Settled In Waynesboro, Virginia

I think we are finally settled in at 340 North Campground.  Our drive this morning was pleasant, for the most part.  There was only one stressful moment.  The worst stretch of I-81 from just north of Knoxville to Waynesboro was through Roanoke.  Of course, the heaviest traffic we encountered was at the same area.  We have always been impressed with the number of tractor trailer rigs on I-81 in Virginia.  I’m not sure where they come from, but this morning they were all gathered in that one very rough spot at Roanoke.  That just happened to be the same place where four, that’s right, four state troopers had someone pulled over.  All those big rigs were trying to move over a lane; us too, but we had no place to go.  Fortunately, we were all going pretty slow, about 50 mph, and it would have been fine except one of the state trooper cars was not completely out of our lane.  Everybody scooted over as much as possible and we slid by with a few inches to spare.  I just knew we were going to crash.  Gene was much calmer than I was.  Thank goodness he was driving.

The campground, as the name implies, is located on US 340 North about 4 miles out of Waynesboro.  We’ve stayed here before.  It’s an old established campground with big trees and camping loops going in every direction.  Because it is laid out in loops and not straight lines, RVs are sitting in every direction, also.  Papa, who started the campground many years ago has since gone to his reward and his children are now running the place.  They don’t seem too enthusiastic about continuing the business and are somewhat less than helpful.  There is no cable, no Wi-Fi, no park maps or rules for that matter.

Since we are staying for a month, we were assigned a site in the long term area--the loop called “Friendship Circle”.  The young lady checking us in (probably a granddaughter of Papa) failed to mention we should drive down the farthest road to the right.  We came around the loop in wrong direction.  We were able to get into the site and with a little juggling were satisfied with our position.  We measured everything to be sure it would fit or reach.  Our kitchen slide was a little close to the neighbors wood pile, so we decided to back up a few feet to give ourselves more room to maneuver.  By backing up, it gave us more room on the side and also more room to park in front.  We were happy.  We unhitched, hooked up the sewer, water, and put out the slides.  Then we discovered we were a few feet short on the electrical cord.  You will be surprised to know we didn’t say any bad words.  It was more like a moan of disbelief.

We are here for the Appalachian Trail.  Two years ago I hiked several miles of the trail around here, some with my hiking buddy, Diane, aka DTour.  Gene and I will be doing day hikes on the trail, beginning about 90 miles south of here at VA 614 and continuing north to the Pennsylvania state line.

This campground is not very special, but it is quiet, cheap ($400/month including electricity), and close to the trail.  We’ll be too tired to notice it’s not a “resort” anyway.
I think that’s it for today.  Tomorrow, we’ll be on the trail.