After our stay in Kentucky had come to an end, we considered visiting the Ark Encounter in Williamstown (northern Kentucky) but instead decided to head to the Shenandoah Valley & Luray Caverns (southeastern Virginia). But, not without stopping at a KFC before leaving Kentucky (Gabriel & Christian think KFC chicken tastes best when it’s actually purchased in Kentucky).
While on our way, we called ahead for reservations to the Shenandoah River State Park campground. The rates were good, they were super accommodating with our reservation, and said they’d give us a great site next to their new comfort station (the site had electric and water but no sewer). We arrived to find a flat site with gravel and very spacious, not requiring any leveling. So we set up, got some firewood from the camp host, and enjoyed the rest of the evening.
The next morning, we headed into the Shenandoah National Park and down Skyline Drive for some spectacular views on our way to Dark Hollow Trail for a waterfall hike.
The Dark Hollow Trail is about 1.5m (3m round trip), beginning with a small creek to follow down along two waterfalls. We chose this hike out of all the hikes in Shenandoah because it had water so we’d have fun cooling off if it was hot, and because it wasn’t long, so we’d have time for Luray Caverns afterwards. It was actually a little chilly that morning, so we didn’t need the water just then. However, Steve offered a challenge of $25 for 1 minute underneath a waterfall, and Naomi was the only one brave enough to take up that offer. Girl Power!
It was a good hike – scenic, cool, and took just long enough. We drove back up Skyline Drive and over to Luray Caverns for a picnic lunch first and then a tour of the caverns. It took about an hour and a half to see the caverns, though I could have stayed in there for twice that. The cave is modified for tours, so the walkways are brick paved and accommodating, and the lighting makes everything look spectacular. There was one area that had sitting water that was so still, that you wouldn’t be able to tell which was was up if you weren’t standing right there. In the largest room, there was an organ hooked up to some of the cavern’s structures, and like a player-piano it played a portion of the hymn, ” “. It was beautiful. And then was also a small pool of water where they would encourage you to toss in a few pennies for charity – the lighting along with the change in the water color from absorbing the copper from the pennies made it look amazing. Definitely worth the trip.
After the tour, we visited a few small museums outside of the Luray Cavern complex. There was the Automobile Museum, Toy Museum, Shenandoah history museum, and some other little places to see. They also offered a Garden Maze and a Rope Course, but maybe we’ll do those when we visit Shenandoah again.
Back at the campground later on, Steve and I checked out one of the short trails just near our site and found out that we were actually just along the Shenandoah River. Don’t ask how we didn’t realize that from the name of the campground, but we didn’t. So the next morning we got out and hiked the trails around the campground. The trails were really nice, the lookout and views of the River and the river itself, and we even stopped at the Visitors Center just off the trial. The river was perfect for tubing, and in fact we found out that lots of people go there to do just that and other river activities. Back at the camper, Morgan and Naomi were leaving ahead of us, so we just took the other boys back to the trail and the river before packing up and leaving.
So regarding our Cross-Country travels, our state count didn’t change because we’d already been through those states before, but we can add 1 more to our list of National Parks visited and a few hundred more miles to the Freedom Express camper!
♥ M
