5 Jul - Arrived at Richmond Family MWR Campground, Richmond VA

 

We departed Williamsburg this morning at 1108 hrs, deliberately later than normal as our next destination, Richmond VA was just 61 miles down the road and check-in was not until 1300 hrs.  The drive was slow with a lot of construction and survey crew signs but we never saw a worker.  So one hour 26 minutes later we arrived.  Our early arrival did not matter as there is only one other RV in our campground!  

The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) owns this small base.  My son-in-law James Buehner lives in Battle Creel MI and works for DLA, in fact his boss is here in Richmond.  James works remotely doing IT and telephone troubleshooting and programming, so he can work from anywhere.  

The campground here is not "full hookup" as it lacks a sewer connection, so we are using onboard tanks for our waste and will dump and flush when we leave here at a centralized dump site not far from the campground.  We have plenty of capacity for our six night stay here.  The sites are not paved and not all that level, but seem fairly solid with a gravel base.  We supplemented the levelers with some additional blocks on the off-door side and it leveled up just fine.  At a site like this we also use a 9' x 12' mat on the ground under and around the stairs to help keep the coach clean.  

So we got leveled up, hooked up to water and power, deployed the slides and cranked on the A/C's.  These Alliance coaches have three air conditioners and two of the three are not ducted.  They are ultra quiet and very efficient.  What that means is if we only had a 30 amp hookup we could run any two of the three, but with a 50 amp hookup we can easily run all three.  The coach cools down quickly and it is awesomely comfortable in here.  

Traveling with our RV is like a home on wheels, most of the comforts of home, within reason.  Especially with the WiFi network I have installed, the Directv satellite dish on the roof available at all three TV locations, a residential-sized 18 cu ft fridge/freezer, a residential-style stove//oven and full sized microwave, it like being at home. The shower is big, the pottie ceramic :-) and the bed is a king.  Tonight we are sitting here planning the next few days touring while watching the Cubs and Phillies, downloading pictures, editing them, shrinking them and updating the blog.  Earlier were were entertained by three deer and a ground hog just a short distance from our RV.  

So interesting factoid about the Richmond base here.  Before World War II this area was owned and farmed by a Mr. James Bellwood.  At some point he had imported some elk from Yosemite National Park and from Northwestern Canada.  When WWII came around the government purchased this land from Mr Bellwood so they could build the Richmond Armed Forces Depot.  The negotiation was contingent on the government continuing and maintaining the herd of elk that had developed.  And that was the agreement.  Ever since then the elk herd has been maintained and they have a council that was formed to fund the operation.  Employees here donate towards the cause and through fundraising, sale of aluminum cans, etc the herd has not only been supported but has grown, and WE HAVE PROOF!!

This afternoon we drove towards the south end of the base and found their area!  The male elk (bulls) are kept in a separate area from the females (cows).  We counted about 9 bulls.

We walked down the road and saw a couple cows in a pasture, but once we got there there were many laying in a pods keeping cool, and many more up on a hill behind them.  There were probably 20 or more total.  They were so tame, they walked right up to the fence where we were. 

 

I am so proud of Doreen as close as she got to these critters and kept her cool.  She has suffered from PTSD ever since her motor vehicle accident with a deer where she suffered severe facial trauma including knocking out her front teeth.  Just a few years ago she would have never, ever approached the fence that close to these animals.

By the time you read this it may be 6 July.  On 6 July, tomorrow,  we plan to travel about two hours west and visit the city of Appomattox.  The Appomattox Court House is where General Robert E. Lee's surrender to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant in April, 1865 to end our Civil War.

6 July is also Doreen's birthday. If you have the opportunity either on Facebook, email (doreenschellhase@gmail,com), please wish her a Happy Birthday!