Shenandoah National Park, VA

Some of us appreciated the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps who built the infrastructure of Shenandoah National Park more than others of us. #findyourpark #getaroom #shenandoahnationalpark

We made reservations for Shenandoah National Park a couple months ago knowing that this was the week leading up to Memorial Day. In a show of smugness, we opted for the "No Generators" loop, figuring we'd avoid the Memorial Day yahoos, and we'd be fine with solar. Well, luckily, the sun's been out the last couple days, and our batteries have been topped off. Unluckily, the no generator loop - while pretty enough - is not the best part of the campground, has zero cell service and isn't so important since we've decided to move on before the holiday weekend.

On a walk this afternoon, we found a loop of sites with sprawling views out over the park and the Appalachian Trail steps away, two bars of AT&T LTE and, most importantly, availability for the middle of the week. A quick switcharoo, and we're here!

#airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #shenandoahnationalpark #ELoopdonttellanyone #itllbeinmycampendiumreview @campendium

Okay, well I guess the part I forgot to mention about our new site is that it took 6 blocks under each wheel on the downhill side and 6 more blocks under each of the front stabilizers to get level. Poor Mae needs to dangle from the front steps by her fingertips like she's dropping from a New York City fire escape to get down. We also had to angle the truck and back it to within inches of the tongue to be out of the road. #airstream #airstreamwithkids #liveriveted #myrivetedlife #levelwithme

I figured out why they call it "thru hiking" today; After about 2 hrs of trying to cover 0.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail with a 2 year old and a 4 1/2 year old, we were pretty much through hiking.

The last hike we did was a couple miles around Otter Lake only to discover that we needed to cross a river via some widely spaced stones to get back to the parking lot. While I made the jump between stones with Mae in the baby backpack, @advodna_ann opted to bypass the first section by slipping off her shoes and wading in. Halfway across, Mae noticed and decided she wanted her shoes off too. She kicked them off mid-stream. One eddied upstream while the other caught some current and cascaded downstream. I dropped the pack on the far bank and gave chase, grabbing a long stick along the way for my one chance. Instead of just dragging it to the bank, I tried to get fancy and pick it up with the stick. It slipped off at the last second and got sucked into a small rapid. I caught a final glimpse of the tiny Nike just below the whitewater and sighed as it disappeared around a bend.

#appalachiantrail #findyourpark #shenandoahnationalpark #thruhiking #threwseveraltantrums #almostthrewthemoffthetrail #hikingwithkids

This one was 6 weeks old when we moved into the trailer. She'll be 2 in a little over a month. Guess she can reach her own clothes bins now! #airstreamwithkids #rvwithkids #airganization #trailerbaby

We came down off the mountain in more ways than one today. Note, the overshoots were not intentional, just a little tricky being precise on the slope. Anyway, you can kinda feel the trailer pulling as it comes of each set of blocks and settling when it's on them and adjust as necessary. I'll admit I was getting a little weary of steep curvy roads after the Blueridge and half of Skyline Drive, so I let the GPS route us out of Shenandoah a bit early. Of course that meant dropping about 3000 ft in 4 miles and gaining about 20 degrees in temperature. #airstream #liveriveted #myrivetedlife

Life expectancy of a mystery rattle somewhere in the back of the SUV while the baby is sleeping and @advodna_ann is in the car? Not long... #dontwakethebaby #momsontheroad #roadmoms