The Difference of a Day

Yesterday was a gettin down the road day and today seemed more like a vacation. Again, Gene hopped out of bed and was off the the showers before 7 AM. He REALLY wants to get to cool air. The outside temp was 70, much cooler than a corresponding time at home for the last month. As we progressed into the mountains, the car thermometer stayed in the 70's. We stopped late morning for brunch and it was about 75 with a nice breeze. The vistas of the Shenendoah mountains and valley are breathtaking.

We have planned a detour into West Virginia to see the Greenbrier Resort. Gene has flown Ted to the area several times as he owns property in the area but he has never seen the hotel either. We take a scenic drive which is delightful. A meandering path through small rural communities and farms. Many, many historic buildings. Great sights! A wrong turn takes us a few miles out of the way and I suggest we turn around in the circular drive of an inn....which was where Ted had stayed and where Gene and Alan had joined him for dinner one night. Finally we are approaching the hotel and traffic is rather dense. As we near the entrance, we realize with shock that this is the weekend of the Greenbrier Golf Classic. There are scads of cars, people, signs and so forth EVERYWHERE and here we are in this huge Suburban pulling a camper. We can barely make it down the street. Discretion being the better part of valor, we say that we most certainly have been TO the Greenbier and decide to watch a video tour on the web. We wind and crawl our way through the cute little town of White Sulphur Springs and keep on trucking. Forgot to say that earlier on the scenic drive we saw the remains of another resort from days of old at Salt Sulphur Springs.

Once while we were winding between two moutains, suddenly I heard a VERY loud noise that to me sounded like something scraping and I was just sure the camper had broken loose and the tongue was digging into the pavement behind us. I jumped a mile, grabbed the door and cringed! Gene died laughing. It was a fighter jet going over. What he was doing that low in the mountains, I don't know. Gene says training.

Around four we pull into Walnut Hills KOA, a little off the beaten path in the area of Staunton, VA. It is off the beaten path because it is on the grounds of a property that was part of an original grant of 118,000 acres from the King of England. The same family owned it until the last one died off in 1965. The campground is in its 41st year. The office is the old stables and across from it is the original house which dates from the late 1700s. The house now belongs to a separate owner and , in fact, is a wellness spa. See photos of the house and office.

This is a nice shaded campground with Christian Creek winding back and forth through it. The original owner's name was John Christian, a relative, I am sure. Lots of grass, huge pool, lots of stuff for kids. They were showing a movie tonight. The creek is dammed up into a pond where people can fish.

It was about 80 when we arrived, much cooler now, we have the windows open. Gene is ready to move to Virginia. When we were near Lexington, Gene said there was a pasture that would make a good airstrip and there could be houses alongside. And then we look and about a mile farther there was the airstrip with three planes parked there. So now Lexington is his fave for a place to live. It really is pretty country!! Tomorrow night we will be in Central Pennsylvania.