You are currently browsing the daily archive for July 17, 2009.
We woke Sunday morning with a very exciting outlook ahead – we had just completed the last scheduled stop of our journey! Ahead of us was 2 weeks of unplanned, unscheduled, unbridled romping in the woods before arriving back in the ATL. Where to start?
We decided to head across the state towards the Blue Ridge Parkway, and visited Williamsburg and good old C-Ville on the way for an Ednam and a Montpelier sandwich from the gourmet gas station. When we arrived at the BRP, we decided to head north on Skyline Drive to behold Shenandoah National Park. We found a place to camp for the night and woke the next morning for a ranger program with the birds of the park.
Our new friend the red tailed falcon
And the barred owl
And the screech owl
That afternoon we took a 4-mile hike to get us back on the wilderness track. It was a bit of a shock to our citi-fied systems, but was a perfect prelude to the 7 1/2-miler we took the next morning on which we encountered a black bear and a pair of jet-propelled peregrine falcons.
A ginormous butterly on the Appalachian Trail
Our lunchtime view
Weary after our hike we wound our way up Skyline Drive to the Skyline Lodge for dinner, and our wildlife tally kept increasing. By the time we arrived back at camp we encountered a rattlesnake, 4 black bears, 2 wild turkeys, a barred owl, and countless deer.
Self-portrait with a post-hike high
A giant rattlesnake by the trail
The next morning we wound our way back down to the Blue Ridge Parkway and started our journey down the 500-mile scenic highway. We camped at Cave Lake where Chris took a quick evening dip in the cool waters. After 4 nights in the wilderness we were well refreshed and reflected with mixed emotions on the short road home.
Plunging into Cave Lake
We headed to Roanoke yesterday to get caught up on our laundry and our blogging. On the way here, the odometer passed the 12,000 mile mark, 2,000 miles past our initial estimate. What an adventure it has been!
Our chariot arrived on Maryland’s Eastern Shore Thursday afternoon, just in time to sup upon the meal prepared by our gracious hosts, Uncle Phil and Aunt Nellie. Later that night Liz and her cousin, Mistress Abigail, jaunted to the outlet mall to purchase new attire for the upcoming wedding we were to attend.
The following morn, we broke our fast with an Eastern Shore traditional meal of beaten biscuits and scrapple before traversing the bridge across the Chesapeake Bay to Annapolis. At the visitor center, we gathered for the tour hosted by Mistress Eileen who brought the previous three centuries back to life. We all put our best foot forward as we toured downtown and then the Naval Academy (low on plebes that day) before the squires and mistresses disbursed for lunch.
Photograph with Mistress Eileen, our guide
We lunched at a lovely establishment before boarding a sea vessel for a tour on the Bay. Afterward, we all boarded Uncle Phil’s chariot and returned to the homestead to gather Mistress Hannah and dine at a crab pickin’ establishment. Fortunately, Aunt Nellie wielded a hammer well and helped us get the most out of the crabs.
The crabs, pre-pickin'
A worthy opponent
Crab pickin' at its best
The crabs, post-pickin'
After a wonderful visit, we bode our adieus and traversed the rest of the length of the Eastern Shore before arriving in Norfolk. We were meeting back up with Mistress Megan, who we had visited on the Isle of Manhattan, to get ourselves ready for the much anticipated wedding of our San Francisco amigos, Salt ‘n Peppa.
It was a magical wedding that started with a theater production of The Princess and the Squire and was full of Liz’s old UVa friends, as well as some new friends.
The Mumford girls, reunited!
Self-portrait from above the dance floor
Overall, our time spent on the Chesapeake was a wonderful visit to centuries past and a perfect preparation for our time back in the wilderness, soon to come.
