Eric’s Blog

After a stressful day yesterday, towing the camper through two bridge tunnels, Hampton roads traffic, and the never ending construction on I-64W (seriously though, they’ve been working on that road since I joined the Navy in 1998. When are they going to be done? 😆). We made it to KOA Williamsburg safe and sound.

It’s so nice here. Lots of trees and it’s quiet for being so close to a major metro area and a highway. We’re just far enough away that it’s not noisy and there’s not a lot of through traffic.

We left later than normal, around 4pm from home, to miss most of the traffic. We didn’t have any slowdowns, but there were a lot of people on the road passing us. I did everything I could to just let it go and not stress. Not easy when you’re towing a 38’ camper that weighs 9,000lbs and it’s raining. That light at Diamond Springs Road was yellow for like three seconds before it went red and we almost wound up stopped in the middle of the intersection. We arrived at the campsite after dark and set up the essentials before calling it a night.

Set up was pretty easy. We checked in, pulled into our site, plugged into shore power and I fought the auto leveling system again. It keeps giving me errors, but I’ve been able to clear them and get it situated with a little patience. We unhooked and parked the truck and hooked up the water. Everything else waited until the next morning. One of the nice parts is that everything we need was already in the camper. No fuss, no muss, no coconuts.

We spent this morning doing a bit of maintenance on the camper. I flushed the black tank again and topped up the potable water tank and put some bleach in it to sanitize it. Even though we have a fresh water hookup, we’re using the water tank and pump to give that a try. We set up the black stone and I cooked us breakfast; Eggs and bacon. Then, we went to Water Country USA for the day. Or, as it should be more aptly named (The Meat Show).

It’s a nice park, not too big. We rode every slide but I didn’t get pictures because it’s a water park. I wound up with water in my ear and it hurts. It happens every time. That’s why I’m not a huge fan of water parks, but I was just going with the flow.

We got back to the KOA, had a little dinner, and I just put up a set of string lights we were given as a gift, a little camping flag in addition to my always present rebel flag (Star Wats rebel alliance, not the Confederate flag) and we’re enjoying the campfire.

Tomorrow, we’re going to Busch Gardens. This was our last big hurrah before school starts back up and I begin work as a contractor. We have one more camping trip planned for sure and we’d like to sneak in a couple more before it gets too cold.

When we’re done, we’ll have been to every campsite on the Eastern Shore save one. Adrianne is still trying to get us into that one. This is the farthest we’ve taken the camper so far.

It really is peaceful here. This is a great spot to set up a base of operations if you want to see the history in the surrounding area.

I didn’t think I’d like the camper lifestyle, but it suits me more than tent camping (sorry Mom). I still have great memories of tent camping, but it’s nice to have a warm, dry place to hang when the weather takes a turn. It’s also nice to have air conditioning when you want it, electricity, running water, a hot shower, and a toilet that flushes. Plus, set up isn’t as time consuming as lugging all the stuff across the lake and up the hill.

We haven’t been to a KOA that we didn’t like yet. This one is no exception. We will be back.