08:27 5/3/2003
Feel a lot more rested this morning. Yesterday I was sleepy for half of Sammie's morning walk; this morning I was just fine. We are leaving for Natural Bridge, VA today.

08:57 5/4/2003
Yesterday was quite a good day in spite of not so good weather. We got out of camp at 11:00 - always quick off the mark! Driving here (to Natural Bridge) was no problem. Judie had the route all planned and it was a nice quiet country road. The only excitement was when a cop followed us through a town/construction project. Don't know if he just happened along or if he was looking for an out-of-state speeder but I don't do much speeding with the trailer attached! Not even in 35 zones.

Once we got here we got a nasty shock when we discovered the park had become a Yogi Bear. Well, you've got to try everything once so we have stayed here but it sure isn't going to become a habit. First thing we saw was 3 little boys, maybe 6 to 9 years old, one of who threw a rock at an unoccupied trailer across from us. Not a good first impression! Of course after the people came home and let their yappy little dog out, we were more sympathetic with the boy's possible motivation.

The camp itself is ok. It is a wooded area with perhaps a dozen small trees between sites. Our site isn't really level though; to level the trailer I parked way to one side of the site so we couldn't put out the awning if we wanted. It's ok this time but another time I'd probably be looking for another site. There is a big field used for softball & other kid type activities but there isn't really any place for walking the dog; everything that isn't a site is rocked. Just after we got the rig parked, it started misting and it has pretty much been raining ever since. It keeps the kid noise down anyway.

We left the rig and started out to see our first bit of the actual Blue Ridge Parkway. It is a nicely maintained two-lane road with a 45 mph speed limit. I wouldn't mind taking the trailer on this portion of it but can see where it could cause backups especially if you have a 'cautious' driver in front of you. Anyway, I was surprised that you are basically driving through forest with a lookout every here and there. Guess I was expecting a more exposed roadway like you might find out west. Hmmm, am I conditioned or what? We drove about thirty miles on the parkway then came back via other roads. About half way through the drive we drove into a cloud with such fog and heavy rain that visibility was down to a hundred feet or so. We were doing under 30 mph and I was kind of concerned that I was going too fast for conditions even at that. Stopped at a ranger station and got maps, etc. There was a display talking about two sisters who lived locally who loved the park. One took something like eleven thousand photographs of the park documenting plants and animals during the various seasons. Together they helped popularize the park and helped rangers understand it better. The worst road we found was the state highway coming back down from the parkway. It had tight hairpins and was quite narrow in places. I actually hit a piece of brush with the passenger side mirror! Give Judie credit though, she didn't scream once. We took no pictures because there was nothing to see!

Stopped at a little store to buy some cheese. It is a 'general' store that has a little of almost anything but not too much of anything either. As we left the proprietor was sitting down with another guy by the stove looking like they were ready for a hot checker game.

We spent the night watching a movie that we brought along. There is zero TV reception here and I said 'no' to the $2.50 cable. We did try something new last night. I put the little electric ceramic heater on its lowest setting and left it running all night. It takes 800 watts when it is running and kept us toasty all night. I'm going to have to do that again! It doesn't take up our propane, isn't loud like the furnace and we are paying for the electricity anyway. What's not to like?

05/04/03 23:38
Had a good day today. Got out of here about noon and went down to the office. Margie (of Margie and Maurice) said we were ok to stay here and told Judie that access to the Internet was no problem. We wandered off and first got something to eat. Surprise, surprise; we got lunch at the local café - Judie had a mushroom cheeseburger andd I just had a regular cheeseburger. We left and went to check out the falls.

Actually we both really liked Natural Bridge; see pictures in the Blue Ridge Mts Virginia folder. It is kind of expensive at $10 a person but the grandeur of the place and the wonderful miniature waterfalls made it worthwhile. We also liked the Moniac Indian set up. We loved the story of how you weren't bothered by the smoke from the fire in the teepee so long as you sat down. We also enjoyed the way the village showed the real way of life.

After the Bridge we went back to the park. Judie took the laptop to the office and checked out the Internet while I took the dog and checked out the local walking net. Well, Sammie and I could only see so much but…. We liked the walk. Afterwards we found a Class A with a golden retriever in residence. Goldie is a nice dog but she wasn't very friendly/agreeable.

Had dinner, steak & black-eyed peas, then we dumped the waste tanks before relaxing. Finally we watched Overboard with Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell - very cute as always. After the movie, Judie went off to bed and I'm updating this.

Go to North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains

Go to main