Leaving Delaware-

Yesterday morning, after saying our goodbyes the night before, we left Delaware, heading towards home. The weather was cool and rainy, but the driving was OK. Checking the weather this morning, it looks like we (rather accidentally) timed our departure just right. The South was getting blasted yesterday, while the Northeast is getting it today. I think the front passed over us during the night while we were snug in the Airstream at “Hungry Mother” State Park in southwest Virginia.

We thought “Hungry Mother” was an interesting name for a State Park. According to the legend,  during an Indian raid on a settlement south of the park area, Molly Marley and her small child were among those who were taken captive. She and the child later escaped, making their way through the wilderness. Exhausted and starving, Molly collapsed, and the child wandered down a creek bed. When the child was found by a local pioneer woman, the only words that the child could utter were “hungry” and “mother”. When a search party later found Molly at the foot of the mountains where she had collapsed, she was dead. Today, that mountain is named Molly’s Knob and the stream is named Hungry Mother Creek. When the State Park was developed in the 1930’s, the creek was dammed to form Hungry Mother Lake, giving the State Park its name.

This is a lovely State Park with a beautiful lake with boating and canoeing, hiking trails, and several nice pavilions and picnic areas as well as cabins and campgrounds. We had our pick of campsites, as we were the only campers in the park that night.

Unfortunately, the weather was just too cold and rainy for hiking or sightseeing, but we stayed warm and dry in the Airstream. And how nice it was to just pull in to a campsite and be all set up (we didn’t even bother to unhitch). And even better this morning, to be ready to go without the hassle of folding up a wet pop-up camper.    : )

Our stay at Hungry Mother was too short, since we were just ‘passing through’ and the weather - not really drawing us to linger . This park will have to join the others on my list of “places we will have to come back to”.