Family Vacation - Shenandoah National Park

On Memorial Day, we drove from Pennsylvania to Gordonsville, Virginia to the Shenandoah Crossing resort. Unfortunately, it took us a lot longer to get there than we originally planned. We didn't leave until late afternoon,and finally made it to the resort after 10 pm.


Day 1- May 29 We drove the 40 minutes from our resort to Shenandoah National Park. The park was absolutely beautiful. Forests and trees and far as the eye could see. I can only imagine how beautiful it would look in the fall with all the leaves changing colors. We pulled off at South Falls for a little picnic and a hike. This was Eliza's favorite part of our vacation: Eating her lunch while sitting on top of the picnic table. The silly girl would NOT keep her hat on. She could almost take it off faster than I could put it on. I plastered her head with sunscreen and hoped she wouldn't get sunburned. The two cutest hikers on the planet ready to go!! She's a natural! Notice that I tried tying a different hat on her. As you can see from the pictures below , she still figured out a way to pull it off. We made it to the South Falls waterfall (80 ft.), and enjoyed the overlook Even though it was extremely hot and humid, Eliza did really well. She didn't like the hiking backpack as much as we had hoped. We had to make frequent stops so she could have a break from being strapped on Bruce's back. About halfway through the hike though, pure exhaustion overcame her. We stopped for a few moments on a rock to "rest." We decided that we might be able to make quite a bit of progress with her asleep. We positioned her as comfortably as we could, and headed out. Apparently all she needed was a 25 minute power nap because after 25 minutes, she was happy, bubbly, and ready to finish the rest of the hike. After an exhausting and super hot hike, we sat under a tree on this blanket eating trail mix and relaxing. We decided to take a family picture using the timer, and rested the camera on top of the diaper bag. I think it's so funny how straight Eliza is sitting. She must be showing off how good her posture is.

We went back to our cabin to make dinner and rest. Eliza thoroughly enjoyed the gliding rocker.

Day 2: May 30  

We decided to spend the day hanging out at our resort, and enjoying its immense amenities. The resort had over 1000 acres of rolling hills. Neither of us are big horse back riders, so we opted for the horse drawn wagon instead. Eliza was fascinated by the horses.

It's a good thing the horses were well trained and pretty mild since Eliza kept poking them in the eye.

She followed a peacock:

Had a close encounter with a turkey:

and enjoyed listening to daddy tell the wagon driver a story while looking at the scenery.

That is until the rocking movement of the wagon slowly lulled her to sleep.

The 60 acre lake on the resort property. Isn't the country just beautiful.

We played mini golf:

Making the "perfect" shot.

The first game Bruce and I tied; the second game, Bruce beat me by 1 point. Eliza also got in on the action:

We also played in the swimming pool - Eliza wasn't a fan of the COLD water, so she decided to take a nap in the stroller instead. We enjoyed an improv comedy show, a free magic show, and played BINGO. I was shocked when I won the first game and Bruce won the last game. We were pretty happy with the prizes we got to take home. I won Eliza a T-shirt, and Bruce chose a free kayak rental.

Day 3: May 31

  We headed back to the National Forest for another day of hiking. We stopped off at some of the overlooks, and went on 2 hikes.

We learned that Shenandoah National Park was the first national park east of the Mississippi. President Roosevelt decided that the west shouldn't get all of the parks so he instructed this one to be built. The first hike was to Dark Hollow Falls- one of the most impressive waterfalls I've seen inside a national park. Dark Hollow Falls is 85 ft. Perhaps the coolest thing about it is its many levels. You can see the entire falls from the lowest level - it is worth the grueling hike back to the top.

We used our brute strength to hold up the rocks.

Then we stopped for a family picture halfway up the trail.

Thirsty Eliza - we stopped for a water break.

She decided to share with mom.

Our second hike was to Lewis Falls, a 1.5 mile hike to an 80 ft. waterfall. Despite the short distance, the hike was surprisingly tough. The trail was narrow, steep, and covered with large rocks. To make matters worse, there was very little shade. When we made it to the falls, we were a bit disappointed. Although it could have been amazing, the way the trail positioned itself made it difficult to get a good view of the falls. Eliza got tired of the backpack, so we moved her to the Baby Bjorn.

We finished the day by Paddle boating on the resort lake. Eliza was curious about the life jacket, and thoroughly enjoyed steering our boat.

By the end of the day, we were all tuckered out. When I put Eliza in bed that night, she started playing peek-a-boo with herself. When I went back in to check on her, she had fallen asleep like this.

Day 4:  June 1 - our last day

We started out the morning by Kayaking on the lake.  Eliza enjoyed looking around and being close to the lake.  She found the geese swimming close by fascinating.  Bruce did such a good job steering, that he rocked Baby Cakes right to sleep. 

Afterwards, Bruce decided to take the Kayak out by himself for another spin.  He was having so much fun, when he decided to try and do a 360.  Because he was sitting in the back of a two person Kayak, he ended up swamping it.  Although he tried and tried to get back in, it was to no avail.  I saw him tip over, but wasn't worried about him.  Bruce is a good swimmer.  An older couple also saw him, and wondered if she should tell the workers that Bruce was out there.  When I told her that he would be fine, she asked me if Bruce knew about the snapping turtles and snakes in the water.  He definitely didn't know about that.  Even though I still wasn't worried, she told the workers, and they rescued Bruce in a pontoon boat.  We later found out that there is a 35 pound snapping turtle named Bowser that lives in the lake.  Definitely grateful that the workers rescued Bruce before he had a close encounter with the lake monster.  I'm glad that Bruce is such a good sport about everything - he wasn't at all embarrassed. 

We ate a picnic lunch, played one more game of mini golf, and let Eliza get in some swing and sandbox time at the resort park before we headed back to Pennsylvania. 

It was a great vacation - so fun for Eliza's first official family vacation.  We decided that we will definitely go back to this resort in a couple of years.  Baby Cakes was such a trooper on this trip.  For the four days we were there, she never got in a decent nap.  She only napped in the car, the stroller, in the hiking back pack, or in my arms for no longer than 20-40 minutes, and yet she was still as happy as a clam.  I think she enjoyed the cabin we stayed at.  She slept well at night despite being in an unfamiliar place.   

I just can't resist - I have to post this absolutely adorable picture of my little hiker.