Today was our third day in a row with a
fairly long drive. Today we had to get from our hotel on the
outskirts of Providence, RI to our campground in Shenandoah National
Park, Virginia. The ride through Rhode Island and Connecticut was
quite nice. Traffic wasn't bad and the scenery was much better than
we had expected it to be. As we got closer to New York traffic
picked up a bit, but we still managed to get through NYC without much
delay. Driving over the Hudson River on the George Washington bridge
with views of the Empire State Building, the Freedom Tower, and the
rest of the Manhattan skyline was really an incredible experience.
Unfortunately, after New York you have togo through New Jersey. In
New Jersey the traffic was heavy, there was no scenery to speak of
(Garden State my butt), and the people are terrible drivers. Then to
top things off, we come to find that it is illegal to pump your own
gas in New Jersey. Yes, there is a state law requiring that a gas
station attendant pump your gas; talk about government overreach.
This meant that our lone gas stop in NJ included an extended wait to
both begin pumping and to take the pump out, as well as the wrong
grade of gasoline being used. From there we were in Delaware from 9
minutes and 12 seconds during which time they hit us up for not one
but two tolls for a total of 8 dollars. We made our way into
Maryland where the traffic and driving got even worse. This trend
continued as we got closer to Washington D.C., so feel free to insert
your own gridlock joke here. We looped around D.C. into northern
Virginia where we (finally) left I-95 for the first time since Rhode
Island. The rest of the ride cut southwest through rural Virginia
past famous places like Bull Run, Mananas, and Fredricksburg.
Once we made it into Shenandoah
National Park, we hopped on the Skyline Drive to get to our
campground. We set up camp, went to the camp store for ice and
firewood, and then headed to a roadside diner for blackberry shakes
that the man at the store had highly recommended (and grossly
over-hyped). We went back to camp and cooked hot dogs over our
campfire. Now Amy is reading by the fire while I type this. A few
minutes ago I looked up and there was a black bear no more than 50
feet from our site. We looked at him, he looked at us, and after a
few seconds he scurried off. Now we have complete silence except for
the occasional bird and a light breeze blowing through the trees.
There's a bit of thunder and lightening way off in the distance above
the valley, but above us we have a clear sky full of stars. This
place isn't the jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring type of place like
Glacier or The Grand Canyon but the lushness of the forest and
serenity of the hills make it beautiful nonetheless.
So for the next four nights we will be
camping here at the Loft Mountain campground on the Southern end of
the park. After about 26 hours of driving over the last three days,
it will be good to finally get out and explore a bit. Tomorrow it's
an early wake-up so we can beat the crowds and the heat as we hike to
the top of Old Rag, the park's most famous peak.
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