Staunton River State Park - Scottsburg, VA

The only other time we were here was in late fall, around Halloween.  Some campers near us, we strolling the campground for trick or treat, but they were the ones handing out the candy.  Somehow, we snagged a pull-through site.  Not too level, but yech, close enough.  Lots and lots of hiking trails.  We shared one with about ten equestrians, who kept say “wow...you’re walking!” as they passed. After three or so miles, we headed back to our own stable.  With a little chill in the air, I got 14 sticks of wood ($.50/stick) for our campfire.  By midnight, the rain came and continued through the morning, so we left quietly and headed home.

Occoneechee State Park - Clarksville, VA

 So the big question of the day was...have we been here before.  Doing a search on our blog reveals that indeed, we have been here.  The blog entry is humorous, but the entire entry is about another park.  As we pull into the campground, several retired synapses kick in and I know that we have been here before and had wanted to make sure that if we ever came back, we wanted to be on the water (fortunately, we are).  We are in a lovely site (#30) and #29 is also lovely.  So we should have that information for posterity.  

As usual this year, which is unusual that anything would be usual, the remnants of Hurricane xxx are heading our way, so it will be rainy soon. Knowing this we are adjusting our hiking schedule to accommodate the upcoming rain.  We are doing some short hikes and then moving on to Staunton River to do some hikes.

Claytor Lake State Park - Dublin, VA

 With the pandemic in full swing, many people have turned to RVing as a way to get out of the house.  Many don’t have the luxury of going out during the week, the way we have been doing.  Because, the parks we are visiting are in the far western part of the state, we extended our normal two or three days out, to four for this trip.  I was able to snag a spot at Claytor Lake (there was one left) on a Saturday night.  There are some nice back-in spots here, but our spot was in the area that Deb referred to as a COVID cesspool.  Here, “social distancing” is how far people come from to see family.  The only face mask we saw was, literally, a man with a small gift bag over his mouth.  

It has been getting colder, which was Deb’s excuse for not going outside.  I did get out for about five minutes, but she quickly returned to the interior comfort of the RV.  I could tell she was thinking about spraying the door with Lysol.  The next morning, while the COVIDers slept, we snuck out for a quick little trip to see the lake before departing for home.

Breaks Interstate Park - Breaks, VA & Elk City, KY

 It’s another naming problem.  Breaks Interstate Park is one of two parks in the US that is in two states.  About 99.8% is in Virginia, with the rest in Kentucky.  The park is really close to...nothing!  Thirty-five miles of winding narrow roads through the Appalachian Mountains and you’re there.  It’s not the most beautiful campground, but $28 a night for full hook ups doesn’t leave feeling gypped.  

It’s Friday night which is date night.  For dinner, we had shish-ka-bobs.  Little tiny potatoes (1/2” in diameter - oh yeah definitely Whole Food offering), pearl onion (Deb loves them, if someone else peels them), heritage cherry tomatoes, with New York strip steak.

 

The hike was somewhat ambitious and we were somewhat apprehensive due to various posts about trails that go nowhere, and hikers lost until after dusk.  With my trusty phone (With GPS) we headed out for a really fantastic hike.  This is called the Grand Canyon of the East, and in fact is the deepest gorge east of the Mississippi, but I am fairly certain that whoever named it that had not actually seen the Grand Canyon.

Strangely enough, we did not get lost, did not fall off the cliffs surrounding the gorge, or require park ranger assistance.  We also found out that if you leave the park and go through Kentucky and West Virginia, it’s a much more pleasant trip.

Natural Tunnel State Park - Duffield, VA

 So first of all, I did not get the name wrong.  There is a Natural Bridge State Park, as well.  This just isn’t it!  This tunnel has train tracks going through it.  And on the third Saturday in July, every year, you can actually walk the tracks.  Talk about bucket list things!  

To get here, we had to go through Tennessee.  We spent two hours at the Tennessee Welcome Center, sucking up all the internet we could find before heading back into the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. From the entrance of the park to the campground is about half a mile of first gear hills.  This, of course, means that everything in the park is seriously downhill, and conversely, returning to the campground is seriously uphill.  But the elevation has given us some internet.  We took a short hike to an overlook above the tunnel before heading back for Curried Chicken over rice and internet.

The piece de resistance of the park is the TUNNEL.  During the summer you can take a chair lift down to the tunnel entrance, but that’s not really hiking.  As we got back to the overlook we had stopped at, we could hear the train whistle, so we got to see the train passing through the tunnel.  Forgive us, but we kinda got a rush out of it.  There a big lights to to shine on the canyon walls and on the tunnel.  Apparently, in non-COVID times, they have shindig at Christmas.  Well that made to Deb’s bucket list.

Hungry Mother State Park - Marion, VA

 We left the house at 9:00 and at 4:00 in the afternoon, we were still in Virginia (I know, reminds you of an old Ford, you once owned).  It has finally turned the corner and is actually a little chilly.  For our trip, we made some beef stew and cooked it in a tiny little crockpot that fits in the sink, as we trapsed across Virginia.  Shortly before we got there, they lost power to the entire park.  It didn’t really bother us, after all we have enough battery power to run for a few days.  But wait besides not having power, they had no internet.  Now we have a HUGE problem.  My ebook is about to expire, I have nothing to read.  So I set the clock back on my iPad (I actually got a year younger) to keep my book.

With no power and no internet, Deb and I decided to have a campfire.  I bought $6 worth of wood from the host, used my self made candle wax and cardboard fire starter and after a long smokey beginning we had a lovely fire that burned for hours (and hours).

By morning, Hurricane Sally decided to visit with a slow steady rain that was going to last the entire day.  After donning our rain gear, we took a nice hike up a fairly steep ridge.  With a nice view of the lake and the mountains, we found a little tiny bar, not much bigger than a human hair, but just enough to get our email and text messages.

Off to a rest area, with real bandwidth for lunch.

Shenandoah River State Park - Front Royal, VA

Shenandoah River State Park

 We are continuing our summer of Virginia State Parks.  We visited Shenandoah River State Park years ago.  Deb was totally unimpressed with it.  So unimpressed that it does not appear in any of our blog postings.  We have no pictures of it.  She has removed all traces of our visit, yet here we are, ready to make a memory.  Well, whatever it was, isn’t anymore.  We have a lovely little hidyhole.  Strangely, it shares the driveway with another campsite, but the other site was unoccupied.  My goal, especially when being watched, is to have the awning out, both chairs set-up with the table and the footstool on the rug and the welcome mat at the door, in less than four minutes.  Then swing around hook up the power and the water in three minutes, then back in my chair with my iPad and a cool one in another minute.  Well as I sat down, boom came the rain and the thunder. The next morning we headed out for a great walk which started along the ridge on the way out and dropped down to the river on the way back.

Sky Meadow State Park

 After lunch, we went to Sky Meadow State Park.  It costs $7.00 for a day pass, but all we had was a $20, so we put in the slot but we didn’t punch out the day of the week on the little ticket that you are suppose to hang on the rear view mirror, with the idea of using it again at some other park, like a prepaid ticket.  Deb was noticeably sweating on this flagrant violation of state park ethics.  It didn't get any better when I parked our RV in the "Van and Bus" parking area since we were neither a van nor a bus.  The hike was gorgeous, but pretty steep.  We got back to Shenandoah, backed in, put out the awning, sat down with my iPad and a cool one...boom came the rain and the thunder.

Seven Bends State Park

After a quick walk through the pollinator field (it's the IN thing this year), we headed down to a brand new state park, Seven Bends.  After a few miles of wet dirt roads, and a terrifying "low profile concrete bridge" we ate lunch, agreed that we should return again, some time in the far distant future when it is slightly more developed.  With a short walk, mindful of a 5:30 hair appointment in Mathews, we returned down the slippery roads and terrifying bridge and headed home, arriving in Mathews at 5:22.  Deb, quiet and noticeably nervous about arriving so close to her appointed time.  Me?...wondering what I could have done with that extra eight minutes.