Get Away From it all at James River State Park. WAY Away...

In many ways I am lucky enough to live just south of Richmond in Chesterfield County, VA. Lucky because not only do I have a GREAT State Park almost around the corner (Pocahontas State Park), but also because there are at least half a dozen other wonderful State parks all within a 1-2 hour drive in almost every direction. What's more, the types of landscapes and ecosystems of these parks offer a wide variety to suit your whim.

Lately my whim has been to go to the mountains. The cooling air and hints of fall weather have me itching to get away. But with all the kids activates and sporting events its almost impossible to get away for more than one weekend night. I knew a long drive to the mountains for a quick one-night jaunt wasn't the ideal way to spend our limited time. So instead, last weekend we decided to head to James River State Park and check it out for the first time. The park is west of Richmond, towards the mountains, and I figured it was sure to at least feature some nice rolling hills as we entered the piedmont region of the State.

By the directions I had, the park was 60 miles west plus 7 miles down a country road. We figured a little over an hour to get there. After an hour and a half of driving a long road through things that could hardly qualify as 'towns' and a sign telling us we were leaving Buckingham County (where the park is located), it was time to get out the map and Tom-Tom and start questioning our directions. Luckily we had not passed it, and soon came to the road sign pointing the way to the park. Fifteen minutes later we pull into the park, very relieved to have found it and wondering where in the WORLD the nearest store might be in case we forgot something. This was by far the most remote State Park we'd been to yet.

But remote was good. Maybe it is because peak summer season has now ended, but there were relatively few other campers around the park, and with three separate camping sites, we were very well spread out. My family chose to stay in the primitive Branch Pond sites, a very quiet area of seven nicely spread out tent sites with adjacent trails. My only complaint would be that we had to get in the car and drive to the nearest drinking water source to fill our water cooler. I know primitive means no water on site, but a spigot within reasonable walking distance would sure have been nice.

In our short overnight visit we explored the park, threw rocks into the river, watched some kayakers paddle by, hiked some lovely trails surrounded by trees just beginning to show a tinge of autumn yellow, said hi to every passing horse and rider we saw, made ooey gooey s’mores, listened to owls calling in the night and generally relaxed and enjoyed the incredible natural peace of the park. It was a trip well worth the slightly longer than expected drive. As we drove away down the winding road that travels by riverside farmland, I knew this one night trip was only the first of other excursions to James River State Park. It will go on our short list of places to get away – far away – from it all, while still remaining at an easy, kid-friendly distance.

Take a Walk to 3 Million Years Ago at Chippokes State Park

This summer the boys in my Cub Scout rising Wolf dens worked on their geology belt loop and pin. Boys and rocks and volcanoes and fossils just seem to go together naturally, and I knew they'd enjoy working on the activities. We made pet rocks, brought in mineral samples from products around our homes, made working volcanoes and casted a full dinosaur skeleton in plaster. As predicted, it was a LOT of fun, but one of the best things we did was take a field trip to a nearby Virginia State Park to take a trip back in time. Chippokes Plantation State Park may be known for its working old-style plantation farm, but we were interested in something even older than the days when cotton grew in fields that were plowed by teams of horses.

Hugging the banks of the James River where the water runs wide as it approaches the Chesapeake Bay, Chippokes State Park is a lovely area with beautiful water views. And three million year old fossils. Yup, fossils right here in the middle of Virginia. And you don't even have to dig to see them.

We began our field trip by meeting the hunt leader in the parking lot near the old river house. The gentleman (forgive me for not getting his name!) is a retired William and Mary professor who vollunteers at the park for fun on the weekends. He showed his impressive collection of fossils, many of which were found right there in the park, and then proceeded to give me, the Leave No Trace trainer, quite a shock. He told us the fossils were strewn out everywhere underfoot along the river bank, and we were allowed to take as many as we wanted home with us. I was floored. The kids were excited. We had not come prepared with bags to take things home, but luckily many of the parents had something in their cars, so off the boys went on our hunt with bags in hand.

Strewn about is right. Millions of years ago, all of Virginia was under a deep sea. The fossils we could see everywhere were of the seashell type. Many looked similar to scallops and clams of today, but were generally bigger and, shall I say, somewhat more prehistoric looking. The river banks are slowly eroding, and the sand cliffs that are being formed show a geologic history of Virginia, including layers of fossils poking out of the soil. The river's narrow spits of beaches were coverred in these fossil shells that had been uncovered due to the errosion.

The boys (and I admit, adults too) had a ball running about the beach collecting every cool thing they could find. We were told that if we look carefully we might find a coveted black sharks tooth mixed in among the ancient shells. Try as I might though, I only managed to find a crooked back from bending over so long, no one went home with any sharks teeth that day.

Even though the boys had the blessing of the trail guide to take as many fossils as they wished, the parents and I tried to rein in the collecting. True, it appeared there would be an almost never ending supply of the shells as the banks continues to erode, but we adults felt that taking them from the river in buckets-full must somehow have an impact on the condition of the area for the future. Those shells probably become hiding spots for river creatures and break down into beach sand one day. I personally was torn by my excitement of briging home a three million year old object and my burdgeoning Leave No Trace ethics. In the end, the boys got to take home a few good fossils each, and I took a few to show those in the Dens that couldn't make the trip.

The boys show off some of their best finds.

The Cubs headed for home, happy as little clams (fossil clams?) and the family and I headed back towards the visitor's center for a picnic dinner and some play time on the park's two playgrounds. Yes, we had to try them both. We jotted down the park's Trail Quest code and enjoyed the beautiful view across the water, trying to pick out exactly where Yorktown might be. It was somewhere right across from Chippokes. There is even a nearby free ferry that takes riders over to the historic Yorktown/Jamestown area. The beauty of the park's location and the proximity to other area attractions made us agree that we'd have to come back for a weekend camping trip sometime.

Chippokes Plantation State Park is well worth a visit. Take a stroll along the river and touch something older than you can wrap your mind around. Take a fossil, but leave more for others to find and marvel at the thought of being deep under and ocean. Look closely, maybe you'll find that lucky sharks tooth. If you find two, can you send one to me? Its all I'm missing from my collection!

View of the James River from Chippokes State Park, VA.

Camping at First Landing: When Plans Go Awry

This weekend we finally went to the beach! I can officially now believe that summer has started. It certainly was hot enough!

Unfortunately, very little this weekend went as planned.

I had planned that we would get to First Landing State Park quite early on Friday, preferably around 4pm when check-in begins. I knew that a good number of the campsites backed up to a very busy road that connects two sections of busy Viginia Beach, and I'm a light sleeper so wanted to make sure we got a site as far away from the road as possible. Well, we didn't end up leaving very early, and of course got stuck in all the rush-hour traffic leading to the tunnel, so it was nearly 7pm by the time we arrived. Suffice to say all the "good" sites were taken, and as I feared, our site backed up to the road. It was a really beautiful site nestled in the forested dunes and surrounded by beachy trees with lots of good climbing branches. If it hadn't been for the near constant roar of traffic, it would have been a little slice of heaven. But thankfully, it was not the end of the world, and we almost got used to the noise by the end of the weekend. I did sleep badly the first night with all the annoyingly loud bar traffic roaring through, but by the second night I was tired enough to not notice it as much!

Since I had planned to get to the camp ground early, I also had wanted to go to the welcome campfire program being hosted by the Rangers at 8pm that night. We set up camp as quickly as we could and then drove over to the visitor center to find the campfire. The description mentioned stories and I hoped to hear something about the area or the Indians or anything I might use for Scouts. We looked all around for the campfire. No luck. Sigh... Well, instead we went down on the beach and played around in the sand and water while the sun finished setting. It was a nice evening, even if I didn't get a new story to add to my repitoire.

Back at the campsite I lit a fire and started getting the kids ready for bed. I was thoroughly amused by the small group of teenages that walked hesitantly over to our site to ask how I got my fire lit. Apparently this was their first foray into the woods and they'd been trying for hours, unsuccessfuly, to light a fire to cook their hot dogs. A Scout is helpful, so while DH took the kids to the bathrooms, I went over and helped the next generation by showing them how to build a fire. They were nice kids, not at all rowdy as some teenagers can be, and very thankful for my help. I hope they have an easier time of it on their next trip out in the wilderness!

So, the next morning I had planned to go on the "Swamp Stomp" hike being led by park interpreters at 11am. It sounded really neat, with the kids scooping up buckets of swamp water and looking for bugs and animals that lived there. It figures that 7am found me scrambling to get the tent unzipped before OS threw up all over the blankets. He hadn't shown any signs of being sick, it was a total surprise. He seemed to feel better after that, so we started our long walk over to the bathrooms and he got sick again on the way. Ummm, no Swamp Stomp for us that day. Bummer. After making it back to the campsite, my poor sick boy crawled back into the tent and went back to sleep for a few hours. At this point we weren't sure if we'd end up having to leave, but we figured for now he was probably more comfortable in the tent than he would be in the car. DH took YS to the playground for a while, then I took him on a bike ride up to explore the visitors center. Miraculously, when OS woke up late that morning he seemed to feel much better and kept down a small amount of food and water. But then he had issues with the other end of his digestive tract, if you know what I mean. Note to self - pack even more emergency underwear for the kids next time.

Well, by 4:00 all the odd sickness seemed to have passed and OS was happily running around the site and swinging from the rope swing that some previous camper had strung up over a pit formed from the bottom of several dunes. So, finally, we got to head to the beach for a little while. The kids had a blast, they love the shallow water and small waves of the Bay. I was very thankful that my big boy got well fast enough to enjoy some part of the day!

After a super yummy dinner on the grill - steak, corn on the cob and garlic bread - I decided to make up for the missed Swamp Stomp hike by going on the interpreter-led Night Hike, which started at 8:30pm. I knew it would be a streatch to have YS hike that much when it was already past his bedtime, but I was determined to get at least one good hike in. I'm so glad we did it, hiking at night was a new experience for the boys, and the interpreter was fantastic with the kids. We listened for different kinds of frogs and owls, watched for bats, and got to test our night vision with a neat experiment. Even though I ended up having to carry YS back on my shoulders, it was a great way to end what had started out as a questionable day.

We woke up late Sunday morning to a stifling heat. The weather on Friday and Saturday had been hot, but tolerable in the shade, and at night it was pleasently cool. Sunday decided to bring on all its heat and humidity with full force. We were already drenched with sweat before we even got out of the tent. Of course, I had thought we'd be up early and take a hike before the heat really set in, but who knew we'd all be so tired we'd sleep in that much? Ahh, but that didn't stop me from making pancakes and bacon for my hubby's Father's Day breakfast! After loading up on the carbs, we decided to try a bike hike instead. We got on our bikes and headed out of the campsite and across the road to do some biking on the Cape Henry Trail. Even though it was hot, the breeze while biking made it a little more tolerable. I'm so very glad that a Scout aquaintence of mine lent us her bike rack for the trip! I'm not sure what we would have done without the bikes there, it really made a big difference, especially just getting to and from the distant bathrooms! I have no idea how far we biked on the trail, but I know my legs and rear end were screaming for mercy by the time we were back at the campsite! It was a good ride.

After the bike hike we hit the beach again for a little bit and then packed up to go home, thouroughly exhausted. Considering we weren't even sure if we'd be able to stay the weekend, I think we had a great trip and still managed to fit a lot of fun stuff in. The kids both kept saying how much they didn't want to leave (they obviously don't long for air conditioning as much as we adults do!), and in the car, just before he fell asleep, YS let out a big sigh and said, "I love our camping trips." Those five words alone made all the stress of plans gone awry completely worth it.

Camping and VSP Trail Quest at Bear Creek Lake

Yippee! Our first family camping trip of the year turned out to be a great one!

I had reserved our camping spot online (VA has a great online reservation system) at Bear Creek State Park and in the process found out about the Virginia Trail Quest program. That's it, I'm hooked. We will now proceed to visit every State Park in Virginia over the next couple years.

How could I not have known about this great program? You simply visit a State Park, hike a trail, write down the "secret" code for that park (available at the office or at the new electronic kiosks) and then enter the code online when you get back. For the first park, you get a very nifty pin in the mail, and very quickly I might add! I signed me and the two boys up for the program. You also get pins for the 5th, 10th, 15th, etc parks that you visit, with a special pin if you go to EVERY State park in Virginia. Free stuff just for doing what I probably would be doing anyway? You betcha! And the pin looks great on OS's newly made Cub Brag Vest. :)

But, back to the camping. Bear Creek Lake was a nice park, complete with playground and lake with swimming beach, two things a parent highly prizes when looking for a campground. Then again, most VA parks do offer those things. Just another perk of this State's beautifully managed Parks system. Since it was before the "busy" season that begins with Memorial Day weekend, there weren't too many other families there, so we had a nice feeling of solitude and privacy. there's really not a large number of camp sites anyway, so even in the peak season I doubt it feels very crowded... except maybe for the beach area.

It felt good to get away just with the family. Camping with the Cubs is wonderful and the boys have a great time running amuck with their friends, but this more laid back family camp weekend was just what I needed to take a step back and reconnect with myself. No schedules or super-planned activities. Swim, hike, eat, sleep, swim some more. That's about it! Funny how the kids get so excited about doing something that can be explained in just a few words. I smile in my heart every time my little one asks when we can go camping again. Kids were meant to be outside and they sure know it at that age!!!




In preparation for our big trip to Yellowstone later this summer, we have been trying to get out on more hikes, walks and bike rides as a family. So, while we were at the Park we decided to do a 2 mile hike along Channel Cat Trail. I believe this is the farthest my YS has ever hiked on his own, and he made it the whole way with only a few minimal complaints about being tired. He's only 3.5 years old, so two miles sounds like a pretty good accomplishment for him to me! At least now we have a benchmark on how far he can hike on his own on our vacation. We're still undecided about bringing the toddler hiking backpack to carry him in, so sightseeing may be limited to what he can manage. Good to know now just what that is!