When? September 20-22, 2013
Where? Luray KOA, Luray, VA
Cost? $57.10 per night
Hookups? Full
Type? Pull-thru
Site #? 47
Check in? 1pm
Check out? 11am
Characters? Heather & Jon
Weather? 70s during the day, 50s/60s at night
Note: Pictures to be added later
On Thursday afternoon, we went to the storage area to get our trailer & bring it home. We also (finally) finished putting the foot pads on the trailer. We also were able to pack the trailer a bit more than normal, switch out a couple of things, and get the towels/sheets back into the trailer without having to have everything in the truck. I spent most of the day Thursday making food to take with us.
Friday, we headed out around 1pm. Better to get on a westbound road earlier than the rest of rush hour traffic! We got to Luray around 2:30 or so and started getting set up. Jon was in another world (had a conference call at 3:00 he needed to be on) and started unhooking before I had even gotten the slide out! This also means I had no clue how level we were & we weren't chocked. Thankfully we were level side to side. Unfortunately, he had actually unhooked before I chocked. Crazy boy. I wasn't even taking my sweet time! We chatted with our neighbors for a bit as they watched us get settled in; friendly couple from NY.
Jon settled in and started doing some work while I just chilled out. I did bother the neighbors again asking about their truck bed cover. We've been looking for one and I liked theirs. Always good to ask questions.
Dinner tonight was a simple hot dogs with coleslaw. I recently went gluten & grain free, so no buns for me. Jon was able to enjoy them though! It was pizza party night at the campground, so we watched people head over to the pavilion starting around 5:30. It looked good (again), but without being able to have gluten, I couldn't really go have pizza.
We made a fire and chilled out for a bit. For dessert, I made a banana boat on the grill while Jon made s'mores. After the fire went out, we packed up everything & put everything under the trailer - just in case it started raining.
Saturday morning, we got up hoping that the weather wasn't going to be as bad as it was forecasted to be. While it wasn't horrible, the clouds weren't lifting above the mountains. Our plan for hiking wasn't looking very good. We put everything we had thrown under the trailer the night before back in their storage areas and headed to Brookside Family Restaurant for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed up the mountain to see if the clouds were higher than we thought. Unfortunately, that was a no-go. When we got to the turn to go in to Shenandoah National Park, the clouds were so thick we couldn't see anything. Back down the mountain we went. Now what to do?!
We ended up heading to New Market to explore, then driving through Stanley, back to the campground, doing some research, and then heading to Harrisonburg to go to CrossKeys Winery. It was a good trip to the winery, but definitely not what we had initially envisioned. At this point, it was raining and overall kind of dreary. We hit up WalMart on the way back (because it was there?) and then headed to the campground and relaxed for a while. I heated up dinner, we ate, and then we started putting together a puzzle. The problem? Our table in the trailer isn't big enough for the puzzle. That was a no-go. We put in The Cutting Edge and watched it before bed.
Sunday, we got up and kind of tooled around a bit. After a while, we started packing up and got on the road. We had to winterize the trailer & get all of the food out before putting it away for the winter. We're a little sad because we don't know when the next time we're going to get back out, but since it might be next year, we had to winterize. Super easy to do on your own. I can't believe people pay $100+ to have it done!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Luray KOA, Luray, VA
When? August 16 - 19, 2013
Where? Luray KOA, Luray, VA
Cost? $49 per night
Hookups? Full
Type? Pull-thru
Site #? 43
Check in? 1pm
Check out? 11am
Characters? Heather & Jon
Weather? 70s during the day, 50s/60s at night
This trip was originally supposed to be for a double triathlon. A week before, I decided we'd go pick up the race packets, but that I wouldn't be racing. Sometimes, you just have to know when to call it.
After I decided not to race, we had the whole weekend to figure out what to do. Our friends RH & Jessica were camping at the Jellystone about 15 minutes down the road. They invited us for dinner Saturday night, so that was one night down!
Friday, we arrived at Luray, got checked in & set up. Nothing out of the ordinary. We're getting really good at guessing how many blocks we're going to need to do leveling! After we were setting up, we were sitting around outside & chatting. Our neighbor started chatting with us while he was putting air in his tires. He told us about these tire pressure monitors that you can get to put on the tires of your vehicle & trailer (or RV and tow behind). We'll probably be getting those at some point.
We went over to packet pick up & were early, so we chilled out in downtown Luray for a bit.
After packet pickup, we went to WalMart to pick up a couple of things. Then back to the campground to chill & make dinner. Before dinner, we walked around a bit and met a couple from Arlington that has a Havanese puppy. Since it's the type of dog we're thinking about getting, it was great to see one in person (and at a campground!). After dinner, we got a fire going and kicked back & relaxed. It was such a beautiful night that we decided to sleep with the trailer windows open.
Saturday morning, we slept in a bit and then went for a 4 mile run (gotta get in those training runs somehow!). After our run, we cleaned up and decided to head out. We had breakfast at Brookside. It's a hole in the wall type of place that was super tasty! Back to WalMart to get a heavier comforter. Jon was a wee bit cold the night before.
After that trip to WalMart, we decided to drive Skyline drive for a bit. We've never been to the central part of Shenandoah National Park, so we were excited to be able to do that. We drove about 20 miles and back, stopping at quite a few of the overlooks. I can't wait to go back & hike some of the trails we learned about. At one of the overlooks, we saw Lake Arrowhead (where the tris for the weekend were taking place) and I was able to identify it based on the buoys in the lake. We stopped at the Skyland Resort for a quick break and then headed back down Skyline Drive.
We got out of the park and back into Luray. We stopped for lunch & then back to WalMart (goodness!) to pick up a few things for dinner with RH, Jessica, and their family. We grabbed a light lunch and headed back to our campground for a bit. We went to Jellystone to hang out for a bit. If you've got kids, it's a great place! As kidless campers, we were happy to be headed back to the super quiet KOA.
On Sunday, we got up, made breakfast, and then headed to Luray Caverns. We met an older couple who was also camping at the KOA and who were on our tour. We had a good time and enjoyed the tour. After the tour, we had lunch at the caverns and then set out to explore the rest of the grounds. They've added a few things since we were there last.
We headed back to the campgrounds and just chilled out for the afternoon. We had bought a board game on one of our 15 trips to WalMart, so we played it a couple of times. I made an easy dinner. After dinner, we took a walk around the campground and ran into the couple from the caverns. We chatted with them for about an hour and turned in.
Monday morning, we had breakfast and packed up. I'm always sad to leave, but this one was especially hard. It was so beautiful and peaceful in Luray. Just what we needed. Thankfully it's close enough we can easily go back!
Where? Luray KOA, Luray, VA
Cost? $49 per night
Hookups? Full
Type? Pull-thru
Site #? 43
Check in? 1pm
Check out? 11am
Characters? Heather & Jon
Weather? 70s during the day, 50s/60s at night
This trip was originally supposed to be for a double triathlon. A week before, I decided we'd go pick up the race packets, but that I wouldn't be racing. Sometimes, you just have to know when to call it.
After I decided not to race, we had the whole weekend to figure out what to do. Our friends RH & Jessica were camping at the Jellystone about 15 minutes down the road. They invited us for dinner Saturday night, so that was one night down!
Friday, we arrived at Luray, got checked in & set up. Nothing out of the ordinary. We're getting really good at guessing how many blocks we're going to need to do leveling! After we were setting up, we were sitting around outside & chatting. Our neighbor started chatting with us while he was putting air in his tires. He told us about these tire pressure monitors that you can get to put on the tires of your vehicle & trailer (or RV and tow behind). We'll probably be getting those at some point.
We went over to packet pick up & were early, so we chilled out in downtown Luray for a bit.
After packet pickup, we went to WalMart to pick up a couple of things. Then back to the campground to chill & make dinner. Before dinner, we walked around a bit and met a couple from Arlington that has a Havanese puppy. Since it's the type of dog we're thinking about getting, it was great to see one in person (and at a campground!). After dinner, we got a fire going and kicked back & relaxed. It was such a beautiful night that we decided to sleep with the trailer windows open.
Saturday morning, we slept in a bit and then went for a 4 mile run (gotta get in those training runs somehow!). After our run, we cleaned up and decided to head out. We had breakfast at Brookside. It's a hole in the wall type of place that was super tasty! Back to WalMart to get a heavier comforter. Jon was a wee bit cold the night before.
After that trip to WalMart, we decided to drive Skyline drive for a bit. We've never been to the central part of Shenandoah National Park, so we were excited to be able to do that. We drove about 20 miles and back, stopping at quite a few of the overlooks. I can't wait to go back & hike some of the trails we learned about. At one of the overlooks, we saw Lake Arrowhead (where the tris for the weekend were taking place) and I was able to identify it based on the buoys in the lake. We stopped at the Skyland Resort for a quick break and then headed back down Skyline Drive.
We got out of the park and back into Luray. We stopped for lunch & then back to WalMart (goodness!) to pick up a few things for dinner with RH, Jessica, and their family. We grabbed a light lunch and headed back to our campground for a bit. We went to Jellystone to hang out for a bit. If you've got kids, it's a great place! As kidless campers, we were happy to be headed back to the super quiet KOA.
On Sunday, we got up, made breakfast, and then headed to Luray Caverns. We met an older couple who was also camping at the KOA and who were on our tour. We had a good time and enjoyed the tour. After the tour, we had lunch at the caverns and then set out to explore the rest of the grounds. They've added a few things since we were there last.
We headed back to the campgrounds and just chilled out for the afternoon. We had bought a board game on one of our 15 trips to WalMart, so we played it a couple of times. I made an easy dinner. After dinner, we took a walk around the campground and ran into the couple from the caverns. We chatted with them for about an hour and turned in.
Monday morning, we had breakfast and packed up. I'm always sad to leave, but this one was especially hard. It was so beautiful and peaceful in Luray. Just what we needed. Thankfully it's close enough we can easily go back!
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