Geocaching at Hungry Mother

During our stay at Hungry Mother State Park, kite flying friends Will and Heidi, camped with us for the weekend. Will and Heidi have a goal of camping at all the Virginia state parks. They had been to Hungry Mother prior and knew the area. So we're glad that they decided to camp with us.

One of the things we did on this weekend instead of kite flying, was geocaching. Harold and I have been geocaching for awhile, but Will has definitely taken it a step further, creating a few geocache hiding spots of his own. 

Geocaching is self-described as a treasure hunt. Logbooks and containers are placed in hiding spots and the treasure hunter finds them, signs the logbook, and maybe places a few items in the container for others. Hungry Mother has a number of geocaches on the trail around the lake. Some are harder to find than others. The park staff has created an official CCC geocache hunt where you receive an embroidered CCC patch when you complete the ten finds.

Found it!

Sneaky hide when the cover is in place

With Will and Heidi

Where Are We Going Next?

Yellow, Yellow Everywhere or Nuisance Dust

Harold has been collecting photos for an RV Oopsies post for some time now. We're not sure when we'll publish it, but we will some day. Regrettably, we have to add our own "oopsie" to the list. Not all of the "oopsies" are outdoor ones. 

We had just pulled into Alpha Omega Repair Service  for the evening. The service for our dashboard recall and ongoing dragging brake issue was first thing the next morning. As I went to open the bedroom slide, I noticed something on the floor. It almost looked like a spray can of paint had exploded. Turning on the light, I saw that the floor and environs were coated in yellow powder. What in the world? 

It wasn't a can of paint, it was the contents of our fire extinguisher. Sometime during the day, it had jarred loose from its wall bracket, knocked the pin out, and sprayed the entire closet. Ugh!! Not quite how we planned to spend our evening. 

Wading through the powder to get to the vacuum hoses, we first tried the central vacuum. It soon became clear that that wasn't going to work. A cloud of yellow dust regurgitated into the bathroom. Off to Lowe's for a shop vac and extra hoses. Gradually we emptied everything from the closet, tracking yellow dust throughout the coach. We shook off what we could, threw away some things, and loaded the rest into the car to take to the laundromat. 

We called Kidde, the manufacturer, to see if there was anything safety-wise of which we needed to be concerned. No, the MSDS calls it "nuisance dust." That's a pretty accurate description.

Now to get a replacement fire extinguisher. This time we'll get one with a banded bracket that will hopefully prevent similar occurrences in the future. 

Shop Vac and extra hoses $90.00
N95 Dust masks: $10.00
Coin laundry $54.00 

The little LOEE of a pin that caused the trouble

The first look

Harold making the best of it

Inches of yellow dust

Loads and loads of laundry

Where Are We Going Next?

New River Gorge National Park

We left the Lookout Mountain area and spent two nights at Panther Creek State Park in Tennessee. We're keeping that park in mind for when we return to the area. Sevierville and beyond would be a nice day trip.

Panther Creek State Park

We arrived at Camp Creek State Park in West Virginia for a week long rest and relaxation period. We caught the tail end of some pretty fall foliage. The park has a couple of small waterfalls that are easy walking and biking distance. I had fun imagining the park when the rhododendrons would be in bloom.

Mash Fork Falls at Camp Creek

Campbell Falls at Camp Creek

Our only real objective for the week was to get our national park cancellation stamp for New River Gorge National Park. We had stopped at the bridge overlook on a previous trip. This time we drove underneath the bridge and to a couple of the other visitor centers.

 

As we drove WV82 down the gorge, across the New River, and back up, we kept in mind the ranger's comment that before the New River Gorge Bridge was built, this was the only way to cross the gorge. Yikes! I'd hate to meet an oncoming car or truck. The road is primarily one-way now. Today's drivers don't have that extra challenge. We noted the rhododendrons here too. 

The bridge is the third highest in the U.S. and the longest steel span in the western hemisphere, according to the national park service. As such, it draws quite a crowd at the annual Bridge Day festival, the largest single-day festival in WV. In 2019, the last time the event was held (covid cancellations in 2020 and 2021), over 100,000 people came to walk across the bridge and to watch BASE jumpers and rappelers. I get the heebie jeebies just thinking about looking down, let alone jumping or rappelling.

Old bridge at the bottom of the gorge

Grand View Scenic Overlook

We drove WV20 between I-77 and I-64, driving through other scenic overlooks and stopping at Pipestem State Park, where we climbed the observation tower. We bet the views were totally amazing when the fall colors were at their peak. 

Where Are We Going Next?

Lookout Mountain

We stopped for two nights at DeSoto State Park in Ft. Payne, Alabama. It's one of those places where we wish we had more time to spend. It's on our radar for a return trip for sure. We will say that if you're driving a big rig, you had better be using an RV GPS or following the park's written directions that are posted on their website. It's been awhile since we've seen so many "No Trucks" signs.

We spent the morning driving down the Little River Canyon Parkway. The drive officially ends after 11 miles, but you can follow the winding road for another 11 miles. As the ranger said, they own the canyon, just not the surrounding properties. The beautiful scenery reminded me of Letchworth State Park in western New York because of its rocky canyon with the flowing river at the bottom. There was still a touch of the fall colors to add to the scenery. 

End of the rainbow?

After the drive, we headed up the road to the Wildflower Cafe in Mentone. It has won several awards for "best cafe" in the county and state. Open limited hours, you should expect a wait. We waited about an hour and half, using the waiting time to browse around the touristy shops in the area. The food was good and "hippy chic" perfectly describes the cafe. 

Then we stopped by the DeSoto Falls on our way back to the campground. 

There was plenty more we wanted to do in the area from hikes to more waterfalls within the park itself to driving some of those crazy mountain roads. Then there's Ft. Payne, home to the county music band of Alabama and a hosiery museum. That sounds interesting. 

As we said, it was a great day, and we are envisioning at least a week in the area in the future.

Where Are We Going Next?

Soulé in Meridian

As we were approaching Meridian, MS, I called my cousin Russ. Russ and his family live about an hour away from our Twiltley Branch COE Campground. They were going out of town for the weekend, but suggested the Soulé Steam Festival. Well, Russ knows Harold. 

The festival is held the first weekend in November at the Mississippi Industrial Heritage Museum. The museum is the site of the Soulé Steam Feed Works. Soulé (pronounced Soo Lay) is America's last intact steam engine factory. The belt driven machine shop was in operation for the festival.

In conjunction with the Smithsonian, the Work Exhibit offers a glimpse of what it was like to work in a factory at the turn of the 20th century.

The Carousel Organ Association of America was having a rally on the grounds as well. Harold is now a certified organ grinder. He has the certificate to prove it! Bonus!

Last one off the line

Corliss Steam Engine

Portable Steam

Belt driven factory floor

Pattern Shop

Steam 'em up

Track fun

Certified Organ Grinder

Inside the grinder

Where Are We Going Next?

Slot Canyon

One of our fellow campers at the Las Cruces KOA told us about the Slot Canyon Trail between Las Cruces and Hatch. The trail is a relatively easy and short trail, and we were eager to try it after hiking Little Wild Horse Slot Canyon in Utah. 

I was wondering if it was such a good idea though when we encountered a tarantula at the start of the slot section. It was the first tarantula that either of us had seen in the wild. Plus, I had read reviews where about three weeks before we were there, the slot canyon was filled with grasshoppers. Ugh!

Well, we did see a bunch of dead grasshoppers, and I can only imagine how creepy it must have been when they were alive. 

The rocks were totally different from those in Utah. Little Wild Horse was smooth sandstone. This canyon reminded me of aggregate and concrete with rough walls in comparison. Still, who knew that New Mexico had slot canyons? We did an out and back through the canyon in about an hour, taking our time. 

Tarantula!

Top of the slot

Where Are We Going Next?