Pohick Bay Trip, Day 5

Pohick Bay Regional Park, Lorton, VA - Wednesday, June 30, 2021, 0 Miles, 450.9 Miles For the Trip

Another hot day with 95°F+ (didn't I type that yesterday)?  After a morning walk I used the rest of the cooler 78°F morning temperature to bake a blueberry pie.  With the AC going, the oven didn't heat up the trailer at all.

After baking the pie we sat around at the Guido's trailer reading.  A dragonfly landed on Guido's antenna yesterday, and he took photos.  He (or she) was back today, so it was my turn: 

Ken stopped by in the afternoon & we talked right up until dinner.

Anne

Ken

Guido

Dinner was chicken artichoke & pasta with blueberry pie & Tillamook Vanilla cream for dessert.

Until Tomorrow - 

Pohick Bay Trip, Day 4

 Pohick Bay Regional Park, Lorton, VA - Tuesday, June 29, 2021, 0 Miles, 450.9 Miles For the Trip

Another hot day (95°F) here in Virginia.  I did a short 20 minute walk around the campground, then headed back to the trailer for breakfast.

On the trip to the park yesterday I hit a piece of wood in the road that flipped from the next lane into my truck.  I felt it hit the undersides of both the truck & trailer.  This morning I checked the underside of the trailer.  Bad news - the wood punched a hole in the gray tank, as well as cracked it from top to bottom.  There isn't much I can do here, but I hope I'll be able to plastic weld the crack & hole once I get back to Oswego.  Until then, no gray tank use.

Ken stopped by and we sat around for much of the day.  We headed to his house around 4:00 to hang out & for a light dinner.  An interesting drive back.  We took I 95 much of the way to Alexandria going to Ken & Lorna's, and tried for the back roads coming back to the campground.  A much more pleasant drive, however a bridge was out on one of the roads just before the campground.  We turned around and waited through two rounds of a stoplight before realizing that it was not going to turn green for our turn.  Seems they shut it off on the closed road side even though there were a few houses that must have needed the light.  In any case, we eventually made a right hand turn & "U" turn to get back to the campground.

Sat around outside until the light from my Kindle attracted so many bugs that I quit & headed into the trailer.  I have the AC set at 70°F, and can't believe how cold that feels!

Until Tomorrow - 

Pohick Bay Trip, Day 3

 Pohick Bay Regional Park, Lorton, VA  - Monday, June 28, 2021, 168.9 Miles, 450.9 Miles For the Trip

Sites 31 & 32, Pohick Bay Regional Park

A reasonably uneventful drive down I81, I 83, US 15, I 495, I 95 etc.    As usual, far too much traffic for me, although we only hit stop & go once.  We arrived at the Pohick Bay Regional Park around 2:00.  My site (#31) is a bit tight for my 21' trailer, at least getting between the trees on the way in.  Of course, as I started to back in someone came along waiting to get by.  It always helps to have someone held up while you try to get into a tough site.

The site is also quite uneven, requiring 4" side to side & 12" down on the tongue to get the trailer level.  Water & electric on gravel & dirt for $54.51 per night with an $8.00 reservation fee & a Good Sam discount.

We were not expecting on site water, so I stopped at he entrance to fill the tank.  There are a few electric and water sites, and ours have both.  Anne & Guido are in site 32. 

After setting up and a shower, the friends we made the trip to visit stopped by.  Ken was TD as the Oswego Theatre Department for much of the time I was there.  He & Lorna are living in Lorton, VA.  We had a nice get together for most of the afternoon.

Dinner was Hofmann Snappy Grillers (a white hot dog), and Bush beans.

Until Tomorrow - 

Pohick Bay, Day 2

 Jonestown KOA, Lickdale, PA - Sunday, June 27, 2021, 164 Miles, 282 Miles For the Trip

Sites 54 & 55 at the Jonestown KOA.  Check out the Sign!

It is hot! Anne & Guido's AC in the van worked OK for most of the trip.  Good, because it hit 95°F along the way.  While driving down I 81 Anne saw a sign for the Locust Lake State Park located about 40 miles north of Jonestown.  Since we couldn't get a reservation at the KOA on the way back on the July 2nd, we checked with Reserve America for Locust Lake & found two electric only sites next to each other.  A bit tight, but that saves making a 320 mile drive on the way back from Pohick Bay.

We arrived at the Jonestown KOA a little after 1:30, and checked in.  We were suppose to be two sites apart, however the Class A between us moved out as we were arriving, and they put us together.  I'm in site 55, Anne & Guido in 54.  $54.00 per night for a level, full hookup site on gravel.  A nice concrete pad in front of the door, large enough to hold the picnic table.

We spent most of the afternoon sitting outside in the shade with the AC on it the trailers cooling them down to a reasonable temperature - in my case, 72°.  The new thermostat lets me choose the fan speed, so once it cooled off I set it to low.  The Micro-Air Easy Start addition to the air conditioner eliminated the compressor start up "thump" which is nice, and will help it run on a 2K generator.  While it is still a very loud air conditioner compared to the mini splits I have at home, on days like today it is necessary to get a good night's sleep.

Dinner was Bubba Burgers & Birdseye corn & asparagus steamer frozen vegetables.   After dinner we headed to the KOA main building for ice cream.

Until Tomorrow - 

Pohick Bay, Day 1

 Binghamton, NY, June 26, 2021 118 Miles, 118 Miles For the Trip

Binghamton, NY

I finished packing, and headed to Binghamton a little before noon.  Kyle is taking care of the house & finishing up his latest fish tank project.

Did make one mistake - I had the trailer disconnect switch off because I was using the converter to supply the 12V stuff rather than the batteries.  When I unplugged to leave, I forgot to turn on the disconnect switch.  Discovered it on a lunch break 60 miles down the road.  The freezer warmed up 10°F to 11°F, and the fridge from 38°F to 43°.  Things are cooling down now even in the 84°F outside temperature & the sun on the refrigerator side of the trailer.

Anne & Guido are finishing packing.  They got their van back from an air conditioner repair, however the parts were not available, so they may not have any.  Predicted temperature tomorrow;  95°F.  Hope it works a little!

Dinner will be deli fried chicken.

Until Tomorrow!

Packing For Another Trip

 I'll be leaving this Saturday for Anne & Guido's, from where we will head to Lorton, VA to Pohick Bay Recreation Campground for a week visiting with friends.  It was going to include a visit with the grandkids who are in the general area, but discovered they will be visiting Brian's mother in Oceanside, NY the week we are near Takoma Park.  Just gives us an excuse for another trip later in July to visit with them.

The trailer is about half packed & the refrigerator is cooling down.  

I spent much of the day reserving campsites for my winter trip to Quartzsite.  I usually don't make reservations, but if the fall is anything like this summer, sites are going to be booked well in advance.  In addition, many state & national parks have gone to an all reservation system (no first come sites) so reservations are necessary anyway. 

 I hate to schedule for a month at a time, but until I hit the west, there isn't much other than campgrounds.   So, I'm booked for 2 - 6 night stays from October 21 - November 28th.  I'll probably add more along the way.