Tuesday - Staunton, VA

One of the better things I’ve done with computers recently was to install a digital clock / calendar. I know that Windows has the time in the lower right corner of the toolbar and if you click on it, you see a calendar. But the application I installed is constantly “UP” and you see at a glance the date and the day of the week (in addition to the time, which I don’t need).

Why is this important you may ask? When you’re traveling, particularly in an RV, it’s easy to lose track of the day of the week (sometimes even the month, although I can usually remember that!).

Anyway, it’s Tuesday, 19 August. After several “interesting” days, we decided to stay in one spot for 3 nights and explore the countryside rather than push north. At this point, we still have nearly three weeks before we are to check-in to the RV park near my photo class in Vermont. So we’re in pretty good shape time wise.

My last posting was Saturday (in Wytheville). By the way, it’s pronounced withville. Really.

Sunday, we drove east to the Blue Ridge Parkway and south; getting off at Boone, NC, then over to Johnson City, TN, where we visited our friends, Alan & Carolyn. You may recall they were in Florida just a few days back. Funny, we hadn’t seen them in several years, and now we’ve seen them twice in just a few weeks.

Tonight (Tuesday) we’re just outside Staunton, VA. Because of some car problems (my fault – but only to be revealed over a tall, cold one), we didn’t get away from Wytheville until almost noon. Margaret was concerned we would drive straight through the “pretty” part of Virginia. So we stopped at the first RV Park we found (after 137 miles) and plan to stay for the three nights whils’t we explore.

As I mentioned, Sunday we drove a short distance down the Blue Ridge Parkway. For those of you not familiar with the Blue Ridge Parkway, it’s one of the prettiest drives in the eastern US of A. If memory serves, it was built as a public works program under FDR and follows the spine of the Appalachians from northern Georgia to northern Virginia.

The first photo, not a spectacular photo, but one that shows how the Blue Ridge Mountains got their name. When you’re in the Blue Ridge, what you see is ridge after ridge receding in the distance. It’s seldom clear, and the haze (from rotting vegetation) is omni-present. So what you frequently see is a series of blue ridges.

A fascinating stop off point was the Brinegar Cabin. Built in 1889 (yes, the same year as our home in Fernandina!), they raised three children. The park ranger lady was dying wool using local herbs and plants. A natural spring provided cooling for milk, butter, and cool water for the family. A garden has been planted showing the types of plants the Brinegar’s had – including corn, pumpkins, plus flax for making linen thread. Margaret spent quite a bit of time with the park ranger and can give more details.