5 Years

This weekend marked the 5 year “anniversary” of my dad’s death. In order to celebrate my dad’s life my mom, sister, the kiddos, and I decided we would spend the weekend together doing some of the things that my dad loved to do. He was a wonderful outdoorsman from an early age. Because of my dad, I have a deep love and appreciation for nature…anything and everything Mother Earth has to offer. We spent the weekend at Shenandoah National Park. We entered at the northern most point (Front Royal) and took our time driving south on Skyline Drive. There was no camping involved; we feel the kiddos are still too young and maybe we are all a bit nervous to attempt camping for the first time in a long time. I’m not sure if it is quite like riding a bicycle…you never forget?! True “dad” fashion would have been camping, loved our camping trips growing up, but I think my dad would have been quite proud and happy with our little trip!

Our first day in the park, included a picnic at the first visitor center, Dickey Ridge. We brought enough food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. We had dinner at both the Skyland and Big Meadows restaurants; such a great way to save money and to eat healthy meals. After lunch we took a hike on the Fox Hollow Trail which is a 1.2 mile circuit. Alena (5) walked the whole trail and Sean (3) walked most of it. I’d say he walked all but .2 miles. They did great on their first hike!

Our next highlight was getting to see a young black bear run across the road. We were back on Skyline Drive heading towards Skyland when we saw this head poke up over the barrier wall. We of course stopped to observe. He proceeded to climb over the wall and run across the road and into the woods. I got a picture of his butt, because I was not fast enough pulling out my camera. I think we were in all in shock and awe that we saw a wild black bear. SO COOL! We ended up seeing one or two more, actually my mom did. But I couldn’t see anything, seems my reflexes were a bit on the slow side that day.

Red square marks the spot!

We checked into our room later in the afternoon and ate a snack or two or three. For whatever reason I was famished, I had to get out of the room because I was afraid I was going to eat anything and everything in sight. Ha! After our break, we piled back into the car and headed further south towards Big Meadows. We stopped and took another walk on a fire road that bordered the Meadow (trails wind throughout the meadow). Dinner was at the Skyland Dining Room. The food wasn’t good at all; I’m a bit sad about that. I should have ordered the fries and chicken off the kids menu! Bedtime was at 10pm for me, I was so tired! All the fresh air!!

I'm in the middle.

Our second day we spent the early afternoon at Luray Caverns. It’s been a long time since I last visited; I don’t remember the audio self tour, but what a fabulous idea! You can go at your own pace and they have an adult and kids audio tour. The caverns were beautiful as always. We headed back into the park and had another wonderful picnic. After another hour or two of driving we hit another hiking trail. We walked the Limberlost Trail where we saw a multitude of wildlife: deer, turkeys, bunnies, and tons of butterflies and moths.

Dinner was at the Big Meadows Dining Room and it was ten times better than dinner the night before. After dinner we took a night stroll to the Amphitheater where a park ranger was giving a presentation on animals and mating. Did you know that most owls mate for life? The male owl goes through a lot to try and impress the female owl. If the female accepts him they are mated for life. They are forever in love!! So sweet! Another little tidbit I learned was that black widow spiders are completely misunderstood. She only invites a male spider into her web if she is hungry. She doesn’t eat every day and sometimes not even up to a month. She only eats when she is hungry, and it just so happens she prefers male spiders as her meal! She eats purely for survival purposes!

Fire roasted marshmallows were a treat at the end. Unfortunately, the kiddos didn’t appreciate the wonders of almost burnt marshmallows…oh well, their loss. Just means more for me. YUM!

Our third day at the park consisted of us checking out of the hotel and then heading to a nearby trail to get in one more hike before making our trek home. This turned into a very interesting hike! We parked at the Stony Man Nature Trail which was only supposed to be about a 1.6 mile trail circuit. We failed to look at the map and like a lot of trails in Shenandoah other trails share similar names. We ended up walking the Nature Trail and then the Stony Man Trail itself which took us to a different parking lot about 3 miles north (by road) from where we parked. LOL!

We started by hiking up to the Stony Man Summit, which had an amazing view! On our way down from the summit we came to an intersection. There were two ways we could go, back the same way we came or follow the arrow on the trail marker stating the Stony Man Parking was 1.2 miles to the left. I was thinking that this took us a different way back to the parking lot we parked at. We were having such a good time that we decided to take the “longer” way back. It ended up being longer alright! On the 1.2 mile hike we got to see the Stony Man Cliffs, another gorgeous view. The last .6 miles were down hill and very rocky. I ended up carrying Sean down most of the way because I was worried he might get hurt; definitely a bit tough for a 3 year old to walk down. Alena conquered the trails fabulously! As I already mentioned, our hike ended at a completely different parking lot! We failed to study a map of the trail, and like a lot of trails in the Shenandoah, other trails share similar names. A huge mistake that can get hikers in serious trouble!

Stony Man Summit

Needless to say we were in a pickle. Instead of having the kiddos walk back which would‘ve taken a long time, Misty (my sister) and I hoofed it back by taking the trail. My mom stayed with the kids. The hike back was mostly uphill and by my calculation was about a two mile hike back. I LOVED this part the most. Hiking with kids is a lot different (although very enjoyable) than my normal hiking pace (which is steady and quick). Misty did great and stuck with me. We made it through the trail and back to my mom and the kiddos in 45 minutes. I felt absolutely fabulous after the hike, so energized and rejuvenated! Call me crazy, but I really think my dad was listening to my inner thoughts and giving me this opportunity for an invigorating hike.

Although we were quite stupid for not looking at a map and understanding the trails, we handled the situation very well and stayed positive. It was actually quite funny. However, Alena was pretty sure I lead everyone the wrong way she told me as much when we came back with the car….bwahahaha!

We picnicked again and spent the rest of the afternoon leaving the park and driving home. It was a good trip. Much needed for my mind, body, and soul.