Fall Vacation: Washington DC, Virginia

Part One of My Journey: 

Virginia 

We drove down from Washington, D.C. to the beginning of Shenandoah National Park.  

Skyline Parkway

This park ends where the Blue Ridge Parkway begins.  469 miles of winding roads through two States (Virginia and North Carolina); it is  one of the most spectacular places in America.  The weather was so beautiful; cloudy with a temperature around 69 degrees and plenty of humidity (which is a bit chilly when you actually have humidity! Something AZ doesn't have!)  Coming from the west, this part of the country looks vastly different.  There are rolling hills, green pastures, forest, fruit growing on the side of the roads:

 Looking down from the Blue Ridge Parkway

Wild fruit growing on the side of the road 

Me!


We took a few small hikes to enjoy the fresh air.  It had rained during the night so you can imagine how everything smelled. It had such a wonderful fall smell with all the damp leaves on the ground.

One of the hikes we took was called Fallingwater Cascades Trail.  In the description of this hike, it mentions that the trail drops 260 feet below the the trail head and hikers should be prepared to climb that elevation on their return.  Really!  260 really isn't that long but I can tell you from my own experience it feels REALLY LONG when climbing up!  Here are some pictures from this particular hike:

The beginning of the trail

Walking on the trail: Color Everywhere

The Cascades

Me just being me!  Aren't these leaves big?

Fall colors

The reason for visiting!! FALL

Honestly, I didn't want to come home.  We had only two days to spend on the parkway which wasn't enough!  We only traveled about 200 miles total;  driving through the Shenadoah National Park on the Skyline and the first 100 miles on the  Blue Ridge Parkway.  That leaves me 369 miles to explore when I come back to visit.  Believe me, I will be coming back!  It's truly one of God's best places!

Next blog post will be:

 Part Two: Washington, D.C.