From Alexandria we set off to Blueridge Mountains in Virginia. The roads were much less congested in these more rural parts of the country. After a brief stop at our beloved Walmart (they have everything from fishing/ hunting gear (yup, they have guns) to groceries. We bought different things for the camping and a movie (Jack the Giantslayer) to use in the car, which has a screen. The car sounded like a movie theater as we went on. On the way, we stopped for some fast food and tried a place called Cook-out, where they serve hamburgers, grilled chicken and the like, cooked as you would when you do a barbecue in the garden (cooking out). It was really good.
We noticed posted signs for a lot of vineyards on the way to Smith Mountain Lake, where we were going to camp. The scenery looked a bit like Sweden with much forest, interrupted by open landscapes created by agriculture.
Arriving at the State Park camping, we put up our two tents. Our site was in the forest and the weather was overcast, but the work still made us break a sweat.
Hiroko in front of our tents with a Sam Adams beer. Notice the label, saying "Octoberfest"! And yes, the beer was as bland as Munich Oktoberfestbier.
The first night we cooked sausages and heated ready-made mashed potatoes on the campfire. It was an all right meal. When it was almost dark, we roasted giant marshmallows over the campfire. Fireflies could be seen among the trees. An incredible noise of, presumably, different insects started in the forest. It was really loud. I went out to pee around 5 am, at that point the noise had died out.
Wednesday 06.08
The next morning, the pot we had heated the ready-made mashed potatoes over the campfire in was gone. Hiroko said she had been awake and been really scared during the night, because she had heard sounds of an animal around the tent and of the pot being moved around on the ground. She could follow the sound of the pot being dropped on the ground as it went up the forest. Later she heard the sound of a coyote wailing in the same direction. So, now we were convinced that the coyote had taken our pot because we had failed to wash it (amateurs, tsk).
We decided to go to the nice sandy beach on the lake and also do some fishing. The beach was very nicely set up with tables on a terrace under a roof, restrooms, changing facilities etc. and it was very strictly regulated (life guards and special area for non-swimmers etc). You had to pay a fee to enter the beach but it was included in our camping.
The sandy beach on the lake (picture manipulated)
Hiroko in the shade by the beach.
Philip and I rented a canoe for an hour and went out fishing. I lost a liter of sweat, but we didn't catch any fish although we saw a lot of splashing in the water.
Since we left Washington, we noticed that both black and Asian people had become incredibly rare. Children were giving Hiroko and the kids odd looks - like they had never seen Asians before. It was quite surprising as Boston, NY, and Washington had been full of Asians. Especially the area around MIT appeared to be crammed full of Chinese people. Here in Virginia, almost everybody was white and fat.
In the afternoon we shopped for food for the next culinary challenge at the campfire. Philip had ordered chicken. I was reluctant in the start, knowing from my Weber grill how difficult it is to ensure that pieces of chicken with bone don't have spots of raw meat where it is under-done because of the uneven heat source. At the campfire, this would be even more difficult, I thought. But I took it as a challenge and importantly we found some boneless chicken thighs. Back at the campsite we started early and made a really big fire. While it was burning, Philip and Michael went down to the lake to fish.
The beautiful spot on the lake where Philip and Michael went to fish.
Mai came back from the lake, saying that Michael had caught a fish on his own fishing rod (which Philip had made for him). He was terribly proud and wanted spectators and photos of it, so we rushed down to the lake.
Michael proudly presenting his prey (by the time we made it down to the lake, Michael had already dissected the specimen somewhat).
My charbroiled chicken on the campfire
When the flames of the campfire were almost gone, the grill was really hot and I started the cooking. We didn't have any oil, so I really needed the grill to be very hot. It worked. Nothing stuck to the grill and the chicken was delicious. Everybody loved it.
Thursday 07.08
We decided to go hiking and drove out to a suitable trail head. Philip brought the fishing gear, and we made a stop at an idyllic cove to fish. There were no other people and we had it all to ourselves. After the hike, we spent some hours at the beach and then went shopping for food.
Proud fishermen showing the catch on the home-built rod.
After the success with the chicken a la campfire, I went wild and cooked fish (pre-seasoned talapia) in tin foil, onion, sweet potatoes, and corn on the cob. Everything was really tasty. The sweet potatoes were really interesting. I cooked them in tin foil directly on the embers of the campfire. They got a bit scorched but developed a malty flavor because of the high sugar content.
Mai starting early with the marshmallows.
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