Fun in Virginia

Shenandoah River State Park
Bentonville, VA
Aug 4-Aug 8

Since we are too big to fit into any of the federal campgrounds in the Shenandoah National Forest, we traveled to Shenandoah River State Park so that we could explore the area.  The state park is relatively new, well laid out and has many amenities that looked right up our alley (hiking and the river!).

The state park separates the camping loops and does not let tents in the RV campground.  They have a separate loop for tent campers and another loop for the larger cabins (there were a few smaller cabins in our loop).  We were not assigned a site at check-in and got to pick our site.

Nice paved site with a huge patio - blackberries all around!

View of our backyard.  Yeah - we're gonna like it here!

Dan, Syl, and I set out in the afternoon to get our bearings around the campground.  We ended up hiking almost 4 miles.

Fly fishermen in the river.  The river is not deep and crystal clear.

Taking a break and enjoying the scenery

This is a map that was at the Visitor's Center.  It shows the trail network within the park.  It also shows how curvy the river is!

The visitor’s center has a wonderful display if all the different type of floral and fauna that can be found in the park.

We saw many, many birds on our hikes including a new favorite of mine, the indigo bunting. Bunnies and deer too…no bear, fox, or coyote though.  (That bear bell of mine must be working!)

Dan and I set out on morning to do a little exploring by bike…

We  made it to the park boundary and decided to explore a little more….

We spotted this farm and enjoyed the views 

This guy was interested in us...not sure if he had ever seen people on bikes before!

We pedaled as far as we could…before the hills turned into steeper inclines.  As soon as we stopped to turn around, a older gentlemen pulled up in his red pick-up truck, stopped and turned off the engine.  We chatted for a bit and he asked where we were from.  We told him that we were full-time Rvers and we were staying at the state park.  He smiled.  Back in the 1990s, him and his siblings (the Cullers) sold about 500 acres of their land to the state of Virginia.  The state than turned the land into Shenandoah River State Park.  It was neat chatting with him.

Gin, Syl, Dan, and I toured part of Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park one day.  We got on the scenic byway in Front Royal and drove all the way to Luray.  It was a hazy day but the views were still beautiful.

The temperature was dropping as we climbed in elevation.  Dan and Syl took turns driving so that everyone got a chance to take in the beautiful scenery.

More often than not, the four of us laugh until we cry…literally!

It was a great day exploring Skyline Drive.

Dan and I took off one morning on another hike.  The trail system within the state park is very well maintained.  Nice, wide paths and trail and directional markers well placed.  We hiked over 4 miles and never saw another person!

My DIL, Amanda, had sent me a picture of Brandon goofing off when they were hiking up in the mountains of NC a few weeks ago.  She said that she was scared that Brandon was going to teach his antics to their kids one day….

Amanda - the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Dan showing the height of the cliff with his foot...

Neat rock formations

Dan acting goofy on the trail

Finished!

It was a great hike!

One evening, Syl, Gin and I went to Cullers Overlook to see the sunset.

No spectacular colors but it was a nice way to end the day.

We really enjoyed this state park and, although we didn’t have Verizon phone/internet coverage, would definitely return if in the area again.

A very "buggy" two weeks!

July 21-Aug 4

This past winter, while researching areas for our summer 2014 travels, I  came across Beacon Hill Campground in Intercourse, PA.  It is a small, adult only campground right across the street from an Amish farm.  I booked two weeks so that we had plenty of time to explore the area, taste the food, and have a few days to kick back.

It was a gorgeous area and I never tired of the sights (beautiful farms, horses, buggies, gorgeous flowers, colorful quilts), sounds (clip-clop of the horses), smells (yes, including the barn!) and tastes of Amish country (fresh corn, peaches, sausages, whoopee pies).

I took many, many pictures during our time there and will let them tell the story….

Farmland.....

We even saw a few camel (yes, camesl!) but, were so shocked at seeing them, did not take their picture!

Amish transportation

Of course, we had to stop by Sturgis Pretzel and Wilbur Chocolates,

We left with a few bags of pretzels and some chocolate as well.  ;-)


We also had a chance to visit with fellow RV Dreamers, Neil and Nancy.  We drove to the campground that they are at and spent the afternoon catching up.  We grilled sausages for dinner but had to make a quick dash home due to cranky weather.

There were two nice rails-to-trails that I had my eye on and we took one day to pedal the Enola Low Grade Trail.  We packed up the bikes, a picnic lunch and set out.

There are several trailheads but, as the trail is still a work-in-progress, they are not all connected.  We chose to park at the Manor Township trailhead as this section appeared to be the most scenic as it paralleled the Susquehanna River.

We went geocaching while pedaling too!

And found some very, very cleverly made geocaches!

It was a great day with our framily!

We celebrated Gin’s birthday...

A new rule has been established where one gets to celebrate 1 day for every decade they are celebrating. Alrighty then!  Let’s just say we had a good, good couple of days!

Remember that Chocolate Lab wine we discovered in the Finger Lakes?  Well, they ship!

A litter of puppy pouches!

We enjoyed relaxing too.....

and watching the hot air balloons go by....

Ahhhh....it was a great two weeks in Amish country!

Lackawanna State Park

In planning our summer travels, we needed a place to hunker down between stops and I chose Lackawanna State Park.  We wanted something not too far off of I81 and I figured that after being in touristy 1000 Islands, we would need to get back to the woods.  Well - boy did we get that!

Tucked in the woods!

Lackawanna State Park was fine for what we needed but it is an older park and most sites are not big rig friendly.  We spent the weekend chilling, watching nature, hiking, and enjoying dairy fresh ice cream!  Not too far from the campground, there is a dairy farm and we went there one afternoon for a cool treat.  Well - we got that plus two 1/2 gallon tubs of ice cream, 1/2 gallon of fresh milk and a pint of fresh chocolate milk.  Dan was in heaven!  (okay I was too but only with the ice cream and chocolate milk!). Let's just say that Pistachio ice cream and Almond Joye ice cream - oh my!!

Dam at Lackawanna Lake

Great day for a hike!

Lackawanna Lake

Bunnies are still my favorite after all these years!

Cute squirrel eating an orange peel

 Dan had gone on a scooter ride one day and came back and told Gin, Syl, and I that he had something to show us.  We piled in their car and off we went.   What a sight it was!

The  Tunkhannock Viaduct (also known as the Nicholson Bridge), is a manmade railroad bridge built in 3 years in the early 1900s. It's almost a mile long and about 300 feet tall!  Yikes!

We stopped at a roadside information area to learn more about this viaduct.  It really is something to see.
We also snagged one geocache while there!

Time to move to our next destination!  Stay tuned.