A Bunch of Miles

On Monday, our second day off, we went within an hour's drive of Winston-Salem to check out campgrounds. We'd like to find one where we can head out, as soon as we get up on our day off (Sunday) and go to a campground with the rig to hang out for our two days off. We checked out four different campgrounds, ranging from 16 miles away to the furthest being an hour away. We liked CrossWinds campground, which was the closest, but due to the early arrival time and it being on a Sunday it would be a little tricky to make it work. We'd have to call on a Saturday and see if there is a spot open; otherwise with the late check out they allow on Sundays, there's no telling when we could get in. CrossWinds is a small campground but easy to get there and they have about eight large pull throughs up front (near the pool)that would work for us. We spoke with Glenda, the owner of the campground and she was very willing to work with us on our needs.

We drove to a couple others...High Rock Marina and Campground (an older campground with tight sites)and Oak Hollow Campground. We liked "B" section of Oak Hollow. It sat next to a large lake and although the sites were back ins, most of them were very long so it wouldn't be too tough to get into. It actually was a large gravel parking lot type of area with spray painted lines designating the separation between sites. Full hook ups but this is a first come, first serve campground. We'd have to wait till 8 a.m., when the office opens, to call and see it there's a spot open and then head out.

The place that seemed to be the best option for us is a campground that our friend, Tom told us about. It's an hour from here and is called Mayberry Campground. It is a large open campground that overlooks the mountains and surrounding area. Full hook-ups at all of the sites but the neat thing is that once we take our rig there, for $30 we can store it there and anytime we want to go up, we just call them and they take it to our site and it's all ready for us to set up once we arrive. There isn't a pool there but we've only swam a couple of times that we've ever been somewhere where they've had one. Not a big deal to us. There was a nice breeze blowing so not sure if that is typical as yesterday was gorgeous and perfect all the way around. It was in the high 70's, low humidity and beautiful blue skies. We drove all day long with all of our windows down and the cool breeze blowing through the car. Boomer was lovin' it !

Anyway back to Mayberry Campground....you may be wondering why it's called that. Mount Airy, where this campground is located is home to Andy Griffith. From what we understand, in downtown Mount Airy are many of the types of places that were part of the Andy Griffith show...Floyd;s barber shop, etc. We didn't make it to downtown...we'll save that adventure for when we go up there on our first camping trip. We think it important that the rig "Stay in use" to keep the systems operating correctly. I imagine it's like a house...the longer it sits without occupants the sooner it goes downhill. This would be our getaway and Sundays and Mondays should be quiet days in the park since many people camp on the weekends. With the exception of just a handful of sites, all of them were fine so I don't think we'd have a problem getting a site on our days off.

The campground itself is the former homestead of the descendants of the Siamese twins, Eng and Chang Bunker. The home still stands and has been maintained. It overlooks the campground. the Bunker's life is a very interesting one. Follow the link to learn more about them.

So...Monday was a busy day for us but we had a good time exploring nearby campgrounds and finding a getaway place for us. Now we just have to look at our schedule and figure out when we'll get the ball rolling.