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4 states in just over half an hour. Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania.
Category: Trip Log
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81 78 287 15 Hut, Hut, Hike!
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This morning we leave behind our nth Comfort Inn and head northeast, our intended route to North Haven, Connecticut documented in the post title.
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Decision Time…
This morning, we must decide whether we spend any time in Shenandoah National Park, head to Hershey Park, or just book on home. We won’t make it home today, but if we were to go to Hershey, that would make a long travel day on Friday. If we head for home, we might stop at my parents’ house in Connecticut for the night, making a short travel day on Friday.
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Shaving Hotel Costs
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In two or three of the hotels we’ve visited, the pop-up drain plug has been missing. In two or three others, the sink wouldn’t hold water in spite of the presence of a plug. This makes shaving rather less efficient. I tried to fix one of the non-water-holding ones, but failed. Are the missing ones the result of vandalism?
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The View From My Window
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Andrew Sullivan’s blog posts a picture, at least daily it seems, showing the view out of people’s windows. Submission guidelines say they rarely accept the view out of car windows, but that’s what I think of posting this. This is my view this morning
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Heading Home…
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Well, that about does it. We had a lovely, lovely stay with Jenni and family,
but at this point the kids are somewhat burned out on travel and homesick. So, instead of a leisurely trip northeast along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we will be hitting the interstates and making time. Back soon!
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Tubin’ On The Creek
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On Tuesday morning, we drove back to the Visitors’ Center to finish off the kids’ Junior Ranger requirements, and got them sworn in.
We then headed across the park to a picnic area where there was also a hike to a waterfall. We had a nice lunch, but we never got around to the hike, because when we got there, it seemed that tubing down Deep Creek was the activity of choice. So we did likewise
Then, naturally, we stopped for ice cream on the way home.
And while we were in the ice cream shop, it started raining, and hasn’t stopped since, scuttling our plans for a campfire.
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It Was All I Hoped It Would Be
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We got to have a nice relaxed Monday mornin’, with no need to get on the road and make mileage. After a nice breakfast, Susan and Jenni packed some lunches and we headed into the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It was a bit of a drive, and getting down the hill that we’re on is as much of a challenge for the car as getting up it was. When we got to the bottom, we could smell the brakes, in spite of being in second gear the whole way down. Just like when we got to the top, you could smell the engine had been working hard.
We drove up to the Clingman’s Dome trail, and ate our picnic lunch, then proceeded up the half mile paved trail to the top.
And at the top, there was an observation tower made of concrete, with no stairs. A ramp was the only access to the tower, so the entire hike was handicap accessible, and on the way down, we did see someone in an electric wheelchair going up.
It was a good hike. Not long, but fairly steep, and still manageable by all the kids. When we got to the top, we (would have) had a great view of the surrounding mountains
(if we hadn’t been in the middle of a cloud).
One of us needed a little help coming down
but that’s OK. After the hike, we drove back down to the Visitors’ Center, and the kids attended a ranger program to begin work on their Junior Ranger badges. In addition to the program, they must do a lot of work in their workbooks to earn their badges.
Then on the way back home, we stopped at a pullout along the road to hike down to see Soco falls, which was very pretty. The kids wanted to play in the water of course, or hang out longer, but we had to get going to have time to do some grocery shopping for dinner.
