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!

Some Time in the Arches National Park

The Arches National Park was great the first time we saw it and equally great to see this time around.  Last time we stayed at Dead Horse Point State Park but this time we stayed at Archview RV Resort and Campground Campground.

We got a site on the front row and could see the some arches in the distance which was very nice.  The campsite was in the newer area and even though we were a ways from the Office, the campground wifi worked great.  

Not sure what bug we picked up but for the first couple of days here near Moab, Pam and I both felt a little puny so we didn't get out and hike as much as we thought we would.  We did take a couple of rides through the National Park and stopped at the major photo observations points.

The Vistor's Center is another one of the first rate facilities.  It does a good job of providing some great information displays and has a top notch introduction / orientation video.

Lasal Mountains

Park Avenue

Balanced Rock

Turret Arch

North and South Window Arch

Double Arch

The Delicate Arch requires a bit of a hike and I went over early on Father's Day morning.  Early as in I left the Roadrunner before 5:00 AM and drove 40 minutes over to the trail head.  I was not alone on the trail before the sun came up.

It was dark, but there was still enough light to see the trail.

As I neared the trail end up near the Delicate Arch, I saw the early-early birds already there.

About 20 minutes before sunlight, I got to the top and snapped up some shots.

They say the best light bounces off Delicate Arch at sunset.  But I'm still glad I made the hike and got to see it in the morning.  It was a good way to start the day!

While see the Arches, we also went over the the National Park campground.  It definitely is not one for big rigs but looked like a great place for tents and smaller trailers and campers.

Camp Host Quarters

RV-Dreams founders Howard and Linda Payne were camp hosts here a number of years ago and it is where we first saw some intriguing pictures of this place.

Thanks for joining us today on the Roadrunner Chronicles!

Last Days at Mayport

We wrapped up our week at Naval Station Mayport on Friday.  The more we stay here the more we like it.  Our front row site provided a lot of interesting views watching the activity in the water:

While we were there dredging operations were underway which was fun to watch.  They were going on 24/7 clearing out the silt from the channel and loading it onto barges.  From there they went down about a mile to the beach and created a large temporary pipeline to pump the sand back on to the beach.

Its a little hard to tell but the large pipeline goes down the beach for about a mile.  They pump the sand to the end of it where bulldozers smooth it out from the piles.

I can't imagine how many tons of sand has been reclaimed but it is a lot!

Also while at Mayport, I got a chance to climb on top of the Roadrunner and give it a good wash and rinse.  Surprisingly, it was in pretty clean.  

I then washed the whole thing and started on applying The Solution to shine it up.  I was able to get all of the PS done before I ran out of energy.  This is definitely a more-than-one-day job.

Another day after lunch we went over to Mayport to the St. John's River Ferry and took a ride across the St. John's River to do some exploring.

We drove through Huguenot Memorial State Park and out to the beach where there were a surprising number of people there with their cars.  Must have been 30+.  Reminded me of 'tailgating on the beach'.  People drove up on the hard packed sand beach as far as they, propped their chairs and coolers and umbrellas out and soaked up what little sun there was.

I thought this would be another good place to try out my selfie stick again.

Then we ran some errands and went back to the campground for a quiet evening.

We enjoyed our time here at Naval Station Mayport and look forward to returning.  This may be the best overall military campground we have seen.  We love the way it is managed, we love the sites, the free laundry, the nice staff, the price and there is plenty of new things to do in see in the area.

And little Brooks Carter is growing and enjoying life.  He has changed so much since we saw him two weeks ago!

He just ate and about to take a snooze, but he is all dressed up for some golf later on..

Thanks for joining us on the Roadrunner Chronicles!  And thanks for the notes - we appreciate those comments.