Vacation

We had a great time in Virginia last week. We stayed at Big Meadows Lodge in Shenandoah National Park. Big Meadows is in the mountains just off of Skyline Drive. The views there are incredible. The lodge was built in the 1930s and has been kept up and restored to preserve it's original look and feel.

We went on two hikes while we were there. The first was a hike/climb called Bearfence Rock Scramble. It was a 1.2 mile loop trail that took you up to and over a summit where you could enjoy 360 degree views. This loop also follows the Appalachian Trail for the last half mile. I've been on the AT before, but this was the longest I've hiked on it. So now I can say I've hiked the AT, if only for half a mile of its 2,175 miles.

Another day we hiked about 5 miles total. We started on the nature trail from the lodge and then continued on to Dark Hollow Falls. The hike down to the falls was steep and after playing in the water and taking a lot of pictures we had to hike back up. The girls all did great on the hikes.

We also saw some wildlife up close. A skunk, a wild turkey, 2 black bears, and as Hannah said, "tons of deer." We decided to keep count of all the deer we saw on one day, but quit by the afternoon when we had already seen over 30. One thing the girls loved was walking out in the meadow (that the lodge was named for) in the evening with deer all around us. It was amazing how close you could get to them. And, it was fun to see the little fawns running around and playing.

A couple of times we left the park to eat at some of our favorite restaurants and to tour Luray Caverns.

After a really busy summer, this was a great week to get away, relax, and make some memories.