
We arrived back in Poquoson almost six months and 15,000 miles after we headed north to start our trip to Alaska. Hurricane Matthew delayed our arrival about a week, but we took advantage of the delay to visit more with the family. It also gave us time to tend to some maintenance on the RV and truck and catch up on some routine business before we head south again.

RV Stuff
“Honey, I can’t get the steps to open.” We had finally taken our spot at the dump station on our way to get some warranty work done at the RV dealer. But Cathy’s discovery meant we had one more item to put on the list. With some effort, Dave dropped the steps, but it was obvious they were seriously out of alignment. What next?
We pulled into the dealer just ahead of our scheduled appointment and took the fifth wheel into an open service bay. We had a long list of items to be addressed, but only a few were significant. By day’s end, the list was pretty well taken care of. Our table had a new support and was much more stable than it had been the last 6 months. There was a day/night shade in the rear window and the hot water heater had a new zinc anode and it was no longer dripping. The fridge had been pushed back in and resecured. To our surprise, the slide needed more attention than we realized. We had noticed the slide topper was a little loose and there had been some leaks when we were traveling in really wet weather. However, it turned out that the slide itself was out of alignment. With that fixed, the slide topper just needed a small adjustment. With all the miles driven since our last service appointment, we had the wheel bearings greased again.
“Honey, I can’t get the steps to open.” We had finally taken our spot at the dump station on our way to get some warranty work done at the RV dealer. But Cathy’s discovery meant we had one more item to put on the list. With some effort, Dave dropped the steps, but it was obvious they were seriously out of alignment. What next?
We pulled into the dealer just ahead of our scheduled appointment and took the fifth wheel into an open service bay. We had a long list of items to be addressed, but only a few were significant. By day’s end, the list was pretty well taken care of. Our table had a new support and was much more stable than it had been the last 6 months. There was a day/night shade in the rear window and the hot water heater had a new zinc anode and it was no longer dripping. The fridge had been pushed back in and resecured. To our surprise, the slide needed more attention than we realized. We had noticed the slide topper was a little loose and there had been some leaks when we were traveling in really wet weather. However, it turned out that the slide itself was out of alignment. With that fixed, the slide topper just needed a small adjustment. With all the miles driven since our last service appointment, we had the wheel bearings greased again.

However, there were a few items outstanding when we left. The microwave, which had been little more than a fancy storage cabinet with a clock since May, had to be ordered and we couldn’t wait for it to come in. In an amazing display of customer service, Dave’s call to Forest River’s Puma warranty office caused a replacement to appear on our doorstep (actually Cathy’s mom’s doorstep) the following day. It was a simple job to install the replacement and we are once again able to microwave popcorn and reheat leftovers.
Also, the stairs were not able to be fixed. They were pretty seriously out of alignment due to . . . well let’s not go into that. We had an estimate for replacing them which was motivation enough to see if we could do something ourselves. Once at Steve’s house, Dave and Steve used the tractor, some come-alongs and a sledge hammer to return the steps to near perfect alignment. With some strategically-placed bolts to keep them from slipping, we hope this will be a much cheaper long-term solution.
Also, the stairs were not able to be fixed. They were pretty seriously out of alignment due to . . . well let’s not go into that. We had an estimate for replacing them which was motivation enough to see if we could do something ourselves. Once at Steve’s house, Dave and Steve used the tractor, some come-alongs and a sledge hammer to return the steps to near perfect alignment. With some strategically-placed bolts to keep them from slipping, we hope this will be a much cheaper long-term solution.

The truck had its own problems that had to wait until we were back in Poquoson. Turning on the AC caused a screeching noise that was a not-so-subtle indication that it had a problem. After replacing the compressor, accumulator and the now-damaged tensioner, we could use the AC again without fear of waking the neighbors or being arrested on violating a noise ordinance. With an oil change, tire rotation, and inspection added in, we hoped to be ready to travel again and done with costly repairs for a good long time.

Avoiding Matthew
We were so focused on heading south and meeting up with family and friends that we hadn’t been paying close attention to the weather. By the time we were a day away from Poquoson, we finally checked and saw Hurricane Matthew approaching Haiti. A conversation with Steve gave us pause. The track could take it right over Hampton Roads by week’s end. So, if we came all the way there, we would likely have to turn around and leave shortly after.
We were so focused on heading south and meeting up with family and friends that we hadn’t been paying close attention to the weather. By the time we were a day away from Poquoson, we finally checked and saw Hurricane Matthew approaching Haiti. A conversation with Steve gave us pause. The track could take it right over Hampton Roads by week’s end. So, if we came all the way there, we would likely have to turn around and leave shortly after.

With the east coast in a state of flux as storm preparations were underway, we found we needed to find a place to tuck in for about 5 days. We returned to Pocahontas State Park in Chesterfield. They were starting to fill up with people escaping the storm further south and on the coast, so we felt good to be locked into a site. This also put us within a short drive of our son’s house. Having met Adam and Droz for dinner (on the RV in the Home Depot parking lot of all places) our first night through Richmond, we took advantage of our proximity to see our son and grandson a few times over the next week.

However, Steve was right about the rising water at his place. Lulled into complacency by Matthew’s initial track, he was stunned to see the water rising quickly as it took a route further north and west and than the predictions only a day before. The good news was that the water only rose so far, so nothing was damaged. We also received good news from Jacksonville, which had largely been spared by the storm. Faith UMC was doing well and Orion Jr looked pretty much the same as we left her. At this point, we just needed to wait to for Steve’s property to dry out, so we took a trip to NC to see Cathy’s mom and sister for a few days.

By week’s end, we were back in VA, this time making a whirlwind trip to visit the grandkids. We met two of our granddaughters and their mom in Emporia in the afternoon and then met our grandson in Richmond for dinner. By 8:30 we had been on the road for 10 hours and just wanted to get home, when we saw the road to the state park blocked by firemen. Luckily our GPS had a solution that got us to the campground. All was well with the RV as we called it a night. But after we lost power around 2am, we learned in the morning that a car had hit a telephone pole minutes before we arrived at the roadblock and the power had been turned off to fix the damage.

The next morning we were on our way – not to Steve’s, but to Kerr Reservoir on the NC-VA border. We were meeting our daughter’s family at North Bend, an Army Corps of Engineers campground on the Virginia side of the lake. We had beautiful weather to play with grandkids and enjoy campfires, good food and family time. By Sunday, we finally headed out to Steve’s house, completing the circle begun in April.

Going to the Chapel . . .
Shortly after arriving in Poquoson, we had to head out again, this time without the RV. We headed north to Reston in time for our annual physical and visit to see our friend Cookie. From there, we traveled south on a beautiful fall weekend to Charlottesville for Steve’s daughter, Stephanie’s wedding to her fiancé, John. Through an incredibly lucky turn of events, we were able to redeem some points for a night’s stay in a cabin on a lake at a resort near Charlottesville. We had only a little time to enjoy it, but we made the most of our visit, when not enjoying the wedding festivities.
Shortly after arriving in Poquoson, we had to head out again, this time without the RV. We headed north to Reston in time for our annual physical and visit to see our friend Cookie. From there, we traveled south on a beautiful fall weekend to Charlottesville for Steve’s daughter, Stephanie’s wedding to her fiancé, John. Through an incredibly lucky turn of events, we were able to redeem some points for a night’s stay in a cabin on a lake at a resort near Charlottesville. We had only a little time to enjoy it, but we made the most of our visit, when not enjoying the wedding festivities.

The remainder of our time in Poquoson, we managed to catch up with some friends, including a dinner with Sue and Steve and stopped by our old haunts in downtown Hampton and out to Old Point Comfort. Much has changed at Joy’s Marina, which has become a bit of ghost dock. We even caught our first Wallop’s Island rocket launch, watching the craft soar over Steve’s backyard on a clear evening shortly after sunset. After a belated birthday dinner on Halloween night, we prepared to get underway again, this time aiming for Jacksonville.