a dog house on wheels: Postcard from Virginia- 1

21 September 2012

Postcard from Virginia- 1

19-21 September 2012

Winchester, VA

We missed the rain by staying an extra day in Lake Ariel, PA which made for an easy drive the next day to Winchester, VA. I had called ahead to reserve a space at Candy Hill Campground. They didn't take CC info, so I wasn't completely sure we really had a spot for the night till the Admiral came back with a sheaf of paper with enough rules to choke a horse. Whatever, it's a very popular campground- filled every night this time of year- with lots of rules and signs letting you know about the rule you just broke. But the park was quiet at night, and even though the Interstate wasn't (!), we slept well atop the site's concrete pad which was level.

There is a Wal-Mart about 1/2 mile down the road, so while the Admiral shopped, I tanked up with diesel at the local Sheetz station. Nope. Not saying a word about the name, cuz the price was better than any place else! Btw, if you have a smartphone and aren't using the Gas Buddy app, you're missing a great resource for finding fuel.

And no, Candy Hill is not a Christmas theme park. Apparently many years ago, before it was an RV park, previous property owners had a daughter with a dog named Candy. Candy died and they buried Candy on the hill. So... Candy Hill.

Btw, we have noticed that PBS is frequently not available on a park's channel offering. So we used the antenna even though cable was available.

Wytheville, VA

We did a 2-niter at Wytheville so we could do laundry. As you probably know by now we have a washer and dryer, but we have to be stopped and we have to have 50 Amp service plus a sewer connection to be able to use it. So a 2-niter is usually necessary and this was it.

The Wytheville KOA is an older park that needs some work. The new owners are going to need a lot of enthusiasm as there are a number of things that need attention. Our site was small (that's just how it is in this area; it can't be changed) and it wasn't level (and that can be changed). We carry a pair of 2" x 8" x 6' boards to level the rig and they almost were enough, though not quite. Still, we did our laundry and slept well before pushing on to Asheville, NC.

The guy beside us the first nite had a big Class A with leveling jacks. He couldn't get level and left the park. The next nite we had 2 Class A rigs beside us, again with leveling jacks, and neither of them could get level either. While these 3 were all high-end motorhomes with lots of storage, I don't know how they could carry the long boards we stow in the bed of our truck (along with an assortment of blocks for jacking or for the evening the landing legs).

Covered group activities pavillion with dog runs behind.

Still, the park is very pretty with lots of trees, it's a long way from the Interstate so it's quiet, and they have two very large dog runs... one for bigger dogs and one for smaller dogs.