Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, VA

  Virginia is a state in which I have traveled extensively through the years.  There are so many places of historical significance, sites of Civil War battles, scenic drives, caves and other attractions that it makes it really difficult to narrow down where you'd like to go when your time is limited.  I narrowed down our choices by deciding that we didn't have time to meander much through the interior of the state or head to the coast.  At some point I would love to take the kids and spend a week visiting Williamsburg, Jamestown, Yorktown, Busch Gardens and locations around Norfolk and Virginia Beach.  This time we really needed to travel more quickly through the state to reach Washington, D.C., so we decided to head up Hwy 81 along the backbone of the state and take a scenic stretch of Skyline Drive along the way. 

  Skyline Drive is a 100 mile stretch of road in Shenandoah National Park.  It starts where the Blue Ridge Parkway ends, and runs along on top of the ridge of the mountains alongside the Appalachian Trail, with an amazing view of the Shenandoah River Valley to one side.  There are four locations where you can enter and exit the drive.  We entered at Swift Run Gap, the second entrance from the south, and exited at the next.  The speed limit along Skyline is 35 MPH, so you can watch the views and the wildlife and pull off at the numerous scenic view stops along the way.  There is an entrance fee, but we purchased a National Parks Pass for our year of travel and so our entrance was free.  

  Just a short distance from our entrance, we came across our first scenic view.  We stopped repeatedly along the way, exploring the various hills, rock walls and trails along the way.  Wildflowers were still blooming along the sides of the road, attracting hundreds of butterflies.  

  The kids found a butterfly that let them hold it for a few moments before it flew away.

  The kids wanted to stop at every opportunity, because there are different rocks and trails to explore, and views off of both sides of the ridge.  

  Bubba the Scientist spotted an interesting sight, as usual -- a Monarch caterpillar chowing down on some Milkweed.  He always finds the bugs.  

  The entire drive is enjoyable, even the stretches where the panoramic vistas of the entire valley are not visible.  It wasn't easy to get a picture while driving, but the tunnels of trees were very majestic.

  We had brought along a picnic lunch in the cooler, so we decided to stop at Big Meadows, right at the midway point of Skyline Drive.  There is a gas station, picnic and camp sites, lodges, a camp store, souvenir shop and a visitor center, but we arrived after the visitor center had closed.  The Appalachian Trail runs very close to the picnic sites, so we decided to have a quick meal and then head down to take a short hike on the Appalachian Trail.  The picnic sites were lovely, and we had a few guests.  

  After checking the map, we headed down the trail from the picnic area and found the AT. 

  There were beautiful ferns growing in abundance along the path, and dozens of different varieties of mushrooms and other fungi.  Is this a photo of fungi or a fun guy?  (Maybe a little of both!)  He saw mushrooms of nearly every color.

  The hike was pretty excruciating for me and for Michael, as we were hitting the second day after our Spartan Race and were brutally sore.  I thought it was a good idea to stretch our legs and work out some of the kinks, but it was somewhat painful!  We kept the hike fairly brief and headed back to the car. 

  

  The last stretch of the drive we were treated to the site of a glorious sunset over the Shenandoah River Valley.  We hated to rush, because the informational signs at the scenic views were really fascinating - details about locations in the valley, Civil War information and maps of where Stonewall Jackson marched his troops through the area, and many other interesting facts.  We hurried along until we found a few more stops to catch the spectacular sunset.  

  So many of the locations we've visited, we can barely drag ourselves away.  There's never enough time to really see everything.  This is one more of those locations that we would love to return and visit again.  Ideally, I'd love to drive in from one end, camp somewhere along the way, explore the trails and relax for a few days, then drive the rest of the route.  (I also plan to tackle the Appalachian Trail at some point in my life, so I'm sure I'll remember this stretch of trail when I do!) 

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