A refreshing tryst with Shenandoah....

We had been debating for a while between spending the July 4 weekend in the city with the hope of finding it emptier or taking leave of the city as is always my usual choice :). On the one hand, there were a few things that we have been intending to do within the city for a while now - the river cruise, walking across the Brooklyn bridge, take a culinary vacation into the boroughs...so on...On the other, flight prices have been creeping up rather too fast for my taste!

So, I thought long and hard and fell upon the brilliant idea! What, but a lovely long weekend nestled amongst the lush green lands of the Shenandoah National Park :))). Okey! Now that's decided. Then began the search for campgrounds. Oh! I haven't told you, have I?! We got a whole set of camping equipment for the two of us - 2-person tent from Wenzel, Swissgear Zero degree sleeping bags, single burner stove, foam pads and the lanterns. All from good ol' Amazon :)). ( I love the Prime membership.. tons of stuff on free 2-day shipping!)

Anyway, as usual I was late in my search and all the campgrounds within the park premises were fully booked. Then, I remembered that I had once stayed at a KOA campground at Littleton, NH and that was a lovely place. The KOA campgrounds operate on a family-run, franchise model and the set-up is pretty similar on all sites - they have trailer parks, tenting sites and log cabins. So I looked up the nearest KOA - the Harrisonburg KOA located about 25 miles SW of the middle of the park - and booked us into a nice little tent site amongst the tall oaks at $26 a night.

Tip: if you are a more-than-once-a-year camper and like your KOA experience, it is a good idea to invest in a KOA value card which gives a 10% discount on each rental and also accumulates points towards free stays.

Alright! We had the location, camp site and the equipment and the car to transport us. Come July 3rd, we were all set to leave the hustle of the city to the peaceful tranquil (so we thought!! ) of the forest. After a excruciating one hour stop-start drive across the city to the Lincoln tunnel, we finally left the city at 1:30 pm on our way to VA. It is an interesting drive - we passed through 5 states - NJ, PA, MA, WV and VA. After a pit-stop for lunch at a family inn in one of the exits off I-81 S, we reached the campground at around 6:30 pm.

We checked in and set up our little tent. We had a pretty good size site, the tent sites were pretty well spaced out and ground was flat and perfect for sleeping on. Set-up did not take much time especially with a bit of help (hammer provided voluntarily!) from our friendly neighbours with a strong Southern accent. I did not know then that you get you hear that twang even in VA! Anyway, they proved to be very nice people through the stay and definitely friends in need (explanation to follow) !! :))

When done, we checked out the facilities. It is a family campground - so there was a pool, children's play area, horse-shoe game zone and even a media hut!! Movies are screened every evening at 7 or 8 pm for a night picnic. And, as we found out, this hut was a nice, dry place to park ourselves during downpours sipping a cup of chocolate! :). Anyway, after an eyeful of the sights, we raided the camp store for some supplies and firewood and were informed at the counter about the spectacular restrooms with marble counters (The restrooms are very good..I should know! I am very very picky about them. They were always clean, well aired..no marble though, only look-alike :) )

Back at the site, we got ready to cook dinner and hubby set about starting the fire.. I had packed chicken marinated in Indian spices for grilling over the fire..The fire had some teething problems but finally decided to give in and worked up to a good blaze. After some s'mores for dessert, we were all set to turn in. The night passed almost uneventfully. A good-sized Mexican group had checked in late in the evening and they decided to party loud late into the night. That did not bother us that much but did others and they were asked to vacate the next morning..Oh well! Can't say I minded :).

The next day, July 4, dawned cloudy and ominous - thunder storms were expected. We put on our brave face, packed all perishables into the car and set off for the forest. I had marked out some short hikes along the Skyline Drive and we proceeded to the Thorton Gap entrance and then South on the Drive. When we first saw the forest, the lushness took our breath away! The whole area was GREEN!! the ground was covered with vines too which made it soooo rich looking.

Btw, we later found out that this much greenness is actually not good. Apparently, the vines and lower plants are not native to the region. For example, a species of long stem grass took root when it came into the country as Japanese packaging material and never left. It grows everywhere you see. To compound the issue, since these plants are foreign to the region, they do not have natural bio-checks (like beetles and weeds) on the growth while the oaks which are from the region do. So these new flora can grow unchecked and choke the native plants.

In the meantime, the overflowing greenness does become the forest (Sorry conservationists!). So, back to the drive. There are many outlook points along the 100-mile drive that starts are the Front Royal in the North to the Rock Fish Gap at the Southern tip. Our first hike-stop was at mile 41 for a 1.5 mile - one hour hike to the Stony Point summit.

On our way up, we stopped at the Little Stony Point (0.7 miles up), which is a little stony escarpment with phenomenal views. That was the only clear view we got that day! Yet, the best part of the hike was yet to come. As we continued on to the summit, the skies opened up, slowly at first then with much more force. We got to the summit to a foggy view but the way back held many pleasant surprises. As we walked back, we came upon a young deer grazing on the leaves and he even let us gaze at him and admire his powerful flanks before he trotted majestically across the path and into the thicket. After that tryst with nature, we had the pleasure of walking through the clouds, my first ever! :)).. By the time we were back at the parking lot, we were drenched, but it felt good, like being cleansed! :))

That was about all we got to do in the park that day. The skies opened up for a torrential downpour, which lasted about an hour, most of which time we waited it out in the shelter of the car. All the time, we had a single question in our minds - Will our tent have survived the onslaught????

Sooo, we drove back as quickly as we could. But, we did stop along the way at Pack's Frozen Custard stand for a yummy banana split with black current and banana ice cream and tons of whipped cream. Why not?!, the skies had cleared up by then and what had to happen to the tent, already had! Besides, its ICE CREAAAAMMM!! :)) So, we had a dose of cool from the place every day for the rest of the stay. Definitely recommend the place!

Anyway, we eventually got back after a lunch at Hardee's (nice burgers!!) and grocery stop at the Walmart. The tent, thank God, was still where we had left it, with only few drops of water inside and some dampness!! :))).. More importantly, we were at the receiving end of our neighbor's goodwill again! They had placed our fire wood and chairs under the picnic table and covered it with an extra tarp they had brought! I was a bit embarassed that we couldn't repay their kindness with much more than gratitude... :O

By this time, it was evening anyway and the skies still looked ominous. So, we hung around the above mentioned movie-hut. Soon enough, it started to rain again. That meant, no sausages for dinner :) So, we went into downtown Luray for a meal of sandwiches at the Southern Kitchen. The turkey was fine but the fried country ham was too salty to eat!!

We stayed on after to watch the fireworks in honor of the day. The night had taken a dry break and it was a pretty show for 5 minutes! Although, I must admit, I have seen way better display of fireworks back home during Diwali... those were the times....We would go up to the terrace after dinner and watch our neighbors light up the fancy night crackers for everyone's benefit!:))

It poured through that night but we were quite dry inside our tent. The little fellow was holding up well. Saturday, we breakfasted on chorizo sausages and left for the park and the rest of the drive. Our major stop today was the Dark Hollow Falls trail, a moderate hike of about 30 minutes to the falls. The falls wasn't spectacular but the hike was good.

After that we continued on catching some lovely views from the overlooks, through foggy roads and perfectly romantic setting, and lazy walks in the Big Meadows socialising with some not-so-shy deer. We were lucky to get a good look at the 2-3 months old deer with their spotted hides and white tails. They looked soo delicate as they grazed staying close to their protective mothers....

We were back at the camp site for a quiet, clear evening and more sausages. After a peaceful night, we woke up to clear skies and our day of departure. We packed up and headed for a breakfast of pancakes and sausages offered by the camp owners at $2.50 a head! :)).. Good stuff.. (They also had an unlimited icecream special for $2, the previous night that we unf. missed! :( ).

Waving a good bye to the camp, we headed to the Luray Caverns, a 10 mile drive from the camp. For $19, we got an hour's tour of the awe-inspiring stalactites and stalagmites. These caverns were discovered in 1878. We gaped at the 47 foot splendor of a column, the tallest in the region, some pure white calcite formations, some budding hangers, the fantastic Dream Lake that reflected the formations on the ceiling for a breath-taking memory and ofcourse, the interesting formations such as the Fried Eggs :). These natural wonders that we behold today took multiple centuries to form and one is but left to wonder at their patient beauty!!

The trip left us with memories enough for the long, non-stop, 5 hour drive we did back to city. We came back happy, refreshed and rejuvenated! It is an awesome place and I hear Shenandoah looks even better in full Fall glory! We are definitely going back!!