Scouting trip to the Bray Cemetery

 

The route north

Thursday August 11 2022

 

We left home at 8:30 in the morning having packed the RV and truck the night before. Stopping at A&A storage, we hooked up the RV and were pulling out at 9am. Nine times out of ten we depart at 9 am, we must be creatures of habit we don’t really plan it; it just works out that way.

 

We will take our preferred route to Greensboro, but this time we drove the truck and RV to Lucille’s house. In the past we have stayed in a nearby RV park or drove to Martinsville Virginia and then backtracked with the truck to Lucille’s. The parking area in her townhouse community is a little tight but we had no trouble turning around and parking. This will be our preferred stopover plan from now on.

Lucile's home in Greensboro North Carolina

 Our two or three hour stop has pretty much the same script each visit. We discussed; medical malady’s real or imagined, children and grandchildren, other assorted family members living or dead, and the Bray family cemetery. In fairness, Lucille and Millie are the main overseers of the cemetery so there is always something to discuss about that, the rest is just what sisters do.

 

It’s less than fifty miles from Greensboro to Martinsville and we arrived there in the afternoon of that same day. Michelle was not in the office but the campground owner told me to go park in our site and pay her whenever. He always remembers me as a repeat customer and well it’s just an easy going kind of place.

Backed up to the river at Indian Heritage CG in Martinsville Virginia

After setting up on a riverfront site (76) we drove into downtown Martinsville and met two of Millie’s nieces (Sisters, Jennifer and Donna) for dinner at a new restaurant called Roosky’s. I’m going to give them an A for effort, the young crew was very attentive and professional, the ambiance had much to be desired, it seems like an overly large empty space. Millie said she thinks it used to be a furniture store. The food was prepared and presented very well; I’m just not used to the shrinking portions and higher prices that the senile old man in the white house is serving up!

 

After dinner we followed Jennifer to a cabin in the woods. Her husband and his brother purchased adjoining properties that total about 50 acres. It’s the ultimate men’s playground. At the end of a long gravel lane is an old building they have renovated and made into a clubhouse. The property consists of a creek, hills, forest and pasture. They’ve got tractors, mowers, quad runners and a small arms range, what’s not to like here! Butch and his friends meet there most every Friday night for card games and good ol boy camaraderie.

 

Jennifer is organizing a Bray family reunion to be held at the cabin in September or October. The tentative date is October first.

 

Friday August 12 2022

 

We had a few items on today’s agenda. First we went a graveyard monument maker in nearby Ridgeway. We got some epoxy to repair flower urns on one of the graves in the Bray Cemetery. We also inquired about general information on markers, cost, placement procedure and such. Like it or not none of us is getting out of here alive, and this has to be dealt with sometime.

One of Millie's kin has a marker much like this one, we have ordered a new one to be placed in front of the original 1913 granite stone.

Next was a drive by of the Bray family home place which was owned by Millie’s brother Ernest until his death about a year ago. The new owners have remodeled the exterior of Ernest’s house. Down from his house the family home and adjacent store are still the same. Millie always says the family house looks bad, I think no matter what its condition, it will not be the home she remembers from her youth.

You can't go home again {Thomas Wolfe}

 Next was a drive out to the cemetery on Plantation Drive outside of Axton. We were surprised to see a large pine tree from the neighbor’s property had fallen into the cemetery. It may have damaged the fence but it looks minor and repairable to me. We’ll find out when we remove the tree.

Pine tree choses final resting place in Bray Family Cemetery

 We decided to continue our trip to Raccoon Branch campground, but will cut the trip to five days and then return to Martinsville to deal with the tree. We have contacted Chris Henderson (Bray connected by marriage) and he will meet us there to cut up and remove the tree.

 

Back in Martinsville we shopped for an electric chainsaw at the Rural King farm store. High end and High priced saws was all they had so we went across town to Harbor Freight Tools where I purchased the larger of the two sizes they carry. It has a 16 inch bar and will do everything I need it for at home. I’ve been thinking about selling the large gas chainsaw I now have and getting one of these, so this was the impetus to buy one. All this transpired before we heard back from Chris and he said he would bring his saw, but two saws will make short work of the tree. PS: I carry a 4K generator in the back of the truck and 100 feet of extension cord to run my saw, I’m like a boy scout, always prepared!

 

Last stop for the day was at Jerry’s Pizza, which was recommended by several people. It was a very good experience, nice décor, simple order and serve process, very clean dining room and the pizza was excellent!

 The office was still open when we got back to the campground so I paid for our stay and made reservations for our tree removal duties next week and tentative reservations for the reunion next month.

 

We capped of the evening with a walk along the river and an old movie featuring Morgan Freeman and Keanna Reeves. I forget its title and it’s not worth looking up for this blog, it was a lousy movie, we gave it a 2.5 and a 3.

 

Saturday August 13 2022

 

Today was departure day, I didn’t record the time but I’m sure it was 9am, how could it be anything else! We traveled west from Martinsville on hwy 58 or Philpot highway as it is locally known. I think Philpot was the area senator from long ago. About halfway from Martinsville to Galax the road becomes narrow and windy as it climbs a mountain peak, culminating at a scenic overlook called Lover’s Leap. The area at the crest is buzzing with activity with lots of earth moving equipment carving what appears will be a straighter road over the mountain. I hope they keep the local road as a scenic overlook.

Lover's Leap near Meadows of Dan, Virginia

 On the western slope the road becomes a four lane divided highway and soon you come to “Meadows of Dan”. Unfortunately most travelers miss the village because the big four lane bypasses it. We always take the business route where the ½ dozen or so businesses are thriving. It is very popular with the many touring motorcyclists who ride these mountain roads as well as local support and “in the know” hills travelers. 

Motorcycles are a very common sight here

The Blue Ridge Parkway pass here and the very photogenic Mabry Mill is close by. Meadows of Dan also has a commercial campground for RV’s with hook ups, something none of the National Parks Campgrounds on the route have. 

Mabry's Mill on the Blue Ridge Parkway

I see I’m on a tourist spiel here so I must also mention Primland, the upscale golf resort here. One last tidbit, the Appalachian Trail originally passed by Meadows of Dan before it was moved to the west, it’s a shame, the hikers would welcome a break from the dense forest to pass through this spectacular landscape.

A favorite stop

 Our first stop was Nancy’s Candy Factory where we bought fudge and chocolate covered pretzels, the battle of the bulge never ends! Next we walked up the hill to the country store for some produce. I noticed that all the commercial buildings in the village were occupied by some sort of business. I was glad to see this unique little oasis being successful; there are too many identical shopping centers with identical franchised businesses.

 

When we got to Galax we detoured south for a few miles to shop in a Pottery type business. Millie wanted to buy some sewing notions in the fabric building. I browsed thru the outdoor pottery and the craft supplies building, buying nothing.

 

Back on the road we refueled and planned on parking somewhere and eating lunch in the RV but after sampling our candy purchases while driving we decided to just keep going to the campground.

 

Most of the route is well known to us as we travel this way a couple times a year to visit Millie’s sister Betty in Konoroock. Because of the closure of our favorite campground (Grindstone) we now camp at Raccoon Branch, another National Forest Campground. It is very small with only four sites having electric and water hook ups and another dozen primitive sites with no hookups. It was obviously built a long time ago, probably by the Civil Conservation Corp during the Great Depression back in the 1930’s.

The most unlevel site we've had the travel trailer on.

Anyhow it works for us; it’s nice enough and even has paved roads and camp sites. There is a hiking trail that goes to a 3600 foot mountain peak and we plan to hike it while here. The only real detriment is the noise from passing vehicles on the road that goes by the campground. There is forested buffer but they are very close and the area is otherwise whisper quiet so you notice every time someone goes by.

 

Sunday August 14 2022

 

We got the griddle out this morning and made a big country Breakfast, Eggs, hash browns, homemade chicken scrapple, toast and coffee. Mighty good eating!

 

So that we wouldn’t feel guilty after the large breakfast we decided to hike the trail from the campground to the top of a nearby mountain. Well, it was a steep uphill trail and we were not sure how long it was, so we paced ourselves accordingly. When we caught sight of the summit we were probably 200 feet in elevation from the top, but the trail snaked around out of sight. We didn’t have a map so there was no telling how much longer the trail was, so we decided that for us old folk prudence was the better part of valor and we stopped. Besides we had to walk back down the steep grade and that was sure to tax the opposite sides of the joints we abused going up. Surely our breakfast calories were used up by now!

A favorite picture

 On the way to visit Millie’s sister we stopped at Grindstone Campground, it has been closed all year because of a septic system failure and will probably be closed for two more years. It was very sad to see it in such neglected condition and overgrown with vegetation. A classic example of how little our government cares about its citizens, three years to replace a septic system!  

 

Millie’s sister Betty and her husband Paul live on twenty acres outside the village of Konorock Virginia. Paul is advancing through the stages of Alzheimer’s, but he still knows both of us and only asked me if I missed going to work about a half dozen times.

 

We enjoyed a meal with them in the afternoon and I did a small job for them afterwards. There was a fluorescent light fixture in a shed out back that was infested with paper wasps. It was an “Oh S&%T” moment when I opened the case and the inside surface was alive with wasps. I was standing on the top rung of a ladder at the time and for a second I wasn’t sure what to do until I realized they were not going to attach me, not yet anyhow.

 

I slowly backed down the ladder and got a can of wasp spray from a nearby work bench. Incredibly they were still not flying; maybe it was the cool mountain temperature. The spray took them out and they never did attack me; they just scurried around the huge nest until the poison took effect and they dropped to the floor.

 

On the way back to Raccoon Branch campground we detoured down a windy three mile single lane road. We wanted to check out another National Forest Campground, this one called Hurricane Campground. Like most of these camps it was old, but this one seemed to be kept up very well. It is mostly for tent campers and probably gets a lot of use because the Appellation trail runs by it.

 

While at Betty’s place we found out the tree in the cemetery has been removed by the owner of the property behind it. There is no cell service in most of this mountainous area of Virginia, but Betty has a land line phone and internet. We will more than likely cut our stay short and head home instead of returning to Martinsville. That will be tomorrow’s decision, it’s movie time now.

 

Monday August 15 2022

 

Millie and I have taken to a “on the fly” mindset when traveling. While we do start our travels with an itinerary, we have no problem changing the plan midstream. And so it was at 4:30 this morning. We were both wide awake and I said “If we were going home today, we could get up now and get an early start”. Without any hesitation Millie replied “Why don’t we do that!”

On the road again!

We had done what we set out to do, our need to stay for the cemetery tree removal was no longer valid and rain was forecast for the mountains all day today. With that we stepped out of bed and went into our departure routine, each of us performing our designated tasks.

 

We work independently, no speaking or instructions needed, except for double checking some of the critical tasks. We had a slight delay with the outside prep because of an early morning down pour of rain but we were ready to pull out at dawn.

The route home

 We had all day to get home so we decided to drive local roads the whole way; we especially wanted to avoid I-77 which is always heavily traveled. The ride home was pleasant and for the most part rain free. We made four stops, two for fuel, one rest stop break, and a final one to eat a meal. We ate in the RV at a small roadside park at Brownsville on highway 38, its one of those hidden gems we use often.

 

It was good to be traveling and good to be home. We know we’re blessed to have both, wanderlust to explore and a house to come home to!