# 36 Rocket Man

 Rocket Man

The group had an area set up for registration.

We were in the Christiansburg, VA area last weekend visiting family.  We were invited by our brother-in-law Carlos, to view the monthly Medium Rocket Launch that's organized by the New River Valley Rocketry Group. They are affiliated with the Rocket Club of Virginia Tech.  We had a great time.  Carlos has all kinds of rockets, some so big that you have to go to a special launch pad that has FAA waivers.  Today's launch doesn't have any that large.  These are called "medium" rockets.  His rockets launched during this event include: Red Max, Chloe's Pink Bubble Gum (with HD camera) and the Chartreuse Green Machine.  There were people of all ages launching rockets today. I suspect one day some of the kids participating may be our next rocket scientists.






This was the first group of rockets to be launched.






I had to be quick with the shutter to get these photos.  The rockets went up fast!

Carlos had a couple of "chuffs".

These are misfires
that can be caused
by mis-communications and other technical difficulties. 
Red Max finally went up in the air in a huge puff of smoke.
                                                                                   

And what goes up, must come down...




and then you have to go retrieve your rocket...

.











It was so much fun especially watching the little ones enjoy seeing their rockets launched.














Next rocket to be launched was Chloe's Bubble Gum Rocket.  Carlos had mounted an HD video camera on the side.  Due to the uneven weight, the rocket went up a little "squiggly".  The resulting video image was squiggly too.


                                                      

Last was the Chartreuse Green Machine.  It was a successful launch too. 

 We really enjoyed ourselves. Thanks Carlos for the invitation. I heard many technical terms associated with the rocket and engine types, igniters and classification levels.  I asked lots of questions but after a while I knew I wouldn't get all the terms and quotes as accurate as I would like.  Hopefully the group will understand and view this post as an event we enjoyed and will forgive any technical information I might have left out.

# 35 NC State Fairgrounds, Raleigh, NC

We decided to Eas-On Down The Road for about 3 hours, all the way to Raleigh.....

We arrived at the NC State Fairgrounds Campground a few days before the Labor Day weekend.  We had received an invitation from Rick and Gail, of the Gypsy Turtles blog, to join them for a pot luck dinner that she was planning. We decided to come on earlier since we had lots of reasons to get out on the road...a visit with them, a visit with our family, local errands we needed to run in the area, the motor home needed to be exercised and I've been wanting to meet Howard and Linda Payne of  RV-Dreams.  We read they were to be guest presenters for the  RVing seminars at the Raleigh RV and Camping Show.  When Ron and I started our research on full-time RVing, we soon discovered the website, RV-Dreams.  We found it informative and very helpful as we prepared for our transition to this lifestyle.  Their inspirational site offers a forum, the blog of their travels and many other excellent features, that can answer questions one might have if interested in full-timing.  It's also great for other general RV info as well.  I've been following their blog for 3 years now and after meeting them can say they are as friendly and genuine in person as they seem in their blog. 

We had a great time visiting with Rick and Gail throughout the week.  We also got to enjoy few Happy Hours....  What a blast! We got to met Peggy and Gary of mooreRVfun when they stopped by for a visit too.

Gail did an awesome job organizing a Happy Hour/Pot Luck for Saturday.  For us, it was a special opportunity to be a part of a gathering of friends that have become acquainted through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was an evening of laughs, catching up and listening to fond memories. Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams were the initiators of many of these friendships, bringing together people through their popular rallies, with the same RVing dream in common.

We also enjoyed visiting with Gin and Syl of Wandering Sylville.  We met Laura & Bruce, Hank & Selene and John & Terri.  All of these couples met through the RV-Dreams Rallies.  It was a lot of fun getting to know these people.




 

The funny stories about RVing kept us entertained for a while.  We all laughed and laughed about our hilarious experiences and uh-oh moments.  What a great group!









I had to "pinch myself" to realize that all of this was happening in my "front yard".  It took 3 years of planning and work to achieve our full-timing goal. 





                                                      
We all enjoyed the delicious food and  I think everyone there had a great time.  No doubt, RVers are a special community of people.  It will be a weekend Ron and I will always remember.     

Ron says:  Retirement is great!

         

# 34 Miscellaneous Notes

  We are still located at Page Place RV Park in Cedar Point, NC.  I haven't posted to the blog lately because we have not traveled anywhere in the past 2 months.  My reason for having a blog is for recording our travels..so until we begin moving,  posts will be short and limited.  However, we are doing fine...including Little Boy.

We have been staying busy with small projects as we continue to enjoy our motor home.  Ron has completed a few maintenance items.  He replaced the air conditioner shrouds, repaired a small water leak near the front windshield and washed and waxed the roof.

I passed the written part of the NC non-CDL Class B driver's license test.  I was issued a learner's permit that expires in 18 months.   This permit allows me to drive the motor home under the supervision of another NC Class B driver's license holder.  Our plans are for me to practice driving the motorhome in a BIGGG, empty parking lot first.  I don't know if I'll get my NC Class B license, I've got a lot of practice to do before I can even attempt to take the driving part of the Class B test.

We have been fishing and we've had some success.  Ronnie caught 2 regulation-size flounder and they made a delicious dinner for us one night.

The water was very calm..northeast winds 5-10 mph.

This flounder was 16 inches.

We baked the flounder fillets in lemon juice, a bit of butter and Old Bay Seasoning.

One time Ronnie said he had a "big" fish on his hook.  He pulled and pulled on his rod and reel.  I got the camera out all ready and excited.... this is what he caught!

Ron said he really thought he had a big fish...not.

This is the Bell Buoy (Sea Buoy) that marks the entrance/exit to Bogue Inlet from the ocean.  It is obviously very calm or we would NOT be here.

This is the fishing charter boat "Nancy Lee V".  It leaves out of Cedar Point.

Our fifth wheel remains on consignment at Dwight Dickens Auto in Fuquay-Varina, NC.

2004 Carriage Compass, 32 ft.  2 slides, new awning

 

That's all for now.  I'll post again when we "Eas-on Down the Road"...

# 33 A Beautiful Day on the Water

Ron and I arrived at Page Place RV Park in Cedar Point last Friday.  We have leased our RV pad here for the next year.  This will give us ample time to get acquainted with our MH and our new lifestyle.  We do enjoy this area and are looking forward to spending more time here.

We received a comment a few days ago from some friends of ours that are also full-time RVer's.  Rick and Gail of the Gypsy Turtles blog wrote that they would be in the Cedar Point area too.  I contacted her right away and we worked out some opportunities for us to get together.  Ronnie and I invited them for a boat ride today and it couldn't have been better.  The weather was comfortable, the sun shining and the wind was pretty calm.

I mentioned to Ron he was being followed by the Coast Guard. 

We put in at the Cedar Point Wildlife Boat Ramp and headed towards Sneads Ferry.  We have traveled the Intercoastal Waterway in this direction several times, enjoying the peace and quiet of the water.


 
              

 The Coast Guard boat past by us.  I am always impressed by them and the courage they possess.   Their boat looks almost indestructible.

We took each others picture before we really got to moving.  I knew I wouldn't remember once we got going.

Today's water was especially calm which made for a nice trip. There were not many other boats on the water since the crowds of the holiday weekend had all gone home.  We took Rick and Gail to the River View Restaurant in Sneads Ferry.  We enjoyed a nice seafood lunch and had an enjoyable ride back to Cedar Point.

It was hilarious...we knew we would be putting each others photo in our blogs!

Near the inlet at Topsail we saw a large group of dolphin playing in the water.  We didn't take any photos of them, it just seemed good to enjoy the moment.  It was a beautiful day on the water, sun, fun, good food and relaxing with friends.

# 32 A Big Circle

We're camping at the Indian Heritage Campground in Martinsville, Virginia today. It was 6 months and 2 days ago that we were here getting acquainted with our "new" home.  Ron commented that we had just made one big circle, leaving here 6 months ago and now arriving back.  We went out to dinner tonight with the couple from which we purchased the MH and we enjoyed catching up with them from the past 6 months.  They were excited to see the changes we made to the MH and to hear our stories from our travels of the past 2 months.

Many of the blogs I follow, especially those that are full-time RVing, usually write at some point an assessment about their new lifestyle choice.  It's only been such a short time period for us, but so far we can say that we have enjoyed our new lifestyle and our motor home.  We feel that once we get on the road full-time, we will really begin to appreciate our new found freedom to travel.  There is a lot to learn about this motorhome and full-time RVing.  It seems we discover something new everyday and that only adds to the adventure.

We plan to go back to Coats, NC for the first part of the week, then back to Cedar Point for the summer.  We still need to try to catch that "door-mat" flounder.

# 31 Savannah, Georgia

We are camping at Savannah Oaks RV Park right off I95 for the night.  I have to say, for an RV park just off the interstate, I was not expecting it to be so pretty.  We are camped under some beautiful old oaks, draped with Spanish moss.

I cooked some dinner and then Ronnie and I walked down to the boardwalk area.  The lady who parked us in our site said that there was a boardwalk down by the river.  I could see the benches from our MH so I knew it wasn't far.  When we got down there, we were pleasantly surprised....it was a swamp.  Ronnie has always loved swamps and we just enjoyed sitting there enjoying the quiet and watching the turtles, squirrels and bubbles coming up from the bottom. 

The mosquitoes weren't bad like we thought they might be but the gnats were out and they eventually drove us back to the coach.  This ended up being a peaceful stop and just think...it's only 2.6 miles off I95.  This place reminds me of one of the reasons why Ronnie and I always enjoyed our summer camping trips from the past..our unexpected campground discoveries.

# 30 Remodeling, Repairs and Maintenance Complete...

After 18 days of camping at Alliance Coach, we are finally leaving.   We have completed our list of items we wanted to accomplish.  It took awhile and it wasn't cheap but we are very happy with the results.  Ronnie feels real good about the maintenance issues he wanted and we had a few necessary repairs that had to be done as well.  Our main goal was the TV cabinet remodel and that was a complete success.

This is the "before" picture.

We think master carpenter "Charlie" did an excellent job..  

  I had one item on my wish list and that was a new floor in the living area.  It just happen to work out that I even got that too.

Not the best photo, but it gives you an idea. 

 We met several interesting couples while we were here too.  Our camphosts were from Kinston, NC.  One couple we met was from Buies Creek, NC.  Two other couples we met were from Rocky Mount, NC.  I even met a couple from Florida and she and I worked on our blogs together. They had a big cat named Peanut that weighed 21 pounds!  Three other couples I met were full-timing couples and they had lived in their motorhomes for 10 years or more.  A few of the people we met had lost their spouses yet were continuing their travels.  I learned a lot from the people I had conversations, weather it was about motorhome issues, full-timing or just about any other topic you could imagine.  I was amazing to me to see all walks of life come through the lounge area and we all had something in common...our coaches were in that back warehouse being serviced.  Misery loves company I guess.....


We plan to go back to Coats, NC to see my Mom for a night or two and then drive on to Christiansburg, VA to visit with Ronnie's Mom, his sister and brother-in-law.