Day 7 Staunton Va and Frontier Culture Museum

Another beautiful day today.  We got out early and drove into the town of Staunton.  Its a beautiful town with  great historic districts.  Actually the town is divided into five districts.  After parking at the downtown parking lot we walked to the Visitor Center located on New St between Beverly and Johnson Streets.  There we got a pamphlet which enables you to take a self guided tour of the Historic Districts.  Our first stop was the National Valley Bank.  This bank is basically just the way it was when established back in 1865.  There is also a small area designated as a museum in the bank.  The entrance is thru a revolving glass door.  The interior features a magnificent oval glass skylight.  Some pictures:

Trinity Espiscopal Church 1855.  This is an example of early gothic revival architecture and boasts 12 Tiffany Studio windows. 

In the Wharf Distric we visited Sunspots Studios and watched a glassblowing demonstration

Next was the old train station.  The original building has been a restaurant in the recent past.  It is currently being renovated again.  Amtrac has a small building also.

Augusta County Courthouse.  This is the fifth courthouse to be built on this site.  The first, in 1745, was a crude log structure.

There are 82 structures in all the five historic districts.  You would have to be a lot younger than us to walk the tour and view each one.  After the above we were pooped and found a nice small restaurant ( The Pampered Palet on Beverley St to eat lunch.
       Tomorrow is a travel day.  We will be heading west from here to Louisville Ky to visit my sister and her husband.  We will have an overnight stay outside of Ashland Kentucky before arriving in Louisville Friday afternoon.  Tomorrow night I will post pictures of the Frontier Culture Museum.

Day 6 Fall 2011 trip

Got an early start today, the pets woke us up at 6am.  They were ready for a morning walk.  We slept with the windows open last night.  Was the first time on this trip we did not need to run the AC unit all night.  Temp was in the upper 50s when we ventured outside and were also greeted with a beautiful sunrise.  Spent the morning doing chores, did our laundry among other things.  After lunch we headed up to the Shenadoah National Park and a trip along skyline drive.  Was a nice drive with quite a few senic overlooks.  But frankly, we were both a little disapointed.  Having driven the Blue Ridge Parkway many times, it seemed that the Skyline Drive was not what we expected.  There seems to be much more to see along the Blue Ridge.  Anyway, I've traveled thru Virginia many times, north and south and east and west over the past many years and always wanted to drive the Skyline.  We'll the cost was excellent, got in free with my National Park Senior Pass.  Have had the card for about five years and this was the first time I got to use it.  So, checked Skyline Drive off my bucket list.  Here are some pictures:

Day 5

A little shorter trip today.  We were only on the road about four hours.  We topped off our RV with gas at a Loves Truck stop on I-81 north at exit 84.  I was surprised that our gas mileage on the last leg was a fraction over 9 mpg.  We try to stop at Loves and Flying J truck stops because they are usually large enough to manuver our rig, which is about 45 foot long when towing the CRV.  Just after we pulled back onto the highway we saw one of those signs with flashing lights that told us to tune to channel 1620 for important highway news.  Turns out they were going to close down I-81 at mile marker 121 at 10:30 am because of blasting along the road.  We were fortunate that we passed that section with just a few minutes to spare.  We noted that the southbound lanes were already being routed onto a detour.  We made it to the Staunton/Walnut Hills KOA at 1 pm.  Tomorrow we intend to venture out and tour the surrounding area.  Found out this evening that part of the campground is without water.  Someone pulled out of their campsite and left their water hose hooked up and busted the water connection.  Seems there is only one main water cut off.   However, we are kind of fortunate, we are on the upper section of the campground and we are on well water.  The lower half is on city water.  Must be our lucky day.  Here are some pictures taken at our campsite:

Day 4 Travel Day

Today we traveled from Longs SC to near Mt Airy NC.  Six hours on the road.  We were both beat when we pulled into the campground, even the dogs.  After getting the RV set up we all took a nap.  Have you ever wondered how small towns get their names?  We passed thru mostly farm country today, saw lots of cotton ready to harvest in SC.  I was told once that before cotton is harvested, the plants are sprayed with a chemical that causes the plants to shed their leaves.  This makes it easier for the machinery to remove the cotton.  Anyway, back to names of towns.  Passed thru Green Sea and Lake View in SC.  Never saw any green sea or a lake for that matter.  The best one was traveling up Future I-73/I-74 in NC.  Saw a town on the map called Why Not.  Wonder what the story behind that was?  We are currently at Mayberry Campground, just south of Mt Airy NC, which is the home of Andy Griffith and also Donna Fargo ( remember the song "The happiest girl in the USA"?).  The campground is located at the homeplace of the descendants of the Siamese Twins, ENG & Chang Bunker.  The home is still maintained and stands above the campground.  I was excited that we would have cable tonight so I could watch the NASCAR race at Richmond tonight.  Boy was I disapointed when I found out the race was last night.  Oh well, at least my driver, JR, driver of the number 88 was able to clinch a spot in the chase.  Tomorrow we have a shorter dirve as we head up to the Staunton/Walnut Hill KOA which will be our camp base as we tour the Shenadoan Valley and Skyline Drive area.

Day 3 Fall 2011 trip

We were able to sleep in until the sun started to come up.  Our pets have gotten use to the routine and slept all night at the foot of our bed.  Took them for a walk and snapped this picture of the sun coming up

Spent the rest of the morning relaxing.  Diane worked on her needle point and I got the GPS programmed for the next leg of our journey.  Also did some serious reading.  Got a copy of "Absolute Power" from the library before we left.  Got it almost read all the way.  Book is a lot better than the movie that Clint Eastwood starred in.  Then it was time for lunch so we headed up to Calabash NC.  Our favorite lunch spot there is Becks.  We both had the fried shrimp lunch special. 

After lunch we crossed the road and did some window shopping at Callahan's.  This store is huge.  They have a large christmas area as well as a pretty good Dept 56 section.

Returned to the campground, took a nap, then chilled awhile, sipping wine ( Diane ) and had a few cold beers (Me).  Was able to get the  Gamecocks football game on the radio.  It was an exciting game, especially since Carolina beat Georgia and are now 2 - 0 on the year.  Tomorrow we head up to Mt. Airy NC for a one night stop over and then Monday we continue on to the Shenadoan Valley area of Virginia.  Our stop over is at Mayberry Campground and they have cable so I'm looking forward to watching the NASCAR race at Richmond.  This is the last race before the Chase starts.  This race will determine the 12 drivers who will compete for the Sprint Cup Championship.

Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.  We will never forget!

Day 2 Fall 2011 Trip

Our day started early.  Our pets were restless, the first night on the road.  They woke us up at 4am wanting to go out.  So we took them for a walk, there was a bright, almost full moon casting some light for us to stroll along the lake.  Needless to say, we slept in a lot later than usual and got a late start to the day.  It was almost lunch time when be headed out.  So our first stop was at the Liberty Steakhouse and Brewery located at Broadway on the Beach.

When in the Myrtle Beach area we always make it a point to stop here for lunch and sample the locally brewed beers.
    Next, we headed back up 17A to the Tanger Outlet mall.  Diane did some shopping while I mostly sat and enjoyed the afternoon sun.  Next we drove across the highway and went to the Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World.  If you fish, hunt, or camp, this is the place to find what you need.  I got some tackle to make carolina rigs for the next time my brother visits and we go bass fishing on Lake Keowee in upstate SC.  Spent the rest of the day, relaxing at the camp site.  Had a nice breeze blowing.  Watched all the campers coming in for the weekend.  Seems almost everyone has a golf cart to ride around in now.  Many of the fith wheels that pulled in were also towing a trailer behind which had a golf cart inside.  This campground is huge but we enjoy walking around with our pets so we all get good exercise.

Day 1 Fall 2011 Trip

We got all hooked up and pulled out at 9:20 this morning.  Stopped at the Loves at exit 76 I-26 east  to top of the gas tank.  Pump stopped at $125 so didn't get topped off all the way.  We stopped for lunch at the rest area on I-20 east of Columbia SC and gave the dogs ( Ginger & Kellee ) some exercise.  They enjoy traveling with us.  Kellee dosen't like the big rigs when they pass.  We made one more fuel stop at Sparky's on Hwy 501, Marion SC to top off and walk the dogs again.  We arrived at Willowtree Rv resort about 3:30.  This campground ranks at the top of our list of favorite campgrounds.  We will be here three nights.  We enjoy the Myrtle Beach area.

This is our camp site #32

Above is a view of the campground with the 36 acre lake in the background.  There is a beach on the lake, as well as a swiming pool.  There is a paved walk way/golf cart path that goes all around the lake.

here is a link to the campground web site: http://willowtreervr.com/photos/