Monday, June 4, 2012

Shenandoah Valley and Skyline Drive

So another week of training has passed and nothing really exciting is happening on the work front. I am learning lots of new stuff about the government and meeting lots of new people. 


Al, Sofia and I went to visit Luray Caverns this weekend. It is about 2 hours from Falls Church and is a huge underground cave system. There are lots of interesting rock formations. We also got to hike along the Appalachian trail in the Shenandoah National Park. So here are some pictures...looks like fun, huh?


First stop, a city park in Luray, Sofia made some ducky friends!


Up next, we went to the Garden Maze at Luray Caverns. Here are shots of us in the maze. It was fun to run around and get lost.












Now it is time to visit Luray Caverns. The formations all have funny names and stories, but I just liked how these pictures turned out.



It looks like Sofia is eating the stalactite!



I took some shots outside that turned out really beautiful. Sofia is my favorite subject, of course!





We drove along Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah National Park. We saw lots of beautiful vistas...




These black bears were having a snack in the woods on the side of the road. Al was brave enough to get out and take some pictures. We also got a shot of some deer that were on the road as we were driving out.






We hiked down to Dark Hollow Falls in the Shenandoah National Park. It is about 1 mile down, and I mean almost straight down. We got some great pictures, but the hike back up was a doozy!








This shot is my favorite!


I took this shot from underneath a flower while we were hiking on the Appalachian  Trail. I don't know what it is, but it is really beautiful.



Finally, while we are certainly not hiking aficionados, we hiked almost 5 miles over the weekend and we had a very relaxing mini-vacation. All in all, a successful trip sharing nature with my family.



Until next time...