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Staunton, VA (April 14)
We drove to Staunton, Virginia and stopped at the welcome center and the Covington Covered Bridge. I will forever have a love of covered bridges. I don’t enjoy driving over them when it is necessary, but I love to see them and appreciate their beauty.
We went letterbox hunting up a road-type that Ed and Mama both call “butt-clench” roads! LOL! It was a very narrow road with steep grades! It was well worth it at the top, however. The view was spectacular as was the hike! This cool car was up there when we arrived and the hikers who own it were jut leaving as we got there.
Staunton was a one night stay and tomorrow we start the Blue Ridge Parkway!
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Beckley, WV (April 13)
We stayed in Beckley just for the night at the Holiday Inn. We did visit Tamarack Craft Center. It was a cool place! Lots of interesting things and many were handmade items made by West Virginia Artisans. There was a letterbox at the information desk that I was able to get logged.
Headed to Staunton, Virginia next …
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Columbus, OH (April 7-12)
While traveling to Columbus, we happened upon Uranus, Indiana. Of course, we HAD to stop! We are ALL about the cheesy roadside attractions! It was a fun time! LOL!
As Ed had an appointment in Houston, we decided to book the Staybridge Suites in Polaris, so that we could have a kitchen and a more apartment-like space. It is wonderful! I was so happy to have more room to stretch out and a kitchen to be able to actually cook, instead of constantly eating out! I miss the RV…but this is a nice place and the area around has walking trails and is quite nice.
The hotel is right next to a Bass Pro Shop and behind the building is this cool pond area that has nest ‘capsules’ for the geese. There were babies a plenty, so the geese were aggressive when I walked by. Mean ol’ geese! They didn’t listen when I said I wasn’t gonna mess with them, after a few days of walking past them, they got a bit less testy.
This park was along the walking trail, it was nice and there was rarely anyone else there. It was behind a professional building, so maybe during the day, the employees took breaks there. I usually walked in the evening hours. I really enjoyed having such nice walking trails to enjoy everyday!
Of course, I looked up local FLAGS and visited! I grabbed the Deadpool sticker for James, as I figured he would like it on his car! LOL!
While in Columbus, as I mentioned, Ed flew to Houston for an appointment. I met up with Ashley, who used to be my sister-in-law. We are both no longer married to the brothers … LOL! So I guess we are former SIL’s and now friends. It was fun to catch up, heck, it’s been about 20 years since we saw each other and we had lots to catch up on. We spent two days doing so! We have remained in touch, but mostly via social media, which has it’s limits. As always, I am terrible at remembering to take photos when visiting with people! I like to think it is because I am enjoying the quality time and am not concerned with posting photos. LOL!
We are off to West Virgina next …
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Martinsville, IN (April 5 & 6)
We moved to Martinsville, Indiana for a couple days. We needed some downtime, so we just hung out in the hotel. I did some watercoloring and we walked around downtown a bit.
We visited the Free Little Art Gallery in LaFayette on the trip down and then the one here in Martinsville after we arrived, but for the most part just rested.
There was a cool little family cemetery right behind the hotel that had a few old stones. It was maintained a bit…interesting place.
Next up….Columbus, OH…
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Portland, IN (April 3-4)
After dropping off the RV, we stayed in Portland, Indiana for a few nights at Holiday Inn. It was a nice stay. We drove around and explored. I always enjoy Amish country. There is a certain peacefulness about it.
On April 4, we went letterboxing. We visited Annie Oakley’s gravesite and
We then went to Mama’s birthplace of Wapakoneta, OH. I Facetimed with Mama to show her the changes and she pointed out things she could remember. The town is very different now and it is difficult even on Facetime to orient oneself. It was fun to see Wapakoneta and think about my mother being there when she was a child, walking the same streets.
One place that was pretty familiar to her was the train depot. It has fallen in disrepair, but still looked pretty much the same to her. I snagged a loose brick to bring home to her as a momento. I am pretty sure they won’t miss it! LOL! Ed took a photo of my crime.
We decided we had to go see the touristy bits of Wapa that are Neil Armstrong related. They are quite proud of him, understandably!
While letterboxing, we found some cool sites.
Headed to Martinsville, IN next…
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Bluffton KOA (March 30-April 3)
Moved to Bluffton, Indiana today. This is the last campground for a while. We will be emptying all the contents of the RV, and I do mean ALL the contents, to storage. The RV has to be completely empty for the factory to do all the repairs and framework. So, all we did was pack, clean and empty the RV while we were here. Will will be returning to this same park when it’s time to pick up the RV, as the storage unit is here with almost everything we own in it!
The first photo is just for proof that Ed can vacuum and the last two are from the 3rd when we dropped June (the RV) off to get her makeover!
Now we are off to live in hotels for a while…
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Lebanon KOA (March 26-30)
We moved to a KOA in Lebanon, Ohio. We got the upgraded site with a patio and firepit. It was very nice. The campground is great and had a lot of area for walking. We enjoyed our stay here. Nice and quiet campground with nice staff.
We went to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It was quite a museum! I always have liked the nose art.
As we were leaving the museum, there were people setting up for flying some cool kites.
On Tuesday we visited the Springboro and Cincinnati free little art galleries. I picked up some really cute stuff!
I had done some watercoloring practice and had new goodies to leave.
A friend had told me that we were close to “Ohio’s Largest Dollar Tree” and being that we love crazy stuff like that, we had to go. Well, apparently, Ohio has a pretty low threshold on size of Dollar Tree’s. The exterior was promising, but deceptive. We were not impressed, as this store seems to be an average sized store for Texas….but as they say, everything IS bigger in Texas! LOL! We did find Chili Spaghetti *shudder* and Cincinnati Chili in the freezer section….no, we didn’t try it.
On the 29th, I had plans to meet up with a friend I have known online for several years and have never met in person! I was so excited! She lives in Louisville, which was not far from where we were staying! Ed wanted to visit the base there, so he and I had lunch at Mission BBQ (fabulous place, btw). I love that they always have a place setting for a POW/MIA soldier. It is a great way to remember those who are so often forgotten.
After Mission, I met up with Kristen and Ed went to the base. Kristen and I had a wonderful time, I introduced her to her local free little art gallery, we went to a great art marketplace and then we met up with her adorable daughter, Audrey for supper. It was a great time and I am so glad we were able to meet up! I look forward to seeing her again when we are in the area!
Now to pack for our move to Bluffton, Indiana!
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Pikeville RV Park (March 22-26)
We moved to Pikeville, KY into a little RV Park that seems to be run by the county. It is located right next to a city park, which makes for a busy area…especially when kids are at the playground being rowdy. It wasn’t a bad little campground, but not a very secure one, either. It’s fine as a passing through campground, but I wouldn’t want to be here long term. The college/high school ball fields are very close and get loud during games. The campground itself was pretty empty the days we were there. There are some great areas for walking.
We hiked up to the top of a little hill overlooking the highway. Ed was not thrilled with the climb LOL!
On Thursday the 23rd, we did the historic car tour of the Hatfield & McCoy’s. It was a cool tour, we got a free cd at city hall and played the audio while we drove the tour. There should be a warning that the roads are very narrow in some places and not exactly easy for a large truck. We had to back out of one road, as there was no way to turn around! The first photo is a casket, yes, a casket, that we saw when I stopped to retrieve a letterbox. The second photo is a crypt that slid off the hillside! Eeek!
Next day few days were rainy and we just chilled and packed for our move to Ohio.
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Greensboro KOA (March 20-22)
We moved to a KOA in Greensboro, NC for a few days as we are now headed to the Durango factory to get the warranty repair work done. So the next week, we will be moving more often! The KOA is nice and was good for walking (one of my priorities lately).
While in there area, I visited a few Free Little Art Galleries in the Winston-Salem and Raleigh-Durham areas.
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Twin Lakes Campground (March 13-20)
On March 13, we moved to Chocowinity, NC at Twin Lakes Campground. This is an Encore park and we enjoyed this campground. It has a cool setup with little waterways within the campground. It is a great place for walking! I didn’t get a photo of our actual site, but I did take several photos while walking around the campground.
Scooby decided to challenge this bear…after freaking out when he first saw it! LOL!
While staying here, we explored Edenton, Williamson, Bear Grass and Washington. All really cool places! The photos of the neighboring white and blue house…these houses were both hit with cannonballs and the balls are still in the walls!
We went to Camp LeJeune on the 17th to check out the campground there, as we plan on staying there in the fall. It is a cool place…the campground is right on the beach and we are told that some days you can sit on the beach and watch the soldiers ‘storm the beach’. Ed tried out his new shell scooper!
We spent the last couple of days just chillin’ and packing up for the next move.
