Park Visit #47!
Dark Hollow Falls
Rolling hills of Shenandoah
Yellow Birch splitting Rock!
Terry on top of Stony Man Mountain!
Along the Appalachian Trail
Thar's a Bear in the woods!
(double click picture to enlarge)
Happy Trekkers at Dark Hollow Falls
Lower Dark Hollow Falls
Rose River Falls
May 13, 2015 - After experiencing a most dreadful breakfast at the Waffle House in Columbia, SC, we begin our 7-hour drive to our 47th destination - Shenandoah National Park. Terry sleeps most of the way as we head north on I-77.
We enter the park from the west through the Thornton Gap Entrance. The Ranger at the Entrance Station notices we're from Arizona. He says he was stationed at the Grand Canyon for some time. I asked him how he liked Shenandoah. He said he couldn't wait to get back to Arizona and the Canyon! Hmmm?
After bidding the grumpy Ranger adieu, we head to the Byrd Visitors Center, about 20 miles south of the Thornton Gap Entrance. Here we purchase our commemorative pin; watch a 26-minute movie about how Shenandoah was the first park in the system to be built by the Civilian Conservation Corp in the mid '30's; and ask the Ranger on duty about good hikes within the park. He suggests several hikes that take in waterfalls. One in particular, Dark Hollow Falls, he says is supposed to be very nice this time of year.
It's getting late and time to check into the Skyland Resort. We're assigned Rm 128. Older hotel-style room with a nice view of Shenandoah Valley. Before dinner, we take a short self-guided nature hike to the summit of Stony Man Mountain. Apparently, if you view the mountain from the north, Stony Man resembles the face of a bearded man looking up at the heavens. After our hike, we headed north on Skyline Drive to take a look at the Stony Man. One must have a really keen imagination to see the bearded one looking up at the sky!
Along the trail, we came across a yellow birch tree splitting a large rock in two. (pictured above) We learned that all of the Chestnut trees in the park have succumbed to a fungus that was unintentionally introduced to the forest from Asia in the 1930's. Before this blight, one in three trees in the park was a Chestnut. Now Oaks dominate the landscape.
We walked along a small portion of the Appalachian Trail. Gazed at a variety of colorful wildflowers. Enjoyed the peace and quiet along the path as we lazily made our way to the summit. Standing on the forehead of Stony Man, we marveled at the acrobatic antics of the ravens riding the updrafts and shivered as the wind wrapped its cold arms around us!
Back to lodge to wake up Sleeping Beauty. Following a very
good breakfast, we venture out to do the 4-mile Rose River Falls loop hike. We
start off down the Rose River Fire Road and about a half mile into the hike,
Terry mentions that she hasn’t heard or read much about bears in the park. I tell her that I’ve seen quite a bit about
the bears…in fact, pointing down into the forest about 100 yards from us, I
say, “See, there’s one now!” Ironically, just as we were discussing the park’s bear
population, we spotted one browsing about the forest!
Continuing down the Fire Road, we reached the junction of
the Dark Hollow Falls Trail, where, I’d been earlier this morning. Made the short, steep hike up to the Falls and shot a few more pix. However, the sun was now directly overhead and did
not provide the same photo ops as earlier in the day. Note to people who want
to take pix of waterfalls. Do it in the early morning or late afternoon! Shoot
them using a tripod! Use a very small aperture 1/22 and a long shutter speed (1 second or more) and chances are you'll get a great shot.
We had an early dinner so I could attempt to get some sunset shots of
the Blue Ridge Mts. No such luck tonight. The clouds won this battle! Back to
the bar for a nightcap. Terry discovered a Blackberry Frappe drink that made
her coo!
5/15 – Got a case
of the lazies and did not get up this morning to shoot the sunrise. Opted to
snuggle up with Terry! Decent Breakfast
of Bagels, Cream Cheese, Smoked Trout, red onion, tomatoes and rabbit turds
(capers). This was perhaps the best thing on the menu!
After breakfast, we headed north on Skyline Drive, perhaps
the key feature of this park…albeit, I think the falls are far cooler than
driving 105 miles and seeing virtually the same scene the entire distance.
Trees. Trees. And more Trees! And if you stop at any one of the 75
turnouts…you’ll see the canopies of all those trees, trees, trees!
This afternoon’s destination, Labyrinth – a retail shop
featuring games, puzzles, mazes and more located on Pennsylvanina Ave, SE in
Washington, DC.
We work our way through the infamous “traffic maze”
surrounding our country’s capital, and arrive at Labyrinth at 12:30 pm. Fortunately,
there is a parking spot less than 50 yards from the front door. We park our
rented Toyota Camry and proceed to introduce ourselves to Kathleen Donahue, the
store’s owner.
The reason we chose to pay Kathleen a visit is twofold:
Number one – She had contacted us via email following notification that our
game had earned one of the coveted Mensa Select Awards. She likes to sell Mensa
Select games. Plus, she is a Mensan as well!
Number two: Rather than drive 4 plus hours back to Charlotte
to return to PHX, Terry booked us departing from DCA – Ronald Regan Airport…a
mere 5.2 miles from Kathleen’s Shop! The airport is just across the Potomac
River a mere 12-minute drive from Labyrinth. (Note: 12- minutes if there is no traffic!)
Our meeting with Kathleen is very productive. She gives us her thoughts on the game and game retailing. We learn quite a bit about what a retailer looks for in a tabletop board game, and how she goes about making decisions to purchase games.
After our meeting with Kathleen, we decided to grab a bite
to eat at Hank’s Oyster Bar a couple of doors down from Kathleen’s shop. Good
Shrimp Tacos and BLT. However, when we exited the restaurant, our rental car
was nowhere to be found! It had been towed!
Unbeknownst to us, we had parked in a (not very well marked)
commercial spot and failed to see that the entire length of this section of
Pennsylvania AVE SE was metered parking. Not only did we not see that we parked
in a commercial spot, neither Terry or I noticed the signs instructing parkers
to go to the kiosk and pay for parking.
It’s now closing in on 2 o’clock. Our plane is scheduled to
depart at 5:10. If we can find the car,
we should be able to still make it to the airport on time. We call 311…the
number to call if you discover your car has been towed! We are placed on
permanent hold!
A fellow standing just outside the restaurant noticed our
state of panic and confirmed that a white Toyota Camry had recently been towed
away. He mentioned that the cops usually
park the towed vehicles somewhere closeby!
At 2:45 pm, we finally get through to the Traffic Cops and
they inform us that our car has been towed just around the block! We race to
the car. It appears undamaged from the tow truck driver. Two tickets are lying under the wiper blades. One citation is for $50 for parking in a "commercial zone." The other is for $100 for having to be towed for nonpayment! Adding up the damage, our meeting with Kathleen and lunch at Hank's ended up costing us about one-hundred eighty scoots! Ouch!
We punch the address
of DCA into our smartphones and the girl inside the device instructs us to head
south on 6th street and merge on to Interstate 695/395 heading
toward Arlington. It is only 3 blocks
from where we picked up the car to the freeway onramp. We can see the westbound
cars on the freeway from where we are, stopped dead in a tangle of traffic. A
funeral procession is in progress. It must have been a fallen Policeman or
fireman as there are an incredible amount of public service vehicles in the
procession. This event has closed the freeway. Traffic is at a standstill;
however, time marches on! It’s now 3:15 and we have moved all of about 8 car
lengths.
In utter frustration, I opt to take another route. ANY other
route to get us out of this area!
Rather than heading west on 695, I hop on the eastbound
portion choosing instead to head south on 295 down to the 495 and then back
north on Hwy 1 to the airport.
For the first half mile, traffic on 695E is moving along
nicely. Then, it comes to a crawl! We are now inch-worming our way to the
airport and I have to pee really bad and there are no off-ramps anywhere!
It’s now 4:00 pm. We’ve finally made it to the 495 with a
warning sign saying “Prepare to Stop when Drawbridge is in operation." I’m
talking about the drawbridge over the Potomac River! If that sign lights up…I’m
jumping! Fortunately, we make it over the bridge without incident.
I make the Hwy 1 off ramp and find a gas station. Although
time is running thin, I’ve got to pee! After a much needed whiz, we’re back in
the rental car and off to DCA to the Rental Car Return Center. We get to the
Airport at 4:15pm….still time to make our flight! However, lo and behold…the
Dollar Car Rental Return center is NOT at the Airport…it’s offsite! After
finding the address to Dollar, we weave our way back into the
now-all-to-familiar-traffic-snarl indigenous to this area!
4:22 pm. We are at the Car Return center and now await the
shuttle bus. It arrives at 4:29. Every minute is agonizing as we await people
to disembark from and load onto the shuttle! 4:33 – the Shuttle leaves Dollar
and heads to the airport. Stop number 1 – Southwest Air. A couple begins
unloading the many bags they have schlepped aboard the shuttle at Stop 1. Just
before the shuttle is able to head to Stop #2, a bus pulls alongside, blocking
our path! I look down at my watch and think, “there’s no way we’re getting on
our flight home.”
We still needed to print our boarding passes and get through
security. Mind you, it’s Friday evening. The airport is abuzz with travelers!
It’s 4:39 by the time we reach Stop #2. Now a family of 4 begins the disembark
procedure from the Shuttle Van. These people have even more baggage than the
couple that got off at Stop 1! It takes them forever to get all their gear off
the van. And then a family of 5 begins to slowly enter the van!
US Airways/American is at Stop #4. We get to Stop #3 at 4:44.
No one is getting off here, however, another large group of folks begins to
load up the van. I can’t take it any more and tell Terry to grab her bag, we’re
walking to our gate! You see, I found walking in this area is the most
expedient form of transportation! The worst thing you can do is get into a car
or a van!
Now on the trail, Terry is very methodical about the pace
she keeps. We do not travel very fast out in the wild. But get her inside an
airport terminal, and the gal literally hauls ass! We’re up the escalator in no
time and now frantically look for a place to print our boarding passes.
Fortunately, there’s one close by.
And so is Security. Terry glances over at the lengthy line
weaving through the Security Maze and says, “No way we’re making the flight
unless we get TSA Pre!”
She punches in our confirmation code. I am begging for TSA
Pre! Her ticket pops out – TSA Pre! But what about mine? What happened to my
ticket? It’s now 4:49 pm…eleven minutes before the plane is scheduled to depart.
I’m the kind of traveler who most always gets to the gate at least an hour
before departure. I dislike the anxiety of wondering if I’ll make the flight or
not. By this time, I had resolved in my mind we would be spending the night in
Arlington and would hopefully be able to hop a plane in the morning.
She finds my ticket. It had printed along with hers. I too
got the TSA Pre stamp of approval and the two of us scurry over to the Security
line! We breeze through TSA Pre uneventfully and
head on to Gate 42.
Now the ticket that got us through security was only a
standby ticket….meaning if there was room on the plane, we’d get home as long
as we got to the gate before they close the doors. We get to the gate with
minutes to spare, there are two seats available and as improbable as it seemed
when we were trapped in traffic just a wee bit ago…we were going home! Next time, we'll be sure to pay for parking!
Happy trails my friends.
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