Vacation in VA

Last weekend we went on a road trip, and everyone who really knows me knows how much I love road trips. We drove all over western Virginia and had a blast. Here is a summary of events:

Our plan was to leave Thursday after I got out of work… well I wasn’t feeling well Thursday and ended up in bed half the day… I woke up in a parking lot in TN on 6 am Friday morning.

From there we drove to Wilderness Road National Park to get some more rest. We decided to explore a bit and the dog and I hiked about a mile up stairs to ’skylight cave’. It was pretty, and of course none of the pictures came out so I can’t show you.

Anyway, I had to carry the puppy a bit back but we had fun. Saw a frog, lots of spiders, and some… Lots of bat poop.

From there we went down the road to Wilderness Trail State Park… Well we went at least, that was the point of coming all the way out here. Very small and not to much there.

Decided we would go out to Grayson County from there. Kinda a long drive, took about 3 hours.

On a side note, why are stretches of rt 58 memorialized to different people… A L Philpott, Daniel Boone, VA Coal Heritage, Wilderness Trail, Orby Cantrell, Country Music, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, J.E.B Stuart, just pick one already.

Anyway.. we got side tracked and went to a neat little winery and got some yummy wine… Got a bit turned around but found our way back. Next stop, the second highest point in Virginia, Whitetop mountain. The view is awesome. At 5520 ft above sea level it was a bit cooler. Mid July with a sweater.

Played a bit you there then went back down into town, not that town is anything more then a gas station. Bought a pizza drove up to Grayson Highland State Park (One of my favoirtes in VA). Stopped at the Sugerlands Overlook and ate dinner. Beautiful View… sorry no picture.

It was getting dark so we drove around and found a place to camp. We are camping in the truck and it is moderately uncomfortable. It rained a bit that night so we skipped the campfire and sat in the truck, drank the wine, ate junk food, and played cards.

Oh… Evidently washing down Prozac with wine is funny?

Next day driving north on VA rout 16 towards Marion my wife realized she forgot her beloved polka dotted pj’s at the campsite. To far now… they are gone forever

Got sidetracked again and stopped at a neighborhood yard sale in Sugargrove and a nice lady gave us a xmas tree that opens to show a Santa inside. Very cool.

After reaching Marion VA, we found a farmers market / craft fair. Found some super cute shoes for my project for $1! Was going to stop at Hungry Mother State Park but it was super crowded. Not what we where looking for.

From There we decided to head further north to Douthat State Park.

On the way we got some beautiful views of Potts Mountain… and Potts Creek… which we crossed a million times. Why engineer a road with that many bridges over the same damn creek? I got so sick of seeing the signs.

Ok… Before going to the park the next day as planned we figured it was getting late and we should find a campsite to spend the night. I have one thing to say “Piss off Lake Moomaw national recreation Area!”

Six freaking campgrounds in the middle of no where and all of them are full.

After 3 hours we finally found a campground to sleep… I made fire, anyone who has been camping with me knows how big a deal that is. Enjoyed another night in the truck.

Day three, we went to Douthat State Park. Gorgous lake, wonderful park. I do have pictures and I will post them I promise… We also found some neat rocks.

Not to much to do there though without a horse or a boat so we decide to press onward. Now we have been driving for 3 days and said screw it… We took the interstate to New Market so we can get to a campsite before sunset.

Didn’t take to long and we decided to camp right there in Shenandoah. We went to see the sunset but it was blocked by clouds. It was pretty none the less. Going back to the campsite we saw a mommy bear and her two cubs. Pictures didn’t come out well, it was dark. They where fricken cute as hell! Got back just in time to catch two guys starting to walk off with our fire wood. No problem though, I gave them a few pieces to get their fire started and told them where they could buy more.

Woke up on day four and had a light breakfast. I was still pretty mad about not getting any bear pictures when right there on the side of the road was another bear!

Other then the bears, we saw some playful baby raccoons, deer, and some chipmunks. We also got out and hiked to the summit of Hawksbill Mountain, the highest peak in the park. It is just over 4000 feet above sea level. View was great.

After this it started to rain again. We had beautiful weather and couldn’t complain. We finished up skyline drive and drove home. It was a great time.