Shenandoah Skyline Drive

Wed (Oct 15th) we pulled out of Lorton, VA in a torrential downpour.  We had to soak up the water on the push-outs as we slid them in to get on the road.  It rained steadily for a couple of hours - but apparently it was worse elsewhere in the state, and there were horrendous tornados in adjoining states. We were very lucky to just have rain!.  We didn't drive very far due to the weather, and got set up at Greenview, VA.  It is a nice campground with lots of open spaces to walk the cats.

Sam loves to just sit and watch water... so weird.

Thurs (Oct 16th) we had the cats out exploring the countryside, then headed out about 10 am to the Shenandoan Skyline Drive - which is west of us. We drove it from south to north - all 105 miles of it in one day - and we did a hike at Turk Gap, though it was not the one we thought we were going to do.  Instead of the "overlook" we ended up on the Appalachian Trail , which is an extensive trail system that extends from Maine to Georgia.  We only did about 2 miles of it and decided it wasn't the trail we meant to be on, so we turned around... but we can say we hiked a BIT of the Appalachian Trail.

Colourful autumn leaves on the trail

We saw lovely scenery all along the Skyline Drive - with great vistas and gorgeous fall colours.  The morning was clear, but the afternoon fogged up and the clouds rolled in.  The landscape (and the visibility) changed dramatically through the course of the day...

Shenandoah Valley below

Colours along the Parkway

John, checking the truck for "stink bugs"
(nasty creatures that we don't like to transport)

As the day wore on, we had more and more clouds roll in - the fog rolled in, almost obliterating the view in many places, and we drove into the clouds at several points.

Clouds are rolling in...

We stopped for pics at "Mary's Tunnel" - stone tunnel blasted thru the rock, which was made more interesting with the fog...

We left the north end of the Parkway about 3:30 pm and headed to Front Royal, where there are some caverns that offer tours.  The one we went to was called Skyline Caverns, and it was a really neat journey down about 250 feet into the ground - where we experienced stalagtites and stalagmites (the host said we could remember the difference between them because stalagtites "hold tight to the ceiling" and stalagmites "might someday grow to reach the ceiling".  It was the best explanation I've ever heard!  I will remember that now!

The cavern is known for being one of only four in the world to have "anthropides" which are essentially calcite crystals that form "flower" like formations when living in a vacuum environment.  Once they are exposed to air, they stop growing, but given a controlled air environment (like they have at Skyline) they are preserved in their current state.  They are truly beautiful...

We left the caverns and drove the 2 hrs back to where we are camped.  It was dark out by then and the kitties had been alone for 10 hours.  Sammy was a holy terror!!  So we decided that was too long of a day for the kitties to be alone.  But we loved our Skyline tour day...