August 25, 2004 (Wed) Home to Davis, VA (400 miles) - We didn't set our alarm last night but we were up at 5:15 as usual and got off at 6:50 - 64° and cloudy. Although the beginning of commuter traffic time, it wasn't too bad going up the Garden State Parkway and I-287. A couple of slow-downs but that's all. Going this route to I-81 seems like going in the wrong direction - north when we're headed south - but by the map its really only a couple of miles longer - well worth it to miss the Baltimore/Washington nightmare traffic.
Our first stop was the Yarn Basket in Chambersburg, Pa. (We'd stopped there on our way home last month but it was closed for vacation). Joy stopped just short of breaking her budget - she saved some in case we come across a fabric store later on. It's a great shop, Dorcas, but how do you find room to park that fifth-wheel? Mark had to park in a McDonalds' lot down the road and wait for a call on the walkie-talkie.
US-50 across the Appalachian Mountains into the Monongahela National Forest is a spectacular drive, although tense - a tightly winding road both horizontally and vertically. At 3360 feet, Backbone Mountain is the highest point in MD. The road over it tops out at 3095 feet - not high by western standards but Q was impressed. (He doesn't remember crossing the Rockies when he came East from Yakima, WA - too young.) The leaves are just beginning to change in the higher altitudes. Every now and then there is a yellow branch or a small red tree. The fields and hills are many colors from pale yellow green to dark blue green. Lots of butterflies too! In the distance we see a large wind farm - we counted 32 windmills and there are probably more we couldn't see.
It turns out that this park is not too far from the wind farm but we can't see it from here. Wish we could. After we'd set up two deer wandered across our campsite and into the grassy center of the loop across the road. One looked to be just out of fawnhood.
August 26, 2004 (Thu) Blackwater Falls State Park - This is a pretty park. Some sites are quite spacious, some not. Some have shade, many do not. The toilet facilities could be better maintained and cleaner though. The men's room stalls are without latches which prompts Mark to use Q and we'll probably use Q's shower facilities in the morning as well. There aren't many campers here now but the park will likely fill up for the weekend.
There are reportedly 12 miles of trails throughout the park with some prepared for horses and/or mountain bikes. After breakfast we set out on foot in search of the trail to the falls for which the park is named. The trail to the base of the falls, with its 215 stair steps down (and back up), is under construction so we hiked around to the other side of the Blackwater River on the road to where there is a wheelchair accessible trail to an overlook. The falls, though not as spectacular as in the spring, were beautiful as was the gorge below them. We'd planned to explore some of the rest of the park but when we got to the Trading Post - not open for another hour and a quarter - Joy discovered that she had dropped her prescription sunglasses somewhere between there and the falls overlook. So back we went. We finally found them on our way back to the Trading Post for one last look there.
That being enough excitement for the day, we spent the rest of the day relaxing. As we ate supper 4 deer wandered through our site - one was the same young pre-teen from last night.
Q005171 Blackwater Falls State Park #1 e $17.15 B- (x2)
August 27, 2004 (Fri) Davis, VA to Mars Hills, NC (398 miles) - We had cereal for breakfast this morning for the first time in 6 months. It's not exactly part of our diet but it's low carb/low fat so isn't likely to be too upsetting to our life style. Showers, breakfast, sanitary dump, and refilling the fresh water tank out of the way, we were on our way at 7:50. Henry guided us through the mountains along a series of twisting hilly roads - some with 10% grades! The scenery was beautiful. Fog between the mountain ranges made them stand out like paper cutout silhouettes of misty blues and greens. Many of the farms were clean and manicured - surprising for so remote an area.
Thinking we knew the way back to I-81, we turned Henry off. Big mistake! We missed a turn. Henry took revenge by routing us over some real mountain roads. At one point Joy said, "At least there's a line down the middle of the road." Then there wasn't. Some of us thought it was great fun.
We pulled into Bob and Pat's at about 5:30. The gathering had already begun. Their kids and grand kids were here as well as many of their neighbors. Extra special for us was seeing friends we haven't seen for many years - Chip and Kim for Charleston, SC, Alex and Maureen form Northern Ireland, Mashikane and Buyile from South Africa. There is a huge tent in the yard and the caterers had begun to fill up the space under it with tables and chairs. The real party begins tomorrow.
Q005569 - Bob and Pat's yard
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