Shenandoah National Park

We are back in Virginia and hard at work finishing our painting project. We thought our decks would have been painted upon our return but they were not. They were barely started so we jumped in and helped. Soon the job was all ours as our painter quit. Ouch! Our good friends David and Deborah had also been hard at work on their boat Water Music. We decided to treat ourselves to a trip. Saturday morning we headed out with David and Deborah for the Blue Ridge Mountains.

John Denver (remember him) sang about the Blue Ridge Mountains: "Almost Heaven West Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains Shenandoah River" These Blue Ridge Mountains were not in West Virginia but we did have to drive about 4 hours west to see them and it was worth it. Almost heaven is just about right.We spent the night in a nearby small town called Luray. We woke up Sunday morning to 39 degrees. Seems like we were just complaining about how hot and humid it was, now we were freezing our as.... off. How about something in between please?

We had planned for the chilly weather so off we went for some hiking and exploring.

The sun came out and warmed things up a bit but it did not get much above the 50's.

The trees were spectacular: Oak, Maple, Chestnut, Ash and many others. The leaves are just beginning to turn and we spotted a few gold and purple leaves. The landscape will change dramatically over the next few weeks as the leaves transform into fall foilage.

The Shenandoah Valley lies to the west of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The valley is dotted with beautiful old homes and farms.

The deer were happy to pose for a photo

The Appalacian Trail runs along the mountain ridge. Small dwellings are placed along the trail for adventurous travelers. Approximately 100 people hike the Appalacian Trail yearly. It takes between 4-6 months to travel the trail from Georgia to Maine.

Steve decided to show us all that even though he just celebrated his 55th birthday he can still run up a hill at high altitude. Go Steve!

The mountains were great but the trip there and home was just as much fun. There is no shortage of beautiful old towns and the local scenery dates back to the Civil War. Wow! This is a church in Culpepper.

We enjoyed some great meals along the way. One of our favorites was "It's About Thyme" in Culpepper.

Now it is back to work. We are cleaning gooo off the decks from all the painting tape left on for way too long. Steve is installing two more solar panels to boost our battery power. Our cockpit will soon be enclosed with canvas and clear plastic to keep us dry during rainstorms. We are crossing our fingers to be underway in about 10 days. Where to??? Not Sure but we'll let you know.

Anne and Steve