Sept'00-Dec'00
Heading east. First scheduled stop is Honesdale, Pa. To visit Mary Merron,
one of my new first B-cousins. (B-cousin=birth cousin, A-cousin=adopted cousin).
Found a nice campground in the area and then went to Mary’s. She and her
boyfriend, David, made us 
supper
and we sat around sucking suds and talking. Next day Mary took us sightseeing. I
like sightseeing with locals because they know the good places that aren’t on
regular tourist routes. We saw some beautiful scenery and enjoyed the day. Went
out for supper that evening with Mary, David went hunting, and said our
goodbyes. Next morning we were off to Shokan, NY to stay with my A-cousin Bob
and his wife Liz. Shokan is a little town in the Catskills about 100 miles from
NYC. In my younger years I used to go there every summer to stay with my
grandparents. It is a beautiful area and I’ve always enjoyed trips there. Bob
and Liz were good hosts. He had me hooked up to electric and I set up our
satellite dish. What more could I want. We had a full tank of water and were
able to use their house for showers (so as not to fill our black & gray
tanks). Black tank is for body wastes & gray is for sinks, shower and
washer. We used his office to check Email. During our 2 weeks there we made
frequent trips to Middletown, NY, which is 1 hour away to visit my B-mother,
Mary. We took the backroads thru the mountains to enjoy the scenery. Our visits
with Mary were enjoyable and on one weekend 2 of my B-aunts (Jessie & Kaye)
& 2 B-cousins (Tom & Kitty) came up to Middletown and we had a
mini-reunion. And a good one it was. They are some great people. I am very happy
that I found my
We left Shokan and headed for DC. For Veterans Day. We stayed at a campground
on Andrews AFB and spent 2 nights in the hotel (my sister watched LZ) with the
other vets. Since 1992 this has been an annual event for us. We have a reunion
and a banquet for the 
survivors of the Ia Drang
Valley in Vietnam. During our time there we honor our fallen
brothers from the valley. It is a very moving and touching time and I wouldn’t
miss it for anything. I guess you could say that this is my fourth family. After
the reunion we spent some time visiting with my sister Jean’s family. Also
took a side trip to see my old Vette.
We left DC and went to Virginia Beach, Va. Stayed at Ft. Story which has the oldest lighthouse in the USA. It is also the first building commissioned by the new gov for construction. They were filming a new Steven King movie while we were there but we didn't get close enough to watch. Also visited the local Elks lodge. It is a little bldg in a small strip mall type place. It was very small inside but the people were nice. We enjoyed our visit with them. If you are an Elk and in that area you need to visit this lodge.
We left Va. and took 2 days to get to Greenville, SC area where we spent Thanksgiving with my deceased friend’s 2 daughters and their families. My daughter came over also. Then over to York, SC to spend time with my daughter Sherry. One good thing about RVing is we get to see family more often than before. The campground was a park called Ebenezer Campground. Sits on a lake and has all hookups. Nice place.
We headed for Charleston, SC and stayed at St. Johns Island campground. They had their Christmas lights up and it was a 2 mile trip to see them all. Only negative about it was to get into and out of the campground you had to get in the procession that was touring the lights. Daytime was fine. No traffic. We visited the USS Yorktown an old aircraft carrier. There was a submarine there also and it wasn’t crowded so I decided to try it. I got down inside, lasted about 2 minutes and headed back up. Good thing no one was trying to come down. Kay took the whole tour and said it got even tighter for part of it. Visited the Charlestown Elks lodge also. Place is very big. It has a 10 lane bowling alley in it. Quite a contrast to the one in Virginia Beach.
On to Savannah, Ga for Christmas and New Years with Kay’s family. Kay’s whole family was there plus her Aunt Pat & Uncle George. Ate too much and drank too much but overall it was a good time. New Years eve wasn’t as bad as last year. Not nearly the fireworks & flares as the year before.
We stayed again at BelAir
Woods campground and this will be our last year there. Their whole attitude
changed from the year before and they were not near as friendly and very picky.
Whenever my in-laws came to pickup my wife they gave them a hard time also. It’s
not like the place was crowded. At one time we were one of only 2 campers there.
And the people running the place could not remember us when we came in. As I
said---no more. We’ve already checked out a place for next year.