Chippokes Plantation is one of the nicest campgrounds I've ever been to. The campsites aren't on top of each other and the bathroom is conveniently located. There's so much to do! (be sure to read my earlier post) Brian and I had a great time checking out The Chippokes Farm and Forestry Museum and we got to meet a cute little pot-bellied pig with so much personality! His name was Taz and he was the sweetest little guy! We spent two nights at the campground and met wonderful camp hosts, Doug and Cathy, very nice folks and very helpful! I will definitely visit this campground again.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Eastern Bluebird after an early morning shower"]
[/caption]Our first night went kind of fast, we didn't get out of the house till late but we managed to get to the park before it got dark. We set our tent up and built a campfire. It was a beautiful night the stars were out and we were relaxing around the fire with s'mores yum! The next morning I work up early - this was our first camping trip of 2010, so of course I was overly excited! It rained a little in the morning, but the sun shined through and pushed out the clouds. I didn't want to wake Brian up so I took a quick walk through the campground to check out the birds.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Chipping Sparrow foraging in a campsite "]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Bald Eagle soaring high over the campground"]
[/caption]On the way back to the campsite I got to see a few smaller butterflies. I was very fortunate for them to land and let me take their picture.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="464" caption="Horace's Duskywing Skipper Butterfly basking in the sun"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="443" caption="Eastern Tailed-blue having a short rest on a clover leaf"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="A very curious Silver-spotted Skipper "]
[/caption]I walked back to the campsite after watching the little butterflies flutter around. We made a bowl of cereal and discussed what we were going to do first. We walked to the beach and the visitor center. Lots of Zebra Swallowtails fluttered by on our way down the shady road. when we got to the visitor center we looked through the binoculars and checked out the James River. I spotted a Blue Heron who was on the hunt.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="476" caption="Blue Heron hunting"]
[/caption]After leaving the beach & visitor center we went and looked at all the farm and forestry exhibits, we headed over to the plantation house. I don't think i could ever get tired of walking through the garden - It's such a beautiful place!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="433" caption="Five-lined Skink basking in the sun on the plantation house"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Close your eyes, make a wish...& BLOW!"]
[/caption]On our way to the car, I stopped to look at the beautiful bluebells again...to my surprise there was a tiny white crab spider! I think they are the most interesting looking spiders.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="White Crab Spider guarding a set of Bluebells"]
[/caption]I really didn't want to leave Chippokes... but on our last day we decided to get up early, get on the ferry ride it over to Jamestown and ride the entire colonial parkway to Yorktown. Once we got on the ferry we were literally 10 ft from an osprey in the middle of constructing a nest, and once we got to the other side of the James river I could see inside an Osprey's nest from the top deck of the ferry. It was so awesome!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Osprey building a new nest"]
[/caption][caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Osprey Mom from the top deck of the ferry"]
[/caption]Yorktown Battlefield National Park has a lot to see as well, but we only drove through this time. I got to see a Mute Swan very briefly. They are so graceful to watch glide through the water.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Beautiful Mute Swan"]
[/caption]Brian's Mom Sibyl and Her Husband Norris Live in Yorktown. It would have been silly for us not to have stopped by and at least say hello for a bit while we were in the area. We chatted, caught up on what everyone was doing and Sibyl told me they had Canada geese babies at their little pond in front of their neighborhood. It was so sweet to see them!
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Momma Canada Goose and Goslings"]
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