Okay, I changed the blog name and the template. If only I can learn to post pictures now:P
Vacations should be relaxing but for us, nah, it generally never is. We try to pack in sooo much that we generally need to come back and recover. This time was no different mostly but captured ONE whole day of relaxation.
We left Saturday early morning to Pittsburg and from there to Vrindavan. Next day in the morning left to Shenandoah NP , stayed there for 2 whole days and on Tuesday went to Luray Caverns and then started back home.
Day 1 was Pittsburg and Vrindavan. Had boxed lunch from the temple and had dinner in the Vrindavan cafeteria. The temple premise was beautiful but I thought it all looked a trifle artificial, especially the life size statues of the Gods and the animals and all. However, the drive was simply amazing and awesome and beautiful and I have decided that I am going to retire in a hill station. Okay, someday I will make a separate post of this. There were actually shared bathrooms! I think the last time we had this was when we went to Shirdi for patti thatha’s 50th wedding anniversary:P. But thank God, they were clean.
Day 2, we left to Virginia to Shenandoah NP. We went through all these inside roads and again the drive was amazingly beautiful with green rolling hills and houses tucked in between valleys. Have you ever seen a place and thought that people can never be sad in a place like this? Yes, it was that place for me. And each house felt like the perfect setting for a story that I had read. Beautiful, beautiful drive.
It rained like scary crazy when we were on the road in Virginia. That was the worse rain that I had seen when on the road. We simply couldn’t see anything and everybody had switched on the blinkers and were following the twin lights!
We had rented cabins in the hills in the Shenandoah NP and they were perfect! They looked like they will fall apart anytime but inside, it was the perfect little cottage of my dreams:P. They had two rooms and a bathroom with a picnic table and a pit fire!
Day 3 was the best day of our vacation, at least for me. We just relaxed and un-winded. Eswar and I went for a small trek. We hiked a 1.4 mile steep trial. We followed a stream and it turned into a fall. Ah, memories! You never know when you are making one.
All of us then went for lunch to a local resort hotel with amazing views of the valley. We came back to the cabin, napped and then went for a drive (the drive is a famous one, called the skyline drive), walked some more on some meadows, gazed at the sky hoping for a dazzling sunset but the sun got shy and hid behind the clouds. See, made me the poet too:) For dinner, now this is the best part, cooked over the fire pit. We cooked bengan bartha and chappatis. What is it with us!? I mean, this is how we lived zillion centuries back and now we think that is the best way to live!
Day 4 saw us at the Luray caverns and then home.
Krish was amazingly good. Whenever he got annoyed or bored, we gave him the phone and he would see videos and generally meddle with it and entertain himself. I absolutely love the Iphone. We better do after using it as a GPS, weatherman, camera, camcorder, IPod and a toy!
Some pointers for next time
1)Should avoid too much of driving between destinations.
2)I estimated just one hour to get ready and be off in the mornings. It didn’t ever, ever happen and looking back, I mean with a baby and all, was I overly optimistic or what?
3)Don’t carry too much food. Mummy had baked blueberry muffins and had made cashew pakodas. We had bought all variety of fruits and chips and other assorted snacks. Really, did we think we could eat so much?
4)Remember to carry a laundry bag.
Did i mention that I love my phone?
