A Hike in the Park

In September when friends Gabe and Bruce were here in October, we visited with them at their campground at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach.  It was at that time we decided to buy a yearly pass.  In addition to camping, there are also some great hiking trails.

Yesterday, Jon went to work and Pam and I went over to see Kelly and the boys and to go with them on a hike at the park.

The weather has been really great the last few days and it was a perfect day for a walk in the woods.  The trails are easy, well maintained and marked well.  We picked the yellow trail and the boys had fun spotting the 6” x 2” markers on trees along the trail.

The area has its own special beauty with cypress trees and Spanish moss all around.

Pam and I want to do more of this and we are off to a great start with the holiday season and new year beginning.  We hiked (walked) for about half a mile before it was time to take a rest, eat some snacks and take a couple of pictures.

Harry decided early on it was better to grab a ride so he alternated between Kelly

and Grandpa.

The boys are at such a fun age.  Their sense of wonder and excitement is pure joy.  We are loving it.

 We did a leisurely out-and-back along the yellow trail which was a great little excursion for all of us.

 We made it back over to Kelly’s in time for their lunch, then Pam and I went to run some errands.  We stopped for our own lunch at Chick-Fil-A and shared our standard 4 count chicken fingers meal with waffle fries and a drink (half sweet tea, 1/2 regular tea).  It was fun to see Sarah and her kids along with visiting brother and girlfriend.  

After some after-Christmas shopping we headed home where I resumed mowing the back yard and bagging the leaves.  Just before dark, I tried out my 14” chain saw that did a good job on the regular sized firewood we got a few weeks ago.  Our small fireplace works better with smaller chunks of wood.

Then was another amazing dinner from Pam’s kitchen (shrimp) and we had a nice evening watching a good bowl game.  I also did a little reading.

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I love this time of year to reflect, slow down and take a deep breath.  With a few more holiday days left, I hope you all enjoy some time off and have a great New Year’s celebration.

Wishing you all the best as this year comes to a close ~

Randy and Pam

Thanks for visiting on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Mooch-Docking at Bob and Patty's

Now and then, you meet people in Moss Point, Mississippi that become friends. Before you know it, you reconnect years later in Dunedin, FL and end up parking your motorhome in their driveway for a couple of days.

That's basically what happened with us and our friends Bob and Patty.  We first met volunteering at a NOMADS Disaster Relief site in January 2011.  And then we met up again in Florida in January 2012.   A few months ago, after we posted our travel schedule for our NorthEast Trip, Patty got in touch and we made a plan to see them.  They live in Warren, PA and we could not find a campground close by.  They were generous enough to invite us to park on their property.  So we did!

 I first heard the term "mooch-docking" used by Howard Payne of RV-Dreams.com

We arrived in the early afternoon at Bob and Patty's and got set up.  They have enough room along side and in front of the workshop for us to maneuver a little bit.  That allowed us to get a good satellite TV signal.  With electric and water, we were all settled in.  Once that was done, we wandered over to their home and got a tour.  Patty keeps their very large A-frame Spic and Span clean.  It is immaculate!  They have a beautiful A-Frame that Bob built years ago.  But it looks like is less than five years old.  It's really a nice place.

We enjoyed hours on their deck reminiscing and hearing about their stories on the road.  They full-timed for over 8 years.

The next day, they took us on a tour to see the area.  We stopped first at Kinzua Viaduct (or Kinzua Bridge) that spanned Kinzua Creek and was 301 feet high and over 2,000 ft long.

It was built in 1882 to move coal from the mines to northern NY cities on the more popular railroad line.  It was originally built out of wrought iron and completed in 94 days and dubbed the "Eight Wonder of the World" at the time.  In 1900, it was disassembled and rebuilt using steel to carry heavy trains and cargo over the deep divide.

Tragedy struck in 2003 when a tornado struck and wreaked havoc. Ironically, the bridge was in the process of being upgraded in 2002 because it was showing wear.  They just didn't get the job done in time.

The bridge is owned by the State now and is a popular park with a good sized new Visitor Center.

It has a description of the history and decline of the bridge leading up to the destructive tornado.  An overlook is where the old train tracks were, going out to the farthest point.

Next, we headed to a local spot for lunch.  It had some interesting displays on the wall.

We had more time and made a couple more stops.  The first one was at Kinzua Dam.  Many times we see places and have no idea what the name means.  I assumed "Kinzua" was an Indian name but more than that, it is Seneca for "Place of many big fishes".

Our next stop was Rimrock which had a pretty great view overlooking the Allegheny Reservoir.

After our full day, we went back to Bob and Patty's place and chilled out for a while.  We had such a big lunch, we only had some snacks in the evening.  We had a great time on their back porch again enjoying one another's company and talking.  It was a beautiful evening and after a brief shower, it was quiet in the woods and we could only hear the birds, watch the deer and talk.

Our time with Bob and Patty was too brief, but we were able to make it count in our short visit with them.   We look forward to seeing our friends again.  We are so glad this lifestyle allows us to catch up with folks like these.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

An Afternoon at the Natural Bridge in Virginia

We have overlooked this place many times in our travels.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I figured it was “too far out of the way”, which is a curious reason for someone who has been full-timing for 9 years. I think we just didn’t really think about it until it was too late.  Maybe it was like talking about stopping at the next fuel stop and realizing we just passed the exit...

This was our second choice, really.  Our first choice to visit was the George C. Marshall Museum and Research Library.  We looked at the map and we were only about five hours away from our starting point (Roadrunner RV Resort and Campground - Maynardville, TN) to the museum which is located in Lexington VA.  If we left between 7:00am - 8:00am we could still be at the museum in the early afternoon.

But there was only one problem:  The museum is closed on Mondays.  Ugh.  “Oh well”, I thought, we’ll just take it easy and get caught up on things.  I always have some writing to do (what blogger is every caught up on all the posts they intend to write?).

We got underway about 7:15 am and had a beautiful drive.  It was a sunny, warm and gorgeous spring day in East Tennessee.  We travelled up Highway 33 to Tazwell, then over to Highway 25 E through Morristown TN to I-81 north.  About 200 miles later, we took our exit for Buena Vista VA and the city campground at Glen Maury Park.  Some where along the way I was thinking about other things in the area that might be good opportunities to see.

The Virginian Military Institute (VMI) is located a few miles away in Lexington VA.  That was an option.  Another was the Natural Bridge of Virginia located about 12 miles away.  That sounded like a great choice so we drove over there.

What at great choice.  The entrance fee was $8.00 each and was a self-guided tour along an improved trail which was about a mile in each direction. In addition to being a well maintained site, it was a improved and updated.  I think the other time I visited here was back in 1977 or so.  I was stationed in Florida at the time (had not met Pam yet) and got to know Doug.  Doug was a VMI graduate and was getting married at the school and I was invited to the wedding.

Another friend and I drove here saw the Natural Bridge.  I thought it was an interesting place then, the bridge was cool, but I really don’t remember a lot about it.  I seem to remember the trail from the starting point was all dirt.  It is really a blur, but I know I have been here.

Fast forward 40+ later and it is an upgraded ‘very improved’ top notch park.  The gift shop and Visitor’s Center is big and well furnished.  It has an informative of historical charts and pictures along he walls for a good self-guided tour.

Visitor's Center

Starting Point for the hike on the Trail to the Bridge

Cedar Creek and Cedar Creek Trail

 The trial itself is a mix of stone steps and a flagstone 2’ flagstone wall along the river trail.  The trail itself is improved, flat and has some asphalt along some stretches.

The rest of it is hard packed crushed rock.  They are free of potholes and level and make the mile trail from the start to the end near Lace Falls, very easy.

Lace Falls at the end of the Trail

One thing that struck me was how ‘upgraded’ and expansive the maintenance was on the entire trail.  The entire Cedar Trail runs along side of Cedar Creek and it made me wonder if the Cedar Creek 5th wheel by Forest River was inspired by this famous area.  

We were interested to find out the State of Virginia got control of the park in 2016 when the Virginia Conservation Legacy Fund (VCLF) had trouble making payments on the $9.1 million dollar mortgage. VCLF bought the park in 2013 but couldn't keep up with the payments and the state of Virginia took over and designated it as a State Park.

The main attraction - the Natural Bridge - is quite stunning.  

Natural Bridge

It is main of limestone rock and 215' with a span of nearly 90'.  Highway 11 runs right across the top of it. 

Natural Bridge

Thomas Jefferson bought the property and 157 acres which included the bridge in 1774.  It has been a notable place since 1742 when frontiersman John Howard came across the site.  Legend has it that George Washington was there as a young man as a surveyor. 

In the 1800's many famous guests viewed the bridge including:  James Monroe, Sam Houston, Henry Clay, Martin Van Buren, Calvin Coolidge, John C. Marshall -- the list is long.

It could not have been a more delightful day and we loved it.  We got to thinking about how much we miss hiking and getting out to the parks.   We will have to do more of it this summer!

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Hiking the Nature Trail at Catalina Park

Catalina State Park has some great trails for hiking.  The one we chose is the Nature Trail.  It's a 3 mile wake from our camp site to the Natural Trail and back.  We picked a warm and sunny day.

It was only a few hundred yards on the trail before we stopped to snap a photo of the Catalina Mountains in the distance.

The desert was quiet except for the four or five birds that were chirping and cooing and making their regular morning greetings to each other.

The saguaro cactus is a monument to itself.  This old beauty is several hundred years old.

The trail began near our campsite and meandered through the wash to the trail head where we took the turn up the hill marked "Nature Trail."

There were a few signs telling of the indigenous animals including this display and info about the mountain lion.  Yikes!  We were ok without a personal appearance...

Years from now we will remember this selfie among the many we have taken over the years.  

The signs appeared to mostly be new and made of sturdy metal.  The information on them told the story of the of the creatures living in the area.

The mark of a well done display is enough information to explain things and hit the highlights.  These markers accomplished that.  I didn't care about the latin name of the desert dwellers or the biological history of the palo verde tree.  I just want the common name of the flora and fauna and maybe a few tidbits.

From the top of the Nature Trail, we could see the Catalina's in the distance and the rest of the beautiful scenery.

It was great day to go for hike.  Hopefully there will be more to follow.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!