Virginia Again and Being Chastised at the Richmond Elks

I’ve blogged (and bragged) about the 4th of July fireworks many times in the past.  There are many communities who put on fireworks and people turn out in droves to watch them.  The activities and displays are huge.  So are the crowds.  Crowds bring traffic jams and most of us hate traffic jams.  We’ve found the perfect place to watch the huge displays without the crowds.  Whenever we’re in southern Washington we go down to the Columbia River in Kalama.  The fireworks are phenomenal.  Folks who love fireworks spend thousands of dollars putting on displays.  We find that our necks are busy going left and right trying to take them all in.  It’s an amazing display!  Now you know where we were and what we were doing with Lee and Sabrina Saturday night.

With the fireworks behind us and very, very late that night, I decided to take a look at the weather back east (Virginia, Tennessee).  Hmm.  It wasn’t too bad.  Next, I looked at flights.   It didn’t take long to make a decision, a kind of big decision really.  We had to move fast but less than 24 hours later, we were on an airplane and heading to Norfolk to pick up our motorhome.  Yep, no grass grew under our feet making that decision!

Our first stop was in Norfolk to pick up our vehicle.  Justin had been babysitting it at his house.  Instead of heading straight to the storage lot where our RV was parked, we decided to make a stop at the Navy Lodge and check in for the night.  Oops.  There was no room at the Inn.      However, after a little stress, that turned into a good thing.  We found a better, cheaper place to stay.  Things were good and just got better from there.  Dinner was at Chili’s with Justin.  We certainly enjoy the time we get to spend with him.  We had a nice visit but it didn’t last long.  However, we know we’ll be seeing him again within a few short weeks.

 My nummy salad ---

The next day was a visit to the storage yard.  We were pleased that the RV was perfect and just as we left it.  We had no reservations the next night so the plan was to spend it at a Walmart located in Hampton, 3 miles down the road. The only problem with this place was that Walmart doesn’t offer hookups.  When the temperatures are very hot and humid, hookups are more important than at other times.   That’s a lesson we seem to learn over and over again.  We hung around for a while and after we’d just about had all we could stand of the heat, we hit the road again.  Our original plan B was to move on up to a Walmart in Richmond. We also knew the Walmart there didn’t have hookups either.  The travel would get us up the road and make travel on Wednesday shorter.  We also figured it would certainly be cooler when the sun started going down.  (We honked at the Lavins as we passed Williamsburg!  We were on a mission.)

A few miles before our trip for the day was due to end, we changed our mind.  Our plan C now was to go an additional 15 miles down the road to the Richmond Elks.  They had hookups … maybe.  Well, according to our Elks book there were 3 sites with hookups and at RVovernight.com it was the same.  When we drove into the lot at the Elks we discovered only two RVs.  We were happy. I registered and paid for the night just like we normally do at an Elks.
  

------------ Two sites including ours  -

Back at the site while setting up, we received a visitor.  This (I suppose) was the host.  I can’t believe they have a host when there are only 3 sites but they do.  It wasn’t a friendly host.  He stood at the door first just staring up at me.  Not a word.  Not a smile.   When I asked what I could do for him he said was what he could do for me.  And, my first lesson should be to learn to call first before arriving.  That would be my lesson #1.   What?  He went on to say that there were only two sites at this Elks and the two sites were already taken.   In other words, he was trying to say there wasn’t room for us.  Hmmm…. he lightened up a bit after I told him I’d already been inside, talked to the manager and paid my fee for site #3.  To sum it up, if you plan on going to the Elks in Richmond, call first.

The host site  ------

We have a short distance left to roll into Roanoke.  Terry's brother is expecting us tomorrow.  We’ll be there a couple of days before we head on over to Sevierville, TN.  Of course, we have no reservations.  Maybe I’ll look into taking care of that in the morning …. maybe.  If not, maybe I’ll have another strange man at my door!

‘Tis life back on the road.