April 15 – 18, 2021; Newport News Park Campground, VA ATTENDEES: Nancy Carlson, Marsha Miller, Joanne O’Donnell, Sherry McNeil, Beth (Elizabeth) Hughes, and Barb Foley (WagonMaster) NEW MEMBER: We welcomed Beth Hughes who joined us for her first outing as a new LOWS member. GENERAL: We camped on B Loop to have access to the reservoir. Although it was too cold to go kayaking, we enjoyed the views, sunsets, and ospreys and herons fishing along the shoreline. SITE: The campground is a municipal campground featuring camping, a bike trail, non-gasoline engine boating, hiking trails, and roomy bathhouses with lots of steaming, hot water in the showers. The campground, like others, prohibited bringing firewood, but it did have firewood for sale. Unfortunately, it was not cured, so it was very difficult to start and maintain a fire—but we managed to have a meager fire each night. We had occasional sprinkles, but they were kind enough to wait until we had retired for the night. AGENDA: Four of us arrived a few days early; the rest arrived on Apr. 15th. Wed., Apr. 14 – We relaxed. Thurs., Apr. 15 – Some of the group went shopping at the Williamsburg Premium Outlet and then we enjoyed a unique Brazilian restaurant dinner. Fri., Apr. 16 – We drove around the Yorktown Battlefield Park to see the Revolutionary War sites. Then we drove up the Colonial Parkway to Jamestown to go back to the Colonial Period. While in Yorktown, we enjoyed lunch at the Water View restaurant along the Yorktown waterfront of the York River. Later, we enjoyed a scrumptious Pot Luck at the campground. Sat., Apr. 17 – Ate dinner at Joe & Mimma’s, a local Italian restaurant, and then had hilarious time making apple pies in a pie iron on our anemic campfire. Sun., Apr 18 – Relaxed and dined on our Joe & Mimma’s leftover ‘boxes’ for dinner. Some enjoyed shopping and the bike path. Mon., Apr. 19 – Departed campground BUSINESS MEETING: Held short meeting; discussed upcoming campouts; collected VA LOWS dues from the six in attendance. Funds collected by Marsha Miller. • Barb Foley, WagonMaster ================================================================================================================================================================= James River State Park 17-20 June 2021 Attendees: Marsha Miller, Beth Hughes, Nancy Carlson and Sherry McNeil (Wagonmaster) General: This state park is an International Dark Sky Park nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. It features camping (RV, equestrian, primitive and cabins), hiking, biking, kayaking, tubing and fishing. Agenda: We arrived at various times leading up to the start of the campout. Greetings included “Hugs” which made everyone smile and started the fun. Our campout was full of laughter, smiles, wonderful campfires (even in the heat) and deciding what as a group we wanted to do during the day and what of the park programs we might want to attend at night. In the park, we participated two nights in the ranger led programs, one on the 5 string banjo and another on a basic tour of the night sky above the park. We visited the Monocan Indian Museum near Amherst, VA, did some “junking” in two local thrift/antique stores, ate too much excellent food at Vito’s in Amherst, and on Sunday, two of our group went tubing on the James River when the water flow finally decreased to a safe level. We welcomed 3 visitors from Richmond, one of whom is considering the purchase of an RV and wanted actual firsthand knowledge on camping experiences, maintenance/repairs, popular RV web sites and general info from a singles point of view, on Saturday. They expressed their appreciation and thanks for sharing our time and RVs with them in a follow-up email. The campout ended again in hugs as folks departed. Business meeting: A short meeting was held in which we discussed upcoming campouts. ================================================================================================================================================================== Our August campout was held at Wapacoma Campground in Romney, WV. Members attending were Anita Talbott, Nancy Carlson, Marsha Miller, Beth Hughes and Joanne O'Donnell. Our two guests were Carolyn Martin and MarSue Reuss. Anita and Marsha had met Carolyn at Florilows last winter. We never went kayaking but some played at the beach area with their dogs two afternoons. We ate some meals at the Main Street Grill and bought pies from the Flying W restaurant. On Friday, four of us travelled to Shanksville, PA to the Flight 93 Memorial. It was a very moving experience and we were very happy that we spent this rainy day at this site. We had our potluck on Saturday evening because we were on our day trip on Friday. We enjoyed several campfires in the evening. The September campout will be at Kiptopeke State Park in Virginia with Nancy Carlson as wagonmaster. Business meeting - We did discussed next years schedule We have decided NOT to come back to Wapacoma next year. There are many seasonal sites filled and it was difficult for us to camp as a group. ================================================================================================================================================================== Bull Run Regional Park - Oct 14-17 Attendees: Heather Berryman, Nancy Carlson, Bob Fitsgeral, Marsha Guerrant. Elizaeth Hughes, Lois Lotis Sherry McNeil, Kathy Schmidt, guest Debbie Berryman With lots to do in the area everyone kind of did their own thing: Kayaking, Craft Show, sightseeing, shopping at the local Salvation Army Store, and exploring Bull Run Park. We had our usual pot luck on Friday and dinner out Saturday at Cracker Barrel. A short business meeting was held on Sunday morning around one last campfire. The meeting was called to order by Wagonmaster Heather Berryman. The only business discussed was the issue of who is responsible for running the business meeting. It was clarified that the President will hold the meeting if he/she is present. If the President is not present the wagonmaster will hold the business meeting. Whoever is holding the meeting may ask one of the attendees to take minutes for them. The minutes will then be provided to the webmaster for publishing on the website. Loois Lotis also raised the issue of whether National Membership is still required to be a chapter member. The answer is yes, we are still affiliated with the National Loners On Wheels organization. The meeting was adjourned with no further business. =========================================================================================================================================================