Saturday (8/22)
Having spent a week in Georgia, we are now ready to "hit the road". First destination is Grayson Highlands State Park in Va. . We checked into our campsite , ate dinner and then attended a campfire program on owls. The ranger had an owl call, but no luck,the owls must have been elsewhere that night!
Sunday (8/23)
After a breakfast of fresh baked banana nut muffins we attended the campground church service. A local couple presided over it. Many hymns and scripture readings. It was a very nice service. Stayed after the service and talked with the couple.
We hiked to the Visitors Center and organized our trail selections with the ranger. Our first hike took us to Listening Rock, where it is said farmers would go and listen for the bells of cows that had strayed from the herd. Backtracked (down hill..much easier!) to the campground. Not a long hike(5 miles), but feel like we saw alot.
Monday (8/24)
A biking day!! We rode on the Virginia Creeper Rails to Trails Bike Path from Whitetop Mountain into Damascus,Va.. It was 17 miles of downhill/flat terrain. In many spots we followed the river. There were many old train stations and reconstructed bridges along the way. We stopped in Taylor Valley for lunch. We were joined by friends, June and Dalton who live in Bristol, Tn.. Thanks guys for making the trip!
Tuesday (8/25)
Blueberries,wild horses,beautiful mountain vistas! Our plan was to hike the Rhododendron Trail within the park to see the vistas and maybe spot some of the wild horses. The "wild" horses were waiting at the trail head! We then walked into the largest blueberry patch I have ever seen! One gallon of blueberries and one hour later (I became addicted to picking berries!) we returned to the campsite so that I could wash, dry, and bag the berries. Thank goodness Mark had hiked up the Rhododendron Tail and snapped a few pic's.
After a little "campsite" time, we hiked the Cabin Creek Trail and viewed some pretty waterfalls.
Tomorrow we leave for the DC area. We will be staying in an urban national park along the Capital Beltway...Greenbelt National Park.
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