First Campout of the Season with Two Happy Little Boys!

Shenandoah River State Park - View from the Overlook Trail

We took a quick camping trip on Monday with two of our youngest grandchildren who are five and eight. A lovely park close to home, Shenandoah River State Park, outside Front Royal, VA was the destination. One of the great blessing there? -- no cell or internet service!

Indiana Dunes: A Little Bit of Everything

Lots of markers to read along the nature path.

a "ride' in a canoe at the nature center

Unfortunately, yesterday when we went to the beach I forgot to bring the camera so all that beautiful sunshiny landscape and a walk up a big sand dune are locked in my memory, but no pics. I told Larry we had to stop at the beach before we left to take pictures of the beach for the trip record.

Holy Week Visit

Spring break and Holy Week usually coincide so we had the pleasure of a visit from four of our grandkids and enjoyed several fun outings. Our visit began with dinner at the Melting Pot, a pizza place in Front Royal which had absolutely no atmosphere (maybe grunge) but had good food. We met our daughter and her husband to make the exchange in the midst of a wild thunderstorm accompanied by hail. Fortunately, by the time we were ready to leave, the storms had moved out.

Sunday was Mass day and, since Larry and I had tickets for Groucho at Wayside Theatre, Marianna came over to play. Later on Brendan said the thing he liked best about the weekend was playing with Marianna. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of them together. But it was sweet to see the eleven-year-old wooing his shy little two-year-old cousin.

Monday was our big outing day with a trip to Skyline Drive for a picnic and hike. A nice young man offered to take our picture at one of the overlooks, our only photo of all of us together. What a view!

We stopped at the Pinnacles picnic area which is at the top of a ridge and unprotected which makes it chilly and breezy. We were chasing napkins and using ice to weight our cups.

Before moving on to hike the Limberlost Trail, Lauren played Queen on the mountain (or the big rock anyway).



The Limberlost Trail is 1.3 miles and handicap accessible which means it has a firm surface and is nice and wide, although we ran into a ranger in one spot that was rough and rutted from recent rains. He was working with a rake which looked hopeless. He said they had already done the trail earlier, but would have to bring in bigger equipment to get it back into shape for the season. The trail was a good choice because it's mostly level and easy with plenty of diversions like big fallen trees and huge rocks for scrambling over and walking on, a wooden bridge over a stream, and cut tree trunks that made stumps for sitting or climbing. There are plenty of benches along the trail for taking rest breaks too.

I was fascinated by the natural arch made by the bent tree trunk in the photo below.

Sean is usually intrepid and resists any help when we are out hiking, but we apparently wore him out. He took a break on Paka's shoulders.

Nearing the parking lot at the end of the trail which makes a big loop.

With a stop planned for custard, we had no complaints about the ride back. Only one disappointment, we didn't see a bear. As a matter of fact we saw hardly any wildlife at all, but there were lots of visitors to the park and with four noisy kids, we must have been a scary group. The animals were apparently lying low -- except for this critter. Hmm....is it a giraffe? a seahorse? a unicorn?

Jawbone Gap Hiking Trail: Short but Straight Uphill

Larry and I are back on the hiking trail after a hiatus over the winter. I never realize how much I've missed it until we get our the hiking polls, lace up our hiking boots, and hit the trail. But we did last week with a short but steep hike on the Massanutten Mountain. We headed over to Fort Valley and selected a two-miler (Jawbone Gap Trail) up to the Massanutten Ridge Trail and back with about an 800 foot rise. It was grueling for these two out-of-shape hikers. We panted our way up to the ridge and then headed out a spur trail (.25 miles) to a view but never quite made it. The trail was rocky and required scrambling over some huge rock formations. I was a little worried about my knees and when we got to the second scramble decided to turn back. Good thing. I was in real pain going down hill and had to walk backwards in a few places or sideways to relieve the pain in my knee. But it was a great walk in the woods well worth the discomfort. The mountain laurel at the bottom of the trail was past peak, but as we reached higher elevations it was beautiful and in full glorious bloom. June is definitely a great hiking month in the Shenandoah Valley.

A short way along the trail, we came to this cross dedicated to "Backtracker Roger Heroid" (or Herold). It got us wondering. Was Roger actually buried there? (Probably not.) Did he die from a snakebite or a bear attack? (Mmmm - again, probably not.) Was this a favorite trail of his? (Probably.) I thought of all the scenarios I could create for poor Roger who apparently is no more, but is remembered by someone. So we prayed a Hail Mary for Roger and moved on.

When we reached the top of the ridge we were greeted by the orange blaze that marks the Massanutten Ridge Trail. We were glad to finally reach it and take a break for a snack and a big drink of water. It was a sweaty climb to the top.

We walked out on the spur trail to a large rock formation that we had to climb over to reach the next part of the trail. This photo of Larry on the rock doesn't do it justice. It was quite a scramble over the rocks to find where the trail was.

But the beautiful flowers along the way, made the climb worthwhile and a particular delight. I love the Mountain Laurel, especially the pink. You find it in white and different intensities of pink -- just like Dogwood. But pink is my favorite! If you haven't hiked in the woods of Virginia, you are mising one of the greatest delights on God's green earth.