Virginia, Again

We've finally made it back into Virginia! When we left in September, we were supposed to be on our way to Shenandoah National Park, but abandoned because of the rain. So this time around we were going to hit Shenandoah and then head over to Prince William National Forest Park. BUT, weather thwarted us again. Things got really cold, so we stayed in Tennessee instead of going to Shenandoah. And this weekend we're staying in a hotel, because I just can't bring myself to wake up in a 24 degree tent.

Visiting with Uncle Dick

On our way to our hotel in Chantilly, we stopped off in Richmond to have lunch with Bill's uncle. Definitely one of our favorite ways to spend a couple hours on a travel day! We had pizza at Cici's Pizza, and chatted for almost two hours. Tragically, when we left, there had been a wreck on I-95, so our travel was extended by an hour and a half. Blech.

But now that we're in the hotel, we're happy and relaxed (ish). We did spend WAY too much time watching Food Network. They had Cake Wars running, and they showed the entire competition in back to back shows, so we watched until midnight to see who won. Not so good.

Badin Lake Campground

Badin Lake

Badin Lake campground in the Uwharrie National Forest is a very cool campground. It's only $12/night, it has showers (though the girls' shower was FREEZING, so I'm not sure I can really count that as an amenity), it's on a lake, and the camp host is very friendly. We loved our time there. It is very remote, though, so going anywhere is a journey.

We did travel an hour each way for a dinner out at a barbeque joint in Concord. The Smoke Pit is a cool barbeque restaurant, reasonably priced, huge portions, yummy food. We really loved it there, with G proclaiming that I HAD to blog about it!

Right before we left for barbeque, we ran into a Boy Scout troop having a campout so they can work on the hiking merit badge. They were right across from us, so we even got to witness them waking up and getting moving the following morning. If only we moved as quickly!

Upsides and Downsides

Camping full time has its upsides, and its downsides. Upsides? Nature, definitely.

Great Blue Heron Neighbor

This is one of our coolest neighbors. At least he was our neighbor in Tennessee. The great blue heron is such a gorgeous bird. Such an ugly voice. But the racket he made isn't nearly as bad as the racket one of our last neighbors in Tennessee. They rolled in after midnight and proceeded to treat the entire campground to their immensely loud music and movies, well past 2am. Blech. Neighbors can definitely be a downside. Sounds travel in the great outdoors, especially when everyone else is asleep. One of our neighbors in NC came by looking for jumper cables. On our way out of the campground, we swung by and picked up the cables. They told Bill they were headed out that morning (toooooooooo cold!), and Bill let his pleasure show. They stayed up VERY late laughing and arguing over who got to use the seat heaters (thus the dead car battery).

Jason and Bill

Another upside is getting to see family we don't often get to see. We chose our location in NC in order to be close to Bill's brother, Jason. I think that in the nearly 20 years Bill and I have been together, there have only been a handful of occasions where I've been in the same state as Jason. We all hung out at Discovery Place in Charlotte, another science museum with reciprocity through the ASTC program.

Nathan and Levers

Chemically Enhanced Fire Colors

A huge upside for us has been making use of the reciprocity program for science museums. There are so many different ways to present science, it's just been very cool to get to visit all these fun places. The hands-on at Discovery Place has so many things that we've never seen or played with before, it was a great way to spend a couple hours. The kids were begging to spend more time there, so you know it was a great choice for us. Unfortunately, they were under construction at the time, so only a portion of what is normally exhibited was up and running. So I think the couple hours was really a good amount of time for us.

Another upside to perma-camping? Getting to choose your weather. We've been having to make our plans at the last minute lately, because nighttime temperatures are getting below freezing in some of the places we want to go. It looks like we're gonna suck it up this weekend and hit a hotel for a couple of days so that we can get out of the cold front Canada is sending our way, but still get to camp again in NOVA for one last visit before the year is up.

All this travelling is also sparking a lot of discussion between me and Bill over what kind of place we want to live in when this is all done. I have really enjoyed being back in rolling hills with trees and water. Food for thought.

Sprinter Checkup

We've hit a milestone on the trip.  The Sprinter needs its first check up.  Getting maintenance scheduled can be a blech job at home, so I was nervous about doing it on the road.  But Bill found a few dealers in the Charlotte, NC area, and we got an appointment.  Piece of cake getting the van checked out and such.  And it only needed a few extras beyond what is included in the checkup.  The HEPA filter needed changing, which if you had seen the dusty roads we've taken her down, that would have been obvious.  And then the engine filter as well.  It feels so good to get this all taken care of, to know the van's in good shape, and we can hit the road safe and sound again!

Birthdays and Colors

We spent some time, finally, in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Beautiful colors, beautiful water, beautiful animals. Did not enjoy getting hit up for donations everywhere we looked. Nor did I love the idea of paying for the Junior Ranger program. A program designed to get our kids more involved in our parks. To get them to pay attention to nature and want to protect it. I get it, they think they're underfunded, so they're going to hit me every which way they can. But to put together a fancy schmancy junior ranger packet and charge me $2.50 for it. Bah to them. There are parks out there where the junior ranger packet is photocopied pages all in black and white, packets that engage my kids and make the visit to the park something to remember. Cut your costs, do more with less, stop putting your grimy paws in my pocket.

Beyond that, though, the park is gorgeous. We made the hike up Clingman's Dome. Half a mile of torture. We worked it out with another couple in the shop after the hike--it's a 12.9% slope. But I'm happy to say that, even though I was huffin' and puffin', my body is no worse for wear after that hike. Yeah!

Rock Hopping

We spent about 20 minutes at this one spot, trying to get a picture of the gorgeous little waterfalls. Except that there was a couple rearranging nature so that it looked more natural. It was painful. I'm not even sure they walked away with a picture. They certainly didn't walk away before we did. But we had a great time there, as the kids decided they would cross the stream, and then got stuck on the other side. Not permanently, we did come home with all five that we went with, but there were some moments when a few kids got a little anxious.

Clingmans Dome

This is what you're greeted with after you've done the Clingman's Dome hike, you get a ramp up to the tower to get the view. Totally worth doing the extra incline. And to me, this seemed easier than the trail. It's a bit chillier at the top than throughout the rest of the park, so you'll want a jacket when you get up there!

Mellow Mushroom

We ended the day with a trip to the Mellow Mushroom for dinner. We celebrated J's birthday, but I think most of us were a bit too tired to really party. At the campsite we did presents, and then crashed. LONG day!!!

Halloween On the Go

The kids spent a lot of time worrying about what to do for Halloween. When Miki offered her church's trunk or treat, it was such a blessing to get that on our calendar! K wanted to go as Bellatrix Lestrange, NB wanted to be Steve?, and J wanted to be a zombie....or a ninja.....or, what is that costume over there? At any rate, we worked on all their ideas, and they came out pretty good!

Hair Work Begins

I loved the look of Bellatrix that Helena Bonham Carter portrayed in the movies, so I decided that K needed some truly tricked out hair. We started her out with a shower on Saturday, and then got down to business braiding her hair. LOTS of braids. Different sized braids. Braids made out of braids. It was a lot of work. Bill said I braided for about an hour. Needless to say, this is not something we do on a daily basis!

Hair is Setting

When it was all braided, we put it up in octopus clips, giving it an extra twirl. I'm not sure that helped add to the wackiness of it all, but it was fun to look upon! K even slept on it like this, which is a feat in and of itself!!

Bellatrix

It was definitely worth all that work. She looked killer. Ha ha!

Steve?

NB really wanted to be Steve?, from Minecraft. So we hit Costco before going to the house to pick up a box. Miki traded him boxes and gave him one of hers that actually fit the bill. She also provided the construction paper. NB did all the work on it, and I think it looked great! He even managed to put in eye holes that weren't too obvious, so he could see his way around without ruining the look.

Photo Booth

Somehow I missed getting a shot of zombie boy, but Miki saved my butt on that one. She got a picture at the photo booth at the church. The older boys opted out of the trunk or treat, but were hoping their siblings would give them candy. I don't know that's going to happen, we'll see!

Family Help

How to get mail while we're travelling. And not just paper that someone could scan, but books or what not. Send them to relatives! It's helpful to have things mailed to us along the way, but this time we had some time-sensitive things to take care of, and no home that we were visiting (if only I had thought of Miki a week ago!). So we sent things to Bill's parents, and she came down to the Great Smoky Mountains with Bill's brother and his family, and brought along our mail. Thank you Lynn!

While Lynn and company were in town, we spent time in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We had a great time with them going to the aquarium, the odditorium, and mini golfing. So much good food was had....it was a great time, a chance to see Bill's family in a whole different setting!

NS and NB Touching the Jellies

We got to spend time at Ripley's Aquarium doing work on a fun scout patch. There are several touch tanks throughout the aquarium. Here the boys touched jelly fish. Bill wanted me to, but the last time I touched jellies was when I lived in MD back in the 70s, and I got stung way toooooooo many times for my small body. I'm good, I don't need to touch the jellies! But the kids got a kick out of it. They also got to touch horseshoe crabs and stingrays.

Touching the Rays

NB tried to touch the rays, I'm not sure he made it. G was the most successful--he touched four different times! There were also a few sharks in this tank, and they asked that you take your fingers out of the tank as the sharks swim by.

Sawfish

The shark tank is a really cool experience. I have to say, though, that the lighting and the moving sidewalk conspired to make me a bit motion sick. The older boys wanted to go through again, so I went with them, but when they begged to go a third time, I had to take a time out. They went through without me, though, so no loss for them!

NS and the Fat Man

NS posed with the fat man suit. Ripley's Odditorium was a collection of bizarre and record breaking things. Some truly odd things that Ripley collected throughout the years. We ran into one lady who left one area very freaked out. After we went through that area, I couldn't blame her!

Hungry Kids

We went to Bubba Gump's for dinner. Clearly the kids were hungry and not in the mood for a picture. Bill and I got Lt. Dan's Drunken Shrimp, and that rocked. Everyone who got shrimp really enjoyed it, the other food was just so so.

Mini Golfing

We finished the family visit with a trip to Old McDonald's Farm mini golf and lunch at the Mellow Mushroom. We split into two groups for golf, and my group enjoyed ourselves immensely. The other guys felt they got onto a course that was somewhat lame, but we thought the chicken course was crazy enough and fun enough to hold our attention. What a great time we had, hangin' with the fam!