New impressions make me nervous, and I believe this is true for most of us. Such a tug on our fifth wheel through a large tunnel was the first time. To top it off, this tunnel was one of the largest I know about: the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, or simply the Tunnel Bridge, when talking to the locals.
Bridge Tunnel is a pretty attractive site for those of us who appreciate rigorous engineering projects. It is a 20-mile long bridge on US highway 13, connecting the Delmar peninsula with Virginia over the Chesapeake Bay. Of the 20 miles, two single-lane segments sink to the floor of the bay, allowing large ships to pass higher.
For new RVers like us, the tunnels have several problems:
- Determining the validity of propane
- The need to tow an RV in two narrow lanes
- RV traffic is banned by winds at a speed of 40 mph and more that in January
After these questions, we added a tunnel bridge to our route to avoid the winter weather in the mountains along the west coast of the bay.
We left the RV park near Ocean City, Maryland, early in the morning to get around the oncoming thunderstorm.
It took only half an hour to get to the bridge-tunnel, it seems that we managed to stay ahead of the storm.
So far, that is, the driver decided to overturn the power line and stopped all lanes for an hour.
As soon as the movement began to move again, the wind began to rage.
By the time we reached the Bridge-Tunnel tugboats, strong winds and rain began to resemble a truck and a trailer. Our hopes for crossing the bay before the storm disappeared disappeared.
A few days before our trip, we contacted the CBBT Commission to make sure they were passing propane through the tunnels.
They told us that as long as propane closes at the bottle, we could cross freely.
When we approached the paid parking lot, we were looking for a rest area, which they told us about, so we can pull the propane off and on.
Because of the cold weather, we wanted to start the stove as early as possible to prevent the pipes from freezing.
A few hundred feet from the gate, the pointer pointed to the left to the rest area, but it seemed to us that it was pointing to a dirt road.
At that time we did not notice that the parking lot was a little further, right in front of the gate.
Thinking that I missed it, and when I heard tales of harsh fines, if he spoke with propane, I decided to reach for my right shoulder right in front of the pay cabin.
It took me only a few seconds for me to jump out and turn off the propane-bottle, but that was enough for truckers to make unkind comments about
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about my exclusive parking. Looking back at the situation, I cannot imagine problems with me, pulling myself up to the stand and explaining to the attendant that I missed the turn and still need to turn off the propane.
As expected, the duty officer asked us to take a U-turn at the parking lot (the one we missed earlier) until strong winds disappeared.
We rode in the parking lot and joined several RVs that were already distracted. In a short time the parking lot was full of RV and trucks without cargo.
We quickly had lunch and decided to take a nap. We both had mild cold symptoms, and was happy to drive. It was hard to sleep in the swinging trailer and with heavy rain, but still he felt refreshing.
Four hours after stopping in the parking lot, the wind calmed down.
Officials with flashing lights and sirens passed through the parking lot to let us know that we could cross. Talk about traffic! Hundreds of RVs and trucks headed for one exit on all sides. Since the number of vehicles, the parking lot has been easily retired with the help of several officers directing traffic.
The cranial gray waves, excited by moderate winds, made the cross eerie.
Gusts of wind were still felt when they touched the fifth wheel, which made us thank for not having to cross the top of the storm.
Five hours later, we finally arrived on the mainland of Virginia.
I am not sure that this concerns Norfolk, but, despite the fact that I drove past it several times in the past, I always manage to make a mistake; this time was no exception.
At our disposal, we printed routes, a map of the trucker and GPS, but we still managed to make a turn that led us to the northern part of the city. As we worked as a deer in the city against our best efforts, our agitation increased.
Do not be offended by the good people of Virginia, but something about Norfolk made us both lose the ability to read cards, and we worsened the situation at every step.
It's time to rest. We rode the parking lot in the store and sighed a little to restore calm. Pathologically, we again looked at the maps and planned to exit from this trap. Finally, we left Norfolk, resigned to the fact that we lost half a day of travel. As we headed into the setting sun, the fiery red sunset melted away our remaining worries.
