Travel from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland

We drove our coach just 65 miles, about 1.5 hours of driving, from Hanover, Pennsylvania to College Park, Maryland.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading south:

Map

An interactive map:

Leaving the campground:

Leaving the campground

Road outside the park:

Road outside park

Narrow curvy road:

Narrow curvy road

Barn:

Barn

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Manchester:

Manchester

Barn:

Barn

Roundabout:

Roundabout

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

I-95:

I-95

Maryland 212 West:

Maryland 212 West

Our destination, Cherry Hill Park:

Cherry Hill Park

Check-in lanes:

Check-in lanes

Entrance lanes

24-hours staffed entrance gate:

Entrance gate

Our site:

Our site

Backing in:

Backing in

Travel from Manassas, Virginia to Hanover, Pennsylvania

We drove our coach 102 miles, about two hours of driving, from Manassas, Virginia to Hanover, Pennsylvania. This was a last-minute change to our route, to avoid spending the weekend at NIRVC, and so we could pick up another state.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

I-495:

I-495

I-495

I-495

Narrow lanes:

Narrow lanes

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Fun with zoom

Exit to Damascus:

Exit to Damascus

Water tower:

Water tower

Interesting tower:

Interesting tower

Westminster, Maryland:

Westminster, Maryland

Westminster, Maryland

Some kids on the side of the road waved and signaled to blow our air horn; Jenn obliged them, and they jumped with joy (see it in the video from today):

Kids

Mason-Dixon Line:

Mason-Dixon Line

Welcome to Pennsylvania:

Welcome to Pennsylvania

Fun with zoom:

Fun with zoom

A little narrow:

A little narrow

“Sorry your GPS is wrong”; one of our GPSes did say to go through this driveway as if it were a road, but fortunately I check our route quite carefully, so I knew about it ahead of time:

Sorry your GPS is wrong

Lots of distinctive Pennsylvania barns like this in the area:

Barn

Entering the state park, “campers next left”:

Campers next left

Camper check-in:

Camper check-in

We untoaded in the dump station:

Dump station

Following the coach to our site:

Following coach

Our site, rather unlevel:

Our site

Travel from Georgetown, Delaware to Manassas, Virginia

We drove our coach 151 miles, about three hours of driving, from Georgetown, Delaware to Manassas, Virginia, to do annual servicing and repairs at NIRVC DC.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading west:

Map

An interactive map:

Exit road from the campground:

Exit road from campground

Route 16 West:

Route 16 West

Farmland

Route 16 and 36 West

Rail crossing:

Rail crossing

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

Route 404, oh no, route not found! (Geek joke.) Also, “snow emergency route” was a new one to us:

Route 404

Nice church:

Nice church

Kent Island Narrows:

Kent Island Narrows

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay; not a lot of shoulder:

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay

Bridge over Chesapeake Bay

Severn River:

Severn River

Exit towards Baltimore:

Exit towards Baltimore

Beltway:

Beltway

Beltway

Beltway

Mormon church

Beltway

Potomac River:

Potomac River

Welcome to Virginia (a rather hidden sign):

Welcome to Virginia

I-66 West:

I-66 West

A climbing wall:

Climbing wall

Exit to Manassas:

Exit to Manassas

Turn onto Industrial Road:

Turn onto Industrial Road

Turn onto Contractors Court:

Turn onto Contractors Court

Arriving at NIRVC DC:

NIRVC DC

We arrived on a Sunday when they were closed, so they had provided us with a link to open the gate, so we could get in and camp for the night:

Opening the gate

Our coach, with the workshops behind:

Our coach

I looked for a spot to park for the night; this was easy, though not very flat:

Surveying a spot to park

Driving to park

Parked for the night

In the future, we’d just park on the concrete next to the building; there are electrical outlets there too. Now we know. We plan to be back again next year for our annual servicing.

Travel from Cape Charles, Virginia to Georgetown, Delaware

We drove our coach 132 miles, about three hours of driving, from Cape Charles, Virginia to Georgetown, Delaware. Yet another new state.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading north:

Route map

An interactive map:

Preparing to toad up:

Preparing to toad up

The campground emptied out after the weekend:

Campground emptied out

Route 13 North:

Route 13 North

Royal Farms fuel stop:

Royal Farms fuel stop

Royal Farms fuel stop

They limited the pump to $125, so we had to do two transactions to fill up, as our 150 gallon tank was about half full:

Royal Farms fuel stop

Paladin on the passenger chair:

Paladin

Maryland Welcomes You:

Maryland Welcomes You

A rest area stop:

Rest area

Rest area

“Urban area, stay alert”:

Urban area, stay alert

Welcome to Delaware:

Welcome to Delaware

An accident:

Accident

Millsboro, Delaware:

Millsboro, Delaware

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

Our destination

Our destination

Travel from Chocowinity, North Carolina to Cape Charles, Virginia

We drove our coach 156 miles, about two hours of driving, from Chocowinity, North Carolina to Cape Charles, Virginia. Another new state.

This was a late change in our plans. We were originally going to head more directly north, but we realized that we’d be traveling over the Memorial Day weekend, which is one of the busiest camper weekends. And checking in to a first-come-first-served Thousand Trails park during that weekend, so would probably struggle to find a good site. So we decided to add a stop elsewhere between the two, to avoid both issues. In retrospect, we chose poorly (okay, I chose poorly), since we didn’t realize that the route would involve some narrow tunnels.

Here’s a map showing our route, heading northeast:

Route map

An interactive map:

Washington, North Carolina:

Washington, North Carolina

13 / 17 North:

13 / 17 North

Not a lot of stopping opportunities on this route. I found a nice big parking lot that worked well, also a convenient walk to a McDonald’s for lunch:

Parking lot

Paladin sat in his nest on the dash as we headed out again, until we got back on the highway:

Paladin

Roanoke River:

Roanoke River

Chowan River:

Chowan River

Chowan River

Future I-87:

Future I-87

Paladin asleep:

Paladin asleep

Perquimans River:

Perquimans River

Perquimans River

Exit to Chesapeake:

Exit to Chesapeake

Future I-87 again:

Future I-87

A break at the Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center rest area:

Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center rest area

Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center rest area

Snuggling with Paladin:

Paladin and David

Paladin on the dash:

Paladin on dash

As we left this rest area, we had a strange wobble — it felt like the wheels of the coach were loose or something, but on looking at the 360 camera footage from the truck later, it looks like the front truck tires possibly weren’t pointing in the right direction as we made a turn out of the rest area, and they hopped a few times. We pulled over, then resumed while keeping any eye on things; it was fine after that. Rather disconcerting, but no harm done as far as we can tell.

That issue did occur again on a subsequent trip. But we have since replaced our truck tires, as the front ones were getting a bit bald on the outer edges, so hopefully it won’t occur again.

“Welcome to Virginia”:

Welcome to Virginia

Exit:

Exit

Bainbridge?! To us, Bainbridge is an island in the Puget Sound, across from Seattle:

Bainbridge?!

Southern Branch Elizabeth River:

Southern Branch Elizabeth River

Exit:

Exit

We hadn’t seen a “Signal Red Ahead” warning before:

Signal Red Ahead

I wonder what was on “Pleasure House Road”?

Pleasure House Raod?!

Toll plaza:

Toll plaza

A bridge-tunnel across the mouth of Chesapeake Bay; part bridges, part two tunnels under the water:

Bridge-Tunnel

13’ 6” height restriction. Our coach is 12’ 7”. 11 inches of clearance is totally fine, not at all concerning!

Bridge-Tunnel

They’re working on adding a second tunnel for opposing traffic, but for now both ways goes through the same tunnel:

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

A couple of snapshots from the 360 camera on the truck; look at all those inches of clearance (remember too that our AC units stick up a little higher than the roof rail):

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

An animated GIF:

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

`Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

A ship going over the second tunnel:

Ship going over the second tunnel

Ship going over the second tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Bridge-Tunnel

Our destination:

Our destination

Our destination

Guided to our site:

Our destination

Our destination

We originally were going to go back through those tunnels, and a third tunnel and roadworks north of Virginia Beach, but decided to change our plans again to avoid those; more on that next week.

And check out the video today; it includes views from the truck, and lots of interesting bits including an instant replay of the truck wobble thing, and the truck and coach views of going through the two tunnels, and more.