August Road Trip: West Virginia...

It was just a short trip from Mt. Airy to West Virginia. I hadn't seen Michael in nearly a year and was really looking forward to it. He lives in Bluefield, WV which is a forty-five minute drive from Pipestem but there is no place closer that can accommodate our RV. We drove to Bluefield over the weekend but during weekdays we met half way in Princeton, the first night at Texas Steakhouse and Saloon and, on our last night, at Berhshire's Frozen Custard for ice cream and a root beer float. I really enjoyed meeting Michael's girlfriend Crystal. Becca, Katie and Jackson told me she's nice and they're right! She's very nice and a great cook! I like her.

Sunset...seen from Berkshire's Frozen Custard

We went to Bob Evans and had for breakfast for dinner Saturday night but on Sunday Crystal cooked dinner for us...country style ribs, cheesy potatoes, zucchini and squash, corn, garlic knots and rolls. Oh and cheesecake for dessert (OK, that wasn't homemade, but it was still good). Dinner was delicious and I got her secret for tender ribs!

They are working on updating the kitchen in Michael's house. Lots of great plans. Michael is a great go-it-yourself guy. Will be fun to see the results next visit.

We usually stay at Pipestem Resort State Park when we visit Michael but they were booked in August. Michael found another RV park for us just up the road called Pipestem RV Park. It's not new, but was recently taken over by a family and they are working hard to rebuild it. They are very nice and have apparently made a lot of improvements but there is still work to be done. The first site we were assigned, a nice pull-thru with a large grassy area turned out to be a problem when we plugged in our Progressive Surge Protector. It showed an error of an open ground. We wandered around the place and found another site that our surge protector liked. It was a back in, but quite long and easy to back into so we got settled. they advertise cable but we couldn't find a hook up. turns out someone ran it over with a lawnmower and cut the cable. They worked long and hard trying to get us cable but without success. Since the state park doesn't have cable it was not a big deal for us. We did appreciate their efforts. There is a hard turn getting down to the campsites but it's manageable. The park has promise, the people are nice and the rates are reasonable so overall it was okay.

I hated saying good bye but I did and we headed back to Wilmington...

August Road Trip: Mayberry RFD...

After our week in Greensboro we moved on to Mt. Airy...known to some as Mayberry...home town of Andy Griffith and the town upon which Mayberry was modeled. Although I've lived near there for half my life, I'd never visited so it was time! We stayed (where else?) at the Mayberry Campground. It's right off the highway and just a few miles from downtown. We had a very long pull-thru site, gravel with a decent size grass area...full hook-ups including cable and a Passport America rate.

The campground is situated on the land of the family of Eng and Chang Bunker...the original Siamese twins. Theirs is an interesting story. We visited the Siamese Twins Exhibit but it was disappointing. I learned more about them by reresearching articles online.

We visited the Andy Griffith Museum, saw the well know statue of Andy and Opie, saw Floyd's Barbershop, Wally's Service Station and the Mayberry Courthouse, the Snappy Lunch (though we didn't get there in time for lunch), ate dinner at Barney's Cafe...the bill was less than $20...and had pie at Miss Angel's Heavenly Pies...and believe me you can gain weight just walking in and taking a deep breath. We also had dinner one night at a place called The Copper Pot...nothing special, a burger for Jack and chicken for me...but the bill came to about $18! Can't beat that. It was about the same at Barney's Cafe. We passed on the Squad Car Tour...thought $35 was a bit much in our opinion.. It was a fun trip back to the fifties.

So, after all these years I finally visited Mayberry. Next stop West Virginia and a visit with Michael.

August Road Trip: First Stop Greensboro...

The summer has passed by quickly...though we are still waiting for the temps to catch up. It's mid-September and still 85 degrees, but cooler temps are coming. I'm not looking for cold winter temps just want 70 degrees to be the high not the low!

We took to the road again on August 8th and made our first stop in Greensboro. This time we stayed for a week which gave us plenty of time to enjoy multiple visits with Glen and Joanna and Ken and Ciera. Matthew was only in town for a couple of days that week but we made the most of it and all converged on Darryl's for a family get together. We finally met the lovely Teresa and she truly is lovely as well as smart, funny and sweet. She is also the only adult I've met in a very long time who is shorter than me...that was worth extra points! lol. We had a great time and, as usual, it was great to see my family!

Then we were off to Mayberry!


Ken sent me a photo from his visit to Wilmington in July and it was in my phone until after I had posted so I'm adding the photo here because I love it!