From Martinsville to Damascus

 Tuesday September 16, 2025

Although disappointed that we didn’t get all four cemetery plots pre-dug, there is no more we can do with the tools we have, so it is time to move on. Our destination for today is Damascus Virginia which is due west a crow-flies distance of 100 miles. That’s probably a 150 mile leisurely drive on Hwy 58.

It's worth a visit.

 

At Hillsville we diverted south about ten miles to the Fancy Gap Pottery and Fabric outlet. The only purchase worth mentioning was the bird bath bowel. We had purchased one several years ago with a cobalt blue ceramic finish. The bowel on ours had broken some time ago but we saved the base. They no longer sell them but the outside yard man went through their odd pieces and found an undamaged one in Cobalt blue. A very lucky and inexpensive find, $12. Hats off to the man who took the time to help us.

Moving mountains to realign hwy 58


The realignment of 58 through the mountains at Lover’s Leap is progressing nicely. We switched from the old road to the new road and back several times and encountered three lane closure sections where we had to alternate with oncoming traffic. I think it will be a more scenic drive after the construction than the original road was. Lovers Leap will not be visible from the new road,  but they have a short spur that goes to it if you desire to see it.

The view from Lovers Leap


In Galax we stopped to eat at Aunt Bea’s restaurant, Millie got a breakfast sandwich, I got Chicken stew. Food was reasonably priced and tasted ok to me. As we sat down with our drinks, I remembered the two cups of sweet tea we had in the RV frig. Both of us had forgotten to secure them before we left. Our fears were confirmed when we checked the RV and had several streams of sticky sweet tea running across the floor. Millie cleaned it up but I’ll still get some ant baits, because I know they’re coming!

They will be coming!


We continued on and arrived in Damascus a few minutes after 3 pm. We are in site one at Damascus Creekside RV which is located in the center of town. The RV park miraculously sustained no major damage during the devastating rains of Hurricane Helene which flooded a large portion of the town and completely destroyed 17 miles of the Virginia Creeper trail. The destroyed portion of the trail was the major tourist draw to Damascus. The Virginia Creeper from White top mountain to Damascus was an exhilarating downhill run off the mountain. It was almost entirely through old growth forest and followed the creeks that you criss-crossed on over 20 wooden bridges. Millie and I were lucky to have biked down the mountain six times over the years. If they ever rebuild it, I don't think it will ever be the same. It was an old cog railroad bed running wild down the mountain, steep in places, no guard rails, no rules just exhilarating adventure. I'm shutter at the thought of what it will be when the government gets involved it!




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Homeward bound

Image
 Saturday September 27 2025 On Friday night, we had decided we would get up early and drive straight through on the return trip to our home. It is a distance of +/- 400 miles, which we can easily do in a day. We don’t even try to suppress the beeline syndrome anymore, when we are within a day’s drive of home, we just go. There is no sense fooling ourselves with a tentative overnight stop somewhere, we just go home. making a beeline for home! We set an alarm clock for these early departures but don’t really need it as we wake up looking at the clock every hour or so. A little after 3 am Millie asked if I was ready to go and I jumped right out of bed.  We had prepped the RV the night before for a speedy departure, about all we had to do was bring in the slide-out and disconnect the power cord and by 4 am we were out on the Great Smoky Mountains Parkway headed for Gatlinburg. My original plan was to beat the tourist traffic in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg that increases in volume ...
Read more

Wednesday September 17 2025 visiting Betty

Image
 Wednesday September 17, 2025 We slept well last night until about 3:30 am when the first truck drove through town. After that every time you would drop off to sleep another one would rumble past us down shifting to slow down for the corner and then roaring off again. Highway 58/92 from I-81 is the straightest, shortest and best route to The Boone North Carolina area. Besides the local logging trucks lots of commerce passes through Damascus on its way south.  Our RV site next to the highway We were out of bed before 7 and getting ready for the day. Around 10 am we Drove from Damascus to Betty’s in Konnorock. We sat on her porch and enjoyed the pleasantries of quiet country living.  The Pedigo porch Around noon I went to work servicing their back up electrical generator. It was a simple job, there isn’t much to do, change the oil, air filter and spark plug. Unfortunately, the spark plug I had ordered was not the correct one for this engine. I sent Jason the correct part nu...
Read more

Cherokee Lake to Up the Creek CG in Pigeon Forge

Image
 Monday September 22, 2025 At 11am this morning we pulled up stakes and left the lovely little campground on Lake Cherokee. It was only a 50-mile trip to our next destination so we took time and meandered down country roads to Sevierville Tennessee.  We stopped at an Aldi’s store and picked up a few things, I think we went in for three items and came out with two bags full. There was a classic stainless sided diner (restaurant) in the same shopping center and we had breakfast-for-lunch there. A very unique campground but we like it Moving on we traveled through Pigeon Forge and to “Up the Creek” RV park which is located just outside of town. We are in site 42 and will be here till Saturday. Up the Creek is a bit different than your average campground, both the campground layout and the way they run it. Basically, it is made for adults who have campers with all the amenities they need. There is no bathhouse, no laundry, no playground, nor activities, But it is a meticulous land...
Read more