30 Jun - Arrived at Kings Creek RV Park, Naval Weapons Station Yorktown Cheatham Annex, near Williamsburg VA

 

We departed Virginia Beach this morning just before 1000 hrs and headed towards our next destination which is called Kings Creek RV Park at Cheatham Annex, part of Naval Weapons Station Yorktown near Williamsburg VA.  This is stop #21 out of 35 for this trip.  Although a short journey today, just 75 miles, it was seemingly one of the most complicated travel plans we have built.  To get across the James River there are several options, BUT most of them involve a bridge/tunnel combination.  Three of them, the Hampton Road Bridge Tunnel on I-64 west, the Downtown tunnel on I-264, and the midtown tunnel on Route 58 have a minimum height of 13' 6" and our RV measures 13' 4". To confuse matters one of them is 14' 6" eastbound but 13' 6" westbound!   Needless to say I am not chancing 2"!  A good bounce and you've got trouble.  So we needed to design a route and identify waypoints that would deliberately take us across the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel on I-664.  

Does not seem that tough, but the GPS wanted to take us the shortest route!

Through all the years we have traveled with our RV's, we've learned to never rely on addresses and always use GPS coordinates.  We also use multiple sources, such as a GPS + a cell phone with Google Maps.  We also roll with a printed copy of the directions for reference.  To make sure our Garmin GPS was synced with the route we planned on Google Maps the night before, I identified five sets of GPS coordinates called waypoints (black dots on the route, above).  The pre-planning paid off as the trip went without a hitch!  A few pictures along the way:

Heading across the Monitor Merrimac Memorial Bridge Tunnel on I-664

Navy ships at the Norfolk Navy Base

A harbor light with a cargo ship in the background

Cargo ship on the James River

Inside the tunnel.  A little over one foot clearance for our RV

Emerging from the tunnel, whew!

Exiting the bridge we were greeted by the Hampton Coliseum.

We rolled into Cheatham Annex at 1128 hrs, processed through the security gate checkpoint,  and arrived at the check-in building where we were reminded by the staff that check-in was not until 1200 hrs (oops!).  They were kind enough to let us in and we made our way to the Kings Creek RV Park.  

The main gate.

Kings Creek RV Park is slightly wooded which is nice as it gives us some shade, yet we have visibility to the southern sky so we have satellite reception. They have 50 full hookup RV sites plus many tent site and cabins for rent.  Cell phone reception here is poor, and there is no campground WiFi, so this is an example where it is nice to have alternate carriers.  It is also why I won't rely just on streaming for our television.  Glad we have Directv on the roof!  My RV network system uses AT&T and our cell phone are Verizon.  We can enable the hotspot feature on our Verizon phones and allow the RV system to use it instead.  Bottom line, both are a bit sketchy here but we have enough connectivity to update the blog!

Our Nations Colors flying high and proudly with the Air Force flag below.

Cheatham Annex was commissioned in 1943 as a US Navy Supply Depot.  Now it is a huge logistics center for the Navy and a center for expeditionary training, and of course a morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) center. As we drove to the campground we passed warehouse after warehouse.   Just on the other side of the fence from the campground is a storage area for excess small boats.  It kind of reminds me of the AMARG facility for aircraft at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson AZ!

We are here for five nights including tonight which was our travel day.  Our plans here include visiting  Jamestown Settlement, Historic Jamestowne, Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown Battlefield and American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.  Monday 5 July we move to Richmond VA.

29 Jun - NSTR - Last Day at Virginia Beach

 

Our last day at Oceana Naval Air Station Dam Neck Annex.  No touring today.  We spent the morning working around the RV in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning.  Doreen wanted to restock the groceries and had a few things on the shopping list so we headed out shortly after noon and had a Mexican lunch.  It had been a while and was really good.  Then a stop at Walmart for a few things, Home Depot, Tractor Supply for a propane refill, and 7-Eleven for fuel.  

Later the work continued around the coach.  A little computer work including a nasty-gram to Verizon Executive Office (blood pressure spiking....), a bit more cleaning, defrosted the freezer and walked the pooch.  

Doreen made one last beach walk and scored some more sea shells and great pictures.  So this will be our last beach stop on this trip.  We will still be near the water at Williamsburg, but tomorrow we say goodbye to the ocean likely until next year.  We have really enjoyed our beach time on this trip.

Tomorrow we head for the Williamsburg VA area, a military FamCamp called King's Creek Cheatham Annex.  It is located on the York River about 35 miles NW of Norfolk.  Our understanding Cheatham Annex is primarily a supply logistics center for the Navy.  We are excited about this stop as it is in the historic triangle of Williamsburg / Yorktown / Jamestown.  Short drive tomorrow, about 75 miles and estimated two hours.

Thanks for tagging along with us!

28 Jun - Assateague Lighthouse

Long drive north today to see the Assateague Lighthouse which is located on Virginia end of the Assateague Island.  To get there from Virginia Beach, we had to drive approximately 222 miles round trip, over the Chesapeake Bay via the 20-mile long, four lane Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel.  

There are actually two tunnels on that bridge, the Thimble Shoal Channel Tunnel (southern) and the Chesapeake Channel Tunnel (northern).  We were of course driving the truck without our trailer, but always taking notice of signs about overhead clearance which is 13' 6".  There are signs saying trailers are prohibited, but we sure saw a lot of them.  The lanes are none too wide and it is two-way traffic inside the tunnels, so you have to really pay attention when you are driving something as wide as the dually.  

For those who travel bridges and tunnels all the time this is probably no big deal, but we enjoyed it.  A few pictures (this is headed from the south end to the north end):

A long drive on the bridge before you get to the first tunnel

Heading down to the entrance of the tunnel

Entering the first tunnel

Inside the first tunnel.  Amazingly bright.  Sirius XM, cell phones, radios stations, etc lose signal in there 

There is indeed light at the end of the tunnel

Emerging from the first tunnel

Lanes split into separate northbound and southbound

Here you can see the entrance and exit of the northern tunnel

Entrance to the northern tunnel

I though they said no trailers?!

In we go

Looks like the other one

Daylight in sight!

One more bridge until we get back on land!

So that was interesting!  I had no idea the Chesapeake was that wide.  As soon as we got over the bridge and back on land we stopped at a rest area for a quick break as we did not know what would be available at the lighthouse. 

75 miles further north and we arrived at Chincoteague Island.  From there we crossed over to Assateague Island and the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge where the Assateague Lighthouse is located.  

The original lighthouse was built in 1833 for $55,000. In 1860 they started building a taller brick lighthouse, but it was delayed by the Civil War. After the war, work resumed and the lighthouse was completed in 1867. The lighthouse is 142-foot-tall with a base of over 27 feet in diameter and the lights can be seen 19 miles out to sea. 

To get to the lighthouse you have to park and then walk down a 1/4 mile trail through the woods. Because we had Liberty with us, I stayed in the truck with her (no dogs allowed in the park), and Doreen walked the trail.  We knew before we drove up here the lighthouse was closed to climbing.

Doreen was riddled with mosquito bites from her stroll through the woods, but was glad she got to visit this lighthouse.  To top things off we went seeking the elusive stamp for her passport.  We tried the Visitor center, but it had not yet reopened since COVID.  She did find a park ranger who pointed us to another office, so we headed towards the beach.  

The drive to the beach gave us the opportunity to look for the wild horses this island is noted for. Doreen did spot some a long ways out but we did not get any pictures. There is quite a story about the horses here. Their ancestors are supposedly survivors of a shipwreck off shore.  Each year there is a Chincoteague festival called "Pony Penning.'' On the last Wednesday of July, the horses are rounded up and swum to Chincoteague Island. On the following day most of the young foals are auctioned off. Proceeds from the sale benefit the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Department.

One of the "pen" areas

We continued down towards the beach and I dropped Doreen off at the building and continued to a turn-around where the beach area was visible.  Wow, tons of beach goers and a beautiful beach!

The Rangers in that building re-directed us to the main gate, so on our way out we stopped there and sure enough they had the elusive stamp!

With that completed, "mission complete", so we headed back towards Virginia Beach.  Re-entering Chincoteague Island we passed the Wallop NASA Flight Facility.  They also have a visitor center there and  I really wanted to stop and see it, but it was still closed due to COVID.  

A display at the closed visitor center

On the other side of the road from the visitor center is an area that looks like an airport but is a maze of spacecraft tracking antennas and other equipment.  

From the NASA Launch web page, in July the Northrop Grumman Commercial Resupply Mission-16
to the International Space Station will launch from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia!  Wished we could have visited it!

So southbound we went and soon we were crossing the bridge and tunnels again.  The water in the Chesapeake Bay is almost indescribably blue!  Beautiful, especially from the bridge.

Tomorrow we will work around here, probably pick up a few groceries at the NAS Oceana Commissary, and prepare to bug out on Thursday morning.  We have really enjoyed our stay at Virginia Beach, but are looking forward to our next stop which is near Williamsburg VA.  More history!