We were up early Monday morning, but by the time we emptied the waste tanks, prepped to go, checked out at the office and fueled up, we didn’t leave Clarksboro until around 9:30 and arrived in Roanoke Rapids and our accommodations at around 4:30.

Mostly uneventful trip from Clarksboro; continued down I-295 and across the Delaware Memorial Bridge to I-95 (Photo of Alvin as we cross the bridge). Then on to the I-695 West beltway around Baltimore to I-95 again. Then on to I-495 (South) which is the eastern side of the DC Beltway. Back to I-95 again then on to I-295 around Richmond and finally back to I-95 once again until exiting in I95 at exit 171 in NC for the Carolina Crossroads campground which is an easy drive and just a few minutes off the exit.

FUEL NOTE: There is a Flying J (now merged with Pilot) at Exit 2 off I-295 (Penn’s Grove, NJ) which has RV lanes with both gas and diesel pumps. We picked up our Pilot Frequent Fueler Advantage card there and activated it at one of the kiosks inside. This gives various discounts on Gas, Diesel, Propane and other services. Best of all, coupled with your VISA card the pump limit is raised to $495 vs. the usual $75 which saves a lot of time and hassle – transactions can be activated right at the pump without checking in at the cashier.

Traffic was moderate to heavy with one stop and go period on I-495 around DC. Road quality along the way was good to excellent with just a few rough patches. I-95 south of DC becomes smoother, flatter and overall much more pleasant with relatively easy driving.

 Kitties were good on this leg with Chooey hanging out in Mom’s lap for most of the trip. They would even come out during rest stops hoping we were done for the day. This is a big improvement over last year!

When we arrived at Carolina Crossroads campground the temp was around 43F, as I write this Tuesday morning it is 29F. Brrrr! The next two nights will be similar and we are hearing the snow word mentioned in the forecast for the next stop (Gaffney, SC).

Sites here are NOT paved as I had thought, but they are level with mud resistant “process gravel” and they do have a small slab for the picnic table. Sites are small but well arranged – our coach plus toad just barely fit in one of the larger sites. Staff is friendly our rate was $24 after discounts and coupon. Full hookups with 50A, this facility is fairly new by the look of things. WiFi is included (no password needed, but you must accept agreement so run your browser first before trying to connect to other services) and the signal was strong. Sprint 3G was good. TV was marginal, we got CBS, NBC and PBS but ABC was too far away. The signal locations were in opposite directions.

We have 3 small 200 watt electric heaters we run in the basement to keep the utilities from freezing up. The propane furnaces also heat those areas but we are trying to conserve propane and run electric heaters inside as well – which keeps the propane furnaces from coming on very often.

Next report from Gaffney, SC!