Classic Tourism

 Every child takes field trips with their school. They go to focus on an important subject, increase their awareness of the world around them and to get the day off of school. If you don't go and see these sights with your school, many times your family vacation trips will make sure you see these sights. Well, I guess many times in my travels I am playing catch up trying to see these very same sights.

Time Spent In The State Pen

 

I spent the next few days putzing around western Virginia. Again I was surprised by the topography. Lots of mountains all dressed in their Fall colors. Gee, I'm almost poetic there. I drove up to the little town of Clintwood, in the heart of Appalachia, to the Ralph Stanley Museum. For those of you who don't know, Ralph Stanley was one of the pioneers of bluegrass/mountain music. Pioneer is rather a strong word though because mountain music has been around for centuries. Perhaps I should say that Ralph was instrumental in popularizing and bringing it to the general public. He has a special place in my heart because Tony and Dave opened for him in Saint Paul during his Saints and Sinners tour. He played Saturday night in a bar and Sunday he was playing at the House of Mercy church. It was a good museum and an excellent docent.

The campground I stayed at in Big Stone Gap had lovely surroundings,
but I couldn't use their water - it was brown and nasty looking.

The ex-owner of the campground repurposed all of the dead trees

Big Stone Gap had a three mile trail that surrounded the city. Miko and I hiked it every day.

Western Virginia is right next to Eastern Tennessee, so of course I had to stop in and see my friend Kathy. Lots of laughing and eating as is the norm when we get together. Another reason I like stopping there is that one of Kathy's friends is a diesel mechanic. My beloved truck had a milestone birthday when she crossed over the 100,000 line. I was able to get all the necessary maintenance items taken care of, which takes a load off the ol' mind.

Our first field trip was to the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. This is a maximum security prison where they sent the “worst of the worst”. Their motto seems to be “Brushy was the Damnation of many of an evil man and the Salvation of a humble few”. James Earl Ray(MLK's assassin) was one of the inmates. The prison was active from 1896 to 2009. The prison itself is nestled right into the mountains and the landscape is so pretty, the prison not so much. I could not believe how shabby the interior has gotten (perhaps it was always peeling paint?) in the few years since it closed.

James Earl Ray escaped into those hills and lasted 54 hours before the bloodhounds found him.

The entrance hall - so very inviting.

Some inmates had sentences of 200 years.

The guys in solitary had one hour a day to exercise here.

There was a restaurant and I got the "Killer Potato"
Pulled Pork, Bacon, Cheese, Sour Cream, BBQ sauce
I didn't have to eat for days!

A Little Culture In The Big City

 

I was planning on spending a week in Washington D.C. But then I started looking at extended forecasts. It looks like all across the central U.S., temperature highs are going to be in the fifties and lows in the thirties. I thought that I had better start moving a little bit quicker (but not too quickly) in a more southerly route. So, Washington D.C. is off the books.

You cannot go to Richmond Virginia without a visit to the Edgar Allan Poe Museum. Richmond was where Poe spent his early years as a foster child. Poe made a decision early on that writing was what he was supposed to do with his life, hence he had rather a hard financial life. Although he is mostly known for his poetry and short stories, he is considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre. Interesting facts: He married his thirteen year old cousin (move over Jerry Lee Lewis). The cause of his death is not known, but there were some very strange circumstances. What I found extremely interesting though is that I've always heard that he was a drunk and never-do-well. Turns out that is not totally true. He had a rival who loathed him. After Poe's death, this person spread all sorts of sordid rumors about him and his character which have become “established” facts.

The Museum of Fine Art had a wonderful exhibit on Man Ray: The Paris Years. He was a pioneering photographer, although he considered himself more a painter than a photographer. What was cool was that when he lived in Paris , he did portraits of many of the art movers and shakers of the twenties and thirties eras. To see these artists and be reminded of their influence on modern day life, most of them in their prime, was a treat. Picasso, James Joyce, Salavador Dali, Gertrude Stein, among others.

I particularly liked the glass exhibit, especially as it contrasted with the Oglebay glass that I had seen a few days earlier. From the spectacular everyday glass in Wheeling to the Chihuly and Tiffany glass in Richmond.

Tiffany

Chihuily

This was sort of an optical illusion.  See the next picture.

Look how skinny it is looking at it straight on.

Of course in a town like Richmond, there had to be some Junior Ranger opportunities. First up was the Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site. Ms. Walker is known for the first chartered bank in the United States founded by a black woman. I got confused because I was thinking that I was going to the C.J. Walker site (another black woman who has the distinction of being the first self-made woman millionaire). I was surprised that I wasn't where I thought I was. Maggie L. Walker was a good charitable, god-fearing woman.

My other Junior Ranger opportunity was Richmond Battlefields. There are multiple visitor centers but only a few are open. I went to the Cold Harbor site. The entire visitor center was a tiny little building with a few displays with one lone little ranger. Now, let me be upfront in that battlefields are not my favorite. Since I was the only one there, Ranger Nathan took me under his wing and explained the ins and outs of the Cold Harbor battle. I have to say that Ranger Nathan brought it to life with his enthusiasm. At one point, I was on the edge of my seat..will General Lee prevail? Will that no-good McClellan hold forth. I felt like I was there watching the battle unfold. Well done Ranger Nathan.

I know I'm back down south when I can get my Pimento cheese.  The Fireball is just a bonus.

Virginia, North Carolina and a little dip into South Carolina

Lots of catchup since I've been off of the mountain.

 

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia– I always thought that this is where the Civil War ended when General Lee surrendered to General Grant. Wrong – Lee only surrendered the Northern Army of Virginia. Yes, it was the start of all of the other Confederate armies surrendering, but I was always taught in school that this particular surrender was the very end. I was surprised. I actually found being in this spot where this happened to be very moving. Both sides treated each other with respect and civility and brought an end to the most horrific time in American history.

 

Museum of the Confederacy - I was rather disappointed in this museum. It was a well done museum, but I think I was expecting more of a overview of the Civil War. This museum was mostly pictures of combatants along with their personal letters and diaries. A lot of reading. Too much for me at the end of the day. One cool thing was that they had General Lee's uniform and his sword so you could really get a feel of the stature of the man

 

Stayed at Parkview Mobile Home and RV park in Appomattox. I had electricity, water, Wi-Fi, TV – I felt absolutely decadent having all these services. Although, it was no where as nice an atmosphere as Shenandoah. It was basically a big parking lot.

 

Booker T. Washington Birthplace, Virginia – Everybody has heard Booker T. Washington's name, but I'm sure that most people really have no idea what this man accomplished in his short life. He was born a slave, once freed he walked 500 miles to put himself though school and at the tender age of 25, established Tuskegee Institute and became recognized as the nation's foremost black educator. I watched the movie and then Miko and I wandered around the grounds. A lovely day meandering along a creek.

 

The Evil Tobacco Plant

Replica of the cabin Booker lived in with his mother, brother and sister until he was nine years old.  It was very very small inside

Miko had fun with the farm animals - ducks, turkeys - but the pigs really intrigued her - their grunts drove her nuts because she wasn't tall enough to look over the fence and see what was making that noise

 

 

Stayed at Owl Hollow Campground in High Point, North Carolina. Four sections in this campground, two of which are in woods butted up to a beautiful, tranquil lake. Guess which one I was in? The gravel parking lot section (although with blazing fast wifi). Turns out that twice a year, in this area of North Carolina, it is Furniture Mart time. This is when all the furniture buyers come to the furniture capital of America for their giant furniture convergence.

 

Guilford Courthouse Military Park, North Carolina – There are lots of national sites that commemorate battles. What was unique about this one is that this commemorates a battle that the British actually won. What's up with that? Cornwallis and Greene. Greene was known for fighting guerilla style warfare. Cornwallis had been chasing Greene all around the south. Cornwallis won this particular battle, but he lost a fourth of his troops and it directly led to his surrender seven months later at Yorktown, thus ending the Revolutionary War. Again, I watched the movie – it was a little different than the normal – it was like a Hollywood movie. This park was an urban park – in the middle of Greensboro – lots of woods, lots of monuments and lots of people walking, biking and enjoying the park.

Nathaniel Greene, commander extraordinaire.....and Miko

 

 

The night was spent in Blacksburg, South Carolina. Full Hookups, great Wifi. I was able to get my propane filled – bring on those cold spells. I'm ready. Mostly seasonal people here – not transients like me. A lot of trailers here are all displaying the American flag, along with the Confederate flag right next to it. I would love to talk to these people and listen to what they have to say about this, but I think I am just going to keep my head low. It is a quiet park as long as you don't count the train that seems to run right next to the campground. Oh, and the coyotes are going crazy tonight also.

 

Goodbye Shenandoah

It is funny – every morning we start out on our daily hike and I get out there and look around me and the air is fresh, the scenery is incredible, I feel invincible. Who would believe, ol' sedentary me - loving this outdoor life. Of course after I've been hiking for about three or four hours, I'm thinking – what the hell – you've seen one tree, you've seen them all – enough of this outdoor experience. But then the next morning I am ready to get out there again and start all over.

 

Today's View

 

Today I drive about ten miles north from the campground to South River Falls. My plan is just to do the short loop – see the top of the falls and then head back. Again – a lovely day. The hike goes downhill and then wanders along a creek that feeds the falls. I get to the observation post and you hardly see the falls because of the trees. So, I decide to go another couple of miles down to get to the base of the falls. Down, down, down I go and I get to what I think is the base which is just sort of a small cascade into a pool. What a disappointment. Then I see that there is a little path off on the side, a rocky steep little trail. Miko really has to scramble over the rocks to get down the trail. And then we saw the base of the falls. Best falls of the park so far. I almost wish it could have been a hot August day so we could have played in the water.

 

 

 

Top of the Falls

The Bottom of the Falls

 

Sat down next to a ranger and ate some lunch, just watching the water cascading. There was a boy scout troop at the base of the falls and they were scrambling around on the rocks, probably falling into the water more than they were staying dry.

Because I felt so good, I decided to take the long way back. Probably should have remembered how I felt about long hikes. As I'm slowly making my way up, up, up the trail, the ranger passes me by. She is probably thirty years younger than me and a hiker. I start talking to her which means I have to step up my game and keep up with her. After a while, she took pity on me and stopped to rest. I am dripping sweat – no glowing – whoa – it was intense. I'm so glad that she was there – I really got pushed to my edge.

But enough of this hiking. I think it is finally time to come down off of the mountain. I had four wonderful hikes in the Central part of Shenandoah, when I come back I will do the southern and northern parts. That is the joy of this lifestyle, I can always come back.

Coming down the mountain is a little hairy. The first three miles is at an 8-9% grade, followed by another three miles of a 6% grade – we are talking a long steep drop. My mentors have told me, take it slow, do not sit on the brakes. Put the RV in a lower gear, let the engine help hold you back. If you need to use the brakes, stab them – get down to a low speed and then get off of the brakes so they don't burn up. It is a single lane road, cars are piling up behind me, but I'm taking it slow. The road goes on and on and I'm being really concious of what I'm supposed to do. Then I smell something - not exactly a burning smell, but sort of an acrid type smell. What is this? Luckily, there was the one and only (besides the runaway truck ramp) place to pull over. I pull over and try to figure out what happened. Not a clue – I know I wasn't hanging on the brakes at all – maybe something wrong with the transmission. When the smell lessons, I continue on. I made it to the bottom of the hill, but that smell stayed with me for a couple of hours. I still don't know what it was.

Oh Shenandoah

Shenandoah National Park – what a jewel of the National Park Service.

Shenandoah is a park that runs 105 miles north-south in the northern Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia. Besides getting my solar installed, this has been my major destination for this trip. I've been hearing about Shenandoah for years and I've finally made it here.

The park itself is not very wide, but it sits on top of the mountain so it is a long climb to get up here. There are several campgrounds here – I ended up in Big Meadow which is pretty much smack dab in the middle of the Skyline Drive – the drive which takes you from one end of the park to another. I lucked out, getting here on Tuesday – there were plenty of first-come, first-serve campsites left. That changed quickly as the week went on – this is Columbus Day weekend, a three day weekend when everybody wants to spend it here in Shenandoah.  I'm one of the few RVs in the park, most people are here in tents and pop-up trailers - I sort of feel like I'm RV ostentatious.   

My campsite has no hook-ups – no electricity, no water. It will be another good test of my solar system. As I write this, I've been here for four days and haven't had to use my generator once. Again, I feel so green. There is very limited phone/internet service here. Rumors run rampant – if you go to the center picnic table in the picnic area, you should get a few bars. In the lodge, there is supposed to be WIFI.

About the only thing to do is Ranger Programs and hiking. And more hiking. I did go to one Ranger Programs – Shenandoah Wildlife at night. The ranger played recordings of various wildlife – frogs, coyotes, barred owls. Not five minutes after she played the barred owl call, an actual barred owl flew across in front of us. Wowzer.

Because we are in the mountains, there is a lot of climbing up the hills and going down the hills. I always thought going up was more difficult, but I've since changed my mind. Going down a hill is much more stress on the old body. I am trying out my new hiking pole and I don't think I will ever hike again without a pole – they really make it a lot easier to hike on uneven terrain. Let me say at this point, I have got to be the world's slowest hiker. That is not counting my sister-in-law, Barb, who is much slower, but at least she stops every five feet to take a picture.

So far, the best hike for me has been the Rose River Trail. This trail goes down to the Rose River Falls. You are following the river for most of the way and because of all the rains we have had lately, the river is flowing. Cascades, Falls – we had to cross one of the streams on rocks– Miko's favorite thing(not) – again she misjudged and ended up in the drink. According to my FITBIT, I walked about 14,000 steps and climbed 74 flights of stairs.

 

The Actual Rose River Falls

 

 

The second day we walked about 12,000 steps but climbed 89 flights of stairs. I wonder how FITBIT measures flights of stairs when there aren't any stairs. We did the Lewis Falls Trail which goes to Lewis Falls (go figure), a falls that is 83 feet high. Of course I only saw the very top of the falls – to see the whole thing you would have to climb out on some rocks and hang over the edge. Not for height phobic me.

 

This all I saw of 83 foot Lewis Falls

 Today we went to Hawksbill Summit, the highest peak in the park at 4050 ft. Only 10,000 steps and 70 flights of stairs. It was a great day to do this – it seems like overnight the colors have changed. When we got here, everything was green, now it is the proverbial riot of colors. I'm so lucky. The views were great – I really wish my little point and shoot camera could capture what the eye sees.

 

Before

Taken through the car window, hence the foggy look

 

 

One of the coolest things though is that I have now officially walked on the Appalachian Trail. I've been wanting to do this for years. The Trail goes from Georgia to Maine and while I would like to walk the entire thing in one shot and be an official Thru Hiker, I think I am going to have to settle on being a Segment Hiker. I have now officially completed almost two miles of the Appalachian Trail. I only have 2,198 more miles to go. How exciting is that? 

Lows tonight are going to be low forties. Since I'm really low on propane, it will be interesting to see how it goes without heat. I have enough for the furnace, but I'm trying to save the propane until I get back into civilization. I've plenty of warm clothes – all will be fine.