Luray pictures

Luray Caverns

Our hotel, Days Inn, isn't that great but we made it through the night okay.   No fridge or microwave or even a coffee pot!  Old tv and just plain old.  Got breakfast at McDonald's and drove 12 miles to Luray Caverns.   It opened at 9:00 and we got there at 8:30.  We were the ONLY car in this huge parking lot!  We walked to the ticket window to the sounds of piped in music.   It was a scene from "Wally World" or Shrek and Farquaad's Duloc.   It was hilarious! !!

We walked around the grounds and then got in line.   We were the only ones until the last minute and then 9 more people came in.  It was a nice small group and our little teenage tour guide (Lexie) started us down 70 steps to the awesomeness of the Caverns.  It really is awesome!   Those stalagmites and stalactites form 1 inch every 120 Years!  And one formation was 1 inch every 300 Years...and it was huge!  We saw so much history because these Caverns have been forming for millions of years.  If you get a chance you must see it.

After the 1 hour tour we climbed back out and we saw a great toy museum showing toys from the 1800's through present day.  It was nice remembering the toys we grew up with.   Next door was The Car and Carriage Caravan.  Here were vintage cars and carriages and bicycles from a carriage in the 1800's all through the 1910's.   Benz, Rolls Royce, Ford, Etc......beautifully restored.   Leather, mahogany, steel finishes and candle lanterns and just gorgeous workmanship.   I kept thinking of Uncle Bill and Jay Leno.
Next door to this was The Garden Maze and it was our favorite! !!!  Think Harry Potter and the maze he went through.   It was so much fun.  You had to find 4 "Goals" and stamp your card each time.  We split up but David and I ended up together and he was like a bloodhound and found the goals so quickly!    Bill missed Goal #1 and then we all got separated.  David made it out easily while we floundered for awhile.   Finally made it out and we thanked our lucky stars! :)
The next thing was the Luray Museum which was well done recording the history of the area.   So, we finished our day at 1:00 and drove the very twisty road back.  Stopped at a Walmart and got some cheese, crackers and fruit and ate lunch at the hotel.   Took naps and are ending our day quietly in the hotel.   Tomorrow is our trip to Manassas to see Liz.

On our way.....

Bill, David and I drove north to our first leg of the journey to Luray Caverns.   Just a normal drive .  We ended up at New Market, VA which is just a few miles away from the Caverns.   Our motel is on the top of a hill with a beautiful view of the mountains.  Makes up for the stinky smell of the room; not the best place we've ever stayed but it will do.  We had a really nice dinner at Southern Kitchen in the quaint downtown of New Market.   This was true "locals" dining!   It was so much fun and comfortable.   So tomorrow we will enjoy the awesomeness of Luray Caverns.

Oh yeah,  David does not care too much for staying in the same room with his parents but they wanted to charge us $125.00 for another room and it is definitely Not worth the money!   David has been a real trouper for the most part.  He is enjoying himself but traveling isn't as glamorous in real life as it sounded in the blog.  Tomorrow will be a great day!!!!!!!!!

Monday's adventure

Monday morning we left Greensboro in the morning and drove back to Chesapeake.  The plan was to pick up Livy and then take her to the airport to pick up Adam who was coming to spend a week with his daughter.   Unfortunately, flying these days is a crap shoot and between delays and cancelations Adam's flights got him to Dulles at midnight only to find out his flight to Norfolk was canceled until the next day!   His luggage made it to Norfolk where we picked it up at midnight.   Adam decided to rent a car and drive to Chesapeake - after being up all day.  So, Livy stayed with Marilyn that day , Adam made it safely home at 3:30 am and dad and daughter were finally reunited at her gymnastics camp that morning.   Yea! 
So, Tuesday I worked for about 5 hours while the office was closed and then we visited with Adam and livy.  Prepped for our trip to Luray Caverns next day.

A new adventure

Our son, David, had been diligently reading our blogs when we were on the road so we decided to take him on an adventure of his own.  This past weekend we drove down to Greensboro, NC to visit my brothers Dana and Mike and their wives and families.   Drove Friday and arrived in time for Jackson's (age 8) baseball practice.   Actually, Bill and David went while Sarah and I had some great"girl" time.    Dana and Mary came over for a delicious cookout and fun conversation.

Saturday we attended 2! ball games that Jack was playing in and boy was it hot!!
90° in the hot sun.  Thank goodness for umbrellas.   After the 2nd game (and 2 losses :(  ) we went to a Greensboro Grasshoppers Minor League baseball game with Mike, Sarah, Jack, Elena, Danaand Mary!  Fun times except for poor little Elena (7 yrs).   She threw up 4 times at the game!   She made it thru the spectacular fireworks show but on the way home she just folded over and threw up again.  We all went to bed but Mike and Sarah did the parent thing and stayed up with a sick little girl.  David really enjoyed himself at the game and ate a  huge burger and big soda.  He decided not to partake of the beers we were drinking. .....don't know why :)

Sunday Elena was feeling mostly better.  The 3 of us went to Dana and Mary's apt then to Maxie B's -   the BEST BEST BEST bakery ever!  Cakes galore.  Spent a great day with dana and Mary!  We all enjoyed watching the soccer game between USA and Portugal.   What an exciting game and to be tied at the last second! !  Aaaaaaaargh!    We went back to Mike's and Bill and David went to Mike's hockey game at 10:30 that night!  I know, I'm a wuss and didn't go.   Mike's team won and the boys had a great time. 

One more time.....

So, back in Virginia and it's warm (66) and sunny.   Getting our bearings.....laying low.  

Years ago my sister's boyfriend came with her to visit us from Denver.   He said something that always stuck with me and I never understood it - until now.  He said, "Driving the roads here make me uncomfortable.   Too many trees lining the highways and I feel hemmed in.  No open spaces! "    Whew!  Now I see exactly what he was saying.   And that's from me!  The tree hugger!  :)

Check out the pictures of  this very thing.

Pics of Greensboro, NC