May 1996
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Wednesday, 1 May 1996
Walking, cleaning and sunbathing day.
Thursday, 2 May 1996
Took the RV into the storage location just north of
Myrtle Beach and started on the 500-plus mile drive to 0rlando. We were
going to make an overnight stop of it but we made good time and arrived in
0rlando about 6.30 pm - booked into a Days Inn near International Drive, which
was full of English tourists!
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Very hot so we went to an air-conditioned mall
where we brought Trish a thank-you present and
then made our way to Independence RV to pick up
the mail and car tags- at long last! Bought
tickets to a dinner show for that evening to see
Arabian Nights which proved to be very good. |
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Saturday, 4 May 1996
Still very hot and the forecast is for it to get hotter check-out time is 11 am
but we don’t have to be at the airport ‘till 5 pm. Lost the safe key which has
our passports in, cost $35 to solve the problem.
USA Trip - Part II
Monday, 20 May 1996
Having left the UK with temperatures in the low fifties, for the last three days
we have had temperatures around 90F during the day and about 70F at night. It is
good that we have air-con. We landed at Orlando
airport at 4.45 pm and about one and a half hours later we collected the Suzuki
and started our northerly journey up the I95. We drove for about two hours and
then stopped for the night at a hotel. We were on the road again at 7.30 am as
we had about 400 miles to cover and then collect the RV from its storage
location. Other than the car is very dirty, both the RV and car stored OK and
started the first time.
We are staying for three days in Myrtle Beach SC to get over jet lag and
tomorrow we start to move north. This weekend is Memorial Day (Remembrance Day)
so we can expect the campgrounds to get busy, and this weekend also marks the
beginning of the holiday season.
Saturday, 25 May 1996
Now at the Whispering Pines campground which is fairly full of American families
probably enjoying their first holiday weekend of the year - the weather has been
perfect and we went to an enjoyable Pig Picking (roast pig) last night with
everybody taking another main dish or dessert.
Sunday, 26 May 1996
Had a leisurely morning then went out for a fishy lunch at a restaurant on the
waterfront and watched all the very expensive boats coming and going. Got an
early start tomorrow morning to catch the ferry to
Hatteras Island and our next campground. It is a 2.25-hour boat trip so
George will be taking his seasick pills!
Monday, 27 May 1996
The Outer Banks are a chain of islands over 200 miles long and on average
less than half a mile wide, they are positioned about 25 miles off the coast of
NC. They are not a good place to be when a hurricane hits and the season has
just begun! We reached the Outer Banks islands via ferry from
Cedar Island (not an island) to
Ocracoke and what fantastic value. Compared
to the 45 minutes Dover/Calais route at a cost of about £100, the 2.25-hour sail
was only $30 for our 55-foot rig, and that includes a second 40-minute ferry
from Ocracoke to Hatteras. The ferries which run frequently are operated by the
State so they must be subsidised. Valerie was sceptical as to whether the
ferries were large enough for our rig since the second ferry only takes 20 cars
at a time, things were a tight fit but all was well. A couple of dolphins added
to the fun by playing tag with the ferry as we approached the harbour.
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George (gasping for breath) climbed the 280
steps to the top of the tallest lighthouse in
the USA, which is located on the point at
Buxton. Magnificent
views of the Outer Banks and the site of many
wrecks, particularly from the second world war.
After which (against the advice of Valerie) he
drove the Suzuki onto the beach and got stuck.
With much digging and a lot of help from a group
of youngsters who were going fishing, we were
eventually pulled out of the sand. |
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Wednesday, 29 May 1996
Passed the field where the Wright brothers achieved the first powered flight,
then drove to the town of Duck up the I12. The whole
of the island is being developed with large (very expensive) holiday/retirement
homes. As it is a very long and narrow island all of the houses are on or very
close to the beach but are at significant risk of being hit by a hurricane at
some point.
Thursday, 30 May 1996
Drove 340 miles to Natural Bridge,
Virginia and found a delightful
campsite in the Shenandoah valley surrounded by
the Blue Ridge Mountains. The
hedgerows are full of wild honeysuckle, the perfume of which is fairly strong in
the evening. Only a few other campers here, two of which are in the up-market
version of our RV. We will probably stay here for three nights.
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We visited Natural Bridge which according
to the owners is one of the seven wonders of the
World, we thought it was impressive but somewhat
overstated. The bridge was formed over thousands
of years by a river washing away the lower
softer rock and leaving the harder rock bridge
about 100 feet above the river bed. This was
followed by a 50-mile ride along the
Blue Ridge
Parkway, which in total is 467 miles
long. At the lower levels, the rhododendrons
were in bloom, at 4,000 feet the season was more
like early spring.
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