~Friday, May 21, 2021~
Day 341 (Travel Day)
Sad to be leaving Williamsburg, but we’re thankful for the extra day that we had. We will definitely be back!! Now onto Oak Ridge Campground in the Prince William National Forest, VA. Most of our routes have been perfect in the past, but at the start of this one today, not so much. When we plugged in our address, we just went for the fastest route which looked doable on the map. We knew after turning on this old narrow back road that something wasn’t quite right. After reading the map details, it was routing us through too many side roads. When you read names like “Old Mining Road”, that seems fitting for a pickup truck and that’s it; not the 6,000 pounds behind you. Lesson…...don’t look at just the map. Read the details too! Luckily, we found a turn around spot and 2 alternative routes that only added another 7 minutes to our drive. No big deal!
Nice that we only had a 2 hour drive to get to our destination today. Since the kiosk entrance to the park was closed, we had a little trouble navigating our way to the campsite. Initially, there was nothing marked which way the campground was. I had to call (very spotty reception), and thankfully got through to someone. Apparently we had passed the main road to get to the campground. This main road called Scenic Drive is about 5 miles long, so it’s really tucked in there. Strange how they don’t have a sign though until after you’ve driven the 5 miles. The density and beauty of the forest reminds us of the Great Smoky Mountains a bit. It is absolutely gorgeous! We were surprised how empty all 3 loops were, and how narrow the roads were to get to our site. Not one trailer, only tents. Hmmm….but there was our site and perfect it was, except for how to get in it.
The back-in was facing the wrong direction, so we had to go to the next loop and come in the opposite direction. Once we did that, one try, and we were in. It
didn’t take long for the camp host, John, to show up. Super nice guy. From Pennsylvania, this is his 7th season in the park where he works March to July while his wife stays back home. Only 25 minutes from D.C., this 16,000 acre park is quite a stunner. We asked about the emptiness of the park, and he said by 10:00 tonight, each spot will be full…..all 109 sites are sold out. It is the weekend after all. He was nice enough to offer up some free firewood that he sets aside on his property for “nice folks”, and told us to come by later to pick some up. But while we were setting up, low and behold, John showed up instead with a special delivery. Man, what a nice guy!
I needed to go into town to pick up a few things and while I was gone, Jeff had set up the antenna for the WeBoost (it comes with an assembly that attaches to our trailer ladder), running a temporary extension cord to the unit inside until we get our coaxial cable that we had to special order. We’ll test it out tomorrow, as we need the generator for this trip, to run it (we have no hookups).
By the time I got back, many more of the campsites were full (I always like a lot of activity….but not too much). There are a few tiny trailers here, but we are the only larger RV. Jeff said as people would walk by, they’d just stare at it, likely wondering how we got it in here.
Nice taco night by the fire…...thanks to our good friend, John!