The Virginia Nomad: Nomads, day 31 through 33 (10/3/2023)

The plot thickens! Somewhat on the spur of the moment we questioned that, while constantly driving from point a to point b can be fun and the landscape we drove through was often beautiful, were we really camping or was this just on a road trip? As a result of our deliberation, we decided to make an in-between stop at one of the Virginia State Parks. It was the weekend and looking online the only state park close to our route with an open camping spot were Grayson Highlands and the Natural Tunnel State Park. Since we visited Grayson Highlands already in July, we decided to go for the “Tunnel.” We could have easily driven home from Ashville but we decided we needed a break from driving and book two nights at the state park to relax, which gave us about a day and a half to explore. So, without further ado:

Day 31: Ashville (KY) – Wise (VA) – Natural Tunnel State Park (VA)

Days 32 through 33: Natural Tunnel State Park

By 3 pm on day two we decided that we enjoyed our brief “stay” camping so much that we asked the camp office if we could extend our stay by another day. There was room, so we stayed two whole days. We arrived around 3 pm on the first day, so technically we had two and a half day to explore this (actually) great park.

On the first day (day 31) we drove only around 120 or so miles. Like usually, we had a slow start (I’ll write more about this in my summary report, later this week), and followed US highway 29, south to the park. Still very mountainous, the surface of the road was poor. While the speed limit was 55 mile per hour, every darn vehicle, including big rigs, flew by us at an estimated speed of 70. It is amazing that nobody obeys the speeding laws, it makes you wonder what laws we teach our kids to break, or maybe it makes the increasing crime rates somewhat explainable. The drive through the Kentucky mountains was nice and the road got worse when we entered Virginia.

After setting up at the camp, we took a walk on the “Lovers’ Leap” trail. From the Lovers’ Leap view point you can clearly see why this is a tunnel state park. There is a huge natural tunnel through which they constructed a railroad. According to the legend, two native American lovers from different tribes (a Cherokee and a Shawnee) jumped to their death after their love affair was forbidden by their tribes. In other words, a native American Romeo and Julliette. We wondered if every culture has a story like it.

The weather was glorious at the park and as we mentioned above, by day two we were wondering if we could stay another day. Finally, a vacation, no driving but just a morning hike, shower in the afternoon and sitting in the shade, knitting and writing. Absolutely perfect; a great break from constantly driving and checking in late at the next campground.

The drive home will be long as I will briefly describe in my last post on our adventure of 34 days. After that I will write an overview of the trip. In other words, two more posts to follow and after that back to my regular writing schedule.