What do you mean, no Internet???

We've had a great weekend but had to go without Internet service...but we can live with that on occasion.  We had a fun Saturday in Stanardsville, Virginia with Beth and Geoff...touring part of the Monticello Wine Trail, hitting just three of the 21 wineries on the tour.  We didn't know that Virginia is the 8th producer of wine in the US.  The countryside is beautiful with lots of history as well.  Geoff fixed us his famous enchiladas for dinner and our visit extended into the evening.  We got back to the RV just before the lightning, thunder and rain took out our electricity for the night. 

On Sunday we made a five hour drive up to West Virginia and parked at our favorite campground in Fayetteville...WallyWorld.  We drove out to visit the campground we will move to later today...it will be a challenge to get parked!  We also found where Ann, Matt and the girls will be staying and that, too, is an adventure in driving, but the facilities are going to be fun once they get there.    Reid had been kayaking all afternoon and we met him for dinner at a great restaurant, Diogi's, that we had eaten at last year.  We enjoyed catching up on what Reid ahs been up to and hearing about the challenges ahead in his work.

We're looking forward to the McCurdy's arrival this evening and the adventures ahead for all of us.  Not sure when we'll be able to post again as we'll have to come to McDonald's or to Reid's house to get a connection.

Please, don't feed the bears!

Cousin Beth had called last night around 11:00 to say she had returned from North Carolina and we agreed to meet at her house around 10 this morning.  We spent several hours just visiting and touring their new house.  It's quite a place in a beautiful wooded setting.  Tom, Beth and I went to lunch at the Main Street Cafe in Stanardsville and then took a drive over to the Shenandoah National Park.  Beth and Geoff live just 8 miles from an entrance station to the Skyline Drive.  We drove 15 miles on the drive to the Byrd Visitor Station making several stops at overlooks along the way.  At the Visitor Center we watched a couple films and toured the exhibits, then made the return drive back to Beth and Geoff's house just in time to greet Geoff as he returned from a week's business trip to Florida.  Along the Skyline Drive we noticed something moving in the green growth along the road.  Whoa!!!  That's a bear!  We stopped and backed up to where we thought we'd seen him and he had wandered down to the edge of the road.  If we had opened the window, we could have pet him!  No wonder the sign in the office at the campground says "Please, don't feed the bears!"  Beth and Geoff have also had a bear in their yard as evidenced by the demolished bird feeder at the top of a tall pole.

Green, Green!

It was a shorter day today...driving from Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina to Stanardsville, Virginia.  The rolling countryside, highways lines with green trees and very few signs of commercial life anywhere, were quite pleasant.  We arrived at the Heavenly Acres Campground around 2:30 and were greeted by the very friendly owner.  The campground is more of a real "campground" than a resort or RV park as the sites are carved out of the woods and the place is very "rustic."  But, we have full hookups, minus WiFi so we're happy.  The temperature is much more bearable and we even were able to get the car washed...a month of road grime had changed it from tan to black.  We're looking forward to time with Beth and Geoff and doing a little sightseeing before we leave on Sunday.