North Carolina to Pennsylvania

We travelled from South Carolina to Reidsville in North Carolina to attend a motocross race. We were one of the first to arrive at the track and get parked up under some trees. Within a short period of time two other fifth wheelers (that were Raptor models like ours) parked either side of us. Our truck was small compared to the rigs towing the other Raptors (refer photo). However, we were in “Raptorville”. We got lots of questions from people about our Raptor and truck for towing.

North Carolina is still considered part of the South. Chris thought it would be less South and more of the North but you could tell within a short period of time we were still in the South, eg. the spitting, the accent. Also, they played two types of music from 7am to 10pm on the loud speakers (which were inconveniently placed right outside our Raptor in the trees) which were country and western. Also, Jessica, Alex, Caroline and Jessica’s parents (Bob and Angela) came to the track to watch. It was good to see the Tews again and meet Jess’ parents.

We left the track at Reidsville late on Sunday afternoon and travelled to Pocahontas State Park in Virginia (http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state_parks/poc.shtml). It is located 20 miles south west of Richmond, the state capital. It is a nice clean park with good facilities and has a lake and walking/biking trails which we all did on Monday afternoon.

There is a lot of history in Virginia, eg. the early colonies, revolutionary war and civil war. So on Tuesday we went into Richmond and visited the state capital and then onto Petersburg to visit the Pamplin Historical Park (http://www.pamplinpark.org). This is a 422 acre park that relives the life and times of soldiers during America's "War Between the States." There is a National Museum of the Civil War Soldier, Tudor Hall and a recreated Military Encampment. It was fantastic.

On Wednesday we went to (Colonial) Williamsburg which has a living history museum (http://www.history.org/). Colonial Williamsburg was the 18th-century capital of Britain’s largest, and wealthiest settlement in the New World. The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation has attempted to interpret the origins of American life through re-enactment of the daily life of colonials in a 301-acre area populated with restored, reconstructed, and historically furnished buildings. Fully costumed Colonial Williamsburg Foundation re-enactors, not allowed to break character, tell the stories of men and women of the 18th-century city, from all races and backgrounds. It really was like being there 300 years ago. When you first arrive, you freak out at the sight of men wearing the tight pants they used to wear at that time.

On Thursday afternoon we packed up and drove an hour to Dillwyn VA for another race on the weekend. Josiah got first in both motos to take the overall win in the 7-9 stock class but mishaps in the 7-11 open class meant he didn’t qualify. We were glad to leave the motocross track as it had rained a lot and Chris overused the water blaster to clean the bike so we ran out of water on Saturday afternoon.

We travelled north from Dillwyn VA on Sunday afternoon. We had planned to be in Pennsylvania that night but it didn’t work out that way. First, the weather was torrential rain so it made the driving slow. Second, the GPS unit took us along a track in the boondocks that ran parallel to the interstate. The roads were small, winding and hilly. By the time we got onto the interstate to Harrisburg PA we had crossed the state line into West Virginia and decided to stay the night in a parking lot at Walmart. The store was right beside the interstate. Some of us didn’t get much sleep due to the continuous thread of large rigs traveling by during the night. Sarah also hurt herself falling out of the fifth wheeler.

In the morning we went into the Walmart to get supplies (it was also warmer in the store than in the RV - the temperature was around 8 degrees celsius). We then left to stay in a RV park in Gettysburg (near Harrisburg PA). It was timely (well overdue) to get cleaned up at the RV park.

Gettysburg is such an interesting place to visit. It was a major battle in the five year American civil war between the Confederacy (South) and the Union (North). It took place in the Union's territory as General Lee pushed up from the south after some victories over the Union. The battle took place on 1st to 3rd July 1863. The South was under the command of Robert Lee (General Lee) and the North was under the command of Major General Meade (Army of the Potomac). There is an auto tour in Gettysburg so you can drive along the roads, stop off at a location and learn what happened there. There were around 50,000 casualties from both sides during those three days. When you look out over the rolling fields you can almost picture men being ploughed down from both sides. This is particularly so when you look out from Seminary Ridge over the low lying fields as General Pickett from the South advanced 12,000 Confederates (referred to as Pickett's Charge) to try to take a strategic point on the battleground. The North had the superior position (eg. high ground, walls for protection) led by Chamberlain (this is referred to as the High Water Mark, ie. a defining moment in the Gettysburg battle).

We also stopped off at the National Park Service’s Museum and Visitor Centre (http://www.nps.gov/gett/ & www.gettysburgfoundation.org) which provides history and artifacts from the battle. You really need to experience a place like this and see it for yourself. Writing about it in a blog does not do it justice at all.

The following day we went into Harrisburg to the State Capitol and the State Museum of Pennsylvania. The building was most impressive. It was inspired by Michelangelo’s design for St Peter’s in Rome. When you walk in the main entrance it is just over 80 metres to the top of the rotunda (52 million pound dome). In the Senate and House of Representatives chambers the chandeliers weigh between two and four tons each. The Senate chamber is Italian designed and the House chamber is French inspired. The stained glass windows in these two chambers weigh over 200 pounds each. There is a mountain of gold (23 carat) in this place as well.

The State Museum (http://www.statemuseumpa.org/) covers the history of Pennsylvania along with archaeology, paleontology, industry, science, animals and the planetarium. The kids really enjoyed the museum.

On Thursday we travelled from Harrisburg PA to Uhrichsville in Ohio. This was a big trip. We travelled along the I 76 turnpike. The bridges along this interstate were low at the sides so we had to move over to the left hand side so that we felt comfortable we were not going to hit the top of the fifth wheeler. The trip through Pittsburg was a bit more demanding. We passed a sign saying the tunnel ahead was 13 and a half feet high (which we understood to be the height of our fifth wheeler). We took a detour before the tunnel but the streets through the town were extremely narrow. We turned around and measured the height of the fifth wheeler at 13 feet and 3 inches so we decided to give it a go through the tunnel. We didn’t drive fast through the tunnel as any undulations could mean we would hit the top of the fifth wheeler. The tunnel felt like it was the longest tunnel we had been in. We got through fine but with less than 10 cms of space. We are now in Ohio.