June 22nd - Charlottesville to Philpott Lake, VA

​Long drive over the Blue Ridge mountains on I-64 to I-81 south, which traverses the old Wilderness Road for post-Revolutionary westward migration down the Shenandoah Valley toward Cumberland Gap. We stopped for lunch at our favorite Virginia Barbecue joint - Foothill Mamas in Lexington, VA. We had smoked Andoullie Sausage and pulled pork, cornbread with honey butter, collard greens and cole slaw. Yum! Chased with a couple of locally brewed IPAs.

We got off I-81 at Roanoke and took back roads to an amazing campsite at a lake created in 1948 by the Corps of Engineers for flood control and hydroelectric power generation. It was 12 miles from the nearest grocery store or gas station over windy, hilly, narrow roads. But was it ever worth it! Philpott Lake was quiet, calm, warm, clear and beautifully pristine. There were only a few campgrounds and parks around the 100-mile long shoreline. We inflated the paddleboards  and enjoyed the calmest wind and wave conditions we had ever seen on a large body of water.