We left out of TX with the Eastern Shore of VA in our sites! We’ve driven through there several times, and spent a night or two when visiting Uncle Ken, but this would be a much longer stay. On our way, we stopped in Richmond and picked up Bill’s sister Maretta.

In case you missed it in the previous post, Bill’s Uncle Ken passed away in early February. He had been having some health issues, so it was not completely unexpected. While his passing was the reason for our stay, I will be talking about the mechanics of dealing with his estate in a separate post. This one will focus on things we did other than that, you know, the fun things.

For those unfamiliar, the Eastern Shore of VA is the area of VA on the Delmarva (DE, MD, VA) peninsula. It is the area immediately on the north side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnels system, which is 17 miles long. On the south side is Virginia Beach VA. We’ve driven through many many times on our way from PA to OBX. Lots of people are nervous driving the bridge/tunnels, but really, it is fine. Sadly, the restaurant that used to be on one of the islands is no longer open. It was a great spot with amazing views and a wonderful gift shop. I have no idea if/when it may be rebuilt. RVs used to be able to spend the night out there in the rest area, but no more. Now, you can stay in the Visitor Center parking lot on the north side.

Since we arrived later in the afternoon, (did a bit of stocking up while near Sam’s Club in Richmond) we decided to stay the first night at the Elks Lodge, where we’ve stayed before when visiting Ken. Maretta stayed at the same Hampton Inn.

The following day, we headed to Ken’s house and the first thing Bill did after getting us parked, was get us hooked up to the electric panel in the garage. It was very convenient that there was separate electricity in the garage. He also hooked up our water to the spigot.

While Ken has a septic system, it is the kind (I had no idea there were multiple kinds) that doesn’t have a clean-out. When we stayed in Michelle’s driveway, we were able to dump into her septic fairly easily. Thankfully, we did have our macerator pump and red rubber dump hose with us, which was long enough that Bill could (when needed) dump under Ken’s kitchen sink.

I’m not getting into all the details in this post, but the first week was mostly spent cleaning up and phone calls. Nothing terribly exciting, but I will get more into it in a later post.

One afternoon, we took a drive to see the immediate area. There was plenty of open land, which struck us as odd since the peninsula has the Atlantic Ocean on the east side and the Chesapeake Bay on the west. Having grown up close to water, we would have expected the area to be more crowded with homes, etc. It’s like that area has been left behind, and reminded us of pictures we’ve seen of our home area back in the 60’s.

One of the perks while we were there, is we were able to take out Ken’s car, a Pontiac Solstice. We took advantage of a gorgeous weather day and found our way to Chincoteague Island. Bill took the top down to let the sun shine down on us! We walked along the beach, even dipped our toes – whew! that water was COLD! We stopped at the visitor center to learn about the local ecology. Lunch had a view of the bay and was delicious! It had been a LONG time since we were out in a convertible!

On another fair weather day, we checked out a local flea market. Sometimes we have really good luck at them, other times, not so much. That day was an “other” time – should have let it remain a drive-by.

That same day, we continued to Ocean City, MD. We walked along the boards and enjoyed the amazing spring day. We had snacks and an adult beverage with a view of the Atlantic!

While it was somewhat estate related, we also had a LONG day and drove up to NJ. We decided to shorten the drive time on the way up and took the Cape May-Lewes Ferry. We were up and out early and caught the 8:45 am ferry. It was cloudy and cool, but calm, for our ride. Once we landed in NJ, we continued north, making 3 separate stops. Once all that was out of the way, we decided to drive back. Like I said earlier, it was a LONG day! But, worth it to get done what we did.

Bill and I had both been complaining about our phones. Bill had an iPhone 8 that was almost 4 years old and it was getting glitchy. Mine, a 2-year-old iPhone 11 worked fine, except for the battery that needed to be charged often. The plan was to replace his phone, and I would get a new battery. The Lynnhaven Mall in VA Beach had a Verizon Store AND an Apple Store, so it would be convenient to get both done at the same time. I even made an appointment at the Apple store. The plan didn’t happen as expected, I got a new phone (couldn’t pass up the $800 they offered me for my 11) and Bill, sadly, left without one. It needed to be ordered. Further adding to the annoyance, it was supposed to be there the next day and 4 days later, still no phone. So, it got put off til PA.

Our last “fun” day almost didn’t happen. We knew RVer friends, Steve & Denise, were fairly close by, it was difficult to find a day that worked well for both of us. At the last minute, we found a few hours and it was so worth the effort to catch up with these two. We originally met them at an RV Dreams rally back in the spring of 2018 in Parhump NV. Yea – that long ago! We’ve kept in touch via Facebook, but we really enjoyed having a meal and a couple of cold ones while talking about our travels since then and also showing off grandbaby pics!

Previous Post: 3 Months Went By in TX

Next Time: Family and Work Time in PA OR Dealing With Ken’s Estate

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