Hiking Shenandoah, Plantations and Family Time
We arrived at a Thousand Trails RV park outside of Lynchburg, Virginia to stay in natural surroundings for four nights...or so we thought.
On our way to the RV park we passed by Montpelier, the plantation homestead of our fourth president James Madison. It was a beautifully restored mansion in the hills of Virginia that continued to give all of us a better understanding of early colonial life. The kids decided to hang out in the RV while Erica and I took the home tour. That's where they stand as far as excitement for history right now. Erica and I can't get enough of it. They did get out to stretch their legs and explore the slave quarters, gardens and cemetary with us. The RV park was a few days from closing for the season so it was eerily quiet there when we arrived.
The next morning we packed the car for a long car ride back into Charlottesville Virginia to go to Monticello, the plantation homestead of our third president Thomas Jefferson. The kids took the house tour with us this time and enjoyed the surrounding museum, gardens and cemetary. Since the rv was an hour south and we really wanted to hike in Shenandoah National Park we made arrangements to stay in an old English Inn in Charlottesville to maximize our time. The kids enjoyed their evening doing their favorite hotel activity, swimming.
We entered the south entrance to the national park on the Blue Ridge Skyway and drove the scenic route over sixty mountain miles to the visitor's center at the top. We ended up on four mile hike down to the retreat of President Woodrow Wilson where we toured the brown cabin he and Lucy lived in while they were in the White House. We also toured the Prime Minister's cabin that the Wilson's had built to entertain world dignitaries. Along our hike we crossed streams and waterfalls and we enjoyed brief encounters with many deer and a black bear. The bear has become Erica's spirit animal and so it was neat to be in the presence of one. After a long day of hiking we drove the two and a half hours back south to the rv with a stop at Costco breaking up the trip.
We spent the following day inside the RV due to rain where we had school, played games and watched movies. It was nice to do nothing.
We packed up the next morning and headed to see my family in Winston Salem North Carolina. It was about a four hour drive and we were grateful to have a spot to park right outside my Uncle Steve and Aunt Karilyn's house in Clemmons. We enjoyed the downtime here to visit with relatives that we didn't get to spend a lot of time with prior simply due to distance. My dad was born and raised here so it has always carried pride with me to say I have roots here. The kids enjoyed playing with their cousin Grace and we enjoyed catching up. We spent time visiting my Dad's grave and that was special to me. My Uncle and I saw the movie Free Solo at the movie theater downtown and I want to see it again already. It was incredible to see this film about one man's guts and his life-long obsession with free climbing the world's most difficult wall of rock.
Erica took the kids to pick out their costumes for Halloween. We enjoyed trick or treating all over the area. The kids hit up the strip in Rural Hall where most of the houses decorate and the police shut down the street. It was awesome to see so much activity. After five relaxing days we really appreciated this time with our family.
Peace and Love