Highlights and Lowlights in Southwest Virginia...

The southern part of the country experienced severe weather in the form of strong thunderstorms, heavy rain and floods, hail and tornados within the past 4 days. We had a travel day during this time of extreme weather, so we studied the Intellicast before and during our trip so we could make wise choices. We only needed to travel about 3 hours, but we wanted to be safe!  So far, so good. Just some periods of rain.

heading into some weather!

 Things deteriorated once we got to the next campground in southwest Virginia. We pulled in and Tom realized that  emergency brake in our car, which we were towing, was on the whole time. (It may not have been on all the way, but still!!) YIKES! I did that!  We also have been having issues with our "brake buddy" system, which enables the car to brake when the RV brakes. So we were getting rather concerned about the brakes on the car.

Once parked, we could not unhitch the car from the RV....the site was not level and we had to keep moving the vehicles till we could unhitch (A hammer and screwdriver were needed!). Leveling the RV was quite a job as well....took a while. Tom was using the automatic leveler, but something seemed off. He moved the RV and repeated the process. The RV was elevated much higher in the back than it was at the last campground.Okay...once the leveling was completed, it was time to put out the slides. That went well. Okay good....we were getting the hang of things!

Next thing, the hook ups. It was raining, actually pouring rain, and Tom ran out to plug us in, while I started setting up the inside of the camper-putting out our pictures, etc. Of course, the skies opened up right about then too!  I looked up as the door opened, and there was Tom.....bleeding profusely from his head!! Blood just everywhere. It was like a seen from the movie Halloween, or Friday the 13th, or some other bloody horror movie. OMG!!!

I had no idea what happened, but grabbed the roll of paper towels off the wall for him to attach to his head and apply pressure, grabbed my bag, got directions to the hospital and flew there (hoping the whole time that the brakes really were ok!). Thankfully he did not pass out, and he was able to apply direct pressure himself. (And direct me to the hospital....isn't he great!!).

Well, it turns out that as the skies opened up, he ran around the back of the camper right into the corner of the slideout. It was such a different height from the day before.  See those sharp metal edges on the corner? It matches Tom's sliced head below! Yikes!!

corner of the slide out

It took an hour in the ER to stop the bleeding, and another hour to stitch his head up. He nicked an artery, and the blood was just pulsing out. Ugh! Poor guy!! He said it didn't hurt, but let me tell you it hurt to look at it. Ugh! He also had a CT of his head, to make sure there was no internal bleeding going on.

corner of slide out + forehead = 25 stitches

We learned many lessons on this particular day from H***,  and hope some other campers can learn from us! Later, when we got home from  the hospital, pharmacy and pizza place, we wanted to strap ourselves in so nothing else would happen! Hahaha...good thing the couch comes equipped with seat belts!

We learned a few lessons and made the following needed adjustments:  a checklist for leaving camp and for setting up camp, including the car and brake buddy prep; put foam water pipe insulation around sharp edges of slideouts (you can buy it at Lowe's for about $1.35-someone else we spoke with suggested swim noodles); slow down-we are in no rush-we're retired!

Tom is amazing! He has such a high pain threshold (like his lovely wife-hahaha), and asked the doc if he could bike/hike, etc. and he was given the green light as long as he felt up to it. The next day, we got our brakes checked out at the Ford dealer (they were fine!), but we still need to investigate the brake buddy system. The service dept. was so nice.....and we got to talking....and a nice ride through the hills of the southwest Virginia bordering  North Carolina was suggested. Hmm....ok! After a lovely lunch back at the peaceful campground, which is bordered by pastures and cows, we hit the road again for a leisurely drive.

lunch at campground

young cow watching us

The drive was really beautiful. Did not know there were so many tree farms in this part of the state! There are also so many cows!! And rolling hills!

driving country roads

just driving by

tree farm

another tree farm

so many tree farms....really!

peaceful farmlands

lots of rolling hills

rode through parts of Jefferson National Forest

The drive was about 2 hours, and we drove back through Wytheville, which we were familiar with as that is where the hospital, pharmacy and pizza joint were. Haha...things looked much better in the light of day and with the sun shining and no blood flowing out of Tom's head, that's for sure! (I have to say that everyone we met during our "lowlights" was super friendly and helpful)!  Main Street is a little quirky in spots...and we took a few pics as we walked down the street window-shopping!

Quirky!

Paint anyone?

The next day, Tom was feeling like a bike ride! He took a test ride at the campground, and he said he felt good. So...we drove (in the car) about 5 minutes to the New River Trail, which is a rail trail bordering on the New River. What a beautiful place to ride bikes! We really enjoyed it. There are 54 miles of trail, 39 of which is next to the river. Its a gravel path, well cared for. For more info, click here . We rode from Foster Falls to Lone Ash (about 10 mile round trip). Lovely!

checking to see if biking would be ok

nice spot for lunch

can you hear those small rapids?

ready to ride?

watch the horses

lots of shade too

stopping for a photo shoot

taking in the view

what is this???? I think its from a cow. See the teeth?

our turn around point

so much fun!

Relaxing back at the campsite...and healing nicely!

And so ends our stay in Southwest Virginia-highlights and lowlights!  I really debated about publishing this post....but it is part of our story and maybe someone else can learn from us. We give top reviews to the Wytheville Community Hospital Emergency Room Team, the local Rite-Aid, CJ's pizza, and the Ford Dealership, with a service department open on a Saturday! We stayed at Fort Chiswell RV Park, located right off 81. Because of the location, the campground is a great place to stop for a traveling night, but we stayed for a few days (we planned it even before the catastrophe!). It suited our needs and was very peaceful. Again, friendly staff and clean restrooms. Loved the cows adjacent to the campground...it was cool to wake up to birds AND moo-ing! More information here.

PS: Tom is feeling fine now, is on the mend, and still is beautiful to me! We were very lucky! Thank you for your kind words and healing thoughts (you know who you are)!