September 3 to 15, 2007 - From Nebraska to Virginia

September 3rd we drove out of Nebraska and headed to Kansas City, MO.  After 259 miles we were camped at Basswood Country RV Park in Platte City, the same place we camped in April 2004.

We did a bit of exploring of the Kansas City area and again ate at Swagat for lunch.  They had moved but we found them and were again quite happy.

September 5th we took a new route for us and drove to East Saint Louis, IL and stayed at Casino Queen RV Park after 285 miles.  We had some thunderstorms just as we arrived and again over the next couple days.  Here is our campsite:

The campground is just over the Mississippi River from Saint Louis, MO and the Gateway Arch is visible from our campsite:

Because of the wet weather we did not get out to see the sights much.  We did enjoy finding ourselves back in Long Horn Steakhouse's territory.

September 8th took us just south of Louisville, KY to Grandma's RV Park in Shepherdsville after a drive of 282 miles. 

We visited with our friends Howard and Linda of RV-Dreams.com, who were also in the area since Louisville was their home town.

September 10th we drove east again and quickly hit rain that followed us the rest of the day. 

WMV 640x480 video of the rain coming down while we were driving (528KB)

After 225 miles we again stayed at Fox Fire Resort in Milton, WV but now it was called Fox Fire KOA.  We last stayed here in April 2004.

September 11th we drove into Charleston, WV and ate at TGI Friday's.

September 12th we took another new route for us, up I-79 to connect with I-68 which took us into the panhandle of Maryland.  This was a scenic trip.  After 272 miles we ended up at Hidden Springs Campground with a campground address in Flintstone, MD but actually located just over the state line in Pennsylvania.

This was a very nice campground and we debated staying another night.

September 13th we instead headed south into Virginia.  It was also a very scenic trip. 

Here is the view from the rest area where we had lunch:

A view from the road:

We stopped at a Flying J to get fuel and noticed a familiar looking motorhome:

Turned out to be our friends Ken and Carolle from Jacksonville, FL.  We had a great unplanned reunion.  They were heading north.  Diane had just finished a plastic canvas Christmas tissue box for Carolle and was wondering where to store it for two months since we were not going to see Carolle until late November.  Problem solved, Carolle was thrilled to get the box as these photos document:

We all realized that we could visit for days and we all had destinations so we said our goodbyes.

123 miles of total driving found us at North Fork RV Park in Front Royal, VA.  They gave us a campsite with the North Fork of the Shenandoah River at the rear.

Nice campground:

The river behind our campsite:

Shenandoah National Park, Part 1, Part 2

A couple more photos of the river behind our campsite:

Diane saw a great blue heron twice and Bill didn't see it.  We both saw a Great Egret but didn't get a photo.  We also saw either a muskrat or nutria going through the next campsite, but were not sure.  Bill thinks it was a muskrat since he was sure it had a flat tail, but it seemed a bit big for a muskrat.

The next day we were heading to the Washington, DC area. 

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