Sandy and Tippy at the Flea Market

Don't buy that horse Doug!

Stu with Diggy and Alex

Chloe ready to go up!!!

Chloe and Blake playing

Chloe

Blake and Ashley

Chloe on Ashley's lap

Mason at the computer

Crossville, TN

We arrived in Crossville yesterday afternoon and got settled at the Beanpot RV park which is just a short distance from Doug's home. Doug stopped by to say hi on his way to run some errands. We were invited to his home for dinner and all of his kids were going to be there except for Dillion that now lives in Colorado. We did a few things in the coach and took a short rest before heading over to Doug's a little before 6:00. Upon arriving, after being delayed a bit due to getting lost, we arrived only to find out that Crossville is on Central Time and we were an hour early.

Oh well, at least they didn't send us away. Doug grill some delicious chicken breasts and sausage and Sandy prepared a wonderful salad, potatoes, and sweet corn. Doug's son, Bryden, came with his wife Kathy and their children Mason and Chloe, and his daughter, Ashley, also came with her fiance Blake. We had a wonderful dinner talking about what everyone was doing lately and watching the kids and the dogs play around the table. Doug has two dogs, Patton & Baxter, Ashley has a young Yorkie called Diggy, and of course, Alex. They all got along great and Chloe played very well with all of them. Mason was more interested in playing with his grandpa or computer games.

On Saturday Doug and Sandy picked us up and we went to a Flea Market that really had everything! They even had lots of live animals including dogs, horses, rabbits, chickens, turkeys, Iguanas, goats, etc. There was also a lot of other stuff that was probably a treasure to some and junk to others. If you looked hard enough you could find something you could use and I sure did. I found a new 25' retractable leash for Alex at $4, some spring keepers for the pins on my tow bar @3/$1, a cable splitter and short piece of cable for the motorhome @ $4, and Tippy found some used books, a potato warmer, and some tomatoes. Doug and Sandy also found a few things and we all left with lots of bags and tired feet.

We took them to lunch for Chinese and everyone is now full again! We all enjoyed our menu choices. They dropped us of at the coach for an afternoon rest before Tippy goes to Mass at 5:00. She left at 4:15 and returned home a few minutes later after discovering it was only 3:15 in Crossville. We have such short memories. I will post some of the pictures from our visit here for you to enjoy. Tomorrow we are off to Georgia to see Mark and his family before pointing the coach to home. Enjoy and be safe.

On the road in Virginia & Tennessee

Natural Bridge, VA to Crossville, TN

We had a wonderful drive yesterday and today as we moved down I-81 and I-40 from Natural Bridge, VA to Crossville, TN. Tippy took many wonderful pictures along the way, that you can see above, but they just don't show the real beauty of the countryside and the vistas we were able to enjoy. We covered only about 180 miles each day so we didn't have to work too hard. On Sunday we will leave here and move to Georgia to see my brother Mark and his family. This will be a tougher drive over some red roads so we will try to get up a little earlier so we can arrive in the early afternoon but more about that later.

Enjoy these pics and I will post some more later, taken from our visit with my brother Doug and his family today. Be safe.

Coach site at Natural Bridge - Yogi Bear RV Park

Coach site at Natural Bridge

Pretty awesome! - look at the size of the people

Natural Bridge

Approaching Naturaal Bridge

Natural Bridge, Virginia

We spent the last two days here in Natural Bridge, VA seeing some sights and just relaxing. We didn't need to do any shopping so we just did some cleaning on Tuesday after our arrival and then a short nap before the evening activities began. On Wednesday we drove into Lexington, VA where we had lunch, stopped at a farm market, and enjoyed some small town sights. On the way back to the park, another Yogi Bear RV Park, we stopped at the Natural Bridge that was once surveyed by George Washington and later owned by Thomas Jefferson. It was truly remarkable with a resemblance to Rainbow Bridge at Lake Powell but with a size more like Niagara Falls. It was awesome being underneath the rock bridge and standing in it's shadow. Wednesday evening it cooled down a bit so we had a campfire and then grilled steaks for dinner. We continue to have the most wonderful weather with cool nights and pleasant days. Our good friends Steve, Kay, and Jim back at home keep us from worrying about the house as they all look out for it every day to be sure nothing goes wrong. We have really enjoyed their friendship and neighborly behavior.

We are off to Bristol, Tennessee today and then into Crossville, TN on Friday to see my brother Doug and his family. I believe he is planning a big family dinner on Friday so we can get to see everyone and get some good pictures so stand by and be safe.

Approaching a small town on I-81 West

A little color

Pretty special

Blue Ridge Mountains

Pretty scenery

Down the road

Blue Ridge Mountains in distance

I-64 west

Emporia, VA

After our great trip over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel we relaxed at a Yogi Bear RV Park in Emporia, VA. We had a good spot with satellite TV, 50 amp power, water and sewer hook-ups. We drove into town to try and find a Sam's Club but discovered it was in Petersburg which was about 35 miles away. We returned to the coach for a relaxing afternoon, a wonderful dinner, and a little TV before hitting the sack.



On Tuesday we drove to Natural Bridge, VA, about 180 miles, and stayed on the freeways all of the way. We like those red roads but it was nice to spend a day on cruise and enjoy the ride a little more. Tippy took some pictures along the way of the beautiful scenery and changing leaves. About those leaves; they are way behind this year I guess due to the warm weather, lack of water, and whatever else makes them change color before they fall. This link will get you to the Foliage Report http://www.foliagenetwork.com/reports/northeast_us/ where you can see the difference in color levels from one year to the next. The color is obviously way behind this year but we have enjoyed the trip in spite of the lack of color. Enjoy the pics and be safe.

Almost there

Into a tunnel - one lane in each direction

Very light traffic

A view of the north bound bridge.

Okay, let's catch up. Pennsylvania to Delaware

We had a great time in Pennsylvania at the Lake In Wood RV Resort. Our site was great and we were able to receive satellite TV reception. We drove around a bit in the Amish area and saw many folks driving horse and buggies and also riding bicycles with small carts behind. We also found the Shady Maple Smorgasbord and boy was there a lot of good food to be eaten! I have never seen so many serving stations and all with something different. I can't even begin to tell you all of the stuff they had but if you wanted something, you can bet it was available. Needless to say we were full when we left and had no need for breakfast the next morning.

We were only in this area for two days but we saw so much it seemed like a much longer time. We found a great Italian restaurant about 10 miles away and made it there for lunch one day. We had a great pizza with enough left over for snacks for the next two days. We departed this area on Friday, October 5th, and headed to Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. We are getting pretty brave as we took the red roads again until we got into Delaware. We took Pennsylvania highway 322 southeast to highway 10 and then south on highway 10 to highway 41 which we followed right into Delaware where we took Highway 1, toll road most of the way, south through Dover and finally to Rehoboth Beach. The drive was only about 185 miles but it took almost 5 hours on the road.

Unfortunately our site at the Big Oaks family Campground was not one to write home about but we at least had cable and 50 amp power. We did lock the coach at night, something we hardly ever do, and whenever we left the area. On Sunday we left and drove to Newark, Maryland and found a great RV park and we had a wonderful site that was right on a lake. The site was a back in but we wanted the lake view out the front so we pulled in and just ran the connections under the coach. The only problem here was we were there for only one night.

On Monday, October 8th, we drove from Newark, MD to Emporia, Virginia. This drive of about 204 miles took us over and under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel system. The system is over 20 miles long with two tunnels, each about a mile long. The bridges which composed most of the trip weren't very high off the water and we really enjoyed the trip. I had been kind of worrying about the crossing for a few weeks, but I really had nothing to worry about and the trip was truly pleasant. We saw many boats along the route with folks fishing around the bridge pilings. The fishing must have been pretty good for all of those boats to be so far from shore. I will post a couple of pictures Tippy took as we made our way across the Bay. More later on today's trip to Natural Bridge, VA. Be safe

Hmmmmm Good!

Food stations at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord

A small part of the seating area at Shady Maple Smorgasbord

More decorations

Christmas preparations at Lake In Wood Resort

Our site at Lake In Wood Resort

Lake In Wood - One more time

Fall color at Lake In Wood

The Lake at Lake In Wood RV Resort