We really didn’t know what we were getting into when we booked our time here! In our last post, we said we were rusty and yesterday, we could have rusted out! Our next post will explain further and will be about our hike to Jones Falls Trail in the Shenandoah National Park, off of Skyline Drive.

We pre-paid for a four day, three night resort stay in this BlueGreen Vacation property, allegedly located in the foothills of the Shenandoah National Park. We would be “refunded” our money for enduring a two hour presentation about the resort.  It was easy to tell we were not buyers as they had us fill out a questionnaire about our vacation styes and preferences. We have lived on “vacation” for the past two years! So for our punishment, they made us endure a full three hours.  However, we will say that the presentation was excellent – but really more for young families. They missed the mark with us and retirees should exempt from the program. However, we did see lots of retirees here. Maybe they will share it with their families….but for us, it would not be cost effective.

We were also rusty in that we didn’t really scope out the area. We usually know exactly what we will be able to do when we pick an area to stay. And we usually check the weather so we know when the best days are to hike. But for us, we ended up only being able to hike on our day three due to our obligatory two three hour presentation. It turned out to be a bad weather day we learned once we hit the Shenandoah National Park!

To see our complete photo album about Shenandoah Crossings, you can visit it here, on Flickr.

So with that all said, here are the pros, cons and review of the resort and campground.

Pros:  There are a lot of activities on site for children, probably from ages 2 to 17. Most are shown in our photo album on Flickr, but in summary, Putt Putt, swimming pool, splash park, playgrounds, horse back riding, tennis, tether ball, corn hole, horse shoes and more. We did see people on bicycles but they were struggling as it is hilly. There are several laundry rooms, but you probably have to drive to them, unless you are in the campground. Best part, they are FREE! Wow, what a deal.

If you don’t have pets and really don’t appreciate dogs barking and cats meowing (or pigs squealing as our neighbors had last week) this place is for you. We noticed no dog poop to walk around, but then we hit the horse manure….but that’s under the cons….If you love wine and wine tastings, this is also a great location. That’s about the main thing to do close by if you want an outside activity from the resort.

We can speak about our cabin, it has everything you would want for a great cabin camping experience. Really nice towels for bathroom, kitchen and the pool. Comfortable beds with linens and pillows. The kitchen is fully stocked with utensils, dishes, cook ware, outdoor grill with all utensils (they are under the sink), paper towels, dish soap, dishwasher soap, salt and pepper shaker, even two servings of delicious coffee grounds. You just need to bring your own aluminum foil, baggies, etc., condiments and food. Nicely appointed and it looks like a working wood fireplace. We didn’t try it.

Cons:  Our big deal is to be able to take nice walks and long hikes. Our first day here, we didn’t see the on-site hiking or walking trails. It looked like you would have to walk on the road and most vehicles seem to exceed the 15 mph speed limits. Day 2, I was desperate for a walk and said I did see people walking around the laundry area (near the stables). So the good news is that we managed a challenging three mile hike around the campground (where I took most of the photos), but the bad news is that a good stretch of it meant we had to tip toe around horse manure. On day three, we did have to drive to the Shenandoah National Park for a great hike…but it took us 1 1/2 hour to drive 64 miles to the trail head we selected. That was a real bummer as it was advertised as being in the foothills.

If you want to eat out, it was recommended to drive to Charlottesville. It is at least 30 minutes to get there. This is a very rural area, so the speed limits and roads dictate you don’t go anywhere fast. We don’t enjoy eating out, so we had to pick between Walmart Super Store or a Food Lion to shop for groceries. We had no idea they had such a nice grill, so off we went for steaks, etc. It took at least 30 minutes to go 16 miles to go to Walmart. We thought it would have more variety. We were pleased with our rib eye steaks, corn on the cob, baked potatoes (I had a sweet one), mushrooms, onions and fresh salad. For our second night, we brought an easy meal. And our third night, Bill bought a frozen pizza and I had left over homemade manicotti (made by our son in law) with fresh salads.

And of course, if your pets are like your children, you can’t come here. In fact, if pets were allowed, our daughter and family would have joined us for a day or two. We were told, NO PETS. But then when we walked around the campground, we saw several there.

RV Campground:  It looked deluxe, but pricey. All sites were flat, concrete pads, outdoor grills, picnic tables and some had hot tubs (presidential suite). Great area for children and within a short walk to the swimming pools, splash park, Fitness Center, General Store and more.

Would we return here? No, it’s not for us. But was it nice and would we recommend it? Only if you fully understood what you were getting into.  So our lesson learned? Let’s go back to scripture as we usually bathe our travels in prayer….

“Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.” Proverbs 19:21