Visits from Friends

Monday & Tuesday  August 24-25, 2015                                                       Previous Post:
Lewis Mountain Campground                                                                           Evening on Lewis Mountain – Hightop the Next Day
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia

 

 

MONDAY

Today our long time friends Ted and Lynne Deucher come up from Charlottesville to visit and go for a short but steep hike to Dark Hollow Falls.  The trail to Dark Hollow is very close to Big Meadows but we are currently camped at Lewis Mountain so we have to drive the 7 miles between the campgrounds.  On the way we stop at an overlook since it is a beautiful day and the views of the mountains are among the best we’ve seen.

 

On the way to the trail head, a couple is stopped in front of us trying to get this tiny little ringneck snake to pose for their camera.  I’m sure he is scared to death. He keeps slithering through their hands.  I get this shot and sure hope they don’t hurt him in their quest.

 

 

Hiking down the trail from the top rather than up the trail from the bottom, we reach the first of the cascades.  Ted takes a picture of Lynne and I get one of her too.

 

I’m piggy backing on the pictures of others.  Lynne takes one of Ted and David on the trail.  I take this of Lynne taking them walking down to the second cascade of the falls.

 

 

We decide this is the place for a little lunch.  Very fine!  Lunch spots don’t get much better than this one.

 

 

 

While we are eating, the sun shines just right so we can see this web weaver who has wisely put her web far off the trail.

 

 

 

 

We hike on down to the bottom of the falls.  It seems that a lot of people think the first falls at the top is the only one.  It is a lovely falls with several water flows and three cascades but the one at the bottom is equally lovely so if you come to see the Dark Hollow Falls, remember there is more than one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynne looks pretty happy for someone with a steep hike up in front of her.

 

This is the easy part.

 

When we reach the top, we decide we have enough energy left to go to the VC and see the excellent exhibits on the park.

I’ve been wanting to get my picture taken with this handsome CCC Boy ever since we got here and David says today is the day.

 

The center’s exhibits are thorough and really well done.  The last section is particularly lovely and artistic.

 

 

We head back to Winnona for dinner and of course I take no pictures of that.  But I do manage to get Ted and Lynne relaxing in our anti gravity chairs before they have to head off back down the mountain.  It is great spending the day with them. 

We’ll see them again at the end of the week when we head down for their daughter Allegra’s housewarming party.  She’s recently moved back to her home town from Boston.  After the brutal winters they’ve had there for the past several years, who can blame her?  I think it’s wonderful that she’s so close now.  Can’t wait to see the house.

 

 

 

TUESDAY

 

More luck comes our way today.  Syl contacted me last week and said she and Gin were going to be camping at Shenandoah River State Park this week and they’d like to come up and see us.  YES!   We haven’t seen them for ages and it takes us a good while to catch up.   I get this picture of them when they first arrive and then I set my camera down.

 

 

That means I have no pictures of our dinner in the screen room to avoid the gnats or of the hilarious game of ladder ball we play.  I warn Syl that I am an amazingly bad player.  She says she is too but that doesn’t turn out to be exactly right.  She wins the first game and then forfeits the second one since by their rules if you go over 21 the opponent wins.  Lucky for me!  So now we are tied.  We enlist our better playing halves to join us for the tie breaker and amazingly David and I squeak out a win.   I hope this means they feel determined to set up a repeat to whup us good.

I’m so sorry I don’t have any photographs of how really funny this all was.  I remembered my camera at the last minute as they get into their new fancy Dodge Ram truck to head back home.   I promise I’ll do better next time.  I seem to manage to remember to take pictures when I’m hiking but send some good friends my way and all bets are off.

Thanks so much you two for coming to check up on us.  It was great to see you.  Hope it’s not so long between visits next time.