Sunset over Prince Edward Lake at Twin Lakes The first part of September found us moving around quite a bit, from our daughter’s house to Williamsburg to Poquoson in coastal VA and ending up back at Twin Lakes State Park near Farmville in south central VA, as we arrived a bit late for our month of hosting there.
Enjoying(?) an evening by the fire Some More Family Time
The pleasant weather that arrived in late August persisted into the first days of September, and we enjoyed the cool evenings with a few campfires at our daughter’s house. As the high school sports’ teams prepped for their first events, we had a chance to watch our grandson’s cross-country meet and our granddaughter’s volleyball games.
The pleasant weather that arrived in late August persisted into the first days of September, and we enjoyed the cool evenings with a few campfires at our daughter’s house. As the high school sports’ teams prepped for their first events, we had a chance to watch our grandson’s cross-country meet and our granddaughter’s volleyball games.
Meherrin River Bridge on the Tobacco Heritage Trail Scouting out future bike rides, we took a day to explore the western end of the Tobacco Heritage Trail. We had ridden the eastern 7 miles of this trail in July with our grandson, and found it poorly maintained and pretty exhausting to ride. Our trip on the western end between South Hill and the Meherrin River bridge was a completely different experience and one that we put in our back pocket for a future ride with the grandkids.
The Tobacco Heritage trail is a rail trail, honored by this caboose in a park in LaCrosse.
Meherrin River Trail On one of our last trips into town to drop off the kids to school, we took our son-in-law’s advice and took a walk by the Meherrin River in downtown Emporia. It was a nice paved trail along the river that we had never explored before. Much better than getting our steps inside Walmart.
With our daughter’s recovery going well, we made ready to leave and head to Twin Lakes by the 2nd Tuesday, having enjoyed the few weeks spending time together as she healed from surgery.
With our daughter’s recovery going well, we made ready to leave and head to Twin Lakes by the 2nd Tuesday, having enjoyed the few weeks spending time together as she healed from surgery.
Steve and Dave on the dock near Stella Maris Off to the Coast
We took some time on our last weekend before heading to Twin Lakes to visit our friends Steve and Linda in Poquoson. As new owners of a Defever trawler, Stella Maris, they were eager to show us their new home afloat.
We took some time on our last weekend before heading to Twin Lakes to visit our friends Steve and Linda in Poquoson. As new owners of a Defever trawler, Stella Maris, they were eager to show us their new home afloat.
| We planned to spend a night in Williamsburg, which meant our route from Jarratt would take us over the James River near the Scotland-Jamestown ferry. We plugged the ferry terminal into our GPS and discovered we would arrive a couple of minutes before it would pull out We headed that way and found ourselves driving aboard just 2 cars before the gates closed. (See the video.) Our overnight stay allowed us to take an evening walk along Duke of Gloucester St in historic Williamsburg before heading out the next morning. | |
Steve and Linda's Stella Maris We spent the day on Steve and Linda's Stella Maris. Its engine room was bigger than their sailboat Bay Dreamer. While an engine problem kept us on the dock, we enjoyed seeing it and spending time together. The next day, we lent a hand in assembling Steve's new ebike before heading back to Jarratt for our final night there.
Dave presenting to the NASPF at Pocahontas. Hosting again
We had barely set up at Twin Lakes before we had to take a trip back to Pocahontas State Park. We had agreed to present the Cabin project to the National Association of State Park Foundations. With representatives from a couple of dozen states, we gave an overview of the project and a brief tour of a nearby cabin.
We had barely set up at Twin Lakes before we had to take a trip back to Pocahontas State Park. We had agreed to present the Cabin project to the National Association of State Park Foundations. With representatives from a couple of dozen states, we gave an overview of the project and a brief tour of a nearby cabin.
Dave looking up prices in Office gift shop Back at Twin Lakes, our efforts went in several directions. We were officially retail hosts, so we learned the ropes of being a cashier and spent a day placing prices on merchandise. Since it is a slow season for retail at the park, we made our way to other projects.
Dave installing boards on the bridge at Goodwin Lake. Retracing our steps on the trails that we had blazed last year, we found some severe damage to one of the 5 bridges on the Goodwin Lake trail. There were several openings caused by damage to older boards. While we could make use of a gator to transport the replacement boards and tools, we couldn’t take the gator all the way up the trail to the bridge. That meant a few trips across the ¼ mile between where we parked it and the bridge. Luckily, removing the screws and old boards was not as bad as a deck we worked on back in May. We managed to replace enough of the boards to fill the gaps and open the bridge to regular foot traffic.
We also began planning for Twin Lakes National Public Lands Day on the last Saturday in September, preparing instructions for a split rail fence installation, weather-permitting. In between our volunteer tasks, we brought out the smoker to offer some treats to the park staff – brisket, chicken, salmon – which made us pretty popular.
Parting Shot
Arriving at Twin Lakes, we caught up with our plaque that named us hosts of the year for 2024. It was a pretty special award.
Arriving at Twin Lakes, we caught up with our plaque that named us hosts of the year for 2024. It was a pretty special award.
