Tourinns Motor Court
April 17, 2025 — Day 12
Kiptopeke State Park, Cape Charles, VA
We hung out in the morning since today was “moving day.” The good news is that we were in Site 23 and we were moving to Site 21 which was right next to us. Checkout time was 1pm but our neighbors were starting to pack up by 9:30 or so! By 11 they were almost done and we were getting excited for an early move. Then the four adults and 4 kids sat down for lunch. Makes sense, when you have that big a crew to even if you are a bit early because feeding a big crew of 8 on the road could be tough.
One of the parents called a little one over to carry some plates. Susan watched that the child drop the bagel on the steps, kind of sort of maybe not maybe on purpose, and then look around to check if anyone had seen, seeing the coast was clear picked it up put it on the plate and carried it to the table! (susan here: moral to the story is don’t trust the wee ones to carry your bagels to the table!)
By 11:30 we had our shortest move ever. Our other neighbor wondered if he had offended us! (susan here: I said that we were over their loud music and had to “get away” which was so funny because they were legitimately old, probably approaching 80 and the thought of them having loud obnoxious music was funny. Really nice guy and we wish that they were still our neighbors, they left the next morning.)
Soon we were off on our bike ride!
Many of the trails that go to the bay have boardwalks and lots of stairs, plus bikes are prohibited on them. Sure, we could walk them, but stairs with an e-bike? Her bike would weigh too much to schlep it back up the stairs.
We eventually made it out to the Fishing Pier which has the concrete boats are parked.
The Concrete Fleet, also known as the Kiptopeke Breakwater, consists of several concrete ships lined end to end just west of the former Chesapeake Bay ferry terminal. The crumbling hulks consist of 9 of the 24 concrete ships contracted by the U.S. Maritime Commission during World War II. In 1948 the ships were brought to Kiptopeke Beach in order to bring protection to the terminal during severe weather. Once arranged, their bilge-cocks were opened to bring on water and they were left to settle on the bottom of the Bay.
We watched this excavator dump sand in the harbor. Later on we watched it while it dug up sand from another part of the harbor. How curious…
On the way back from the pier Susan used the e-bike’s throttle to go up a steep hill to the hawk watch area. She didn’t see any hawks but found this cool old sign. (susan here: Paul won’t admit it but he’s envious of my e-bike’s throttle. I think it’s a great energy saver! It means I can explore more than I normally would!!!)
Paul’s bike doesn’t have a kickstand so he just laid it down on the ground and waited. Soon a grandpa and grandkid came by. He wanted to know if Paul was ok. He explained about Susan and the e-bike and the hill and they both had a good laugh about it. His e-bike was also brand new to him and it was broken already. Every time he used any power the rear wheel would start for fall off.
Paul wondered if the nut was vibrating loose and thought he might have some locktite in his tool kit. He was in site 13 so that should be nearby.
Winding our way back to the RV we investigated two more boardwalks that are accessed only from the campground. On the way there we heard a very loud woodpecker. We both were able to observe a Pileated Woodpecker for a few moments before it flew off. Biking and birding don’t really go hand in hand, you need to get the binoculars from your backpack, but worse, while your cruising along you’re flushing birds out so you only get a fleeting glimpse of them, if you’re lucky. It is still wicked fun though.
The first boardwalk had stairs but the second one ended in a lovely viewing platform. It was a slight downhill to the platform from the road, but that meant it was uphill all the way back. We thought her bike had a walk mode but were unable to find it from the menus. Paul googled and found that it does have a walk mode. (susan here: not happy about not pushing 62 pounds of bike up hill although it does increase my fitness if I survive it. <grins> )
Back at camp we looked for Site 13. They’re parked right just 5 sites away, but we’re in a cul-de-sac so they’re practically right next door.
Grandpa’s name was Charles and he brought his bike over. He and Paul worked on it but it clearly wasn’t an issue that Locktite could fix. He had cranked those nuts down so tight with an impact driver he had bent the washers.
His only recourse now is to contact Amazon and try and get a replacement. Or, his money back. We fear that’s going to go poorly for him. Susan had read about some of those e-bikes that are sold for $400-600 on Amazon and the reviews were scathing. She was really glad she had bought a brand name bike from a reputable bike shop, not online.