August, 2024, To Virginia and Back

Destination reached, time to turn around and go home

Wednesday, August 14th, Dixie Caverns RV Park, Salem, VA

After a very restful and relaxing week at Mayberry Campground the time finally came when we had to get the wheels rolling again.

Just a short hop this time to a so-called RV park in Virginia called

This is a sort of RV park that has nothing much to offer accept a reasonably level pull through site that is nice for an overnight stay but no longer. And that is exactly how long we stayed, just one night.

The next day we were back on the road headed toward Luray Caverns. My grandson lives just 10 minutes from the Caverns, and we were going to pick him up and take him with us to our final destination.

Little did I know what was in store for me but I quickly found out. Leaving Rt81 you take Rt211 to the Caverns. In essence it is a two lane road, 7% grade, all hairpin and switchback turns. Both up and back down. Up is about 6 miles and back down is the same distance. It was 3rd gear up and down keeping the speed to just about 40 mph and no more. This was a once in life time trip for me. I’ll leave this road to the motorcycle junkies among us. It is perfect road for them.

August 15th to August 19th, Candy Hill Campground, Winchester, VA

This was our final destination for this trip. This would be home base for family time and the baby shower for my granddaughter.

About the name of the RV Park, this is how it came about, according to the park’s owner. And I quote:

The Candy Hill name comes from an interesting past. No, it is not what most guess, we are not candy givers nor are we a Christmas themed park. The truth behind the story is that years ago there was a farm house where our campground now stands and as a story book would say, there was a little girl who lived there. She had a dog who passed away and was buried on the hill behind the farm house and luck have it, the dogs name was Candy. From then on the hill was referred to as Candy’s Hill, hence our name, Candy Hill Campground. And now you know the true story!

Unfortunately, Ms Barbara forgot to take pictures at the Baby Shower but I understand it was a smashing success. Also a bit wet at times due to rain showers throughout the day. But they failed to put a damper on the party and everyone had a wonderful time.

We also spent some wonderful family time with my son Adam and his family. The young man with the black tee shirt is our grandson, Jarret. He is the one we went to Luray to pick up.

We had an opportunity to get reacquainted with our youngest grandson, Jaxon. That tongue is out no matter what he does!

We were able to also spend some time with my sister, Cindy and her husband, Charlie – that’s his knee I just got in the picture.

So, bottom line the trip was a huge success. Time with family is so precious. We’ll be going home with many wonderful memories.

Now, it is time to start rolling back toward Florida. We’ll be back on August 30th. Back to the heat and humidity. The last couple of days at the RV park we’ve been at, the morning temperatures have been in the 40’s and 50’s. Ah, so nice.

Time to roll.

August, 2024, To Virginia and Back

Baby Shower! Our granddaughter. You knew this wasn’t something we were going to miss.

OK, so that’s the reason for the trip. However, we had to get from our house in Polk City, Florida up to West Virginia where the gala event would be held.

Now the sensible course of action would have been to hop in the car, scoot on up a couple of days before the grand occasion, spend a couple of nights in a hotel and then turn around and come back home. And not so expensive, I might add.

But sometimes I can be anything but sensible. And forget the cost. No car for us, we’re going to take Elvira out for a run. Let’s see they’ll be campground costs, the cost of diesel fuel, oh just forget it and let’s go!

The trip to date.

Thursday, August 1st, to Friday, August 2nd, Kiki RV Park, Georgia

We left on Thursday, August 1st heading up out of Florida to a sort of RV park we know real well. It was an easy 4 hour drive – my way – forget the GPS. I refuse to take Route 4 and then Route 95 north, rather I make my way up Route 75, then over to Route 301 out of Ocala. Great road, a few speed traps you have to watch out for, but I know by now where they’re going to be.

This was our first stop. It’s not really an RV park but rather some RV pads the Econo Lodge put in adjacent to the motel to make a few extra bucks. But the price is reasonable, and it easy to get to from Route 95.

The pads are concrete, level, and just long enough for the rig and the car. And did I mention that there is a Waffle House within 100 feet of the park. Oh, they make a great Hash Brown Bowl for breakfast.

Friday, August 2nd, to Monday, August 5th, New Green Acres RV Park, SC

Friday morning we finished our breakfast from Waffle House, pulled in the two back slides and we were on the road in no time. We were off to our next destination in Walterboro, SC. We had stayed at the state park here once before and vowed we would never ever go there again.

So where to stay for the weekend?

We settled on an RV park called New Green Acres in South Carolina. This is one of those hidden gems. It offers easy access to the highway. It has enormous pull through sites. The sites as you can see are really no more than a dirt path but they are level as can be. The utilities are right off the wet bay.

And shade, lots of shade. It was so nice for a change to be under some trees. It was cool and comfortable. What better place to spend the weekend.

While here on Saturday we began to see pictures of our development back home and hear reports from some of our neighbors. Our development had flooded streets, the canals were up and over their banks, some docks were under water, and our house had water all around it. However, we don’t believe we had any water in the house, not even in the crawl space under. It was close, but I believe we survived. We’ll know more when we get home.

Monday, August 5th to Wednesday, August 7th, Camping World Racing Resort, NC

On Monday it was time to get on the road again. We were heading Northwest this time toward Concord, North Carolina. I had original decided to stay at a small, family campground that offered bargain basement prices. Only one problem, well really three. They had only back-in sites, they were dirt, and the sites were extremely tight. And rain was on the way. Meaning, I really didn’t want to take a chance at getting caught in the mud and possibly having to get towed out. Time to find another place to stay for two days.

Then I found this.

Oh yea! The RV park is between two major race tracks; Charlotte Motor Speedway and ZMAX Dragway. Fans of either NASCA or NHRA will know these tracks well. Thankfully, there were no events at either track this week or weekend so there was plenty of empty sites in the RV park.

We scored a pull through site with an excellent gravel base. The site was level, and the utilities were right where they needed to be. Really, so far our luck with sites has been great.

Tuesday morning we had to go into Charlotte for some lab work for Ms. Barbara and we figured while were there we might as well go to Einstein Bagels for breakfast. While here we were also starting to keep a close on Tropical Storm Debbie. It was headed our way. Yea, go figure we escape it by leaving Florida only to have it probably catch up to us here in North Carolina. Well, it didn’t hit us here but we were not spared. It got us, next stop.

Wednesday, August 7th to Tuesday, Aug 15, Mayberry Campground, Mt Airy, NC

Come Wednesday morning it was time to get the wheels rolling again. We were headed to a place we new well, had stayed out before and absolutely loved.

This is one of those places – if I had my way – I would love to spend the summer months. We’ve been here before and it didn’t disappoint then, and it didn’t now.

This is our current home. Once again a pull through site, good gravel base and level. It is not as spacious as the first site we had when we were here but it will do for the week.

And it is here that Tropical Storm Debbie caught up with us. It began to rain on Thursday night and didn’t stop until Saturday morning. I mean it rained and then some. There would be an occasional break when it backed off to a drizzle – at which time Proton and myself quickly went for a walk – but it never really let up until Saturday morning. Thankfully, the drainage all around the rig was good so we never really ended up with large puddles of water.

Today as I sit to write this blog the sun is out and the temperature is a pleasant 85 degrees, which sure beats the 96 plus temperatures back in Polk City.

We’ll be here a few more days. here We’re just chilling. Watching the Olympics, reading some books we brought with us, going out for an occasional meal, doing some preventative maintenance, and taking walks around the campground.

Life is good, and we give thanks every day for the blessings we have and the wonderful life that is ours.

More to come. Have a great weekend.