No, not at the crossroads of life but headed to our destination for the day – the RV Resort at Carolina Crossroads in Roanoke Rapids, another place we have stayed at several times, a trip of little less than 300 miles.

Before I begin the discussion of our trip that day, you might be wondering (or maybe not but I’ll tell you anyway) how our “kids”, Sparky and Gizmo, are doing now that we are on the road again. To us, it seemed like an easy transition from our floating yacht to our rolling yacht. For them, perhaps not quite that easy but they still seemed to quickly get into a daily routine. Water or asphalt – to them it doesn’t make any difference – an engine is an engine – it makes noise, vibrates (at least when you are lying that close to the floor) and causes their “home” to sway and rock ‘n roll.

Most days, with their bellies full after a yummy Fancy Feast breakfast, they happily snooze, snorting and legs twitching as they dream and fantasize about a life as lions on the hunt in the wild chasing birds and chipmunks and pouncing on mice. But on our travel days they are startled out of their peaceful bliss as one by one the four slides come in, the seat belts click, and the key turns in the dreaded ignition. Mmmmeeeeooooowwww! Quick head for the hills! Well, actually it’s more like – head under the sofa.

No matter how long a drive it is, that’s where they stay without a peep or should I say a meow out of them the entire time.

Interestingly as soon as we arrive at our site, no matter how long the drive, out they come like nothing happened. It’s strange though that when we stop at a rest area, they stay in hiding. It’s almost like they know our routine when we arrive at a campground – we leave the coach for a few minutes to check in, then there’s a short drive and finally the engine is shut down and the slides go out. Yippee they say to themselves – it’s safe to come out. Rob thinks I am assigning too much intelligence to them but they seem to have some special senses – my kitties are super intelligent you know – after all, they do have us humans really well trained. Or perhaps they can just read our minds?

Anyway, back to our journey of the day. After leaving Endless Caverns RV Resort, we hopped back on I-81S and since we are ultimately heading toward the east coast of FL we took exit 221 to I-64E towards Richmond, VA. This seemingly circuitous route bypasses the ickiness of the I-95 corridor from New York to DC and we prefer it despite a few extra miles – oh, and there are no tolls this way either. Both our GPS’s (Rand McNally RV Edition and Google Maps on a smartphone) wanted us to take I-64 to I-95 and proceed through the center of Richmond. That was even though Google maps was showing an accident on I-95 – what’s with that? So to avoid the city traffic, we elected to once again override the GPS and take I-64 exit 175 to VA-288S, a 4 lane divided beltway around the western side of Richmond. Surprisingly there was hardly any traffic on 288 – it was a scenic and pleasant drive although the road surface was a little rough in a few spots. We merged into I-95 just south of Richmond with minimal traffic.

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Around 3:00 p.m. we turned off I-95 at exit 171 in North Carolina, following the signs for the Crossroads RV Resort. Conveniently located near the highway with 85 sites that can accommodate rigs up to 70′ in length, this is a great campground for a one night stopover.  30, 50, or 110 amps of electricity are available at every campsite, as well as water and sewer hook-ups, plus cable TV sites are available. In addition to the campsites, they also have a few cabins. Other amenities include: free Wi-Fi, bath house, dump station, heated pool and spa, water slide, 1500 sq ft shelter, gazebos, 6000 sq ft dog run, propane, playground, picnic area, and store supplies. Also, they advertise that it is OK to wash your rig here – most places specifically prohibit this or charge extra.

After October 1st, they offer a free continental breakfast daily between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. Although be forewarned, if they are busy and you get there after 8:30 a.m., nothing will be left. We found that out the hard way 🙁

The rate is $37.50 but they give a 10% Good Sam discount all the time so it was $33.75 for the night. Passport America (Sunday – Thursday only) and Escapees discounts (not sure of the exact terms) are available but only during certain months (PA discounts will not be given during the months of October, November, March and April).

We were assigned to a pull thru site, P18, which was a full hookup, 50A site. Sites are level with mud resistant “process gravel” with a small slab for the picnic table. Sites are small but well arranged. Our coach plus toad just barely fit and that was after unlocking the tow bar arms and collapsing it (with the car still attached). Leave your trash out on your site by 10:00 a.m. and they will pick it up.

I had called earlier in the day to find out if we needed a reservation – we didn’t, even though it got pretty busy later in the day. There was a parade of snowbirds in RV’s of all types arriving steadily all afternoon and well after dark. Yet the next morning the place had mostly cleared out by 9AM. Clearly this is a popular stopping point for the snowbird migration and for good reason. Easy access from the interstate, well laid out level sites with full hookups and clear satellite reception and all at a reasonable price.

Despite all the action, for us it was a quiet evening! Stay tuned to find out our next destination.