I headed out from Wilmington at around 10, but soon realized that I had left some essential gear at the campsite and had to turn around. It was 30 minutes wasted, but I was soon underway. Beautiful day and the farther north I got the prettier it got. When I finally crossed into Virginia I was in fine spirits, working on a couple of song ideas and making good progress. My gas prices stayed right around $3.93 today – I’ve still managed not to break the $4 barrier. You know, even with the high gas prices, things may work out financially. Even if I’d have done this tour without the camper, I still would have been driving. While using less gas, I would not have cut the gas bill in half plus I would have had meals and hotel rooms. Other than the Waffle House stop the first night I’ve fixed all other meals in the camper. And, I’m not paying for camp sites – part of my KOA deal. So, while the expense in gas is significant, so is the savings. It took about 5 hours to get to Virginia Beach, but a nice drive. Had another gas station incident – manners and consideration for others have gone completely out the window. I guess I should just let it slide, but I just detest inconsiderate behavior. Once again, I don’t think I so much as dented the person’s indifference. The KOA in Virginia Beach is huge and even nicer than the one in Wilmington. It has a very large covered pavilion (at least the size of the main stage at Willfest at Sertoma) with a large raised stage, stage lights, etc. – very impressive. I could pull my truck right up to it so the load in / out was easy. It’s very warm here, but not like Wilmington. Here there is a constant refreshing breeze and it’s quite comfortable. The campground has more than 300 campsites and they are FULL! Lots of folks, so I was excited about the show. Now the catch is that I did my usual advance promo routine and printed / sent handouts, etc. in advance asking that they be given to everyone who would be in the park tonight. When I checked in I found those materials simply sitting off to the side hardly used. They had a “today’s activities†board out front and my name wasn’t on it. Yep, I was a little peeved, but you roll with the punches. Still, it seems like they’d want to maximize the crowd too. Obviously I’m not charging enough. I went ahead and set up, took a shower, fixed myself a little dinner (Hoppin’ John with long grain rice and a small salad) and dressed for the concert. I got back to the stage plenty early so I could crank up the sound system (ran my iPod through it) to let people within earshot know something was about to happen there. At 7 pm a small but enthusiastic crowd gathered. Given the number of folks in the park the crowd should have been at least three times the size it was and my irritation at the park staff for not pitching in on promotion increased. But, BREATHE DEEPLY and remember – the ones sitting in front of you are the ones that matter, and only they matter. So I put my best into it and, as it turned out, I sold CD’s to nearly every person that attended – a very good night and helped knock a hole in those expenses! I do enjoy the atmosphere of these campground gigs – very “festival like.†The people, particularly the small kids who just love sitting up front for a live performance, are laid back and friendly. Of course, you’re at the mercy of the weather, but then that’s true to a degree even with an indoor show – if the weather turns bad it hurts the turnout. This is a very elaborate KOA. They have a humungous trampoline / moonwalk / bouncy thing that was to be half the size of an Olympic swimming pool. It tapers to the ground at the edges, is inflated, and is probably 5 or 6 feet high at the top of the “hump.†It’s like an inflated cow pie (or dinosaur pie) painted in the KOA logo and colors. The kids just go nuts on it. The bouncing, from a distance, sounds like thunder at times. There are also lot of planned activities, particularly for the kids, a doggie park, and at night they have an inflatable movie screen that they set up in field next to the pavilion and when I finished playing they started a movie. Pretty cool. (BTW – not many people showed up for the movie either. I guess the handwritten white board sign by the store where you check in just isn’t cutting it – DUH!) Anyway, I’m pooped and I need to get an early start if possible tomorrow – on to Lexington / Natural Bridge for my show tomorrow night. Then a couple of days of RnR before dropping back down into NC for a mid week show. I’m hoping to hang out at the Natural Bridge KOA for at least one extra night and poke around the area some – lot of history up here. Humphhh, that’s dumb, there’s history everywhere, but you know what I mean – the history you read about in school (or were supposed to). More tomorrow.