Oh, Shennandoah... (part 2)

You can read Part 1 here.

Camping Day 3  

Hike #2, Mom stays in campground, Fire on the Mountain

Since I was unable to hike (or even walk, really) I stayed back in camp and read.  I am quite enjoying ‘Game of Thrones’.  The following adventures are second hand accounts pieced together from photos and descriptions from everybody else.

First of all, the men decided to ignore the other mom (whose trail info came straight from the Ranger) and were certain that their way was going to be a much shorter route to the waterfall and swimming hole at Rose River Falls.  

According to the Ranger (and the map) this hike was approximately 2 miles, but moderate.  I have no way of knowing if the shortcut was shorter or not, but by all accounts (and typical of shortcuts in general), it was a very challenging climb, both down and back up.

I don't think this is the route on the map.

The dog was able to go on this hike.  The first thing he did upon arrival at the swimming hole was to jump in.  The water was cold.  The very next thing he did was to frantically try to scramble out!  All the hikers except one went for a very refreshing swim. Cheerio attempted to save them all.

 

I love you, boy. I'm glad you're safe!

That evening we all showered and then drove for an hour to go to town.  We had previously decided that this would be the day we had dinner ‘out’.  We headed north on Skyline Drive.  Our destination was the town of Luray, VA.  Soon after we started driving, we saw the smoke of wildfires burning on the mountain.  On the way back, you could see the orange glow from the flames. 

Camping Day 4

Luray Caverns, more reading, Stormy Weather

The next day the group decided that due to the extreme temperatures forecast (100+), it would be best to go back into Luray and visit Luray Caverns.  Guess who stayed in camp?  Broken toe and Cheerio.  It was nice and cool in the caverns.  They enjoyed the views and the coolness.

It was HOT back at camp.  The dog was good company, though.  We followed the shade all day long, and I finished book one of ‘Game of Thrones’.  I recommend it.

Up at the Ranger station, they had a little board where they posted the weather forecast, and on the first day while talking to the ranger about hiking I happened to glance at the board, so during dinner, I was not surprised to see some lightning. When I saw the 2^nd flash, the other mom and I decided that we needed to clean up, especially since the next day was departure day and we wanted to do some pre-packing anyway.  Well, it’s a good thing we did, because that storm came up fast! Even though the sky was getting dark because it was late in the day, you could see the dark black clouds. The flashes of lightning got closer and closer together.  Then came the rumble of thunder.  The most frightening sound though, was the sound like a train getting closer. There was a hum that just got louder and more intense as the seconds ticked by.  We all scrambled and managed to get all the food things put away and all the camp chairs packed up.  We put everything we could into the cars. Just. In. Time.

The wind was intense. Think gale/hurricane force winds! (hurricane in a tent) The 3 boys were having a fantastic time.  I was afraid that my tent was going to be ripped to shreds.  When the wind blew out all 4 walls of the tent at the same time I questioned the advisability of having a tall tent you could stand up in. The small, short, ground-hugging tent the boys were in suddenly looked much more appealing.

There were sounds of frantic, screaming people from many nearby campsites.  It wasn’t possible to hear anybody’s words, just screaming. There was a group of 20-somethings in the campsite next to us who were completely unprepared for any sort of inclement weather. Their tents blew away and they spent the night in their cars.

Camping Day 5

Storm aftermath and Homeward Bound

The following morning found everybody safe.  Uncle Paul came around and checked on all the campers.  He told us that the power was out in the camp store and that the South entrance of the park was closed due to downed trees.  He didn’t know about what was going on to the North.  The storm put out the camp fire so there was no heating up water for coffee or tea.  The tents were all wet and needed to dry up. During our tear down and packing up we learned that the resort lodge has their own generator and the restaurant was open. We decided to eat breakfast there. This is another place I recommend.

After we had left the park, we turned on the car radio and learned that 9 people (7/1/12 update: 14) had died in this storm and 3 million people were without power.  We survived it at the top of the mountain in nylon tents.What is it with me, storms and tents?

We decided to AVOID DC on the way home and promptly got mired in a horrific traffic jam in WV.  Thanks to Garmin, I threw caution to the wind, got off I-81, and took a bunch of back roads through some beautiful WV countryside. After we got back on I-81 there was traffic, but it moved at something near the speed limit.

This trip was definitely more fun for some of us than for others. I am happy to be home and showered.  I also can’t wait for my toe to heal so that I can walk properly again. I am looking ahead to our next camping adventure. This one will be more rustic. One of the boys and I don’t want to be able to see other campers or cars.  There is talk of a hike-in camping trip.

What Were They Thinking – Part 2

In light of the most recent hurricane, I thought that now might be a good time to share another highlight of my childhood. In 1976, New Jersey was hit with a category one hurricane; Hurricane Belle. Hurricane? Highlight? You are now thinking, this woman is nuts. 

When I was a child, I spent my summers with my grandparents in a house on a barrier island, a couple of blocks from the beach.  Interestingly enough, this house was also a couple of blocks away from the bay.  Skinny little barrier island.  

Thank you, Google Maps

My grandparents’ home was small.  Because of space issues, my aunt’s family spent the summer near this island in a campground.  In tents.  (which is where I got the idea to spend my summer at the shore in a campground – in an RV)

It was an idyllic experience.  I woke up, ate breakfast, and went to the beach.  I came home for lunch and then went right back to the beach.  I knew it was time to come home for dinner when the lifeguards left for the day.  Many times after dinner we went back to the beach. Almost my entire summer existence was reserved for time at the beach.

There was a TV, but only a few stations.  There was nothing on during the day, anyhow.  And it just wasn’t normal for a kid to be inside during the day, especially in the summertime. At night, my grandparents were in charge of what we watched.  They loved Lawrence Welk. (This is a sample of my nightly horror http://youtu.be/4327HSXY56k)  Needless to say, I didn’t watch a lot of television. We played cards and board games instead.  To sum things up, as a child I was disconnected from the reality of the world.

The day before the hurricane hit, my father was down the shore with us.  (I looked it up – it was a Monday so he must have stayed over after a weekend.) As he left to go back home to the city, he told my Aunt that there was a hurricane coming and asked her to look after the kids. And then LEFT.  To go back to back home.  On the mainland.  As I look at this with my adult perspective, I am at a loss to understand just how that made any sense.  As a child at the time, I barely understood what a hurricane was.  Just a day I couldn’t go to the beach.

My Aunt’s family were sailors. They would come over from the campground every day and go sailing.  On this particular day, they came over and informed my grandparents of the impending storm.  My Aunt suggested they get off the island.  My grandparents said they were staying put. My Grandfather let us know (again) that the house was on the high point of the island. My Aunt told my grandparents they were going to go deal with the boats, eat lunch and then come back and collect her brother’s children, because she’d promised to look after us.

My brothers, sister, grandparents and I all ate lunch at the house.  Before my Aunt returned, a police car came past to tell everyone they needed to evacuate.

My grandparents decided to leave the island.

We evacuated. There were four of us kids. I was the oldest at 13.  My brother was 12, my little brother was 6 and my little sister was 5. There were 2 elderly grandparent people.  There were 3 in my Aunt’s family.  Where did we go?  Home to the city?  Where everybody had either a house or space for company? Nope.

We evacuated. To. The. CAMPGROUND.

So we could ride out the hurricane in safety.

Not the actual tents, or campground.  But close! 
(image from http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&p=54528)

In tents.  Really. I am not making this up. 

I was a kid so this made sense.  Get off the island.  Check.  Go stay in tents. Yay! I get to camp! (By the way, this is an example of why you don’t let children make adult decisions.) What were the adults thinking?

Wind. Downed tree limbs.  Flooding rains. 

Apparently none of these crossed their minds. 

There were 3 sleeping tents in the campground. My 17 year old cousin, both my brothers, and I stayed in one tent.  My Aunt, Uncle, and little sister stayed in my other cousin’s tent (he was at home in the city).  My grandparents stayed in my Aunt and Uncle’s tent.  The kind people in the RV next door (again, what were they thinking?) said that my grandparents could use their bathroom so they didn’t have to trek through the campground, in the wind and rain, to use the public campground bathroom.

I remember my Uncle battening down the hatches.  Each sleeping tent got a second layer of plastic sheeting on top.  The screen house (where the food and picnic table were) had its sides put down to keep the rain out. There was no floor on this tent, though. So, hmmm.  

What I remember is what fun and adventure it was.  We told ghost stories.  We played cards.  I got to hang out with my older cousin. Every 15 minutes or so, we had to push the collected rain off the sagging roof of the tent.  

One time, my Uncle was walking past and we were pushing water out of the sagging roof.  My Uncle got the equivalent of a bucket of water dumped on him.  I remember that being very funny. The tent leaked.  That was okay, too because it was over my little brother’s cot.  He was asleep and didn’t know it was dripping on him.

The campground flooded.  To get to the bathroom you had to walk through hip deep water.  My cousin wanted to drive over to the island at the height of the storm.  That scared me a little.  My Aunt put the kibosh on that dumb teenage idea.

The next morning we all went back over to the island.  The ocean had met the bay.  The island had been under water.  There were big power boats sitting in the middle of the streets.  There was seaweed and reeds all over everything.  It was a mess. Everywhere. 

Except the high point of the island.  My Grandfather’s lawn.