Day 87 (September 17): A Day Full of POO (aka Peaks of Otter)

In case you were curious, Skyline Drive is the primary feature of Shenendoah National Park (with parkland on either side) but Blue Ridge Parkway is synonymous with Blue Ridge Parkway National Park; all the green space on either side is National Forest, State Park/Forest or private land. See, now you know.

Although our pre-RV troubles plan was quite different, our new plan put us at Peaks of Otter Campground at milepost 86 of the BRP for two nights. We arrived mid-afternoon on Monday and didn’t have to move the RV again until Wednesday morning. So what does that mean for Tuesday? A big pile of POO, that’s what.

There’s a privately operated lodge at POO and just enough cell service in the campground to lure us with the promise of waffles. We loaded up our homeschooling supplies and walked about a mile to the lodge. No waffles.

There's the POO Lodge across Abbott Lake 

From POO Lodge, the view of Peak #1: Sharp Top Mountain (if you enlarge and zoom, Henry is visible fishing on the far shore, to the left)

We survived a restaurant meal and settled into the unoccupied lounge to utilize the free public wifi. It wasn’t lightning speed but it was sufficient. Ali and Cate hammered out several exercises on their tablets from their math curriculum while Henry worked on a backlog of spelling and reading/writing (“literary arts”). Lily’s lesson plans are too complicated for me to summarize.

The 12 on 6 Academy occupied this lovely lakefront room for a few hours.

Identical twins exhibiting different learning styles.

I know what I see with my own eyes and I know what I see in our pictures of this scene but I can’t imagine what others see when they spy us at work. We had one visitor, an educator who recognized our efforts, and I had one of those roadtrip moments we hope for: a little advice, an anecdote, a moment of connection.

Elise and Lily stayed at the lodge to keep working and to have lunch at the restaurant. Henry, Ali, Cate and I walked back to the campground, fixed lunch, and prepared for an afternoon hike. Without any strife (ha!), we got underway. From the trailhead, it was 1.5 miles more or less straight up. We came equipped with copious amounts of sugar and it got us through but barely.

What a bunch of goofs.

Ali is on a perpetual hunt for good meditating spots. 

Near the top. Some evidence of human intervention in the landscape. So many amazing colors and textures!

Cate gave meditating a try.

Ali later said that she spends her meditation thinking about peace and love "because that's life's prize." From the mouths of babes, right?

I’d say the summit, which advertised 360 degree views of western Virginia’s mountain country, was everything it was chalked up to be but our view was 100% the inside of a cloud. It wasn’t what we hoped for but it was still satisfying. We made it back down without my worst nightmare materializing (a small person running downhill fast and then doing a faceplant a long walk from first aid).

If you march four kids up a mountain and their reward is a fog bank AND they still smile (on command), you should count it as a win (we do)!

Still smiling.

Henry loves to show his muscles, especially his six pack. For context, other people just out of frame were in sweaters.

The model, his personal photographer and a a fog bank.

One of the many things I don’t understand about technology is how my iPhone can count my steps. I know the words (they include “accelerometer”) but I still can’t imagine. Anyway, by the end of the day my phone asserted that we had walked almost 8 miles, accounting for more than 18,000 steps (certainly more for those of us who are half my height) and ascended the equivalent of 99 flights of stairs. Anyway you put that, it was a major effort for each of us.

There was a good dinner of grilled chicken, a campfire and smores. Then there was a full night of sleep - more than 10 hours. On the morning of departure, there was a quick stop at the park service visitor center to get junior ranger packets and more stickers to commemorate this stop.

So to say that the day (really, the 40 hours) was a pile of POO isn’t entirely accurate. In fact, this is a great destination on the BRP. The lodge would be a great way to stay if that’s more your speed.

Ps: I put some thought into writing this entry in the style of A.A. Milne (a different Pooh) but couldn’t figure out how to execute that one. Reader challenge: write a comment in the Pooh persona of your choice. Also, make sure you read “Finding Winnie” or give it to the parents of young children in your life. It doesn’t leave a single dry eye in the Hundred Acre Wood.