Lake Anna State Park - Glenora, VA

After a week of tropical storms, thunder storms, and any other scatalogical storm you can think of, we are back on the task of conquering every state park in Virginia.  Just before we left, we got an e-mail from the state of Virginia saying that due to the tropical storm, the dump station at Lake Anna will be closed for the rest of the year.  When we got there, we found that the storm had left a twenty foot hole where the dump station used to be!

The weather has cooled significantly, but all the storms have left everything exceedingly wet.  Our first evening, Deb suggests a short walk after dinner.  There is a macadam path to the beach which is about half a mile away.  From there we decide to hike a short little loop trail to a point not far from the beach.  The path is about a mile and a half and it is half an hour before sunset.

  Just before sunset, we reached the point, with only another mile through the dark, scary woods to go.  I'm starting to see headlines, "Couple survives COVID, but die, lost in the woods twenty feet from their RV."  With the light fading, we found our RV and our adult beverages.

Our plan My plan was to visit three day only state parks on the Potomac and then return for a second night at Lake Anna.  Our GPS directions to the first park, led us into a high end, gated (and guarded) housing community.  After explaining to the guard that it was the GPS and not me, we did a U-turn.  With a few reroutings, we bypassed the housing development to get to Widewater State Park.  The park had virtually nothing except a huge modern visitors center.   With limited internet, I figure out that the next park may have even less than this one.  My plan, skip park number 2 and go straight to park 3, Mason Neck.  It's a lovely park with miles of trails...yes!  With a win under my belt, we head back to Lake Anna for the night. 

Because of all the rain,  the mushrooms are out in full force, from King Bolete's to Death Trumpets.  We take a final hike through the woods before leaving for home.

Old Smokehouse

Our final day is, of course, somewhat compromised by full holding tanks with no place to dump.  With a side excursion to Belle Isle for lunch and a dump, we reach home just in time to mow before the next rain.

Twin Lakes State Park - Burkesville, VA

On to a new Campground.  After 300 or so nights in campgrounds, Deb and I have it all down pretty well.  As we get to the site, Deb gets out and backs me in.  Typically, I find the wooden rail on the drivers side that marks the right edge of the driveway, then Deb motions me back, watching for overhanging branches.  This time as I find the rail, she is motioning me to the right and she is pretty adamant about it.  So I back more to the right. OMG! There is a huge tree right in the middle of the driveway.  None of the sites are particularly level and all have some interesting obstacle.  This is sort of like a miniature golf course, with new things at every site.  Of course, this makes for wonderful people watching.  We had nearly an hour of delight, watching a new camper trying to get a 20 foot trailer in a massively unlevel twenty foot site.  Of course, there was the late check in, with headlamps  strapped to his hat, trying to level his 40 foot trailer in the dark.

As the name implies, there are two lakes, we typically do two hikes which would logically mean that we would circumnavigate one lake in the afternoon and one lake the next morning.  And so it shall be!

Powhatan State Park - Powhatan, VA

It’s a wonderful day in the neighborhood.  That should be the title for our little local trips to see all the state parks in Virginia that we missed.  This time, Powhatan State Park, about 70 miles from home.  With torrential rains as we traversed Richmond, it felt more like a full day of driving.  As we arrived, the rain stopped.  We set up everything in about 5 minutes and then the rain started again for the rest of the evening.  We got to enjoy one our favorite things.  Talking with with wine and cheese, watching the lightning and listening to the patter of the rain and the occasional claps of thunder. 

Last night we ate dinner (smoked turkey with roasted garlic sauce) on our new cushions.  They are an absolute delight but terrifying.  Neither one of us wants to be the first to spill something.  As the man of the house, I think I should be first.  After all, I have always been the first to spill on everything.

Before  leaving, we hiked down to the river.  By now, we are getting to be Virginia State Park aficionados.   We rank the quality of the campground,  maintenance of the trails, attention to pollinators, and even informational signage and trail blazes.  The park got excellent grades except for two Trail blazes nailed to a tree that was less than an inch in diameter.