Weekend in Shenandoah National Park

Friday June 2, 2017                                                                                              Most Recent Posts:
Big Meadows                                                                                                          Long Time No Post
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia                                                            Happy First Birthday Celia Claire

 

Thanks to you all for such great comments.  They really are wonderful to read and motivating.  With that incentive, I went to work on this post about this past week-end.

The Shenandoah National Park Association sponsored a workshop on Nature Journaling.  It started Friday afternoon and ran through Saturday.  Since I’ve kept a daily handwritten journal for over 40 years, I guess I could say I’m interested in journaling.  I’m also very interested in illustrated journals.  I have always wanted to be able to draw but after taking several art classes in the past, I have found that on my own I really don’t “see”.  With my instructor right there to point out why what I’m drawing doesn’t look like what I”m seeing, I can correct myself and in this manner have done several watercolors with which I’m at least satisfied. 

 

I normally lay low on weekends in parks, but hope, spring eternal so I signed up for this class and I’m glad I did.   The class begins today at 3:00 and extends into tomorrow all day long.  Many national parks have workshops and seminars you can attend for a fee.  Usually they are sponsored by the park’s “friends” group or “association”.  Google the next National Park you are visiting and see what interesting things you might find.

I drive up to the park on Friday with my backpacking tent since taking Winnona would be nearly a 100 mile round trip and seemed unnecessary.   I pick a spot in the Big Meadows Campground near the spur trail that leads to the AT.  This turns out to be a very popular spot but more on that later.

It’s only about noon when I get set up since I’d planned to hike some of the AT before the workshop starts.  On my way I walk by these two Tent Cots.  They are the cutest things I’ve seen and all I’d need for this week-end and I wouldn’t be sleeping on the ground which is a first for me in a long time.

 

I start out on the spur to the AT from the campground and right away come across wildflowers including these jack-in-the-pulpit.

 

 

 

I am so bad at selfies especially with the canon.

 

 

 

The hay scented fern is in profusion on both sides of the trail.

 

 

 

I arrive at the junction to the AT and see the familiar cement sign post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It isn’t long before I come to the first views west toward the rest of the Blue Ridge Range.

 

 

Big rock with a view though not a comfy sitting spot.

 

 

The Blue Ridge is definitely living up to its name today.

 

 

 

From this vantage point I can look to my right (north) and see the Skyline Drive curving through the gentle Appalachian Mountains.

 

 

Beautiful mountains as far as I can see.  That little spot on the ridge is the Skyline Drive from the above zoomed in picture.

 

 

 

Back on the AT, I’m being watched.

 

 

 

These may not be the Rocky mountains but the trails are often very rocky.

 

 

Another view, this time out over the Shenandoah Valley also to the west.   I stay back to allow these folks their time in this beautiful spot and then I have it all to myself.

 

 

 

 

 

We moved to these mountains in 1978.  Back then the “Valley” was a patchwork of farms and small or tiny towns.  It’s astounding how much it has grown and developed away from farming.

 

 

 

At this point I sadly have to turn around and head back to the shorter spur trail that leads to the Big Meadows Lodge.

 

 

I hike up to the lodge to see how they are doing on the new roof.  They’ve had to move the dining room into what is normally a lounge with comfortable chairs and sofas and a wall of windows to the west.

The construction is taking place just off to the left out of the view of this picture.

 

 

From here  I take the paved “trail” that connects the Lodge and the Visitor Center along the road.  But I take only a section of it because having spent so much time in this park, I know just where to cut off and pick up the “Nature Trail” which will allow me to walk through the forest to the Visitor’s Center where the workshop will begin at 3:00.

 

 

This section of the forested trail actually is an old apple orchard.   I’m sorry the trees have been left unpruned.  The apples would be wonderful fruit for me and the animals but I guess even the small amount of time to prune a dozen or so trees isn’t in the “mission” statement of the National Park.

 

 

 

It’s a lovely trail and crosses two bridges before heading up to the visitor center, the practical and the picturesque.

 

 

 

I love that the park has an electric car charging station.  They are in the forefront of concern for the environment if allowed and funded to do so by the government.

 

In front of the Visitor Center the CCC Boy stands.  He’s a regular statue in every park in which the Civilian Conservation Corps was largely responsible for much of the infrastructure.

 

I just take a peek inside.  But I’ll come back.  I do see one of the original posters from the early days of the 30’s and 40’s in the park.  I really love them and have looked for them in all the National Parks we have visited.

 

And then it’s 3:00.  We get checked in by our leaders  Betty Gatewood and Rhonda Roebuck.  We get a royal ranger welcome to the park and the workshop begins.   But that’s for my next post.

Long Time No Post

May 16 to 27, 2017                                                                                 Most Recent Posts:
Charlottesville, Virginia                                                              Happy First Birthday Celila Claire
                                                                                     A Hot Saturday in D.C. – The People’s Climate March

 

I’ve had a couple of people contact me to see if we are OK since it’s been so long since I’ve posted.  That was so sweet and warmed my heart that you missed me.  It has been nearly 3 weeks since my last post, pretty unusual for me.   Part of my lapse has been my increasing wonder if I really want to keep this up.  I enjoy doing it but the unfairness of giving out to 200 people and having a 10th or less give back so I can see who they are and know they are out there reading is affecting my desire to continue. 

Also, as  most of you know, Charlottesville Virginia is our home town. I’ve written about it in great detail in previous years and if you are interested in knowing all about this cute town and what there is to do here including the hiking, just type “Charlottesville” in the search box on the top left and many posts will show up one after the other.  When we visit here we always have lots of things to do. 

  So other than happily celebrating Celia’s First Birthday and marching on behalf of the climate to which Trump was obviously paying no attention, what else have we been doing in Virginia?

 

There are  always doctor appointments, this year for the 4 of us.

I have my annual check up coming up tomorrow. Hope there’s nothing more to say about that.

In addition to his regular trips to the cancer center, David had cataract surgery on both eyes and only had one eye bruise.  I didn’t take a picture of the second eye patch which was black. He looked much more like a pirate in it. 

I had mine done last year or the year before, hard to remember which since time flies when you hit 60.  In looking at his eye bruises, he gets the twofer award.  I only had one eye bruise but it was so bad it looked like someone had slugged me.   Purple up down and all around.

 

 

I also didn’t take any pictures of Ruby getting a new timing belt and other parts of her 120,000 mile doctor visit. She was feeling much better especially after I gave her a through cleaning both inside and out.  But now she’s started having some sluggish problems we think may be due to some questionable gasoline. STP gas and injector treatment is the prescription.  Sure hope it works.  I do have to say that we have owned Honda Accords for over 30 years and Ruby, as a 2002 just isn’t as totally trouble free as the models from the 80’s and 90’s.  We love her anyway.  She’s very forgiving of our using her as a garage to haul around the boats and the bikes and all their gear.  Still I’m not sure what’s happened to Honda as the perfect car it used to be.  We’ve had Hondas for over 20 years and over 300,000 miles with not much more than routine maintenance necessary.

 

Winnona is the only one who really didn’t go to the doctor. But she did get new shoes and a serious body wash and wax.

The shoes were a real chore. This is SO not an RV town or even a big truck town.

I began looking for tires locally the day after we arrived here and it took a month to locate them, the best price for them and where to have them put on. Thank goodness we only have to do this every 6 or 7 years.

We wanted to keep the same Michelin XRV tires on her that she’s had since birth.  We have never had any problem at all with them but they are expensive.   Well 6 of any RV tire is going to be expensive.

 

The best deal was with the FMCA Michelin discount through an authorized Michelin dealer who deals directly with Michelin not with a warehouse.  It was a bit complicated the first time but definitely worth the time and trouble for the savings of nearly $700. 

The final price with tires, excise taxes, Virginia tire tax, Virginia sales taxes, mounting, balancing and tire disposal fee was nearly $2800.   I advertised our tires on Craig’s list as Karen Lueck did with success.  She got $500 for her set I think.  Boy that would have been sweet but I had no takers.  But she lives in Tampa which has way more possibilities for who might want them.   It’s all about location.  We’d have to go nearly 15 miles out of town to find the first truck stop and miles more to find the next one.

 

The pollen this year in Charlottesville and all around I’ve heard has been extraordinarily horrible.  Winnona was covered and filthy after weeks of just hanging around.  So we set to work washing and waxing.  First I got up on the roof to get at least the first layer of dirt off with just washing compound and water. I sure wish I’d taken pictures of it before I started but you can sort of see how dirty it was by the section behind the solar panel.  The far right is the original dirt, the left is after the first cleaning and all the rest is after the third cleaning with a mix of awesome, bleach and comet.  It was SERIOUSLY dirty.

Somehow the front was way dirtier than the back.  This is the back before David did any work on it.  Dirty and in serious need of cleaning but not absolutely filthy like the front.   I wonder if it’s time to give Winnona a paint job in some color other than white.

 

 

Usually I show pictures of David doing the work since I have the camera but this time it’s my turn to be on the blog.

How does yellow pollen turn dirt brown?  The awning the slide toppers, the sides.  It all had to be cleaned but the roof was the absolute worst.

 

 

 

 

 

Our time here hasn’t all been work.  We have had some fun.  Lunches and dinners with friends.  Or Brews in David’s case.  And hiking out and about.

David has his friends Marty and Joel out to the farm for what he calls brews and views. Although the picture he gave me doesn’t show the views of the Blue Ridge Mountains just off to their right.

 

This photo taken by his friend Marty, in the gray shirt,  is actually what they were looking at.

 

The hikes included one at Ivy Creek Natural Area with my friend Pam. 

  I’m so out of the habit of taking my camera that I forgot it and all of these pictures are from Pam and my Droid phone whose camera I detest.  It handles light terribly and many of my shots were out of focus. 

If you know of an app I should try for the Samsung Galaxy 5 camera let me know although the phone already runs so slowly I could have lunch while it brings up my mail even after cleaning off everything that it would let me remove which wasn’t much.

I think I’m going to have to break down and fork out the ridiculous cost of an iphone next time.  Either that or someone is going to have to sing some praises for my Samsung Galaxy 5 and tell me why they love it and I should too.   After kevetching to Pam, she asked me how I really felt about the phone and took the picture on the right.

 

It’s a lovely bright day and we enjoy not only the stream Martin’s Branch but sections of the Rivanna Reservoir. So wonderful to be by the water.  My favorite place.  Some people are desert people, some are mountain people.  I’m a water person.

 

 

A great egret enjoys an inlet of the Reservoir Trail.

 

So do the mallards.

 

We’ve picked a wonderful time to hike the here and wander in, under, around and through the blooming Mountain Laurel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a beautiful hike!

 

The natural area was once the home place of former slave Hugh Carr who though born into slavery eventually put together a 200 acre farm after the civil war.  He farmed here until his death in 1914 after which his daughter Mary and her husband Conley Greer farmed the land.  These lovely stone walls are reminders of their presence on the land.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring in Virginia is hard to beat. I sure wish we had gotten out to hike more often and earlier to see the spring wildflowers. We always seem to have so many chores to take care of when we are here.