Shenandoah Valley & Shenandoah National Park, July 26 & Sherando Lake, July 28, 2019

Posted on July 28, 2019 by Sharon

We weren’t able to get camping reservations for the weekend, so on Friday, July 26th we decided to do a day trip through the Shenandoah Valley. After crossing Afton Mountain, we drove north on Rt. 340.

One of our first stops was at the North 340 Campground. While it’s not somewhere that we’d be likely to camp, it certainly seems like a popular place. We saw lots of trailers and RVs with out-of-state license plates, so it’s probably a good “home base” from which to explore all that this part of Virginia has to offer.

North of Elkton, VA, we turned right on Grove Hill River Road (Rt. 650) to access the south fork of the Shenandoah River. The river seemed a little low, but Eastern Tiger Swallowtails were happily “puddling” in the mud along its banks.

The Shenandoah Valley saw intense fighting during the American Civil War. These two informational markers are near the river on Grove Hill River Road:

Downstream view of the Shenandoah River:

We continued traveling north, occasionally catching glimpses of the Shenandoah River which winds its way through the Valley.

Aside from the amazing scenery, the big draw in this part of the Shenandoah Valley is Luray Caverns, the “largest and most popular” caverns in the eastern United States:

Near Luray, we turned east on Rt. 211, and this took us by Yogi Bear’s Jellystone Park Camp-Resort. While again not somewhere we’d be likely to camp, we could certainly understand how vacationers with young children might really enjoy this!

After a quick tour of the campground, we continued to follow Rt. 211 up to the top of the mountain. We entered Shenandoah National Park via “The Skyline Drive” at the Thornton Gap entrance.

We turned south, and within a few minutes we were driving through Mary’s Rock tunnel:

Earlier in the afternoon–somewhere near Elkton–we’d passed an antique car that was heading south. I’d commented at the time that it looked “original,” and I wondered if it had been owned by the same person since the 1930s.

Well, imagine our surprise when we saw this car (a 1939 Chevrolet) on the Skyline Drive–hours and miles later! We stopped, and Wayne asked the older gentleman who was driving it if it would be okay to take some pictures:

I’ve always referred to little coincidences such as this as “cosmic mile markers;” I feel they let me know that where I am is where I need to be. So after taking some pictures and talking with the owner (who was not the original owner 😉 ), we continued our slow drive south, stopping at various overlooks that offered views to the east or to the west.

When we got to Big Meadows at Mile Post 51.2, we drove through the campground where there were enormous motorhomes, travel trailers, and vans, in addition to tents of every size and description. Even though there are no electric or water hookups available at Big Meadows, this large, popular mountaintop campground was completely full.

Further south (Mile Post 79.5), we also drove through Loft Mountain campground. As it was getting late, the only picture we took was of the spectacular early evening view of the Shenandoah Valley from the amphitheater.

We stopped again at the Moormans River Overlook, which is above the Sugar Hollow Reservoir.

And our final stop was at McCormick Gap, which is the last overlook on the southern end of the Skyline Drive. (For interactive maps showing all of the overlooks in Shenandoah National Park, you can click here.)

I was somewhat surprised by the number of people we saw at the McCormick Gap overlook. While there were a few out-of-state license plates on the cars, most of the people were probably locals who’d driven up the mountain from the Rockfish Gap entrance just for the purpose of relaxing and watching the sun set over the Shenandoah Valley. Beautiful….

It was nearly dark by the time we left the park and headed for home. We’d driven over 70 miles of the scenic 105-mile roadway, and had been on the mountain for close to 5 hours. It was time very well spent. 🙂

A couple of days later, we followed up this trip with a visit to Sherando Lake. When we’d camped at Sherando in June, we didn’t have a chance to go to the lake, so we made up for this on Sunday afternoon, July 28th. 🙂

It was another beautiful, blue-skied day, and we enjoyed the 25-mile drive over the mountain to the lake.

Just gorgeous!

Wayne got right in the cool, mountain lake.

I’d planned to swim, but once I had my chair set up in the shade–and with the gentle breeze blowing–I decided I was happy right where I was!

Before leaving Sherando, we drove through the campground, wishing, wishing, wishing that we were returning to our sweet little trailer instead of starting the trek back over the mountain! 😉

Camping Trip to Sherando Lake, June 2019

Driving back towards the interstate on Mt. Torrey Road (Rt. 664), we noticed that Humpback Rocks on the Blue Ridge Parkway is easily visible from its west side, just as it is from its east side. Wayne was able to zoom in to show hikers at the summit! I haven’t made the climb up Humpback for years–and doubt that I will again–but the views are incredible from the top….

So even though we weren’t able to go camping this weekend, we’re thankful that we were able to continue to enjoy our summer break with these lovely day trips!

Until next time,

Sharon & Wayne

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Camping at Pocahontas State Park, July 19-21, 2019

Posted on July 22, 2019 by Sharon

On the morning of Friday, July 19, we headed out for another 2-night camping trip, this time to Pocahontas State Park.

This was our most distant trip to date with our new-to-us trailer, and one that involved mainly interstate travel. Even though my gas mileage tanks when towing, the Kia handled the drive well, with no sign of overheating (even with the A/C on full force).

The campground was easy to find, and we arrived right around noon. (By keeping my target speed to about 63 mph, it took us just under 2 hours.)

We’d reserved a “non-specific” site, and when we checked in we asked the woman at the visitor’s center to suggest sites that were mostly shaded. She gave us a map and said that our best bet would be in the first section, campsites 1-65. The ones marked with white circles were all of the non-specific sites from which we could choose.

After riding through the campground a couple of times, we selected site #60. It seemed to have a good amount of shade, and it was also close to the bathhouse. While the driveway sloped upwards, by backing the trailer in as far as we could, we were able to get everything level.

Why was our main priority shade? Because it was hot! Crazy hot….

We were a sweaty mess by the time we had everything set up!

We sat out under the awning while we waited for the A/C in the trailer to start cooling it down.

And it just kept getting hotter….

We bought some firewood, and then started driving around the large, beautiful park, just to explore a bit. When we went through the campground loop with sites 66-129, we realized we were probably in the best section, given the temperature. The sites in the other loop may be better for large trailers and RVs (as most of them are level and paved), but there’s a bit less shade. These open sites would be fine in the spring or fall, though, and even with so many campsites (all with water and electric), neither loop seemed overly crowded or the sites too closely spaced.

We got out of the car for a few minutes at Swift Creek. Someday it would be fun to rent a pedal boat or kayaks, but we weren’t too surprised by the lack of people out on the water!

As usual, we’d brought food to cook for dinner, but the thought of getting out our propane stove wasn’t too appealing, and we didn’t want to cook in the trailer, either. Decision made, we went to a Food Lion about 3-4 miles from the campground, bought some food at the deli, and ate dinner in the camper.

One of the many things we enjoy about camping is sitting outside by a campfire until late in the evening, talking and listening to the katydids and other summer bugs. By 9:00 PM, however, the temperature had only dropped to 89 degrees, and the “real feel” temp was still 99!! We’d put up some blue LED rope lights on our awning, but instead of sitting in front of a campfire as we usually do, we opted to sit outside for a little while in front of a fan! Sadly, not quite the same experience….

Of course a little fan was better than NO fan, but soon we went inside where it was cool. By being so close to Richmond, we were pleased to find we could pick up a variety of TV stations with our digital antenna. (We also had pretty decent cell service at the park.)

Saturday it was miserably hot again (another day with “excessive heat” warnings), so we went to the air-conditioned nature center to check out some of the exhibits.

The park has a really nice “discovery room” for kids, which we enjoyed, too!

The exhibit that fascinated me the most was a large, glass-sided honeybee hive. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how it could be a sustainable colony since it was indoors!

When I asked a ranger about it, she explained that while the hive was inside, the bees could actually come and go via a tunnel through the wall to the outside. Well, perfect!

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see two bees returning to the hive through the tunnel.

When we told the ranger about our unusual encounter with the butterfly at James River State Park the previous week, she was able to identify it as a “Red Admiral.” In one of her reference books, it specifically mentioned how this type of butterfly will often visit and land on people, so I guess the Red Admiral is the quintessential “social butterfly”! 😉

Our next stop was the CCC Museum, right across the parking lot from the nature center.

It was really interesting to see that six of Virginia’s state parks were built with the help of the CCC, and that all opened on the same day in 1936! We’ve been to three of these six, and what a treasure they are!

It was tough walking out of the museum into the heat again, but we’d planned ahead and had our bathing suits. With a toddler pool, fountain wet deck, three-foot and five-foot deep pools, two tubular water slides, and an activity pool, there was something for everyone at the Aquatic Recreation Center!

By this time, the temperature was 98 degrees with a “real feel” of 111 (!!!!) so it felt incredibly good to be in the water. Still mindful of the sun, however, we only stayed at the pool for an hour before going back to our campsite.

After changing clothes and hanging up our suits to dry, Wayne went to visit some friends who live near the campground and I took a nap in the air-conditioned trailer. We made another trip to the pool later that evening.

Despite trying to stay hydrated and limiting our time outside, the heat was starting to wear on us. Dinner was sort of a non-event (I microwaved some deli leftovers), and basically we just stayed inside. (This trip wouldn’t have been do-able–at all–for us without the A/C in the trailer!)

With more of the same forecast for Sunday–coupled with the possibility of severe storms that afternoon–we packed up well before the 1:00 PM checkout time.

As we were getting ready to leave, a couple stopped by our site and asked if it would soon be available. They were in the other loop of the campground but hoped to find a shady spot for the rest of their stay. Wayne told them that, yes, we were leaving, and also pointed out our stack of unused firewood that they could have.

In retrospect, perhaps camping during such a heatwave wasn’t the best idea we’ve ever had, but overall, staying at Pocahontas State Park was a positive experience. With hiking trails, fishing lakes, kayaking, and more at this 7900-acre park, we’d love to visit again when we could better enjoy all it has to offer!

Until next time,

Sharon & Wayne

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Camping at James River State Park, July 11-13, 2019

Posted on July 14, 2019 by Sharon

After doing many, many day trips to James River State Park, we were finally able to camp there! We left for the park a little before noon on Thursday, July 11th.

In addition to numerous “primitive” sites for tent campers throughout James River State Park, there are 31 water/electric sites in Red Oak campground. The camp host was in site #13, and we had reservations for a “non-specific” site in Red Oak, rather than a specific site.

When we arrived, we were given a map that showed the open campsites, and we were told we could pick out whichever one we liked best. I asked if we’d have to drive back to the front gate to let me know which site we’d chosen, but the ranger said the camp host would let them know. Cool!

ALL of the sites were nice–and HUGE–and we opted for site # 16 which was near the bathhouse. It had a long driveway, and it was very level.

Once we were set up, it felt nice to sit in the shade of the awning; it was SUCH a hot and humid day!

Wayne had just a bit of signal for his phone (Sprint) and I had none (AT&T) so we went to the visitor’s center to pick up a few things and to take advantage of their Wi-Fi. We always enjoy looking at their exhibits, too.

I’ve taken a picture of this sign each time we’ve visited James River State Park, and it has become one of my favorite quotes:

Strong storms were in the forecast–no surprise, given the heat and oppressive humidity–and clouds were building ominously in the distance.

All along the river at Dixon Landing, the leaves on the trees were turning upwards (which is often a sign of a coming storm), so we decided to head back to our campsite. Soon we could hear thunder, and the wind started to pick up.

We’d originally planned to cook dinner outside, but it was so very nice to have the option to cook and eat inside of our trailer!

After the worst of the storm was over and we’d cleaned up the kitchen, we sat outside under the awning.

When the rain finally stopped, a funny thing happened: we were both befriended by a beautiful butterfly. It flew to Wayne first, landing on his head and then riding around on his shoulder before flying over to me. It stayed with us for close to an hour, until it was almost fully dark.

We talked about the possible significance of this unusual encounter, as there’s a lot of symbolism pertaining to butterflies. You can read more about that here: https://www.whats-your-sign.com/butterfly-animal-symbolism.html

As night fell, the moon started to peek through the clouds and trees.

Finally it was clear enough for me to get a good picture of the three-quarter moon:

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing beside a campfire. So peaceful….

The next morning it was clear and sunny, but very hot and humid again. For breakfast, we ate a simple (but delicious) breakfast of bagels with cream cheese, fresh peaches, and coffee, and I took a picture of our campsite from the road, just to show how much room we had!

What a beautiful summer morning!

It was so nice to be out in the woods, AND have electric and water hook-ups! This allowed us to use the air conditioner in the trailer, and have fresh, filtered running water. “Roughing it?” No, not really. 😉

As many times as we’ve been to this state park, we’d never been on the trail that leads to the confluence of the Tye and James rivers. Due to the problems Wayne has had recently with his back, walking the full distance (over a mile, mostly uphill) to the confluence seemed unlikely. I’d read something about how the park could help with accessibility to this scenic spot, and when I asked a woman at the visitor’s center, she said that a ranger would be happy to open a gate along the trail so we could drive most of the way! Excellent!

Everyone we encountered at the park went out of their way to be helpful and accommodating, and once the gate was open, we drove up Cabell trail so we could take a much shorter trail to the confluence overlook. Well, it was SUPPOSED to be a short trail, but somehow we missed it. Instead, we found ourselves on one of the equestrian trails!

We just took it slowly, and soon we could see the overlook. We’ve been to several different confluences along the James River, and it’s always fascinating to see where one distinct river joins another. The Tye River (lighter brown) flows into the James (darker brown) at almost a 90-degree angle.

At one point as we were talking with another couple at the overlook, Wayne asked for the camera. He said he didn’t say anything at the time, but when he saw it coming over the branch on a nearby tree, he thought he was photographing a snake–and not a lizard! 😉

This was one of the signs at the overlook:

On the way back to the car, we managed to get on the correct trail, and it was a bit shorter and easier than the equestrian trail we’d come in on.

Our next stop was the river again, this time at the canoe livery and camp store.

There were a lot of people out on the water; perfect day for it!

We hadn’t planned to get out on the river, but seeing everyone else out there made it very, very tempting! Wayne checked at the livery to see if we could rent tubes to do a short float. Unfortunately, they couldn’t rent tubes that day for liability issues since the river was running quite fast. (The people who were tubing had brought their own.) Next, he checked to see if we could rent a canoe, but they’d stopped renting a half hour before. Oh well!

We continued to sit by the water for a while, watching the kayakers, tubers, clouds, and butterflies.

There are no swimming areas at the park, and caution is advised regarding getting in the river due to rocks and sudden drop-offs. But it was SO hot, and the water was SO inviting…. Decision made, we went back to the trailer to change into our bathing suits, stopping along the way to let some horses and riders cross in front of us.

Back at the river, we carefully and cautiously found a sandy area where we could at least sit in the water and cool off. So refreshing!

Before leaving, we symbolically blessed a tiny quartz crystal with our prayers and best wishes for the safety and health of the waters of the James River before tossing it into the river.

When we got back to the campground, we both took a shower at the bathhouse, which was very clean and nicely maintained. In addition to the shower rooms and bathrooms, there’s a laundry room and an outside sink for washing dishes.

Dinner that night was quesadillas and corn on the cob. It was nice to be able to cook and eat outside, but it was still SO HOT! Having a little fan on the end of the picnic table definitely helped!

After dinner, we took a slow walk around the campground, stopping to chat with some of our fellow campers…

…and watching the moon rise in a crystal clear sky….

Curiously, the same butterfly–or at least the same type of butterfly–accompanied us during half of our walk. <3

Back at our site, Wayne got a fire started and it was time for s’mores. 🙂

Later, I walked out to the road to get a shot of the moon and Jupiter (at about the 8 o’clock) position).

I could clearly see the moons around Jupiter with the zoom on my camera, but without a tripod, I couldn’t get a clear picture. Pretty amazing, anyhow!

The campfire that night was magical, and I loved watching the changing colors and patterns. We sat outside until midnight, truly enjoying our last night at James River State Park.

The next morning we went back to the river, taking our breakfast coffee with us.

Despite the lack of easy communication with the “outside world,” it actually felt good to be somewhat disconnected for a couple of days. Just being out in nature–surrounded by trees and near water–was something that I think we both needed. If we could have stayed longer, we would have. 🙂

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” ~ John Muir

We’re so thankful that we had the opportunity to camp at beautiful James River State Park. And while there are other state parks we’d like to explore, we’d love to come to this one again!

On the way home when we crossed the James River on Rt. 60, we could see a whole flotilla of canoeists, kayakers, and tubers starting the three-hour float down the river towards the park. Yep, maybe we’ll try that some day!

Until next time,

Sharon & Wayne

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Camping at Sherando Lake – June 26-28, 2019

Posted on June 28, 2019 by Sharon

We love camping at Sherando, but it’s not always easy to get a site. There are two “loops” with electricity: C-loop is a reserve-in-advance section, and the other, B-loop (our favorite), is a first-come-first-served loop. We didn’t reserve ahead of time, but we knew there were possibly 3 sites opening in B on Wednesday. Gambling that he’d be able to get one, Wayne drove over that morning and was able to reserve a site. He then drove back home (a 50-mile round trip!) so we could finish packing the car and trailer.

Our tow vehicle (a 2016 Kia Sorento, rated to tow 5000 pounds) did okay pulling the trailer up and over Afton Mountain on I-64, and this was good news, indeed. We were concerned about how it would do after its miserable performance towing on Rt. 250 West, which is much, much steeper. Once we were over the mountain, the car handled the trailer beautifully, and it didn’t take us too long to get set up at Sherando in site # B-4.

Like most of the sites in B loop, our site was perfectly level and wonderfully woodsy!

In retrospect, we should have headed straight for the lake, but after the rush to get a site and get set up, it felt good to simply kick back and relax. Wayne dozed in a chair under the awning, and I stretched out on the bed and took a nap.

That evening we fixed a simple summer dinner of corn on the cob and watermelon, and when we cleaned up, I used a special dish towel that one of my cousins gave me. 🙂

We started a fire as the long June day slowly turned to night….

(Editing to add that as we were sitting by the fire, I heard something walking towards us through the woods. Yikes! With all the warnings about bears, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I turned the flashlight on and pointed it towards the sound! Thankfully, no bear, but one of the biggest raccoons I’ve ever seen in my life!! It boldly ran between our site and the one next to us. Later, we heard first one and then a full chorus of coyotes howling. It sounded like they were somewhere around the upper lake.)

We slept late Thursday morning and then spent a leisurely morning at the campground before trekking into town to get some supplies. We planned to go to the lake when we got back, but the weather had different ideas. Since the storm looked pretty severe on radar–and the wind was picking up–we folded up the awning and went inside. I stretched out on the bed and listened to the rain pattering on the roof of the trailer, very thankful that we weren’t in a tent!

It stormed on and off for a couple of hours, and when the sun finally came out, it was time to start dinner. Again keeping it simple, we had eggs scrambled with onions, potatoes, and cheddar cheese.

Delicious!

After dinner, my cousin, Mary, and her husband joined us for do-it-yourself dessert. 🙂

I’m so glad that Mary and David could visit for a bit! We always enjoy seeing them (and it was a good excuse to make S’mores!) 🙂

Yeah. We’re happy campers. 🙂

After they left–the gates to the park close at 10 pm–Wayne got out his guitar and picked for a while until the fire burned down and the night turned surprisingly cool. It actually felt good to crawl into bed under a sheet and a blanket!

We were up early Thursday morning, wishing we could stay another day! It was so, so pretty, but we needed to start for home.

The Kia got us back across the mountain with pretty good power and speed (it’s less steep crossing Afton Mt. from west to east than east to west), and we came home to temperatures in the mid-90s–ugh–and then another storm.

I’m so glad we were able to do a 2-night camping trip to Sherando–even if we never got a chance to go to the lake!–and we’re already looking at maps and talking about where we want to go next! 🙂

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First Outing with the Coachmen Clipper 17fq

Posted on June 4, 2019 by Sharon

Our first camping trip of 2019 was with our Coachmen Clipper 14R…

….and in early June we took our new-to-us Coachmen Clipper 17fq to the same local campground:

Since it’s the same brand of trailer, we didn’t have any trouble figuring out how to get things set up. (It actually took longer to get the TV programmed than to get the electric, water, and cable connected.)

Even the awning went up without a problem. 😉

Since this was a one-night outing, we packed lightly and didn’t even bring our propane stove. We weren’t sure what we’d do for dinner, but then we learned that the campground was hosting a dinner for all camping guests in their community building that evening! Really?! SO impressed!

After this delicious and unexpected treat, we played a few games of pool while listening to live music.

It’s been such a hot, humid, and stormy spring, but we were blessed with beautiful weather. It was cool enough that evening to enjoy the warmth of a campfire.

Having the opportunity to get out in the trailer pretty well convinced us that it’s a good size for us, and the layout (with side dinette) gives us enough room to actually get out of each other’s way when we’re both in it. It definitely has everything that we’d need for an extended road trip, but I had one major concern: could my Kia Sorento really handle towing it?

The dry weight of the trailer is just over 2700 pounds–still well under the 5000-pound towing capacity of my SUV–so we decided to put it to the test the next morning by towing up Afton Mountain. To add to the challenge, we were going to take Rt. 250 West….

On I-64, the approximately 1200-foot climb happens over a distance of about 5 miles. By contrast, the distance from the foot of the mountain (starting at the Rockfish Gap Country Store) to the top on Rt. 250 is just a little over 3 miles but it’s much, much steeper.

Despite having the car in “sport mode” (which is recommended for towing) AND using the manual shift option to lock it into gear, I ultimately had to downshift to 3rd to creep up the mountain at 35 mph. Not good. Seriously, not good; the car felt significantly under-powered for this. (On the positive side, the Kia’s temperature gauge didn’t change at all; there were no signs of it overheating.)

Just when I could have possibly gained some speed and shifted to 4th gear, a large RV pulled out from Rt. 6, heading up the mountain. Since it was also going 35 mph, I just fell in behind it and chugged along the rest of the way to the top. All in all, though, the Kia’s performance was very disappointing. 🙁

As soon as I get the anti-sway bar hardware mounted on the tongue of the trailer to feel safer about towing the trailer on the interstate, I want to try this climb again on I-64. If I can maintain a speed of at least 45 mph, then maybe having the Kia as a tow vehicle for a trailer this size will be do-able. Dunno.

While Wayne pointed out that there are a lot of places we could go (Westmoreland State Park, Smith Mountain Lake, etc.) that don’t involve steep grades like what we encountered towing up Afton Mountain on Rt. 250, when you dream of touring the country with a travel trailer, the thought of being limited by geography or elevation isn’t really a part of that dream, you know?

While I’m not quite ready to start car/truck shopping, tentative vacation plans that involved towing our trailer out of state in a couple of weeks were cancelled. Bummer.

For its size, the Kia offers good gas mileage and comfort for long road trips as well as for daily commutes. And unless/until we have the ability to do frequent extended road trips with the trailer, I’m not sure that it would make a lot of sense to upgrade to a larger, more powerful (and less economical) SUV–or a truck.

Anyhow, I guess we’ll do a few more outings with the Kia and Clipper this summer and see how it goes….

Until next time,

Sharon & Wayne

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