What are RV full hook ups? Linda's definition.

RV full hook up: electric, water, and sewer

The above picture (not a very good one) shows a typical RV park hookup that most RVers are happy to have.  On the pedestal there is an electric outlet (usually 30 or 50 amps) and water.  At the base of the pedestal that white capped tube is a sewer connection for the yucky stuff.  These 3 items: electric, water, & sewer make up what RVers refer to as "full hookups".

Well to Linda she goes a major step forward.  Not only full hookups, but also the "tech" full hookup.  To Linda the tech trifecta is:  satellite TV, 5 bars of cell service, and WiFi internet.  See below:

Satellite TV dome on RV

Cell phone with 5 bars of signal

WiFi internet

For Linda, the RVers full hookup is not enough.  She requires the tech trifecta.

Satellite TV to watch FOX News, HGTV, DIY, Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, The Voice, So You Think You Can Dance, Yard Crashers, Property Brothers, Love It or List It, Kitchen Crashers, and etc.  All this has to be watched going down the road and at a campsite.

Cell Phone Signal to make calls to family and friends.  Also, she is able to Face Time our kids and grandson, so she can see and her them.

WiFi Internet to keep in touch with the world using Email, Facebook, uploading and downloading pictures, making Shutterfly photo books and doing research.

We pulled into Stonewall Resort campground and got setup.  Tim already knew we had the RVers full hookup at our campsite: 50 amp electric, water, and sewer.  As a bonus Linda had here tech trifecta: satellite TV, 5 bars cell service, and WiFi.  The last two items were easy.  The satellite TV required some effort.  When we backed into the site, there was a line of trees behind the site blocking the path of Big Red's satellite TV dome and the DirecTV satellite in the southwest sky.  We found moving Big Red to the very front of the site driveway enabled us to clear the tree blockage and get satellite TV.  Moving Big Red created another problem.  Big Red's electrical cord wasn't long enough to plug into the campsite pedestal.  Uh, oh.  No electric power for Big Red.  Can't run the 3 air conditioners and all the other stuff on the bus.  The situation was not acceptable to Linda.

So Tim starting digging.  Years ago he purchased a 30 foot long electrical extension cord.  It weighs 21 lbs. because the cable is very thick.  Tim has stored it in the front storage compartment of Big Red for years and rarely uses it, so it it buried.  After digging and digging, Tim emerged from the compartment holding the "snake".  After connection of the extension cord we now had full hookup and Linda's tech trifecta.  Hooray!

See the picture below to see what happened.

Linda behind Big Red showing need to move to get satellite TV

Linda with thumbs up & smile.  Notice the long electrical extension cable at her feet and the pedestal on the right

Linda with thumb up after checking that she had satellite TV and electric

In the picture above Tim hopes Linda is giving the thumb up and not something else.  Of course, she is.

Where do we go next.....wild and wonderful West Virginia

We left Fries on Monday, July 21 and didn't know where to go.  We knew we didn't need to arrive in Ohio at Linda's sister home until Wednesday, July 23, because her sister was still working and not on vacation.  The drive to Ohio would be too far for one day, so we decided to stop someplace on the way in West Virginia.  If you've never visited WV, you need to put it on your list.  It is indeed, wild and wonderful. 

Tim had heard about Stonewall Jackson State Park and their campground called Briar Point.  This campground is located within the beautiful state park and usually very busy.  Getting a campsite to fit Big Red would probably be a long shot, but what the heck it was worth a call.  The campground usually rents all its sites during the summer months a year in advance.  There are only 40 sites for RVs.  We stopped for fuel along I-81 north of Fries and Galax and made the call.  To our surprise there was one site available for Monday and Tuesday and the best news was Big Red would fit.  We headed for near Roanoke, WV and Stonewall also known as Stonewall Resort.  We arrived late afternoon and got Big Red wiggled into campsite #40 (Tim will write a separate post on that later).

Big Red parked on site #40 at Briar CG in Stonewall Resort, WV

We found Stonewall (Resort) Jackson State Park to be beautiful.  The park is new.  It was completed in 1990, but soon found that revenues would not service the debt (government at "work").  The state of WV ventured with a private firm to sell bonds and run the park.  Guess what?  The park is now run successfully and has great amenities....top rated campground, Arnold Palmer golf course, and well run lodge/hotel and restaurants.  And the prices are reasonable.  For a small activity fee, we were able to take a scenic large pontoon boat ride on the lake at 6 p.m.  We hurried over to the boat launch and boarded.  Lots of people were on the boat, which was well maintained.  There were about 50 passenger already on board.  The boat shoved off and we enjoyed a nice ride around part of the lake.

Tim on cruise of Stonewall Lake

Tim got some videos with his new GoPro camera.  Once he figures out how to use it he'll post some videos and pictures. 

Bridge from campground to boat launch and lodge

The next day we toured around the park and had a great late lunch at the lodge.

Stonewall Resort near Weston/Roanoke, WV

Arnold Park designed top rated golf course

Golf course view from the pro shop & restaurant

Pro shop & restaurant entrance

Tim's golf days are over

View of Stonewall Lake from the golf course deck

We were lucky to spend a couple of days on our short visit to Stonewall Resort.  It will be on our list to visit longer in the future with campground reservations.  Now it's time to leave and head for Ohio.

More bluegrass and BBQ and cool weather

Thursday, July 17 we had a short 100 mile drive from Bristol to Fries, VA.  You mean you've never heard of Fries (pronounced FREEZE).  Well, it is a very small village with no stop lights on the New River in the southwest corner of Virginia.  After making the treacherous last 5 miles of the trip to the Fries New River RV Park, we arrived at a little corner of paradise.  We unhook the tow car in the nearby city of Galax.  Linda drives the car with the 2 way radio piloting Tim driving the bus until we arrive at the RV park.  We have to use 2 way radios, because cell phone service is worse than spotty.

Muffin was not stressed by the trip from Bristol to Fries

We pulled into our campsite #14, which was a double site.  All the sites at this small RV park are along a stream with gorgeous landscaping and a nice patio area.

Big Red at campsite #14 Fries New River RV Park

That night we headed to the Fries city hall, where bluegrass and old time music pickers gather.

Pickers at Fries city hall

Flat footin' at Fries city hall

We enjoyed the music and dancing.  Near the end they have a "cake walk".  Numbers are placed on the floor around the pickers.  You start dancing/moving from number to number until the music stops.  A number is called out and turn the paper over with the number to see if you won.  Tim was the lucky winner the 3rd time around the cake walk.  He shares his winning cake with all who attended.

Starting the next day in nearby Galax was a regional BBQ competition.  Pro teams from 6 states arrived to compete for prizes.  I believe there were over 50 teams entered.  They filled the streets of Galax.  There cookers and smokers were in many different configurations.

Got to have fire with BBQ

Tim next to a BBQ smoker

 We enjoyed talking to the different teams and seeing their unique motifs. They had team colors and shirts.  Many different styles of cookers and smokers were seen.  Some were very unique.

BBQ outfit on deck of customized trailer

Smoker next to a portolet

Of course, BUBBA was there

BBQs for sale boxy or barrel shape

Pretty fancy BBQ rig

Huge barrel BBQ with dual smoke stacks on dual axle trailer

Piglet in shorts (stuffed)

No BBQ is complete without recognizing the pig.  Many tributes to the pig were seen.

Shiny and colorful BBQs

You could see your reflection in this BBQ

The competitors were vying for a trophy like this, a cash award, and possibly FOOD TV  exposure.

Fiddle trophy for BBQ champ based upon Galax's fiddler history

Unique BBQ built into a "woody" car

The Shed team with their unique "woody" car BBQ

Who's the dude in the white suit?

Wild looking BBQ with great graphics

This electric smoker was preferred by the top rib competitors

Gigantic BBQ

Besides BBQ, bluegrass bands played on the streets of Galax.  The band below was very good.

Bluegrass band on street of Galax, VA

Despite drizzle attendance was good for the activities.

Crowd in Galax for BBQ competition and other activities

There was also a "People's Choice" award for the best BBQ besides awards by the pro judges.  For a small donation you could get a sampler of contestants BBQ with a blind number system and vote.  This system probably works better than our political elections!

"People's Choice" sampler by number

More pictures from the BBQ are shown below.

Great looking ribs on the grill

Ribs ready to serve

Great color on these ribs

The above 5 pictures only represent a few of the teams.  Got to love the names.

Above picture shows the whole hog smoked by The Shed team with the "woody" car

Whole hog coming out of the woody car

The Victory Lane team thinks they're going to be winners

Removing the meat from the BBQ/smokers is done with utmost care.  Presentation for the judges is well thought out.  Each team only has about 10 minutes with the judges to make their verbal presentation and sampling of their entry.  This is SERIOUS business.

Carefully removing ribs from the smoker.  Don't drop it!

Presentation for the judges

We also had time while we were in the Galax to attend the bluegrass performance at the famous Rex Theater.  The local radio station broadcasts the performance every Friday night.

Stage of the Rex Theater getting ready for the live radio broadcast of bluegrass band

Our last day in the Fries/Galax area was spent on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Blue Ridge Music Center located on the parkway.  Views from the parkway are beautiful.

Unusual building inside Stone Mt. State Park

Since the parkway runs through parts of North Carolina near the Galax area, we explored briefly this park.  We found this unusual building inside the park and couldn't figure out how it was used.

Our time in the Fries/Galax, VA area ended on July 20th.  The next day we headed for West Virginia.