Sunday, Day 16: Skyline Drive to Lehigh Valley

Headed to Shenandoah National Park, just a short way from Charlottesville, and climbed the grade to Skyline Drive. At altitudes of only 3,000 feet, the “mountains” are much smaller than we are used to seeing in Colorado, but the scenic tour were certainly beautiful. Green and lush, the park offered numerous turn-outs and impressive views of the valley. Driving along, and thinking back to the creation of the National Park system, we are appreciative of the vision to preserve such treasured lands and all the efforts to keeping the system operating.

We stopped for a picnic lunch before pressing on toward Lehigh Valley, outside of Allentown and Bethlehem, PA. Used to living in the West, where it can take all day to traverse one state, I was struck by the fact that in a matter of an hour or so we had gone from Virginia on to West Virginia and into Maryland before crossing the state line into Pennsylvania. The farms and their tidy barns reminded me of life back in Wisconsin, so rural and agrarian.

That picture evaporated quickly enough as neared our destination. Inexplicably, on a Sunday afternoon, one giant traffic jam had developed. We waited on the Interstate for an hour, trying to make the last few miles to the hotel in Lehigh Valley. Finally, we arrived and settled in quickly so we could join our friends, Kostas and Kim, for a meal at the hotel restaurant.

Zane and Sophia reacquainted themselves again, for the first time in more than a year. They were cute as could be! What changes they have experienced in those13 months. They’ve obviously grown immensely, physically and emotionally, and each has developed quite a personality. It was very entertaining to see them interact! Indeed God has done great things in their lives, and we are ever so grateful for His good hand of blessing.

I am glad we could make this a stop on our trip.