After our quick stop in Lynchburg – next was Cumberland Gap National Historical Park!

Leaving Lynchburg was chilly and rainy (RR, as usual, was a good helper getting us unplugged and packed and ready!):

But the skies cleared quickly and we enjoyed the pretty ride west:

I know this kudzu is invasive and probably annoying – but I think it’s so pretty!

I’m SO thankful our kiddos are such avid readers and that it doesn’t make them car sick to read while riding:

The Wilderness Road campground is first come, first serve and we heard it’s been very full this year so we were so thankful to pull in and find the perfect spot for us!

We were after the “peak” of colors again – but we couldn’t tell. The leaves were gorgeous !! This ended up being one of our favorite spots and favorite campgrounds ever!

The national and state parks are a lot cheaper than RV parks – and they’re our favorite places to be ! On our road trip around the country we didn’t stay in national / state parks often because they didn’t have cell service for B to be able to work during the week…. but we would love to someday take another loop around the country and stay solely in national parks, state parks, and BLM spots. Our life on the road last year was SO amazing and it all ended up working out so well and we loved each spot we stayed. Well except for El Paso …. I don’t need to ever go back there again. haha Most of the parks we stayed in all last year had lots of activities and amenities and laundry which we needed since we were living “real life” on the road…. so it all worked out as it should! But being able to stay off the grid in beautiful national parks is truly our favorite – so we loved this 2-week trip to give us that chance again!!!

We got hooked up (this park has electrical hook ups!) and went for our first hike which started right at the campground:

We saw bear scat:

Again and again and again…. to the point where the girls stopped trailing so far behind and Mommy took the rear!

There was SO much scat on this trail !

We found the most beautiful God-made carpet. This moss was so gorgeous and soft! We never knew how much we loved moss until we went to Glacier! But we really do love it!

It was such a peaceful break – we stayed there quite awhile resting and exploring:

We always love eating outside so that’s another favorite part of camping and we were so happy that the wood here was not like Shenandoah’s firewood which just would.not.burn!

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We have been reading through the Narnia series together (for about 2 years it seems) and we have really enjoyed it — but I especially loved reading around the campfire!

It was a great first day at Cumberland Gap!