Memorial Day weekend was our second camping trip with our new camper. Our destination was Front Royal, Va (Skyline Drive). We stayed at a campground that Nanny & Pappy had stayed at before. We went with Nanny, Pappy & Uncle Bubby this time with camp sites across the road from each other.
Our trip started on Saturday with the guys taking the campers down, along with Addi, and setting up because Nanny and I had to work that day. Once we were both finished with work we drove down together where the guys already had camp set up and dinner made, what a treat! We just relaxed around a fire that first night.
Sunday morning we woke up e-a-r-l-y. Addi got up around 5am so we decided to get an early start on our day. We were up, showered, dressed and eating breakfast before 7am. We took some small walks around the campground while we waited for everyone else to get up. Some neighboring campers told us about a coyote that was hanging out in the fields behind the campground so we tried looking for him but didn't have any luck.
While we were waiting to get moving, Addison made friends with some girls at a neighboring camp site. The girls were out collecting sticks for kindling for their camp fire they were going to have later that evening. Addi LOVES sticks, and kids, and so she was in all of her glory when we let her go to a big stick pile to play with the girls. They became instant friends and the girls were very good with her, protective even. They wouldn't let her get any big sticks for fear of her hurting herself. It was hard to break them apart so that we could go on with our day, but we assured them (and Addison) that they could play together again later that evening.
Addi and her new friends: Alexis and Alyssa
We packed a picnic lunch and headed up to Skyline Drive for the day. There were several scenic overlooks and lots of traffic due to the holiday weekend. We had a good time enjoying the scenery. We stopped for lunch at a rest stop along the way to have a picnic. We only drove approximately 40 miles of the scenic drive, to the highest elevation point and then we turned around and headed back to camp.
Once we got back to camp, as promised, the girls played together into the evening. They played miniature golf, shot each other (and Jason) with water guns, went to play at the park, and just had a good time playing together.
Sunday evening Addison had a hard time getting to bed. We tried everything we could think of to get her to sleep, but nothing was working. Finally, Jason took her for a drive to get her to sleep in the truck. I went to bed to get some sleep incase either of us needed to pull a 'night shift' with her. When they got back, Jason put her to bed without much problem and then he stayed up for a little bit longer. While he was up by himself at night (between 1am-2am) he had heard some loud banging sounds coming from the bathhouse which was maybe 100yards from our campsite. We found out the next morning that a bear had come through camp and that was the noises he had been hearing but didn't get to see it!
Monday morning we got up and had breakfast and then we got ready to go to the Skyline Caverns that were just a short drive up the main road from where we were staying. This was also the day that Addi's new friends were leaving to go home so it was sad to say goodbye, they definitely had a great weekend together. It was a great place to be on a hot day that's for sure. The tour was approximately an hour and afterwards we took a ride on a miniature train they had.
After we came back from the caverns we had lunch, and it was such a hot day that we ended up going to the pool for a little bit to cool off. Addi had fun learning to jump into the water from the sides of the pool.
It was a great weekend away, and of course was too short as all vacations are. We really enjoyed our time at Skyline and plan to go back in the future.
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