Short Pump to Shenandoah National Forest, Virginia

Short Pump

Sadie curled for a nap as we prepare to drive to the Shenandoah National Forest for an overnight stay at Skyline Resort.

Lincolnia

First a stop on our trip is in Northern Virginia at Lincolnia. Dianne is teaching a seminar here. I find a coffee shop while she is teaching and become part of the morning computer line up.

Skyline Drive

Shenandoah National Forest

We arrive in Shenandoah National Forest late afternoon. The deer are out for evening forage They are not skittish and allow visitors to approach within a few yards before walking calmly away ...

... they aren't hunted in the park so there is no fear of humans.

Looking west into West Virginia at sunset it is evident why these mountains are called the Blue Ridge.

The last of fall color can be seen along the lower slopes of the Blue Ridge.

We spend the evening at Skyline Resort above Luray, Va. — meeting long-time friends from days when we were young — Bill, above ...

... and Nancy, right, sitting on a couch in the lodge with Dianne.

The lodge has a mounted specimen of a Peregrine Falcon. They nearly became extinct from exposure to the pesticide DDT in the mid-1950s. Several attempts to reintroduce them in the forest have met with minimal success. The is currently one nesting pair in the area.

Photographs taken with a Leica M8