VA is for Lovers...or at least that's what the t-shirts say....

Day 15 - Front Royal, VA / Skyline Drive - Hazy & Mid-50's:

So we got up fairly early to head out of DC and make the drive to Front Royal and the northern entrance of the Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Forest. Heading out we had a couple of stops to make. First we ventured to a little known store in Maine LL BEAN! Ben needed to exchange some slippers and it turned out their is an LL Bean between DC and Front Royal. We were unimpressed when we arrived at 9:45am to find them closed. We felt as Maine residents we should be able to get in because it should be open 24 hours! From there we headed to the grocery store to stock up for our three days of camping. After that it was off to the drive. We arrived an started down Skyline. It is BEAUTIFUL. We had a less than perfect view as it was very hazy but let me tell you, that is the place to see foliage. It must be amazing because there are hardly any Evergreens leaving everything else to change colors. We made a quick stop at the Skyland "resort" to see if they had availability...Kris and Shana were meeting us on their way through to Florida. They did but we ended up recommending that they stay in Luray...closer to where we wanted to be in the morning and cheaper! After that Ben and I headed out for a hike. We did Stony Man followed by Little Stony Man Cliffs. It was a great hike but unfortunately the views at the top were not as spectacular as they could have been with the haze. Once we returned from our hike we headed into the campground....I think I've forgotten to mention the CRAZY number of deer. They were everywhere and completely unfazed by the people and cars. We would drive by and it was like we weren't even there. We stopped at the camp store for some firewood and then set up camp...I meant to take a picture but things got busy. We struggled with the fire as we are quite sure the wood the sold us was wet but we had a great steak dinner with potatoes and green beans nonetheless. We hit the tent early for some reading....it got quite chilly but we stayed warm with our sleeping bags and blankets.

Day 16 - Luray, VA / Skyline Drive - Cloudy 50's:

We woke up early and packed up the campsite...had a little breakfast at our picnic table before heading to Luray to meet Shana and Kris. We decided to shower in their room as it would be easier and more comfortable than the pay showers at the campground. Once we had all showered and packed lunches we headed over to the Luray Caverns. It had been told to us by Amy, Zach, Nicole, and Lonely Planet that we must see these. We were a bit hesitant but did it anyway. Let me say, they are a MUST see. It was incredible. I will post captions next to some of the photos but these pictures in no way do justice to what is like inside this nature made world. Some of these caverns are hundreds of thousand of years old and grow only centimeters every hundred years. It was just unbelievable and I recommend that everyone does it!! From there we headed back to Skyline Drive and pulled off to do a six mile hike that would take us to the highest waterfall in the park. These hikes can be deceiving. We hiked down almost the entire way to the waterfall because we started so high up...it was bizarre...nothing like Acadia. We then of course had to hike up to get back to the car. Unfortunately there weren't any great views for Kris and Shana to see but it was a wonderful hike and a good work out for all of us. After the hike we headed to drive to some of the outlooks for photos and even took a risk by standing in the tunnel that goes through the mountain...it was pretty cool. It's weird though because the tunnel feels like it's going to suck you in when you get close to it. After all our gallivanting we headed to Wal-Mart so Kris and Shana could get some dinner items and we headed back to the room. Ben cooked dinner for all of us out on the patio...a delicious dinner of chicken, rice, and salad. We ended up staying with Kris and Shana as it was just as cost effective as camping!

Day 17 - Skyline Drive / Crozet, VA - Foggy/Rainy Low 50's: (no photos)

We got up and headed into the hotel for our free continental breakfast before saying goodbye to Kris and Shana...we'll see them in Florida. Ben and I hung out in the hotel for a bit waiting for it to warm up before we headed hiking. We started down the Skyline Drive only to realize that hiking was not in the forecast. It was SO foggy, a BIT rainy, and VERY cold. On top of that Ben started not feeling to hot...he napped as I drove to the next exit from the Skyline Drive and headed toward Charlottesville, VA. We drove around the campus of the University of Virginia...started and designed by Thomas Jefferson before heading to our campsite. As we got closer to our site the fog started to be more of a drizzle. Still we checked the forecast and it said passing showers so we knew we'd be fine. We set up camp and did some accounting before cooking dinner. Tonight we shared a piece of chicken and a piece of steak with some corn and garlic toast. It could not have been better timing as no sooner did we finish than it began to rain. We started a movie in our tent before our computers died and then turned to our books before falling asleep. Now, about these "passing showers" they never stopped passing. It RAINED and RAINED all night. I was awoken on a number of occasions by the loud rain...fortunately our tent stayed dry!!

Day 18 - Monticello, VA - Rainy 60's:

We awoke to our tent being surrounded by a large puddle of water. We waited until it sounded like the rain was letting up and quickly packed up our site. We headed to the showers to clean up before heading to Monticello. This was the home and final resting place of Thomas Jefferson...the writer of the Declaration of Independence. His estate is AMAZING. Gug and Gramma you would LOVE the vegetable gardens and the flower beds. You can smell the veggies and herbs as soon as you walk near the garden. His home is a unique blend of architecture styles and is quite interesting. He started this as an eight room house only to expand it to twenty-one rooms once he returned from France as the US Ambassador. There was so much information given to us that at times it was difficult to keep up. We were not able to take photos in the house and most of the pictures outside are a bit fuzzy as it was raining. A neat feature...all the beds in the house are in alcoves. It was a french space saving technique that Jefferson really liked and so had all his beds built that way...Dolly Madison (wife of President James Madison) did not like it but did enjoy Jefferson's company and so would visit anyway. It was an interesting place to be knowing that the man who said "all men are created equal" had at one time or another 140 enslaved people on his property. In his life he only freed five of his slaves. It was apparently something that Jefferson struggled with but felt it was a battle that later generations would have to fight. Another interesting thing I learned was that there was great evidence that years after Martha Jefferson passed away Jefferson had a relationship with Sally Hemmings (a slave) and even fathered her children! Some will argue one way and others another. Either way I wouldn't be shocked. Monticello was an incredible place to visit even though it rained the entire time we were there. I hope to someday return in the spring. We can now check it off our list of eight places every American should see!!! We are now in a hotel (out of the rain) in Richmond, VA. We will do a bit of exploring here tomorrow before heading to Chapel Hill, NC to visit Gretchen's Mom!!