Saturday, July 13, 2024

Starting mileage: 13,777, Distance travelled: 525

Well, after a slight mishap and a false start, we started our 2024 adventure. After the above photo was taken, Susan swatted a flying insect on the dash with David’s ball cap, which happened to have a metal fastener on the back, and put a spider crack in the center of our windshield…not a great start. After a few deep breaths, we were off, only to discover about 5 miles down the road that David had left his wallet at home. By 8am, however, we were on the road, staring ahead at 10 hours of driving. Within 30 minutes, Brady was asleep and Laura was plugged into Taylor Swift. Here are the highlights of our state line crossings (most of which Mom missed for a variety of distracting reasons):

Okay, that last one isn’t exactly a state border but mom was desperate!

We kept ourselves entertained by listening to the Amber Spyglass, the final book in Philip Pullman’s trilogy, playing Sneaky Sasquatch, and checking off state license plates (were already halfway to all 50, plus one province). The theme for today was caravans! We passed a military caravan in CT, a pack of West Virginia mega-camper trailers, and a trio of boat-hauling VA trucks. We arrived at the Dickey Visitors Center at the northern end of Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park just in time to dust off our 2023 National Park passport and get it stamped before closing time.

We drove about 40 miles on Skyline Drive to the Skyland Resort, one of the few lodges within the park. We ate a lovely dinner overlooking the valley and saw some amazing sunsets from our rustic cabin.