Late July 2018 trip

So, the primary purpose of this trip was to attend our niece's wedding in Cary, NC(Raleigh suburb). We arranged to spend each of the weeks before and after the wedding traveling and enjoying ourselves.

Departed home on July 23, in mid-afternoon. Our route to Wm. Sterling SP avoided highways, so it was somewhat tedious, although we had a very late lunch at the Double Deuce Diner(used to be StageCoach Stop) in Stockbridge, Mich. The SP campground is an open field on the west end of Lake Erie, but there is a nice paved trail along the shore.

The next night, we planned on visiting Lieth Run CG(Wayne NF) on the Ohio Riv. But there was a closed gate across the entrance from SR-7. So we spent the night at Cokeley CG in WV's North Bend SP. We found the 30A electric service at site 21 had the hot and neutral wires reversed (and socket upside down) so we moved. It's another large open field on a hill.

On the 25th, we drove about 3 1/2 hrs to Mountain Lake Campground, a large commercial CG on Summersville Lk near, you  guessed it, Summersville, WV. The registration had 6-8 items to be initialed to show it had been read. But the site they let us have was right on the lake shore, even if it was shoehorned between much larger RVs with no separation to speak of. We enjoyed the afternoon driving the rural area west of the lake after lunch at Long Point Grille and Bar. Driving in the rural area was fun but some promising two track roads were gated or signed.

The following day, we arrived at Grayson Highlands SP in Va. which is a wonderful location for hikers. The CG was wooded with no views. The road to the top of the "highlands" has almost no views, but a short walk from the parking area reaches a nice viewing platform. A sign on the road back down highlights the only view of Mt Rogers, the highest point in Va.

The 27th had us arriving in Cary, NC at the Homewood Suites Raleigh/Cary. The wedding was the afternoon of the 28th and we left before noon on the 29th for Lake Sinclair Rec. Area in Georgia's Oconee NF.

On the 30th, we visited Ocmulgee NM, near Macon, Ga. It's the site of mounds that have seen extensive archeological digs for 200(?) years. While in Macon, we also did our laundry(Sunshine Ctr on Millerfield Rd). We met a character named Kevin at the Lake Sinclair CG. He drove trucks until physical problems retired him. He was scooting around the CG in an Amigo type chair and it's a mystery how he managed his pop-up camper and pick-up truck.

The 31st found us at Amicalola Falls SP north of Atlanta. The falls are a long cascading stream-bed, and there is an extensive Resort Park. The facilities are above a very steep road and the drive into the campground is steeper yet. Almost all of the campsites are on huge pads above retaining walls on the side of the hill. It must have cost a fortune to build, so it was disappointing that the washroom seemed to lack some serious maintenance. We spent the first driving the roads around the area. Notably, we found the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in the Chattahoochee NF. More precisely, we found the parking area 1 mi. from the end of the Trail on Springer Mtn.

On Aug 2nd, we moved to Holly Bay CG in Daniel Boone NF, Kentucky. We were 26 mi. from my brother's home in Somerset, Ky. but weren't able to arrange a visit since we all had places to be. No matter, we had visited at his daughter's wedding a few days earlier.

On the 3rd, we drove north through Ky and Indiana to Mounds SP near Anderson, Indiana. On US-127 in Ky, we passed an incredible number of yard sales. Nearing the Ohio River we chose a route along the river to Milton. Of course we couldn't see the river for all the trees on the riverbank. Crossing the river, we followed US-421 north past Big Oaks NWR, formerly Jefferson Proving Ground, a WW-II munitions testing site where the danger of un-exploded ordinance requires visitors sign a waiver annually. So we hoped to get a campsite at Mounds SP on a Friday evening in August. What a foolish idea. And I was told, "What do you want to bet we drive the rest of the way home tonight?" So, we spent the night in this really crappy private campground "resort" a few miles off the freeway. It didn't have a dump station, apparently because each site had a "sewer connection". Ours was too high for us to use, not to mention that, unless we are staying for several nights, I don't want to tempt fate by using one of those "sewer connections." And the only hose I have is for drinking water, so I won't use it to rinse a holding tank hose. Oh well.

Saturday the 4th, we drove home after visiting Pokagon SP where we paid the $9 entry fee so we could use their dump station. Pokagon is a huge park with extensive ways to enjoy yourself, including a toboggan hill( a little warm for that ). So, we arrived home, unloaded almost everything, got Chinese take-out, and enjoyed being at home.    

Our trip June 2018

This trip began on June 5 and we returned home on June 23(?). I've set the date to keep it in context, but the post is being written in August, after being home from our second trip for over a week.

To high school graduation in Va.

The primary purpose of this trip was to attend our youngest grandson's high school graduation in Virginia. And to visit with his brother, home from his Air Force posting at Travis Air Base near San Francisco. And...  to spend time with our son, his "significant other" and her daughter, and our granddaughter and her "significant other" as well.  So, we left home on the 5th and arrived there on the 6th. I think. As I write this, I'm not remembering details well. We visited this part of the U.S. three times this year. So it runs together.

I think we took 2 days to drive to Fredericksburg, Va. Then the trailer was left in our son's driveway for most of a week. We enjoyed visiting an being there when our grandson graduated.

Enjoying our visit to the National Forests of the southeast.

We left Fredericksburg on Monday the 11th, and spent the next several days driving south on the Blue Ridge Parkway. We enjoyed the drive even though the views were often obscured by clouds and fog.
We began at the north entrance(Afton, Va). Although we saw several inviting campgrounds on the parkway they were either 1) not where we wanted to end the day, or 2) full. So we used commercial CGs. We didn't quite reach Cherokee(the south end of the parkway) before we decided to spend our time further north.

I believe we spent a night(2?) at Stone Mountain SP in N. Car. It was during our stay there that we 1) found and visited a very rough road to Scales and Grindstone Campground. We moved to Grindstone campground and spent two nights there. During the two days, we visited Marion, Va, Whitetop Mtn., Comers Rock, and enjoyed driving interesting FS roads in Washington-Jefferson NF.

Sunday, June 17 - It seems we then drove S reaching Mt Pisgah CG which was essentially full. We backed into a site, only to notice it seemed to be reserved. We spent two nights at Asheville W KOA, getting dinner at Botanas and Beer the first night.  The next day, we did laundry and drove south as far as Rosman where we bought lunch from a food truck at Headwaters Outfitters. We then returned to the KOA via US64 and US256. We stopped at the Pisgah NF Ranger Sta./Visitor Ctr. N of the intersection.

Tuesday the 19th - We drove to Lake Moomaw, another Wash.-Jeff. NF campground in Va. and spent two nights there. Wedn. we drove several very interesting roads on an "Overland" route I found.

On a hill with a spectacular view.

Thursday, we moved to Canaan Valley SP in W. Va.where we visited a 4x4 trail in Blackwater Falls SP that we had partially driven in the snow last December. Seeing it again, we were astonished that we had driven it in the snow! We decided not to try it again.

Friday, we again drove sections of the "overland" route, finding and rejecting a river crossing with very high water. But the scenery was great!

Saturday, we headed to Mt Gilead SP in Ohio. We had stayed there one night in the '80s with a rented trailer. Driving I-70 to Columbus, I had an awful time after missing the I-270 interchange and following an erroneous Google map route. Once arriving at the SP, we found it very changed. When we arrived, there was no attendant, and the campground appeared full. We felt very unwelcome, so we decided to continue another 3 1/2 hrs to home.

All in all, it was a very good trip.