Virginia is Soooo Green!

We enjoyed our one night stay in Virginia at the Fort Chiswell RV Campground and since we had decided to stay longer at our next site we didn’t hit the road until about 10:00 am. We would have stayed later but the next stop was at a first come first served place and it was very close to the weekend so we thought we better get there a bit earlier.

Our planned stop was an easy drive up the highway to Buena Vista VA where we found our way to the park. I accidentally posted the photo above in the last blog but this was painted on a building in the town of Buena Vista and I loved it… “6002 Happy Citizens and 3 Old Grouches”.

Passing through town we crossed a bridge into Glen Maury Park. We pulled up to the office to pay and were told to just go pick a site. Well we looked around and could only find one power box with no one using it so we pulled into the site. It was then we discovered we were on a 30 amp site with no sewer unlike what we had read about this campground.

It turns out they do have some 50 amp with sewer sites however all but one was taken and all of those sites were located up a steep hill with lots of overhanging branches. Thus we decided to simply stay at the 30 amp site. The lower campground  is really just a large open field but is adjacent to the Maury River.

There is a cool older home on the site called the The Paxton House, but it's apparently closed to the public now. We also walked along the river as far as we could until the trail became in poor shape revealing it was obviously a hangout for kids. There was an old rope swing on a tree over the river and lots of trash. It’s sad how some choose to treat our scenic sites.

It was however a great place to stay to explore the Blueridge Parkway. One day we drove all the way from where we were to where the Blueridge Parkway meets the Shenandoah National  Park. Nearby was one of our favorite breweries so we talked about it and decided to go have our first craft beer at a brewery since the pandemic began.

When we arrived at Blue Mountain Brewery we were delighted to see that their large outdoor seating area was even larger than we remembered. We donned our masks and were seated by a masked hostess at a table on the edge where we we no clsoer than 10 feet to any other table. It felt almost sinful to be enjoying our first draft craft beer since March and gave us a very slight sense of normalcy albeit only for a fleeting moment…

Before leaving the area we also checked out a little brewery called Devil’s Backbone in Lexington Virginia. We picked up a growler and a few six packs from their curbside service. On the way back we checked out Lexington which appears to be a very cool little town. When all of this virus stuff is over we will have to further explore Lexington…

Cheers!

NOTE: We are currently in the Shenandoah Valley near Woodstock Virginia until who knows when…

Traveling in Covid USA…

Before leaving the Land Between the Lakes we took one more hike around Lake Hematite. It was such a nice hike we simply had to do it once again. The trail is scenic and most of it is shaded making it a good summer hike. With the marshland boardwalk it it has everything we desire in a woodland walk.

Well it certainly was nice relaxing for three days but it was time to press on. The next morning we packed up and hit the road for our next destination. It was an easy drive down the highway and even through Nashville it was uneventful.Two hundred and seventeen miles later we pulled into the Davy Crocket Campground in Crossville, TN, a nice little campground which we would only be at for one night.

Covid-19 sure has changed how we travel this year. Normally we would never go more than about 150 miles between stops and rarley would stay less than three days at a new location. However, now we are zooming by many places we would like to be exploring. With the one night stop in Crossville the next morning we drove 267 miles for a one night stop in Max Meadows, VA.

Our one night stop in Virginia at the Fort Chiswell RV Campground was so relaxing  we decided that instead of spending one night we would slow down and stay a few nights at our next site. We really dislike this one day hopping we have been doing with rather long drives in between.

After our next stop we will have only about 114 miles to our last stop for a while. We are certainly looking forward to kicking back and relaxing once we get there…

Land Between the Lakes, Kentucky…

After the scary ordeal of crossing those two skinny bridges we were both ‘happy to be at our next campground. Also we were glad we would stay for three days before charging on toward Virginia. We camped at the Canal Campground, another COE Park.

Since our campground is located just a few miles north of the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, we drove down the scenic road to the land between the lakes and man, oh, man, everything was so very vibrant green and lush!

Driving around we found the remains of an old iron ore smelter that had a pull out to a historical marker with tidbits posted about the history. The iron ore smelter is adjacent to a road we then explored and discovered Hematite Lake. We noticed a 2.4 mile hike around the lake and although we didn’t do the hike the day we discovered it we made a plan to return the very next day to do it.

Hematite Lake is so named because of all the ore found around the lake and that is why the smelter was located nearby. The remnants of the smelting process yielded lots of variously colored pieces of hematite along the shoreline of the lake. We found pieces that were glossy black, purple and vibrant blue along our path.

But best of all was enjoying a nice hike in the lush woodlands around the lake. The lake at times was so still there were magnificent reflections of the clouds on the water. About halfway around the lake a 1/4 mile (practically new) boardwalk took us over the swampier parts of the lowlands where we saw many birds and frogs and turtles.

The most interesting sighting of the day was an American Woodcock. About the size of a robin these short legged stocky woodland birds are solitary and rarely seen so we were delighted to watch this one probing the ground for earthworms. Having forgotten my good camera we were unable to capture a photo of it so we only took our memories of it with us.

Our three day stay at Canal Campground was just what the doctor ordered. What a nice and relaxing place to spend some time. We both would like to return to this area someday for further exploration but it quickly became time to press on…

What a Horrifying Experience…

We were only in Missouri for one night and the next morning we continued on northeastward. Our route leaving Missouri into Illinois was crossing the Cairo Bridge on highway 62. What a mistake this was!

We crossed that bridge into Illinois which we soon realized no one driving a large RV or fifth wheel should ever drive across! I mean NEVER EVER!!! This cantilevered through truss bridge over the Mississippi River on U. S. Highway 60 / 62 between Birds Point, MO, and Cairo, IL is not meant for large rigs yet truckers cross it daily.

Each lane of the bridge is 10 feet wide but with the bridge trusses straight up from its edge it really leaves each lane with about 9 feet to work with. As we approached this white-knuckler bridge we prayed we see no Semi Trucks on the nearly mile long length. 

Well we had no such luck and as we approached the truck I squeezed as far right as I thought humanly possible and when we passed the truck I’d be surprised if one could  fit a thin dollar bill between our two mirrors. We are still shocked we didn’t lose a mirror on that bridge.

Now you think we would relax after crossing that bridge but noooooo… there is another bridge just like it crossing over the Ohio River leaving Illinois just a few miles after crossing the first one. The second was a clone of the first bridge but was even longer and the first half of it was under construction forcing us into a single lane!!!

Again we prayed to see no trucks but yet again we were denied our prayers. The first truck we passed we were again greatly relieved not to have hit mirrors with and then just before we were exiting the bridge another Semi-Truck was coming onto it it. There is a slight turn off the highway onto the bridge so when this truck came on its tail end was across the middle line in our lane.

I have absolutely no idea how we didn’t get side swiped only to surmise that we must have had our prayers answered after all. It took a good while after crossing these bridges before either of us could calm down. Be advised - DO NOT EVER CROSS THESE BRIDGES… I can’t even imagine what it would have been like if we didn’t have 10 years of RV driving experience behind us!

A few hours later we pulled into our next site at the KY Corps of Engineer Canal Campground in Grand Rivers, KY. We will be staying for three days and hopefully by the end of our stay we will forget about this horrifying experience…

NOTE: We are currently in the Shenandoah Valley near Woodstock Virginia until who knows when…