RV Life on the Road - Griffin Style

Update from the road - 10 days into our trip

2010-11-04T09:04:00.000-04:00

Well - it's been about 10 days since we left NH and it's been quite an adventure....Here's the story as it's happened so far..........

Our first night in Sturbridge, with 3 hours behind us, was long overdue. It was great to be on the road with so much adventure before us.....we had a "cookout" that evening and Shannon encountered her first Halloween trick-or-treeters. We had a peaceful evening with our sights on a 6 hour ride the second day.

The second day we were up early - around 6 and hit the road early. We traveled through Mass, CT, NY, NJ and finally hit Pennsylvania just before 3:00pm. When we arrived at our campsite, we set up, took Shannon for a nice walk and had our first campfire of the season. Here too Shannon got to experience more trick-or-treaters. (Campgrounds usually have Halloween themed weekends the 3 weekends before Halloween)

Sunday morning we were up early again...knowing that we only had a short 3 hour driving day. And knowing that once we arrived and settle in (in WV) we would be spending the afternoon with our friend Cynthia and her 2 kids.

We were very excited when we arrived at the campground to discover that it had it's very own "doggie park". A large fenced in area where Shannon could run around, play catch, chase her tail and otherwise "sew her oats" for a bit. We were delighted at the opportunity to let her release a bit of pent up energy. And boy did she have some.....

We spend that afternoon with Cynthia and kids doing a small hike near Harper's Ferry, WV. It's was about an hour long. We walked over battlefields and through woods. Later we drove into the town of Harper's Ferry (Much like Bow Street in Portsmouth) and walked around a bit and had lunch. The place we ate was "pet friendly" so Shannon was allowed up onto the second floor balcony with us, where we all ate outside. She loved looking through the railing at the people below. The waiter even treated her to dog biscuit treats.

Harper's Ferry is located down on the river where Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia come together. There are some great hiking trails and even the Appalachian trail going through part of the town. It's really spectacular.

Next day (Monday) we departed about 9:00am and headed south. We didn't have any definite plans as to where we were going to stop for the night - just knew that in 2 days we would be at Myrtle Beach, SC.

We ended up calling it quits about 4:00 and pulled into a very convenient campground just off 95 in Selma, NC. The place was pretty nice, and new, however if I must say (and I must say....) the girl in the office had the manners and personality of an overcooked turnip. (Not sure the "overcooked turnip" tells you much - but it sounded good when I made it up)

She had been on her cell phone when I arrived in the office and she had as much interest in me as she did in her job - which was none........

When we woke on Tuesday is was time to high tail it to Myrtle Beach. We were only about 3 hours away. The drive was easy and we pulled into our sight just around noon. Our feet were in the sand in a matter of minutes. And Shannon was finally in her element. We put her on a long 20 foot leash and she ran after birds, but shells in her mouth, and tried to chase the foam of the ocean. She had a blast.

We were at Myrtle Beach for 5 nights. (Elaine and Ted, friends of ours, were there too) Most of our time was spend walking on the beach - and just hanging out. The weather was beautiful and we had no cares in the world. On the 3rd (full) day, Russ and I took a drive around and found a (another) doggie park. This was one huge!! Shannon had a blast chasing around the other dogs. She befriended this "ridge-back" puppy who was only 5 months old - but almost twice as big as her.

We had a fabulous dinner out one evening with Elaine and Ted. We went to a place that was basically an "all-you-can-eat-meat-buffet." There was a "salad bar" with all the fixings, plus some staples like rice, potato's, broccoli,etc. But then the waiters (and there were several) would come around to your table with slabs of meat on a skew and cut you off a piece. Lamp, pork, sausage, chicken, steak, tenderloin, fillet Mignon, and every other kind of red meat beef you can think of. It was outrageous!!! Quite the place.........It was Elaine's b-day too so of course the waiters sang her happy b-day......

On Sunday we packed up camp and headed south again - and just in time I might add. The weather in Myrtle Beach was turning chilly and would get worse in a few days. Our destination was Charleston, SC. A county park: James County Recreation Park.

As I write this - we are still here - about to depart tomorrow. And I must say this place is AWESOME. The campground is great - just the right size - about 100 sites. The entire "Park" is 643 acres in total. It has lots of facilities: in addition to the campground, it has a kids playground, climbing wall, boat rentals, 3 ponds to fish in, 3 biking trails - each over 1 miles long. Lots of hiking trails, pavilions and more. And of course a "doggie park." And WOW - this is a great park. Puts the place in Myrtle Beach to shame. It's surrounded on 3 sides by water and the last by woods (and of course the fence). The area is probably about 5 acres large. Lots of dogs and lots of room to run. Shannon has been spoiled here as we take her on a bike ride to the park, let her play in the dog park, and then bike with her (she runs beside us) on the way back home again. And what they say is true: "A tired puppy makes a happy owner". We are thrilled when she is tired.....no mischief from her.!!!

Oh - how can I forget this story.......the big "oh shit" of the trip.........

When we arrived here we had to "detach" the car. Our campsite was one that we had to back into so this was necessary. While I checked into the campground, Russ did the car thing. I then jumped into the car, started it up and Russ followed me to the site in the motor home. HOWEVER, when I arrived at our campsite, I pulled the car over and tried to turn it off.......it wouldn't shut off. The key was locked in the "on" position and no matter what I did it would not turn off. So,....we got the motor home parked (in probably one of the worst spots in the campground.....the site really isn't big enough for our rig - although we made it fit any way) and then started to fuss with the car. Russ had to take out a fuse in order to turn it off. We ended up dropping it off at a dealership yesterday in order to have the key and ignition replaced.....to the tune of....TO MUCH MONEY TO EVEN MENTION!!!!!!!

We did however, have a great day yesterday. We went with Ted, while Elaine dog-sat, to an Air Craft Carrier (the Yorktown I think) here in Charleston. It was a fabulous day. We were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time and got our own personal tour of the flight deck from a gentleman who worked the flight deck of a carrier back in 1965 - 1969. (He was 17 at the time) There was probably 10 or so airplanes on deck and he went around and told us about each one. Then talked about the landings and take-offs of the airplanes and how it all worked. Really fascinating. We then toured (on our own) the rest of the vessel. We ended up in the engine room via the galley, bunk rooms, doctors stations, captains quarters, the bridge(s) (both captain and admiral). It was really cool!!!

This evening Russ and I went out for dinner at a great seafood place. Had shrimp and crabs of course. (What else does one eat in SC??) Ted and Elaine left today for Savannah....we will probably meet back up with them in about 10 days.

So - that's our travels from the road so far. Tomorrow we leave here - a 6 hour drive but we will finally arrive in Florida. We will stay at a campground we have stayed at once before. A state park about 50 miles west of Jacksonville. (Stephen Foster State Park) We stayed there on our trip home in 2009 and liked it so much we decided to return. I believe we even have the same campsite: #11. It's a great place to ride bikes and do some hiking. We weren't able to last time - but hopefully will get to tomorrow or the next day.....provided the weather cooperates....

Anyway - that's it for now....

Preparing for Fall 2010 Departure....

2010-10-05T16:39:00.000-04:00

The Griffins will be back on the road again in 17 days. The countdown began on the 1st of October.

This year we (I) will try and do a little better with the blogging....seem like there is never enough time....

This year we have a new traveling companion with us. In addition to Simon (the cat) we now also have Shannon (the puppy). We adopted her in early August and she has proved to be quite the happy little camper. We took her camping in August, just overnight, and she did great.

We have decided this year that we will travel inland, rather then along the east coast. Our target is Memphis, TN and somewhere in Kentucy too. (If someone has suggestions....please let us know!)

That's it for now....I will keep you posted with our progress.....

It's been a long time......

2010-01-12T19:22:00.005-05:00

That's right! It's been a long time since the last post.

Thanksgiving, Christimas and New Years have come and gone.......

We are still in Lake Pan, FL.
Recently the weather has been very cold. In the 20's and 30's at night, barely in the 50's during the day. It seems however that the cold spell will be coming to a close soon. There are rumors high 70's later this week. Finally we return to the weather which is the reason we are here and not in NH!

We haven't done as much traveling as we might desired but this winter we are on a tight budget. Instead we have spent time looking at realestate and rv resort. This is an activity that we really like.

We found some nice places that we will keep in the back of our heads....for that day when we change permanent residence to FL instead of NH.

The last trip we took was to the west coast of FL. A beautiful beach near Crystal Springs. We spent the day at the beach and then stumbled upon a "seafood festival" in a nearby town. We wandered the booths for a bit and finally settled on some really delicious seafood jumbalaya.

(Here are a couple beach pics)

Our next journey will probably be the end of this month. (January) There is a beautiful state park that we want to camp at for a few days. There are lots of hiking trails and things to do.

Not much else to report. The website is coming along......the campground directory is taking shape and we have begun to get lots of traffic. This project is a long term thing so stop by and take a look for updates. Best RV Resource

Anyway - hope friends and family are doing well.

Here is Simon enjoy his Christmas Box.

Camp Griffin

2009-11-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

We have arrived at our final destination: Lake Panasoffkee, FL
We have been here for about a week. Over the course of the last week we have gone to our favorite flea market for our favorite fresh produce, dined at our favorite local restaurant and swam almost every day. The weather has been beautiful.

Below are pics of our site and the campground.

Simon the Cat

2009-10-29T09:20:00.001-04:00

Simon is taking life on the road very hard.

Our day in Savannah.

2009-10-28T08:19:00.003-04:00

We took a day off from driving and spent it in Savannah, GA. What a beautiful city! We took a tour, via tour bus, around the city and saw so many beautiful buildings and parks. This is certainly a city to visit!

After the tour we took a walk down by the riverfront. Here are some pics:

We had a terrific lunch on the waterfront too: "Huey's". Lunch included blackened fish and seafood jambalaya. Yummy! Probably the best meal out we have eaten in months!!

The picture below is the horses and carriages. (Because you have to take a picture of the horses and carriages.) The rides were very expensive however.
$85 for a private carriage ride. Not in our budget!

We will return to Savannah again. There was so much that we missed and would have like to see. Perhaps we will stop next year on our journey south.

Catching Up

2009-10-28T08:12:00.004-04:00

I'm going to back-track a bit. This is a picture of the sunrise the day we left Myrtle Beach. It was another beautiful day and we hated to go. But we were also aching to get moving again and get closer to Florida.

This is the same morning. Looking down the beach. That pier in the distance is the one we had walked to on the first couple of days. Such a pretty beach!

Yea - OK. Here's the silly guy. Don't you want to take a ride with him?

On our way to Savannah, GA

2009-10-22T20:21:00.003-04:00

We got up early this morning to see our last sunrise at Myrtle Beach. (Our last sunrise this year anyway - we WILL return in the future)

It was a pretty easy drive today. Only about 5 hours. The traffic was light and the weather was favorable.

We arrived at a KOA just outside of Savannah and decided that we would just hang out for the afternoon. With the mini vacation we had in Myrtle Beach the drive took alot out of us.

Tomorrow we will spend the day playing tourist.

Myrtle Beach

2009-10-21T19:16:00.007-04:00

Our time at Myrtle Beach was spent doing a whole lot of nothing. We relaxed at the campsite, hung out at the beach and took lots of walks.

The second morning we got up and watched the sun come up. The sun is rising about 7:25am.

About a mile or so down the beach from the campground is the east coasts longest pier. We walked down there the first day only to find out there was a fee to go walk the pier. We had no money. So - we returned the next day with our admission money and took the long walk.

You can see in this picture that there are many people fishing. The place was loaded with hopeful fishermen and fisherwomen passing the day hoping for their big catch. We didn't see 1 fish caught the entire time we were on the pier.

There was a couple getting married the first day we walked to the pier. Sorry no pics of that....

This is the view from the pier, looking back down the beach. I marked on one of the pictures where our camper is in relation to where we are.

Well, that's it for now. Tomorrow we leave here and travel to Savannah, GA. It's a 4-5 hour trip so we will be up early in order to play "tourist" when we arrive.

We Found The Sun!

2009-10-19T14:56:00.005-04:00

It is Monday October 19 2009 and Russ and I have FINALLY found the sun again. We had not seen it since we left Hampton so it's a welcome suprise. We arrived in Myrtle Beach, SC last evening to lots of wind. The sun broke for a moment but that was it.

This morning however there were no clouds in the sky and it continues to be like that. The wind is blowing a bit but a sweater makes the day great.

Russ and I watched the sun come up this morning. There were quite a few fishermen on the beach too. They were very busy catching fish too. Not just standing there looking at the sunrise.

One of the fishermen is in a camper right next to ours. He caught 18 fish this morning - all the them bluefish. He let me take a picture of his catch, but he did not offer to give us any fish. I think he is storing them up for the winter.

This is the campground. Not filled right now - but there are over 1,100 sites.

We took this picture on our walk to the campground office. We have decided to stay here for 4 nights. The weather is predicted to be great for the next 3 days and we want to take advantage of it. If you look at the picture, you can see a little "arrow" that I drew in. That is about where our camper is.

This is a picture taken from the beach looking at our camper. If you look just over the roof of the white SUV you can see the front of our motorhome.

The beach here has lots and lots of shells. I took this picture just for fun. Don't you think this would make a great puzzle?!

Anyway - that's the scoop for now. Russ is napping, we just got back from a buffet lunch, all-you-can-eat. In a bit we are going to take a nice long walk down to the pier - about 2 or so miles.

Sunday Oct 18 2009 Myrtle Beach

2009-10-18T17:12:00.003-04:00

We have arrived in Myrtle Beach. We are a bit warmer and have actually seen the sun. The campground has over 1,100 sites but it is located right on the beach. Our campsite is located 250-300 feet to the ocean/beach.

This is a picture of us with the sun finally shining on us. It is very windy as you can see. But we are happy to finally see the sun! (Can you tell by how much we are squinting!)

Saturday October 17 2009

2009-10-18T17:03:00.003-04:00

This entry is not going to be as interesting.

We got up early again on Saturday morning to get through Baltimore and Washington as early as we could. And I must say.....it was smooth driving all the way. We were through both in about 2 hours. (Russ is a trooper!!)

Unfortunately we were still driving in the rain AND it was still cold. Earlier we had discussed going to Williamsburg, VA for a day but driving as far south in an attempt to be warmer won out any decision or desire to go to Williamsburg.

Russ drove about 300 miles on Saturday and when it was over we had arrived in Roanoke Rapids, NC. We stayed at a "new" campground. It had just opened in 2007.

This campground was not full. About 15 campers total stayed for the night.

Our Travels on Friday October 16, 2009

2009-10-18T16:10:00.013-04:00

In an attempt to catch everybody up on our trip over the last couple of days I have loaded the following pictures and will proceed to tell everyone what's been going on.

This first picture is the morning of Friday October 16, 2009. We are in the Poconos and most of the snow has melted from the previous evening storm. We got up early and were on the road by 8:15. We wanted to drive as far away from the storm as we could. We had watched the weather and the outlook for the day was more of the Nor'Easter. We were all set with that......

This was just up the street from the campground - but higher elevation. It was really pretty. We were happy to be heading south!

We decided after almost 200 miles of driving in the rain, sleet, and snow the whole way we would stop for the night. We had reached Maryland and were about 40 minutes outside of Baltimore. Another reason to stop was because it was Friday afternoon and driving through Baltimore and Washington on a Friday afternoon is not any event the we wanted to participate in.

This is a picture at the entrance of the campground. It was located about 10 miles off the highway and was really pretty. A very large campground with great view. We would have better pictures but the weather was raining and nasty.

Here is Russ sitting outside the motorhome at our site in the campground. We were located on the side of a hill, with a great camp sight. He was relaxing after a hard days work!

After resting for a bit we decided to play tourist and head into "town." We had read about an Amish Market that was located close by. This is a picture of 3 of the birdhouses (for sale) that were on display outside.

This is a picture of the "Big Chair" located at the entrance. It stood probably 10 feet tall. Russ was going to climb up so I could get a picture of him sitting in it - but it was still cold and raining. He didn't want to get wet.

This was inside the Amish Market. I would have hopped on for a ride but I was afraid the horse might not like it.

On the way back to camp, Russ saw this HUGE sunflower field. All the sunflowers were facing their heads down and out of the wind and rain.

So that was Friday. Saturday would begin with driving through Baltimore and Washington and then as far south as we could go. We were determined to have "sunshine on our sholders" by the end of Saturday.

Sunday - Update

2009-10-18T08:47:00.006-04:00

It is Sunday morning, we are 4 days away from Hampton, NH and we are still cold and it's still raining. YUCK does not even begin to explain how we feel about the whole situation!

We were going to visit Williamsburg, VA and Virginia Beach, VA but our desire to be where it's warm and sunny has outweighed any decision or desire to visit those places.

We are currently in Roanoke Rapids, NC. And like I said before, it's rainy and cold. About 45 degrees. Russ is bundled in layers with his slicker on, as he unhooks us from power and water.

We are on the road again this morning to travel another 250 miles south to Myrtle Beach with hopes that there will be sunshine when we arrive.

We have been looking at weather forcasts and maps trying to track the weather and we are pretty sure that later today we will see sun.

In the meantime - Russ has just disconnected the power so my computer is on battery power. I want to post this before my computer goes "dead" so I will finish up now.

Hope you all have a great day!

Leaving on Oct 15, 2009

2009-10-17T17:30:00.009-04:00

This was our departure date of October 15, 2009. We were up early and ready to go at 8:15am. Excited about our journey we had packed the night before so in the morning all we had to do was tidy up and hood up the car. This pic is of us in the driveway of Tidewater ready to hit the road.

As you can see somebody really has a "glow on" about leaving for the winter. You can't read it - but on his shirt it reads "Life is Good".

Traveling was pretty easy until we got south of Hartford CT. That's where we saw our first bits of SNOW. Yes, you read that correctly - SNOW. We unfortunately drove in that for the last 2-3 hours of the day. It wasn't bad - but just a bit disappointing since the whole reason to get away was to avoid the snow. (I guess you can't see it very well in this pic - but believe me its there!

Hopefully you can see the snow in this picture. We are sitting at a traffic light in the Poconos - it was coming down pretty good then!

We have arrived at the KOA Campground in the Pocono's. Delaware River Gap. Really a beautiful place. We wanted to make the best of it and were determined to have a good time - so I started up a fire.

So, here we are. The first night of our journey south and we are in the snow. But like I said - bound and determined to make the best of it. We are happy to be on our way to FL and hope that tomorrow will be a bit better.

Acorns Acorns Everywhere

2009-10-11T20:13:00.003-04:00

I wanted to share some photo's with you from the acorn storm we had the other day!

Still time to have a bit of fun!

2009-10-11T19:45:00.009-04:00

Today, both Russ and I had the day off. We spent the morning doing some organizing of the motorhome and some cleaning and then Russ's sister Kathy came for a visit. (with her Father) She was here to take the grill back to her house for the winter.

It's always hard to say "see ya" for the winter to all our friends and family.

After our visit, Russ and I decided to take advantage of the "time off" to drive down to Hampton Beach for a walk. I was suprised that it was as busy as it was..........but it being Columbus Day Weekend, I guess I should not have been.

After we went to Hampton beach, we decided to drive north a bit to "north beach" also located in Hampton. This is where all the surfers hang our. There were not vary many in the water today. Not enough waves.

While we were there a caravan from Quebec pulled in to check out the surf.

To complete our adventure out of camp, we went to the "Beach Plum" located north of North Beach at "North Beach State Park." This is a picture of Russ enjoying his "Award Winning" Seafood with Lobster Chowder. He said it was a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. He wondered what the judges had been drinking when they gave out the awards.....

That was the end of our time off for the day. After this we went back to the motorhome and Russ finished up working ourside while I spent time doing some tax returns.

Have I mentioned yet in this blog post that in 6 days we will be on the road and driving away.....YIPPEE!!!!

Greetings Friends and Family

2009-10-09T14:41:00.003-04:00

I just sent out an e-mail to lots of friends and family so they could follow our blog.
So for all you guys......greetings and thanks for following along!

It is October 9th. We are 7 days and counting. The list of "things to do" is getting shorter and we are getting more excited by the minute.

Preparations are being made for where we will stay the first few nights and from there we will "wing it."

The campground in Hampton where we are currently staying is very quiet. Although there is an influx of Columbus Day travelers, about 85% of the seasonal campers (sites) have been closed down for the season.

Wally (one of the campground owners) is spending countless hours raking and cleaning away the acorns and fallen branches from the heavy winds we had the other day.

I was at the motorhome during part of the wind storm. It sounded like thunder in here when the hundreds of acorns fell on our roof. (I wonder if our warrenty covers dents from acorn storms)

Speaking of which.....The last of the repairs have been made to the coash. (Another thing to strike off the list). Now we just need to do some organizing and we will be good to go!

Well - guess that's it for now. These posts will get much more interesting once we get on the road.

Hurry Up and Wait!

2009-10-08T06:36:00.004-04:00

It's October 8, 2009. Only 9 days till we depart. 9 LONG days!

Both Russ and I are going crazy counting the minutes. "Jacks-up in 30" (Meaning leveling jack are retracted so we can drive away in 30 minutes) is just not part of our vocabulary yet. But we are wishing and hoping......

One of the many downfalls of the "hurry up and wait" pattern is that we aren't getting much sleep. Once we wake up in the morning, regardless of the time, our minds are whirling with thoughts of leaving and all the things that must be done.

This morning Russ was up at 4:45am, having coffee at 4:50. I was awake at 5:15, and out of bed at 5:30. Which is difficult for me to wrap my head around since I am a "night person".

And it's really not "rocket science" that we thinking about. It's the simple things like the list of stuff to pick up at the condo, where are we going to park my car for the winter (ok - that one is but more serious), what day should we start forwarding our mail, when is the guy coming to clean the roof of the motorhome....the list goes on!

Like I said - not "rocket science" - but still thoughts!

So - enough of this writing. It's 6:45 am. I'm sure there is something else I could be doing in preparation for the trip that is much more useful then writing a blog.

Signing out for now!
-Sandra

My first post..I'm back at the Inn

2009-10-06T10:08:00.005-04:00

Back to work at Campers Inn today. Had a couple of great days off..Sun & Mon. I'm very excited to be heading to Fla. soon ( we love snowbirding!). We have much family visiting to do before we go. We will be driving away on the 16th or 17th of this month! Here is a pic of our Campsite at Tidewater Campground in Hampton NH

Planning our Departure from NH

2009-10-05T18:05:00.000-04:00

Greetings to all!
We are sitting at the kitchen table on Monday October 5, 2009. Russ just tricked me and told me it was my day to do the dishes. He does them on the "odd" days and I do them on the "even" days. (I lucked out because some months have more odd days....but I haven't said anything to him about that yet - hopefully he doesn't realize this........)

Anyway - here we are. 11 days and counting. We went grocery shopping today and started gathering food for the trip down. Russ mentioned that he felt like he was a chipmunk - gathering for the winter.

Coffee was the commodity of choice today. We bought 4 large containers. Russ estimated that 1 container lasts 3 weeks. Now we have 3 months worth of coffee. The reasoning behind this of course was the price of coffee in Florida. I think it was close to $10 per container. We paid $6.00 today. Yes we saved only $16 dollars but just think if we did that over and over again.

Our next trip to the grocery store - we are going to stock up on cracker barrell cheese. The price in Florida is $6 to $8 per block of cheese. At the store in Seabrook today it was 2 for $4.00. Lets see, if we purchase 10 blocks of cheese we will be saving $50. (Add that to the coffee and we have just purchased enough gas for the RV to travel from NH to Foxwoods!)

So this ends our first blog. We will be adding more posts as the days go by. Letting everyone know what is going on as we get closer to our departure. And updating as we make our way to FL. And of course telling all about our adventures when we get there.

Thanks for coming along for the "ride".

By the way - this is a pic of our "home on the road"