Americamps RV Resort

So we spent our first few months in VA while we waited for our house to rent out. We ended up staying at Americamps RV Resort since it was close to where we bought the RV. We really enjoyed our time here and we knew it would be our benchmark for the future places we stayed.

They had activities most days ranging from Dominos and Bingo, to S'Mores, Ice Cream Socials,movie nights, and events for the holidays.



The amenities were nice. The pool was always clean, as were the showers and bathrooms. The laundry rooms were always clean as well. The internet was very good and we didn't have any issues with it. The playground was a little small, but the kids still had a blast playing there. They also have tetherball, horseshoes, cornhole, and ping pong. There is a small store that has a lot of things you could need and the prices are decent. They are have some free ice cream which of course the kids loved. Also every morning they serve waffles!


The staff was always helpful and friendly. They helped us with the learning curve of our first RV, when our car went missing, were super kind when Cat Boy had a meltdown at the 4th of July event realizing he was not being a brat, but that something else was going on, and so much more. If we ever find ourselves in the Richmond VA area we will be staying here for sure.

El Azteca

The Hubby has a thing for Mexican food. Like, the kids and I make him go out alone a lot because we just can not eat that much Mexican. We had a place we really liked back in MD and so the goal in every new location is to find a new Mexican place. We tried El Azteca in Ashland, VA. It was pretty good. They have both salsa, and a white dip (does anyone actually know what that is called?) so the kids were happy. There food was pretty good. The hubby gets the same thing 99% of the time so he got his Chori Pollo, Cat Boy got his usual, burrito, soft taco, rice, and beans, The Boy got his staple of quesadilla and rice, and Monkey, Princess, and I shared who knows what. Everyone left full and happy. Prices were decent and service was good. We went back a few times while we were in the area and will return if we find ourselves in the area again.

Scooby's Hot Dogs

So I am from Chicago. We have the best hot dogs ever. Don't even try and tell me any different. It is VERY hard to find a place that really makes a Chicago dog right. You need the poppy seed bun. The VIENNA beef dog. The Sport Peppers. And of course the mustard, sweet relish, tomato SLICES, onion, and celery salt. NO KETCHUP! NEVER ANY KETCHUP! Finding all of the above is pretty rare outside Chicago. However, I found somewhere that had REAL dogs and Chicago Italian Beef. Complete with giardiniera. Scooby's in Richmond. So I trecked my happy little butt 20 mins there to grab some lunch. I let the guy know when I ordered it BETTER be right. He chuckles. I didn't. Did he not know how life or death important this was to me? Anyway, I ordered a hot dog and an Italian Beef. The Hubby and I were going to share. I ordered and paid and waited. I got my food, told him again it better be just like home, and I left. Drove an agonizing 20 mins home. The whole well smelling the beef, picturing the hot dog, tasting my precious food in my mind. I walked in the house and the kids thought they needed their food first. Apparently they did not realize the importance of a woman who has not had her hometown favorites in well over a year.

FINALLY, it was my turn. I bit into my dog while The Hubby started on the beef. It was delish! Not 100% Portillos but close. Close enough for me to be a happy mommy. Yes, I know my picture is sideways.

Then, I tried some beef. Not bad. Not perfect, close, but it needed some more flavor. Also more au jus. What is with these places? The bread was barely wet. That is just not right. I want it wet. I want a side of au jus to dip it in. Yes, I see the side of au Jus sitting there....it was like an oz. Teeny, tiny, cup. I need MORE. I want to need a dang spoon by the end. Nope, not here. After the 20 min drive home the bread should have been wet through the bottom, nope all dry. I realize they might have done this so my bread was not soppy when I got home. Ok, even if you use that argument the amount of au jus they gave us was NOT enough to make the bread wet. Everything was still pretty dry, bread and meat. So still, not enough.

It was ok. Would I order it again? Maybe. if they gave me more au jus. If not I would pass. So if you are in the Richmond area and need a Chicago Dog head on down to Scooby's. If you need an Italian Beef really bad give them a shot too, just make sure you get it wet!

Chuy's Restaurant

A friend recommended Chuy's Restaurant in Short Pump, VA ; so we decided to check it out. I don't usually review chain restaurants but we really enjoyed this one. We got there and the decoration was fun and upbeat. They have shirts with fun little saying on them like The Guac-ing Dead, and other fun little puns.

We were seated and started looking over the menu. There was lots to pick from and it all sounded good. After we ordered the kids and I went to watch the lady make tortilla shells. The kids thought this was really cool and spent most of their time watching her. Our food came rather quickly and we all enjoyed it. The Hubby got the Big as Yo Face Burrito and Cat Boy thought it was the FUNNIEST thing. After we were done the kids got Push Pops as part of their kids meal. This was probably the BEST part of the meal for a few reason. First, who doesn't love a push pop. Second, they brought one for Princess. She was only about 16 or 17 months at this time. She has just figured out a straw just a few weeks before this. Yeah, you see where this is going. She kept turning it over trying to drink out of the straw. So picture this, baby+pushpop+the handle looking like a straw+it melting+a WHITE dress=a VERY, VERY, VERY messy baby. I can not believe I didn't get any pictures. Probably because we were to busy laughing the whole time. Thank goodness for LOTS of baby wipes!

We enjoyed it there when we went the first time so we actually went another time as well. Plus Cat Boy HAD to get the Big as Yo Face Burrito. I mean when your kid has a food bucket list you can't say no. So we went again. This time MINUS the white dress for Princess. She did pretty good witht he push pop this trip....the rice on the other hand......yeah the floor ate most of that. Don't worry, we left the extra clean up tip. Anyway, here is Cat Boy seeing if the Big as Yo Face Burrito really was as big as his face. He was SUPER excited that it was in face, as big as his face!

Leaving Our First Place

So it was finally time to leave the RV park we had been staying at for almost 5 months. Americamps was a WONDERFL place for us to start our journey out and I will make another post reviewing it. Our last day in VA was spend getting ready and enjoying out last day. I took the kids to the AWESEOME park we had discovered a few days before while The Hubby worked. It is called Crump Park We planned to go for a little bit and come home and get The Hubby to go up to my Uncle's house but the kids were having to much fun. So I called The Hubby and it was decided he would just meet us up there.


After we were done with the park we headed to my Uncle's house. He had invited everyone over for pizza and an outside movie for a little good-bye get together. It was a little nippy outside but we had a fire pit, and blankets and had a great time. He also had some M&M's that someone found and as you can tell Princess was a fan. So much for them melting in your mouth and not in your hands, because she was COVERED!


The next morning we got up and got the rig ready for its first big voyage. The Hubby will make a post later about his first time driving the rig. Something I honestly hope to NEVER have to do. We got everything put up, un-hooked or hooked-up everything depending on what it was, and brought in the slides. While we were doing that we had the kids pick up all the garbage around the site and anything that was not supposed to be on the ground. We are firm believers of leaving a place how it was, or better then when you got there. It was a bit like Tetris trying to find out where we could shove put everything while we were driving, but we got it worked out. Of course The Boy did have to climb into the rig a few times after the slides were in to get something, or fix something but he liked it. LOL


Next stop....North Carolina!

You go a'sailing, we'll go a'playing

So The Hubby sails. Well, at least he did before he sold his boat when we hit the road. For the last couple of years he has gone down with other friends of ours from the Southern Maryland Sailing Association to the Hospice Regatta at Western Carolina Sail Club. This year was no exception and he took The Boy. The Boy sails as well but this year they would not be sailing unless someone needed crew, then The Hubby might have. The day before they were due to leave The Hubby went over to North Carolina to pick up a Class C RV our friends had bought from another sailing family. The day they were due to leave he drove it and The Boy to MD to go pick up our friends and their beautiful daughter that he was going with. They drove through the night and stopped by Waffle House for breakfast. The Boy talks about it ALL the time! Every time we go out to breakfast he asks if we are going there. He points out every one he sees....yeah I think he liked it.
Since no one needed any crew The Hubby and The Boy spent a lot of their time playing board games they had brought with. Western Carolina Sail Club has a nice space inside and out. It is on its own little peninsula so there is lots of shore line to walk on. They took walks, The Boy played at the playground they have there with some other kids who had come, and just hung out with friends. At night after the races were done there was food, friends, and sailer's favorite, booze. LOL They have a beer truck that comes to this event and of course mixed drinks. There was also music at night as well. The Hubby always has a good time and next year the whole family plans on going.
Of course I sent them with a bunch of oily goodness. I made a back cream, bug spray, and a joint cream for him. All are musts when sailing. I also sent him with a bunch of other oils for anything anyone might need. Turns out that they came in handy as one of our friends had hurt her ankle. Plus The Boy had his favorite Purification for bug bites. For more information you can check out this blog post Young Living

While they were gone the rest of us did some exploring. After looking for a park for over an hour (we ever checked schools and they were just no fun) we FINALLY found one and it was AMAZING. We had a blast and knew that when The Boy came back we were going to have to come back. We went mid-afternoon and ended up staying till it was getting dark.
The next day the RV dealership we bought our RV from, McGeorge RV was having a Grand Opening of their remodel. They were going to have free food, drinks, a bounce house, a balloon guy, face painter, and a couple Redskin Cheerleader. Also they were going to have all the RV's open so you could take a look without having a sales person with you. Since the dealership was about 5 mins from our campground we decided to check it out. We had a really great time.
The face painter was AMAZING!! If you are in the VA area and need a face painter CALL HER! I attacher a pic of her card and here is the website to her. Doborah N face Painter The paint she uses was NOT cheap either. It was high quality, didn't come off when they were hot, and didn't stain their faces. I will now compare all future face painting to her and I promise no one will come close to her!
The kids of course spent a lot of time in the bounce house. It was not busy so they were able to stay in there as long as they wanted too. Princess had been in a few bounce houses before but this was the first time she really enjoyed herself! She wanted no part of getting out. We also visited the balloon artist a few times. We got swords, a princess hat, and the picture you see below. It was supposed to be a motorcycle. They guy tried, really he did. We ended up saying it was a penguin riding a bike. LOL We also took a look at a lot of the Toy Haulers they had there and I fell in LOVE with one that has a HUGE master. The 2015 Crossroads Elevations Las Vegas Oh how I love thee...........

Who wants to go apple picking?

The homeschool group we had been meeting with in Richmond was going apple picking at Carter Mountain Orchard. I thought this was a WONDERFUL idea and just knew we would have SO much fun. (Yeah, I didn't think it through all the way) I decided I would ask my step-mom to join us and she said yes. The kids were super excited grandma was going to come with and could not wait. The group was going to have a picnic lunch before we went to pick apples so we decided we would find somewhere to grab some food on the way there. Well, we didn't pass anything. We decided we would just pick apples and grab lunch after. We looked around for our friends but they were all running late. We spent some time looking around at the scenery. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL there. We all loved the view we had from being on the side of a mountain.

The boys were excited to go pick apples so we went ahead and got started. My back had been hurting me for the last week or so so I decided to put Princess in her stroller instead of a baby carrier. BIG MISTAKE! I knew it we were on a mountain, however I failed to make the connection that the orchard would be ON THE SIDE OF A MOUNTAIN! Pushing a stroller on the side of a mountain DOES NOT WORK! Going down is hard because you have to make sure baby does not go down without you, going up is torture just as hard. Oh, did I mention that all the isles you walk down to find the apples were sloped downhill and uneven? Yeah, that made it so much more fun! I was very grateful my step-mom had come. She stayed at the top of the mountain since her knees would not allow her to climb up and down the mountain. I was jealous bummer she could not join us. It came in handy though as the boys would go wait with her when they were tired of acting like mountain goats. It turns out we were there at the end of the season so we had to hike WAY down the isles to find any apples. The boys only ended up getting a few apples each and then they were done. I was ready to go to and I made my way back up pushing Princess.

I had not had an asthma attack in months and let me tell you, I think they had all been saving themselves for this one day! I may have used my steroid inhaler one to many times. By the time we went to pay I was shaking just a bit. We went ahead and bought our apples, some doughnuts, and other food items they had and started to the car. we got to the car and MY KEY WERE MISSING! Yeah my keys were poof gone, somewhere on the side of a mountain! I figured they must have fallen out at one point when I had Princess sideways at weird angles in the stroller. The Boy and I went to ask at the registers to see if anyone had turned them in. When we got up there I found our friends who were finally there ready to go get apples. I asked them to keep an eye out for my keys and I went to find someone to help. One of the girls was about to go find a worker to help us comb the mountain when another cashier asked what she was looking for and the girl said my keys. The cashier had them! I was so excited I hugged the girl and told her she was my new best friend and I meant it! We were over 2 hrs from home so getting The Hubby to bring the other key would have NOT been fun. When we all got in the car we decided that we would consider going apple picking again early in the season when the close trees still have apples, and hopefully find somewhere NOT on the side of the mountain. Overall the general consensus was that we were glad we went even with everything that happened. It was not what we were all expecting but it worked out nicely in the end. We ended up grabbing some lunch at Mc Donalds and I was VERY glad that I had brought my oils with me. I had just gotten my ER order in and so I threw Cat Boy's oils in my bag and also added in my Deep Replif. I had been using it to help with my back pain. When we got back in the car I put some on my back and my neck. I always get a sore nexk when I drive. I also handed it over for my step-mom to use on her knees which were bothering her from the walking she did do. We both enjoyed the soothing relief it gave us. I just love my Young Living oils! Click here for more info

When we pulled in back home we found this little guy trying to steal The Hubby's bike! You just can't trust anyone these days!

Thai Gourmet Restaurant Ashland, VA

The Hubby had a hankering for Thai. We used to have a really good place back in MD so we were worried that a new place would not hit the spot like he wanted. I asked around at the front desk for some referrals and got a few ideas and then we hit up google for more reviews. We settled on a place close to the camp ground. Thai Gourmet Restaurant. They had a menu on-line which was important so we could all look it over before I went up and picked it up. We were hoping for a place that delivered but had no luck.
The Hubby ordered Pad Thai with chicken, I got Stir Fried Basil Leaves with Duck, Monkey and Cat Boy had Pad Thai Chicken as well, and The Boy had Thai Gourmet Fried Rice. I had asked for some Red Pepper Sauce on the side for The Hubby. I called and put in the order. The wait was not that long to go pick it up, around 20 mins. When I arrived our food was ready. I asked for Shrimp Chips which our Thai place in MD had. They are the round white cracker type things. They did not have any. This made Cat Boy VERY sad as he loves these. We all do, but he was especially bummed. He likes to have the same thing at each restaurant of that type (Autism fun), so he was expecting them when he found out we were having Thai. When we got home I realized they had not included the Red Pepper Sauce which bummed The Hubby out since he needed a bit more kick in the Pad Thai.
Overall this place was ok. The food was done fast and it was hot when I got it home. The Hubby said the Pad Thai was okay. I was not happy with my Stir Fried Basil Leaves with Duck. It was not what I was expecting. The taste was ok and the duck was very chewy. Monkey and Cat Boy enjoyed their Pad Thai. The Boy didn't care for his rice. We would not order from there again. There were other option in the area so we would keep looking for a place we enjoyed better.

Falling Down and Having Fun

So Cat Boy was outside playing one day and apparently forgot how to walk. Walking is tricky, I have issues with it often. (We will cover that in another post). Anyway, he fell and scraped his legs pretty good. By the time I got outside to him, about 15 seconds after the scream, his one leg was already changing colors. He was upset but not overly so, which was pretty good considering his past history. He has Anxiety so often times he thinks the sky is falling. He fell at King's Dominion once, scraping his knee and as we waited for a person from First Aid he had a full blown attack saying he was drying, and his heart hurt, ect. We got through it pretty well, but I am pretty sure the teen employee that was waiting with us was a bit freaked out. LOL Anyway, he fell and I got him inside, cleaned him up, and put some Young Living Lavender on his legs. Within minutes the color had returned to normal. I applied it a few more times that day and by bed time it looked SO much better. I LOVE this stuff. The kids call it my magic oils, and I really do agree. If you would like some more info on oils or want to get a kit for yourself you can find info on this blog post. Young Living
The kids, (and me too) had been counting down the days until King's Dominion started all their Halloween stuff. We had made sure to go a few times before it officially started so we could see stuff as they put it up. This really helped Cat Boy not have anxiety over the unknown. During the day till 5pm it is all kid friendly. They have some super fun stuff in the kids area. They had a petting zoo, foam bubble pit, pumpkin decorating, trick-or-treat stations, a maze, and more. Then after 5 they make it all spooky. They have workers dressed up, haunted houses, fog machines, ect. The boys wanted to go at night so I went ahead and took them on opening night while The Hubby stayed home with Princess. I was pretty sure we would not even make it into the front gate before Cat Boy wanted to go home. However he did better then I thought. His progress really amazed me sometimes! They made a special map for the Halloween Haunt that showed where all the spooky stuff was which was super helpful. We studied the map, went the way that took us through the kids area so there was nothing spooky, and made it to a stage to watch a really cool show where people did tricks on a trampoline, walked up walls, ect. After the show we tried to go see some other stuff but there was fog everywhere and Cat Boy was NOT about to go walk through fog. After all fog means spooky, and people jumping out at you and that was NOT on his list of fun (mine either if we are being perfectly honest). So we decided to head back the way we came and grab a funnel cake on the way out. We found a store ont he way that had everything lit up with blacklights and light balls so we played there for a bit. While eating the funnel cake we watched a man dressed up as a bush jump out and scare people. It was SO much fun. The people that screamed the loudest were the biggest MEN! The Boy also decided that was his new dream job....he was going to grow up and be, A BUSH!

The next day the whole family went during the day. We did all the activities they had to do and had a blast. The favorite was by far the pit full of bubbles. The bobbles were really cool. They didn't make a big soapy mess when you played with them. The kids decided that we needed one of these little bubble pit contraptions. Hey, it would make bath time a TON more fun! It was so much fun we ended up going a few more times before it ended. We even ran into some friends one day from the RV park. The boys really loved that and they had fun riding some rides with them while I enjoyed some adult conversation.

Settling in

We have been busy settling in. We are living in the RV 99% of the time only going back to the house to work on it. We are still waiting for it to be rented out. We are hopeful that it will rent soon now that mostly everything is out. We still have a little work to do but then we will be done.

We have been here a little over a month now. It is now our new normal. I think we have all settled in pretty nicely. We have mostly figured out how things will work best for us, but are easily changing things around as we go to see how to best do everything. Especially where organizing is concerned. I am pretty sure this will be a never ending project. Now that we have everything here but some tools I can finally get down to the nitty gritty of finding a home for everything. For some things this is easy, for others I feel like I need a can of Crisco and a big strong person to just shove it all in there. For instance my closet is fine, lots of room left, the kids' closet is pretty full but still ok, The Hubby's closet on the other hand.....I have clothes handing on his door handle. LOL He bought some space saver bags today so I will be putting some cold weather clothes of his in a bag and squishing the daylights out of them. Under the RV is another tricky spot. I was so organized with totes for this and that....until I went to put them int he storage bay. THEY DIDN'T FIT! The bins were just inches to tall to fit in the door. Hence the trip for space saver bags. We got 2 bins of coats into less space then 1 bin would of taken up. I am pretty sure they are my new best friends. Space Bag BRS-86112-6, 2 Piece Cube Combo Vac Bags (1 Large and 1 Extra Large) Clear, 6- Foot by 2- Inch by 13- Inch (Yes, that is an affiliate link) We got the ones that you can roll out the air since we don't have a vacuum with a hose. I was a little worried they would not work very well but they worked AMAZINGLY well. I want to get some more big ones and see if I can put the sleeping bags in there so they take up less room too. That would help a TON.  So the under storage bin is looking good....now for the inside.

Dishes are another fun item. We obviously do not have a dish washer. So that is not me. Originally I had the dishes trying on a drying mat because that was smaller when not in use. We quickly learned that this just not work as well. There is just not enough air circulation to dry the dishes so we recently bought a dish drying rack. We just got a small one from Target with a tray on the bottom since I have to leave it on the counter but I want this one from Amazon. Progressive International Collapsible Dish Rack (yes, another affiliate link, I have to pay for it some way. LOL) That way it will take up less room when storing it. Did I mentioned to storage needs in an RV? Yeah, there is no space. LOL

We have been keeping busy with lots of visits to Kings Dominion. We got season passes so we could go for a few hours here and there. When it gets crowded that is about all everyone can handle. Cat Boy has been doing super well there. We get him the special access pass each time we go that we can go through the exit since he does not do well with waiting in line or people he does not know touching him. I don't think we could manage the park without it when it is even a bit busy. The staff at guest services is great, I just go up tot he window and ask for the pass for him because he has Autism. They fill it out and hand it over. No fuss, no muss. We do not let him use it if the lines are short because we do want to build up his ability to be able to wait in lines. We have not yet been if it is super busy but the pass says when the lines are really long they will give us a return time. So far that has not happened but we try not to visit during peak times. The pass has also been great for his anxiety. He started off not wanting to do any roller coasters because he could not see the whole ride. We watched a few you tube videos after the first trip and that helped. We have now moved up from him on riding the coaster in Snoopy Land. all the way to all the coasters that do not go upside down. He wants to get on them though but has told me he is not to that level yet. The next level his mind will let him get to includes Anaconda. So we are working on that. It has been amazing to see his growth. Monkey goes on anything and everything that he can but is still to short for some things and The Boy has rode every roller coaster. That was his goal and he did it. He LOVES them. I think tonight we are going to take a date to there and just ride coasters together. We met one of Cat Boy's old ABA therapists and her girls there the other day. We had a blast even if she did pick the HOTTEST day to go. The Boy loved riding the coasters with her and has a picture of them on the Intimdator 305 hanging by his bed so he can see it every morning as soon as he gets up.

Cat Boy on his first Roller Coaster with The Boy

Monkey and The Boy on the Drop Zone

Princess in the water park

  

Princess on a ride. You can see Monkey and Cat Boy behind us
. Selfies are not good. 

We hope to be hitting the road soon but are waiting for our house to be rented. So hopefully soon. Not sure where we will be going yet but I can't wait to get started.