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.

Hiking Skills for Cubs: Day Camp Day 4

Ever announced that you were going to be leading a group of kids on a hike and had your ears accosted with groans and whines and all manner of under-breath grumbles? Unfortunately for me, I have a few too many times. Although I have yet to figure out just where some kids have gotten this negative stigma to the word 'hike' (my own kids beg to go on hikes, so I just don't get it), I have found that children often can use the help of a motivator to make a walk through the woods something less of a chore.

So for my last day of the Cub Skills station at camp I came prepared to motivate the boys toward enjoying our 1 mile hike. First, I had pre-hiked the path and found a cool destination that could be used as the end of our trail. A spillway for the resivoir's dam with some neat climbing rocks on the bank of the river. Score! I also created a hiking bingo game for the boys to bring on the hike, which conveniently listed many trees and birds which they needed to be able to identify to earn the Hiking pin. How very sneaky of me to include requirements in something billed as a 'fun' activity!

Click image to download printable PDF.

But I had an even better secret weapon to get the boys excited about the hike. I brought with me many small tubs filled with various goodies and some small plastic baggies. Before each group sallied forth they got to make their very own trail mix to enjoy on the walk. You've never seen kids so excited to put scoops of pretzels, Goldfish and M&M's into a baggie before. I don't think I heard a single grumble or complaint about starting the hike since they had one hand in their snack mix and the other on their bingo sheet and pencil. Conveniently, the character trait the camp was focusing on that day happened to be posotive attitiude too, which I happily reminded the boys of before the hike and hinted that those exemplifying that trait might just walk back with an extra spirit token or two.

We happliy walked the rocky path, the boys excitedly checking things off their bingo sheets, including many things that apparently ONLY they could see. I tried not to mind the obvious cheating and told myself they were only trying to please me and themselves. When we reached the spillway and rocks, the expressions on their faces was priceless. There's something about kids and runnign water that makes them stare in awe. After a group picture and a short break to eat more trail mix and point out some nearby poison ivy, the hike back went just a smoothly and pleasently as the hike down. I'm not sure who was more proud of themselves, me or the boys. I also passed out information sheets for the Virginia State Parks Trail Quest program to those boys who were interested in getting the pin for that day's hike.

Five group hikes in one day, and no memorable complaints to speak of. In fact, every boy seemed to have a truly great time and was all smiles after leaving my station. If that's not a testament to how much kids can actually enjoy hiking then I don't know what else to do to help. Dare I say even the parent chaperones, one of which blatently had said he hated hiking, thouroughly enjoyed themselves on the walk. I truly hope that the week's activities and the culmination of the short hike will inspire more of those kids to get outside and walk some trails with their Dens and family members.

One of the groups at the "end" of the trail. Can you tell they had fun?

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!