Tag Archives: virginia

The rolling green hills of Staunton, VA!

After leaving Statesville, NC, we headed up to the KOA in Staunton, VA.  Staunton is located in Northern Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley in between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny Mountains.  I grew up in Northern VA, near Washington DC, so I really wasn’t expecting much more than city and crowds.  I was pleasantly surprised.

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We were met by beautiful rolling hills of fresh green grass.  Honestly, the hills went on for miles!  Dotted with barns and silos, and covered with beautiful grass.  My first thought was, “who the heck keeps all that grass mowed?”

Turns out that cows do!  Who knew?

Well, apparently Dave did, but you see I am a city mouse trying to blend in with all those cool country mice.

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And the RV park even had it’s share of wildlife.  Geese, ducks and I even happened upon a bunch of deer on an early morning walk with the dogs.  They stood so still that the dogs didn’t even notice them.

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And while I may be a city mouse, my dogs are apparently southern born and bred.  The minute the temperature dropped into the 50’s, both dogs disappeared into quilt cocoons on my couch.

Quick quiz- can you find the dogs in the photo above?

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We took a drive out to downtown Staunton.  If you are in the area and want to blend, we discovered that the correct pronunciation of the town name is STAN-ton.

I love the old architecture!  The city is known for beautiful buildings.  Staunton is also the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th US President and the home of Mary Baldwin College, and the Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind.

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We bank with SunTrust, so we were particularly intrigued that this beautiful building actually houses our bank!  We suddenly felt the need to visit our accounts.

The inside is just as spectacular as the outside.

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Also in Staunton is The Cheese Shop! It is a local family owned Amish-style bulk foods store.  They offer a huge selection of cheeses from the Amish Country in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin along with baking items, and bulk package food.

We highly recommend the Amish Farmers Cheese.  It is amazing.  Also if you haven’t ever had it, you need to try Lebanon Bologna.  It is similar to Salami, but with a tangier, smokey flavor.

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Ralph highly recommends it too!

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Dave took advantage of the nice weather and built several campfires while we were there.  Like most KOA’s, you can purchase wood at the office and they will deliver it for you.

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Do you love authentic German food?  When in Staunton, be sure to check out the Edelweiss German Restaurant.  The food is amazing!  They also have a huge selection of German beer and wine.

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I ordered  Knackwurst with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes.   Dave was feeling daring and ordered the Schweineroulade.  It is a tender pork cutlet stuffed with pickles, herbs and spices, covered with a tasty sour cream sauce and Bavarian dumplings.  We both agreed that both meals were delicious, but his was the best!

The meal came with lots of sides including green beans, cooked cabbage, pickled red cabbage (yumm!), and dumplings.  Oh, and be sure to check the German Wine Menu.

We definitely will be coming back next time we are in the area!

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After a wonderful three day stay, we left Staunton and headed out toward Hershey, PA.  We both decided that if we ever have the opportunity, we would be back for a longer stay.  Staunton was a beautiful place and is definitely one of our favorite stops on this trip.

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A look inside our RV!

One of the questions we get asked the most is “What does it look like inside?” Well, I certainly could share some pristine photos of what it looked like before we moved in.  But what fun is that?  Here is an unedited, slightly messy tour of our inside!

We own a 2013 Itasca Meridian made by Winnebago.  It is 37 feet long and has three slides; one in the bedroom, one on the driver’s side living room, and a full slide on the passenger side.

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For those guys out there that have the need to know, it has Cummins Diesel 6.7 ISB, 360 HP Engine on a Freightliner Custom Chassis.

For the girls: You are the dishwasher!  LOL!

So welcome aboard!  Be sure to wipe your feet. I’ve spent the last few days trying to get all that red Georgia mud out of my motorhome.  Now I’m in Virginia and I’m tracking black mud in.  I guess that is what I get for having a white interior!

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This is a look from the driver’s seat back.   I haven’t done a ton of decorating yet, as we haven’t been in it too long, but I have included some pops of color.  Not that I really have any wall space for pictures.  The cool thing about a motorhome is that nearly every square inch is storage.

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Faith is busy guarding her couch.  There is an envelope dog bed that I made them behind the driver’s seat, which Ralph tends to take over.

Faith and I share the little footstool that you see.  I’m too short to get in half my cabinets, and she is too old to get on the couch without help.  Both of us were getting tired of asking for assistance, so the stool came to be.

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This is the passenger side.  Both couches fold out into beds.  You will find that most everything in a motorhome has dual purposes.  The drivers seat and passenger seat actually will turn around and become recliners as part of the living room.  (When we aren’t driving, of course)!

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This is my little kitchen.  I have a gas stove, microwave/convection oven and a full size refrigerator.  Oh, and I have a husband who loves to cook outside on his charcoal grill.  It is the best of both worlds!

One thing I learned quickly was to pull my hair back when cooking.  I leaned over the stove to reach something in the microwave and singed my hair.  Dave wanted to know if I burnt dinner again.

Ha. Ha.

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The kitchen includes everything I need with the exception of a dishwasher.  Well, since I am apparently the dishwasher, I take that back…

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Across from the kitchen is our eating area.  This photo shows the table with the leaf in.  Not huge, but adequate.  We were told the table would be large enough to seat four.  They neglected to mention that they would be four incredibly small people.

If I need to do any crafting, I can do it here or work outside on the picnic table on a nice day.  As you can see, I also use area as my office.

Behind the table are tons of cabinets.  I use them as a pantry and also as storage for my craft supplies.

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One thing that we insisted on when we were purchasing the RV was that we have a washer and dryer.  While they are small, they do a great job.  Dave is in charge of laundry, since I may or may not have colored an entire load of his white underwear and t-shirts pink.

Mistakes sometime come in the form of red undies.

Just saying.

Anyway, it worked out well for me.  I haven’t had to wash clothes since!

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This is our little bathroom.  There is a shower to the left.  I have to tell you that the toilet takes a little getting used to.  The trap in the toilet opens directly to the tank below.

The trick is to not have the vent fan going when you open the trap.   Believe me, you don’t want to have the fan on when you open the trap.

Take my word for it.

One of my biggest worries was that my bathroom would smell like a port-a-potty.  It actually does not.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Well, unless you accidentally do the vent/trap thing above…

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The bedroom has a queen sized bed.  The mirrors to the left are actually a nice sized closet.  And tons of tons of storage space!

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When we are on the road, this is what the inside looks like when the sliders are in.  Big difference!

To travel, I have to put everything away that might slide around.  And be extremely careful when I open the fridge once we are at a campground.  Things shift around and I may or may not have had to clean up a dozen eggs off that white tile.

Live and learn.

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Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed your tour!  Be careful going down the steps on your way out.   And try to avoid that black Virginia mud.  It gets everywhere!

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