A Hazardous Trip Home - #31-05

March 5, 2003 (Wed)
New Bern, NC to Chincoteague, VA (347/3199)

We awoke to the sound of a slow train going by blowing its horn every 50 feet then a loud diesel engine starting up and sitting at idle for 15 minutes. This was about 5:00. We decided to go on and get up and get an early start. Showered, breakfasted, and broke camp in the rain. Dumping was an interesting experience. The dump station input pipe was higher than Q's holding tank output valve. The tank drained into the connecting hose which lay on the ground but nothing would flow up hill into the sewer. It made for an interesting problem and a lengthy solution made even more enjoyable by the rain. Finally got on the road just before 8:00. Continued on up US17 to US64 then east to The Outer Banks - the long string of barrier islands along the North Carolina coast.

A sign approaching the causeway over the Alligator River: "Watch for Bear". We did. Didn't see any. Part of the sign announcing Bob's Grill: "Eat and get the hell out." Direct and to the point.

We stopped and toured the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kitty Hawk. The visitor's Center was closed for renovation and there was a lot of other construction going on in preparation for the 100th anniversary of the world's first powered air flight. We got a brief overview from the guide in the temporary visitor's center and were sent on our way to explore the grounds. Interesting contrast looking at the original 852 foot flight path under a sky filled with contrails from modern jet airplanes.

We crossed the 21 mile long bridge interrupted by two tunnels - The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel - crossing Chesapeake Bay into VA at about 2:15 and moseyed on up US13 on the Delmarva Peninsula to the Chincoteague turn off. The campground we usually stay at here wouldn't let us rent a site for the night because the campground had too much standing water from too much rain. They didn't want us to get stuck! Many of our friends have camped at Tom's Cove so we decided to give it a try. There was no one in the office but a sign said "Pick a site tonight and pay tomorrow". We picked a good one right on the edge of the water. Beautiful!

Q049094 Tom's Cove Campground #D-7 e $29.79 A
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March 6, 2003 (Thur)
Chincoteague, VA to Home (285/3484 miles)

Awoke at 4:30 to the sound of rain on the roof and lay in bed worrying about what the driving conditions in New Jersey were going to be. It was 60 degrees when we finally got up at 7. It was hard to believe there would be anything to have worried about.

On the way to our traditional last day on the road fast food breakfast we stopped at the campground office to pay our bill. It was still closed. We took our Sausage McMuffins out to the Assateague Wildlife Refuge and parked overlooking one of our favorite ponds. Unfortunately it was very foggy and the wildlife was all pretty much still on migration south. We enjoyed our breakfast anyway.

On the way out of Chincoteague we stopped at the campground office again and let them rob us for our campsite. We think that campsites begin to get overpriced at $20. Since we'd chosen a prime site, we might have expected to pay a bit more - but the water hadn't been turned on for the season yet. $20 might have been reasonable - they charged us almost $30!

It rained all the way up US13 and the temperature dropped until it hovered around 29 and 30. We saw our first snow, a dirty pile of it, in Seaford, Delaware. Then we began to see more and more on the ground as we traveled north and listened to the news on the radio warning of the dangerous conditions in the New York area. Snow began to mix with the rain about the time we crossed the Delaware Memorial Bridge into New Jersey. That was as good as it was going to be for the rest of the trip. Conditions grew increasingly hazardous as the snow increased. There were cars and trucks off the road into trees, bushes, guardrails, and each other all along the way. On I-195 an 18 wheeler lay on its side surrounded by a dozen police cars and a couple of ambulances. We're glad to be safely home!

Q049379 Home