I saw a Raccoon

We woke for the second time in Washington DC after having a bad sleep in a room that was too light, too hot and contained a bed that was too soft and caused some serious roll-together. Despite feeling a little under the weather we hit the ground running at 7.30am. During our challenging visit to the Mexican Mart we over looked todays breakfast, so having eaten like Kings yesterday it was peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before we hit the road again.

With Fraser behind the wheel the GPS was set for the fastest route to the larger, out of town Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (because the boys hadn't had enough the day before). Sam and Fraser spent the next hour pouring over the history of aircraft inventions from the Robbie 22 to the Discovery Space Shuttle. Vickie and I were lucky enough to be educated on the phenomenal attractions including the Black Bird, the worlds fastest ever plane which flew from the west to east coasts of America in 1hour 40mins and the Japanese Kamikaze Cherry Blossom piloted missile from world war II. The tasty facts could go on, and believe me they did, into the next day as well.

One Slightly Scorched Shuttle

Finally we were heading north west to the famous Skyline Trail. At the advice of our guide books or misguide books we stopped to check out Dinosaur Land which had promised to deliver life size replicas of Dinosaurs as they were when alive. What we found on arrival was a park of old decaying structures. We paid our $5 entry fee and headed for the park. The door from the store to the park could have been mistaken for a cleaning closet and beyond the door was a short airy tunnel which forced the thought that this could be a scene from a low budget horror movie and we could be entering a trap. Jokes of such were made accordingly. During our polite viewing of the park we saw several dinosaurs of varying quality and read a little info about each. There were also some disturbing displays fighting and eating each other to demonstrate the hierarchy amongst them which was bought to life with blood. King Kong provided a good opportunity for some happy snaps.

I think the Red Guy is Winning

The Park store was a large room packed with all kinds of clutter including dinosaur memorabilia, glass ornaments, cheap jewellery, fireworks and a couple of middle age women complaining about life in general. I don't blame them, they were in the process of dusting all this crap for sale. The smell of the store was somewhere between stale musty and plastic goods packaged from China.

The next time our feet hit the ground was at Front Royal Information centre where we were greeted by a friendly older gentleman named William, now affectionately referred to as Ranger Bill. William advised us of the best strategies for tackling the skyline trail including distance, speed limits and costs for getting our car into the national park, he also provided us with some maps which will prove to be extremely helpful on the next leg of the journey. We were soon driving about 2500 feet above sea level on the Skyline Trail through the Shenandoah National Park. The drive opened in 1939 and runs at 50km/h along the crest over 100miles of scenic driving and is considered the best way to experience the National Park providing access to the Appalachian Trail leading to stunning waterfalls and overlooks. I was expecting a road not unlike the Mount Messenger pass (those of you who have travelled the central north island of NZ will know what I mean). However the road was very well constructed and maintained with some windy corners but never causing me to come close to loosing my lunch. It was very pleasant with plenty of opportunities for us to stop and check out the views from the mountain and enjoy the magical Autumn (Fall) colours as the trees changed and shed leaves. We headed down the mountain to the very small rural community of Luray where we had booked accommodation for the night at none other than the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park camping grounds.

Our family cabin was furnished with two sets of bunks, a double bed, small table with two chairs and not much else, oh I lie, a curtain divided the beds. Also utilising the cabin were about 30 beetle like bugs that had taken up residence on the curtains, Vickie and I flapped our arms a bit and the boys evicted the unwanted guests. Sitting outside we had the pleasure of meeting a very cute and very friendly cat. It was unclear whether he belonged to the camp owners or if he was holidaying with his family but we made the most of his company and extreme affection.

The Cat-Whisperer Befriends another Stray

We made a trip to the camp store. Here we were able to get advice on where to eat dinner and purchase firewood and all necessary supplies for authentic American S'mores. We ate about a k down the road at Brookside Homestyle Diner, the food wasn't spectacular but I will say the service was very impressive and continues to improve as we get further south. I'm not sure if its the tipping system that influences the service in this country but the people seem to have a genuine interest in our enjoyment at their establishment.

We returned to our Cabin at Yogi Bear and quickly set about getting the fire up and going. It was hard work and the wood we purchased was wet and smoky so some bush scavenging for pine cones was required. Soon the fire was ablaze and I no longer had to manually provide air to the fire ad it was s'more time. With some marshmallows burnt to a crisp we enjoyed our first s'more making and eating experience. As I sat next to the fire it was hard to believe I was in another country in the middle of no-where with an open campfire toasting marshmallows, it was an experience exceeding all expectations of this trip. The camp ground was otherwise deserted which made the whole experience even more relaxing.

Our S'more Attempt - Authenticity Uncertain

Fun with Fire and Cameras

The only other Occupant of the Camp

Our laughing and jokes was abruptly interrupted by a loud rustling from the bushes below, inspection with a torch revealed a real life Raccoon searching through the leaves on the ground. He didn't seem perturbed by our presence or the fact we were leaping over each other to have look and take a photo. It soon got cold and we dragged our smoke stenched bodies into the cabin where we spent our first night in our sleeping bags, to the boys credit the pillows they bought were pretty damn good for $3.89.