Woods Wind Wander

A view across the river into DC (Capital Crescent Trail) I'm not sure one equates Arlington with the ideal hiking spot, but when a friend suggested we visit Potomac Overlook before stopping by her house, we decided to keep an open mind.  After all, there must at least be an awesome view of the river; it has an overlook , right? Welcome all! Potomac Overlook Regional Park and the adjacent Donaldson Run Park are typical suburban parks in that you are almost surrounded by houses on all sides, you aren't exactly in backcountry, nor are you "away from it all."  I mean, hey, the good news is you can't get lost!  Joking aside, it actually doesn't take very long to move into the woods and forget you are right outside of Washington, DC. Heading into those woods The upside to visiting any park for the first time is that you can't go wrong in terms of the route you choose. Everything is new to you.  After consulting the map, and a man walking his dog (people that fre

Spicebush Swallowtail Sky Meadows is definitely one of our family's favorite parks, if not our outright favorite. I can't even give you an accurate count of the times we have been there this season alone: 7 maybe.  It has many trails of varying difficulty.  You can take it easy or put together some substantial mileage as the Appalachian Trail runs through it.  But if you are looking for a spot to take small children, or someone who doesn't hike often, it offers lots of possibilities which is not true of all places.  I have too many amazing photos and too much to write about, so Sky Meadows will have a series of posts with this being the first 😊. Today we chose an easier, laid back route (part of Corporal Morgan to Hadow to Snowden trails and back totally roughly 5-6 miles).  Our son hadn't felt well the day before so we didn't want to tax him too much.  It is also July in the Mid-Atlantic and the temperature was on its way to the 90's with a heat index (how hot

It's funny how some of the most amazing experiences you have you just happen to stumble upon.   Such was our experience with Raven Rocks.  We awoke Monday morning with absolutely no plans.  As I started my morning routine of coffee, getting dressed, etc. I had the anxious feeling that since it was nice weather (read: not in the 90's and slightly overcast) that we were "wasting" the day if we didn't go outside and do something (hike).  I somewhat randomly decided to Google "Bluemont hikes."  Why Bluemont?  Well, a while ago my best friend had sent me a photo of her daughter on a hike by a waterfall that looked pretty, and all I knew about it was that it was in Bluemont, so I thought I'd just try a search and see what I could come up with.  The first hike that popped up was Raven Rocks on the Appalachian Trail.  I quickly skimmed over the All Trails entry:  5.3 miles (check), good for kids (check), out and back (alright).  It also said something like l

2020 has been, without a doubt, a bizarre, stressful year.  Both boys were sick for an entire week before their schools officially went virtual for the remainder of the school year.  It was mid-March and a bit of a novelty for them to be doing school from home.  My younger son's school had lessons and/or classwork in the morning with the rest of the day pretty open, and my older son's teacher carried on "business as usual" for the rest of the school year.  He was busy online or with school work from 8:30 a.m. to around 2:30 p.m.  Whenever he had a break in the school day, we would all go out and walk to get fresh air and exercise, and over the course of a day, we'd walk around 5 miles.  Most days we would stay in our own town, and other times we'd go slightly farther afield.   Over these past few months, we have seen and photographed (with my modest camera) more animals than I ever thought possible, learned more about native (and some non-native) flora, and ha