A Damp Day spent at the Shenandoah Caverns

This weekend was just a continuous torrent of rain. It pummeled the roof and windows through the day and night, unrelenting, and while it was a novelty to sit at home all day long watching movies or Alaska, The Final Frontier, by the time Sunday arrived with its grey sodden dawn I wanted out of the house. So the Shenandoah Caverns seemed the ideal destination. Being underground trudging through caves or walking amongst their exhibitions under warm roofs appealed to me and I jumped into Stuart without further ado, armed with my camera and quickly forgetting my nice cozy bed.
Unfortunately I realized after a few miles that I'd left my camera battery still charging on the kitchen wall. Haven't done that for a while but I wasn't daunted, the iPhone would suffice.

This is what I drove through pretty much all day. didn't get me down though, I was on an adventure!
I passed through some very pretty towns on the way down, which I would like to explore another time on a less damp day.

You don't see too many stores like this any more, proudly touting their various brands of cigarettes.

Meems covered bridge close to Quicksburg. And then I arrived at the caverns. I had no sooner paid for my ticket when I whisked to an elevator to join a group that had just dropped down underground.

The caverns weren't as commercialized as Luray but there weren't any formations that stood out for me, none that I hadn't really seen before. They had a couple that were lit with various colored lights entrancing the smaller kids and I did love looking at a formation that appeared to be studded with millions of diamonds, (3rd photo above). Our guide, a student, had a harsh disinterested tone sounding as though she was reading from a script and had done it a thousand times before, which maybe she had.
I was glad to get back upstairs again. The lobby had a retro feel to it, very old fashioned in a very charming way, with lots of wood and old signs. And here was the entrance to another of their attractions, Main Street of Yesteryear.This was a collection of windows showing antique animated Christmas window displays from famous stores.

Considering some of these models dated back to the 1920's they were incredibly intricately detailed and to me looked magically beautiful compared to a lot of today's garish displays. The Cinderella window was enthralling with too much detail for my iPhone to capture. This was a Christmas display at a former Woodward & Lothrop Department store in D.C. in the middle of the 20th Century.

These HUGE bears were once part of a 1993 Rose Parade and they moved their heads. I couldn't get over their size.

This interesting little cabinet caught my eye in the lobby, full of presidential memorabilia.
The next exhibition to see was American Celebration and this was a short walk down the road.

A large hall was filled with parade floats and inaugural celebration props. As I entered the vast room I was greeted by some very large cheery ducks. Many of these float characters are used again and again in different parades along with the many adornments and decorations. The models used for the Rose Parades are easy to spot as they have to be constructed from natural materials. Plants, flowers, bark, even grass seed are used.

20ft tall pelicans used in the 19993 Inaugural Parade and a colossal genie which won the Best Design Award in the 1992 Rose Parade.

Loved this Radio Flyer.

This massive flag has appeared in inaugural events for Ronald Reagan, George Bush and Bill Clinton. A great news article on it is here.

I couldn't see any information on this chap but he was endearing with his cheery salute.
I really enjoyed the exhibition and was in awe of the stature of these creations. My neck was constantly craning to see the tops of them yet I couldn't stop looking. I've never seen anything like this before, I'm sure there aren't too many exhibits like this in America and I felt very fortunate to have this so close to home. Even though it was impossible to capture many of the floats in my camera frame because everything was so close together, I wasn't concerned at my lack of photos. Whether packing so much in like this was a clever ploy to overload the senses of visitors or whether it was simply due to a lack of space, I couldn't tell and I didn't care. It had been a unique hour spent wandering around feeling like I was on a set from Land of the Giants. I have never been to a parade, I would change the channel if a parade was on TV, and had never wanted to go downtown to D.C. to see one first hand, but now my perspective and interest has changed.
The last attraction at Shenandoah Caverns was the Yellow Barn. This was a little disappointing as it was simply a gift shop selling nothing that I hadn't seen before. But they did have a bee hive built into a wall fronted with glass so that held my attention for a few minutes.

I also really liked the old fashioned photo setting for couples, although nobody took advantage of it while I was there. The barber shop scenario was also fun.
Shenandoah Caverns is definitely worth a visit, I'd seen a number of things that I hadn't set eyes on before, and I love vintage Americana. For their website click here. Maybe a return trip with a wide angle lens might be a good idea to try and photograph some of those humungous parade props. I left to drive home, not really surprised that it was still raining and not really surprised that it rained nearly all the way home either. But the grey damp aura everywhere did enhance the Halloween decorations that I saw along the route, and I was grateful to be able to quickly grab a shot from my phone rather than having to fiddle with settings on my camera in the rain. Sometimes things work out for the best and you just never realize until the last minute!

A Day of Summits

Saturday was a beautiful fall day and I met with friends to hike Sky Meadows Park. This is only a few miles from home so it was a luxurious feeling knowing that I only had to drive a short distance and not the lengthy trips that I usually have. Once at the park we didn't hang about and promptly started walking, almost immediately heading up an incline to the top of the mountain.

It was a long haul to the top but the views were magnificent. And I was pleased to see others huffing and puffing a lot more than me as we trudged upwards!

Bob loudly exclaiming that we could see all the way to Paris from here. The Paris we know is a tiny settlement at the bottom of the hill comprising of a church, a restaurant and a few houses, but it is very pretty.

We stopped in the shady woodland for a water break. Bob also commented on the 'shirtorically' challenged guy at the back, who most of us women were giving a wide berth. Bob urged us not to lag behind...

We hiked through pretty meadows, woods, and rocky trails. The downhill climb was a little precarious with many loose rocks tripping us up or causing us to slide, but we reached the bottom with zero casualties and by the time we'd got back to the start we'd hiked 7 miles.

We'd all brought lunch so sat and chatted while we munched, still enjoying those spectacular views. This is a fun group and I've got to know a few of the members quite well, we always have a lot of fun.

We saw these 2 guys and wandered if they were walking the Appalachian Trail, some of which we'd covered on our hike. I would love to be able to afford to take 6 months off from work and do this hike myself. What an adventure that would be and if I had half the tales of Bill Bryson who wrote a Walk in the Woods about his attempt at the mountain hike, I'd be more than content. Maybe one day...

A Raptor Rescue group was at the park teaching folks about the birds. It was wonderful to see a Barn Owl close up since I have 3 of these living in the old grain silo next to the house. The other pretty bird was a North American Kestrel. There was also a table with a lot of dead animals on it. I didn't want to take photos as it felt wrong but I did stroke everything there. An opussum, a raccoon, a fox, a groundhog and a skunk were laid out, I was surprised at how soft all their pelts were. There was also a red tailed hawk which was huge. There are a lot of these around Marshall and having always seen them from a distance I was amazed at how big they actually are.
After we were done with our lunch, we said our farewells and I decided to check out Hollins Farm close by, which had a pumpkin patch and apple orchards. Another steep incline had to be climbed but this time it was Stuart doing all the work while I marveled at the huge dust clouds that enveloped me and other vehicles as we slowly worked our way to the summit.

Again, fantastic views, and it felt strange to be amongst vegetables and fruit growing at such an elevation. The pumpkins looked wonderful but I declined to pick any as I hate carving them, they react with my skin. Shame, as I love the seeds when toasted with sea salt, but I loved seeing them for the first time growing in a field.

Everyone was enjoying the fields, taking photos and fooling around. I'd never seen so many radio flyer carts in one place before and made a note to remember to bring mine if I ever came here with friends. I'd come for apples though on this trip, so I grabbed a bag and continued the walk uphill to where the orchards stretched out above me. This hill never seemed to end!

There were many varieties growing and I made sure I had a few different kinds in my bag. Many apples were on the ground and I hoped these wouldn't go to waste. All I saw was gallons of apple cider! I filled my bag and went to stand in line with a great many others waiting to pay. But the line moved quickly. There were also fields here of various greens, onions, and potatoes. I would have loved to pick from those too but my face was feeling sunburned and I wanted to sit in a cool car. The apples were a lot cheaper that I had assumed and far cheaper than the grocery stores, and of course far fresher. I was going to enjoy these!

Chickahominy 2013

On Saturday I drove down to Providence Forge and met with a couple of friends for breakfast before we headed over to the Chickahominy Pow Wow. I've always had an interest in Native Americans, growing up watching cowboy and indian movies, and loving those colorful outfits and especially the feathered headgear. Living here in the States I've not really come across too many of these folks and even an eagerly anticipated trip to the Native American Museum in DC was disappointing as I didn't see a single authentic feathered headdress. I was excited to finally see this intriguing race up close and personal.
The Chickahominy tribe were the original inhabitants of Virginia but were forced off their land by the settlers. Even when they were later given land to occupy they were then forced off of that too due to the whites needing more land. They moved further south and managed to settle, and even though their lives were dramatically altered by the settlers and they were treated unfairly, they remain a gracious tribe who now welcome all to learn about their history and take part in their pow wows. This event was their 62nd pow wow and they announced a larger number of folks attending than in previous years.
They started the event with a welcome dance, I uploaded a video here.

The outfits were amazing, there were so many colors and styles that I didn't know who to look at first. A closer look showed that all this clothing was handmade. Some of the make up I found a little scary, reminding me of those old westerns I watched as a kid with the war mongering Indians . After the welcome dance, the men walked out into the arena followed by the women and children. This was called the Flag Song and we weren't allowed to take photos which was fine, we all respected that and lowered our lenses.

Then the MC asked that all those who had taken a part in defending this country to enter the ring while the rest of us stood and applauded them. It was quite emotional to see veteran soldiers walking out and shaking hands with the Native Americans,  many of whom themselves had fought for the United States. We all clapped and the MC said if we were tired of clapping then think of those who had kept fighting despite their fatigue, and so we all clapped harder. Once they had left the ring, more dances began in the arena with the MC explaining the moves.

A few of the men wore these stunning back pieces, or bustles, made of eagle feathers, if earned, or turkey and hawk feathers.

Had to post a photo of this guy. He's so spanking gawgeous that I was sure everyone must have heard my tongue hit the ground as my jaw fell open. Oh Yum!!! He was like a Native American version of a young David Essex.

The women performed dances too. Some danced with bells, no mean feat as with 365 bells, their outfits weighed 20 - 40lbs. Some of the traditional women performed a slower, dignified and more graceful dance which I really admired. They stood apart from everyone.

Oh there he is again!Another yum!

There were so many amazing outfits here and all of these gentle folks behaved with so much dignity and nobility. They seemed to calm everyone around them, I noticed there was no rowdiness or loud behavior from anyone, and it rubbed off onto us non Native American spectators. I had been hoping to see some warbonnets, click here, but none were to be found, but there were many different head decorations.

The different headwear all had meanings, click here for a really interesting article on their headdresses.

The Hoop Dance was performed by 2 dancers, the hoops representing the never ending circle of life. They danced with a number of these hoops, jumping them or weaving them or bending them about their bodies, making animal and bird shapes.

While all the dancing was going on, under tent canopies were the Native Americans responsible for the music and chants. There were a few groups of them, each sitting around a drum, each group is called a drum. It was very hypnotic standing and watching these guys. A short video is here.
Unfortunately I never got to sample any of the Indian food which I had been told was delicious, I was simply too stuffed still from breakfast, but I did have a stroll around the many vendors at the back of the field. Some were genuine artisans, selling beautiful hand worked goods but there were a few whose goods looked mass produced. I managed to get a beautiful quiver for my arrows, made of horsehide and decorated with buffalo horn, hawk feathers and beads.
The day went quickly and I was sad to leave, the atmosphere had mellowed me out so all I really wanted to do was stay amongst these friendly natives, watching and listening to their performances in a timeless world. But I had to return to the 21st century and the stress and bustle. I'd quickly seen that these people had a quiet almost reverent way about them. All treated each other in a gentle respectful way and it was obvious that they were peaceful and very unified. I'll be looking out for the next pow wow so I can return to that world again.