2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 162

Day 162, Sunday, March 29, 2026 - Fort Chiswell RV Park, Max Meadows, VA - 160.4 Miles, 6,858 Miles for the Trip.

33°F overnight, 40°F for my morning walk, 56°F on the road at noon, and the high for the day was 67°F.

A cold morning packing up the trailer. Glad I did the water yesterday afternoon, it was hard enough rolling up the power cord.

Most of the drive was on I 81. Busy, but no stopped traffic. I arrived at Fort Chiswell RV Park around 1:30. I'm in site 10, just big enough for the truck & trailer. 1/2" off side to side & I had to lower the tongue 2". The site is a pull through full hookup on gravel with a picnic table. I'm here for 4 nights at $60.00 per night with a Good Sam's discount. Lots of cows on the hill behind me.

Site 10

The Cows

After setting up I checked the internet speeds. Both are very good here - AT&T is 119.5Mbps down & 8.84Mbps up, while Verizon is 225.04 down & 62.10Mbps up. Since I still have lots of gigabytes left on Verizon before the end of the month, I'm using them.

I made a couple of Sunday phone calls, then sat in the trailer and read. I finished The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz and liked it so I went to Libby to see if any others in the series were available as library books. I found & downloaded #1, The Word is Murder. Probably should have read them in order, but I started with #4. Another popular author that I haven't read all that much. I only have 3 of his books in my database - 65 books & 45 audio books are available using the Libby library app. This one is from the Boward County Library in Florida. Although I'm not a resident, they allow membership for $35.00 per year, and seem to have lots of the books that I like to read. The New York Public Library has many more books & audio books, but in the case of The Word is Murder, NYPL has a 12 week waiting list.

Dinner was Barber Foods Chicken & Broccoli & a baked potato.

Until Next Time - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 161

Day 161, Saturday, March 28, 2026 - Panther Creek State Park, Morristown, TN, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 6,697.6 Miles for the Trip.

36°F overnight, 39°F for my morning walk, 46°F at noon, & and the high for the day was 58°F.

Definitely a cool night, although a bit above the predicted 34°F. Last night the rain started up again around 6:30 and fell until 8:00. My neighbors are true campers - they sat around their campfire in the rain until it got hard enough to drive them inside. As soon as it let up a little they were back out. 

Clear skies but it hasn't warmed up all that much. I changed the sheets on the bed & got together a laundry run. 

After my walk & breakfast I read on line for a bit, then did a load of laundry. One each washer & one dryer at $2.00 each, with an additional $.50 for a heavy duty wash load. Since the building is just across the street and there is no chair (or folding table, just a small, low bench), I went back to the trailer wait for the washer to finish. The clothes were still damp after one run on high in the dryer so I did a second 40 minute run, and after that found some items still wet - a third run so drying cost was a total of $6.00 & 120 minutes. By the way, I have a good example of the inflation that has taken place for camping. I stayed here in 2015 and the site was $17.21 per night. The washer & dryer was $.75 each, but the dryer was just as bad. I noted that folks were going through multiple cycles to get their clothes dry.

I finished reading The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin, and started The Twist of a Knife by Anthony Horowitz. During my walks & while driving, I'm listening to Slow Horses by Mike Herron. Here in the east the roads are busier than out west so I don't follow the stories as well when driving.

I didn't use the shower, but there are 4 individual family bathrooms, all disabled. There is a multiple mini split that is set at 73°F in each bathroom. Each has a shower, toilet & sink. Large shower with 2 1" fine spray, low volume shower heads, adjustable water temperature. All on the same level with a shower curtain between the shower and the rest of the bathroom. Can't rate it because I didn't use it, but it looks OK.

Dinner was an Amy's Enchilada with Spanish Rice & Beans Bowl.

Until Next Time - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 159

Day 159, Thursday, March 26, 2026 - Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA, Day 3 - 0 Miles, 6,523.6 Miles for the Trip.

55°F overnight, 62°F for my late morning hike, 71 °F at noon, & and the high for the day was 74°F.

I skipped my morning walk and after breakfast went for a walk on one of the trails along the canyon. 

The Canyon

Back at the campground I read for a bit. I finished Faithful by Alice Hoffman, and started The Vanishing Place by Zoe Rankin. My neighbor has an interesting camp chair, or should I say chairs. Eight chairs in one package. Lots of kids & family, so they fill them sitting around the campfire in the evening.

I spent part of the afternoon making campground changes. I made the changes to Locust Lake Park yesterday, and when making the change there & in Trip Wizard, I decided that another of my stops could be shortened by changing parks. I canceled Candy Hill and replaced it with Greenbriar State Park in MD. Saves some driving and back tracking. I hope everything is set for the rest of the trip.

The Chairs

Around 3:00 I headed to the showers. 2 in the men's bathroom, one disabled. The standard shower has a small dressing area with a bench & 3 hooks. There is a shower curtain between the dressing area & the shower that keeps about half the floor dry. A 3" low volume fine spray fixed shower head mounted a bit too low for me - I had to duck to hit my face or hair. Plenty of hot water but not much of it. They also don't waste money heating the bathroom; much cooler than it was outside. Still, OK, I'll give it a B-.

Back at the trailer I sat outside reading. 

Dinner was a Lean Cuisine Sesame Chicken bowl.

Until Next Time - 

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 158

Day 158, Wednesday, March 25, 2026 - Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA, Day 2 - 0 Miles, 6,523.6 Miles for the Trip.

49°F overnight, 50°F for my morning walk, 56°F at noon, & and the high for the day was 65°F.

Good sleeping weather, and no trains, horns or other road noise. A cloudy morning for my walk, but while the sun broke through a couple of times throughout the day, it is still fairly cool. I probably should get used to it; the warm southwest is long behind me. I did check on the Parker, AZ weather- 90°F at 11:00 and heading to 99°F this afternoon. I'd rather have what we have here; 61°F at 2:00 although I'd prefer 75°F if I had my choice.

After breakfast I read on line. Although both Verizon & AT&T look good speed wise, they are both slow in actual use, particularly on the first connection to a site. Verizon does seem to be faster, and AT&T dropped a cell phone over WiFi call I made. Both work OK for internet radio, which is good because there isn't much in the way of FM that I'm interested in listening to.

There are a pair of washers & dryers in the bathroom, but at $3.75 per load in each, I'm glad I don't need to due laundry. They are run by a concession, not the state. 

Still a bit cool to sit outside so I'm reading on the Kindle inside the trailer. I finished The Runaway by Nick Petrie, and am currently reading Faithful by Alice Hoffman, an excellent author. 

I just got a call from Locust Lake State Park in PA informing me that the site I reserved in April will not be available. After a very long phone call I've been moved to a dry site that appears to fit my trailer, although she didn't seem sure. They don't have a map view of the park that shows the sites, so I everything works out. I can do a dry site for a couple of days without problems. 

I found the map for the campground that the reservation center assistant couldn't find and my site was a long way from the showers and ptetty short. I decided to cancel the reservation, and will be staying at Lakewood Park a commercial park couple miles away. More expensive, but with hookups. Since it is my last stop before hitting the Guidos & home, I want to be able to dump, and if it is still cold, electric would be nice.

Dinner was a Chef Ramsay's Chicken Marsala Pasta Bowl.

Until Next Time -

2025-26 Trip to the Southwest, Day 157

Day 157, Tuesday, March 24, 2026 - Cloudland Canyon State Park, Rising Fawn, GA - 257.3 Miles, 6,523.6 Miles for the Trip.

51°F overnight, 55°F for my morning walk, 68 °F at noon on the road & and the high for the day was 70°F.

I left the campground at 9:30 and spent most of the drive on interstates. The last 8 miles into Cloudland Canyon was a narrow, twisty steep climb, but with a center line. In the park they are rebuilding the visitor center so they have a temporary one set up at the other end of the campground. I registered, got a 20% senior discount, and found my way back to the West Rim Campground back near where I entered. The construction made it a bit difficult but I didn't scrape the trailer! I arrived around 3:00 including the loss of an hour due to arriving in the eastern time zone.

I'm in site 40, a back in site in gravel with trees on each side and a 2' drop off on the driver's side. A neighbor helped guide me in. Water & electric with a picnic table, hanger, fire pit & charcoal grill. I needed 2 1/2" side to side & a 1" drop on the tongue to level. With the senior discount, taxes, etc it works out to $32.53 per night for 3 nights.

Site 40

After setting up I checked the internet - Verizon is at 67.65Mbps down & 10Mbps up while AT&T shows 67.73Mbps down & 3.38Mbps up. Too many trees for a good Starlink connection.

I took a short walk around the loop, after which it was time for dinner.

Dinner was a Healthy Choice Sweet Sesame Chicken Bowl.

Until Next Time -