Michael Vreeland (20733)
Virginia State Director

It has been an extremely busy year for the Vreeland’s in 2024. That’s right the Vreeland’s since I got married on Dec 29, 2023, to Sharon. This year I get to take advantage of the Married Filing Jointly tax break. She has not done a lot of RVing like we Newmarians but she is finding it an experience. At the Tampa Super Show rally – btw well done to Carl & Gayle Webber as hosts – it was a bit different for her to monitor water usage and control her impulse to run the dryer, washer, and microwave at the same time. But to her credit she did not trip the breaker once. But by the end of the rally, she was ready to move on and get to use all the benefits of having a “luxury” Newmar coach.

Here is a head scratcher – I had a peculiar problem where the shower hot water would come out scalding for a bit, then go cold, and finally settle in on lukewarm. The hot water at all other facets were scalding so the issue seems to be shower specific. Sharon like most women likes a nice hot shower so I used the bypass switch on the Oasis for her shower. It was nice and hot the whole time. Once she was done, I switched it back and took my shower and the water was scalding so I had to turn it down. Not sure what happened but I suspect using the bypass switch must have flushed something – just not sure what – but the shower still works great. Could be an application of the “FM principle”. What is that you ask? Freaking Magic (FM) of course.

We went to Thousand Trails Orlando to start our “snow birding” for the winter and it is packed. At least we found a somewhat level spot with clear overhead for satellite. Great to be back in a full hook up. I topped off the fresh water after the Super Show and I was good to go. As a rule, I always travel with a full fresh water tank just in case. One interesting thing we saw as we were in the check in line pulling into Thousand Trails Clermont access road – I noticed a large drone in the distance. I watched as it went somewhere (not sure where) but as I watched I saw it hover and drop something and a parachute opened. I suspect it was a test Amazon delivery, pretty cool. The future is coming to an Amazon truck near you – just saying.

Our next reservation was in St. Augustine so we could link up with the kids since they came down for vacation. Great place for sightseeing and food. While there we did catch up with Allen & Marilyn Bishop to swap some lies. All in all, a pretty good break from the cold weather up north and the kids did enjoy that.

A friend of Sharon’s was getting married February 14, 2024, so we decided to travel to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the wedding. It was a bit chilly while Clermont was 80 degrees. This is why we “snowbird”, but it is always nice to attend a wedding.

Finally zeroed in on a Virginia State Rally location and date. The Virginia State Rally will be held at Misty Mountain Camp Resort, 56 Misty Mountain Road, Greenwood, Virginia 23943 phone 540-456-6409. Dates of Rally September 22 – 26. Rally cost TBD, site rates are $70 less a rally discount plus taxes. Current plans are a guided Charlottesville Ghost Tour and a guided Monticello Thomas Jefferson house tour. Meal planning and game nights are still being developed. You can register at the NKK website and please do not forget to call Misty Mountain Camp Resort to reserve your site.

Again, this year the Virginia Wheels has scheduled two rallies, one May 16-20, at the Holiday Travel Park in Virginia Beach. The second rally is a joint Virginia Wheels, North Carolina Tarheels and South Carolina Palmetto Pals rally being held in Mount Airy, North Carolina – the “real life Mayberry” from the TV Show. Both of these rallies are on the NKK Calendar so please register for them at your earliest convenience. I hope to see you there. So, to all please travel and be safe – I want to see your smiling faces in my travel and hope to be able to sit and swap some lies with you. Rally On!!!!!

I can be reached at beagleRV@gmail.com or 540-809-9830.