Gordonsville History and surrounding area

Thomas Jefferson's Monticello (3rd President) Charlottesville, Va



James Madison's Montpelier (4th President) Orange, VA

We visited this home and took the tour, when you stand on the porch you view the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance.  There are 2,650 acres of protected land around the home with walking trails.  The decor inside reflects the estate as it was in the 1820's, very cool stuff.



James Monro'es Highland (5th President) Charlottesville, VA




The Exchange Hotel became the Gordonsville Receiving Hospital during the Civil War.  Some say the hotel is a hot spot for paranormal activity, every year for a few weekends approaching Halloween they hold a ScareFest, how fun.

Holdiay and weekend spent in Virginia

 Darren and Lilly making a lamb stuffed animal named

 Lamblamb.

 

Lilly with her electrifying hair.  

 Our campsite with a cabana and a hot tub inside, 

oh yeah.

  Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park.  

Yikes snow on the ground. 

November 11 until the 25th Thanksgiving in Shenandoah Crossings a Bluegreen Resort in Virginia

This campsite has water, electic and sewer as you can see we don't have any neighbors.  On Wednesday November 21st our sons and their families will check into the resort, one family in a yurt and the other in a 3 bedroom cabin.  This is a bluegreen resort with a variety of lodging including the camping sites.  We are moving over to a presidential camp site on Wednesday with our own hot tub, that's cool.

Deck and I have been enjoying our stay using the outdoor/indoor pools, hot tubs, exercise and game  rooms,  just hanging out waiting to spend the holiday with our kids and grandkids, 2 more days and they will all be here!

This is a view of the lake that is on part of the property.  

November 7 thru 11 from Bristol Tennessee to Wytheville Virginia

Stony Fork Campground in the Jefferson National Forest which is part of the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area, near Wytheville, VA, a lot of names for one area just like their roads have 3-4 names you can be driving north on 81 south and east on 77 west at the same time, your map, gps, and google all reporting different names, everytime we went somewhere we got screwed up, good thing we have some much time on our hands.

We stayed 4 days in the forest elevation 2260 and the last night was 16 degrees we were colder here than in Michigan .... what the heck is going on.  

We rode the New River Trail which follows the  railroad bed for 76 miles through Virginia.  Were in rain gear it was cold and rain was expected at any time.

There is a lot of history along the trail this furnace was about 50 feet tall.

This was just a really old structure that must have shook when a train went by, it looked like an old inn. 

This tree was beautiful every color on display, you know me and tree's can't pass them up.

Bristol TN or is that VA

There is a street in Bristol that is in TN on one side and VA on the other a little strange, just like when we were in KY at Mammoth Caves our phones were confused with the time we were on the line of the Eastern and Central Time zone.  We showed up for our cave tour an hour early (like we wanted to do that).

We have been in Bristol for 3 days the Nascar race track is 1/2 mile away, tomorrow we head 65 miles north into Mtn. Rogers National Recreation Area to stay at Stony Fork Campground for a week, we will be off the grid, meaning no internet or tv, they have some electric sites, good thing it's been cold at night, we have an electric heater which is better than burning our propane.  It looks like a beautiful place with lots of hiking 

November 6, we spent the afternoon on the Virginia Creeper Trail which is a bike path 36 miles long.  We only had time to ride 9 miles and then back 9 miles to our jeep.  They do have bike company's that shuttle you along the trail with or without renting their bikes.  We got a late start due to over night thunderstorms.  It was a beautiful ride we went over 11 trestle bridges on our trip.  All of the pictures below were taken on the trail.

 

Waynesville, NC. National Park Trail Rides

We got into Pride RV Resort outside of Waynesville, NC. on Sunday the 28th of October, nice park with full hook-ups. We used our Coast to Coast points and they charged an additional $20 a night Amenity fee for staying the week, the little things you learn as we move forward. A little warmer down here but still cool in the evenings, weather looks good for the week. Went to the Cataloochee Valley National Park and saw a couple herds of elk in the rut season along with an abundance of turkey's. Following day we went back to the park and drove the trail road from the park heading to Crosby, only made it 14 miles in 2 1/2 hours and exited to US40, beautiful drive with lots of curves and switchbacks, slow and narrow. Went to Maggie Valley on Wednesday and road our bikes from one end to the other, lots of cool little shops, eat and drink joints. Leaving on Sunday the 4th of November for Bristol, Tenn.