Wind and Rain

I was looking forward to another night of sound sleep, aided by the sound of the surf and the sea breeze coming through the windows.  Last night was so nice, we opted in for another night at Assateague Island despite predictions of rain.

But it was not to be.

We had to close most of the windows because of the occasional rain so it was rather warm and humid in the RV. The wind that sprang up overnight became much stronger during the night, sweeping over the dunes and buffeting the RV broadside, shaking us continually.

The wind drove the misty rain sideways against the side of the RV, forcing closure of all the windows on that side.  It was a rather blustery night and I saw on the weather map that there were gale warnings for this area.  Time to move on.

We headed south again, not sure of our destination.  I drove and Deb pored over the maps and the iPad to figure out places to stop.  We’re kind-of making this all up as we go.

First Landing State Park in Virginia seemed like a good destination. There were opportunities for kayaking, hiking, biking, as long as the rain held off.  It didn’t look to hopeful.  The skies were heavy and dark and we were pelted on and off with rain. But we thought we would try it anyway and set our sights there.

The bridge spanning the Chesapeake Bay was quite a trip.  18 miles long, the longest bridge I have ever driven on.  And it dips below the surface of the Chesapeake Bay twice.  The tunnels are rather narrow, with a 55 mile-per-hour speed limit, one lane, each way.  And, knowing that there is a lot of water directly overhead adds to the white knuckle effect.  You just grip the wheel a little tighter and keep it centered in the narrow lane.

We stopped at First Landing State Park, which is right on the tip of the mainland where the Chesapeake Bay opens up into the Atlantic Ocean.  After asking at the visitor center about kayaking opportunities and not really getting a good answer, we drove to the 64th Avenue boat launch and launched the kayaks in the Broad Bay.  Supposedly, there’s a section of the bay where you can kayak among the dolphins, but that’s one thing we could not get a good answer to. So we paddled along the shoreline of the state park for a couple miles and paddled back.  We managed to see a golden eagle and an osprey and paddled around some oyster beds, although you couldn’t see anything under the water.

We drove along the main road in Virginia Beach.  Some of the stores are still open, but it is a resort town in the process of shutting down for the winter.   We found parking at the Virginia Beach Visitor Center, probably the only place that could handle an RV and didn’t charge for the parking, and walked the six blocks to the beach boardwalk.  We walked the boardwalk for a while, and took a selfie by the Neptune sculpture before turning around and walking back.  It was still trying to rain, usually just fine mist driven by the stiff wind, just enough to mess up one’s glasses.

We chose as our overnight spot a Cracker Barrel next to the Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach.  I hope we can sleep.  This place is very close to the Oceana Naval Air Station and there have been a lot of F-35 fighter jets taking off, sometimes one or two every five minutes, using full afterburners, roaring noisily into the sky.  I do hope they shut the flights down at a reasonable hour.