Every trip we’ve taken in our Sprinter van has involved a series of one-night stays. So, we decided to try a long weekend of camping in July, not too far from home, staying in one place for a whole four nights. It was a different experience being able to roll out our awning, set up our chairs, and relax! Here are a few pics from that trip to Lake Dennison in Winchendon, Mass.
And just for the fun of it, after Lake Dennison, we drove up to Meredith, New Hampshire, and parked overnight at Twin Barns Brewing Company.
A couple of weeks later, we drove out to Albany, New York, to Fidens Brewing Company. We took the opportunity to park at a Cracker Barrel for the night — something we’ll probably do more of in the future.
At the end of August, we took the Sprinter with us to Cape Cod, even though we’d rented a house in East Dennis. It came in handy as we had some house guests that week and the van became an extra bedroom. All of these short trips over the summer were nothing, compared to the fall trip we were planning… Stay tuned.
Two months ago, I posted about the first half of a Rhode Island van trip. We were headed to Newport for a wedding. The first attempt to blog about the second half of that trip got swallowed up by spotty wi-fi. We’ve taken a couple more short excursions since then, so let’s see if I can wrap up this trip in one tidy blog post. First, the wedding…
A scenic venue and great weather made for a perfect wedding day.
The ceremony took place outdoors at OceanCliff Hotel in Newport. We moved indoors for the reception.
Have you ever seen such tall centerpieces? No obstructed views across the table. Ingenious!
The setting sun provided a perfect backdrop at the end of the day.
I know Newport is supposed to be a tourist destination, but we weren’t feeling the whole crowds-and-traffic vibe, so we headed north the next morning. As usual, we scouted out a place for a morning hike/run. We found the King Benson Preserve near Saunderstown, RI.
After our morning exercise, we headed toward Providence. First stop, Tilted Barn Brewery in Exeter, RI, for lunch.
Then on to Roger Williams Park Zoo for the sunny and intermittently rainy afternoon.
After the zoo, the skies opened up and we had to navigate a torrential downpour to run from the van into The District in downtown Providence for supper. The food was very good, but the place was super air-conditioned, so I ate French onion soup with my raincoat on for warmth.
Our plan for the evening was to attend a Town Meeting show at Askew Bar and Lounge, just a few blocks away. No, not a town meeting. The three sons of our good friends, Beth and Dan, started a band several years ago. They called themselves Town Meeting, and we’re fans. They weren’t hitting the stage until late, so we actually napped in the van after supper, waiting for Askew to open. Good thing we got that nap in, since Town Meeting didn’t actually go on until about eleven p.m., after a couple of interesting opening acts. We played some cribbage and then some pool with one of the Town Meeting brothers while we waited.
We left Askew as the band was playing an encore. We thought the song before that one was a better closer, so we didn’t need to stay ’til the end. And it was past midnight. Way past our bedtime! At one a.m. we pulled into the driveway of other Providence friends, where we parked the van and hopped right into bed!
We spent the following day with our Providence friends, Mark and Kathy, and their children and grandchildren. All in all, an enjoyable day. And one more van trip in the books.
As with most road trips, once we start heading homeward, our sense of adventure wanes slightly. But we still try to break up the trip home with a few activities, mostly focused on stretching our legs between long hours of driving.
We left Wilmington, NC, on Wednesday morning, aiming for Dismal Swamp State Park in Camden County, NC. The name itself made us want to check it out. We found a boardwalk loop and other walking trails along a canal. As usual, we heard more birds than we actually saw. A foursome of deer surprised us on one of the trails. Or maybe we surprised them.
The park was on the North Carolina/ Virginia border, so we crossed into Virginia soon after leaving there. Wednesday night, we parked overnight at Chesapeake Golf Club in Chesapeake, Virginia, as part of our Harvest Hosts membership. Their restaurant was closed, so we took a ride downtown to eat supper. Then, we had the parking lot at the golf club to ourselves for the night.
Golfers started arriving early on Thursday morning, so we drove to a nearby Walmart parking lot to make our breakfast in the van. Then, we were off to cross the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel before the traffic got too heavy. It was 79 degrees out, as it had been for days, but the wind was gusting. The bay waters were choppy, but strangely we didn’t feel the gusts while driving across the bridge. The bridge-tunnel spans about seventeen miles. It was an experience, for sure. I unexpectedly found myself a little motion-nauseous by the end. Here are a few pics taken as we crossed.
Just over the bridge, we found the Eastern Shore of Virginia National Wildlife Refuge. We needed to get out and stretch our legs anyway. As you can see, you never know what you’ll find at one of these places…
After that adventure, we made ourselves lunch in the van and got back on the road. We left Virginia for Maryland, made a pit stop somewhere in Maryland or Delaware where Mark made a new friend. Yes, that’s a pedal-powered car!
The temperature dropped from almost eighty to the mid-sixties as we traveled north. We arrived at Fordham & Dominion Brewing in Dover, Delaware, late Thursday afternoon. Just in time for Mark to sample their beer, share some Treehouse with a few people, and order barbecue from a food truck, before the trivia night crowd packed the place.
We retreated to the van where I joined my chorus rehearsal via Zoom. At 10 p.m. we heard faint music which we slowly realized sounded like Taps and was probably coming from the Air Force base nearby. Felt like we were being sent off to sleep in style. We spent the night parked at the brewery as the temps dropped into the forties.
Friday morning, after hitting yet another Walmart parking lot, we drove to Blackbird State Forest in Smyrna, Delaware, for a little exercise despite the cold wind.
From Delaware, we drove up to Poughkeepsie, New York, to stay at a Holiday Inn for our final night. The temperature had dropped into the thirties by the time we arrived and promised to drop into the teens overnight. We left the heat on in the van all night to keep everything from freezing. In the morning, we blew as much water out of the lines as we could before we left the hotel parking lot. Light snow fell as we finished up and pulled out onto the road.
The snow got heavier for a while, but then tapered and stopped completely as we entered Massachusetts via the Pike. We were glad to leave the flurries behind because we knew our driveway at home was already covered in snow and ice from the recent storm. And we’d heard reports that another storm would be coming in a few days. To our surprise, we arrived home to find that some nice neighbor had cleared a spot for us in our driveway.
At the end of another adventure, lest you think it was all fun and games, let me remind you that no road trip is flawless. Life doesn’t work that way. But that’s OK. We may have had a glass jar full of homemade maple-rosemary nuts come flying from an overhead cabinet and smash on the floor, and a leaky cooler that soaked my camera bag and sheet music and ruined my Peterson’s bird book. But it’s all part of the adventure. Hope you enjoyed it. We did. 🙂
If you need to catch up on the first leg of our recent van trip, check out From Wilmington… To Wilmington… We left off in Fredericksburg, VA, on a drizzly Wednesday morning. The rain didn’t last long and we pulled out of the KOA about the time the sun was struggling to come out. We spent the entire day traveling and visiting in Virginia.
On the way to our third Wilmington, we stopped at lovely Lake Anna State Park. We hiked, ate lunch, and enjoyed the view.
When we left Lake Anna, we went in search of the next Wilmington on our list: Wilmington, VA. Having no idea what to expect, we were surprised to find it so obscure that we drove by it at first. This is all we found:
Apparently, Wilmington, VA, is an unincorporated community in Fluvanna County. Several online searches yielded very little additional information. So, we moved on to Richmond.
The two Richmond breweries on the itinerary were The Veil Brewing and The Answer Brew Pub.
At The Veil, Mark finished his tasting with a Double Raspberry Fizzy!
We ate dinner at The Answer, where we picked up a four-pack of a special-release dessert stout, Diablo Forever Coconut.
After supper, we drove south for another hour plus to the Holiday Inn in South Hill, VA. We treated ourselves to hot showers and a room for the night.
In the morning, we headed for North Carolina. Lots more adventures to come… 🙂
My husband, Mark, and I flew to Denver last week to pick up our newly converted Sprinter van from Titan Vans in Boulder, CO. I was immediately reminded of the day we drove our firstborn baby home from the hospital thirty five years ago. As we pulled away from the curb way back then, my first thought was They’rejustletting usleave?!
It took several minutes to figure out how to put the new van in drive, so the mild panic was justified. Neither of us have ever driven a Mercedes, so it’s a bit like learning to maneuver a spaceship. We’re also complete camping novices, so we’re very much out of our element. Other than that, we’re good.
Using our Harvest Hosts membership, we headed for Lawson’s Adventure Park in Dumont, CO, to spend the night camping in their parking lot. Dinner at Tommyknocker Brewery & Pub in Idaho Springs hit the spot. Mark enjoyed their Juicy Blood Orange double IPA. He also picked up an assorted six-pack of the Juicy, the regular Blood Orange IPA, and their Sour Peach.
The first night in our van is a story we may laugh about someday. I’ll save the details ’til then. The next day, we took ourselves straight to the Mercedes dealership for the inside scoop on hidden compartments and useful information.
We spent the rest of that day visiting family in the Denver area. It was so great to meet up with cousins who’d moved across the country when we were young.
First, cousin Michael and his girls explored the van.
The girls were celebrating their last day of school, so we had a quick visit.We stopped at cousin Donna’s house, then headed to cousin Barbara’s for dinner.
My Uncle Donald and Valois graciously invited us to spend the night at their house. We appreciated the warm bed, the hot showers, and their generous hospitality.
The following day, on the recommendation of my cousins, we drove to Red Rocks Amphitheatre. What a fascinating place!
Thanks, Mary & Ruth!
After Red Rocks, we set out for Thornton, CO, to visit some friends. Mary and Ruth used to sing in the same chorus I belong to. It was great to see them and catch up. They took us out for Mexican food and invited us to stay overnight. Another opportunity for a warm bed and hot showers. Score!
That’s all for now. So many more adventures and so little time to stop and write…
Chapter 3 