ccsimpson

12/2 to 12/5 in Jacksonville, FL, at the Naval Air Station. In no rush so may drop down to St. Augustine for the day. From running the heat to AC in a matter of hours. Love it! Supposed to be in the 80s the next few days. Carol

11/30 to 12/2 in Charleston, SC, at the AFB campground to visit out grand daughter. Left the cold of Virginia Beach and heading to warmer weather soon!!! Supposed to be in the 70's the next few days so the jeans and sweaters get folded and put away, hopefully for a long time!! Jim and Sandie, thinking about you. Carol

Thanks for the update Sandie, be sure and tell Jim we are thinking about him. Carol and Doug

Well, we are back in Va. Beach until the Mon. after Thanksgiving. We ran from Sandy and had no rain where we were. But the beach looks like there wasn't even a storm! Not much debris on the beach either. But I do feel so bad for those in the NY and MD areas. Carol

10/27 to 10/31 We made it to Concord, NC and are camping next to the raceway. Well, we may have escaped Sandy but she is still going to cost us!! 2 hours after leaving Va. Beach to escape Sandy we had our second blowout on the RV in less than a year!!Only no noticable damage this time that a little tweek didn't fix, and no trip back to the factory. Could have been a whole lot worse!! Still a shock as we limped off the road to a nearby church parking lot and changed the tire. Thank goodness for Pressure Pro, we heard the pop, the beep, and stopped immediately. We called the tire place in Concord before even leaving the church! So we have two tires to pick up Monday, one for the spare and one ro replace another one that is the same age as the blown one. Not taking any chances!! Soooo... $800+ for tires, CG fees, and the gass will push us over $1,000!!! Gee, thanks hurricane Sandy!! But always better to be safe than sorry. We were camped right next to the beach and word from family is that the sand is blowing horrendously and there are already high waves, storm surges and flooding. Sure hope we can return to the beach by the end of the week if they haven't lost power. At least there is a huge mall here in Concord and we are getting our walking done! Carol

We are leaving Virginia Beach today due to the storm. We are at the military CG on the water and looks like they are going to post a mandatory evecuation from the base in the morning. We planned on leaving anyway. Don't need all that salt and sand in every crevice! Been thu that once in Utah. We will probably wind up in Charlotte, NC, and return when we are called to return. Those on the road with us, be safe! Carol

10/20 to 11/26 at Sea Mist military CG in Va. Beach, VA. Camped right on front of a dune between us and the water. So pretty here this time of year and we are at the endwhere it is not built up and have the beach practiccally to ourselves. Sure beats the heat and humidty we had in the month of Sept. Will leave after turkey day and head south to see grand daughter in Charleston and then will hit Waucaula and Bushnell fon the way to key west and Oceechobee for the winter. Carol Coldsmoke, sure hope you manage to leave before any snow!! Sandie and Jim, I am missing AZ already!

10/16 to 10/18 at Kerr Dam near South Hill, VA. The capmground is a Corps of Engineer park and one of our very favorite. There is the huge lake and will give us the chance to camp in the woods and have fires. Should be nice and peaceful this time of year. The park closes at the end of this month. Carol

10/12 to 10/15 in Richmond, VA, for gramd daughter's birthday. Staying at the the Defense Supply Center Military CG. Only ones here in this 6 site CG! Just like last time! Should be awfully quiet this weekend! Carol

Coldsmoke, I want to catch up with you so you can take ME to the SPA!!!! Be careful, all of us women out there will be sending our husbands to you for training!!! Carol

Jim and Sandie, Yep. partners! There is a rodeo in Oceechobee, FL, where we are staying. Went 2 seasons ago and it was a real nice one. Soooo...I already have it marked on my calendar for March! You would be surprised at the number of rodeos in FL! Do they fly the Longhorns in ffrom Cheyenne, WY?!? Yee Haa!! Carol

10/8 to 10/12 at Seymour Johnson AFB in Goldsboro, NC. Chilling out til have to be in Richmond, VA, for a family birthday. Also just found our the NC state fair started in Raleigh today. Hmmm... not that far so just might have to take a little day trip over there! We love that sort of thing. Carol

Well, Jim and Sandie, bet you are glad to be south in AZ early after all. Saw where it snowed in Billings! We are still on the coast of NC and it is still humid. We should get the cold front tonight. Hope you guys are well. Will miss seeing you this winter, Maybe next winter. Carol

10/3 to 10/6 at Kure Beach, NC, Air Force Rec. area. Stayed an extra day in New Bern to avoid packing up in the rain and mud! Plus, it was still so humid. And this is October!!! Sandie, Always sad when we lose a felow RVer. Carol

9/30 to 9/31 in New Bern, NC, at the Marine Air Base military campground. Visiting old downtown New Bern and Beauford and maybe a few other outer banks. Carol

9/28 Elizabeth City Coast Guard Base campground. Just one night. They are full. Just roaming around in NC a bit until our other plans kick in. Carol

9/14 to 9/29 We decided to extend here at the military campground at the Oceana Annex rightr by the ocean in Va. Beach, VA. Just too much Dr. stuff and more time with family and friends. Plus we like this new campground and can just walk over the dune to the beach., I was born and raised here but it is still nice to play in the sand. Jim and Sandie, it sounds like you are having WAY too much fun in your part of the west! I am so jealous!! We will be back out there soon!!! Jim, so glad you seem to be doing so well! Carol

8/15 to 9/15 at Sea Mist campground at Dam Neck military campground in Va, Beachg, VA. We are back in Va. Beach (which used to be home) to visit family. It has been 18 months since we left the last time, headed to FL, then over to AZ for the next winter. We left the west in July , and boy do I miss it!! Had a wonderful 18 past months. Sure miss those mountains! Jim and Sandie, enjoy the Gates to the Mountains boat ride. It is a really nice boat trip. If you have time in Helena, there should be local info on a horse wagon ride in the mountains and dinner in a teepee. That is loads of fun and really good food. I think it is something you would enjoy. Carol

the Lavins, my daughter lives in Midlothian in apts on Hayden Run but close enough to Chestgerfield. My son lives across trown in Glen Allen. Are you near the area? We moved over to PSP this morning. Still hot and humid!! But we beat the rain they are calling for. This is going to be fun trying to entertain 2 grandkids on Mon and Tues when they call for MORE rain! Gee, I must be back in VA. That was the joke everytime we took vactaions and returned. I am from Va. Beach but we full time now. Carol

8/1-8/15 Richmond, VA to visit children and grandchildren. Hard to believe just a week and 1/1 ago we were in Cheyenne, WY. Been burning up the highway!! Lavins, the CG is the Defense Supply Center off of Strathmore exit from I-95 south. It is only 14 mile from Pocahontas State Park. Doug wrote a review on the military campgrounds website. It only has 6 sites, gravel, only 2 pull-thrus, water and electric, no bath house, dump is a block away near the storage area, no commissary or exchange, just a shopette. This just a stop- over place or last resort. Nothing to do here at all for kids so we move to PSP tomorrow per our reservation.

7/30 Huntington, WV at a little tiny airport RV park just 4 miles off of I-64. The park is right next to a small grass runway and right on the Ohio River. The air strip is used by the Skydivers Club of West Virginia on the weekends. One little private plane was practicing touch and go this afternoon. Only here for one night but I bet the skydiving would be fun to watch. 7/31 a tiny little 6 site military RV park on the western outskirts of Richmond, VA. After spending so much time out west this year, GREEN, looks beautiful but we sure hate trying to get used to humidity again! Carol

7/28 -7/29 Ft.Knox, KY. Need money??? I'll see what I can do!! Just passing thru on our way to VA. At least it isn't as hot as it was a couple days ago! Carol

7/24 Left Chanute, KS, and 103 degree heat after having RV repairs done. 7-25 one night in Odessa, MO, just west of Kansas City. Still sitting in 103 degree heat! 7/25-26 Scott AFB about 40 miles east of St. Louis. Still going to be hot!! Feels like we are crossing the desert just to get back to VA to visit family!!! Sandie and Jim, sure wish we were with you in Kalispell, one of our favorite towns. Sounds like you both are well and I am so glad you are out enjoying yourselves. Not to worry, no more steep roads! Looks like from here on out it will be flat!! Except across the Appalachian Mtns. which will seem like ant hills after the mountains we have been on this spring! I miss that western scenery already! Carol

Left Cheyenne, WY, on the 18th 7/18 spent the night in Seibert, CO, just a one cow town off the interstate, dirt roads, but at least it was a PA park and only needed 1 night. It is for sale if you like the middle of the plains! 7/19 in Russell,KS and 108 degree heat!!! 7/20-21 in Topeka, KS, to see friends 7/22-23 in beautiful downtown Chanute, KS, for repairs to the RV Last Sunday, the 15th, saw a REAL cattle drive in Cheyenne, WY, to kick off Frontier Days. It was real cowboys and girls and real cattle with horns, no cows! They have the drive every year on the Sunday before the start of Frontier Days on the following Friday. They start a few miles outside of town and then go thru town to the pens behind the fairgrounds. We watched from outside town, then jumped in the truck and made it in town to see the heard again. What fun!! We love the west and glad "ouside influences" haven't tried to destroy the wholesomeness of western traditons. Hated to leave but did see Frontier Days rodeos 2 years ago and will be back. Carol

6/21 to 7/18 at Cheyenne, WY, to kill time before being in Kansas for an RV repair. Yes, it is HOT!!! But I really like Cheyenne. We are at the military base campground. Spent the last 5 days in Loveland, CO, at the foot of the Rockies. Went up twice and explored different routes. We also took the one way dirt road up and that was pretty and saw elk at the top. They got only 2% of their total snow pack for this year so most of the snow is already gone. We saw more snow last Sept. up there. But it is still beautiful up there. Even saw big horn sheep in the Big Thorton Canyon. We took a loop drive from Estes Park on the back side of Long's Peak and it was a gorgeous drive!! Take 36 in Estes to 7 and follow it to Allenspark and Lyons where it meets 34 back to Estes. Wonderful views! Couldn't post the last few days because our router died so a new one is on order. We also avoided the High Peak fire near Ft. Collins but you could sure see the smoke! I feel so sorry for all those that lost their homes. I had to see that beautiful countryside and mountains burn. As we left the campground today, it was the first time you could smell the smoke and it was quite noticable. Carol