Notre Dame Football Weekend - Day 4

The best hiking day is one when someone else joins you! Mollie and I woke up in hotel room at 0730, checked out (0810) and got breakfast (Aunt Bea's) in Independence (0825).  We made our way out of the no cell signal zone on the VA-NC border, following VA-16 north until we reached the Mount Rogers NRA Visitors Center, north of Sugar Grove (0915). We learned a lot about the area and made plans for our next visit. Conveniently, the AT passed right through the parking lot. We managed to squeeze in a total of about three miles of hiking, out and back, in a little more than an hour (0930 to 1045). It was cool and sunny and the trail on an old Forest Service road was very easy. One highlight was the pretty shelter we passed. In addition, we enjoyed some great fall colors on the trees and the tunnel like passageways through the rhododendron bushes. We turned around at a stream bed about halfway to the next parking area. Our walk back was equally pleasant and we might have continued if we hadn't run out of time. By 1100, we were on the road, bound for home.  Mollie texted with her mother, asking if she could have extra visitation time to see her sisters in Harrisonburg.  Nicky said "take your time" because she was supposed to work until 2200 anyway.  Mollie then got in touch with Brenna and Erin, setting up the rendezvous at JMU.  We stopped to get gas and lunch in Lexington at 1310 and arrived in Harrisonburg at about 1400.  Because it was one of our first trips to see the Twins in college, I spent some time trying to navigate the parking pass process.  Ultimately, this ended up being unnecessary because it was a weekend day...  Mollie and I then toured the campus for about three hours, met the Twins's friends, ate dinner (Duke's Cafe), took pictures and played games.  I also drove both Brenna and Erin to/from class (at different times).  Overall, I had a great evening with all three of my girls at JMU!  Had been planning to head straight home but Mollie asked if we could take the "scenic route" through Shenandoah National Park.  I agreed to this after her mother approved our late arrival in Alexandria and we started east around 1745.  Mollie then got a frantic call from her mother: apparently, Nicky had heard on the radio that the Adele concert she bought tickets for was actually about to start in DC in the next hour!  When it was clear we wouldn't make it and Nicky hung up (upset), I asked Mollie to check the internet and she learned that the concert was, as she had originally thought, 24 hours later (in other words, there wasn't any problem).  Mollie told her mother about this and we continued on our way without additional drama.  We saw amazing sunset views before we left Skyline Drive to get on US-211.  Mollie said several times that she didn't want to go home...  We almost got killed by driver using the wrong side of the highway just west of Warrenton (yikes!).  Using US-29, I-66 and I-495, we got to my apartment at 2030.  We unpacked the car and I dropped Mollie off at her house at 2100.  I felt very contented when I went to sleep - we packed in some amazing things in just four days.  I also can tell that my daughter loves the mountains and remote areas as much as I do! AT Today = 1.40 miles / Grand Total AT = 788.58 miles