Our first RV adventure south was back in 2022 when we drove to Texas, then onto Florida for the remainder of the winter season. This is our fourth year traveling south for the winter and we are so grateful for the experience. Although we had endured many hiccups along the way, with faith and perseverance, we march on.
In the two previous posts, we mentioned some upgrades to the trailer and our delayed departure. With our upgraded battery system, we took advantage of our membership with Harvest Hosts and stayed at two locations during our 5-day trip to Florida. Our first was in Hershey, PA at America’s Transportation Experience. It’s a museum of motor vehicle history with amazing cars and busses, trains and so on. During our drive down it was quite windy. Although it doesn’t impact us while driving, to our surprise and pleasure, setting up and troubleshooting in the wind with gusts to 40 mph, was fun!
The museum is open from 9a.m. to 5p.m. We arrived just after 5p.m. and were unable to obtain any direction regarding where to park and set up. Despite this, we reviewed photos from Harvest Host, and we were able to determine the proper location. This was confirmed by an employee who was leaving work. Not sure if the gentleman could sense our confusion but he lowered his window and greeted us. He confirmed we were in the correct location and to “enjoy your stay!” The parking lot surrounding the museum is quite large and we were the only “campers” for this evening. We set up the trailer, warmed our prepared Shepards Pie in the microwave, watched a few minutes of TV and were in bed early. Running on battery worked great, after a minor setback or two, trying to remember exactly what we’re supposed to do to switch to battery; I need to make a checklist. I also found a weak spot in my design which I’ll need to rectify.
The next morning, Sunday, we were able to visit St. Joan of Arc Church for 7:30 mass. Upon our return, we took a quick tour of the museum. It was very interesting and well laid out. We saw many different automobiles, from Corvettes to Tuckers, even Saabs; it was fun. We were back on the road by 10:30 on our way to Virginia.
Our next stop was another Harvest Host site named Stone Bridge Equestrian Center located in Natural Bridge, VA. The equestrian center is a large facility located in the Shenandoah Valley on 155 acres. From the center, you can see the Blue Ridge Mountains to the east and the Allegheny Mountains to the west; the view was spectacular! They have two sites available for RV’ers. Rob got us settled in our spot and was very helpful during our stay. There was another couple in a camper van, but we only met them briefly.
Mag went roaming about with her camera while I finished setting up. After some time, I went out to join her, and we took a walk around the center. The batteries were down about 30% from the previous night, so rather than running them down another 30%, we took advantage of a 50-amp connection Rob had available. We left some $$ in a can in the barn in the way of a donation. They support (RARA) Rockbridge Area Relief Association, which assist those in need during difficult times; 100% of our donation will go toward RARA. We cooked up spaghetti and thawed out some sauce from the freezer. A salad, GF garlic bread with vegan butter rounded out the meal. We were both very tired and were in bed very early again.
We normally store about 25 gallons of fresh water when we’re travelling. The trailer can store nearly 100 gallons, but water is heavy, and I don’t like taking on any more than I think we’ll need. For this trip, I added an additional 10-15 gallons for a total of about 35 gallons. This evening, we discovered we used up all the H
O. I wrote to Rob and asked if there was a water spigot available, we could access to take on some water. He was very accommodating, but I waited until morning to add the water. Since we were in bed around 7:30, I was up at 4:30, so I quietly got dressed, snuck out of the trailer. I located the spigot, connected the hose, and added 25 gallons to the freshwater tank. I have a flow meter to measure the amount of water, otherwise it’s just a guess. We really enjoyed this spot; it was so beautiful!
Our next stop was with Denise & Dennis’ in Raeford, NC. We would normally spend a handful of nights but due to our delayed departure from home, and in order to get back on our original schedule, we stayed only one night. It felt like we “ate and ran,” but they fully understood our predicament. As usual, they were very hospitable, feeding us, entertaining us, it was nice to visit and see Jeanne settled in there.
Glad you had a safe trip. Enjoyed the photos.
M
Thanks Matt!
Just got out of the pool!!