West Virginia

Honaker35

hey all

i was just looking to see if there was anyone from West Virginia 

jkjenn

Pittsburgh... we are not far away.

Cyclonic

East Virginia here

Cyclonic

BTW, welcome, tell us a little about yourself.  Where in West Virginia?  Do you have a T@B or are you looking?

Cyclonic

Oh, we do like to occasionally camp in West Virginia.

Photomom

I hear it is almost heaven. 

Cyclonic

It is Wild and Wonderful.

Jltab

From Richmond Virginia

kybob

In 1969, I graduated from Charleston Catholic HS. I have not lived there since. I also lived in Beckley during first grade. Nice memories.

Honaker35

Name is Brandon I have owned a tab for about a year now I live in cabell county in West Virginia. 

John_and_Kris

We love to travel thru and in WV.

Cyclonic

That is way west West Virginia. 

Been to Huntington a few times, and plan to stop again to go to Camden Park in June.  Big Dipper is a fun ride.

Honaker35

I hear Camden park sold out to Walmart and they are going to build a super store there not sure how true it is. 

Cyclonic

Nope, they have not sold the park.  It opens this weekend for the season, and is even adding a new ride this year.

Honaker35

Ok awesome to hear. 

argem

glad to hear of more tabbers in our area. we live in ashland ky so very close. we are suppose to go to grayson lake this wknd for season shake out stay but may be a wash out

manny

Hey  honaker35, welcome .. our first trip in our T@B  was to Pipestem St.Pk.  in sept of 2014..  very nice pk. and area..  happy campin!!!    2015 L- Max   tv  2008 ridgeline

Honaker35

Awesome. I went on my first camp out of the year last weekend up in white sulphur springs and did a little fly fishing. 

Floridaloha

I just bought a little cottage in Elkins, WV. I will live in it in the summertime and in my home in Florida the rest of the year. This year I drove to Elkins for a week's vacation from Washington, DC and was a little concerned about pulling the T@B up and down the mountain grades. I have a 6 cylinder Mitsubishi Endeavor with towing package. I will be getting my T@B later this month and practicing on Florida flat land only. Is there anything I need to know about driving on the mountain roads? The steepest grade I experienced was 11%, most were in the 7% range. There were quite a few low speed turns, 25 mph. Most were faster. 

Any suggestions for good places to camp in the eastern and central West Virginia areas?

Cyclonic

You choose well with Elkins, beautiful area.

Towed our T@B through the area in June (US 48 is a fantastic drive, especially east of Davis) with no problems.  The Endeavor has a towing capacity of 3500, you should have no problems there, just take it slow on the steeper grades.

As for campgrounds, no personal experience.  We overnighted at the KOA east of Huntington, which is far west of you.  Great KOA, a bit packed, but awesome swimming lake and very, very nice bath houses.  Owners were super friendly too, and we ran into a T@G owner there, who is also a local just out for the weekend.

Floridaloha

Thank you, Cyclonic. I couldn't be happier about Elkins. My cottage is at the foot of Davis & Elkins college in the historic district and I attend some of the Augusta Heritage music classes in the summer. This will let me walk uphill to the college, not only for these events but for all the other festival happenings there. I am also within walking distance of Elkins Park, downtown and the train station. There is room for the T@B to park behind the house, so I'm excited about taking weekend camping trips around the area, probably starting with the state parks. It's just gorgeous, and yes, 48 is a lovely road. 

I will be pulling the T@B from Florida next time, driving a different route than I took this time. Is there any resource I can check to find out in advance what the grades and conditions might be on these roads? I believe that most of them will be superhighways from here to WV from the south. Does AAA help with that, or...? 

I'm a newbie to towing a camper and will practice a lot on Florida flatlands before attempting any of this, but any advice is much appreciated!

Verna

The AllStays smartphone app will give grades, low bridges, lots of campgrounds, propane, shopping, etc. It's available for iPhones or Android. It's worth every penny you spend on it. 

The Apple maps (if you have an iPhone) will give you areas of construction, which comes in very handy. 

Floridaloha

Thanks, Verna! The AllStays app sounds perfect. I do have an iPhone. I also have WAZE which is good for telling you if there are road problems ahead. I could not have done without the SIRI help in guiding me turn by turn from DC to WV, I didn't want to take my eyes off those crazy curvy roads! And I wasn't even towing anything this time.

Cyclonic

With the TV (Tow Vehicle) you have, you should be fine on the interstate highways, if that is the intended route most of the way.  Standards dictate, with just a few exceptions, a grade of no greater than 7%.

Many states do produce trucking maps that show where things like low bridges are, but they generally do not include grade information.

If you are a AAA member AAA can produce a Trip-Tic that is specific to towing a trailer for you.

But, I have been up and down the mountains in the Mid-Atlantic here and have never had a problem, and I have a comparable TV to yours, so I expect you will be in good shape.

Verna

Floridaloha said:

Thanks, Verna! The AllStays app sounds perfect. I do have an iPhone. I also have WAZE which is good for telling you if there are road problems ahead. I could not have done without the SIRI help in guiding me turn by turn from DC to WV, I didn't want to take my eyes off those crazy curvy roads! And I wasn't even towing anything this time.

I tried WAZE once....she interrupted her directions for an exit I needed to take 1/2 mile up the road to tell me about a car on the should 2 miles up the road. I cannot repeat here what my verbal reaction was...... ;(. This was also in the Washington, D.C.. Traffic. 

Cyclonic

Verna said:

Floridaloha said:

Thanks, Verna! The AllStays app sounds perfect. I do have an iPhone. I also have WAZE which is good for telling you if there are road problems ahead. I could not have done without the SIRI help in guiding me turn by turn from DC to WV, I didn't want to take my eyes off those crazy curvy roads! And I wasn't even towing anything this time.

I tried WAZE once....she interrupted her directions for an exit I needed to take 1/2 mile up the road to tell me about a car on the should 2 miles up the road. I cannot repeat here what my verbal reaction was...... ;(. This was also in the Washington, D.C.. Traffic. 

You make traffic sound like it is bad or something around here

I use Waze all the time, and confuse it a lot too, but I tend to like to go my own way.  It has saved me on occasion, usually when I look at it and it is telling me a route that is not normal, I then know there are problems ahead.

Verna

@Cyclonic, I'm retired from rush hour traffic!  Therefore, traffic jams are not my thing!  D.C., Atlanta and Dallas are three cities I love to miss!

Nomad

I do everything I can to miss all metro areas :-)