We'd decided that on Thursday we'd head to Virginia to the Shenandoah Valley and enjoy a bit of nature. We made it there by midday and stopped for lunch in exciting(!) Front Royal before paying our entrance fee at the North entrance of the National Park.
We drove along the Skyline Drive which has lots and lots of outlooks on both sides but it was pretty hazy so the views weren't so great. We did have a couple of deer run across the road in front of us in the middle of the afternoon, which seems like an unusual time of day for them to be out and about.
We then stopped at the Luray Caverns and took the tour through the caves and saw lots and lots of stalactites and stalagmites. (Do you know which are which?!)
Most of my pictures didn't turn out so well because of the lighting but I'd love to see the shots one kid took with a disposable camera!
We then picked up some food at the (evil, I know) Walmart Superstore and made it to Big Meadows campground for the night.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of munching just outside our tent and unzipped the window to see a deer wandering around our site.
It was time to get up by then (nature calls!) so I grabbed the camera and walked around the campground and saw a few more deer throught the morning mist.
After taking numerous photos, we had some breakfast and packed up and got ready for a hike.
Down, down, down, we went following part of the Appalachian trail and ended up at Lewis Falls. Or more like the Lewis Trickle. It's been a very dry summer down there.
Then it was back up, up, up.
The 3 1/2 hour hike it was supposed to be actually only took us 2. I really wonder how they calculate these things sometimes.
We were taking our time and enjoying the scenery and stopping to catch our breath so there's no way it would ever take you over 3 hours to hike it.
At the "waterfall", we encountered a couple from somewhere in Virginia and the wife had recently been to Montreal with her granddaughter and had a great time, loved the people and felt safe everywhere she went. It's nice to encounter people who have good memories of visiting your hometown.
After a picnic lunch we headed back to Greenbelt and hit D.C. long weekend traffic at about 3 o'clock. Joy.
1 comment:
stalactites go down and stalagmites go up. I remembered from my trip to Mexico where the caves were big enough to hold a theatre.
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