A Jackpot Winner!

Thursday, August 6th

I could hear the pitter patter of rain on the fiberglass roof, thunder and the whimper of a puppy. I looked at my phone. It was 4:30 a.m. and a thunderstorm had erupted outside. The rain was coming down in droves. 

I went to check on Loki. The poor little guy was happy to see me. I guess he doesn’t like thunderstorms. Especially when you have to endure them all alone. We sat and cuddled for a little bit and when things quieted down, I put him back in his crate.

I slowly worked my way back to bed. I sat beside the crate, then moved over to the couch, then the dinette and when he was dozing off, I made a run for it! It felt just like when my kids were little. When they woke up at night, all I ever wanted to do was go back to sleep. 

The next morning the weather looked iffy. Was it going to rain on and off all day? The kids were not anxious to go anywhere. Breakfast turned into lunch and then a round of Rummikub began again. 

Finally I convinced them that we needed to go exploring. I was on a quest to find a decent beach nearby. The previous evening, when we were getting ice cream at the general store, I asked a young woman, “Do you know where there is a real beach nearby?”. She replied, “You could check out Gloucester Point”. 

She also mentioned some other beach access down an unknown road. That didn’t sound inviting to me. I thanked her and kept Gloucester Point in my mind. I went home and googled it and found out that there is actually a county park called Gloucester Point Beach Park. That sounded cool to me.

When we headed out, it began to rain again. Oh well, it was a day for exploring so we could always just drive through and see what it looked like. We drove about forty minutes out, passing the Wal-Mart we’d visited the previous day. Finally we made it to the park.

As we approached, it looked fairly promising. Hmmmm, maybe we could make a trip back here. We walked out to the pier. There were lots of people fishing off it. We stared out at the water. Yes, this was pretty nice. We saw some crab swimming through the water. It would be fun to bring a crab pot out here. 

We walked back toward the beach. The kids kicked their feet in the water and looked for treasures along the shore. My youngest, who whined most of the way to the park, suddenly wanted to know why I didn’t have them wear their bathing suits. This is the child who didn’t want to go in the first place. 

We decided we’d like to pack a picnic lunch and come back to swim tomorrow. The skies turned gray and cloudy this evening. Right now I hear the pitter patter of rain on the roof again. Hopefully the day will turn sunny and we can hang out with our toes in the sand. 

A beach complete with seagulls

Friday, August 7th

This morning greeted us with more rain. By noon, it was still coming down here and there. So we decided we’d have to plan our beach trip for Saturday or Sunday instead. 

Between the rain, I took the dog out for potty breaks. Today was as lazy a day as it gets. The kids spent time playing Minecraft, Rummikub and eating while listening to music. 

We finally ventured out of the RV when there was a lull in the rain. We went for a walk and then headed over for dinner. The campground was offering pizza, subs, burgers, fries, onion rings, etc for sale. Since we ate all but one meal at home this week, it was a nice treat to have someone else do the cooking. 

Even Loki was a lazy pup today

Afterwards we walked over to the general store. We were down to one roll of toilet paper and I needed to replace a burned out bulb. Of course one kiddo had to get a scoop of ice cream and the other two junk food of some sort. 

Then in keeping with our Friday junk food day, we went to play candy bar bingo! When I first mentioned it, the kids didn’t want to go. But I wasn’t taking no for an answer. I told them I wanted to play and they’d just have to come along. 

Each participant was required to bring one full size candy bar. So we each brought a Snickers bar (yum, yum). Right off the bat, I won a round. None of the kids won anything, until the end. Nadia won the last round, the jackpot!! She was so excited walking home with TWENTY candy bars!!! 

It’s like Halloween up in here! One happy kid!

Despite the rain, we had a good day. It’s also cooled off a bit outside too. I’m not sure what tomorrow holds. There’s a fishing tournament scheduled. The girls may want to participate. If the weather holds out, we could also go to the beach.

I’ve also heard rumor of shrimp night along with more fun for the kids. We may have to walk the plank after spotting pirates nearby, oh my! Or perhaps if we participate in the scavenger hunt, they’ll leave us alone. Stay tuned to see if we make it out alive :-).

I really do appreciate any and all purchases you make by clicking on my AMAZON link! I’m trying to be self-sufficient in my travels and every little bit helps. Thank you!

{HUGS} from the Crew!