Day 19 Saturday August 14, 2021 We didn't do anything exciting today. I did a few things to prep for tomorrow when we leave. We did some reading and Lena wanted to go back to Penelope's AGAIN for lunch. This is our last day here and we will probably never be back in this area again and the food is really good and the Lattes are great and served in a ceramic cup, which is unusual any more. So why not. I got a cherry crepe and Lena got a cinnamon bun. Also Penny was giving away fresh zucchinis from the garden and yesterday we got some free fresh cucumbers.
We finished packing up all our outside stuff before bedtime in case it rains before the morning. It is somewhat dry and it might not be tomorrow morning.
Day 20 Sunday August 15, 2021 Well it did rain some last night so we are glad we packed most of the outside stuff yesterday because we are leaving here today. We pulled out about 9AM and headed to Deer Trail Park and Campground near Wytheville NC about 220 miles South of here down I81. Traffic was fairly heavy but we made good time even with a couple of slowdowns on the way but nothing like what we experienced going North on I81 a couple of weeks ago. We stopped about mid way at a rest stop to take a nature break and stretch our legs.
We got to our destination right at the 2PM checkin time. Ted the owner met us at the entrance to give us direction to our site which is D4, a pull through. We unhooked the toad and pulled in and set up. It is a nice level gravel site with shade trees on both sides and even the hookups are where they are supposed to be, WOW. There are 70 sites here with a few of them what we call long term or seasonal. Sometimes these site are junkie and takes away for the looks of the campground but these are not that way.
After setting up I met Ted at the office to pay. He told me he and his wife Kati bought the campground 16 years ago. He said it was kind of run down when they bought it. They have worked hard on it because it looks nice now. They have a small catch and release fishing pond, some rental cabin, a heated swimming pool, small camp store, firewood and a 50'x50' recreation building with pool tables and games machines. The creek that runs through the campground is almost totally dried up from lack of rain. There are just a few holes with water in them.
We did a little reading and some internet surfing the remainder of the day. There is WiFi here that is fairly good but there are not many campers here so that helps with the WiFi. We have “0” cellphone signal and no TV reception. But it sure is quite here. Our site is fairly close to the road that runs by the campground but there is very little traffic on the road since it is kind of a remote back road.
Day 21 Monday August 16, 2021 For breakfast we decided to drive some backroads over to the small area named Rural Retreat. Lena had found a place called Java Blend Cafe there that she wanted to try out. We ordered a Latte and a large muffin each. The Latte were really good and so were the muffins. It appears it is Mennonite owned. The four young ladies that were running it had the hair coverings and long crisply pressed dresses. We plan to go back and try their breakfast omelets. We saw some being brought out to some customers and they sure looked good.
We left Rural Retreat and drove up route 11 to Wytheville. Route 11 is a long highway. It sort of parallels I81. We were in Wytheville on August 25, 2018. We got few groceries at Walmart and then went to Skeeters on Main Street for their hotdogs. Skeeters has been at this location since 1940 when the original owner, Mr. Umberger, sold hot dogs for a nickel.
The building which dates back to 1840, where Skeeters is located is also the birthplace of Edith Bolling Wilson the wife of the 28th President Woodrow Wilson. She is also a direct descendant of Pocahontas.
After lunch we worked our way back to the campground for the remainder of the day where we relaxed and did some reading. We have got a few light showers of rain and more is expected tomorrow.
Day 22 Tuesday August 17, 2021 Today was mostly a rainy day but about midday there was a break in the rain so we made a spur of the moment decision to drive to Wytheville to get a brick oven pizza from Moon Dog Brick Oven Pizza on Main Street. It was the first pizza we have had in several weeks and was really good. We bought a medium so we had two large pieces to take home for another meal. By mid afternoon we were getting fairly heavy rain which is much needed in this area. It rained most of the night and we had a few power fluctuations. The rain must be coming from the tropical storm that is passing through Western North Carolina.
Day 23 Wednesday August 18, 2021 We got enough rain last night that the creek that runs through the campground has running water in it now. So the ducks are happy they have a place to swim.
We went back to the Java Blend Cafe in Rural Retreat to try their omelets. We decided they were the best we have ever had. We bought a couple of their fried pies to take with us. We went across the street to the Dutch Pantry and bought fresh sourdough bread and several other things. This appears to also be a Mennonite business. Then we drove on through the little town of Rural Retreat and stopped at the restored train station for some photos. We left Rural Retreat and drove several miles down some back roads to take photographs and view the scenery. This is a really pretty area. Lots of rolling hay fields with cows and several old homes probably over 100 years old that are in really good condition. One thing we have noticed during our time in this part of Virginia is the number of black walnut trees along the roadside on the back roads. We have never seem as many and the mature ones are hanging full of green walnuts.
We made a large loop and then returned to the campground for the day and finished up the pizza from yesterday. Sure seems good the temperature has cooled off.
Day 24 Thursday August 19, 2021 We rode North on hwy 52 for several miles to visit the Wolf Creek Indian Village/Museum. The location of the original village was discovered in 1970 when interstate 77 was coming through the area. Some of the local people had thought for many years there was a Indian village here so when the interstate was going to disturb the suspected area an archaeology team was brought in and was told they had 30 days to do their research. They found several artifacts including fire pits and human remains. They did some carbon dating and it was determined the village dated somewhere in the late 1400's.
We paid our fee and our guide Mary took us to the recreated village that is down the hill from the museum. She pointed out several plants along the way. There is a lot more they don't know about the Indians that lived here than they know, since they didn't have very long to study the grounds before the interstate came through. But they found enough evidence they were able to recreate the village layout and some of the grave sites. The recreated village is about 200 yards from the original. Mary showed us lots of tools the Indians used and explained the use of the different huts. They don't know which tribe the Indians were. They think they moved ever 5-10 years so they wouldn't take all the game animals or deplete the land. The tour was very interesting and lasted a little over an hour. Just as we got back to the museum a rain shower blew through. The tour that had just left the building going down to the village may have got wet.
On the way back to the campground we were almost ran off the road when a women driving way to fast came around a curve with over half her car on our side of the road. Thankfully we had fairly wide lanes and a wide shoulder so we could move over.
Day 25 Friday August 20, 2021 We couldn't resist another one of those omelets so we went to Java Blend Cafe again for breakfast, plus they have fresh donuts on Friday and they also have delicious Lattes. The Cafe was really busy this morning with almost every table was occupied and lots of carryout donuts.
On the way back to the campground we took a small unpaved gravel road that comes out near the campground. The sign on the end near the campground states it is 8 miles long but it was actually 10.4 miles long, one lane gravel road with a few pullouts to allow for passing but we didn't meet any vehicles. We passed a cabbage farm down in the valley that had several hundred acres of cabbage almost ready to harvest. We have never seen that much cabbage in one place. Before we got to the end of the road we were beginning to wonder if we were on the wrong road because we got up rather high on the side of the mountain before coming back down the other side. We saw a few cows and some deer and turkey along the way.
Several weekend campers began arriving in the mid afternoon. A long 5th wheel camper pulled in two sites over from us. Right behind the camper was the wife's SUV pulling a trailer loaded down with a golf cart and race car. Kids began to get out of the two vehicles and they had 6 kids ranging in age from possibly 4-15 years old with one set of twin girls. After they got set up I asked the lady who drove the race car, expecting her to say her or her husband but she said it was the 12 year old son. They are from Maryland and the track there was too wet to race so they came here to run a race at a nearby dirt oval race track.
The temperature has been nice and much cooler the last few days and it is nice to set outside and read.. We depart here tomorrow for Deer Creek Motorcoach Resort near Galax VA for a 7 night stay.
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