Ockey Family Adventures: Washington DC Day 3

The morning was beautiful in Shenandoah.

Today we left the city and ventured off into the woods. We hoped to spend the day in Shenandoah National Park spotting animals and doing hikes. We had a good omen as we turned out of the driveway of Jessica's house and saw a fox dart across the road in the headlights. The rest of the day didn't go quite as well. The boys were really tired. We left around 6 o'clock and Seth fell asleep during breakfast and then again in the car. In fact all the boys were asleep by the time we reached Shenandoah. Then Dad got out of the car to get a map and the wind was like icicles cutting through his thin jacket. We weren't really able to pack heavy warm clothing, so we all had hoodies or jackets, and it was freezing! We drove down the road for awhile admiring the views and hoping it might warm up a little. The leaves hadn't yet turned, but we did see a bald eagle and some white tailed deer.

The boys were exhausted. We have worn them out!

This tunnel is one of the best known features of Shenandoah.

There were some pretty views, but it was freezing.

The road is awesome. It has a rock wall alongside and in a few weeks the trees would look amazing.

It was really windy on top!

We were so cold!

This was the funniest sign in the park!

About 9 o'clock we stopped at the Visitor Center and the boys watched the park movie and collected their Junior Ranger badges. The movie told the sad story of how they really wanted a national park back east so they turned the farmers out who had been living in western Virginia and created Shenandoah.

Seth loves becoming a junior ranger.

It was still icy cold, but we really wanted to do a hike. We chose a short downhill walk to a waterfall. Once we got off the skyline down into a hollow it was warmer and the wind didn't cut too deeply. We could almost enjoy the walk. We arrived at the waterfall and it was really beautiful. The cascade fell about 70 feet and even in late fall it was rather large and spread over a fairly wide set of curtains. This was the highlight of our time in Shenadoah and as we walked it really lifted our spirits and our opinion of the park.

The boys were happy to be out of the car.

The hike was gorgeous!

Mom was also a little sleep deprived so everything was hilarious!

It was nice to see the boys so happy after all the crying up top!

The hike was just what we all needed to cheer up!

Seriously, there were so many beautiful spots along this hike.

Dad loves to climb and balance on anything.

The waterfall was so pretty, too!

We walked to the bottom but the view wasn't as good.

We love being outdoors!

Someone was nice enough to snap our picture!

We had planned an entire day in Shenandoah, but that didn't seem feasible as it was barely 11 am and we were ready to go. So we took a side road to try the Luray Caverns, which we'd only heard of. This was an interesting adventure, not because it cost over $100 for our little family, but because it was family owned and operated. The tour starts in a building and you go through a door and down some steps into the cave. There is not a guide to lead your tour, but guides are posted every couple hundred feet in front of meaningful formations or important rooms. The cave was really fantastic because along with being pretty large it had some impressive features. There was a massive curtain that is supposedly the most ornate in the world called the Saracen's Tent. There was a wishing well where you could throw coins into a shallow pool. Then once a year they vacuum out the pool and send all the money to charity.

The cave was really impressive!

There was one part where you walked through an archway.

That is the reflecting pool behind Mom!

Seth thought this formation looked like #1!

The cave had some huge rooms and feature.

This is one of the largest draperies.

Our boys love to imitate the signs!

The two best features of the cave are the organ and the reflecting pool. The organ was created in the 50s and uses tiny mallets to tap notes on certain stactites. It sounds a lot like a xylophone. The reflecting pool is only a few feet deep, but it's perfectly mirrored surface makes the rooom look incredibly deep and ornate. We've visited a lot of caves, but we've never seen anything like the features in Luray. The boys also enjoyed naming the different formations since nobody was telling us what they were called. They saw ghosts, animals, and food around every corner. We really enjoyed our time in the Luray Cavern.

That is a reflection. Isn't it so cool?

The organ was amazing. They played a song on it and we were stunned that it worked so well.

We grabbed a quick lunch at the cafe adjacent to the cave and then drove back east. Since it was so cold we decided to stop at the Air and Space Museum near the Dulles airport. This is a part of the Smithsonian Museum that exclusively houses aircraft. The boys enjoyed doing a scavenger hunt in which they found the animal names of many different aircraft. For finding all the items they received a pin, bookmark, picture, and certificate. We also saw some really cool aircraft like an SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde. Mark liked checking the speed of the aircraft and was stunned to see the Blackbird top out at 2200 mph! We even saw our second space shuttle, Discovery, which is the centerpiece of the museum. This was the most active of the shuttles because it flow nearly 40 missions and over 100 million miles. We also tried the space flight simulator. It was a little like riding Star Tours at Disneyland. The little space module picked us up and tipped and shook us pretty good before returning us safely to earth.

There were so many cool planes to see.

We loved all the things to see at this museum!

The Discovery shuttle was awesome!

Seth and Mom got to see the astronaut suit.

We rode inside the simulator.

The boys thought it was super fun!

The Blackbird was the most impressive to Mark.

We got back to Falls Church in time for dinner. It was Kennedy's tenth birthday so we had her favorite foods followed by cinnamon bundt cake. Our kids get along really well with their second cousins, who match perfectly with them in age. Mark and Judd are 12; Dax and Kennedy are 9; and Seth and Logan are 6. Eden is 14, so she spends half her time with the adults and half with the kids. We really enjoyed staying in their beautiful house, and the McKays were so good to us. The boys ran and played with the laser guns and the Double Shot basketball hoops without stopping to rest. They went from the trampoline to the basement to chasing in the halls running and shouting together. They've had more fun in the house than out. The trip was really worth it just to get to know some "new" cousins!