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During August the camp hosts were George & Margaret. We were "park hosts".
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As park hosts we worked in the Country Store, the Visitor Center, and did a few projects. We also filled in for the camp hosts on their days off.
We had a 'rogue' deer enter the campground on one of our days as camp host. It had become tame because someone had fed it and was licking people. We radioed the Ranger who told us to rope it and hold it for the game warden to relocate. I tied a rope around it's neck but it went crazy and was flopping around like a fish. We were afraid it would hurt itself so Judy held it down while I untied it.
It left so we thought we were safe. A couple of hours later we heard on the radio that it had gone into the country store. When they talked to the game warden he said he didn't relocate. Luckily it followed Gail when she walked to Massey Gap the next day and never returned.
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This is Gail's camper. She is a park host and has spent the entire summer here.
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The day before we left the rangers had a surprise lunch for us. Roy grilled hamburgers and they all brought beans, vegetables and deserts.
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Tom even stole onions from Harvey's garden.
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Kevin, Jeremy and Jim played guitar and provided our entertainment.
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By the end of August the leaves had started to change and we left to move to Natural Tunnel State Park.
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We had driven down the mountain when we smelled something but stopped and could not tell what it was. When we stopped in Abingdon for propane we had no brakes. A caliper had stuck and overheated the right front wheel. Three hours later the tow truck arrived and we were towed to Kingsport, Tennessee. They couldn't get all the parts until the next day so we spent the night in the parking lot at the RV repair shop.
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Natural Tunnel State Park
One day and $800 later we arrived at our new home for 2 months.
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One of our first jobs was to ride on the park float in the Duffield Days parade. The float had a campsite on it complete with a tent, a table and a real campfire. We had candy to throw to the people along the route. Judy hit some poor man in the head with a Tootsie Pop.
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The tunnel is a cave that was formed over a million years ago by the Stock Creek which runs through it. The railroad added tracks next to the creek in 1900. Coal trains run every couple of hours today.
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A chair lift takes you down to a boardwalk that leads to the tunnel or you can walk down a trail.
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The Park has a special program called "Lighting of the Tunnel". They have large flood lights that light up the 400' high cliffs at the mouth of the tunnel
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and have music on the observation platform.
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This Judy working hard behind the counter at the Visitor Center.
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While we were here the park held their annual "Volunteer Appreciation Dinner". We received a certificate. After dinner there was music.
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We'll be here until the end of October and then will be headed back to Florida.
