Day 53, June 7, Richmond to Lumberton, Working Our Way Home

Well, we are acutely aware that we are most certainly on our way back to Atlanta now. We have been headed back for the better part of a week now, but today it felt that way particularly -- probably, because we are essentially one state away. This had us feeling a bit down, to know that this wonderful trip was quickly coming to an end. We were also dealing with a full blown cold that Patrise had contracted. We think she got it from our great granddaughter, Royal, who had a small cold herself. Patrise started feeling bad yesterday and was really dragging today. So she was going to need a lot of rest today.

We left the KOA camp north of Richmond, VA and had no planned stops for the day. The traffic was heavy around Richmond and there were several, lengthy construction sites along the way. Having reviewed the Richmond KOA brochure, we had seen an advertisement for an RV car wash place south of the camp, so we headed there as our first stop for the day. It was great to get the road dirt, grime, and squished bug bodies removed from the vehicle. It looked almost like new.

After the RV carwash, we went to lunch at a local Peruvian Chicken and Tex-Mex restaurant. The food was very fresh and quite delicious. Vehicle cleaned, bellies full, now it was time for the big push to reach our destination. This drive was going to be one of our longest planned drives for the trip, almost four hours of driving without any stops. Already we had stopped twice and knew we had another stop for gasoline coming somewhere along the way. It was going to be a long day.

Patrise got to nap a few times along the way. With the cold, she really needed a lot of rest, and she was getting some of that as we were traveling. That's one advantage of a motorhome over a regular car; there are opportunities and space to do other things, while the vehicle is moving. Here are a few pictures of the journey to Lumberton, NC, where our next camp would be.

(The Roanoke River. Note, Patrise is catching one of her naps along the way. Smile)

(North Carolina DOT has these yellow daffodil arrangements at many places along I-95.)

(The Tar River near Wilson, NC)

When we arrived at the Lumberton, NC KOA camp it was late in the afternoon, about 5:30 or so. We registered and set up at our site. Then, with some encouragement, Patrise lay down on the bed to rest. I immediately organized our clothes and money (lots of quarters) to wash our laundry. Meanwhile, Patrise contacted a mobile RV repairman who was referred to us. We had been experiencing problems with the dining area slide expanding. In fact, the previous day, we were unable to get it to go out at all.

It so happened that Gary, from Junior's RV Repair, was already at the campsite helping another family. He came over shortly and reviewed the situation with the slides and with two of our vent hoods that had cracks or holes. After a discussion and agreement to use his services, he went to work investigating the slide problem. It was a simple one: the slides needed to be lubricated. He could not find replacement vent covers that he could procure shortly, so we had to settle for having the cracks/holes patched. Gary left the camp to get some supplies and returned about an hour later to complete the repair and maintenance work. Once the work was completed, we paid him and he left. As he had been working, I had been going back and forth to and from the laundry to process the clothes. Eventually those were done as well.

Dinner was Chick-Fil-A chicken noodle soup for Patrise and the other half of my shrimp burrito from lunch for me. We settled in for the rest of the evening, looking forward to the next day and hoping Patrise's health would improve overnight.