{"id":8680,"date":"2026-06-07T21:43:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:43:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art-rageous.net\/artrageousblog\/?p=8680"},"modified":"2026-06-07T21:43:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-08T01:43:15","slug":"camping-at-powhatan-state-park-may-26-29-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art-rageous.net\/artrageousblog\/?p=8680","title":{"rendered":"Camping at Powhatan State Park – May 26-29, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After an enjoyable camping trip to Sherando Lake in early May, we were looking forward to our second outing of the year. Based on good memories from a previous trip to Powhatan State Park, I made reservations for a midweek, 3-night stay there. While I had some concerns about the weather since rain was in the forecast, very early into this adventure much bigger<\/em> issues quickly–and relentlessly–presented themselves!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the drive to the campground, my 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee started running rough, and the check engine light flashed on and off a few times. After several miles when it seemed obvious that this wasn’t going to resolve on its own, I stopped at an O’Reilly Auto Parts store not far off the interstate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This chain offers free diagnostic testing–which is SUCH a nice service!-and the scan showed that the Jeep needed new spark plugs and<\/em> an ignition coil. Additionally, it indicated that “cylinder 1” was misfiring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow… I already knew of some unrelated<\/em> repair work that the Jeep needed–sooner rather than later–so this news was not good at all<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than 1\/4 miles from O’Reilly’s, however, was Rhett’s Bar and Grill<\/a>. We’d planned to stop there for lunch anyhow, and luckily that<\/em> part of the day turned out to be really, really good<\/em>! I would definitely recommend the crab cake sandwich, and probably everything else on the menu! Most excellent!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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But back to the Jeep, it was obvious that these just-diagnosed problems needed to be addressed quickly; but where? We could turn around and go home, but I wasn’t sure that we’d be able to tow the trailer up and over the mountain…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By “googling,” we learned that there was at least one repair shop (with good reviews) in the town near the state park, so after lunch we continued on to the campground, arriving a little after 3 p.m..<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I’d reserved a “pull through” site (because I’m notoriously bad at backing up the trailer), and this one was exceptionally nice; large and level. (The picture below is from the state parks’ website.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The campsites at Powhatan offer both electric and water connections, so after plugging the trailer into the 30-amp electrical service, we attached one end of our water hose to the outside faucet and the other end to the “city water” inlet on the camper. As we continued to set up and settle in, however, I noticed a small puddle of water on the floor of the trailer in the “kitchen.” What?! Where was that<\/em> coming from?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We turned off the water outside, and then I took the panel off the compartment where the water lines and the water pump are located. There was obviously a small leak somewhere<\/em> in that far corner, but I couldn’t tell exactly where the problem was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We disconnected the hose from the “city water” port, turned on the outdoor faucet again, and used it to fill our fresh water tank. By turning on the water pump inside the trailer, we’d still have running water for washing dishes, flushing the toilet, etc.. But even though this stopped<\/em> the leak from the city water connection, it obviously didn’t fix<\/em> whatever was leaking. Alrighty….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the meantime, Lenny called to make an appointment for the Jeep at the auto service center. Nothing was available for the next day (Wednesday), so we were told to bring it in at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday. Early, but do-able….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’d certainly started<\/em> this camping trip with some stressful events, but on the positive<\/em> side, we were in a beautiful state park and in a really nice campsite. We didn’t have the convenience of “city water,” but filling the fresh water tank and using the pump worked fine; that’s how we’d camped at Sherando Lake, too. And even though I really hadn’t anticipated (or budgeted for) these unexpected car problems, at least the Jeep would be fixed and ready to get us home on Friday. Therefore, it was time to relax and enjoy the evening!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We set up a table outside the trailer under the awning, got out the camp stove, and started boiling water for spaghetti. I was really looking forward to Lenny’s homemade spaghetti sauce. Yum! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you know how you sometimes figure things out just a few seconds too late…? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I’d thought this through, I probably would have put the slippery pasta and spaghetti sauce in a bowl instead of on a plate because as soon as I sat down in my camp chair, most of it slid right off and landed on the rug! The rest landed on my shirt, shorts, and chair…. Well, phooey! (Okay, not what I really said in the moment…)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Can anyone read spilled spaghetti noodles? Kind of like reading tea leaves, maybe? (And would this be called “pastaography” instead of “tasseography”?) While predicting the future is not one of my strong suits, I was definitely getting some woo-woo vibes about how this was not<\/em> going to be a relaxing and “normal” camping trip!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least the moon rose that night–like normal!–and it was quite pretty as it climbed through the clouds….<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The next morning it was warm and very humid; rain was likely before the end of the day. We tilted the awning so that the rain–if it did come–would run off easily. (When storms or high winds are predicted, I simply roll up the awning and don’t use it.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Always eager to see the James River, we drove to Canoe Launch C, which is pretty close to the campground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I love this big ol’ river! Formed by the confluence of the Jackson and Cowpasture Rivers in the western part of Virginia, I’ve visited the James in many, many places along its eastward trek to the Chesapeake Bay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Jeep was still running very poorly, but–to its credit–it was still running<\/em>, so we drove to another part of the state park to walk on the River Trail. It had gotten quite hot and sticky by early afternoon, but at least most of the trail was in the shade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We saw a lot of these shiny blue-green bugs at our campsite and also on our walk. I haven’t been able to positively identify what they are, but I think these are Six-Spotted Tiger Beetles. When I zoomed in on this picture, I could see the spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We also saw an Eastern Box Turtle. So cool to know that each turtle has a unique pattern on its shell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I took this picture of the river, I immediately noticed something…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Have you ever heard that when leaves are turned up, rain is on the way? In the picture below I zoomed in on the trees across the river, and–yep–the undersides of the leaves were clearly visible… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On our way back to the parking lot, we saw a wild turkey with a bunch of babies! I didn’t get my camera focused in time to get a picture of the babies, but I did get a picture of the mama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The upturned-leaf-predicted rain finally came around 5:00 that evening. Most of the state is in drought conditions, so we were actually pretty happy to see it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n