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Virginia - North Carolina: Thursday, October 13, 2022

After a wet day, we arrived at Lake Anna State Park.

Rain day = laundry day. It was also moving day. On our way to Lake Anna State Campground, we stopped at the Laundry Land Laundromat in Farmville. This was the first “all credit card” laundromat that we have seen. Apparently, charging 25¢ for the dryer on a charge card doesn’t go over well with credit card companies. On my second attempt to add a few minutes to a dryer, Capital One refused to authorize the transaction. I had to use a different card.


We took our merry time to get to Lake Anna. With the rain, there wasn’t a need to rush. The route that google picked was all back roads. We loved it. We are now well out of the mountains and into lush rolling hills. The only quibble I have are the large swaths of clearcut logging that marred the otherwise gorgeous forests. As I have stated in previous journals, we have seen selective logging operations in Europe that leave the forests aesthetically pleasing. I wish America would adopt those practices.


We arrived at Lake Anna State Park in the middle of a 3-day Ironman Triathlon. We had to dodge bikers whizzing up and down the main entrance road. A whole section of the park was taken over by the Triathlon. Lake Anna is a huge reservoir, so there is plenty of water for the swimming part, but that water has got to be cold. Although we did see a couple of runners and throngs of bicyclists, we never saw any swimmers.


By the time we got set up, the sun began to occasionally peek through. We found a pleasant hiking trail loop along the lake front to occupy ourselves. Lake Anna is a beautiful clear-water reservoir. I originally wanted to stay longer than the two nights that I booked here. Along with all the Civil War battle sites in the area, I had hoped to put the kayaks in the lake. Unfortunately, the campground was booked solid over the weekend preventing me the extra stay. That is the pattern, the campgrounds are nearly empty during the week and jammed full on the weekends.

As soon as we set up camp, the sky started to break up.

Lake Anna is a surprisingly large reservoir of the North Anna River. The water is clear and perfect for boating, and in the summer, swimming.

The Railroad Ford Trail is an easy 1.5 mile loop. It starts off as a paved walkway and turns to a traditional dirt path. When the weather finally cleared, we tackled the loop.

Soon, the trail became paved with tree roots.

Glossary of terms used for newcomers: 1) V-Jer. The name of our camper. 2) Saturn. The name of our Van. 3) Duende. Our mischievous gremlin that breaks things. 4) Tata. The good gremlin that helps us fix Duende’s dirty work. 5) The Black Hole. This is what we call Walmart because every time we go in for just a couple of items, we come out spending way more than we figured. 6) QT. Quaint Town. 7) Little Buddy. This is what we call our Dyson cordless stick vacuum.

Dave and Wanda

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