Shenandoah NP

We had to have our breakfast at a diner in Front Royal this morning as the motel's offering was truly pathetic. Well worth it!  Then we found Skyline Drive and headed into Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We've been here several times over the years and, after spending this day here, it was confirmed that this is one of our "special places". We also acknowledged today, after spending the better part of two weeks in "the East" , that Idaho is where we are supposed to be!!

This afternoon the sun broke through to reveal some spectacular vistas of fall foliage. It'll be even better next week if you can make it. Our first stop was "Skyland" where we took the hike up to Stoney Man for a spectacular view of the Shenandoah Valley and the city of Luray, VA. Then we headed on down to Big Meadows where we had reservations for a room in the rustic Lodge, completed in 1939 by the CCC/WPA. John hiked around in the Meadow while Linda wrote a paper for her SD class. Then, after a short hike up Black Rock for more views, we enjoyed a wonderful fried chicken dinner in the Lodge restaurant. Now we're "blogging" in the lodge "great room" since we can't get wifi in our room. We'll go down to the lounge a bit later for a nightcap and entertainment.

Shenandoah NP is great!  The road is slow but recently repaved so it's nice and smooth with lots of pullouts to enjoys the vistas. The views of the mountain ridges to the west are awesome!

 

skyline Drive

 

Stoney Man

View From Big Meadow

Black Rock vista at Big Meadow

Front Royal UMC - Beautiful!!