It’s May 12 2024, Mothers Day. I slept well and woke up expecting to go see my Cousin Kay, it was Mothers Day and she called to tell me she wouldn’t be able to see me today. I knew what she was experiencing and told that I understood and would see about coming back that way. With a heavy heart I loaded up and heading out.
I looked for state parks out of Ohio, I had seen enough and wanted to see another state. I found a place in Kentucky just across the border at Grayson Lake state park. It’s near the city of Grayson, and is a huge reservoir, and very pretty one at that. It also has a golf course! I set up to stay for two nights and from there I spin the wheel to see where to go next.
I arrived at the park about 3 or so. The ranger station wasn’t open and it like many other parks, it’s on the Honor system . fill out a paper and put it in the slot , in the morning the ranger see’s who is new and waits for you to come see them.
The park was rather empty so I had my pick, of the place. The spot I had reserved was out by it’s own, but not much shade. I decided to move across the road under some trees. Thing was, I would be next to an RV. I didn’t really care as long as they didn’t, so I set up my apartment.
As I finished, I saw my new neighbor coming over. He introduced himself, Jim was his name and he and his wife Tonya were on their last night at the park. Jim was really loving my tent. He said that his daughter would love something like this and asked if he could take pictures to send her, I said yes of course. We talked for a little while and he headed back to his RV.
I took a quick bike ride around the camping area, really nice place , lots of shade. But there always seems to be that one guy who has to fill his space with enough flags to line a carnival midway. Dude get a grip. LOL Anyway I came back to my camp and Jim comes over with some pizza for me, I thanked him profusely and sat back and had dinner. Not too much later Jim returned with dessert , granola and yogurt with Blueberry’s, again I thank him and as he walked away he said ” We’ll have breakfast in the morning”. I nodded in approval, and wasn’t sure what to think. Later that night I went out and took pictures of the crescent Moon, I like taking pictures of different phases , instead of just Full moon shots all the time. I felt like I got a few good shots and went to bed.
The next morning I got up and came down the ladder and back to terrafirma . I saw Jim and he called me over for breakfast, I went over and they invited me inside. They were a great couple Tonya worked for a large insurance company and traveled a lot. Jim was the stay at home Dad, I believe. I got to know more about them, they where heading back home in Virginia that morning. Jim told me more about his daughter, seems she had written a book that was being published soon, he was really excited and so proud. He told me the name of the book ” Crescent Moon Tearoom” His daughters name is Stacy Sivinski. He said it would be on Amazon, he was beside himself. I then told him I took some moon photo’s last night, and showed him. He freaked out, He said ” Man, my daughters book is called crescent moon tearoom, this is crazy!” You come and show me pictures of a crescent moon, I can’t believe this”. I told him I would send him a copy and he could use it for whatever he wants. He was ecstatic. They took off later that morning with invites to come see them anytime. Before they left Jim came to me and slipped a bill into my hand and said ” go play golf”. I couldn’t believe this guy. LOL, So later I pulled my clubs out and went and played golf. Beautiful course for the most part, it was a great break. And I saw a deer.
Every once in awhile I would hear from Jim telling what he was up too and checking to see where I was. Now in June he called me to tell me his daughters book release party is in October in Indianapolis, and he wants me to be there. He said he will pay my way for me to be there? Cool.
When I was leaving the golf course I was talking with a couple local gentle men and what I was doing. I mentioned Bicycles and they said well you are in the right place. Seems there were road bike race’s in Charleston, that weekend that were for Olympic trials. I said cool, how far is it from here? They said not far about 30 minutes or so, not far. I thanked them and rode back up a steep hill on my bike carrying my clubs.
I got back to my home and pulled out my computer to see where this Charleston was. Turns out it’s in West Virginia, and it’s at least an hour and a half away. Distances are different in Kentucky. That night it rained but again I was leaving anyway and thought How often can you see something like this? I took off in the rain after packing up and headed to West by god Virginia! I arrived in Charleston and looked for a cheap hotel and a bike shop to get some information, And I did both. Hotel cheap, kinda , bike shop was nice spent a bit of time there before heading downtown where the races were, found a parking spot and walked down just in time to see some of the riders come by in intervals as they were time trials, racing against the clock for a place on the team. Pretty cool. The next morning it was still raining, so I called it a wash and headed to my next destination. Last night I was looking at two places, Bristol, or Mount Airy, NC. I was drawn to Mt Airy. It was a nice drive to Mt Airy or the town that was the basis for the Andy Griffith show and Mayberry, and it had a light rain of course, with more to come. I found another cheap hotel. I went to main street Mt Airy and wasn’t disappointed. There was a time when Mt Airy wasn’t so excited about the title of Mayberry, but over the years and after seeing the revenue it could bring in they embraced it. Now there are hints everywhere, from “Leon’s California Cheeseburgers” to “Floyds Barber Shop” and more. You can even take a tour in a replica police car just like in the show and you can yell “citizens arrest” all you want. Really a must see place for Mayberry fans. I went back to the hotel and the next day the weather had cleared up, so I went back downtown and moseyed around some more, even ate at Barney’s cafe. But I had a decision to make and get back on the road. I’m almost caught up WOOHOO.
You are really seeing some neat places and people.