Rookie

May 27, 2011
Day #15
Charlottesville, VA to Fredericksburg VA 
87 miles via US29 & US3




Rookie in 2006, long coat and just back from the groomers

 
Today is the start  to the Memorial Day Weekend, which always means traffic.  We watched the KOA empty out, and the new campers will be arriving today, they are expecting to be booked solid.  We are heading a little bit northeast of here to Fredericksburg Virginia,  the closest we can get to Washington DC at this late date.  The one thing we didn't want to do was to be in Washington DC on the holiday weekend.  Played that one wrong!


Looking at the map, we opted to travel US29 up to Culpepper then US3 to Fredericksburg, a little out of our way, but a much better road.  Sometimes the country roads can be a little unnerving being so narrow...and we are so wide!  Jim was delighted to find gas at $3.59/gal only to travel five miles down the road and see gas advertised at $3.43/gal.  Oh well, can't win them all!
Leaving Charlottesville, traffic was heavy, as expected on the start of a three day holiday weekend.  As we drove on, it thinned.  We were enjoying the beautiful countryside when Rookie started what has become a RV ritual. 

My dogs are NOT lap dogs, in fact, if I call to them to come to me they will  usually walk the other way...ALL of them.  Except, when we are in the RV, then Rookie plays a sort of game to try to get on my lap.     We'll be driving down the road when I can 'feel' his eyes on me from behind.  He'll sit and look pleadingly for a long time if I ignore him.  Then he'll step down to the area between Jim and I...and just sit, and sit and sit, all the while looking at me with big brown eyes.  I'm not heartless, but there's not a great deal of room in the front, and it's warm and he's 15 pounds and very, very, very furry.  Not the most comfortable situation in the world. Finally I can't stand getting 'the look' anymore and all I have to do is slap my thigh.  He's in my lap in a flash, setting his chin in the crook of my right arm, which is just the right height to look out the window.  All is right in Rookie's world.
 

First step, staring at me from the living area of the RV



And if I say 'NO' this is the pathetic look I get!







Then he tip toes down to the cab between us, He just got the okay, this is his happy face.

 

We can't sight see every day, some days are quite mundane on a trip.  Today, we did a little housekeeping, a little traveling, a little restocking.  We 've been off the beaten path for so long, that I couldn't believe all the stores in Fredericksburg near the I95 interchange.  Almost forgot that we are near a heavily populated area of the east coast.

We are at the Fredericksburg Virginia KOA, storms are coming into the area along with many families camping here for the long weekend.  There are tons of kids, this is a kid and pet friendly place, heavily wooded, with a  fish pond, pool and activities for the kids. 

Tomorrow we will take the car 45 miles up the road to the nearest Metro station.  We haven't rode the Washington Metro since it was fairly new, back in the late 70's or early 80's!