Tonight, we find ourselves once again at Lake Jordan State Park. I think this is at least the third time this year. Of course, there's a very special attraction near here that we really enjoy - our grandchildren.
We had a calm, casual trip today. We stopped by Cherry Point MCAS and got a base sticker for the motor home. It makes getting on a military base a little easier.
We picked up Evan and Anna at their home in Cary. Driving the narrow streets in the subdivision with the car in tow was a bit of a challenge.
We set up on a beautiful lot in the park right next to the swimming area at Lake Jordan. We all got in the water for a nice afternoon, then Slade brought pizza out for supper.
A great way to start a trip.
Thursday, June 11
I am again reminded why we enjoy the motor home style of life. Going to new places!
We have always heard about and passed near Pilot Mountain, just Northwest of Winston Salem, on our way to and from Spruce Pine. But we had never ventured to the sentinel in the Piedmont of NC.
So this morning, after breakfast at IHOP with Anna and Evan, we drove the two hours to a small
RV park just outside Pilot Mountain State Park.
This little park, Greystone RV Park, has only about a dozen spaces, but it looks out at Pilot Mountain.
This afternoon while Clara took a nap, I drove over to the park and up to near the top.
The views are great from near the top (you can't climb to the top of the rock outcrop).
Pilot Mountain is one of the most visible and recognizable geologic formation in the Piedmont of North Carolina. The prominent pinnacle towers above the surrounding landscape.
Pilot Mountain has been a local landmark long before the early settlers inhabited the area. Early native Americans used the pinnacle as a navigation aid in the area. In fact, the name Pilot Mountain is a translation of "Jomeokee", the Indian name for the formation meaning "Great Guide" or "Pilot".
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| I hiked for a couple of miles to where I could see the RV Park we're staying in from near the top. I knew that if I could see the mountain from the RV Park, I could certainly find a place on the mountain that I could see the RV Park. |
After dinner this evening in the town of Pilot Mountain, we drove back up to the top so Clara could see the view.
Friday, June 12
We picked a spot about an hour and a half drive to go to today, but managed to get completely lost on the way. Actually, we decided to take a short detour to Mount Airy, made famous by Andy Griffith using it as his "Mayberry". We figured there had to be some place near downtown that we could park this big beast - NOT!
The smaller the town, the bigger this thing gets. And before we knew it, we were finding ourselves on little side streets and soon we were completely turned around. Not even the GPS could help us.
We eventually got on a road that took us to the where we wanted to go.
We seem to be lucky in finding out of the way campgrounds that are the greatest. Tonight, we picked a Forest Service Campground a few miles off the interstate, Stony Fork. It is a quiet, secluded campground in the Virginia Mountains that is popular with the locals. If we had time, we'd stay at least another day.
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| Having arrived early in the afternoon, we got out the chairs and hammock, and really enjoyed a quiet afternoon. |
Saturday, June 13
Beckley, West Virginia
Another big driving day, at least two hours to Beckley, West Virginia.
I have been here several times in the past when I worked as a USAF Reservist Liaison with the Civil Air Patrol. We had several of the cadet activities in which I was involved at the National Mine and Safety Academy . However, I remember nothing about the town - I probably never even came into town.
Beckley is in the heart of West Virginia coal mining country. The primary reason for stopping today is Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. I noted that there is an RV park as part of the complex, so we stopped.
This afternoon while Clara recovered from the long drive, I did the tour of the coal mine and its ancillary facilities. The highlight is the tour below ground, under the supervision of an experienced veteran coal miner. Traveling 1,500 feet beneath the hill along a track riding authentic "man cars" to the old working areas of the coal mine. The mine was operated in the late 1800's
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| Riding the "man car" deep into the coal mine |
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| Our tour guide, an experienced veteran miner explained to us how mining was done from the 1800's to today. |
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| Guess what this is? |
Overall, it was very interesting. I certainly have a new appreciation of what it must be like to be a miner. I'm glad I did something else.
For Anna and Evan: There's an old school house (shown on the right of the picture above). These are some of the "Prohibitions" of the students when they attended school.
- Boys are forbidden
- to buy or sell, borrow or lend, give, take, or exchange anything except fruit or other eatables, without the teacher's permission
- To read any book in school except such as contain the reading lesson of his class
- To throw pens, paper, or anything whatever, on the floor or out a window or door.
- To spit on the floor
- To climb on any fence, railing, ladder, etc., about the school house
- To take out an inkstand, meddle with the contents of another's desk, unnecessarily open or shut his own
- To quit school without having finished his copy
- to use a knife, except on the conditions prescribed
- To meddle with ink unnecessarily
- To study home lesson in school hours
- To pass noisily, or upon the run, from one room to another, or through the entries
- To play in the play ground before school
And lots more.
And then there are the punishments:
Lashes
Boys and Girls playing together 4
Gambling at school 4
Telling lies 7
Giving each other ill names 8
Swearing at school 8
For misbehaving to girls 10
For wearing long fingernails 2
(Boys) For going to girls play places 3
(Girls) For going to boys play places 3
Coming to school with dirty faces and hands 2
For calling each other liars 4
And lots more.
I guess I should have studied the maps a little better and planned our stops with more consideration as to driving time. Whereas, up until today, we've been driving 2-3 hours each day, today we ended up driving nearly 6 hours, breaking all the rules of driving either from 10 am to 2 pm or 200 miles, whichever comes first.
We drove for nearly 6 hours today and it really tired us out. We are really spoiled.
And the place we have ended up is as much of a surprise as Stony Fork was back in Virginia. Only in a totally different way. We are at Caesar Creek State Park, just a few miles (maybe 30) South of Dayton, Ohio - our destination.
When making the reservations, I assumed that being this close to a large city, and being on a lake, and being a weekend that we would lucky to get a space here. It sounded like the ideal campground - like Lake Jordan.
Much to our surprise, although a relatively nice campground, with electric service to every site (only 20 amp though - enough to run only one of the three air conditioners), the place is almost deserted. There are about 300 spaces in the park and I doubt that more than 30-40 are occupied. I'm not sure at all as to why, but for us, it's a good deal - we had our pick of sites.
A long driving day today will be followed by a good nights sleep and a short drive to Wright Patterson AFB tomorrow.
Monday, June 15
After a short drive, we're settled in at the FamCamp (Military for RV park) at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. Still recovering from yesterday's long drive.
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