Trip 12 - April Break Road Trip to Shenandoah National Park

Trip 12, our first trip of 2024, was a road trip that culminated with a visit to Shenandoah National Park during school vacation week.  This was the first big road trip with the new van and were eager to see how it all would go.  

Day 1

We left our home in Massachusetts around 9:30, Friday, and began our drive south.  Our overly ambitious goal for day 1 was to make it down to Susquehanna State Park in Maryland which was 372 miles away. With the rain and traffic, we ended up calling an audible and stayed at the Liberty Harbor RV Park in Jersey City instead (just on the other side of the Holland tunnel).  

This ended up being a blessing in disguise as it was really cool staying just outside of NYC with great views of the Empire State building and the Statue of Liberty, things my children had only seen in text books.  The other thing we learned here is that don't be overly ambitious on day 1.  The kids need to ease their way into it are more motivated to come home then head out.  

Day 2

The second day led us down to Susquehanna State Park, a short 154 miles (with little to no traffic) from Jersey City.  This route took us through Delaware, where you get to pay the $5 toll just to make sure you know you it is there.  This was the 5th state of the trip.  

We arrived at the state park around 11am and were able to relax and do a bit of fishing. It was nice to slow down after a long day 1.  

Day 3 and 4

Finally, on the 3rd day, we made it to Shenandoah National Park after another 172 mile drive where we stayed at Big Meadow's Campground.  The drive went pretty smooth other then the 20 minute wait to get into the actual park.  After checking in and checking out our site, we did a family hike out to Miller's Point.  

The second day in the park, I got up early and ran down to Lewis falls and then did a short out and back on the Appalachian trail.  Having only done parts in Massachusetts and New Hampshire before, it was fun to see how the trail was much farther south ... and guess what, it is still rocky and technical.  

We also got in two more hikes during the day.  First, Neil and I summited Hawksbill, the highest point in the park, and then the whole family, including Ray, made our way down to the Rose River and back.  Kudos to Nat for making it back up from the river without too much complaining which included a 500' climb.  

Day 5

Day 5 was our biggest driving day (over 400 miles) as we began our trek home. We got an early start and took Skyline Drive 40 miles all the way to the north entrance.  While it was slow drive, it really showcases Shenandoah with incredible views on both sides of the road.  After seeing two groups of 5 deer each in the first couple of miles, it became a game on how many we could spot before we exited the park.  We ended up seeing 27 total.  

A few miles before we reached the northern entrance, we pulled over at scenic overlook and cooked breakfast; oatmeal for Neil and Amy and waffles for Nat and I.  One of the huge benefits of the van is that we can effectively cook a meal anywhere.  

After leaving the park, we settled in for the long haul as we made our way into and through West Virginia and then Pennsylvania.  We stopped for lunch at a diner in near Wilkes-Barre and then headed to what we though was mini golf.  Somehow I managed to find a place that designs mini golf courses, but doesn't
actually have a course.  After backtracking briefly, we found a driving range, that has mini golf, but wasn't setup or open yet.  They let us put around anyways and funny enough, this was one of Nat's favorite parts of the trip.  

We finished the day in Oneonta, NY, where we visited and stayed with Amy's Aunt Martha.  

Day 6

After breakfast at Martha's, we hit the road for the final 260 miles.  We made one more stop at Amy's cousin Sue's in North Hampton to visit her and Paul, have a quick lunch, and stretch the legs.  We arrived around 3pm and were glad to be back home.  

Final order of business was to update the map with all the states we had visited on the trip. 

 Summary

All and all, it was a great trip.  Great to see some new places and great to visit relatives we had not seen in a while. 

One of the things we did to pass the time in the car was listen to National Park Mystery series by Aaron Johnson.  We made it through books one and two, which cover Rocky Mountain and Great Sand Dunes National Parks and are excited to listen to more.  

Finally, this was our third National Park of the year (we visited Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest during February School break without the van).  Neil has now visited 7 (Nat 6) National Parks and says he is going to visit them all. 

- Scot