James Russell Lowell asked, “What is so rare as a day in June?” Here’s one answer — two 4-day weekends in a row. As you know, this was a weekend to visit the grand kids. The weather was just about perfect. Highs were in the 70s with lots of sunshine. We wanted to do this trip a little differently. We usually drive over to Frederick and then down I-81 in the Appalachian Mountains. We decided that since we’re there, and since the weather is so great, we should take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors a little bit. We started out by walking up to REI and buying a walking sticks. Manufacturers have done a lot with walking sticks. These days, they are sold in pairs. That works fine for us. I use the left pole, Danita the right. (The difference is obvious, thanks to the bold red “L” and “R” on the wrist straps.)
Woodstock Fire Tower
Friday, we left early, drove a couple of hours, and ate breakfast at IHOP. We got quite a deal. We ordered one omelet and a spare plate. They split the omelet for us, giving us almost two whole omelets. They upgraded our pancakes to double blueberry. And we had a coupon for 20% off.
We drove for a couple of hours and took a hike to the Woodstock Fire Tower. Getting to the trail head was at least half the fun. It was a very narrow, gravel, mountain road with extreme switchbacks. The fire tower is a little wobbly, but the view from the top is amazing. I understand that on nice weekends, the tower is mobbed, with a line of people waiting to get to the top.
Falling Water Cascades
We drove a couple of hours and stopped for lunch and another hike. The lunch was at an old-time grill on Main St in Buchanan, one of the little mountain towns in the area. Danita made the better selection and had a very good Ruben sandwich. The hike was to Falling Water Cascades at Peaks of Otter on the BRP. This trail goes downhill first, which means that once reaching the bottom, there’s not many choices about how one gets back up to the parking lot. The hike and the water fall were both great.
We drove a couple of more hours and stopped for the night at an independent motel. The was cheap, well maintained, and very clean; but there were no extras. Not even a box of tissues. The room would have been fine, but the internet access was the slowest I have experienced in many years. We won’t be going back there.
Daniel Stowe Gardens
Saturday morning, it was only a couple of hours drive to get to Jul’s house for breakfast. The second thing Elizabeth said is “I want to go on an adventure.” Throughout the weekend, she kept on asking for assurance that she would get an adventure each day. Saturday we visited a small museum near one of the nuclear power plants. The museum wasn’t much, but the lake and the green space was quite nice. We enjoyed a picnic lunch. The most fun we had was scaring the geese. Fortunately, the geese were scared in three separate groups. That let grandpa demonstrate how it’s done, then Bryon scare some more, then Elizabeth scare the rest. Geese are beautiful when a group take off in flight. Sunday Jul joined us as we visited Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. They did a wonderful job of creating a series of beautiful outdoor rooms, and the orchard house was fantastic. The kids had a great time running around and getting soaked in the walk-through water fountain. We finished the adventure with a stop at Cold Stone Ice Cream. Poor Elizabeth was so tuckered out she couldn’t eat her last spoon full of ice cream.
The view from Sharp Top
Coming home we left after dinner Sunday. We planned to drive two hours, but after an hour and a half I was ready to pull over. We splurged at a Holiday Inn Express with a pretty decent free breakfast. Monday we drove back to Peaks of Otter. The fall colors were just beginning to come in. We were amazed at how much change there was in just a few days. We took a hike that was quite ambitious for us.The trail to Sharp Top is 3 miles, with an altitude gain of over 1300 feet. Of course the view was spectacular. Sharp Top is so popular that they run a bus on weekends and during the fall for folks that can’t walk all the way up. By the time we got back, it was almost 1:00 so we had lunch at Peaks of Otter Lodge, which was a little on the expensive side.
Sharp Top as seen from Peaks of Otter Lodge
The rest of the ride home was uneventful. We normally have dinner at 6. Come 6:00, we were driving right by Bare Bones, our favorite ribs place, and the only place in the area that serves onion loaf. That made our dinner selection pretty darned obvious.
That’s it for this week. I hope this finds everybody doing well.