Shenandoah National Park

We had a wonderful time at Tim's family's gathering in Shenandoah National Park in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.  Tim's stepdad died in December and somehow his widow, Liz, planned this beautiful memorial and get-together out in nature for his children and their families.  (He had two stepsons and four sons from his second marriage and four stepdaughters from his third marriage - and  all ten of them were there, including the two sons who live in Europe.)  It turns out that my "stepsisters-in-law" love hiking in the woods as much as I do and we were in blissful awe of the majestic mountain beauty surrounding us.  Skyland Resort (3,680 ft.) was more like a summer camp that a resort!  I was also impressed with the eco-friendliness of the management.  The bathroom had frequent visitors - spiders, the likes of which I had never seen before - and I was amused to read in a pamphlet, the day before we left, that there was an "Integrated Pest Management Team" I could have contacted to "take care of the situation."  I saw more deer each day than I had encountered in my whole life, and on one hike we were blessed to cross paths with a bear!  He was busy looking for food, overturning rocks for grubs, etc., but I finally got his attention and he looked right at me!  I was thrilled!  That wildflower in front of him we looked up; it's called fly-poison, a literal translation of "A. muscaetoxicum."  It's in the lily family and was blooming everywhere.  There was also a 33 acre meadow we visited twice.  Mid-day it was full of butterflies, but at dusk it was full of grazing deer for as far as the eye could see.  We hiked 1,000 feet down Whiteoak Canyon and it took us twice as long to get back up!  We flew kites, played croquet and darts, and talked with relatives for hours on end.  Tim & I were so exhausted from the excitement and activities that when we left for the 10+ hour drive home we were too exhausted to drive safely, so we stopped after a couple of hours at a hotel on the Maryland/Pennsylvania border and started out again the next day.  The mountains are spectacular, but it was good getting back to sea level and home again!