Pack the car and leave this town….

Well, not really leave the town, as Claudia and I were discussing on the way back. While Luray Caverns are about 90 minutes away from DC, there is really no other major city closer.

For our anniversary we decided to pack up the car and the pets and head out to one of the sites I have wanted to go to since I first moved here. Maybe I’m biased since I have not really seen caverns like this before, but it was breath taking. Hit the jump to see some photos and read more about the trip.

Shenandoah National Park stretches from the town of Front Royal to Waynesboro along the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. At about a 1/3 of the way between the two towns is the small historic town of Luray. We set out to get to Luray as quickly as possible so we may take our time in the caverns.

About 2 hours, several small towns and farm scenes, after departing we arrived at the rental cabin were got Newton and Bailey settled. The Cabin was small but nice; it had a hot tub outside, grill, and cable tv. The caverns were about 5 minutes from the cabin, and while we wouldn’t have taken the pets, Pets are allowed if you carry them the entire time.

Walking thru the caverns is supposed to take about an hour, but I was a bit taken a back and took my time. The different rock formations are just incredible (hopefully the photos help some), and very difficult to do justice with words. My favorite part was probably the natural organ; a great story that I would not want to ruin for anyone, definitely something to experience. After the caverns, we did some grocery shopping, and headed back to the cabin for a night of grilling and hanging out in the hot tub.

On the drive back the next morning, we decided to take the Skyline drive; a road that weaves itself thru Shenandoah National Park. It provides amazing views of the Blue Ridge Mountains at numerous overlooks, there are several camping grounds, and hiking trails. We mostly drove thru, but we pretty much stopped at every over look to soak in the views and beautiful colors of the changing leaves.

We arrived back home in DC by 5:00pm tired but satisfied with a great road trip. The pets also seem to have enjoyed it.