A Rialta Kind of Adventure: Shenadoah to Washington DC

Thayer and Boots

We found our way to Thayer's Aunt Boots' place in Stephens City, VA, eager for a shower and a home base for a few days. Boots is 85 years old and still very independent and sharp. She and Thayer had a lot to catch up on. We tried to make ourselves useful by raking leaves and climbing ladders to change lightbulbs. We then continued our sampling of country buffets by going to the Butcher Block Buffet in Winchester. Lots of good food and even better desserts than in Amish country. We rolled out of there and walked it off by visiting the Shenadoah Museum nearby. They had a special exhibit about the life and times of Patsy Cline so I felt right at home. This is really pretty country, the Shenadoah River winds through a flat valley between the Massanutten Mountains and Shenadoah National Park. It seems like it might not have changed so much in the past hundred years. There are many historical battlefields dating back to the Civil War.

View from Skyline Drive

Appalachian Trail

View from the top

We packed up after a few days and headed down to Skyline Drive in Shenadoah National Park. This road hugs the high ridge of the park with many pullouts for viewing to the east and the west. Most of the leaves have fallen by now but that actually improved the long views. The hiking trail along the ridge is the Appalachian Trail, which runs from Georgia to Maine. We saw many deer and a black bear. Darkness comes early this time of year so we headed for the nearby town of Luray for the night.

Pool reflections

The next morning we started at Luray Caverns, a must see in the valley. These caverns were the first to be commercially exploited and opened to the public. The geology of the valley is very typical of cave country and there are several big cavern systems that you can visit. I was not excited about the $24 entrance fee but found that it was well worth the price. Our tour group consisted of 5 people and our guide, a young lady who spoke veerrrryyy slowly and repeated herself about 10 times to make sure all 5 of us understood. Our mile and a quarter walk through the cavern was delightful, there were many beautiful formations, quiet pools of water, and striking views through the columns and stalactites. Some creative genius even tuned up some of the stalactites to hook up to an organ and it plays a hymn, badly I might add. I'll let the pictures speak for the beauty of the caves. Also on the site was a fantastic antique automobile museum, many lovely old cars! Funny how my favorites were the Rolls Royce!

Wishing well, $1000's donated to charity

Fine old autos

With the good weather holding we drove back up into Shenadoah NP, I was determined to hike a few miles of The Trail. Thayer dropped me off at one of the trailheads and I was going to hike the 3-4 miles to another trailhead, where Thayer would meet me. Well, long story short, it was about a 5 mile hike and it was quite cold, especially on the shady side of the ridge. I came upon one of the shelters where the long hikers could stop and, sure enough, there were 3 hikers on their way down from Maine. They looked cold but determined. The shelter had 3 walls, an open fireplace, and a sleeping platform. As the sun was getting close to the horizon I called Thayer from the first spot I could and was very thankful for my cell phone. After he picked my up, I found out that shortly after I had left the trailhead a young black bear had checked out Thayer in the rig and then followed me up the trail. I'm glad I didn't know! It was a beautiful trail and something I would like to do in warmer weather with more time.

Library of Congress

Appalachian Trail view

Reading room, LOC

Before the bear

Next up was Washington, DC. Our first night was spent on a busy street in the parking lot of Mike's Carpets. We delivered a spare tire to Mike to use with his Rialta. We attempted to use the bus and subway to see DC but gave up on that right away. What really worked for us was driving into the city, parking for free at West Potomac Park, near the Jefferson monument, and riding our bikes. It was about an 8 minute ride to the Mall where we locked up the bikes and started in on museums. Having the bikes minimized the amount of walking we had to do to between venues and gave us relief from the standing and walking in the museums. We were lucky to have clear weather though it was fairly cold. When we got kicked out of the museums we biked back to the rig, loaded the bikes and drove about 7 miles to a quiet neighborhood in Arlington with easy access to a Starbucks and the internet. We were able to meet up with Thayer's cousin, Marilyn, for a few meals and some local color. She gave us a tour of her "office" in the Library of Congress. I cannot think of a greater contrast to my job in an elementary classroom. I loved the quiet and orderliness of the place! As most of you know there is nothing quite like the Museums of DC. I was able to to "do" the American Indian, Art, American History, Holocaust, Natural History and a bit of the Air and Space Museums. Thayer doesn't move as quickly as I do but he did a thorough job in the Air and Space and Natural History Museums. We also toured the Library of Congress and the US Capital, two buildings that make America look like a world class country! Our final stop on our last day we wandered through the Botanical Gardens for a warm tropical blast before heading out into the cold. After 5 days of sightseeing, we reluctantly drove on through the driving rain toward central Virginia to visit more of Thayer's people.