A week off ...Colonial Beach, VA
Cousins at the beach.
I had in my mind that we Michael was booked throughout the whole summer. When we sat down to hammer out the travel dates, I realized that we had a week off. When I looked at the date, I remembered. It was the Fourth of July. I just assumed that there would be no camps that week and wrote it off in my mind. That would be a nice week to enjoy with the family. The only trouble was that I had forgotten, and therefore, had not reserved a campsite anywhere. I looked at the area we would be near. All the state parks were full.
We had previously decided that we were going to purchase a membership to Thousand Trails campgrounds. Since it was an annual membership, we would wait and buy it whenever we felt it would be useful. This was that time. I found out that they had a campground in Colonial Beach, VA. Our brother-in-law's parents have a nice house on the bay there. I knew that if we were just relaxing there, Michael's sister would likely come and visit us. She agreed to do exactly just that. I made the reservation.
The campground was a resort-style campground. A swimming pool, hot tub, mini golf, shuffle board, playground, and business center were listed as amenities on their website. We knew that a few miles into town there was also a quaint public beach. The whole concept of a vacation from traveling is a bit odd. After a week in Baltimore with limited Internet access, we were anxious to get caught up on some computer work.
When we arrived at the camp, we were shocked back into camping lifestyle after our week in the city of Baltimore. I think part of the flavor of this membership campground is that everyone there takes time to get to know each other. We did not even have time to unhitch when our neighbors were over, getting a tour of the airstream. (One of the perks & downfalls of owning an airstream is that it attracts attention) We parked near another full-time, homeschooling family. Michael and I were forced to step down from our "to-do" list and enjoy an icy beverage. It was a weekend and the campground was pretty full. Our kids quickly made a few friends at the playground. We quickly learned that there was no business center and no internet access.
We enjoyed the pool the first few nights and then the rain set it. It quickly became movie night. We were happy to leave the rainy campground to visit Michael's sister and kids. We spent a few days visiting, doing laundry, cooking in a real kitchen, and managed to get the kids out on the kayaks in between rain showers. We even visited the beach for a bit despite the sprinkles. I neglected to take a single picture.
Fun for the kids - CHECK!
Relaxing evenings - CHECK!
Good company - CHECK!
Time to move on toward the mountains! I forgot to mention... Michael did get booked for July 4th. After 5 nights in Colonial Beach, we left bright and early on the 4th for a evening concert at at a summer camp in the mountains of West Virginia.
-Michelle