oh shenandoah

Shenandoah NP is another of Martin and my early romantic adventures followed years later  by a Hain family vacation and now a stop on our meandering exploration of the country. The first time we went there together was my first time camping, EVER.

Let me see if I can paint the picture for you. 

It's in late August - early September.

The plan: 

• camp in a walk-in site (we were camping in a little 2 person tent and it was very small)

• leave the DC area on a Friday afternoon after work, we were both planning on leaving work early. 

• Travel time about 2 1/2 hrs. 

• Get there, walk out to our site and set up while it's still daylight.  

Sounds lovely, right? 

The complications:

• Martin drove a snazzy little TR7 sports car (interpret this as essentially no backseat or trunk ... but it sure looked good)

• He had all the camping gear

• I, never having been camping before, had a suitcase, (yes, a suitcase. I did mention I'd never been camping before and yes, 🙄 you may roll your eyes here) a bag and my rather large dog, a collie, named Ginger and her accoutrements

• Neither of us were able to leave work early AND it took some time and very creative packing on Martin's part to get everything in the car 

• The result of leaving late meant that we were joined by what seemed like all the rest of DC heading out of the city for the weekend which of course increased our travel time by an unknown factor.

• We had no reservations, repeat NO RESERVATIONS 

• And one more little thing, Martin had said that Ginger could not, under any circumstances, sleep or even come in the tent. I protested saying I didn't think that would work. She'd never slept outside before, nor away from me, but he said, first, the tent was too small and second, it was a camping maxim, "No dogs in the tent" and maybe she could sleep in the car. I said maybe. I wasn't too happy. (But, what did I know? I'd never been camping before.)

So, I think you can picture this, it's early in our relationship and I know that camping is an activity that Martin had been doing since childhood and really enjoys and he wants to share this with me. I have some trepidations but I'm going to give it my all, suitcase and collie in tow. (Yes, you may roll your eyes again! 😂)

Those of you who know Martin, or have read my earlier blogs, know that he is a planner and, this is very important piece, he likes to get places EARLY. (This is not my tendency, but that is immaterial in this story)

The fact that we were running late, had no reservations so there might not be a site for us and if there was, he'd have to set up camp in the dark (I likely wouldn't be much help given my lack of knowledge and skills) was making him anxious. When he gets anxious he gets really quiet and sometimes even a little, dare I say, "testy".  As Ginger squirms on my lap, (the car was, ahem, "quite full" and that was really the only place for her) I'm thinking to myself, maybe this wasn't such a good idea … 

We arrive and get a site. This is a good sign! We do have to use flashlights to walk into it and set up (it's quite dark by the time the tent is up) but it's ok. We have a nice dinner that Martin cooked and everyone, except perhaps Ginger, who is a bit spooked and glued to my leg, is feeling like yeah, ok, this is nice.

Bedtime arrived. I said goodnight to Ginger. Told her to be a good girl. That I was right inside the tent and she could feel me through it. Then I went inside and climbed into my sleeping bag. She whined a bit and whimpered a bit. I called to her and patted the side of the tent. She whined a bit more, harrumphed and lay down next to me, on the outside of the tent. A couple of minutes later the breeze blew or a twig snapped, something really scary happened, I'm sure, and she was back at the door of the tent with a little whimpering whine. The next thing I knew, Martin was slithering out of his sleeping bag, unzipping the tent and letting her in.  I looked at him questioningly, "Well, we don't want her to be scared out there…" was his response.  She curled up into a ball at my feet and not another peep was heard out of her. That was when I discovered that although Martin can sometimes appear to be a bit of a curmudgeon, he's really just a marshmallow on the inside. ❤️

We went on to have a glorious weekend with hiking and exploring followed by great dinners at the campsite and in the lodge. l discovered I liked camping and Martin, too. And Ginger slept in the tent.

This visit our first hike was along a trail that was surrounded by Mountain Laurel just coming into bloom.  They were gorgeous!

Mountain Laurel 

Red clover, VT's state flower ❤️

Fly Poison

Columbine

Moving on to the fungi family

And beautiful fields of ferns

Contemplatinging the Shenandoah Valley spread out before us.

Such focus!  I will not lose my footing on this stream crossing 😂

Someone was very interested in my poles and water bottle

Mountain streams, mini waterfalls and moss

It was fairly cloudy and rainy many of the days we were there.

Oh, hello there.

❤️ (Love "our" new lens. Thank you choir!!!)

Wait a minute, do I have double vision or are there two?

Definitely two.

Someone's grilling on the wood fire because "they" dropped the gas grill and it broke…

Our campsite 

The mist makes it spooky at night

Full moon rising

So sadly, Shenandoah, or at least, "Big Meadows" campground had a terrible infestation of Spongy Moth, aka Gypsy Moth caterpillars while we were there. They were up in the canopy of trees and it was literally like it was raining. We had to cover all our food and drink all the time. The trees were being demolished. It was very sad. 

Not only does Shenandoah hold a special place in Martin and my "courtship" but it is also where Ben asked Grace to marry him and spend the rest of her life with him. ❤️  That makes it a very special spot for them as well.  

I trust that over the next few years they will be able to resolve and/or find some way to lessen the impact of this caterpillar. It seems to be A Very Hungry Caterpillar and doesn't seem to help the environment very much 😐

Next stop is literally and figuratively "new" ground, our country's newest National Park, New River Gorge National Park, West Virginia. It will be a first visit for both of us 🙂