Fayetteville Stretch

We’re having a great time in Fayetteville visiting with family over the Thanksgiving holiday.

Friday morning we left the house right on schedule, 10:00 a.m., heading to the Jonestown/Hershey KOA in Pennsylvania.  We planned two stops at truck plazas, one in NY just beyond the Hudson River off Route 84 and a second near Scranton off Route 81.  We ended up skipping the second truck stop and opted for a rest area, which

 worked our better.  Mag packed a lunch for everyone, PB & Js or AB & Js, (that’s almond butter) depending on your preference.  The lunch usually gets eaten ‘on the fly’ when one of us is ready; usually it’s Marguerite.  All systems

 were nominal and the drive went well.  After  the trailer was set up, we got Jeanne settled at the hotel, which was less then a tenth of a mile away.  We decided to grab to-go food from Moose’s Restaurant a couple of minutes away.  Unfortunately, the GPS sent us a round-about way, probably several miles our of our way.  We dined in the lobby of the Fairfield Inn and then if was off to bed.  

Saturday, after breakfast, we got the trailer prepared for travel then pick up Jeanne.  We return to the campground to make the final connections and we’re back on the road.  It’s 10:05, so we’re right on time.  Similar to yesterday, we planned two stops.  We skipped the second one again and opted for a rest area.  The drive was good, not too much traffic and we pulled into Staunton, VA around 3:00 p.m.  Same procedure as yesterday, drop off the trailer and then get Jeanne settled.  

Last year we got stuck in Staunton over Christmas day because we had a problem with the truck.  We actually had Christmas dinner in the lobby of the Hampton Inn with meals from the Applebee’s next door.  Being the nostalgic group we are, we decide on Applebee’s again.  As we waited to be greeted by the host, we can hear him explaining to the folks in front of us that they don’t have enough silverware and that it will be a 30 minute wait.  Huh, lots of empty tables?  He then admits that they only have four servers…..  We ordered our meal to go and ate in the lobby again which worked out just fine.

The truck issue in Staunton last year was due to the frigid temperatures.  I don’t remember the air temp but I do remember the wind chill was 20 below zero.  This time around the temp is in the upper twenties overnight and, thankfully, no wind to speak of.  After dinner we head back to the campground to settle in for the night.  I mean to take precautions due to the cold weather to avoid anything from freezing.  Unfortunately, I didn’t recall that detail until 1:30 a.m. and forced myself out of bed to turn on the tank warmers and the heated hose outside in my PJs.  Thankfully, nothing froze.

During dinner, we discussed our departure time and elected to leave around 9:00 a.m. to get an early start on our ride to Fayetteville, where we will take a 6-day respite from hitching and unhitching everyday.  I think we actually got off just before 9, which might be the first time we ever departed ahead of schedule.  Staunton is located in the Shenandoah Valley between the Allegheny and Blue Ridge mountain ranges.  The first leg of the trip takes us east toward Richmond over the Blue Ridge mountains and the trip down the eastern side is really beautiful.  You see a vast expanse of rich farmland and ranches dotting the landscape.  Again the ride is uneventful to Fayetteville.  We setup at the campground and head to Raeford to Denise & Dennis’.  It was great to see everyone, we had a nice meal, visited some more than Mag and I headed back to the campground.  It’s about a 30 minute drive back on Route 295, a beltway around Fayetteville, right through Fort Liberty (formally Fort Bragg).  At the campsite, we take time to sit and relax before we call it a night. 

As Dennis was cooking burgers last night, he and I were chatting at the grill.  He asked me if I played golf and invited me to play at a golf course just off post the following morning.  We decided on Tuesday but hadn’t discussed a tee time.  Monday Mag & I hung around the campground decompressing and later in the day, Dennis got word to me that we’d be heading out at 8:00 a.m. for golf.  I didn’t feel right about Mag running me back to Raeford at 7:15 in the morning so I elected on Uber.  Mag had a relaxing morning and Dennis and I teed off at 9:00 a.m. at Stryker Golf Course.  We had a fun round, nothing serious, and we

both played fairly well.  Dennis covered the golf and we agreed I’d get lunch.  We stopped in at Huske Hardware.  As the name suggests, they did apparently sell hardware in the olden days but nowadays it’s merely a restaurant.  It was a great lunch and nice morning.

Early afternoon we got back to the Hillyer’s and Mag had arrived shortly before.  We enjoyed more visiting, catching up and reminiscing with lots of laughs!  Dennis enjoys cooking and had planned pork chops, green beans, rice and biscuits.      

 

Very early Wednesday morning the rain started, heaving at times, and rained until about noon.  We received enough rain to create large puddles around the campground.  We gonna lay low today and head back to Raeford tomorrow for Thanksgiving.  We’ve been charged with assembling mémère‘s salad and Mag also prepared a vegan Shepherd’s Pie.  We’re looking forward to our time tomorrow.  Along with the Hillyers and Jeanne, Elizabeth and Carson (daughter and grandson to Denise).