Shenandoah Valley, Luray Caverns & S’mores

It all started with an invitation by my sister to go to the Shenandoah Valley with all the Family.

By River I was, as happy as one can be when doing nothing but breathing clean air and listening the wind blowing.

The Cabin In the Woods by the river made the whole trip even better.

The Luray Caverns were very impressive, very diverse visuals and textures, I wish I had my D80 for this trip but at least I had my phone and the pics didn’t come out too bad.  

This is my favorite spot because of the water and the green colors, though honestly after 15 minutes in the Caverns tour I felt I was inside the Prometheus movie, I’m not claustrophobic but I always look at emergency exits whenever I’m visiting a place and being underground, well no emergency exits!  All I could think were about scary movies including The Descent, yes not cool!

 

  [The underground cavern system is generously adorned with speleothems (columns, mud flows, stalactites, stalagmites, flowstone, mirrored pools, etc.). The caverns are perhaps best known for the Great Stalacpipe Organ, a lithophone made from solenoid fired strikers that tap stalactites of various sizes to produce tones similar to those of xylophones, tuning forks, or bells.] Wikipedia

 Again, though sometimes I freaked out walking around the Caverns, over 400 millions of years I just couldn’t believe the caverns are that old.  I can’t wait to go and visit other natural historic spots in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley.

And then we had a bonfire by the river and I almost burn my gloves placing the marshmallows right on top of the fire, it was very cold and I was excited to make my first S’mores so it was all good!

Overall this was a wonderful trip, I love driving around the country, listening to Johnny Cash, Neil Young and taking quick stops at random fast food places to use the facilities (ok I don’t love using public facilities but better having them than not!).

I get to smell the flowers more when I’m not in the city and when I come back refreshed it boosts my sense of purpose, and you might think that serenity of the *after-the-trip* will fade away and sometimes that might be the case, but then writing about it, looking at the photos and thinking on the next trip brings again those feelings of contentment and surprisingly I can enjoy them even while driving in the traffic in the middle of 395 on my way to work.

Do you also feel this way when you leave town?  What’s your favorite road to travel?

Peace.