MORE PHOTOS FROM SKYLINE DRIVE IN THE SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK

 I mentioned that we went for a short drive along the Skyline at the Shenandoah National Park a few days ago. I am always thankful that we don't live that far from it as on a sunny day it is a beautiful drive. 

The trees are still bare compared to where we are. I can't remember what elevation it is right now. 

We used to go on the trails up there but am content these days to stop at the overlooks. One of these days I hope to get some trail walking in again. 

On the way there we pass a lot of orchards. These are apple trees as I see the shape of one on the side of the truck. Way past picking time. Fall will be when we go back for that.

We entered the park near the town of Front Royal. Normally we go to the Thornton Gap entrance. 

This is where we entered. I had it in mind to visit the Dickey Ridge Visitor Center, but it was all closed up. It looked like they were having a new roof put on as I could just make out the tarpaulin. From what I read they will be opening soon. 

This is the Front Royal sign we passed not too long before.

The following photo shows a young man with a slow-down sign. It is still early enough to do maintenance before the tourist season starts. Second photo is of the contraption we were both interested in. We had to come to a halt for several minutes. I had to look this one up after dear other half expressed an interest in me looking for the information when I showed him the picture. The contraption attached to the John Deere tractor is called a Tiger Bengal boom mower and is a heavy-duty, mid-mounted hydraulic mowing attachment. It is designed for thick brush, clearing overhanging branches and maintaining steep roadside ditches or embankments, using interchangeable rotary or flail heads. 

It can reach up to 24 feet to cut thick brush, trees up to 6" in diameter and grass in hard-to reach areas like over guard rails and steep ditches or hillsides, like those along Skyline Drive. Out of more curiosity from the dear man, I found the cost of these two together was anywhere from $180,000 and over $278,000. Finding out this kind of information is just so easy and not every one will be interested but my curiosity kicked in once I started looking, and the dear man's curiosity was appeased as well. I didn't know I was going to find all this out when we came across this interesting scene. 

More curiosity when we came across several bicycle riders and I noticed they all had the same shirt design on the back. Next curiosity search revealed that the cyclists we saw were most likely participants in Bike MS, a premier fundraising cycling series for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Since April 1st falls within the MS Awareness Month, riders often use scenic routes like Skyline Drive for training or informal group rides ahead of the official event season. You can read about the organization here. 

It is the largest charity cycling series in the world, dedicated to raising funds for research and support programs to end multiple sclerosis. There are 50 rides held annually across the United States, ranging from one-day loops to multi-day journeys of 15 to 150 miles. The events are fully supported with rest stops, bike mechanics and medical teams to ensure safety for cyclists of all skill levels. We passed these people all along our drive.  

We also stopped at several of the overlooks.

The skies were gorgeous as you can see, along with those views.

Photos never do these views the justice they deserve.

No birds, no deer, no bears, though I thought I read somewhere that the bears are starting to wake up; I could be wrong as it seems early and I'm wondering if the chilly weather will keep them slumbering. It is estimated that several hundred American Black Bears live in Shenandoah National Park, with estimates generally ranging from 200 to 1,000 within the 300-square mile park. This density, so I read, equals approximately one to four bears per square mile, offering visitors a high chance of spotting them. It's been a few years since we saw any.

It was time to leave and we drove down out of the park going through pretty farmland.

Still in the foothills making our way home.

We didn't expect to see Longhorn Cattle...

They were some distance away and this is about as close as I could get to them. I only had my cell phone ready as we were driving along. No stopping on this road as cars were behind us and none of us were moving very fast but nowhere to pull in for a look-see.

That's all from our trip this time. 

Thanks for taking a look and I hope your day is a great one.

        

WEEKLY HAPPENINGS - SUNDAY-3/29/26 TO SATURDAY-4/4/26

Just a note to tell you that this will be my last full-time weekly happenings. I will just do small snippets of what's going on in our lives every now and again. I hope you have enjoyed them but time to put the whole week to bed for a while, at least after this one.

I am starting late on my weekly happenings. But it's still from Sunday to Saturday. This week's weather forecast from Sunday 4-5-26 to Saturday 4-11-26.

Sunday, March 29th, 2026: a quiet day Nothing of note. The usual things around the house and finished a jigsaw puzzle in the evening. This is for the cat lovers. All the colors attracted me to choosing it, and the cat with the red and white fur fit in perfectly with its surroundings. He reminded me of my own dear cat when I was a little girl.

Monday, March 30th, 2026: we went up to BWI again to pick our son up. As we were leaving we saw a beautiful big cottontail run across my neighbor's yard. It has been so long since I saw one. Seemed an appropriate sighting this Easter week. We arrived half-an-hour-early and had settled in the hourly parking lot. 

I love the fact that we are able to track flights thanks to the airline's app. Son's plane landed ten minutes early. He texted us and was making his way to where we could pick him up outside of arrivals and told us the number of the door where he would be waiting. We didn't even have to wait as there he was. Another fun trip that got us out of our routine. We asked him when his next trip was. We enjoy volunteering for these drop-offs and pick-ups. 

In this photo son is driving home, Dad in the passenger seat, me in the back with my pillows and throws. We didn't have to leave as early this morning and were out the door at 3.00 a.m., again no traffic. I fell asleep going down and coming back, for 20 minutes or so each time. On the way back I woke up sensing the car had slowed down and was turning off the freeway. I knew we were still many miles away from home. Making our way into the drive-thru at another McDonalds, again for breakfast. They were both hungry. That was about 6.00 a.m. 

These were taken out of the back window when we were nearer his place. Never in too much of a daze to take photos and these came out not so bad.

The buildings were lit up like Christmas trees, and then there were the lights on the trees outside. The traffic was a little heavier but there were no delays and we were dropping him off soon after. The rest of the day was spent quietly. 

Tueday, March 31st, 2026: running a few non-important but necessary errands this afternoon.

Gregg and I didn't want to go straight home so we had a late lunch/earlyish dinner at the Bakery and Museum Company. It was on the way home and we pass right by it normally but this time when we checked, there were several parking spaces available. We were very surprised as it was getting close to dinnertime. For a few weeks now and every time we drove by, the parking lot was full with people waiting for a spot to open up. There are other stores there and they have claim to parking spaces in the front of their shops. Obviously, I agree with that as they need their customers too. Anyhow it was lovely to get in for a change. I have a thing about light fixtures and am automatically drawn to them, especially those hung from high ceilings.

Generally we are the oldest ones in there. We do notice these things and smile.

I normally have an all-day breakfast sandwich when I go there; scrambled egg, sausage patty with fresh spinach and sliced tomatoes. Potato chips on the side which I'm not too keen on but Gregg likes and I pass my plate over. He had his usual all-day breakfast; scrambled egg and cheese and that was it for him. 

We also brought home a cake for later, which is what we usually do at this place. So, not cutting out sugar entirely. It's a slow process and doing a lot better. Not huge pieces so that's a plus, and it was nice to have them for a tea that night. I sound like I am justifying and yes of course I am, it's a long road but already doing better.

I was taking a picture of my dear other half but saw later on looking at the photo on my laptop, that I had captured the jigsaw players I noticed when we left. They have a table set up for this pastime and there was a young couple making use of it, concentrating quite intently on the task. They looked like girlfriend/boyfriend in their teens, very sweet. Gregg also noticed that not only were we part of the elderly tribe, which for some reason we see the funny side of, but there were more women in there than men, by 90 percent. Some mothers with young children, students with their laptops out, and some just getting together for a chat.

The temperature got up to 84°F today, 29°C (?) It is the first day I have worn a summer dress. Felt lovely but with not the humidity that you get in the height of summer. Windows are all open at home and there is a slight breeze blowing the curtains.

Wednesday, April 1st, 2026: Happy First Day of the Month! 

We got up very early today as last night after looking at the weather, and finding out it was going to be a warm and sunny that morning, we drove to Skyline Drive in the Shenandoah Mountains. We are thankful that we aren't that far away and it is always an easy drive. 

We were hoping to see deer and a few birds, but I think at that time they were safely tucked up in their beds. There weren't many people up there and we passed a few bicyclists getting a real work-out on those steep, winding roads. The trees all seemed to be bare of leaves, no doubt they will be catching up soon. 

When we got home, not 30 minutes later it started raining hard and it rained for the rest of the day.

I get fascinated with the pop-up pictures on my laptop, and thought this one was amazing. I know some of you have these pictures also. I tapped on the top right button, and it told me it was the Thiên Đường Cave in Vietnam. You can click on its name if you like, and it will give you more information. The last time I was in a cavern was at Luray Caverns here in Virginia, and that was when we first got married. I had never seen anything like it before. It's not that far away from where we were, about 20 miles or so.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2026: a day we didn't go out. The weather was cold compared to the start of the week. These high and low temperatures are a bit strange. We got in the kitchen and made the chickpea, feta and cucumber salad I shared yesterday. Also made roasted chicken thighs to go with it and Jasmine rice. The day went very quickly. Nothing else of note.

Friday, April 3rd, 2026: another quiet day but did have a lovely long chat on FaceTime with my brother-in-law on the other side of the pond. The three of us always finds lots to chat about.

Breakfast was a bowl of blackberries and blueberries with a spoonful of plain yogurt, and I got the idea of putting in a tablespoon of almond butter. Mixed it up and it made a delicious breakfast.

Dinner: Leftover chickpea and cucumber salad and mixed in leftover Jasmine rice and we also had one piece of chicken left. Cut that up and threw everything together. It made a very tasty meal and no fuss. 

Unless I write things down the day of, I can't remember what we ate and I'm trying to keep a record of it as hoping to cut down and surprise the doctor on my next visit. I can live in hope!

Saturday, April 4th, 2026: here we are and it is 7.00 p.m. Another day gone quickly. We drove to Green Spring Gardens in the late afternoon. But first we had another lovely long chat with my niece and her boyfriend. Lovely chatting with them both. She said it was a year ago that they were getting ready to come over here and spent Easter with us. A whole year already, where did that time go? 

After we put the phone down, off we went to the garden. It was a warm day, a little more humid, the first time I had felt it. I take along water and drank a whole flask while there. Lots of tulips and other spring flowers to take photos of. I had a great time looking at them all. I also took a photo of this cutie at the Moon Gate. Such a charmer! A bit far away but I like how he was framed. I was sitting on a bench at the time.

Quite a few people but not crowded by any means. There was a wedding photo session taking place and we joked that we didn't get an invite this time, remembering from last year the kindness of the family whose son invited us. We had been chatting at another bench not so far from this one. With all these colorful flowers, they would make a very picturesque backdrop.

Breakfast/brunch today was a ham and cheese sandwich on a multi-seed bagel, with a cup of blackberries on the side.

Dinner was a grazer as we like to say, and what we have in the fridge; three miniature stuffed grapevine leaves, the chickpea, feta, and cucumber salad, a couple of radishes and later, a banana and plain yogurt for dessert. 

It was a nice surprise when our son called up and said our dear d-in-l had been busy with extra services singing at the church this week, and leading up to Easter. He asked if we would like some company. It was really nice to have extra time with him these past few days, and he will be over again in the morning. 

Right after he left we went to bed and that's it for the latest weekly happenings.

Thank you for reading through to the end, and I wish you all a continued good week.