**I wrote this post yesterday, but our internet connection at the campground wasn’t fast enough to publish it. So you get to enjoy two posts today instead.**
This weekend we went camping at a nearby campground for my birthday. Although my actual birthday was last week, we had to delay the trip until this weekend. Since we were only about 40 minutes away, we were still close to the New River State Park Trail, which is the trail where I usually do most of my long runs. I got to see a new section of trail yesterday that I hadn’t run on before.
We accessed the trail from the Allisonia/Hiwassee area, and I did my 8 mile long run. Barry came long, too, and he did his own thing. The trail was almost completely in shade, which helped a lot because it was hot and humid, and getting hotter by the minute. It was around 70 degrees and 100% humidity at the start of my run, and a little over 80, still with 100% humidity, when I finished.
This section of trail was really pretty. There was a trestle bridge that went over some river or creek that fed into the New River.
Pretty much the entire section of trail I ran on had the New River on one side and either a wall of rocks or forest on the other side. Fun fact about the New River: it is one of only two rivers in the word that runs south to north.
I ran an out and back 6 miles in one direction and then stopped back at the truck to refill my water bottle. Yep, approximately 20 oz of water was consumed in just 6 miles. It was humid. Once I got some more water I headed back out in the other direction for my last 2 miles. Lo and behold, less than a mile from where we parked the truck there was a porta pottie. Too bad I had already taken care of my business in the woods earlier in my run.
I also saw a group of Sole Sisters out biking on the trail! It was so much fun to actually see someone I knew. They had a group of 8-10 people, and I saw them just before I got to mile 6. I stopped and chatted for a couple of minutes and then went on my way. Then right at the end of my run I saw them again, headed back up the trail. How neat! I failed to get a picture, though, so here’s one
from a recent 5K.
The rest of the day yesterday was spent at the campground. It was a pretty nice place. They had a pond where you can paddle boat or do some catch & release fishing. They also had two pools and four water slides, 18 hole miniature golf, and a sizable arcade. Not a bad spot for the weekend.
We spent time at the pool and went down the two large water slides on inner tubes. The first one we went down was the black one and Barry and I used a double tube. About the third turn on the way down our tube flipped and we both fell off. It wasn’t too bad, until the very end when there were speed bumps to slow you down. Those things weren’t meant for anything except an inner tube to go over.
After the pool we headed down to the pond and did some paddle boating. Barry decided he wasn’t a big fan of paddling, so I took us around the pond for two laps. The life vest is a good look for me, no? Goes well with my sock/shoe tan.
Later in the afternoon a storm rolled in, but we were able to get in a bike ride around the campground and some miniature golf in some light rain. Then we headed back to our campsite and played an hour-long game of Gin Rummy until dinner time. For dinner we roasted hot dogs over the campfire and of course dessert had to be roasting marshmallows. Both of these activities were birthday requests.
I’m not a big fan of chocolate, so my s’more consists of just marshmallow and graham crackers.
Hank and Scout had a good time this weekend as well. In addition to going for walks they did a little napping…
 |
| Hank napping on one of the benches at the kitchen table. |
…. as well as a little sleeping.
 |
| Scout sleeping on the couch. |
Can you name the other river, in addition to the New River, that flows south to north?
Do you ever go camping? What kind of trips/mini-vacations do you like to take?
Have you ever played Gin Rummy? It’s a fun card game!
How do you like your marshmallow toasted?
I like mine light brown, so that it’s crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Turkey Runner 
Not a fan of chocolate?! Blasphemy!Google tells me that there are actually quite a few rivers that flow north (http://www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/riversno.htm), but you can never really trust the internet. What’s the other one that you’re thinking of? I know there’s a river somewhere in southeast Asia that actually SWITCHES direction once a year. Crazy stuff.That looks like a beautiful place to spend the weekend! Those water slides also look incredibly fun. I haven’t been on one in ages, but I’m almost positive that if I did they would be my new favorite thing.I’m not a huge fan of camping, which surprises people because I hike so much and have done quite a few backpacking trips. Really, I put up with the hiking in order to see pretty things, but I would so rather sleep in my own bed!
I am surprised, but I understand. Luckily the thing about backpacking is that you are so tired by the time you get to lay down, you sleep amazingly 🙂
I was thinking of the Nile, but after some research it looks like my source was misleading. I knew you couldn’t trust high school cross country coaches…. 🙂 That does surprise me that you don’t like camping, with all of the hiking you do. My version of camping is in our 5th wheel camper, though, so it is my bed. It’s just as comfy as the bed in our house so it works for me!
I thought all rivers in the southern hemisphere went north, or am I making that up?Anyhow looks like SUCH a fun trip. The trail is gorgeous and looks so peaceful! I’d rather squat in the woods than use a port-a-potty anyhow, just sayin. I think that worked out well for you. LOL Nice slides too (maybe not the speed bumps).
I don’t think there’s any rule of thumb for north or south related to hemispheres or the equator. The rule of thumb is rivers flow down 🙂 So whichever way down is that’s where they go!
Being a native Virginian, we were always taught about the New River, and some other river. The other river didn’t count because it wasn’t in Virginia!Not a big fan of Marshmallows, but I like them crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside. I would rather make a grilled cheese over an open fire. That’s good eatin.Camping is fun in and RV or sleeping on the ground. All depends on the weather conditions.LUD.
Yea… Africa totally doesn’t count, Dad 🙂 Grilled cheese over a fire sounds good!
What a fun weekend! I wish I could gone camping there when I was at Tech! And run the new river trail!!
You’ll have to check out the New River Trail the next time you are down this way!
What a fun weekend! I actually was just looking at the New River Trail 50k later in the fall. Might HAVE to do it now. I love s’mores. I’m not a huge chocolate fan, either, but I really think it completes the masterpiece that is a s’more. i did try a Reeces PB Cup once, instead, and it also worked out magnificently.
Come on down! You get an official marathon split time as part of finishing the 50K (yes, I just checked out their webpage).
By the way- Fries (pronounced “freeze”… so you don’t make a fool of yourself), where the race starts, is a pretty small town, but it’s also a really pretty area! There’s plenty of lodging options in Galax, Hillsville, and maybe some stuff in Independence and all are close by.
Looks like so much fun! Seriously-that water slide looks amazing. It has been years since I have been on a water slide. I bet your camping was much more in style than mine this weekend when I had to grab 2 hours to lie outside and get wet between my runs.
It was a blast! Especially when we went back Sunday morning right when the pool opened. There was no line, so Barry and I went down the slides over and over again for over an hour. I got a bit more sleep than you did, and in an actual bed 🙂 But I would have loved to been running a relay!
It’s so cool that you bumped into some of your Sole Sister friends on your run! And of course I’m very excited that you stumbled upon a porta-potty! :-)I like my marshmallows the same way as you do!
It was so funny to run into them! Neither one of us were on a part of the trail we would usually be on. How ironic we happened to choose the same section of trail around the same time.
Smores without chocolate?!?! It’s a good thing I like reading about the chickens so much, or else I might jump ship over that! (kidding)I love roasting marshmallows…and now, two blogs posts (yours and Debs) in as many days about marshy-mallow roasting! I’m definitely craving some s’mores now…
Haha, it just means more chocolate for you. Don’t get your panties in a wad 😉 (I’m always looking for places to use that expression because I think it’s funny)
Hahaha. Me, too – except I use “twist”. To me, that adds an extra layer of complexity. Because once they’re on, getting them twisted is no easy feat… 🙂