Travels with haRVy

Today was much more relaxed because we only had about an hour and a half of driving to our next overnight stop at the home of my husband’s niece. We took a nice hike amongst Virginia Blue Bells, Trout Lillies and other wild flowers before heading to lunch in a tiny little old town’s bakery cafe.

Hiking in Virginia

Manassas Battlefield Bridge

Spring has sprung (somewhat) here with yellow Daffodils and Forsythia blooming amongst Red Bud, Cherry, Dogwood, and other flowering trees.

We drove back roads through rolling hills filled with horse ranches and farms under another delightfully sunny sky. It might rain again tomorrow night, but we certainly can’t complain as most of the week has been better than expected.

haRVy Parked at Relatives’ House in Maryland

We had a nice walk around the neighborhood at sunset this evening.

On future travels with haRVy we will plan more leisurely itineraries. Driving distances every day is tiring and expensive even though we are getting 20 mpg. It seemed like 8 days was leisurely when planning this trip, but it would be so much more enjoyable to have a few days to explore each area. We are looking forward to retirement more than ever.

Studying the Vehicle Manuals Again

Last night we were hosted by friends in Warrenton, Virginia, which is why I didn’t have time to make a blog posting.

It was fun to socialize and enjoy the dinner they prepared for us. They insisted that we use their guest room so we slept in a real bed last night. It’s so quiet here that we slept in kind of late. We’ve had breakfast and are now heading out to take a hike at the Manassas Battlefield.

We were on the road most all day yesterday driving through the back roads of North Carolina before heading into Virginia on the dreaded Route 95. Folks who only drive the major Interstate highways are really missing out. The smaller roads we’ve been on almost all have 55 mph speed limits so we are still able to make good time while enjoying some beautiful rural scenery and old town centers.

HaRVy continues to please us. The evenings are now quite cool so we’ve been using the diesel cabin heater, which kept us very cozy. All the appliances – the heater, refrigerator, and hot water heater are all surprisingly quiet. So much so that we could easily forget to turn them off. So far so good with all the systems…even the pump out works.


Studying the Vehicle Manuals

The onboard usable storage is exceptional for such a small space. Everywhere you look there’s another convenient compartment tucked in. In the cab area each front door has lage segmented areas with plenty of room for hats, glasses, maps, guidebooks and even my iPad. On the back of each seat is a large pouch and the glove box is huge. We’re keeping our clothes in duffel bags under the bench seat as well as in the hanging locker. There is food and kitchen storage galore with room for much more than a week’s worth of chow plus all the necessary dishes, pots and pans, silverware and more. Have I mentioned that there is even a microwave?

The bathroom has spill-proof shelves, an under sink cabinet and a retractable overhead clothese line. Inside the rear doors (entered from outside) is an entirely seperate storage area for stuff like tools, folding chairs, hoses, and other utility items so you don’t have to trip over them in the living area.

The weather front rolled through during the early morning hours. it was a bit nerve racking at first with waves of heavy wind and rain for several hours, but no hail or tornadoes developed so we are happy.

We got a late start this morning due to the storms and a shop for some camping necessities, but once we got going we made pretty good time. Nothing terribly interesting to report about the areas of South and North Carolina we passed through today, but the scenery was pleasant enough and we found some nice highways that were not too busy.

Once the skies cleared just after noontime it became a beautiful day although a bit cooler.

We are really enjoying this mode of travel and look forward to a much more leisurely pace in the future when we have looser itineraries. Moving on every day is getting tiresome and expensive as we burn through the diesel fuel. We are getting good mileage though, at least 20mpg.

I’m too tired to say much more except that we are comfortably hooked up at a nice campground on the Neuse River. Al has enjoyed seeing parts of the Intracoastal Waterway on which we sailed a few years ago.

Fishing Pier on Neuse River at our Campground New Bern Campsite

Dirty Work

Tomorrow we head into Virginia.

Goodnight.

We are feeling a bit apprehensive this evening as severe thunderstorms with a chance of tornadoes is forecast through tonight and tomorrow morning. We don’t even know what to do if the alarm sounds! At least in an RV you can run away from the vehicle, unlike when we were hit by squalls on our sailboat a few years ago. We just decided that there’s not much we can do about the situation except to hold onto each other tight and hope for the best.

Where We Weathered the Storm

Nature Trail at Anastasia State Park

This morning we enjoyed a delightful day of contrasts that began with a hike on the nature trail at our campground, continued on to a fun unexpected ferry ride across the St. Johns River at Mayport and lunch at Fernandini Beach.

On Ferry Across St. Johns River

We cruised through a few (there are not many left) funky beach towns and past MANY ritzy resorts and condo developments. In many places we drove for miles just yards from the ocean without seeing it because of the wall of buildings and landscaping.

We are trying to stay as close to the coast as possible while also avoiding Route 95, but neither were entirely possible today so we found ourselves amongst more large trucks then we prefer. We also got into a few traffic jams. There are just too many vehicles in this country, that’s all there is to it!

Navigating by iPad

It was a glorious day weather wise with plenty of sunshine. The winds were a but gusty, which tested our driving skills a bit, but nothing was too extreme to handle. As soon as we entered South Carolina we started noticing lots of wildflowers as well as azaleas and dogwoods in bloom.

We really feel like we’re in the South here as the accents are thick with lots of yes sir and yes mams uttered. I bought some locally produced sweet potato mustard and a sauce called “the end of boring food” at a roadside store.

Motorcycle Tent Rig

We made it to our first scheduled stop at 5:30 this afternoon. Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine, Florida is quite nice. There are 139 camp sites, but each is surrounded by dense vegetation so you get quite a lot of privacy.
I made salads, brown rice, and tilapia filets for my first experience utilizing our little galley kitchen. It is compact but efficient with a good 2-burner propane cook top, sink, and surprisingly ample counter space.

Making Dinner

Washing Dishes

We walked down to the beach at sunset (about 20 minutes each way). It’s a beautiful 4-mile long powdery white sand beach with protective dunes and picturesque sea grass. It is particularly enticing after driving miles of coastline that is totally obscured by condos and resorts. Here it is refreshingly unspoiled. There is also an inlet where people paddle and windsurf as well as hiking and biking trails.

Sunset on the Beach

The dishes are done and we’ve had our tea, so it’s time to make up the bed and try that out now. Good night.

Our Next Door Neighbors

We have officially embarked on our adventure. As I write this we’re driving across Florida to the West Coast. we have reservations at Anastasia State Park in St. Augustine. We provisioned this morning and have filled our “cool box” (what the manual calls the refrigerator) to the brim. Most of the cupboards are full now too so we are ready! I am very much looking forward to our first overnight onboard.

So far My husband has done all the driving, but I expect to take the wheel some time today. He is happy to have figured out the cruise control.

Practically every time we stop someone comes over to say something about haRVy. Some are RV folks while others have interests in various names associated with our hybrid. Some are Sprinter owners, some recognize the Westfalia name from the old VW conversions, and some are familiar with Airstream. A German couple couldn’t say enough about the quality inherent in the Mercedes – Westfalia combination. It is already apparent that we will meet many fellow travelers in this vehicle!

More later…

I’m back in the passenger seat after my first stint at the wheel. It’s very easy to drive haRVy. Visibility is good with large side mirrors and a rear facing camera for pulling out of tight parking spots, etc. The only time things get a little tense is during wind gusts when our tall stature presents a lot of windage.

The weather is very nice again today with clear blue skies and temps in the low 80’s.
 

Aerial Postcard Photo of Anastasia State Park – Today’s Destination