Despite having difficulty going to sleep last night and Jerry’s good intentions to let me sleep a bit later than we had planned I still got up about 6:40. I quickly drank my cup of coffee as did Jerry and then we started pulling thing together for our trip home via Jamestown Settlement. We got there about 9:25 which for us was pretty good! We parked in the bus parking lot taking up two spaces. I closed all of the shades both to hopefully keep the heat down and keep out enquiring minds.
Upon arriving we saw an exhibit on the canoes built from the cypress tree. We had seen something similar to this when we were in Cherokee last year. The exhibit is on loan from the Maritime Museum so we were fortunate to have seen it.
Next we had a 45 minute tour through the Exhibition Gallery. The guide was very informative as have all of the guides been but I think both Jerry and I would have rather done the tour on our own. There were artifacts, dioramas and films (which we didn’t see) chronicling the nation’s 17th century beginnings in the context of the Powhatan Indian, the English and the African cultures. We probably could have spent more time in there but we were hoping to make the 11:00 tour of the outside.
Our first stop was the Powhatan Indian Village. The houses or yehakins though recreated are very similar to what the Powhatan lived in during the early years. Each house had a fire in the middle which burned 24 hours a day. Its main use was to cure the meats and tan the hides. Since most of the living was done outside, the house was used mainly just for sleeping. Also interesting, the men were the hunters and the warriors so nearly all of the work in and out of the home was done by the women. That included gardening, cooking, housework, raising children, raising crops – well, you get the picture!
Our next tour and my favorite was the James Fort. The guide was quite informative and after showing us some of the buildings he took us into the church where he gave a very thorough explanation. It was cooler and he was easier to hear – perhaps that’s why it was my favorite.
As we were walking toward the third display a guy commented on Jerry’s shirt “Charleston” and said they were headed there. They too are RVers and have been on the road since April. We only chatted for a few minutes but I would love to have picked their brain for some tips. They have either had 5 RVs and been RVing 9 years or had 9 RVs and been RVing 5 years. They have had diesels in the past but now have a gas and said they much preferred the gas.
Our final stop was the replica of 1607 ships. Again, a very informative guide, someone actually from England who talked about the trip the English made to the Spanish controlled country of America. There were three ships but it was late and we were hungry so we made a quick tour of only one.
As we were leaving we were asked to complete a questionnaire about a future exhibit on trade. Strangely enough Jerry and I had just discussed how nice it would have been to have audio tours. Although the guides are most informative the audio tours let you do it at your own pace and select the things of interest of you. Somehow I doubt that the museum will ever change to that.
As we left we stopped in the gift shop and got a Jamestown magnet to put on the fridge and then we ate lunch in their café. When we got to the RV I expected it to be extremely hot. It was warm but not as hot as I had feared. There was another RV in the parking lot and we could tell he had his generator on. That probably was a good idea and hopefully one we’ll remember in the future.
Upon leaving we set the GPS on the rig and it was sending us to the ferry so I set the Garmin to go to the campground knowing it would get us to 64W which would lead to 295 and 95, no ferries and no tunnels.
Finding gas on 195 and 95 is not easy but we finally saw a sign for a Pilot and a Loves just before the NC line. I guess Jerry read the sign incorrectly because he turned right to go to the Pilot station. A couple of miles later and on a narrow almost one lane road we decided we had gone in the wrong direction. We found a place where we could make a wide left turn. You can back up a coach with a toad but it isn’t easy, just inches at a time. I was just before hopping out to make sure we didn’t run in a ditch when I saw some lightning so I decided to stay in the rig. We headed on to the Pilot where the gas was $2.25 and got $150. Jerry wanted to fill it up but the gas was running very slowly and he is anxious to get home so he can get to the river.
We have run into intermittent heavy rain and thunder and lightning and although I suggested pulling over, at this point we headed on at about 50 miles an hour. Just passed a car in the ditch. Kind of scary so I’m just looking down!
Finally bypassing Wilson and the rain has slacked up some and the skies look clearer ahead.
Home around 6:00, took an hour longer to come home!
Let's Go RVing! 