We got home from the zoo at about 5:30 and we immediately packed up and started driving in the direction of Shenandoah National Park.
I had booked us two rooms in a hotel and we got really lucky this time around; not only were our hotel rooms right next to each other, but they were adjoining. So, we just propped the doors open between the rooms and it was like we had a suite. It was SOOO nice.
This morning we woke up, ate, got ready, and drove the 10 minutes to Shenandoah National Park.
We decided to hit the visitor center first thing, since it was on our way. It was in an incredibly picturesque spot.
Evie was already beginning to complain that she was hungry. (This is what happens when you don’t eat your breakfast.) And so, we decided to take a few minutes to get everyone snacks so that they would be ready for our hike.
And then we left the Visitor Center for Skyline drive. Shenandoah Park is long and skinny and there is one main arterial road that goes through nearly the entire park. Pretty much if you wanna get anywhere in the park, you’ll get there by way of Skyline drive.
It is an incredibly beautiful drive. As we got higher up, we started encountering patches of fog. I had selected Little Stony Man trail because it was relatively easy but it has a major payoff: a panoramic view of the valley….As long as you’re below the level of the clouds that is… We pressed on and figured that if it was foggy and the views were obscured, we’d still enjoy the hike.
Eventually we made it to the trailhead and we started off. Both of the twins had fallen asleep as we drove, and so they took a minute to wake up and warm up to the idea of hiking. But we got there in the end. And they had a great time.
Evie, as usual, was petting all the moss and lichen. And we saw a bunch of millipedes (though the twins refused to believe they were anything but caterpillars.)
As we were hiking, we ran into a couple of people who were doing the entire Appalachian Trail. We actually ended up chatting with one of them for a bit. He is about 3 months into it, and so we asked questions, and just generally chatted. And now, the three older kids are determined to hike the entirety of the Appalachian trail (all 2100 miles of it.)
Eventually we made our way to the top and the views were AMAZING. And it was not obscured by fog. Though one little cloud did spill into the valley while we were up there.
We ended up staying up there for a good 30-40 minutes because we were enjoying the views so much.
But eventually we made our way back down.
After we made it back to the bottom, we all piled back in the car and headed back to D.C.
When we pulled into our Airbnb, Isaac saw where we were and started screaming that he wanted to go back to the “Bed House” aka the hotel. Apparently it had made an impression on him. Poor little guy. 😂😂😂
Well, that about does it for this post. Shenandoah was amazing. We loved it.
