It is hot hot hot! Right now the temp is 94 but with the heat index says 105. Thursday it reached 111! But it's a "moist" heat! I keep saying this but I can't believe how fast time flies, we have been in Elizabeth City for two weeks moved on to Cheatham Annex at Naval Weapons Station Williamsburg, Va. We are in an AT&T dead zone, I had to go off base to finish the blog.
July 5, Happy birthday to Micah our Son-In-Law, happy 50th! A quiet day for us - laundry, housekeeping and banking. There is no commissary on base, just an Exchange and Mini Mart. I was so glad, I needed root beer for a new recipe I was trying, Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs. Sounds weird but it was quite tasty. While Gary was sitting outside he spotted a strange looking plane doing touch and go's on the airstrip. He did a little researching and discovered it is an E-2C Hawkeye, to me it looked like a large drone.
Thursday, July 6, Poor Luci, we left about 9 for the Outer Banks. First things first, we spotted a Mini-Golf course, had to stop and play 18 holes. I lost again! When we were in Dayton Ohio 2 years ago we visited the Wright Brothers home, bike shop and burial ground. So of course we we had to see Kittyhawk in Kill Devil Hills. On this (at the time) remote location on Dec. 17, 1903 Orville took the first powered flight of 12 seconds and 120 feet. Followed by Wilbur, 12 seconds and 175 feet, Orville, 53 second and 852 feet and the last, Orville, 15 seconds and 200 feet. I never knew Wilbur flew. Helping were friends from the Life Saving Station including John Daniels, the cameraman who had never even held a camera before.The Wright Brother's Monument stands 60 feet atop Kill Devil Hill, the site of the 100'a of glider flights that proceeded the powered flight. A granite boulder marks where the first flight landed, small stone markers chart the 3 other flight path distances. At the base of Kill Devil Hill is a life size sculpture in bronze of the plane taking off. The Wright Brothers stayed in Elizabeth City while looking for a place in the Outer Banks, and after finding Kittyhawk they purchased needed supplies including gas. We grabbed lunch at Outer Banks Brewing Station, the food was delish and the service was great, Gary said the beer was yum yum yum. Now we had a long drive down to Cape Hatteras National Seashore to see Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. The lighthouse was built 1870, the US tallest at 198 feet tall. You can climb to the top but Gary decided against, the temp inside was 100 with the heat index. In 1999 they moved the light house 2,900 feet, erosion was causing concern that the lighthouse would be lost forever. We drove straight back, getting home about 6:30. Poor Luci.
Friday, July 7, Another uneventful day, we spent the afternoon working on our itinerary. We have 2 dates to work around, we'll be in Paducah, Ky for the solar eclipse and September 24th for the Seahawk/Titan game in Nashville. After we leave Virginia there won't be many military RVparks to stay in. It always seems like a "crap shoot"picking parks. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, like Myrtle Beach. We met the base commander of Elizabeth City Coast Guard Base. Randy started his 3 year tour here just two weeks ago. He and his wife Donna and 2 dogs are RVing here at the park until they can find a house to rent. There is no on base housing here except for the dormitories.
Saturday, July 8, Gary went down to Plymouth to check out their Civil War history, I took the day off from sightseeing. He went to the Plymouth Roanoke River Museum a former railroad station, site of the Civil War Battle of Plymouth, one of the last battles the Confederates won. After dinner we drove to a nearby ballpark to find 4 geo caches. We found 1 but couldn't find the other two, as we were heading toward the 4th we heard a car horn??? We didn't realize they lock the gates at 7. We almost spent the night in the ballpark.
Sunday, July 9, Lazy day, we read and walked Luci. The highlight of our day was shopping for a bug zapper and an indoor-outdoor thermometer.
Monday, July 10, Another quiet day, Gary got a new military ID card here on base, we geo cached at the park we almost got locked in and then Gary washed the top of the coach.
Tuesday, July 11, We drove North about 30 miles to Dismal Swamp State Park. The name really gets your attention, maybe not in a good way. Early explorers tried to drain it for farmland, that didn't work so well, then they turned to logging. The North Carolina Nature Conservancy purchased the land from the timber companies in 1972 and sold over 14,000 acres to the State Parks. During the time of slavery the swamp offered refuge to runaway slaves, others stopped here on the way north, now the National Park System recognizes the the Great Dismal Swamp as a site of the National Underground Network. At the recommendation of George Washington the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Company was created, dug completely by hand by slaves, it runs 22 miles long, opened in 1805. Now part of the Intercoastal Waterway for pleasure boaters. We were warned about tickets at the Visitor Center, there are many trails you can take throughout the park. We chose the boardwalk, it's only about a half mile but should be relatively tick free. I'm just a little paranoid about ticks nowadays. The bridge across the canal is a swing bridge, very unusual looking. As we were wondering how it worked a maintenance worker came by. We asked what the toll is for boaters, he said they charge twice as much for Seahawk fans????? He saw our car with out Seahawk sticker, guessed right it was our car, then proceeded to give us a good heartedly bad time. He explained how both ends of the bridge raise up then then somehow the middle swings to the side. Last October, Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc along the Atlantic Coast including the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, it is still closed due to the many trees blown into the canal. Gary picked up a brochure at the Visitor Center of a driving tour Camden County Civil War Battlefields, not much to see. I did put him in the stocks at the Camden County Courthouse for being a smart alec. We decided it was a waste of time so we headed back to Elizabeth City. We had a nice lunch at Panera Bread before heading home to Luci. It was been hot, over 100 today, no afternoon t-showers to cool things down. We washed the back and side of the coach that was out of the sun.
Wednesday, July 12, We started the day washing the other side of the coach and front before it got "too" hot. Today is supposed to be the hottest day of the year. Did some preparation for our move tomorrow. After dinner our neighbors, Gary and Michelle came over for a visit. A nice couple, he is retired Army but is now working for the Coast Guard.
That's it for this week, enjoy the pic's.
TTFN
Gary and Pam
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