Shenandoah National Park

On Sunday, though we had a relatively short drive ahead of us: 4 1/2 - 5 hours from the Cracker Barrel to our campground in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park, it took us all. freaking. day. 

I'm learning that the "six hour max" drive time I had planned is too much, especially when you want to stop and see things -- or just stop to pee! 

After swinging by for coffee, a shower, three attempts at filling the propane tank (hey, it was going to be cold in Shenandoah!), lunch, fuel, and potty breaks, we finally rolled in to the campground at about 6:30 p.m. 

On the way in to our campground, courtesy of the ROCKD app:

Right about here on Skyline Drive on the way in.

We were met by whitetail deer.

There wasn’t time do do much but walk around the campground and get our bearings.

We did go to the edge of the campground at sunset and walked along the Appalachian Trail for a bit! Hey! We can say we’ve walked the Appalachian Trial!

Poppy's place in the Big Meadows Campground:

and our Happy Camper

American Robin, my favey bird.

It was pretty cold that night, and we didn't have any wood for a big fire in the fire pit, but Trish had gifted me and Poppy this very cool Solo Stove, so we fired it up the first night.

Here's a slow-mo video of it. Nifty little gadget!

It was really COLD out, though, and the little stove didn’t put out much heat, so we shivered a bit before Trish and Punk went in, and I tended the stove until the fire died down.

The next morning, we set out on an adventure. We walked to the Visitor's Center and then took a challenging hike to Lewis Falls.

"Iron Mike," depicting a Civilian Conservation Corps worker at the Byrd Visitors Center.

Not the falls, just a pretty little stream bed.

We couldn't actually see the falls fall. There was an overlook, but the falls fell away from us. Don't know if there was a way to scramble down, but we weren't up for that! Here is a video of the stream on the way to fall!

 

The wildflowers are just starting to show their pretty faces.

Here we were on the Lewis Falls trail

The reward: magnificent views! 

After a well-deserved beer, and a little dinner, we fired up the Solo Stove again. We didn't wait until it was dark and cold. And this time, we did it right.

The next day we drove the Skyline Drive north until we reached a place to exit the park. Beautiful views all the way!

Poppy getting ready to go through Marys Rock Tunnel and beyond!