Rollin' Past NASCAR in Dover, Delaware - Sunday, May 5, 2019

Today we're moving from Lanexa, Virginia, to Bear, Delaware. Our Google Maps told us the fastest way was I-95. We didn't want to deal with all the traffic around Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, so we opted to take a more leisurely route up the Delmarva Peninsula on US 13 and SR 113. (For those of you not familiar with the East Coast, the Delmarva Peninsula is made up of parts of three states: Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia: Del-Mar-Va.)

Rain was in the forecast today around 8:00 a.m. Therefore, we were up at 5:00 a.m. to get ourselves over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (CBBT) as early as possible. We didn't want to be stuck if high winds kicked up and they had to close the bridge. High winds weren't in the forecast and we didn't have any trouble with the crossing. The toll one-way for our truck and 5th wheel was $24.00. The rain started while we were on the bridge and stayed with us all day.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel is an engineering marvel. Opened in 1964, it is a 23-mile-long combination of bridges and tunnels that cross the Chesapeake Bay where it meets the Atlantic Ocean. After it opened, it was selected "One of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World" in a worldwide competition that included more than 100 major projects. In 1965, it was chosen as "The Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement" by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Our drive on U.S. 13 and SR 113 was lovely. The roads were beautiful with lots of room. It was four-lane, divided highways all the way. However, when SR 113 hooked up with Hwy. 1 south of Dover, Delaware, the roads got much more congested. There were more towns with lots of stoplights, construction, and NASCAR traffic.

That's right, the NASCAR Speedway is right in the heart of Dover, Delaware, and we drove right past it. Luckily, the traffic by the Speedway wasn't too bad. We weren't sure they were going to run the race because it was raining quite a bit.

When we arrived at Lums Pond State Park and got to our site, it was flooded on my side of the truck and the grassy area around the site was quite mucky. A man from across the road came over and told us he had just been in that site and it had been a lot worse. He advised us to move to a different site and explained that sites 1-4 were walk-in sites and if they were available, we could take one of them.

Site 2 was huge and perfect for our 5th wheel and truck, so we moved there. I called the state park camp host to let them know we moved. They said that was fine and we could stay here until our check out on Wednesday. Yay!

Site #2 at Lums Pond State Park

Lums Pond State Park

The drive took us from 6:30 a.m. until we pulled in at the park around 2:30 p.m. As I said earlier, this was the slower route. Bob drove for 2-1/2 hours, and then I took over at 9:00 a.m. It seemed that my portion of the drive went very smoothly. There was very little traffic and I got most of the traffic lights green. I only had to stand on the brakes at one light (going 45 mph when it changed). Bob took over again at around 11:00 a.m. and ended up with the worst of the driving. It seemed like he had a lot of construction and many little towns where he hit almost every light red. It was a frustrating drive as we approached and went through Dover.

We have decided when we change campgrounds on Wednesday, we will take the toll road to lessen the aggravation. As it was, today the road took a toll on Bob.

Tonight, because we don't have cable TV at the state park, Bob drove about five miles to a sports bar to watch the Portland Trailblazers. Unfortunately, they lost. 

Tomorrow, we plan to Volksmarch in Trenton, New Jersey. If we feel like it, we may stop in Philadelphia on the way back to the campground. There are also two trails here at the campground that circle Lums Pond: one is 8 miles, the other is 6.4 miles.

Goodnight all.