Let's Go Shenando!

This, dear readers, is the summer of adventures - I know it already! As you'll have seen all over Twitter and Instagram, Jon and Charlie and I kicked off the season with a three days in the Shenandoahs over Memorial Day Weekend. Jon, as you might remember, is eager to see all of America, so we packed up my sister's car, loaded Charlie into the back, and set off west.

(By the way, I cannot recommend this car seat hammock enough if you travel with your dog. It keeps Charlie contained in the back even when he wants to help out with the driving in front, it give him more stretching-out options by covering the gap behind the front seats, and it protects the car from anything Charlie might track in. And it's washable!)

We had a funny "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore" moment even before we'd reached our destination, actually. We headed out 66, leaving the urban streets of DC behind, and stopped at a Panera outside of Manassas when we turned onto 29. It was around 10:00am, and the parking lot was full of families with elementary-aged children grabbing bagels and coffee on their way to or from soccer games: the classic picture of suburbia. Jon couldn't escape fast enough!

So, 90 minutes later, we found ourselves driving through Luray, VA, and turning left off the main road just before Stanley to climb out of the valley into the mountains towards our cabin for the weekend. That first day was pure bliss. We explored our mountain, discovered a big pond that Charlie could swim in, relaxed back at the cabin, grilled chicken and sausages, shared techniques for making s'mores, and watched the sun set until we couldn't keep out eyes open in the starlit darkness.