OK, I haven't scanned my camping photos yet. But I will!
The trip was great. We saw lots of wildlife, in the form of deer (and fawns, awww) that were everywhere, bears, beardogs, and coyotes. Brent valiantly managed to start a fire on Friday night, even though the wood was quite damp (as we all were by the end of the evening; the weather was cool, but very moist). We cooked hot dogs on sticks for dinner and were illuminated by the sun that the people at the next site had brought with them. Brent, Katie, Steve, and Becca thought a bear had entered their campsite during the night (Dave and I were safe at the next site), but it turned out to be a dog. In fairness, it was a Rottweiler.
Saturday we decided to hike to Dark Hollow Falls, which was described in one of the hiking guides as being closest to Skyline Drive, though many people have trouble with the hike back. No kidding. It suuucked. But we survived. We also did another quick hike and saw the 20s/30s celebration, complete with period cars and small horses. That night we went to the Big Meadows to look at the stars. It was fantastic. We were so far away from the city lights that the night sky was just filled. Beatiful.
Needless to say, there were smores both nights--and lots of them.
Sunday involved a quick hike which was, thankfully, flat. It also involved a bear wandering through the forest not far from our campsite, which was slightly unnerving (maybe not a beardog that first night?). And since by this point we were all quite smelly, it was time to head back home. Where I promptly showered, did laundry, and napped. Camping was lovely, but you sure do wake up at the crack of dawn.
This past weekend I went and visited Melodie in Connecticut, which was lovely. We spent most of the weekend hanging out with her friends, who were all very, very nice (and provided free food, which was also nice). And we watched Band of Brothers and Horatio Hornblower, and went to Mystic Seaport (history, hurrah!).
The nicest thing, I think, was that it seemed like conversation managed to flow well all weekend. A lot of times, when you see a friend you haven't seen in a while, it seems like conversation can be stilted. But everything felt really normal, still, which is always nice. So it was a lovely weekend, though ironically, I got more mosquito bites than I did in the Shenandoah. Huh.
Current song in my head:
"3 a.m." by Matchbox 20