Pipestem Resort, Pipestem, WV

Cross Keys Vineyard

After a quick breakfast, we leave our Loft Mountain hideaway in search of...internet.  You’d figure that in an overlook where you can see the entire Shenandoah Valley, you would be able to get good internet...and you would be right!  E-mail and all those other commitments of modern day living completed, we make our way down into the valley to Cross Keys Vineyard.  We went here last year and had a totally memorable wine tasting and lunch.  Being as it was only 11:00, we passed on the wine tasting, but bought some of our favorite wines to drink on special occasions.  We had lunch at the bistro...trying to keep it light, so we could enjoy dinner at Pipestem, assuming that we actually get there.  We, of course, followed the pairing advice on the menu.   Deb had the Chardonnay with her Caesar Salad and I had the Joy Red with my Caprese Flatbread.  Somehow, I think we will be back.

By 4:00 we make it to Pipestem Resort State Park.  Since it’s the last camping stop of the year and we are here for two night, we go big time...full hook-ups... it’s Friday Night - date night.  Of course, our house is also our car, so we drove to the lodge for dinner.  That means we can walk home.. The restaurant was packed...cause it was all-u-can-eat seafood night for $29.99.  Really...300 miles into the heart of the Appalacian Mountains for seafood...nope...chicken and beef for us.  But it was fun, and we got do so some serious people watching.

Saturday had the requisite bacon & eggs and then off to do some exploring.  Pipestem is located on the top of a thousand foot precipice over looking the Bluestone River.  There is a small lodge at the bottom with a gourmet restaurant that is accessible by a small gondola ride. For an extra $2 you can bring your pet.  Drex has been on cable cars before but this might just as well have been a rollercoaster ride at 6 Flags!  Ears back, eyes out, tongue to the floor kind of ride.  I don’t have the heart to tell him, it’s the only way back!  We broke up the rides with a nice long stroll along the river with plenty of chipmunks.

After lunch Deb and I explored the trails which were obscured by leaves.  We had to pull out all the stops on our trail scouting talents to find our way.  Back to the campsite, where it’s always some time after five, Deb prepares a delicious candelite marinera dinner.  Yup, we still call it camping because after dinner we had our final campfire of the year.  Deb took a video of it so she could have some virtual campfires later.

Tomorrow, it’s up early and off for home.

Loft Mountain - Shenandoah National Park

No reservations, no plans, just a weather forecast of four gorgeous days in October.  The wonders of the internet...I can read my previous blogs and realize that this is not the first or even the second time we have done this, but that doesn’t make it any less enjoyable.  For the last few years, I have been looking at Pipestem Resort in West Virginia as a fall destination. With two hours of packing, etc, we are off.  By lunch time, we decide that Pipestem is a stretch for one day, so regroup to plan B...Big Meadow in Shenandoah National Park, turning onto Skyline Drive, we see a sign that Big Meadow Campground is full...Plan C...Loft Mountain Campground which is actually on the top of Loft Mountain.  Pretty nice place, with the only internet access in the amphitheater.  The place was hopping! Tomorrow...PipeStem...maybe

Huntington KOA, Milton, WV

With a fairly early departure, we take a lunch break in Louisville at a nice city park, before heading to West Virginia...it's Friday night and there is an Applebee's right at the exit from the interstate.  We have a nice dinner and reminisce about our trip.  Never ever will we do another 2 month trip, but it really took hat much time to do what we wanted to do in Alaska and see both of our sons.  So it was the right amount of time for Alaska...now, we've been there...done that.  Next year, will be the jubilee trip...back to redo everything we really enjoyed!

It's our last night...tomorrow we're home.   We're ready for big bathrooms and big kitchens.

Wayne Fitzgerrell State Park - Whittington, IL

What should have been a rather ho-hum day, got interesting at lunch.  Outside of St. Louis, we stopped at the Route 66 State Park for lunch.  After the second half of our Philly Cheesesteak, we walked one of the trails in the park, hoping to end up at the Visitors Center, but there was no decking left on the bridge across the Meramac River(any one in our extended family might be surprised by a homophonic river in Missouri).  Anyway, the visitors center, which has a Route 66 display section, and a Route 66 store, with many potential Christmas presents, was a Roadhouse on the outskirts of Times Beach, a ghost town, which had to be evacuated because they treated the roads with oil laced with dioxin.  The town was leveled and incinerated, and is now a state park.

On to Illinois...our Campground is immaculate, everything is perfect...except we are totally alone...kinda spooky!   We are coming very close to the end of our trip, and we are just over 800 miles from home...1 - 800 mile day, 2 - 400 mile days, 3 - 270 mile days....we settle for the 2 day option....tomorrow, Huntington, WV

Lake of the Ozarks State Park - Osage, MO

We took a respite from Interstate travel in Lawrence, KS.  We had a few grocery items to pick-up, especially: dog food, a couple of proteins, and some vegetables.  We found a local co-op in Lawrence. It was like walking into a specialty store you would find in San Francisco.  They had an entire row of bins with such things as Western Barley Groats and Pink Cambodian Rice.  I  bought some Golden Beets...tastes just like beets but no red stains! For Drex, I bought some high end dog food...grass feed beef and lamb with organic garlic, carrots and sweet potatoes.

For lunch we stopped at a county park on a small reservoir. With some fresh ciabatta bread, we made Philly Cheesesteaks.  We arrived in Lake of the Ozarks State Park, and were led to our campsite by our host...who only got a little lost...twice.  In fairness, it was a long drive, and the site numbers aren't totally logical.  We have a site 10’ from the water...and we are here for two days.  The campground is nearly empty.  It turns out, this is the first week of school.

This was our last rest stop before heading home. We spent the morning on a nice little walk with Drex.  He is getting so old, it can take a really long time to walk a mile or two.  After lunch, we

decided to rent a boat and leave Drex to recover from the morning with some air conditioning.  The wind was strong on the lake which meant that high freeboard of a canoe would be a problem; however kayaks could be a problem because we couldn't support each other.  As it turned out, they had double kayaks...the perfect solution.  Although the wind was strong, we made good headway and we could hide on the lee side of the lake,  then the rain came...buckets of it (the weather forecast called for clouds), and then came the lightning. We high-tailed it for our campsite...once we got there Deb jumped out of the kayak, heading for the RV, leaving me in the kayak, in the rain, with the keys....after returning the kayak, we settled down for an evening of heavy rain....maybe we can dry things out tomorrow..

Salina KOA - Salina, KS

We are in the high plains.  From Limon, CO to Salina, KS is pretty much straight road across 350 miles of corn and sunflowers.  The most exciting find is that all of the rest areas on I-70 have an RV loop...lined with trees and picnic tables, but there is only one small sign for it, so most of the RVs park with the truckers.

Our site in Limon was described as satellite ready...which, of course, really meant NO SHADE!  In Salina, we were in the shade which helped because it was 96 degrees. Tomorrow we head to The Ozarks for a two day stop.

Limon KOA - Limon, CO

2017 Terry Bison Ranch

1999 Terry Bison Ranch

We are now on track to pick up our planned route, with 320 miles today and tomorrow.  In the morning we got to the highest point on I-80, at about 9,000 ft.  At the rest stop there is a nice hiking trail.  We walked for about a mile or so...it was great to stretch our legs.  We haven't done any hiking since we were in Washington. From there we took the back roads through some huge boulders ..some day we will be be smart enough to call them by their proper geological names...but for now huge boulders.  We head down I-25 toward Denver.  Right on the Colorado border there is a placed called Terry Bison Ranch.  We had dinner here once when we took the kids to a dude ranch, which must have been close to twenty years ago, so we stopped for lunch...I had the Bison BBQ, made with chipotle and raspberries.

From there it was just Denver and the high plains to Limon, CO.