Stone Mountain State Park April 22-29, 2025

 Day 33 Tuesday April 22, 2025

Today is the first day of our last weekend here so we treated ourselves to a good breakfast at Breakfast Time restaurant in Jonesville. We have ate here several times and it is always good. 

After stuffing ourselves we drove to Shiloh General Store again. We decided to stock up on some more of the frozen Stolfus frozen Lasagna like we got last week plus we got two more of something different to try. And we discovered last week they also sell the Guggisberg Baby Swiss cheese that we like and it is about $2.50 a pound cheaper than the Ashe Cheese shop in West Jefferson and a whole lot closer. 

There were lots of people shopping there this morning and several setting on the front porch eating something they got from the deli counter inside. They make several different kinds of deli sandwiches. 

We returned to Jonesville and stopped for our Latte fix at River Roast coffee shop before returning to the campground. Not a good day to explore the backroads because it is raining and cloudy.

Day 34 Wednesday April 23, 2025

We had breakfast and hung out in the motorhome until about 11AM before going to Dobson about 40 minutes away. We have plans to eat at The Depot Restaurant at Cody Creek but they don’t open until 5PM today. So we had a few hours to roam around some back roads after Lena got her Latte fix at Grounded Coffee Shop in Dobson. They had fairly good coffee and good big muffins. 

We found a small herd of Long Horn cattle but they weren’t too interested in posing for us. That green grass was a lot more appealing. 

We stopped at The Depot Restaurant at Cody Creek to get some photos of the grounds and outside of the buildings before the people started arriving around opening time. We had never heard of this place before and we have been coming to Stone Mountain for 10 years now. Jackie told us about it so we decided to give it a try. There are several buildings including a Chapel, store, restaurant, big fountain that was dry and not working, several cabins and some other buildings that we couldn’t figure out what they were. 

After driving around for a while we stopped at McDonald’s to kill some time and use their WiFi to download the photos off the camera since the cell signal in the campground has been weak the last few days. 

We returned to The Depot Restaurant at Cody Creek about 4:30 and the entrance was open to the restaurant so we went in. Only a few other couples had gone in. They were not seating anyone yet so we had a chance to roam around and take photos inside the restaurant. They have one big room that will probably seat at least 200 that is probably for large events like weddings, etc. We think the Chapel is probably also a wedding venue. 

The bar area has several small tables that can seat either two or four people plus stools at the bar. The wall of this area has bars from old jails that divides the dining area from the hallway that leads to another large dining room where we decided to be seated. 

There were several paintings on the walls of the hallway that depicted life in the mountains many years ago. Some showed hunters, some showed moonshiners. One was autographed by Junior Johnson who was a NASCAR driver after he was a moonshine runner. 

There was one of President Reagan and Donald Thrump. Three photos of the famous photo of when Donald Trump was being taken off the stage after being shot in Butler Pennsylvania. One had a rifle bullet like the one the shooter used to shoot Donald Trump. 

We had a very good steak with two sides. The food was excellent and we had a very good waitress. We thought the prices were very reasonable considering the cost of things today and the class of the restaurant. We each got an 8oz sirloin steak with two sides, I got tea and we got two orders of blueberry cobbler to take with us all for $47.17 including tax. After we got back to the motorhome I looked at our receipt and it appears the waitress forgot to charge for the desserts which were $6 each.

After we stuffed ourselves we “waddled” over to the store where Lena found a top that she couldn’t resist. 

We will probably come here again next year if we return to Stone Mountain to work. 

Day 35 Thursday April 24, 2025

Back to work. We did our morning routine, came back and had breakfast and went right back out to get all the sites that were reserved ready for today’s campers. We normally wait until about 10:30 to go back out but there is rain in today’s forecast so we wanted to get them ready before the rain. 

We only had minor amounts of rain today. We had an easy day today. There is a lone turkey that we hear gobbling in the woods near us. This afternoon he/she came strutting across our site. This is the third time we have seen a lone turkey on or near our site. Probably the same turkey. We have seen deer and rabbits cross the street near our site but this is the first time seeing a turkey near us. 

Day 36 Friday April 25, 2025

We got out at 8am to check the campground and put out the 50 reservations signs for today’s arrivals. A light sprinkle of rain but that didn’t hinder us. 

We had a good breakfast of country ham/egg biscuits, apple and an orange. At noon we went back out to check the sites that were vacated today before the new arrivals come in. Only one couple was slow about departing for the noon checkout time. 

We have a lot of young kids here tonight. When we have lots of young girls with bicycles we have lots of streamers to pick up for a few days. They seem to always have streamers on their handlebar grips and they shed like an old dog. 

We only have just a few vacancies tonight. May not have any by closing as we have had a few come in looking for a site with no reservations. 

Day 37 Saturday April 26, 2025

There are a lot of young kids in the campground this morning. Looks like a bunch of busy ants running around having fun. 

We only had 11 new reservations this morning but by midafternoon 5 more had been added to the list. 

I washed the golf cart so when we leave it will be fairly clean when we leave. As of now Ranger Hicks does not have a host lined up for May. We have been trying to recruit a set of hosts for her but the four couples we have talked to have other plans for May or aren’t retired yet to be able to do it even though they seemed to be interested in becoming hosts. 

Day 38 Sunday April 27, 2025

Twenty six reservations for today and a lot of campers leaving which is normal for Sunday so there will be lots of sites to clean. The campground was full last night. But this morning about 11am it looked like a ghost town but that will change by 4pm

We got all the reserved sites and several  that were not reserved cleaned and then stopped for lunch and some rest. It was just cool enough this morning for a hoodie when we first went out to check the campground and put out the reservations signs but it has turned into a beautiful day. 

A few things we have noticed this year: More tents were used in loop B this year (Loop B has water and 20/30/50amp electric at each site), more women by themselves camping, more Motorhomes, more tear drop style campers and more Airstream campers( we call them “shiney hineys” because they are made with all aluminum exteriors). And we had one couple from the Netherlands two sites over from us this afternoon. We are gradually seeing more foreigners camping here again. Not as many as before COVID but some. 

We have had several campers thank us for all the work we are doing to keep the campsites clean and welcoming when they come in. And the Rangers and Superintendent has also thanked us for what we do. That makes us feel like the work we are doing is appreciated. Doesn’t make the “pay check” any bigger but nice to hear. 😂😂

Day 39 Monday April 28, 2025

Well this is our last day before we head home tomorrow. We had help again this morning cleaning the sites we didn’t get to yesterday. We only have about a dozen reservations for today. 

After breakfast I went back out to get the few sites cleaned that were vacated this morning while Lena got our laundry caught up. 

We also packed up most of our outside items. Sure glad they were all dry.  The weather was really nice today and we had a fairly easy day before we head home tomorrow. 

We did our final pass through the campground, put out the reservations signs for Tuesday and completed the task of packing up all the outside stuff after we got as much of the tree pollen and squiggles off as we could. This time of the year there is a lot of both falling from all the trees around us. 

Day 40 Tuesday April 29, 2025

Time to head home. Today will be the 40th day since we were last at home. We ate breakfast secured everything, dumped our tanks and pulled out about 9:30. We stopped in the parking lot at the Visitor Center to hookup the Jeep and as we were doing our light test before leaving Ranger Hicks stopped to tell us goodbye. She said she wished we didn’t have to leave. We heard yesterday that Michael Wood, the Superintendent, said we were the best Volunteer Hosts they had, that we were on top of everything. That made us feel good. 

We stopped for fuel in Lillington and Dunn for lunch at Smithfield’s Chicken and BBQ. We had to detour down highway 421 to Warsaw then down highway 24 back to I40 due to a major traffic accident right near the interstate entrance we needed to get on from Dunn. We got home about 3:30 and were glad to be home safe and sound. 

Stone Mountain State Park April 15-21, 2025

 Day 28 Tuesday April 15, 2025

Hey, it’s the weekend again so we went to Circle L Cafe in Sparta for breakfast. We have been here several times over the years. They serve pancakes as big as a dinner plate. On our first time here I didn’t know how big they were and ordered two and neither the waitress or the table of local men beside us said anything until the waitress brought them out. Then the local men got a good laugh on me. Now I only order one. 

Then we went to The Gathering Place in Sparta. It is a coffee shop we have visited several times and they also have ladies smelly things, ladies clothes, gifts and do-dads for sell. 

The wind is really blowing today, sure does mess up a hair-do. We needed a few groceries so we stopped at Food Lion before returning to the campground and enjoying the remainder of our day off.

Day 29 Wednesday April 16, 2025

On our second day off we had planned to go to the River Roast Coffee Shop in Jonesville but we made a last minute decision to go to Cracker Barrel instead for breakfast. We had not been to a Cracker Barrel in quite sometime. 

We had a really good breakfast before driving out into the county to Shiloh General Store. It is an Amish store with lots of nice things in it including some really good sourdough bread made fresh daily. We usually visit here at least one time while we are here but last year we went there twice and both times they were closed for a community function. We also found the frozen Lasagna that we discovered in an Amish store in Branson Missouri last year. And also the a Guggisberg Baby Swiss cheese we like that is made in Berlin Ohio in the Amish community but we had just bought some in West Jefferson last week. We were browsing through the store in Branson last year and a lady told Lena that she really needed to try it. We bought some and it is really good. As good or better than any I have had in a restaurant. They don’t scrimp on the meat in it. We got two containers of it and two loaves of sourdough bread today. The bread was still warm and when we got back to the motorhome we sliced one loaf and spread soft butter on it for lunch. 👍

We drove back via some back roads looking for some photo opportunities. Since we arrived here on April 1st, the trees have come alive and are forming their new leaves. The limbs were bare when we got here now every where we look we see new green leaves forming. The farm land and livestock pastures here are rolling land and really pretty now in their new green cover. Our host site sits among several large hardwood trees and the campground is surrounded by mostly hardwoods with some pine in the mix and in April you really notice the change in the trees almost daily. When we work here in May, which we like better due to milder weather, the leaves have mostly formed and we don’t witness the change like we do in April. 

We did stop at the River Roasters for a Latte, then Food Lion to get a few items Lena couldn’t get yesterday in Sparta before returning to the campground. It is much warmer today but still really windy. 

It is going to be busy in the campground the remainder of the week. Several of the schools around here are on Spring Break. 

Day 29 Thursday April 17, 2025

Another cool 41 degree morning at 8AM but by the time we got everything done on our first pass through the campground and had breakfast it had warmed up nicely. 

We went back out at 10:30 to begin getting all the vacant sites ready for the next wave of campers. We had cleaned 34 sites in Loop B and C and dumped all of our ashes and trash by the time we went back to the motorhome at 1PM for lunch. Every vacant site is ready in those two loops for the next wave of campers. 

We are really liking the new checkout time of 12 noon. Before when checkout was 3PM and checkin was 4PM we were constantly going back out to clean 2-3 sites as they became vacant when the campers trickled out. Now we can get them all clean while we are working as the campers leave. Most campers start leaving by 9-10 so in the span of about 2-3 hours everyone has departed. Before it was a span of about span of about 6 hours. 

I cleaned a few more in Loop A while Lena was cleaning up the kitchen after lunch. 

Jackie told us an interesting story about a camper that was here earlier this week. I will call him “Parrot Man”. We didn’t see him so we missed out on another interesting individual. He had two talking parrots and he walks around with them on his shoulders. Supposedly he would go up to other campers and ask them “how do you like my parrots “. He asked one man and the man told him I don’t like them. The man said “but they are talking parrots “. The man said I don’t like them because I don’t like birds. 

We have a dump station in the campground for the campers that have holding tanks to dump their black and grey water before they depart. We also have two sites (#72 & #73) that have full hookups so they don’t have to go to the dump station they can dump before leaving their site. Well Parrot Man asked the camper in #72 if he would pull out of his site and let him back into the site and dump his tanks. Mine you the camper on 72 was not due to checkout of the campground that day. The camper on #72 told him there was a dump station that he could use but Parrot Man said “ I don’t want anyone to see me when I dump “. HUH!! Needless to say the camper on 72 did not grant Parrot Man his wish. I guess it takes all kinds of people to make up this world. Even strange ones. But what is interesting the dump station is almost totally hidden from view except from our Host site so no one would have seen him dump. 

Day 30 Friday April 18, 2025

Another busy day in the campground as we get ready for the weekend. With several local schools in the area on Spring break there are lots of kids in the campground. 

Another kind of interesting story occurred late yesterday evening. We have a radio that we can communicate with the park maintenance crew and the park Rangers if we need them. So we hear some of what happens outside the campground. 

Everyone is supposed to be out of the parking lots by 7:30PM headed to the gate so the Rangers can get everything checked and the gates closed by 8PM. Starting in May it is 9PM. The campground has an exit that is open after the park closes so a late arriving camper can get in or a camper can leave the campground at night if needed. 

Last night we heard the closing Ranger talking to the Superintendent about an individual that had been flying a drone and had got it lodged in a tree and he was still trying to get it down and it well past 8PM. First of all it is illegal to fly a drone in a NC State Park. I think the fine is $100. And this morning we found out the drone was not his personal drone, it belongs to the company he works for. Oops! Someone tried to help him get it down by throwing an axe up into the tree and the axe got lodged in the tree. Now that is not good! 

We found out later today that through various attempts they did finally recover the drone and the Rangers did not fine the individual for flying the drone in the park. I guess they figured he had suffered enough.

We have a full house tonight or will if everyone that has a reservation comes in. 

Day 30 Saturday April 19, 2025

Another beautiful day in the mountains of NC. We are liking this beautiful weather. We only have 18 reservations today which keeps the campground at capacity. 

After breakfast we cleaned several sites before stopping to cook lunch. I fired up the Weber grill after I killed the red wasp that had built a nest on the handle since I set it on the picnic table. 

We made a meal that we hadn’t cooked in a couple of years. It is called aluminum foil packets. Lena precooked the potatoes in the pressure cooker. You take two pieces of aluminum foil and lay on one direction and lay the second one 90 defenders to the first and put the potatoes in with sliced squash, zucchini, sliced kielbasa and shrimp. Lena chose yellow peppers over shrimp for hers. Then you fold the foil over everything to make the packets and set them on the hot Weber grill for about 30 minutes. You could add any seasoning you desire and substitute any of the ingredients. 

We prepared and cooked three packets and I took one over to Jackie at the Contact Station. It is a fairly quick meal and very good. 

At 3PM we went down to the Amphitheater to help the Rangers hide Easter Eggs for the 4PM Easter Egg Hunt for the kids under 12 in the campground. About 30 or so kids showed up and had a lot of fun finding the eggs. The kid with 69 eggs won a small prize and those with 40 and above got a Stone Mountain State Park sticker and we got one also for helping. 

Rangers Rachel, Kassie and Lynette

We had an interesting camper in the site beside us today. It was a 1960 Volkswagen Camper Van. Just think it is 65 years old and still going. I talked to the owner and he said he has had it 6 years. You don’t see many of them on the road anymore. 

Day 31 Sunday April 20, 2025

Easter Sunday

Lots of people leaving today as is normal for a Sunday. We have 25 reservations for tonight so we have lots of sites to clean. 

Many of the fire pits were still too hot to clean the ashes so we cleaned what we could and raked the sites and got all of Loop B and C and part of Loop A ready by 12:30 before we took a break to rest and have lunch. Most campers are abiding by the Noon checkout time. One or two will push past the checkout time with excuses like we didn’t know how long it would take us to pack up. Yea, right. 

Group sites

Group sites

Day 32 Monday April 21, 2025

Kind of a busy day for a Monday. We had 29 reservations and a few “walk ins” today. Again we got help from maintenance and a couple of the Rangers plus the Superintendent cleaning sites and fire pits this morning. We had cleaned about 30 yesterday so in about an hour and half all the others were ready. The new Superintendent is definitely a hands on superintendent. 

Then after we had breakfast went back out and cleaned about 25 more as the campers that were leaving today departed. We got everything ready before today’s reservation arrived except one and they were here this morning at 10:30 waiting for their site to become vacant, which it didn’t until about 11:45. Before we could get to it they pulled in and setup but we still did a check to see if it needed any attention.