Luray, VA: June 6-8, 2024 - In Which I Attend the Wedding of My Dear Friend, Clayford

I returned to Shenandoah National Park just a month shy of four years after my first visit in order to attend the wedding of my dear friend, Clayford.

Clay is in the military as you all know, and he and his now wife are both fairly active people.  Thus, the wedding was a smaller, simpler affair in a nature-heavy environment that was a beautiful as it was endearing.

I arrived on Thursday evening, and by sheer chance showed up at the Skyland Lodge barely 15 minutes after Clay & Valerie:

We were the only three staying at the lodge; the other dozen or so guests opted for an AirBnB or the like down off the mountain in the nearby town of Luray.  I remember driving by the lodge on my last trip, and I have to say that after having experienced this park once as a single-day, mad dash kind of visit, it was really great to just be in the park for a stretch and soak it in.  It did add to the cost, though, but hey!  That's fine.

Valerie's parents joined us for a dinner at lodge, then we went out to a short hike that functioned as a kind of preview of the days to come.

See, I have to run you through the schedule.  Friday, which was not the wedding day, was to include several "bigger" hikes for those that wanted to participate, then Saturday, the wedding day, included a sunrise hike with photos, a late morning outdoor ceremony, followed by photos and brunch.  Definitely not the traditional fare, but it was precisely what they both wanted.

The hike we did Thursday evening was the same one that was slated for the Saturday sunrise, but C & V were well aware not everyone would be up for that, so it was nice to have her parents see the overlook where that dawn photoshoot would take place:

I don't know the science behind it, but the sun kept doing this crazy thing as we were taking photos of it where it appeared to be gigantic in the western sky:

Probably just a lens flare.

The next morning, we ate breakfast at the lodge then met up with a few more wedding attendees for the first of two hikes.  We were heading up the trail to Hawksbill, which if you re-read the previous Shenandoah post, you will know is the trail that almost killed me, and that was me four years younger!

Somehow it wasn't nearly as bad this time, and we made it to the summit no worse for wear:

Back at the bottom, near the parking lot, I was informed that hike #2 might be a little more strenuous, and was I sure I wanted to go?  Never one to think deeply or make wise decisions, I of course agreed that yes, I was in!

Two other people who went to Hawksbill bowed out.  I think they made the right choice.

This next trail, which I don't remember the name of, was identified as "Most Strenuous" on the sign next to its entrance, and proceeded to descend what I would later find out was over 2,100 feet from the start, down to a fun little sliding rock area:

That part wasn't bad, of course.  It was the return back up, about an hour and a half of just steady, significant ascent.  I think my brain may have started to shut down my faculties because I actually got something of a second wind halfway back up, and finished the hike feeling pretty good!  But the aches and pains that showed up days later told the true story.

Back at the lodge restaurant, over a gloriously substantial lunch, I asked Clay & Valerie if the hike was that bad for either of them.  Clay shook his head.

"Nah".

"Okay.  Because for me, that like, changed my life."

I went catatonic for most of the afternoon before a journey off the mountain into town for a fancy dinner at the Chophouse:

Those who know me know I love steakhouse mashed potatoes, and these were exquisite.

The next morning, Clay & Valerie got up to begin their hike at 5am, intending to spend the early hours at a photo shoot with the beautiful sunrise backdrop.  Guests could join about an hour later if they wished, so I set out about 6:00.

The scenery proved the genius of this idea; never have I seen such breathtaking views:

Yes, they did this hike in their wedding attire.

Iconic.

There was a short break before the ceremony at Pass Mountain Overlook, which was succinct and beautiful:

Brunch followed, and then everyone was free to head out - no crazy reception or afterparty.  And with a 6-or-so hour drive in front of me, that sounded just fine.

Blowing Rock, NC: December 18-19, 2023 - Wintry Getaway

 A fun wintry getaway for me & Leigh!

Our goal was to spend a snowy, wintry day in a small, mountain town, and we did achieve that!  However, we also planned to see Grandfather Mountain on our way up, and that did not go quite as well.

Apparently there is a wind threshold beyond which they will shutdown the famous swinging bridge, I guess due to excessive swinging.  The wind on that December afternoon was over 50 M.P.H., so no bridge and no hiking, but we did get to check out the science center that's like halfway to the top, and that's nice too!

We also saw some brief overlooks!

Chilly and blustery was to be the name of the game for our cozy overnight at the lodge in Blowing Rock.  We arrived late afternoon, right about at check-in time, and precisely after we did, the first few flakes of snow began to fall!

This was just in time for a short hike on the property of the Chetola Resort, where we were staying, to a small lake just through the woods:

We returned to the room to warm up:

before a journey into town for dinner!

Back at the resort, we intended to take another walk now that there was proper snow cover, but it was just too bitterly cold!  So a quick jot out to the lake and back would have to suffice.

We did take the effort to go to the (indoor!) hot tub, which required briefly going outdoors in our swim suits.  Maybe that's where I got the crazy idea to start doing cold plunges that next January...

We awoke the next day to a pristine morning beauty:

Before heading back into the town of Blowing Rock to just enjoy being in a snowy mountain town:

They had an art museum, which we took a tour of:

And of course, we had to see the Blowing Rock itself:

before heading out of the mountains and back into our normal lives.

Lansing, Dearborn, and Detroit, MI: September 7-9, 2023 - Invennovations!

The last big drive of the Wishigan trip took us out from Grand Rapids on the afternoon of the 7th through Lansing; another state capital crossed off my list.

The perspective is not being messed with in that photo; the Michigan state Capitol really does have an oddly skinny dome to it.  The dome, by the way, was under repair and being worked on, just like in West Virginia!

I just can't win!

But we took the tour nonetheless, and it was a solid tour!  Plenty of history as well as sights:

I think Wisconsin takes the cake between the two visited on this trip, but Michigan's still a solid one!  

Oh goodness...I am going to become a State Capitol snob.

And then we continued on to Dearborn, the location of our final hotel for this trip.  We did venture into Detroit proper, but stayed in Dearborn, a suburb, to be closer to the main event for this area, which we arrived at bright and early the next day: The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation:

Not much to look at from the outside...but inside:

A wonderland of invention, innovation, inspiration, incantation, and anything else along those lines!

I have to say, I dug this.  Very very much.  A truly unique type of museum, and endlessly fascinating.  You could easily spend all day here.  Any type of mechanical progress that has taken place in America's history can be found here.

First and foremost, you had cars:

I have never been much of a car guy in terms of their functionality, but I am totally into their history and development, which you could see in a very long display showing the steady evolution of cars from the late 1800s until today:

And they had a section on presidential cars, including - and I absolutely could not believe this - the car that Kennedy was assassinated in:

I could not fathom how this was here, in Some Museum, as opposed to like a secret bunker deep under the White House or something.

To go along with our automobiles, we did also have planes and trains:

And a paper airplane testing lab!

This ode to the American innovation of fast food:

This room of early steam engines:

And of course a good old fashioned tour through the decades:

And some farm vehicles, as a coda:

An excellent hidden gem of a place, although I'm only saying that as an outsider to not only this state but this region.  Maybe everyone in the American midwest knows all about the Henry Fonda museum.

With the late afternoon and early evening, we now ventured into Detroit proper, intending to walk about a bit and then grab dinner.

We saw some art deco buildings:

but were then lured, tractor-beam-like, toward the massive GM complex of buildings on the river's edge:

Apparently it was cool to just waltz right in:

and for the second time that day, find ourselves in a fancy museum of cars:

This frankly felt very out of place.  The architecture, neon lights, and futuristic interior felt more like Guangzhou than Detroit.  But nonetheless, we pressed on, finding ourselves eventually able to access a people mover for only 75¢

Which allowed us to swing out into the city and quickly see just a bit more of downtown:

before at last grabbing a pub dinner at a place called Grand Trunk:

and that was that.

The trip ended with a quick jaunt through Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor the next morning, somewhat-en-route to the airport since we had just a bit of time to kill.

And thus it was that Wishigan was finally complete.  With this trip done, my mom now has just two states left before having seen all 50.  I could, with cheeky sarcasm, say that with the final two - Nebraska and Iowa - we saved the most exciting for last.  But I gotta say, we've already started looking for points of interest, and there's actually some neat stuff to see.

I suppose, with travel, there's always an adventure.