May 8, Friday. Almost home! Felt strange to be back in VA again after such a long time. As we left TN and crossed the state border into VA, we could see the Blue Ridge Parkway to the East. Our drive was over rolling hills and the lower parts of the mountains covered in the green grass and trees of early Spring. That and the farmland views made for a nice drive.
We needed a one night stay between Sevierville, TN, and Richmond, VA, because we didn’t want a very long day’s drive. So we stopped at Dixie Caverns RV Park in Salem, VA, just off of I-81. We had researched the area and this was about the only choice we had. Boy, it was small but very shabby with old dirty trailers on one side that appeared to be either seasonal or permanent. But when it is the only game in town, it served our purpose. I think the owners know it because the price was $38 a night after tax. Costly for what you got. The center rows were pull-through and we were lucky enough to get the front corner site. A good thing, because the rest of the pull-through sites were so close together that you couldn’t put an awning out and your slides almost touched your neighbor.
After dinner in town, we headed back towards the campground and we noticed a concrete dam up between two of the mountains. Oh, dam! I mean literally! If there is any sort of dam nearby, Doug has to go see it. He is fascinated by the engineering. He looked up the location on the internet and off we went. It was only a couple of miles from the campground. Well, the dam road, I mean the road to the dam bottom and powerhouse was closed with “no trespassing”. We tried another spot and that didn’t work either. So back to our original road and we drove way back up on the mountain through some pretty nice homes tucked up there in the middle of nowhere and away from everything. Just a few were rough looking and we hoped we weren’t going to run into any redneck hillbillies with shotguns! Again, no dam. We reached the end of the road where a park was located but apparently had been closed for some time and a chain was across the entrance. We weren’t sure how far it would have been to walk so we gave up on the dam road, I mean the road to the dam, and the dam! We were told later that it had been closed.
A few others stopped for the night just as we did and most of us pulled out the next morning. Believe me, the photos look far better than what we actually saw! We really think Virginians don’t RV. There just are not that many RV parks, other than state parks and Corps parks for weekenders), around the state and the few there are, are very costly. But we do what we must when needed. Ah…makes me dream about being back out West as soon as possible!
The campground is part of the Dixie Caverns property. Visitors may explore the caverns on guided tour, but after all the other far more extensive caverns we have seen in our travels, we decided not to take a tour. The caverns were found by a couple farm boys back in 1920 after their dog fell through a hole that led to the caves. They decided to name the caverns after their dog in honor of his discovery. Guided tours of the caverns were begun in 1923. The cave is located in a hill overlooking the surrounding region. It appears the owners have neglected the entrance area just as they have the campground, so it sure didn’t look inviting and there were hardly any visitors at all while we were there. Was glad to be leaving the next morning and get closer to Richmond to see the children and grand children.
Definitely not many choices in RV parks in that area. Since Jim has so much family in Roanoke this is where we always stay. Where are you staying in Richmond? We were lucky to be able to stay in our friends' driveway.
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