Monday, July 6, 2009

Shenandoah National Park

Hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July. We had a lovely time. It felt a little rushed, but any vacation with 7 people, each one with his/her own agenda, is bound to feel rushed. The weather was perfect, and fortunately, the mad rush of traffic was non-existent. So, all in all, a great time was had by all. I'd love to go into detail, but to spare you a lot of reading, I am going to let the pics do the talking.
We stopped at Baltimore harbor on Friday, en route to Virginia. The harbor was pretty and colorful...we watched the ships as we furiously licked on rapidly-melting icecream cones.
We took a peek into this submarine from Pearl Harbor days.
Shenandoah National Park has breathtakingly beautiful views.
The hike on Saturday did not go as planned; the White Oak Canyon/Cedar Run trail was longer, steeper and more strenuous than we had expected and most of the group consisted of novice hikers, who decided to throw in the towel after 5 miles.
We got a taste of Southern hospitality as an incredibly kind gentleman, Kevin offered us a ride back to our cars.
The highlight of the trip was jumping into a cool pool on the hike and getting a free waterfall massage.
The scariest moment was noticing a huge rattlesnake on the trail, just a foot or so behind DH.

We also spotted 2 bears (luckily we were safely in our cars when we saw them).
The only running I did last week was 6 miles on Monday and 10 miles on Wednesday. I've missed my routine and am looking forward to logging in the miles this week.

20 comments:

Mel-2nd Chances said...

Wow, looks like a great trip! Bet your body appreciated a few extra days rest :D

Lindsay said...

looks and sounds like a great weekend (well minus the snake) :) ice cream is always good! i'm sure you are well-rested and ready for a big week of running.

Mica said...

I love Shenandoah; it's so beautiful! Glad you had a nice time there.

joyRuN said...

Love Baltimore's Inner Harbor area. Sounds like a great trip - snake & bears aside!

Marlene said...

Sounds (and looks) like a great trip! Oh man, that waterfall looks sooo refreshing!

Felice Devine said...

Looks like lots of fun! But, I know what you mean about wanting to get back to a routine. That's how I felt after my 4 days away. I loved the vacation but craved the return to regularity.

And -- that's cool that you were able to snap a pic of the bears!

Heather said...

Looks like a fun weekend! Great pictures. Hope you are having a good week getting back into your routine. :)

Unknown said...

That looks like a wonderful trip to a beautiful place. Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. Vacations and breaks are always nice, but like you I like routine.

Irene said...

The photos speak for themselves! It looks like a wonderful trip.

I love the waterfalls pictures.

Amy said...

You always have beautiful photos to share. So jealous.

Ali said...

I was in Baltimore a couple years ago, and ran right where you took those pics!

teacherwoman said...

Love all the great pics! sounds like a good weekend!

Emily said...

Love the Baltimore harbor photos. I would have loved to enjoy the 4th of July fireworks from a boat (like I saw on tv. :-).

Shenandoah park looks so beautiful. I'm glad you had a good vacation!

Beth said...

I love all of the pictures! The rattlesnake would have freaked me out, but it sounds like you had a great trip. Yeah!

Aileen said...

Rattlesnake?!?!? Man, and I thought I was tough for facing down the raccoon! You win :) Great pics!

Erica said...

What a great vaca! It is tough to go away with 7 people (we had 7 with us too!) Snakes scare the crap out of me!! Beautiful pictures

Special K said...

Too too beautiful! I would love to have seen this!

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Scheri said...

Sounds like a fantastic weekend! You take the best weekend getaways!!!

lauren said...

You were in BALTIMORE!! Next time - let me know - I can recommend a place to eat!!!!! :)