Our Retirement Trip

Had a wonderful stay at New River Gorge National Park from June 15-20. The first couple days were hot and stormy so we limited our trips to the Canyon Rim, Sandstone, and Grand View Visitors Centers as well as a visit to the Beckley Exhibition Coal Mine. The New River Gorge had many coal mines in the late 1800's and early1900"s, all of which are now abandoned and most have disappeared back under the prolific forests that line the gorge. As much as I abhor the use of coal as well as the abuse of coal miners during that time period, it was interesting to learn about that history.     The view from Canyon Rim View of the bridge that crosses the gorge at Canyon Rim Half of the view from Grand View looking down river. The other half looking up river. On the evening of the second day we did drive to Sandstone Falls followed by a nice simple dinner in the town of Hinton. Sandstone Falls I will say there are no straight or level roads in West Virginia and many of the roads are only wi...

We left Assategue on Thursday headed for Shenandoah National Park. We stopped at the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Visitor Center. Excellent museum and worth the stop of you're in the area. The drive around DC was horrendous but we finally made it to Big Meadows Campground late in the evening. We traded  ponies for deer.  We must have passed more than twenty after we entered the park and drove to or campground. On Friday we did a short hike along the Appalachian Trail to a viewpoint on Bearfence Mountain. Saturday was a work day. I worked on engineering stuff and Donna Sue worked on her blog. Two short hikes on Sunday. The first was called Limberlost, and eat hike through groves of Mountain Laurel and some interesting geological features. And some Columbine, too. The second hike was Stony Man with some wonderful views. On Monday we hiked to Rapidan Camp, the precursor ...

We arrived at Assategue on Friday, June 3rd.  Some much needed down time so Donna Sue could spend some time organizing the camper and I could get caught up on work. Yes, I know I'm retired but I still have work to do. We woke up the first morning with a small herd of ponies munching on the grass outside our camper. The beach with our new sport umbrella. Than you Ben and Grace! Dinner at the bay. Donna Sue with her new lens. Thank you choir! The dunes from our campsite. We had a wonderful stay at Assategue. It brought back many good memories. But Donna Sue doesn't want to hike the Dune Trail again if we return. She thinks it's hot, buggy and boring.

Our next stop was Chippokes Plantation State Park on the James River in Virginia.  Spent two days at Colonial Williamsburg and one at Berkeley Plantation. Temps were in the high 90's so we explored at a very slow pace. Thank goodness we had electricity at the campground so we could use the AC on the camper. The first Capitol of Virginia The court room inside the Capitol An osprey on a pier at the ferry landing. Berkeley Plantation Sunset as we crossed the James River on the ferry.

I've started this blog to keep my own record of the trip. Donna Sue will start her own blog shortly which I am sure will be more entertaining. In the meantime you can hear what I have to say. Who knows. Maybe she'll will post something before I do. We finally departed Williston on Friday, May 27th, four days behind schedule. We opted to spend that evening at a Holiday Inn Express in Easton, PA, rather set up camp in the dark. Unfortunately I left a pair of prescription glasses at the inn which I am still trying to retrieve. Maybe I will get them tomorrow. The next day we moved into French Creek State Park and spent the afternoon at the birthplace of Daniel Boone. French Creek State Park was lovely and the bird sounds we're wonderful. On Sunday we went to Philadelphia. We saw the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the home of Betsy Ross. We also visited the steps made famous by Rocky Balboa. This is the room where it happened, room where...