Fairy Stone State Park - Martinsville, VA

This morning we went in search of the Natural Chimneys. They are 100 ft chimneys of rock with tunnels and holes in them.  Apparently, the results of sink holes.

Off the Fairy Stone, named for the little crosses that are small crystals found not here and in a small area if Russia (that's what it says)..  We went for a short walk, but didn't find any.  Deb got her final campfire of the year.  All in all, a nice fall foliage day.

Occoneechee State Park - Clarksville, VA

Occoneechee State Park

Did a nice hike this morning...3.3 mile loop to a hilltop with scenic vistas, back in time for lunch at the picnic area.  We finally found some fairy stones, once you know where to look, they are easy to find....we found several at the gift shop at the park office.  It turns out in their raw form, they are not very impressive, but once ground down and polished they are worth $3.99 each.

We had a calm and folegic trip to the campground that I cut-and-pasted into the title of this blog.  Unfortunately the last red site was snagged online just as I was trying to get a site, so we had to settle for purple unless of course we wanted blue.  Green is closed for the season.  This is when you nod and pretend you have some idea what we are discussing.  It turns out that the red sites are in the water but have no utilities and are not even close to level, the purple sites are close to the water, somewhat more level, but still no utilities, the blue sites are larger, more level and have electricity and water.  The green sites are someplace totally different that we can't get to.

Natural Chimney Regional Park - Mount Solon, VA

After an exhausting night, we are up at dawn... the campground has been winterized....that means no water, electricity, dump station..  basically a parking spot in the woods...which is really all we need.  In the morning we go for a nice hike in the woods... we see a few more people between the trees and hear lots of gun shots.  The day is a little  gloomy and we decide that vineyards might be a better choice than hiking.

 

There are two fantastic vineyards on this leg if the trip.  The whole trip is less than 80 miles.  We get to Crosskeys Vineyard which has a lovely little bistro, which could mean anything, but in this case, gourmet sandwiches and a glass of wine.  Then a little wine tasting.  They gave a special deal where you don't have to try the sweet desert wines, and both of us opt for it.  It costs $2 less and we gladly put the money in the tip jar.  The rain is coming on and off, but we are having a great time.  Off to Bluestone Vineyard.  With a glass of wine at lunch and a full wine tasting and only 15 minutes between vineyards, we are feeling the need to pace ourselves.  Fortunately, Bluestone offers a white only, and a red only option, and then the sun comes out.  We have an 8  minute drive to our campground.  We are in Nirvana.

It's a good thing we have a few years of RVing under our belt.  Natural Chimney Regional Park follows no RVing conventions.  This is the big Halloween weekend and every site is reserved for the weekend (no clue as to how to reserve sites, or even that they take reservations). There are no driveways for the sites, so everyone sets up however they want to, as long as the power cord reaches the box with site number on it, it's okay.  Some of sites have elaborate haunted houses set up, on RV has been converted to "Camp Nightmare" just for the occasion.

We actually just wanted to see the Natural Chimney, but except for the fact we were camping with Halloween junkies it was a nice place.

Thanksgiving - San Juan Island (7 nights)

Our VRBO on San Juan Island

Since Nathan had used up all his time-off going to Maine and Italy, we all gathered near his place in Seattle.  We found a nice place on the water with a sod roof and cedar siding.  There are windows all along the water side,   There is suppose to be a big storm coming which could be exciting.

The view from our vacation rental.

We went to Friday Harbor, and on the way back saw a pod of five orcas right in front of the house. One of those times you can either be in the moment or take pictures.

The view in this photo is of the Olympia Mountains.  Everyday the view changed, sometimes there were no mountains!

We visited Roche Harbour, on the northern side of the island.  Lovely small town with an interesting history.

Thanksgiving Day 2016

We had a wonderful holiday!  The place had a Viking stove with a warming tray.  Chris and I made the turkey, stuffing and apple pie.  Justin made the best whipped parsnips and mashed potatoes.  Richard's biscuits were outstanding.  Nathan made a wonderful pumpkin squash and pumpkin pie.  And of course, homemade cranberry sauce.

Elizabeth Furnace Park - Front Royal, VA

One last fall outing.  No reservations, no real plans...just four or five days of enjoying life.  Packed and ready to go in less than two hours.  Into Fredericksburg for a Panera lunch....whoops...the whole point of the Panera lunch was to use the gift card that we forgot.

A beautiful sunny day for a drive into the Shenandoah valley.  The campground was one of those places...off the interstate to a divided highway to a two lane road to a one lane road to a small campground with no one there...just perfect for a little pre Halloween scare! Wait...I just saw a person  walking between the trees...it was just a hunter...I think... Definitely a lock the doors night.

Watched a scary Doctor Who episode...why are we doing this to ourselves?  Off to bed...it's a little cold and we forgot the duvet.  We have swears, and we never unpacked the sleeping bags from our Maine trip...of course we could just turn on the heat...but the fan tends to keep me up...as if I was going to sleep in the first place.

Home (10/9/16)

The day started out like any other travel day.  Bags packed and ready to go...to the airport with time to spare.  The plan is to get breakfast on the other side of security.  The line to check the bags is fairly long but moving until just before we get to the counter.  All of a sudden three families are at the only three check-in stations.  One of the families has been there for over an hour, the other two for at least half an hour, the line is growing, and nothing is happening.  Finally we check our bags, but with less than 10 minutes to boarding.  We have to get through Security and Passport control and get to the extreme far end of the airport (5th largest in the world).  We make it just in time, but no food...no potty break.  The flight leaves just a little late, but they can make up the time, we are next in line to take off....then it happens...there is a bag on the plane without an owner (possibly someone who did not walk as fast as we did, or took a potty break.  The plane heads back to some remote part of the terminal to pick up the errant passenger.  By now we are over an hour late when we get to Dublin.  Justin and Nathan's flight to SFO is scheduled 10 minutes ahead of ours so they say their goodbyes on the plane and scoot. We rush through the airport, through Irish customs, through security, through US Customs Pre Clearance.  Somehow we get the priority line (might be because I registered with the State Dept) but the kids don't...we waive goodbye, one more time as we leave the customs area.  Both our flights are in "Final Boarding" status.  Because there are so many stragglers, the flight gets delayed, but we are off to Washington (still no food or potty break).  We have no idea if the kids made their flight or not.

Airplane food never tasted soooo good!  We get to Washington, over an hour late, but the Jetway will not move...technicians are called to fix it...delaying everything for another half hour, which causes more people to miss their connecting flights (we're delighted that this is our final destination and we can take our time).

Of course, we can run through airports, but our bags can't so they got left behind somewhere.  The kids make their flight, but lose their luggage, as well.  Hopefully, we'll get our bags in a few days.  It was interesting to see how a single event in Amsterdam could have such a profound effect on the entire system.  All in all, a very angsty day....but in the end we all made it home safe and sound.