DAY TWENTY-SEVEN THROUGH THIRTY-ONE

Day 27

Before we left the Blue Ridge Parkway, we visited an old time mountain farm.  Cute place with lots to teach us and salamanders to "ooh" and "ahh" over,  Started driving up Skyline Drive today - it was a bit overcast and foggy, but still pretty.

Went hiking up one of the summits and climbing over rocks till we got to the tippy top. It was pretty fun when the cloud rolled in and we could feel the water condensing on us :)

Lesson Twenty-Five: Never fear the rain clouds, they can actually be refreshing to walk in.

Day 28

Rained all last night and was very drizzly this morning.  We hung out in the tent all morning playing games and reading, trying to avoid the wet.  Early afternoon, we decided to go to Luray Caverns - everyone else had the same idea so there was a little wait to get into the caverns.  Our favorite place in the caves was Dream Lake, where the reflection of the ceiling made the cave seem infinite.

Nothing was visible in any of the
lookouts today due to fog.

Came out of the cave and the sun started peeking out at us and the lookouts had some OK views.

Lesson Twenty-Six: Everyone will find the best indoor activity on a rainy day, so expect to wait.

Day 29

Finished driving up Skyline Drive and headed to Harper's Ferry.  Cute little historic town, which served as a nice prelude to Gettysburg.  As well as the National Park historic sights and the hike up the hill, we also had to check out the historic candy shop and the John Brown Wax Museum.  We had read reviews about this wax museum and it was just as cheesy as everyone said it was.  We learned a lot about John Brown and the girls learned a lot about what high quality exhibits were in the 60's - we all laughed and had fun.  Camped right on the Potomac - pretty campsite, but not the most private.

Lesson Twenty-Seven: Outdated, cheesy displays can be more fun that you think.

Day 30

Completely enjoyed our time at Gettysburg - fantastic museum, wonderful cyclorama, and the audio tour around the battleground made everything seem personal and real.  

Lesson Twenty-Eight:  As long as you can connect on a personal level to a story, even the most horrific events become meaningful and interesting.

Day 31

On our way home - drove through some crazy storms and finally got the girls some Krispy Kreme donuts.  They had been bugging us to try them (I know they aren't all that, but the girls were still excited).

Lesson Twenty-Nine: The trip started in rain and ended in rain, but we seemed to have an umbrella over us through most of the trip with the rain either right ahead or right behind us.  Sometimes traveling in the spring means you can avoid all the rains at home.