Today was a good day. DC to Roanoke Rapids is almost exactly halfway to Myrtle Beach, and splits the trip nicely - important while travelling with 4-year-olds or small terriers, neither of whom crosses their legs very well or handles being trapped in a car for 8 hours happily. 4 hours with a break in the middle, though... That worked surprisingly well, and the trip reminded me of something I'd mostly forgotten: I love being on the road.

I mean, driving sucks. You can't read, you can't sleep, you're constantly harassed by "Daddy! The DVDs fell on the floor!" and "Uncle Robin! My neck hurts from turning my head to watch the movie!" and "When are we going to get there?". I could cheerfully do without actually driving. Even more - if I were by myself, I could throw open the windows, turn up the volume, and let the miles melt away. But even this... Or, in its own weird and special way, *especially* this... Was just awesome. The road stretching out, the cars...

The other thing which is on my mind is an enormous anticipation - I've missed the sea. I'm not a big fan of beaches, mostly because I'm self-conscious about my weight and I don't particularly like sand. The sun? I could do without - I'm already mildly sun-burnt, and could cheerfully have an overcast day that was slightly cooler. But the ocean? I miss it. And soon, I'll be on the shore, and smelling the salt breeze, and... Wow, the nostalgia hit me like a truck today, even though I haven't made it there yet.

And I realize that it's going to be painfully touristy. I mean, we're camping just a couple hundred feet from the waves themselves, but we'll be in the middle of a square mile of campground of people doing the same stuff as us. The beaches will be full of people, the pools will be full of screaming kids, and everything... But, and some of you will laugh at me, but just one day of being up at 5 AM and standing with my feet in the water and closing my eyes to feel the breeze wash over me will be worth every little tiny frustration I have to deal with.

Actually, people who know me will probably think the "Up at 5:00 AM" bit is the funniest piece there. Suck it up, chumps; I'm on vacation and none of you are, and I'll go hunting the sunset at the beach if I want to, dammit! :-P

I did get a call from the nice woman who's checking in on my cats for me, today, around 10 AM. It turns out she couldn't figure out how to turn on my vacuum. I have to admit, I've gone over someone else's house on at least two occasions, had need of a vacuum, and been completely unable to figure it out by myself; so while I did find it funny, it was more of a sympathetic funny than a "hahah, you're, so dumb!" funny. Still, I owe her one for doing it for me. I'll have to find her something nice in South Carolina to bring home.

As an aside, I-295 - the ring-road around... Richmond, is it? - crosses a cool bridge at one point. If anyone has a clue what I'm talking about, let me know. I'll look it up next time I'm on Wikipedia, maybe.

When we got here - the RV Park at Carolina Crossroads in Roanoke Rapids, a painful name if I've ever heard one - my first thought was "Wow, RV wasteland." Actually, my first thought was probably more like "Wow, RV hell..." but I do endeavour to be vaguely polite at least once in a rare while. The place is new - painfully obviously so - and they started off by clearing the area entirely... And the shade trees haven't grown in. So there was no shade at all that wasn't created by our camper, and it was frigging *hot* today. We spent almost two hours in the pool (did I mention I'm sun-burnt?) and the thermometer on the office wall listed 110 degrees *in the shade*. I spent a lot of time praying that it was wrong and reading high, but it was hot enough I could have believed it. It was, however, a dry heat - and I do not say that pointedly, but honestly. Heat I find distasteful but can handle; humidity just kills me. Humidity was very low, and so it was hot, but it was bearably (if not pleasantly) hot.

The real star for the kids, though, was the waterslide. They went down it probably 20 or 25 times each, and we had to drag them - literally screaming, in one case - away from it when we decided the sun and the lack of food were enough. I have pictures and videos. :-D

Dinner was from the Mayflower Seafood Restaurant, and the portions were *frigging huge*. We expected enough food for the five of us with a little left over, and we got easily more than twice as much as we'd really expected. We have a full meal for tomorrow, and the price wasn't particularly bad, either. Not shabby. I may have to argue my mother into trading my fried trout for her broiled catfish, though.

Now, I'm just very tired - the sun, getting up early, the activity, the heat, the good food, it all adds up. I'm actually more awake now at 10:30 than I was a couple of hours ago, but I'm still drowsy... And everyone else is asleep. So I'm going to bed as well.

G'night.