Vanderpool Excursion

Vanderpool Campground, Vilas, NC

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Vanderpool Campground, Boone, NC

It was a great reunion – now there are eight of us. (Jim & Joanne C., John & Lu R., John & Sue A. and Buddy & Patsy B.) Vanderpool is a small, private campground that is very well kept! The people in this camp are very close-nit and friendly. Joanne started our evening off with Key Lime Cake and it was yummy!

The A’s & B’s went on a walk at the Valle Curcis Park. The park (as well as most of the places up here) was well manicured. Local people must spend some big bucks on up keep. The eight of us met at one of the local restaurants and ate (of course) and discussed our schedule for the week. This day was going to be our (A’s & B’s) best bet to check out Roan Mountain the next possible campground. It was only an hour away – it was a good thing we took the time to check it out. You should have seen the road going into the campground. It was a narrow road with hairpin curves – too narrow for our rigs! The campsites were on tight winding roads with trees that would make backing very difficult even for the most experienced driver with units like ours. But it would have been a great park! The vote was to check out the TVA Park on the Watagua River about 20 miles north. We had a little difficulty locating the place – the GPS couldn’t find it either! At least it didn’t take us two days to find the campground! Determined, we continued through a maze of subdivision type streets with out any help what-so-ever from signs that could have directed us to the campground we were seeking. Our first clue that we were getting close was – we were driving along the river and saw lots of people having a good time rafting, so we figured we were closing in. All of a sudden to our horror appeared a right hand 90 degree turn onto a single lane bridge with just inches of clearance on both sides of the truck! We knew there was NO WAY to maneuver our rigs into the campground from this route. But we continued on. After several minutes we finally came upon campers (very small campers) park down by the beautiful Watagua River. We could have been lulled to sleep by the sounds of the river rushing by! Unfortunately we had to scratch this one off the list too!

The next day was “Ladies Day Out”. We shopped at some local shops and had lunch at an open café. The guys hung out at the campground. That evening the John’s entertained us on the dulcimer. (see pic).

July 3rd we (the 8 of us) drove to Damascus, VA to ride the Virginia Creeper Bicycle Trail. The Laughing Dog bike shuttle drove us to White Top Mountain and dropped us off. We began our leisurely trek down the Virginia Creeper Trail and enjoyed the easiest, prettiest mountain bike ride we have ever experienced. -- it is the onnnnly mountain bike ride we have ever experienced. The 17 mile trail, which is actually a “retired” railroad bed, began at an elevation of 3576’ and ended at 1930’ back in Damascus. The trail had numerous bridge crossings where you could view the crystal clear waters of the river below. Mountain Laurel, wild roses and purple clover were in bloom along the trail. After riding about a mile, John R. discovered his rear tire was leaking. Of course, the excursion did not include a bicycle pump. It didn’t take long before he was riding on the rim. At ten miles out we found a Good Samaritan who offered to pump up his tire. John managed to ride it on in to the finish! All in all, it was a wonderful 3 hour trip. Next time we will make it a 4 or 5 hour trip. All eight of us made it back without a scratch. John A didn’t break any bones! Congratulations JA!!