Shenandoah National Park and bears!

On Wednesday, we took a drive around Shenandoah Valley and the National Park.

The Valley is beautiful and reminds me of the movie back in the 60's, I think.  The song keeps running through my head.       "Oh Shenandoah,  I love your daughter,  Away, your rolling rivers. "

We headed to Shenandoah National Park and Skyline Drive.  Right before we got to the Park we saw a mother bear with her two cubs!

They were so shiny!  They looked like they had just had a bath and been brushed.  Mom kept a pretty good eye on us.

                          It didn't take her long before she moved her cubs back into the woods.

After she left we went on into the National Park.  First we went through this tunnel.

We went into the Skyland Drive at Thornton Gap.  This long and winding road has few entrance/exits.  Once you get on this drive, you are on it.  LOL  The complete drive is 105 miles long and follows the crest of the Blue Ridge Mountains and joins the Blue Ridge Parkway to the Great Smoky Mountains.  We drove a small portion from Thornton Gap to Skyland Resort.

As you get higher and higher, the beauty that surrounds you is awe inspiring.  I loved it.

                                            I loved the shadows on the mountains below us.

I know I posted too many pictures, but it was so pretty and I couldn't make up my mind.  I took a hundred pictures so I think I did pretty good at culling them. I think.

We saw a lot of these pod looking things. I don't know what they are.  Libbie touched one and said they were soft and squishy.

                                 We are starting to see some pretty color in the trees up here.

I walked some of the Appalachian Trail.  I can't imagine walking 2000 miles from Maine to Georgia. About a quarter mile was enough for me.  It was rough and rocky.

After seeing the bear, I kept thinking there were bears around each bend.  Since I was walking this by myself, I decided to turn around.  I'm not very brave.

This was my view on my walk.    I don't know what kind of tree/bush that is in the second picture but it sure stuck out.  IT WAS BLUE!  A blue tree right in the middle of a forest.  It wasn't a blue spruce either.  It wasn't an evergreen.  It was unusual, that I do know.

                         Another view of the valley below.  We decided to turn around at the Skyland Resort because the next exit would be another 50 miles up the road.  That would give us another 80 miles to get back to the campground.  There is only so much twisting and turning a person can do. LOL

So we went back out the way we went in.

 We came across another covered bridge on our way back to the campground.  The plaque above says it's the only covered bridge left in Virginia.
Another great day!
Later