After spending most of last weekend’s outing settling into the coach, this weekend’s outing to Pohick Bay Regional Park (PBRP) was intended to be all about fun and R&R. Some hiking; maybe even trying our hand at kayaking. We had a productive day, and we did enjoy ourselves, but not in the way we thought we would. More on that later.

PBRP offers plenty of hiking opportunities.
We got a later start than planned and didn’t get on the road until 3:30p yesterday. The culprit was a phone call from Mui’s office to discuss next steps in the event the impending Government shutdown came to pass. (As we all know by now, there was a last minute reprieve, so he’ll be going to work on Monday.) Our delayed departure put us right in the middle of rush hour and it took us nearly 2½ hours to collect the coach from storage and drive the 54 miles (86 km) to PBRP. The rain didn’t help matters at all even though it was relatively light for most of the drive.

Our chosen route is longer, but it keeps us off I-95 South.
Because of the location of the storage lot, we ended up taking a circuitous route to PBRP … thank goodness for small favors. Had we jumped on I-95 heading south from the Beltway, we would have been stuck in a major traffic snarl that would have delayed us for who knows how long. I have no idea how long the back-up was, but we passed vehicles at a standstill for the entire 9½ miles (15 km) or so we were on I-95 N before making the turn onto US-1.

No one’s going anywhere fast (or slow) on I-95 S; we could have been in that mess ourselves.
Just as we arrived at the campground office, the drizzle that had been accompanying us turned into a downpour. And I mean a downpour! While I checked us in, Mui braved the elements and unhooked the toad. Not a fun task in the drenching rain, but at least we were both wearing full rain gear and managed to stay dry through the set-up chores.
PBRP is the site of our “roughing-it-not-so-smoothly” camping experience last November. (Click here for the story.) When we had to check out early due to our electrical problems, the campground manager allowed us to transfer the second night’s fee to a later date … hence this trip now. Before leaving the campground on that occasion, we’d determined that the best big-rig-friendly site was #71 and we’d reserved it for this outing. (FHU at a jurisdiction rate of $43.58, including tax.)

Site 71 is big-rig-friendly.
The location of the site on the corner of the road allowed us to back-in with ease … much appreciated on a soggy evening. The relatively level site made it a cinch to bring down the jacks and deploy the slides in no time at all. Hooking up the connections was a bit of a challenge, but only because there were puddles of water and mud around the hook-ups. I suppose we could have waited for the rain to let up, but there was no sign of that happening anytime soon, so we just bit the bullet and got things taken care of then and there.

comfortably settled in our site, I waited until this morning to take a picture.
A warm meal, a bit of TV-watching, a bit of reading, and before long it was time to call it a night. Cozy under our down comforter, we were impervious to the chilly nighttime temps. We fell asleep to the pitter-patter of the rain on the roof.
Mui was up very early this morning … like 4:30a early. When the news broadcast proclaimed that the Government shutdown had been averted, he used the time until I got up around 6:00a to prepare the presentation he’d been hoping he would not have to give on Monday. (It’s not the speech he dreads so much as the two-hour drive he needs to make each way just to give a one-hour presentation.)
The overcast skies and the muddy trails offered no encouragement to go out and play. So, after breakfast, we went about a few chores in the coach … I put away some more stuff we’d brought from home; Mui installed an under-cabinet light in the prep-area of the kitchen counter.

Mui takes advantage of an existing plug in the overhead cabinet to get power for the new light.

… And let there be light.
With chores done, we went for a walk around the campground. What felt like a long drive in last night’s miserable weather turned out to be a not-so-long walk in dry weather. A good number of the sites on the far side of the campground were occupied — some in tents; others in RVs of all shapes and sizes — but we saw few people out and about. On our side of the campground, we counted four 5ers and one motorhome. Even though the motorhome is in the site next to us, there’s a good bit of distance between us. Add in the fact that we’re angled away from each other and that makes #71 seem quite private.

Our side of the campground has just a few sites occupied.
After one more chore — installing a quick-connect on the fresh water hose to make connecting to city water easier (pressure regulator coming soon) — we had a light lunch (Mui pre-cooked a few meals at home to make life simpler over the weekend). Then it was time to set out on our main outing of the day.

the quick-connect would have been handy when we were setting up last night.
For a while now, we’ve been thinking of buying a couple of rugs to cozy-up our living space in the coach. We knew what size we wanted, but we didn’t care much for what we found in the stores in our neck of the woods. I wasn’t too keen on ordering off the internet since I couldn’t be sure the colors were depicted correctly. So, when Mui found a store in Fredericksburg that had some nice options, we decided to head down that way. The 30-mile (48-km) drive proved fruitful.

Welcome to our living room.

A matching rug is on order for the dining area.
Mui also cut up an old carpet to make temporary covers for the inside steps. He installed those today as well to cut down on the dirt we track inside. Eventually we’ll get something more permanent for those steps.
Dinner tonight was rotisserie chicken from the Ft Myer commissary with whole grain rice on the side … quick and easy. Later, we sat down to watch Lost in America, a Netflix DVD we thought we might enjoy as it’s about a couple that sets out to travel around the country in a Winnebago. Neither one of us found the story compelling enough to finish watching the movie. Admittedly, we only got as far as the point where the wife gambles away all their savings in Las Vegas; maybe it gets better after that.
The silver lining is that I was able to put my bonus free time to good use and write today’s blog entry. I doubt I can post it tonight, however — there’s no wi-fi in the park and the connection with our aircard is miserably slow here. Oh well; you win some, you lose some.
(posted 4/11/)