September 7 - 8, 2011 - Travels and Friends

On Wednesday, we awoke to no rain and a little sun peaking thru the clouds – Yea!   So after saying our goodbyes, we continued our journey west (and the rains continued – :-():

Thru Virginia:

Then:

 

And lastly:

The greenery and the mountains, oh my!   Someday we need to spend some time and explore these mountains,

We are staying at Lake Grayson State Park – they are doing a 2 for 1 special from Monday thru Thursday – pay for one night and get another night free.  Good deal for us – it came to $10.00 per night for electric and water.   The first time we have had any type of hookups since we started.  We stayed in site 18 – sorry no pictures.

Once we set up, we connected with our good friends Tom and Karen who are working at the ACOE nearby and had a great evening getting caught up with each other – :-).

On Thursday, Karen and Tom picked us up and we all went to breakfast in Grayson – yum!

Tom and Karen:

 

After breakfast, they took us for a tour around parts of the dam and Lake Grayson.

The dam outflow:

I just love this picture – notice the fisherman – how peaceful:

And these little guys:

Then this afternoon, we had to pack up and move the RV.  Here is the story: When we came in yesterday no one was in the office BUT there was a sign outside stating that if there was no sign on the post, the site was available for two nights.  So Site 18 had no sign.   This morning when Andy went outside, there was a sign on the post stating that the site was reserved for tonight.   WHAT???  We found the attendant and apparently someone forgot to put the signs out and we had to move – ???  However since it was their fault, if we moved, we would get our money back.  So the end result is two free nights of electric and water – so that is what we did… (That will really help the budget – :-)

Here is our new site (41):

Tom and Karen came over this evening and we had another great time – how blessed we are.  They are leaving tomorrow to work at Amazon and we will be heading west.  I know our paths will cross again.

To all my friends and family back home – please stay safe.  We made some phone calls back and found out that our county has been declared a state of emergency – but our friends and family and properties are okay so far.  

There is a creek near our house that has flooded – this is only the third time in my life.   My girlfriend sent me this picture of the parking lot of a mini-mall that is down the hill from us.  Oh my.

 

Stay safe and enjoy today.

Stats for Wednesday:

Miles Traveled: 240 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Virginia:  SR-605; SR-600; SR-661; I-64 W

West Virginia: I-64 W; I-77 N; I-64 W

Kentucky: I-64 W; SR-7

September 5 - 6, 2011 The National Forest and Friends

On Monday, we left our little spot in the mountains and headed west.   One last look from Skyline Drive:

Yes, lots of clouds and rain and more clouds and more rain – :-((.   We arrived at Morris Hill Campground near Lake Moomaw in the George Washington National Forest and were greeted by our good friends, Madeline and Jerry (who we met last year at the Balloon Fiesta).   And we have had a wonderful two days sharing stories and getting caught up with each other.

Our campsite:

 

Madeline and Jerry work at the campground and also at the ACOE visitor center at the dam.  So on Tuesday, they took us for a tour of the dam, lake, and the National Forest – it is so beautiful here.

The boys goofing off – LOL:

We stopped by the Homestead Resort to check it out.  This resort was started in 1766 – think about it – that is 10 years before the US officially became the US – WOW!  Lots of history here.

We decided to have our picture taken on the front porch of the hotel: (Jerry, Madeline, Me, Andy)

 

Tonight, Tuesday, Madeline and Jerry treated us to a wonderful dinner.  We were joined by Trish and Dallas, the new incoming campground hosts.   What a wonderful time – thank you – :-).

We continue to be blessed by the people in our lives – :-).

Tomorrow our journey continues west so stay tuned.

Stats for Monday, 5th:

Miles Traveled: 152 Miles

Routes Traveled:

Virginia: Skyline Drive; US-33 W; I-81 S; I-64; US-220; SR-687; SR-641; SR-605

May 13, 2008 – Sunshine!!

Sunshine, sunshine, sunshine with a beautiful blue sky…. What a wonderful day!

We spent our day walking around the campground and picnic areas and talking with the other campers.

And just sitting in the sun. Even Elliot wanted out to lie in the sun!!!


And here he is helping Andy read:

As I promised yesterday, here is a picture of Passage Creek as of this morning:

Here is a picture of the same creek from May 6:

Notice the rocks in the earlier picture but not in today’s picture. There were measurement lines on the bridge. On May 6, it was about 8 inches, today was 2 feet. And that was this morning – yesterday was even higher. Incredible the power of water!!

And we really enjoyed another campfire tonight!!!

May 12, 2008 - Rain, Library, and Update

It rained and rained more last night and continued into the morning. BUT the forecast calls for clearing this afternoon and nice tomorrow so we decided to continue our stay in the National Forest.

Since it is still raining, we are currently at the library doing our updates, email, etc.

On the way here, we pass by Passage Creek and it is roaring. Maybe I will have some pictures for you tomorrow.

Until then! :-)

May 11, 2008 – Buzzard Overlook

Another cloudy morning and they were calling for rain early afternoon, so we decided to hike to Buzzard Overlook on the Massanutten Trail – 1.50 miles up with an elevation change of +800’ (Not bad for 2 old folks!!).

Some views:

The trail views:


Hazards on the trail (yes, we did have to climb under!):

On the way back to the car, we took a detour and came upon a Forest Service Cabin. What a beautiful place, however, it did not look like it was used in a very long time.


Today may be our last day here. We are moving to a full service campground for a reset (charge batteries, empty tanks, refill other tanks, maybe even watch TV and have WIFI). And the rain came in mid-afternoon and continued!!

May 10, 2008 – May Fest and Camp Roosevelt

This morning we went to the annual May Fest in Historic Downtown Luray.

A picture:

Does it look familiar? In all the travels we have done, it is comforting to see how much all towns are alike. I could have been walking at Pottsville’s May Day with the sounds, the items for sale, and the aroma of good food (MMMMMM!!!). The only difference is seeing people I know vs. people I do not – but the smiles are the same.

From there, we made a stop at the local Wal-Mart and traveled to Camp Roosevelt.

This picture is of the Shenandoah Valley – notice the clouds around the mountain tops:

Camp Roosevelt was still not open but we parked the Tracker and walked in. This camp was the first Civilian Conservation Corp camp in the US and the first inductee to the CCC, Henry Rich, worked here. There are still some of the foundations visible throughout the park.

Here is one we found interesting:


According to the brochure, this was part of the truck shed and garages. Notice the work on the fireplace. It is actually double sided as if it were the divider between two rooms.

And another foundation:

The drive back to camp was thru Fort Valley. The valley is between Massanutten Mountain and Green Mountain and is mostly all farm and livestock. We saw many horses, cattle, goats, and sheep farms. Everything is such a lush green color. Beautiful!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing:

And another great campfire!

May 9, 2008 – Rainy Day

Well, no severe storm last night in our area but lots of rain and it was still raining this morning. So our travels today took us to the Cedar Creek Battlefield Visitor Center where we spoke with the curators and found the best way to see the battlefields since many of them are on private property. (And that we will do when it is not raining.)

Our next stop was a tour of the Route 11 Chip factory. Chips, all flavors, mmmm, need I say more!

We then went to historic Winchester.

Some pictures:

There are a number of walking tours and we may come back on a nicer day.

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out around suppertime so we had another great campfire.

May 8, 2008 – Libraries and Flea Markets

Since today was a rainy day, we decided to go to the used bookstore in Front Royal. When we saw the library sign, we stopped in and lo and behold, they had WiFi. So we downloaded our email and checked on a few things. Sorry no blog upload, I did not have it ready. (But now, I know where to find WiFi!) The library was having a used book sale so we ended up buying a few. And because of that we did not go to the used bookstore.

From there, we took another scenic route to New Market and stopped at a large coop flea market. There was the usual junk but some other really interesting items. I did find out that some of the things that I was going to yard sale are collectibles. So maybe I will learn how to sell on Ebay and see what happens. The only thing we did buy was another book.

One thing about living in the motorhome is that we cannot carry a lot of “stuff”. And that for me has been liberating. When I got home last year, I went thru a good portion of my house to get rid of “stuff” because after living in this small space, the house overwhelmed me. I hate to admit it but I am a pack rat (as well as Andy). We keep things “just in case” and find that when that “just in case” happens, we cannot find anything. So items were donated, given away, or boxed up for a future yard sale (although see above for some of those items). When we packed the motorhome for this trip, some areas of the house were empty (yippee!), and some looked like nothing was changed (I see round two of getting rid of more “stuff” coming up when I get back.). The motorhome, however, has less than last year. The items that we never used were not packed this year. But I am still rearranging things!!!

No campfire tonight. They are calling for severe weather in the area and I am praying that it is not too bad.

May 7, 2008 – Our Anniversary, Woodstock Tower, and Water

Today is our 20th Anniversary – Happy Anniversary to us!!

This morning we traveled to the Woodstock Tower.

Some pictures:



The tower looks over the Shenandoah River. The river bends 7 times as it meanders down this valley. We were told that you could see all seven bends from here but alas, too much growth.

And today, we started our garbage pickup. It never ceases to amaze me how much trash people just throw away, instead of carrying out when they are on the trails. So I have decided that every hike we are on, I will bring a bag to pick up trash and carry out. (And maybe others may do the same – or at least think twice before leaving trash.)

We checked out a few of the other forest roads and then headed back to camp.

Since we decided to stay longer, we needed to refill our water supply to make sure we have enough to last. They only have one pump (and it is a pump) near the entrance. So we filled our 3 five gallon containers and trucked them back. Other times, we have used a transfer pump to fill the tank but this time my Andy (alias McGuyver), came up with another plan.

Here is a picture (no pump needed):


After a second fill, we were all set.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, etc. We have also decided on this trip, not to be rushing around all the time and spend more time on exploring more hobbies. Andy has been having a great time checking in various nets. For those of you who don’t know, Andy and I are both amateur radio operators (Andy is N3HHH and I am N3LHM.)

Another great campfire evening!