Author: travelingterrells

Little Stony Man Trail is a 3.4 mile loop located in Shenandoah National Park. The parking area can be found at mile 39.1 off Skyline Drive. Some of the most beautiful sights can be seen from Little Stony Man Cliffs. We were nervous with our kids as the cliffs are a straight drop down hundreds of feet. We would have spent more time at the cliffs if it weren’t necessary the whole time keeping the kids from getting too close. The rest of the trail is heavily wooded.

The temperature really dropped our last few days in Virginia. We wore our winter coats and hats not only at the summit but also all the way up. It actually snowed the following day (flurries) but we were determined to eek out  the last few days of our vacation.

This was our last hike in Shenandoah but certainly won’t be our last. It’s a short 6 hour drive for us and I’d love to come back especially in warmer weather.

You can see more of our hike in the video below. Stay tuned as warmer weather approaches and more adventures begin. Thanks for stopping by.

Who can stay in Luray without visiting Luray Caverns? The campground we were staying at was only maybe ten minutes from the caverns but Ryan and Ava still managed to fall asleep in the Jeep on the way over. They were probably exhausted from jumping on the bounce pillows the entire day before. Linda and I decided to let them sleep a bit so I took Sarah to the adventure park beforehand. we were fitted for harnesses and went on up promptly. There were three levels, one just for little kids and the next two levels were age appropriate for Sarah only I had to be with her. I’m glad to say we conquered the second level and a bit of the third level although a bit apprehensively.  After the initial fear Sarah really tackled most of the ropes effectively. I’m not proud of getting kicked out of the adventure park for using my iPhone to record Sarah but we did get to spend about an hour climbing and balancing before going back to the the parking lot to round everybody up to see the caverns.

Luray Caverns covers 64 acres and was discovered in 1878. The inside temperature is a constant 54 degrees so I would recommend sweatshirts. It’s also a great rainy day activity if you don’t plan on doing the adventure park because all of the museums and shops on property are inside and the caverns themselves are entirely underground. The kids were mildly amused but would have preferred there wasn’t a “no touch” rule for many of the rock formations. Linda thought parts of it looked fake but I think that it’s one of the wonders of the world and you just have to believe. It’s estimated the caverns were formed millions of years ago but were just made a Federal Landmark in 1978.

Be sure to check out the caverns and adventure park in the video below. Thanks for stopping by and stay tuned as we’ll take you on the Shenandoah River next.

Jellystone Park in Luray, VA is located off exit #264 of Highway 81. It’s pretty direct although you do have to drive through some mountains and switchbacks with fairly steep grades before you get into Luray. Totally manageable as long as you take your time. It’s quite close to Luray Caverns and Shenandoah National Park and if you’re camping with children I highly recommend it as there are abundant activities and amenities to keep the kids busy. They have a great, fully stocked camp store, two bounce pillows, two playgrounds, laser tag (which you have to be 6 years or older), a fishing/paddleboat lake and mini golf. While we were there the pool area was undergoing construction as they are adding a set of really high water slides. This didn’t bother us as we were not there during swimming season. One thing I noticed here was the numerous cabins. They must have a hundred cabins dotting the campground as well as just exclusively cabins up the hill to the Three Bears Lodge behind our mountain view site.

We stayed here in early April and to be honest, we had higher hopes for the weather. Perhaps this time of year we should have headed a bit further south but it actually snowed the last day we were here. I was a little nervous  if it accumulated as it was necessary to travel back on those mountain roads back to I-81 or I-95. Nonetheless the kids had a great time. When they’re active they don’t seem to feel the cold. They could  spend hours at the jumping pillows and Sarah turned out to be quite good at gaga ball (like dodgeball on the ground in a small ring).

The kids loved Yogi and the crew as well. They couldn’t meet them without hugging them.  Besides the amenities above, we also took a snowy paddle boat ride, spent a lot of time at the playground and went to a foam party on Saturday night. Not ideal with the cold weather. The foam soaked the kids more than I thought it would and we were left with soaked jackets and sneakers. The laundry did not seem to be set up yet as we had problems with the machines, but hey, you only live once right. When’re we going to go to a foam party in freezing weather again?

I definitely want to go back here again during warmer weather when to slides are set up and the pool is open. It’s only a six hour drive from NY and I can see us staying for an action packed weekend and heading back home. The picture below is Ryan with my underwear on his head and mom’s glasses. I’m saving it along with a few choice others for his wedding slideshow video!

You can see more of the campground, weather, gaga ball, foam party, etc. on the video below. Stay tuned as we”ll show you some of our outings while using Jellystone Luray as our basecamp. Thanks for stopping by.

We hiked this trail on Easter Morning. It’s a 3.4 mile in and out hike down to two waterfalls, the second being the larger one. It is located at Mile Marker 81 in Shenandoah National Park.

The upper waterfall is about 28 feet high and the lower waterfall is 63 feet high. The trail is quite unique as instead of bringing you to the base of the falls as most hikes do, it takes  you to the top of the falls and you hike down alongside them.

We’ve heard about bear sightings in Shenandoah National Park but only found some tracks down by the base of the upper falls. There’s a nice pool at the bottom there and the bears must drink and maybe even swim there. If the weather was warmer you’d bet we’d be in playing in there as well, although not the same time as the bears.

Like I said, it’s a beautiful hike DOWN to the waterfalls but on the way back you have to climb the 1,181 feet back up to the parking area. The hike was totally worth it but the trek up had some of our party a little grumpy.

Thanks for stopping by and check out our video of the hike below. Stay tuned as we’ll take you along in our second half of our Spring Break Vacation to Jellystone Park in Luray, Virginia.

The Rose River Trail is located at Skyline Drive Mile Marker 81 in Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. It’s a 3.5 mile loop in which you hike down and along the river for a good distance. Along the river are a few nice smaller waterfalls and some wading pools. Being that we hiked here at the end of March we didn’t enter the water but it would be nice in warmer weather. There’s an 843 feet elevation gain on this trail which we found manageable for the most part.

This was probably the longest trail we’ve hiked so far and the first hike of the season so some of us were definitely feeling it near the end. We hiked the loop clockwise in which the last 3/4 mile is along a fire road as recommended by the park rangers. The part of the trail from the bridge to the fire road seemed to be the hardest section with a steep elevation gain. There was also a large tree blocking the path and we had to hike up the hill and around the tree. It was a bit hard to find the trail after we went around the tree but eventually we met back up with it. It was around this time it started pouring rain which made the trail very muddy and slippery. We all went back to the campground with soaked, muddy shoes.

As mentioned previously , the last part of this trail was on a fire road which is the way to do it, saving the easiest terrain for the end although there was a steady elevation gain along the gravel road leading back to Skyline Drive. The kids had a great time on this hike and were sufficiently challenged leading them to be somewhat behaved. I would recommend this hike to families with children (although not much smaller than mine) and it is supposed to be one of the more beautiful moderate hikes in Shenandoah National Park.

Check out the video below highlighting our hike (up until the heavy rains that is) and be sure to stay tuned as we’ll show you more of our Shenandoah National Park Trip next. Thanks for stopping by.

We were recommended to stay at Shenandoah Valley Campground by some friends we met while camping in Lake George and looking at their pics featuring the waterfall below pretty much sealed the deal.

Shenandoah Valley Campground is bordered on two sides by The Middle River. Many of the sites that are riverfront ended up to be too small for our Greyhawk so we settled on site 66. Shortly after we got to the site we realized it didn’t have a water view and had little view of the playground. I prefer to book my sites over the phone to find the best site but this time we chose to switch it up when we got there. It was a first for us but it goes to show you that you can always attempt to change things if they hadn’t appeared that way by looking at maps or talking to campground personnel. We moved to site 100 opposite the playground.

The views at the river were spectacular and the kids and I even went into the frigid waters one afternoon. They also loved both the playgrounds and the bunnies hopping freely over the grounds. You can see those and more in the video at the bottom of the page.

The pool was not open yet so early in the year as I expected. This is yet another reason to book a campground with some sort of a water feature. We could have had better weather during the trip but I still think the kids definitely made the most of it.

The kids will always be entertained by water no matter how cold it is. While we weren’t freezing our toes we visited Shenandoah National Park. If I could move this campground closer to the park I would. It’s an hour plus drive to both Swift Run Gap and Rockfish Gap  Entrance Stations.

The sites here were on the small side but everyone seemed to have their privacy. We had low water pressure the day we checked in and they had just opened and seemed to be  experiencing some season opening jitters (laundry). The kids tried their luck  at fishing this time around. I had bought some beginner rods and tackle before this trip and the kids seemed to enjoy it but tired quickly after not getting any bites. Despite the lake being stocked while we were there the fish didn’t seem to be biting for most anyone. Next time…

We visited SVC over Easter Weekend and their were many activities for the kids. On Saturday we started with an Easter Egg Hunt in which their were a thousand and one eggs hidden around the empty sites near the river. Next we went on an Easter Bunny Hayride. Sarah went with me to a sunrise service early Easter Morning and while the sun was hiding beneath the clouds we actually saw the moon set. The Easter Bunny had visited sometime after sunrise and we went back to the camper and opened our baskets.

Afterwards we went to a pancake breakfast (with biscuits and sausage gravy) at the campground and went on a hike in the national park. Please check the video below for highlights. Stay tuned as we’ll take you on our first hike next post. Thanks for stopping by.

This post is of our first day and last day in The Outer Banks. I chose to link them together as “Pillars of Flight” as the second location is of the first successful flight of an airplane and the first location is where you can still partake of rudimentary flight today. You can take hang gliding lessons at Jockey’s Ridge State Park, they in fact call it a hang gliding school. As we drove into Nags Head we saw them running off the dunes attempting to achieve lift but they were gone when we arrived at the park later on that afternoon. The kids really enjoyed climbing up and rolling down the dunes. The park is like a giant sandbox. I kept remarking that I had never seen anything like it before. When dunes block the bay and ocean – it’s like a desert. There’s a great visitor’s center at the park as well, showcasing many of the animals and plants that make their homes in the dunes.

They Wright Brother’s Memorial seems pretty simplistic if you don’t keep in mind just what it represents. We stopped by here on our last day, taking advantage of the RV parking. The kids enjoyed walking each of the four stones trying to guess who the pilot was. The fourth flight went so much further than the previous three. Sarah and I wagered on which pilot flew furthest. She won. The visitors center was under renovation while we were there and I’m sure it’s going to be great. I’ll consider this visit an introductory lesson. Next time we’ll delve a little deeper as the kids will be a little older.

Both of these places exhibit present day and past flying attempts and you can see much more in the video below:

We were very fortunate to eat at some fine restaurants while in OBX. The pictures below were taken at The Blue Moon Beach Grill and Good Winds Restaurant. We also ate at The Kill Devil Grill our last night in the banks. We were planning to head back home that morning but decided not to really leave until about 7 pm as we were enjoying ourselves so much.

Please be sure to stay tuned in as we’re about to embark on another adventure. We’ll try to capture as much as we can, preserving memories and informing others. Thanks for stopping by.

A lot of The Outer Banks is seasonal. We came here for winter break so many of the tourist traps were closed for the winter and I’m sure there’s fun to be had at them but they are just that, traps. The wild side, that is the wildlife refuges, is open year round.

We traveled The Outer Banks from Carolla to Ocracoke but our first visit was to Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge, just a couple miles from our campground. Our kids have grown to love hikes and let me just say that these are more like “walks” but there’s beauty to be seen just the same. Pea Island’s North Pond Wildlife Trail is an out and back stroll with a small observation tower at the end. There’s numerous water fowl to be seen and we spotted a couple of turtles as well.

Our next venture was in Ocracoke, the southernmost tip of The Outer Banks. Springer’s Point Nature Preserve is a quaint hike through woodlands that ends at a beach. It’s actually hidden in a neighborhood. There’s no street parking in the subdivision but you can park at a nearby church. There are numerous little touches installed by caretakers of the trail along the way and even an old little cemetery near the end.

The picture above and next couple below are of the beach at the end of Springer’s Point. It was a wonderful place to have lunch and there’s even a crab sanctuary at the point.

Next we went to The Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge. We walked both The Creef Cut Trail (which seems to have been renamed) and Sandy Ridge Trail. We also drove around some of the gravel roads within the park scoping out wildlife. Sadly perhaps, we saw no alligators. Seems its still a little cold to see them. We saw no bears either. We did talk to a woman that had been watching an otter, in fact she said she saw the otter eating a turtle but we only saw birds and turtles. Do you think the wildlife can hear us coming?

We had gone the whole week without seeking out the Spanish Colonial Wild Mustangs so we ventured out our last day in OBX in fact even after we checked out of the campground. We actually parked our camper at The Wright Brothers Memorial and took the Jeep out to The Currituck National Wildlife Refuge to search for these horses that have been living here since the 1500’s.

Permits for off road beach driving are not necessary in Carolla so we took the Jeep out on the beach in search of the elusive wild horses. Sad to say they were just that. We only had about 90 minutes and drove some back “roads” even interrogating a couple of locals and a helpful EMT at the fire hall but saw nary an equine. There were some horses at Ocracoke but they’re not wild anymore as they’re in a small pen and are actually called Banker’s Ponies. There’s a National Park Service Viewing Stand which is actually a deck in front of the fence. I’d skip the hour plus ferry ride if that’s all you’re heading to Ocracoke for.

You can see more of these wonderful refuges in the video below (in fact Alligator River was all video, no stills). We’re definitely coming back here someday and will spend more time looking for the wild horses. A week wasn’t enough time. Stay tuned as we’ll show you Jockey’s Ridge State Park and The Wright Brother’s Memorial next. Thanks for stopping by.

It’s very rare that kids are going to be healthy before and during your vacation. Inevitably somebody’s health will decline right before departing, leaving you with a conundrum. Even better, they develop one of the worst colds of the year while you’re away, out of state. This past February we had both. Ryan was diagnosed with strep throat the week before we left and Ava got strep during our trip. Amoxicillin mended both quickly. At least we dodged the flu.

We passed the time while Ava was at Urgent Care by visiting the Theodosia Burr Playground in Nags Head. I thought the history of Ms. Burr was quite interesting and you can see more of the playground in the video at the bottom of the page.

After visiting the pharmacy for the magic pink medicine we headed to the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island. We really enjoyed the shark exhibit, the alligators (one’s a real rare white alligator), and the ray tank in which the kids were sure to soak their shirts right up their armpits.

What the kids enjoyed the most was the Sea Turtle Exhibit. At the aquarium you can see a real Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center and then get your own toy turtle to diagnose and rehabilitate. The turtles all had different problems diagnosed and the kids were responsible to treat, observe and ultimately set them free again. We spent a lot of time at this part of the aquarium and I really think they learned a lot. I’m so proud of them for being outgoing and asking questions of the staff. I hope they always stay “worldly.”

Outside of the aquarium was a nature trail which took you to a garden and a play area in which the kids could climb, make mud pies and explore . It was the  perfect outing for the day and they all wanted to go back for another visit but we didn’t have time- seeing so many things on The Outer Banks.

You can see more of The North Carolina Aquarium and The Theodosia Burr Playground in the video below. Stay tuned for the wild side of The Outer Banks in the next post. Thanks for stopping by.