Road Schooner

(Katie here).  Well, we’ve been so busy visiting with Tom, Brooke, Keara, Cian, and Cael that I haven’t had time to post.  We arrived last Friday near the DC area, and stayed at a campground due east of Alexandria, VA on the border of PG and Anne Arundel county.

Saturday, the Kierstead clan came out to the campground for a cookout and some fun with squirt guns, bubbles, playgrounds (including a static electric slide) and time for the grown-ups to catch up.

Saturday evening, the three grandkids stayed overnight so Mom and Dad went home for some quiet peaceful time alone.  Although both Keara and Cian were initially a little afraid of our Bonnie and Stevie Ray, by evening they were inseperable.  We returned the kids to their well-rested parents on Sunday and got a grand tour of their new townhome in Alexandria.  Keara was especially proud of her  private fourth floor loft with her bedroom and private bath.  We enjoyed a stroll through the very large park a block from their house then ribs for dinner.

We returned Wednesday for an evening, and I got to go with Keara and Cian to their Kempo (American form of Karate) lessons.  We are now off to Delaware for a reunion with Katie’s three brothers and one the nieces.

Here in Southeast Virginia for six days.  Another beautiful setting, this time on the Piankatank River.  Very big preserve — I (Katie) went hiking the other day for a full hour and never left the preserve.

The RV park where we are staying is in a public county park, and this has got to be one of the BEST county parks I have ever seen.  They have an enclosed dog park where dogs can bring their humans to play in the lake, happily chasing balls their people have thrown for them.

They also had a sailboat regatta albeit with remote control sailboats.  It appeared the remote would operate the rudder but not the trim of the sails.  Nonetheless, the operators were able to tack and negotiate with a great deal of skill.  They did the whole regatta thing of jockeying for the best start at the starting line then negotiating around the triangular course to the finish line.  Really cool.    Tomorrow it’s off to North Carolina.

Crossing the Savannah River into South Carolina.  Arrived in Charleston around 3:00, and the campground is loverly!  It’s a county park, and it’s a Good Sam park as well.  They have a BIG dog park on a small lake, and we may take the “kids” there tomorrow evening when it’s a little less crowded.  Don’t know how they’d do in a dog park with lots of other dogs.  There is also a pancake breakfast here tomorrow morning which we should be able to get to as they serve until 9:30.  Then we’ll hopefully do a little touring!  Will post more pictures tomorrow if we end up doing anything of merit.

Sometimes, little disappointments can turn into hidden blessings.  I had booked reservations at RV parks for each of the stops on our journey north.  I worked backwards from Delaware back south.  I had picked out a beautiful resort on Tybee Island, on the coast just east of Savannah Georgia.  It was tucked neatly between two beautiful beaches — in easy walking distance to either beach.  Unfortunately, when I called for reservations, they were already booked.  So I went back to the planning stage and found an RV park near Townsend, GA, about 45 miles south of Savannah.   And this is the view out the front window of our coach.  Nice sandy beach on a peaceful lake.  Not the ocean, but very quiet and restful.