First Landing State Park 05/26-05/31

Our Stay at First Landing State Park

• Reserve a Site at First Landing
• Things to do at First Landing
• Video about First Landing
• First Landing Web Site

 

Monday, May 26

We left home at 10:15 AM and headed for First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach, VA. It was cloudy and every once and awhile it would spit a little rain, but all in all, the weather was nice. We stopped twice along the way, but it only took us 5 hours total to get there. Our first stop was in South Hill at a Shell/Pilot station at 1011 E. Atlantic Street, South Hill VA. We filled our tank and grabbed 3 chicken tenders and some steak fries to eat on the road for lunch. Let me say, these chicken tenders were really good. The second stop was at a Shell Station at 6273 Holland Road, Suffolk VA. It was a really nice station but not convenient to pull a camper through, but if you are just driving, it is a great place to stop. A better option would be the Royal Farms just a little further down the road.

Our campsite was lot #73, and as you can see it is very large. The picnic table is longer than the tablecloth, but that is great for us. We set the camper and then raised the canopy over the table; we are expecting rain this week. The whole site is under canopy and it is very quiet, except when a loud vehicle goes up Shore Drive. There are a few other RV campers around us, but mostly tent campers. 

For supper we cooked a Turkey Sausage stir fry with some Green Giant Tots and some of Emmas Asiago and Dried Tomato Sourdough.

Turkey Stir Fry

Ingredients

• 1/2 Turkey Polska Kielbasa from Aldi, sliced
• 1 bag of Green Giant Vegetable Medley (frozen)
• 1/2 fresh green pepper sliced as large or small as you like.
• 1 tablespoon spicy mustard
• 1 tablespoon buffalo sauce
• 1 tablespoon Cluckin Sauce

Directions

• Pre-heat cast iron frying pan on low (camp stove)
• Add pepper and sausage and stir occasionally. 
• Spray in Olive Oil as needed to keep from sticking
• When sausage starts to brown on the edges, add the bag of frozen vegetables. 
• Stir often and be patient. 
• When broccoli edges start to curl and brown remove from pan to a bowl large enough to hold 
• Add mustard, buffalo sauce and cluckin sauce and stir well. 

We really enjoyed this dish and we are adding to our camping recipes.

After dinner we just sat around the fire and drank coffee and hot chocolate and later we made s'mores. We turned in around 10 but it was a great day.

Tuesday May 27

For breakfast we had scrambled eggs, bacon, cauliflower hashbrowns (really good), toast and fruit.

I had forgotten to dump my spirit ashes into the fire on Monday, so I emptied them this morning. You can read about the Spirit of the Fire, HERE.

For supper we had Chicken Alfredo with Garlic Muffins. 

Healthy Chicken Alfredo 

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large chicken breast
• 1 box of Green Giant Frozen Broccoli
• 1 bag of Birds Eye Veggie Pasta Rotini Alfredo

Directions

• Cook Broccoli in microwave and set aside
• Heat cast iron skillet on camp stove.
• Cut Chicken into bite size pieces and coat with Mrs. Dash and Salt
• Cook Pasta in microwave.
• Put chicken in frying pan and cook slowly.
• Chop broccoli up into smaller pieces and add to chicken when it is nearly cooked.
• Once chicken is done, put in a mixing bowl and add cooked pasta and stir
• Serve in bowls, makes 2 servings.

Amy Leigh washed the dishes and we turned in, we were both rather tired.

Wednesday May 28

For breakfast we had BLT with a fried egg and some fruit.

For supper we had BBQ, potato salad and green beans.

After dinner we took a short walk to the beach and then walked a good mile up the coastline and back.

Nice view of the bay and beach area.

Our hike up the beach was .92 miles (I did not start recording until we were half way up the beach) and we walked 34 minutes.

Thursday May 29

Woke before Amy and wrote in my journal, I was too tired the night before.

For breakfast we had waffles, sausage and strawberries.

We both took some time after breakfast to read our devotions and just relax a bit before heading to York River State Park.

You may wonder what we do for lunch? Well, Amy usually makes us a sandwich and we bring some chips and drink water. Today I had turkey and pimento cheese with pringles.

After getting back from York River and Market Square, we had supper with left over pizza, tossed salad and sweet potato fries.

Last fire, since they are calling for rain on Friday.

S'mores are so good. This one is with a milk chocolate and caramel Ghirardelli square.

Because they were calling for rain, we took up all the outdoor decor so we would not have to pack in the rain. Guess what? The rain never came! Guess what would have happened if we had left it? You guessed it, it would have rained.

Friday May 30

Early morning today, we have to catch our tour at 8:45 and its an hour drive. We had a ham, egg and cheese sandwich with fruit.

For dinner, I took Amy to Buoy 44, a local spot that was suggested by a local. We both had the Salmon and broccoli. I got mashed potatoes and Amy had a side salad. I also ordered some bacon wrapped scallops and they were out of this world.

Saturday May 31

Egg Scramble Bowl with Cauliflower hashbrowns and garlic cheese muffins.

Ingredients

• 2 Eggs
• 4 slices of cooked bacon
• 4 sausage links, cooked
• 1 slice of ham
• 1/4 slice of Turkey Kiel Basa

Directions

1. On low to medium low heat, cook turkey Kiel Basa until starting to turn brown on edges
2. Add bacon, sausage and ham
3. Cook until hot
4. Add eggs and stir until mixed and eggs are well cooked
5. Serve in two bowls with sides of your choice.

This made a great relaxing start to our day.

We love sitting at the table and talking to each other!

Raising the jack to back up the truck.

My excellent partner lowering the jack on to the truck.

Our TireMinder i10 RV TPMS in the vehicle that monitors our tire pressure and heat.

My new Wireless RV Backup Camera System that was given to me for Christmas. We also use it to be able to see the road behind us when travelling, like a rear view mirror.

• Reserve a Site at First Landing
• Things to do at First Landing
• Video about First Landing
• First Landing Web Site

KOA Lynchburg/Blue Ridge Parkway - 4/3/2025 - 4/7/2025

KOA Lynchburg / Blue Ridge Parkway 4/3/2025 - 4/7/2025 

Thursday

We left home around 12:30 PM and headed to the campground. We made a pitstop at the Exxon on Route 29 North, just past Altavista. We had no incidents on the road except for one individual that decided to pull out in front of us, but we were watching and avoided a collision. We used about a 1/2 tank of gas and the transmission temperature reached 144 degrees and it was in the 70's outside.

We arrived at the campground and were greeted by the camp hosts, Tony and Sara. Tony escorted us to our site and we started our setup. Amy and I work as a team and start on the outside and get it all set up and then we move inside. The tree is always up and the memory ornaments are up to 24 now. Red rope lights to outline our site and in case of cooking after dark, we have dimmable lights on the front of the camper. Outdoor kitchen is up and working fine.

For supper we had a Salmon and Veggie bowl with Zucchini Fries and Potato Salad.

Salmon and Vegetable Bowl

Ingredients 

2 cans of Members Mark Salmon (not the kind used for patties.)

1 box of Green Giant Riced Cauliflower

1 box of Green Giant Vegetables

1 tablespoon Low Sodium Soy Sauce

1 Tablespoon G. Hughes Cluckin Sauce

Directions

Open cans of Salmon and drain, rinse several times to get as much brine and salt off.

Cook the 2 boxes of Green Giant in microwave as directed.

Add all ingredients to a bowl and stir until mixed. (Heat from veggies will warm salmon)

Server in 2 bowls and enjoy.

After supper and cleaning up, we started a fire in our homemade fire pit. This is made from a wash tub out of an old washing machine. It is ceramic and has plenty of air flow which cuts down on the smoke. Amy is roasting her marshmallow to eat on a s'more. 

The first s'more of the season is always a good one and here is mine. Cinnamon graham cracker with Ghirardelli square of dark chocolate and caramel and a roasted marshmallow. Yes it puts a smile on my face.

FRIDAY 

We slept in this morning until 8AM and did not feel one bit guilty about it. It was nice to be able to sleep until we were ready to get up instead of having an alarm go off. We had wraps for breakfast with egg and bacon with grapes on the side.

We spent the day just hanging out at the campground. We walked laps, talked, played on our phones, read our devotionals and just did whatever we wanted. We also went down and talked to Sara and Tony for a bit, they are such nice folks. 

 

We also looked around at other sites and if we cannot get the one we have now, #23 would be our pick.

I put kindling and a homemade fire starter in the fire pit. We have company coming for supper and I wanted it ready to cook hot dogs.

My daughter and her family came over to spend the evening with us and we had hot dogs, fries, chips, potato salad and cole slaw. We had homemade strawberry cobbler cooked in the cast iron Dutch oven over coals, for dessert.

We roasted marshmallows to make s'mores.

Played corn hole.

And just enjoyed an evening around the fire. Our granddaughter spent the night with us for the first time and for her first camping overnighter. She enjoyed herself and we enjoyed it too.

Saturday

We asked our granddaughter what she wanted from breakfast and the answer was: "pancakes and bacon, PawPaw". So we had pancakes and bacon and ate outside, much to her delight.

Later we went to the playground and had some fun. Cornhole is just one of the many games that they have available.

The Jump Pad is another favorite, just remember to take off your shoes.

We went inside for a bit to cool off and let PawPaw take a nap, he was wore out.

After a nap, I worked on my memory ornament for this trip. Here is our family around the campfire roasting marshmallows.

Here is our memory tree with some of our ornaments hanging on them. They do help us remember where we have been and when.

Supper was an easy one! Spaghetti and breadsticks from Olive Garden (take home meal) and some meatballs cooked in the air fryer.

We had a nice fire and even picked up a packet to make the different colored flames! That was cool!!

SUNDAY

Worshipped with my daughter and her family this morning and she was kind enough to invite us for lunch afterwards. I had fun reading to my granddaughter and brushing her hair.

We spent the evening around our fire, eating sandwiches, listening to our service over Facebook and just enjoying the peace and quiet. 

We enjoy sharing our trips with you, please leave a comment if you enjoy reading about them.

• Spirit of the Fire: we take a large medicine bottle with ashes in it with us on all our trips. You dump the ashes in the first fire of the trip and take out some ashes from the last fire and fill the bottle. Record where you were and add it to the list. Mine were given to me at a Boy Scout Adult Training Camp in 2011 and there is more on this at the link above.