camping at James River State Park

Pat and I just returned from spending 5 days and four nights at the James River State Park in the hill country here in Virginia. We had never been there before, but will certainly return. I have forgotten how many acres of land the park contains but my guess would be a few thousand. There are two miles of frontage on the James River which is stunningly beautiful with many small rapids and several islands. The river's rocks look like they have been placed there by an artist. Each scene was spendidly arranged. We spent one morning in kayaks drifting slowly down stream admiring the great beauty of the river as well as the flora along the shore. Wild sunflowers, Cardinal flowers and Hibiscus were everywhere. Blue skies, beautiful clouds Cicadas singing and warm breezes completed the scene. There was a hatch of Damsel Flies which are tourquise in color. They resemble small dragon flies in shape. There were literally tens of thousands of them rising from the water. Smallmouth Bass were eagarly gulping them up. We reserved a site in advance. We suspected that a site would be hard to get. We opted for a site with electric and water even though we were tent camping and didn't need either. We chose this site because we read that the other camping areas in the park offered no shade. We found out later that we had been misled by what we had read. The primitive sites by the river were well shaded and a tent could be pitched just a few feet from the water. We will certainly stay there next time. We also found another campground that is way back in the woods. It is far removed from all signs of civilization. This spot is for the camper that relishes the back woods experience.
This is the second time that we have used our new tent and we were well pleased with it. The tent is 10x15 and has two rooms. We slept comfortably on our queen sized air mattress in the back room and used the front room as a screened house where we read until sleepy each night. The first day was unbearably hot. Pat can't take the heat as well as I can and she suffered the most. We discovered a picnic are at the river on the second day and spent the day lounging, reading and swimming. It was a perfect day. Fortunately the nights were cool and we slept comfortably. There were many stars visible through the screened windows in our sleeping area and we fell asleep each night looking at them. We packed up about ten this morning. We were sweatty and went to take a shower after loading the car. We found the showers being cleaned so we went to the picnic area and took a swim instead. We sat reading and gazing at the river afterward. Neither of us wanted to leave. It was so relaxing and beautiful there with the cool breeze blowing gently off the river as we sat in the shade. We finally decided that we had better head home and did so about noon. It took three and a half hours to get to the house. As MacArtur said,"I shall return!"