This was one of the shortest little vacations in history.
It lasted approximately 32 hours ... but it was FUN! It easily could have been a "day-trip" -- I really just wanted to take the kids down to Luray, Virginia to see the Luray Caverns. But as you will see, we decided to make it an overnighter, and well... just LOOK at all the excitement we rustled up! *S*

This was on the way UP the mountain. I don't think we're quite at the top yet, but the kids was gettin' a might wiggly, so we stopped to look at some trees an stuff!

Kenny, Derek, Becca, and Krysti

(Mathew was off in another part of God's Country ...
he was visiting the BIG mountains out in Colorado!)

And then... of course... there was ME!

Cuz ya probly wouldn'ta knowed I was there if'n we din't take a picture!

The next wiggle break didn't have quite the same view, but boys, being boys will find sOmething to entertain them! In this case, a big old tree just outside the outhouse would do just fine!
       

As you can see, the girls preferred to stay planted on the ground!
(but the boys are still dangling up there...)

We had ONE more stop before we got off Skyline Drive.
Oh, this was the FUN one!

Boys don't stay planted ANYwhere!
I don't think this is really "allowed"... but...
it was just toooo tempting!

Kenny at the top ... or as high as he could GET before I screamed "YOU GET BACK DOWN HERE! NOW!!!

And the girls did some climbing too... they just limited theirs to the rock barrier wall. Well, I mean, if we're gonna fall, let's fall alllllllllll the way down the mountain!

Nah! We're all safe -- even me! (safely behind the camera!)

Once we finally got to Luray, and got settled into our motel room, the horrors of which I will leave OUT of this account... we had a WONDERFUL time in the pool! It really was niiiiiiice -- because there was no one else there and it was like having our very OWN pool!

Oh yes! I did TOO get in!

Back in the room...
   
The boys found time and space to battle it out with their Warhammers!
(did you think we'd leave them at home?)
No no no... not EVEN for 32 hours!

Hey Boo Boo! How about a nice Pick-i-nick basket? hehehe... What would a vacation BE without miniature golf? Oh yes! Even on a 32 hour vacation, we MUST play miniature golf! This one happend to be Yogi's Jellystone Park Putt-Putt! ( i bet you never knew sO much excitement resided right inside the town limits of Luray! ) Well see? Bet now YOU can't wait to go there too!

     
Somewhere along the course, I got a HOLE-IN-ONE!
(yes I did! just ask the kids!) But it wasn't on any of these holes.

Whilst I was trying to snooze the kids were busy with some high-stakes gambling!

Kenny had all kinds of card games the others had never heard of -
so midnight or so was a great time to learn!
(jk - they really were all asleep by about 11:30!)

After breakfast the next morning we were finally on our way to the Caverns! This was what we had all been waiting for!!! (yea... right... Krysti wanted to stay back at the hotel and swim!)

But...

We drug her on down into that dirty ol' cave anyway!
Turned out... ya know what?

That's not boredom... it's fascination on their faces!
Gee...Who'da guessed?

And the boys? I had a hard time keeping up with them because I wanted to take pictures and they were GLUED to the guide!!! They were hanging on his every word!

This column formation is known as "Pluto's Ghost". The legend behind it being that when the cave was discovered, the excavators could see this formation from 3 different locations in the cave, so they thought it was "following" them. When they finally got up the nerve to go over and see what it was, they gave it the name, Pluto, being the God of the Underworld.

This one is called Cinderella's Castle.
Guess why!

This one is a reflecting pond. The water in it is only about 18 to 24 inches deep, but because it's so still and mirrors the stalagtites so perfectly -- some of which are maybe 20 feet long -- it has the appearance of being MUCH deeper. This picture does it nO justice... it's just gorgeous in person!

And THIS one is another little body of water that they have turned into a wishing well.

Of course, we contributed heavily and made LOTS of wishes! It's emptied once a year (usually in January) and all of the money is given to non profit charities. Much goes to the Children's Cancer Foundation - so I was pretty happy to contribute!

This formation is known as ... I'm sure you GOT it... Fried Eggs! It's been one of my favorites since I was just a little kid! This formation was caused by two stalagmites being broken off during the excavation and construction of the path through the cave. Up until about 10 years ago the public was allowed to touch this formation -- it was said to be good luck to run your fingers over the smooth "yolks" of the eggs. Well, after so many years of people doing that, the eggs now look more like "oysters on the halfshell" than they do like eggs. The yolks used to be very orange/yellow. But from the years of being touched, they have dulled and become more gray from the oils in our skin. I was rather disappointed that my kids didn't get to rub the yolks... but I was ALSO disappointed that they weren't the same brilliant orange that I remembered them being! So, I guess it's for the best.

hmp! There's those rascally boys!
What are they up to NOW? :)

Well, only one more stop on our whirlwind adventure!
The new Garden Maze at Luray Caverns!

Becca, Derek & Krysti in the Maze pagoda

I couldn't catch Kenny to get him in a picture here! He was off and runnin -- he completed the maze and achieved all 4 goals with NO help from anybody! GO KENNY! Derek got off to a bit of a rocky start -- he went through it backwards, and really got himself confused! But once he chilled for a few minutes he went back in and tried again -- in forward! Then he was able to achieve all his goals too! Krysti, Becca and I, on the other hand, had not the patience for this silly maze! We only achieved 2 of our goals! We could NOT find the first or the third, but we managed the 2nd and 4th. The 4th was the only one we REALLY cared about -- because THAT one got us OUT of the dern maze!!! LOL! I dO think we all would have enjoyed the maze mOre if it had been a cool October day instead of a "95 in the shade" August day! But alas, it's sO hard to find those "October" days in August!
Nearly as hard as findin' yer way outta that thar maze! :)

By the way...
Yea, I know our trip was to Virginia
And the song says WEST Virginia
But believe me...
It's still almost Heaven!