Natural Bridge to Broadway, Virginia – 30 March 2023

The KOA where we were staying was situated in the Shenandoah Valley. This was a very nice campsite surrounded by forest and a running stream. There was also access to a long hike through the forest.  The whole park was filled with these rather cute wooden signs and wooden carvings which one of the staff members made. They even offered custom signs as a service. Nice store and even a catch and release fishing pond on site. Jax enjoyed the dog park and we went for long walks in the morning  down several country roads outside of the park where there were lovely houses and farms, many of which had cows, sheep and chickens.  The one thing I hated was that people did not have fences around their properties and their dogs were always running loose.  Jax would of course go crazy and I was just waiting for a fight to start.

The day after we arrived was my birthday. I was treated to an omelette and coffee in bed as well as a lovely bouquet of red roses. After breakfast Derek gave me a large, folding keyboard, which I was delighted with. I had decided it would be fun to learn to play the piano since it was something I had always wanted to do. I also really wanted to do a hike in the Shenandoah State Park but as the weather was overcast and threatening to rain, we went for a walk through the forest alongside the RV resort instead. It was a bit of a struggle as the ground was soft and slippery so we only did about an hour’s walk. When we got back we decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner at around 4.30 pm and went to Mi Pueblito for a very tasty, authentic Mexican dinner. I tried the Gorditas and Empanadas and Derek had the BBQ beef.  Mine was deep fried but still very tasty.  Once back at the RV I downloaded the SimplyPiano app and started learning the piano. Now to continue to do everyday practice.

We spent a couple of days at the RV as I had quite a bit of work to do and Derek wanted to catch up with some maintenance on the RV. I had downloaded an app called SimplyPiano which was really helpful in teaching me how to play Piano and had a number of modern songs that I could play instead of the book I had which only had kid’s songs. Derek was also keen to learn so we took turns in practicing.

While it was lovely to stay in the Valley with all its cow and sheep farms it had its downside –  flies!  While we have screens on all our windows and our door, every time we opened the door to go out, a bunch of flies would get in.  In desperation I went to the office to get some fly strips. They helped a lot but I still spent a few days running around with my electric fly swatter swatting like crazy.  I counted over 50 flies inside between the fly strips and my swatting capabilities. It was a nightmare.

After a couple of days we started to get restless and decided to check out to the Shenandoah forest. It was over an hour away but well worth the trip as the countryside of Virginia is so lovely to travel through with its bright green rolling hills and rippling streams.  The Skyline drive took us right through the Shenandoah forest with several lookouts along the way, all with fantastic views of the valley and surrounding mountains. We had intended to walk on the Dark Hollow Falls trail which had good ratings but when we got there we found it was not dog friendly, so we headed on to the visitors centre to get some advice on dog friendly trails. By this time it was about 2.30pm so we stopped to have a bite to eat and admire the view. The restaurant wasn’t open so I grabbed some pimento cheese sandwiches, a charcuterie plate and pickled veggies from a grocery store attached to the visitors centre.  After that we headed for the Milam Gap Trailhead which led to the Appalachian trail. The trail was very enjoyable with not many uphills.  Many of the trees along the way were full of these huge wart like tumors. I later found out that they are called Burls and quite sought after by woodworkers who like the gnarled shapes that are in the Burl.  We walked for about 1.5 hours and then continued driving to the other end of the Skyline drive to exit the park. At this point it was getting quite late so we headed to O’Neills grill in Harrison for dinner.

The day before we left Virginia we decided to check out the Luray Caverns. As we couldnt take Jax with us, we took him on a nice long walk in the forest and then for a dog bath before we left. Not often you see dog baths in RV parks so when I do, I always take advantage of them.  It was a tiny plastic thing nowhere near the Furever Clean calibre, but it did the job.

The Luray Caverns is the 6th largest cavern in the world and visited by about half a million people yearly. The caverns cover an area of 64 acres and you walk down about 6 stories along paved corridors. It took a little over an hour to go through and the temperature is a constant 12 degrees c. It was breathtaking especially where the formations were reflected in the underground lake. The caverns were discovered by local men in 1878 who saw a cool breeze coming up from the ground. Curious they climbed into the hole with ropes and discovered the beautiful caverns. The caverns are well known for their stunning natural beauty, including towering stalactites and stalagmites, shimmering pools of water, and intricate rock formations.