This morning, I was awake before 0530 and cleaned up while Brenna was still sleeping. She actually didn't wake up on her own and I knocked on her door at 0900 to see if she still wanted to go somewhere (she replied "yes" but was grumpy about getting out of bed). We finally got in the car at about 1015 and went for breakfast at Mr. J's Bagels (we ordered at 1025 and got food about 15 minutes later). When we were deciding about places to go, we noticed that there was a huge traffic jam on I-81. As a result, we used US-33 to drive to Shenandoah National Park (Brenna wanted to see foliage). We entered the park at Swift Run Gap and drove north on Skyline drive, stopping several times to take photos. Eventually, we reached the Big Meadows area and stopped to explore the Visitor Center (Brenna got teaching resources) and Wayside (Brenna got souvenirs). Lots of people commented about my "Navy" PT shirt! We then drove a short distance to see the Shenandoah Lodge - while there, we got some good views into the Valley but also saw dark clouds approaching... We had hoped to take a short hike but the weather didn't look good. Instead, we got back in the car and continued north toward Skyland. Before long, we found ourselves in clouds (visibility was almost nonexistent) and, later, in a rainstorm. As a result, the drive to Thornton Gap was quite unenjoyable and Brenna started to get carsick. We exited on to US-211 and drove to Luray. After that, we switched to US-340 and drove north to Shenandoah River State Park. The rain let up a little bit and we explored the park (fee free, thanks to REI). There were lots of shelters along the river with large families/friends having cook-outs. Brenna was still not feeling better but I convinced her to get out of the car at the Visitor Center for a short time. While there, we got some good pictures - we then left the park on US-340. I wanted to go to the Autumn Festival at Elkton but Brenna was only feeling well enough to take short walk on the Luray Greenway. We saw cows and Brenna almost touched an electrified fence. The sun came out, finally, when we started our drive (via US-340, US-211, US-340, US-33) back towards Brenna's apartment (on the way, we saw the festival as we drove through Elkton). At Brenna's again (1600), she went to bed for a nap and I cleaned up her refrigerator shelf (disposed of old food) and did some dishes (I clogged and then unclogged the sink in the process). I met Brenna's roommate (Jasmine) and hung up a mirror. I then read for a little while before Brenna was awake again (1800). After that, we drove to Golden China Buffet and ate a nice dinner. While there, we had some more good conversations (mostly about school, family and travel opportunities). When we reached the apartment again (1930), we spent some time trying to resolve paperwork issues (receipts, insurance, car stuff) before spendinig about an hour watching “The Big Bang Theory” on my HBO Max subscription (Brenna was excited to have the log-in). I went to bed at around 2215 and Brenna followed soon afterwards. Really glad to have had so much time with Brenna on this trip!
