Our trip was hit and miss with rain most every day, somedays seemingly all day and night. Thursday, with one day remaining we were losing light after another afternoon drizzle, so decided to go down to the lake for a final paddle.

Folks were out just like us, some were casting a line, walking the lakeside trail, throwing a ball. After we got out on the little Douthat Lake we foraged along the water's edge for wild blueberries and blackberries when we spotted a majestic bald eagle soaring high above the tree tops where he eventually perched on a snag.

Father and son fishing from a canoe at Douthat State Park

Families enjoying time together and making memories camping

The sun was lowering itself behind the ridges of the Alleghany Highlands and sprinkled a straight line of gold dust across the water directly to me as I sat gawking in my kayak. "How on earth could a moment be as perfect as this?" I asked my husband as the soft warm breeze lightly touched my hair. 

"Close your eyes" I said,

"Just feel the sun on your eyelids"

This was a magical moment, not a Kodak moment that you want to capture, frame and put on the wall, as that is only visual, you just had to feel this one.

The best way to experience the park is from the water

Friends stand-up paddleboard around the lake

A family rents a jon boat from the concessions 

Another rents a canoe

A couple shares the evening along the lake's edge while casting a line

Virginia State Parks for 80 years you have been making wonderful memories and you just made another one for me, today. Thank you.

The number one reason to go to a Virginia State Park

After a week in a Virginia State Park cabin and as much as I am ready to go home, I am also sad to leave.

Do you remember that feeling you had deep in your stomach at the airport when you saw a loved one off at the gate, and they walked off to board the plane? Well, this feeling is similar to that. Me and the old cabin, the lake and the park had a connection, I guess that happens when you spend time together making memories.

As much as I want to go home, I am now homesick for this park, this cabin and all the fun we had here. That, in a nutshell is the number one reason to go to a Virginia State Park, memories.

We can draw from them later on when we thirst, like cold water from a deep well and we will cherish these memories.

The powerful beauty at Douthat State Park is evident even from the boat launch

Click here to learn more about Douthat State Park, the cabins and campgrounds here, and other recreational opportunities here.

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