John has some time between jobs, and we have decided to head to Pennsylvania for doctor appointments and some fun with the grand-kids. We make this trip often between the southeast and northeast and try to stay at different places. One place we have been meaning to stop over at is the Shenandoah National Park.
The scenery is breathtaking and can be enjoyed from the National Scenic Byway that rides along the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains crossing into the Shenandoah. This drive would be amazing in fall with all of the colors of autumn but we just can’t seem to hit it at the right time.
Springtime has its own show for us with early blooming flowers.
Unfortunately, springtime also brings a lot of fog, and much of what we are hoping to see is covered in fog so thick we can barely see let alone take pictures. So making lemonade out of lemons, we are trying to get good pictures of the rolling fog.
Nature is amazing but man-made things can be amazing too. “The wall” that lines the Skyline, all 105 miles of it, was built back in the 1930s by the Citizens Conservation Corps guided by the National Park Service, landscape architects and engineers.
The hand-cut stones were laid by two different types of workers using dry-laid and ashlar methods. The dry-laid walls were built by less experienced stone workers and the mortared ashlar masonry walls were laid by experienced masons.
In addition, slopes were graded, trees and shrubs transplanted and boulders moved, all by these young men and boys. As for the landscaping, their work blends with nature’s original work seamlessly.
We really would like to come here to see the fall foliage, alas, it will not be this year.
