Sleepy day at the ranch

 10/24- it's about 2:30 now in Waynesboro, Virginia. I called the next Campground I'm going to a little further north and they said that I had the " super site " there, which has like a little island of its own or something. I'll be there two days. Then I have to leave at like four in the morning to do "five hours" what worth of driving to get to Mama Gertie's campground, the one where I get to stay on a private mountain top for the night. 

     I got up at 4:30, as usual this morning and at 7 we went out to explore all the sites that the lady at the office told me about: a brewery on the Mountainside, a dog park, and some other little nuggets. I went up the roads to a couple of wineries looking for a good view but finally found one when I circled around and did the same 7 miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway that I've done three times before! No matter where I go or how often I do it, there are always more amazing shots to take.  

     I also had breakfast at a Waffle House, which Jenni turned me on to several years back. They're only available in the South, I believe. AND they are one of the only places I've come across where I can have a full breakfast and coffee for $6.23. Their breakfasts/eggs and anything else, are all buttery and slide all over the plate. Nice and tasty. 

     The next highlight of the day was meeting a Mormon woman in the laundry area, where I finally succumbed to being after not being able to find any short sleeve shirts in my junk.  She  and her husband sold their house and bought a 32 foot trailer and are living on the road with their two kids. She has a brother with autism and a child with what sounds like a defiant disorder oh, so we talked shop for a while. Then, to add

The fire Little Maddie taught me how to build.

Houses along the way morning exploring.

Guess where?  (Waffle House)

to the excitement, a couple other ladies came in and started we all started jabbering about god-knows-what.  The Dryer ate a quarter of mine and one of the ladies( the one who looked like Ted's girlfriend on the married Tyler Moore Show) gave me a quarter. In a minute it gave it right back and I told her, "What comes around goes around." They wanted to stay there while their clothes dried and chat some more, but I can only stand so much of that. It reminded me of the guy at Cherokee who just pulled in as I was pulling out and he wanted me to stay and he kept coming back and coming back and coming back and finally I told him,  "Well, I guess this is goodbye. 

        So I'm now sitting around a quite abundant bonfire that I actually made myself, well Dubai takes a nap in the backseat of the car. She is not a big fan of the Heat or smoke that comes from the fire. I brought out her blanket last night and laid it on the rocks next to me. She slept on the rocks. 

     

     I haven't seen Little Maddie who kept replenishing my fire last night by going into the woods and delivering sticks to me and then actually building the fire. Actually, that sweet and Hyper 16 year-old little girl who studies quantum physics, even came and sat with me while I sat alone at a table while the band ( who had all the appeal of six Elvis impersonators) played last night. Her mom took some pictures of us .

     Well, I have to go check on my laundry...

     I think we'll drive a little of the skyline today because my neighbor said it's very mountainous- very steep, so I don't want to drive it all the way because people only go like 30 miles an hour,   so I'll just take it this afternoon for a few miles and see what it's about.

     Besides comma there's really nothing going on at this campsite today semicolon almost everybody has left after the weekend- at last at least all the kids.  All the adults are sitting around their 30 foot travel trailers watching the TV screen on the OUTSIDE of the camper,  and yelling at the football game.   ... some guy just drove a massive truck in pulling another gigantic trailer. In the bed of his truck he had a backyard size smoker! Several people are towing a second small car to drive around once they get to the campground or a trailer with a golf cart on it to tool around in the campsite in. Funny, I didn't think of this kind of money in Virginia. The further south I drive , ,he bigger campers people seem to have. 

     Some lady walked past my fire and me sitting in the chair and said you must feel like a little fish in an ocean of whales, nodding to my 13-foot trailer. Yup.  Camping sure ain't like this in Illinois. 

     

     Went back to the brewery and had a quinoa salad and a beverage. 

.    Now, I'm in bed listening to Loreena McKennitt.  This vagabond lifestyle can be exhausting!