Checking Out The Thousand Trails Park

Since the weather was questionable yesterday, we decided to stay pretty close to home. There is a Thousand Trails campground not too far (in Gloucester) from where we are that we wanted to check out:

It is a very large preserve and pretty nice. It is on another of the rivers in this area - Piankatank River. I wonder who finds the names for these places? All of these rivers are off of the Chesapeake Bay. This park is a good option for us when (and if) we complete our time here in mid September. We would like to take a trip - probably 3 days - to Washington, D.C. before we leave the area. It would give us a free place to keep the fifth wheel while we drive the Jeep for the side trip. We spent a good amount of time talking to the workamper in the store there and we gained a pretty good insight into the attractions in the immediate area - lots of Civil War and Revolutionary War landmarks.

We received an email from Amazon.com asking for people (Workampers) to work in a pilot program from July 1st until October, when the regular program begins for the busy season. The problem with the pilot program is that you have to pay for your own site during that time and there is no bonus at the end of the time the pilot program runs. Not only that, but they couldn't guarantee at least 40 hours a week. We passed on that opportunity.

We are beginning to see comments on Facebook from our friends that returned to Cody that have gone to Yellowstone. I'm jealous that they are seeing all of the bears, wolves and other neat wildlife that we are missing this year. It reinforces our belief that that part of the country is the best and most beautiful so far of all the places we've been. It's hard to beat the variety of outdoor activities available to you in that area of the country.

The weather looks better today but we need to get some chores done - like the laundry, for one - so we will probably enjoy a day sitting outside and reading for the most part. It's back to work tomorrow...

Warsaw, VA

There are several small towns north of Kilmarnock - where we do most of our shopping - that are on the the way to Fredericksburg, VA, which is about 80 miles from us. One of them is named Warsaw - who wouldn't want to check out a town named Warsaw? It was closer to us at around 30 miles, so we drove there to check it out. It was not a memorable town. It was basically similar to the rest of these small Virginia Towns with some nice, old Victorian homes, a short Main Street downtown, and not many eateries or shopping plazas. We saw the signs to George Washington's Birthplace National Monument but that was another 50 miles away, so we passed on that for now.

One thing we both commented about on the way home from Warsaw was how much we missed traveling around northwestern Wyoming. The landscape is much more to our liking and the fact that we could pack a lunch and stop just about anywhere on a trip to eat vs. here, where it's all fields of corn, rolling hills and, not any distinguishing landscape at all. There are no places to pull over and have a picnic lunch. I guess the real attractions are the Chesapeake Bay, Williamsburg, and the towns surrounding Williamsburg where the area is heaped with Revolutionary War history. We will be very anxious to visit those areas as our time here goes on and the weather becomes more consistently clear. Also, we plan to take a trip to Washington D.C. while we are here and spend a night or two while there. If push came to shove, I also miss seeing wildlife while driving around.

Our neighbors were all out cutting the grass around their rigs yesterday, so I guess we will have to trim ours today so that we can keep things looking nice. There are mowers and weed eaters that we borrow from the maintenence shed here to do the job. It still bothers me that we have to maintain our own spaces while here - a first in any of the places we've worked. Oh, well.

We're close to A/C time as the low yesterday and last night was 72, with a high of 86. We had the A/C on for a while last night before going to bed, but it was bearable enough to turn off while sleeping. I'm sure we will turn it on again today as it is already 76 outside at 8:30 AM. It comes with the territory. Have a great day everybody...

Visiting Reedville

There are many small towns within about a 25 mile radius of Topping, VA, where we are staying. One of them is a town called Reedville - of course, we had to go check it out. It is supposedly the capital of the world for menhaden fishing, an oily and bony fish that used to be plentiful in this part of the coastal waters.

Reedville was founded by a Maine fisherman, Elijah Reed, in 1874:

and his grave site was just a short distance inside the city limits:

The most distinctive feature of the town was all of the beautiful, old Victorian homes and mansions that were along the main street:

and across the water on the other side of the marina:

We came across this home, with the sign "Reed House" which we assumed was the home of the founder:

The town had no real downtown area where you could walk around or shop, but instead, was just a quaint little fishing town who's main attraction was the homes and marina. There weren't even any eateries or gas stations which is unusual for any town. It was a neat place to visit though, and we enjoyed our time driving around Reedville.

When we arrived back home, our workamper neighbors asked us to come over to join them in playing a game of "Cornhole" which is very popular among RVer's. This was the first time we had played the game and enjoyed a couple hours visiting with them and getting to know them better:

We have a little BBQ scheduled tonight where everybody will bring hamburgers, hot dogs or anything else they want for themselves, plus a side dish for everybody. It is totally different from where we were before coming here. These people enjoy each other and like the camaraderie that makes it a more enjoyable experience. We also found out that the very nice miniature golf course that we played at the big BBQ the other day at the sister park - Bethpage - is free to all employees. Josie and I may go there today to play a full round - and maybe even have some ice cream at the ice creamery there when we are done. We were only able to play a few holes the last time because the food line was forming and we had to cut it short.

It looks like another fun day coming up...