Shenandoah & the Blackberry Festival

7-26-14 - Skyland

Shenandoah National Park is only one hour away and this year we booked just one night of camping in the Big Meadows Campground.  When we arrived, the park was having their annual Blackberry Festival, which included pulled pork with blackberry relish, blackberry ice cream and local cloggers!  Now, that's what I call a festival!

Just arrived at the Blackberry Festival!

After bumping into Ranger Kelly, who used to be our neighbor at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, we found our campsite, set-up, and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon in the fresh mountain air.

 

"Oo, a rock!  Can I eat that?"

At nightfall, Nathan and I finished one round of cribbage when it started to rain.  Then it started to pour, then thunder and lightning...all night.  At precisely 4:41am, the whole campground was jolted awake by the loudest, simultaneous thunderclap and lightning strike I've ever heard.  There was a faint electronic sound as if a car down the street had short-circuited, but then everything was OK.  Luckily, we all survived.

In the morning it kept raining, so we packed up our wet gear and went home.  We had some pretty amazing views along the way:

It's pretty awesome to live so close to such a spectacular park!

Delaware & Horseshoe Crabs

Last weekend we went on a mini-trip to the Delaware and Maryland beaches.  It's not prime beach time or weather, but I was interested in seeing the area and, in particular, a phenomenon that we can't see anywhere else: the annual horseshoe crab spawn.  Every year in May and June, the horseshoe crabs of Delaware Bay come to shore during full and new moons to spawn.  The full moon would have been better, but it is taking place over Memorial Day this year and Nathan explained to me that he couldn't take off of work because, "Memorial Day at the Memorials is kind of a big deal".  So, we went for the new moon instead.

We have my friend, Maureen, to thank for routing us toward Cape Henlopen State Park.  They have a nice campground right on a 3.2-mile bike loop that hits all of the park's major attractions (Fort Miles, an old WWII and Cold War fort, an observation tower, some scenic points and, best of all, the beach).  The beach in the park was lovely and not very crowded.  I had attempted to convince Nathan that we should drag our tent along and camp but, being almost eight months pregnant, I'm now glad he talked me out of that. We rented this cute cabin for two nights instead and enjoyed all that the park had to offer, but got to end our days in a real bed.

Our Cute Little Two-Room Cabin

Enjoying the Top Bunk

Beach Wind

Loving the Sand & Waves

Cape Henlopen

Learning to Use the Spotting Scope

Beach Ghost

We had scoped out the above as prime horseshoe-crab-viewing real estate: a quiet beach in the park next to a section roped off to protect some endangered birds.  However, the park apparently closes that section off at night and we were forced to go to a public beach in nearby Lewes to try to find crabs.  We saw nothing and that's when I knew I needed some professional help.  After talking to the gift shop lady the next day (ok maybe she's not a professional, but she knew more than I did!), I found out that the best spot in the park is near a huge fishing pier at around 9:45pm that night.  The first horseshoe crab I saw was a real thrill.  I sat there and watched it until my flashlight scared it back into the ocean.  As I walked down the beach, farther and farther away from the lights of the fishing pier, the crabs became easier to spot.  The higher the tide, the closer they came to the edge and I got to see many, many pairs spawning and a bunch of loser crabs still looking for a date.  Mission accomplished!

Spawning!

Lone Horseshoe Crab

At the end of our trip, we ventured into the town of Rehoboth Beach, which is a crowded little area with tourists galore, a nice boardwalk, and Funland, which was a little carnival ride area that costs about 25 cents to ride the average ride.  Most of the rides were Alison-sized and she had a blast blowing right through naptime.

This was Alison's favorite ride because it went FAST!

We ended our trip with a visit to Assateague Island National Seashore.  Alison's favorite thing to do the entire trip was to take off her shoes and let the waves get her feet wet.  We did that a lot.  At this beach, there were a couple random horseshoe crabs that were tossed ashore by the waves.  Nathan saved one that came in on its back and so becomes the only one of us to touch a horseshoe crab in its natural habitat.  Lucky guy!

Shenandoah

I have nearly two weeks of freedom before starting the new job.  This week, we took a family vacation and camped in Shenandoah National Park.  Shenandoah is only two hours from us, so it's a convenient place to escape into the wilderness.  It's not the world's best wildlife or scenic park, but I do enjoy the view of the mountains through the haze.

There is a lot of hiking to be done, including pieces of the Appalachian Trail.  We chose to do a shorter hike to Dark Hollow Falls, which, with the kid carrier, turned into an amazing workout for me.

 Dark Hollow Falls

My favorite part of the trip occurred in two doses.  Each morning, we were treated to a half-dozen hummingbirds feverishly sucking down nectar from the blooming milkweed plants next to our campsite.

 Photo Credit: Nathan King

We didn't see any bears, but that doesn't matter.  The real mission was accomplished: introducing Alison to an amazing park and adding to the world another happy camper.

Photo Credit: Nathan King