So last Wednesday, my friend Melissa was free and we decided to take Kristin and Leah up into the mountains in the western part of the state to visit Luray Caverns and the Skyline Drive. Last time I took Leah to the caverns, she went crazy, running around, screaming, ducking under ropes, etc. so I was glad that I had back up with Melissa to help me keep her safe and quiet!
We met up around 9:30 and hopped in Melissa’s car and took off. We drove up and over a big mountain on a twisty road to get out there, so I wound up getting out a map to show Kristin the route, and I think she was happy to have a concrete idea as to where we were going. We made it no trouble by 11:15 and stopped off at a Pizza Hut to eat lunch before going over to the caverns for the tour. Our timing was impeccable, as the tour was just getting ready to go down, so we didn’t have to wait very long. There were a lot of people on the tour, and they tell you when you go in that you cannot touch anything, the reason being that salts and bacteria on our hands can cause the rocks to quit growing, become brittle, and break. The other 2 times I’ve been on the tour, people have obeyed this command. Not this time. Seriously, my two year old obeyed better than several adults on the tour. One lady actually sat on the rocks to get her picture taken. The tour guide was apoplectic.
Leah was a good bit more subdued this time, thanks to the fact that it was really pretty much naptime and she’d had lunch. Note to self to repeat this next time we go somewhere! There’s not much to say other than that the caves are gorgeous and Kristin lingered a lot to take pictures! The light is not good down there (haha) so we had a hard time getting pictures of her, but got at least one decent one! She spent a lot of time learning to use her camera, which was good, and we just saw some beautiful formations.
After the tour was over, we went through the gift shop and I found magnets which said Leah and Kristin, so I bought each girl their name as a souvenir. Leah immediately attempted to eat hers, so we decided it was time to hop in the car and hit Skyline Drive to go to Big Meadows visitor center. The drive was beautiful and we pulled over several times to get pictures in the various overlooks. We had absolutely amazing weather.
We got to big meadows and hit the concessions stand. They are apparently famous there for their blackberry ice cream, and Melissa had taken Penny up there last spring to do some hiking and Penny came home raving about the ice cream, so I decided to try some for myself. YUM! It was really, really good. Kristin tried a sundae and Leah got some plain Jane vanilla, but she loved it!
Afterwards, we went to the Big Meadows visitor center and looked at their exhibit and saw deer, which Kristin had been asking about. It was a really great day, we had a beautiful ride and a nice visit. Sadly, Leah refused to nap, so she got really cranky on the ride home, but we played her some Lady Gaga in the car, which made her happy. I asked her who it was singing and she said, “Gaga!” and Kristin thought that was the cutest thing, so I’m glad she got some entertainment out of that and hopefully it helped her like Leah a bit more!
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