Top 10 Great Americans

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Statue of Dwight Eisenhower
in Denison, Texas

Top 10 Historical Sites

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Alcatraz Island inmates

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Campground Review - Lake Fairfax Campground

We stayed at Lake Fairfax Campground in Reston, Virginia while exploring Washington DC.

Staff - 8 - Campground hosts and county employees were helpful and courteous.

Natural surroundings - 9 - in the city but you can't tell. No traffic noises and lots of trees.

Roominess - 8 - Normal sized lots. 

Facility Fun - 9 - Pool and water slides open during the warm months. Playground and mountian biking path.

Facility usefulness - 5 - Dump, fire ring and picnic tables at each site.

Bathrooms - 7 - Bathroom is clean and up to date, showers are hot.

Cleanliness - 8 - Clean and well maintained.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to Washington DC.

Value - 6 - Paid $45 a night for a back-in graveled site with electric only.

 
Overall - 8 - Cheapest place with hook-ups near Washington. 

Mt. Vernon

Our family joined thousands of others, including about thirty tour buses full of high school groups, at Mt. Vernon. Patsy and I visited here 15 years ago in the fall and had a wonderful time, with sparse crowds and plenty of elbow room. Spring break may not be the best time to visit any of the Washington DC area sites.

Oh well, we still learned a bit about our first President George Washington and his wife Martha. Mt. Vernon is more than the home of the Washingtons. It is a living farm, nursery, and a museum educating visitors to the life of the Washingtons, the Revolutionary War, the beginning of our nation and Colonial life. Their movies are very well done and give you a very vivid idea of the life of their subjects.

Our kids loved the various animals on the farm area and especially the baby lambs, goats and pigs.Visiting the home of Washington you can see why he loved this place with its amazing overlook of the Potomac River and serene feel of the place in spite of thousands of teenage tourists!

We loved these two bulls who were chewing cud in unison!

Campground Review - Fredericksburg KOA

We visited our friends Brad and Barb Snyder in Fredericksburg, Virginia and they were wonderful hosts, showing the sites and best grocery stores in town! They also took us to a fun place to et called Spirits in historic downtown Fredericksburg. Our family also worshipped on Palm Sunday with the Snyders and had a great time at their church. We stayed at the Fredericksburg KOA while there.

Staff - 8 - One of the family members checked us in and was quite helpful, while another got us hooked up with some propane and was also very friendly.

Natural surroundings - 10 - Definitely in the country with lots of trees and a pond.

Roominess - 8 - Very large sites and ours backed up to the pond.

Facility Fun - 9 - Pool open during the warm months. Playground and fishing in the pond. Game room, volleyball court.

Facility usefulness - 8 - Propane, laundry, camp store, picnic tables at each site.

Bathrooms - 9 - Individual shower rooms are small but water is hot and with lots of pressure. Bathroom is clean and modern.

Cleanliness - 8 - Clean and well maintained.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close Fredericksburg battle sites, Richmond and Washington DC.

Value - 4 - Paid $55 a night for a back-in graveled site with full-hook-ups including cable. We used our KOA card.

 
Overall - 8 - KOA are always nice and usually pricey for RVers.

The Angel of Mary's Heights

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" -

 Jesus

This post has been removed because it is part of our new book - Napkin Dreams!

 

Campground Review - Greenville Farm Family Campground

How cool is it to camp on a farm? Very cool. We stayed at the Greenville Farm Family Campground in Haymarket, Virginia and had a great experience!

Staff - 8 - One of the family members checked us in and was quite helpful, while another got us hooked up with some propane and was also very friendly.

Natural surroundings - 10 - Park sits on the family farm, but is a bit away from the cows and other animals. The campground has several ponds along with lots of trees. 

Roominess - 9 - Very large sites and not many guests this time of the year. Our boys played a lot outside with sticks and roaming around exploring.

Facility Fun - 9 - Pool and game room open during the warm months. Playground and fishing in the ponds. Limited access to exploring around the farm.

Facility usefulness - 5 - Propane, picnic tables at each site.

Bathrooms - 5 - Showers are hot but the bathrooms are a bit rustic.

Cleanliness - 8 - Clean and well maintained.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close Manassas battle sites and Washington DC.

Value - 5 - Paid $46 a night for a pull-through graveled site with full-hook-ups.

 
Overall - 9 - We loved the open feeling and hanging around the farm.

Manassas Battlefield

This post has been deleted because it is in our new book entitled Napkin Dreams. It can be found on Amazon.com

Campground Review - North Fork Resort

We stayed at the North Fork Resort in Front Royal, Virginia while we explored the Shenandoah National Park. You need to belong to one of their clubs to stay more than one night, we belong to Passport America.

Staff - 8 - Twenty-four hour gated resort is where you meet most of the staff. They guards were all friendly and helped us with our questions.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Park sits on the Shenandoah River and has several ponds along with lots of trees. Right next to train tracks but we never heard any trains.

Roominess - 5 - Sites are under sized.

Facility Fun - 9 - Lots to do here in warmer months, most of it closed up during our stay. Playgrounds, horse shoes,  tennis court, and basketball court were open. Pool, mini-putt, game room and snack shop were closed.

Facility usefulness - 9 - Free and fast wifi, camp store has a few items, exchange library, laundry, propane for detached tanks, picnic tables at each site.


Bathrooms - 8 - Showers are hot and numerous. Bathrooms were clean.

Cleanliness - 8 - The place needed a little TLC for a resort, but is was clean.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to Shenandoah NP and several battle sites. Within striking distance to Washington DC.

Value - 8 - Paid $26 a night for a pull-through graveled site with full-hook-ups including cable. This was with Passport America.
 
Overall - 8 - OK but sites were pretty small for a resort.

Shenandoah National Park

We are so sorry, but this post has been removed because it is a part of our book Napkin Dreams that details our trip around America!

 

 

 

Kettle Chips and Transformers

On our way up Interstate 81 we made a quick stop at the Route 11 Potato Chip Factory in Mt. Jackson, Virginia. These kettle fried chips are quite tasty, come in some unique flavors and are healthier than the average chip company. They fry the potato slices in a combination of peanut and sunflower seed oil, so if you have a peanut allergy these chips are not for you!

We had read that visitors can watch the chips being made and taste fresh samples. This is true on days when chips are being made, but we were not fortunate to come on a day when the machines were rolling. Call ahead if you want to see the chips being made. Otherwise you can purchase some freshly made chips at the visitor center and they are tasty! We got the sample pack and we all found some flavors we liked. Patsy and I thought the Chesapeake Clam flavored were the best.

The next day we had lunch at the McDonalds in Front Royal, Virginia for our 35th state with a golden arches stop on this trip! Wow. The little guys were excited about the Transformers toy, and we went for a hike in Shenandoah, National Park after to work off the extra calories and energy!

Star City

Our visit to the Roanoke Valley has been great, visiting friends and catching up with what has been happening in their lives! So many of the kids that were once young children when we moved here in 2003 are now young men and women! It always warms our hearts when they remember us and give us hugs and even seem excited to see us. This makes all the hard work and panic Sundays looking for volunteers all worthwhile!

We spent time with David and Chase's biological family, including their little sister Ana. We visited with Brendan's family last time in town and we had so many people wanting to see us that we didn't get to see them this trip. We spent evenings with our good friends the Knicks, the Beechers, the Arthurs, the Poes and Pam and Zach O'Neal.

Blake had his two best friends, Camden and Kobe Gibson over to Howard for a day of video games. They are all three looking like young men, but I still remember quite clearly the days when we would have sleepovers and they were all little munchkins running around with plastic swords and batman costumes! Blake and Tanner were also invited to a birthday party for Bryce Knick and had a great time with them.

No trip to Roanoke is complete without a trip to the top of Mill Mountain. Even on a rainy day the view of the city of Roanoke is breathtaking and the huge star is a familiar and sentimental favorite of our family. Plus it is free - which is always a bonus for our family.

Campground Review - Dixie Caverns Campground

Our home base during our time visiting friends in Roanoke, Virginia was the Dixie Caverns Campground. We stayed here back in 2003 when we were in the area looking for homes! Hasn't change much!

Staff - 7 - Staff is present to run the store, give cave tours and check in guests. They were friendly and helpful.

Natural surroundings - 8 - Lots of trees in park, and nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Right next to Interstate 81.

Roominess - 8 - Sites are normal sized.

Facility Fun - 3 - You can pay to go into the caverns. We did this in 2007, so skipped it this time. Other than that there are no fun amenities here.

Facility usefulness - 4 - Free and fast wifi, souvenir shop has a few items, like soda and snacks.


Bathrooms - 5 - Showers are hot and have great pressure. Bathrooms need some updating and some soap and paper towels at the sinks!

Cleanliness - 7 - A little run down.

Nearby attractions - 8 - Close to Christiansburg, Salem and Roanoke. We took these pictures of the beautiful and slightly early spring blooms around the valley (not at the park though).

Value - 8 - Paid $24 a night for a pull-through graveled site with full-hook-ups including cable.
 
Overall - 6 - Not much to do but the free and fast wifi and cable are nice!