OCTOBER 4 - OCTOBER 16: Raleigh, NC

 Sunday, October 4 - We left Max Meadows, VA and traveled via I-77, I-74, and I-40 to Raleigh, NC. There was a long delay north of Winston-Salem so we let Google lead us off our chosen path and back on to our route which took some time.  We had another delay when searching for a fuel stop where we could use our  TSD Logisitics card to save on fuel, but that was finally successful and we saved about 50 cents a gallon.  The rest of the trip to the NC State Fairgrounds campground in Raleigh was uneventful, though traffic was pretty heavy.

We've stayed at this campground, behind the Hunt Horse Complex, many times, but it looked more unkempt than before.  The security guard who collectted  ourcamping fee for two weeks explained why the grounds need maintenance..  Due to COVID-19, the fairgrounds has been shut down and most workers laid off.  With the loss of millions of dollars in revenue , there is no routine  maintenace as before, so some campsites are unusable due to electric or water issues, the grass is higher, and the access roads in the campground have lots of potholes.  Dspite all of this, the campground has been very full since our arrival.  Starting this weekend until October 25, they are having the NC State Fair horse show, 4-H youth livestock shows,  and  many Fair Food Vendors at the fairgrounds. The horse & livestock shows are not open to the public,  but the food vendors are open for takeout orders.

During our first week here we were able to meet with friends a couple of times, keeping our distance of course.  More importantly, we celebrated our 54th wedding anniversary by treating ourselves to a nice breakfast where we happened to meet another couple we knew, then that evening we had dinner at O'Charley's. 

This week, we both had medical check-ups with good reports. Tuesday we took our 2011 HHR in for a checkup as well, and found out that it needed some extensive repairs. After deciding it wasn't worth putting that much money into that car, we started car searching on Wednesday, and actually found what we needed at the first place we went.  We're now the owners of a dark blue 2016 Chevy Equinox LT. 

Since then, there's been a lot of phone calls to find a place that could prepare the car for towing. We have an appointment to add a tow plate, electric cable for turn and brake lights, and break-away cable  to the car on October 26 & 27.  This car sits an inch or two higher than the HHR so we may need to get a different drop-hitch as well in order to keep the tow bars level within specifications.  Maybe we'll leave here by the end of the month before it gets too cool.