. Well… snow is in the forecast for all of this next week, and long term forecast does not improve yet.  Its there night time temps that are keeping me in Virginia Beach… its not the snow.  Tomorrow its to be in the 70’s here, but Sunday the high will be 46ºF…and dropping. by Wednesday, there is snow/icy mixture forecasted…again.

And the picture above with Norm – he could not quite figure out what I was doing with the black thing in my hand (the camera) – one of the best photos I have of him.  The camera, when I went to get some of the pictures I’ve been taking – I found numerous pictures of when I camped in Denali National Park in 2012, even a partial view of Denali (Mt. McKinley to everyone else).  That was a great trip! But the pictures I’ve taken recently… I will continue working on this… such as tomorrow.