Virginia

We traveled to Virginia Beach and camped at Holiday Trav-L Resort on Sunday, April 19th. Monday we had planned to go to Chincoteague but due to bad weather we decided to stay off the long bridges so we had some much needed down time. We did visit the Farmer's Market. We arrived at the end of biker's week and this park is in between the international airport and the Naval Air Station so it was VERY noisy. We had jet fighters shaking the windows.

We left Tuesday and drove to Richmond, Va. We took a chance and did not make reservations for our next stop. We had no problem in getting a campsite at Pocahontas State Park south of Richmond. We had the park almost to ourselves. (It was the middle of the week.) This was an extremely nice campground. Very new looking with 50 amp and water and fairly level sites with large pull throughs. Wish we had time to stay there longer to explore the park. We would go back to this one.

Mike and Raylene Harton (she was my friend all through our school years) had supper with us where we were able to catch up from the last 40 years. I was able to visit Mr. Melton, Raylene's father. He lives near her. Most of the houses in the area are Williamsburg type architecture. We saw their beautiful home and a new patio they are in the process of building. Raylene served a great dessert also.

Wednesday we headed for the Shenandoah Valley. The weather was very windy and rainy. We prefer not to travel on days of bad weather but we have a schedule to keep. We camped in Front Royal, Va at North Fork Resort. It was OK for the price and one night stay. We set up camp and drove to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. It was very scenic looking down into the valley. The valleys looked green and the dogwoods and redbuds were blooming, but in the mountains they are a little behind. Lots of trees still looked like winter with no color.

Thursday we moved to Gettysburg. We camped at Artillery Ridge Resort which is on the edge of Gettysburg National Historical Park. We visited the visitor center which was huge and a new looking building. Allan attended a film that told about what led up to the Battle of Gettysburg and the outcome of the battle. There was also a show in the cyclorama, a large 360 degree painting that was produced just a few years after the war and has recently been restored. After that we drove through the battlefields, stopping at the National Cemetery where President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. We then drove through Cemetery Ridge where the Union forces held the high ground. Then we drove along the ridge where the Confederate artillery had set up. They had cannons along the road and towards Cemetery ridge. Each state had erected a memorial to the men from their states that had fought in the war. This was the bloodiest battle in the war and in this war we lost more men than in any other war. This morning we got up and went on a horse back ride through the Gettysburg battlefield where the second and third day of battle took place. This campground has facilities for privately owned horses to come in and ride the trails and camp over night as well as their own guided trail rides. After the ride we headed for Lancaster County, Pa.