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TankerIP · 03-23-2009, 03:46 PM

On Sunday we returned to Colonial Williamsburg for the last day of our visit. It was still cool, but warmer than yesterday. An enjoyable day of walking around until most things closed. We were very impressed with the Governor's palace. At the end of the day we toured the Abby Rockefeller musuem with all kinds of examples of american arts and antiques. We did not realize, until this visit, how much John D. Rockefeller, Jr. contributed and worked for the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg. Impressive.

Monday we took a side trip, down the peninsula to Norfolk and Virginia Beach. A good sight seeing trip. We stopped by several campgrounds that we might use if we return here, but still like the one we are in now. Our neighbors left this morning, and when we looked next door, there was a small grave. It dates back from the turn of the last century. What a quaint campground.

Tomorrow we start our return to Texas. About a 1500 mile trip. Also, back to warmer weather. We had forgotten how this part of the country is still in "winter season". You can tell by looking at the campgrounds that a lot of RVers are still at home or elsewhere in the country

TankerIP · 03-25-2009, 10:13 AM

We started our trip back. Garmin had us going up I64 north through Richmond before turning west. This seemed a waste so we turned left at Richmond and followed Us360 and 460 to Roanoke. This was a great trip. Smooth highway, 4 lanes divided, little traffic, and lots of wonderful views of the Virginia countryside. A Bonus: We discovered Appomattox where the civil war ended. I was excited to finally get a chance to see this piece of history.

After a quick visit we continued west through Tennessee (in the dark hours). A storm was blowing through so we stopped at a Flying J for fuel and stayed until the storm passed by the next morning. (PS: all the truck stops in Tennessee looked safe and secure to stop at, but all the spaces were taken up by truckers resting for the night.) A breakfast at IHOP(with wifi) and Day 17 begins.

TankerIP · 03-26-2009, 10:59 PM

We woke from Flying J to a clear sky after a stormy night. Looked like another good day to travel.

West of Nashville we saw 3 Airstreams heading east on I-40 within a couple of miles of each other. A rally perhaps? We also saw one classic 27' going west at a rest area we visited. An overturned 18-wheeler going east tied up traffic for miles. Glad we were going the other way. We thought about stopping in the Memphis area, but there was enough light and day left to continue to Little Rock. We passed over the mighty Mississippi into Arkansas a little after noon. We made the requisite stop at the Arkansas visitor center. They had a nice tulip garden just sprouting up out front.

Little Rock AFB has a small on-base famcamp that appeared unchanged since the last time we were there, 15 years ago .They had a couple of openings in the part of the campground with only water/electric connections - this was fine for us. We did not unhook from the truck. By sunset the yesterday's storm seemed to move back in; a heavy rain started, so it was a relief that we had found shelter for the night.

TankerIP · 03-26-2009, 11:29 PM

We woke early. Since we were still hooked up, we were able to pull out as soon as we disconnected power and water. . Down I-30 we saw almost a constant stream of RVs.. I assume these were the winter Texans going back home. No Airstreams sighted, however. I guess they are traveling on another route.. Stopped for fuel at Murphy's (Walmart) outside of Little Rock. Price was $1.96 compared to over $2.10 almost everywhere else. I believe the majority of our 3,500 mile trip cost less than $1.99/gallon. I think that is pretty good. Our Dodge Cummins made about 16.5 - 17.5 mpg towing the 22' Airstream.

We had stopped at every state visitor center, so naturally we had to stop at the Texas center coming back into the home state. Glad we did. They have very nice facility. . A big screen TV with travel weather info greeted us at the entrance. . We picked up a good directory of state and federal campgrounds in Texas that I had not seen before. Then we were on our way - it was now only a few more hours to home, so were feeling good.

After leaving the visitor center - another accident and traffic tie-up for miles on the east bound side. A fifth wheel RV had come loose from it's tow vehicle. What a mess. I felt sorry for those RVers. Amazingly the RV looked okay. The tow vehicle had a badly damaged bed.

We made it home after 10PM. This trip was over.....but we need to start planning for the next one. Fun times!!!!