We left around mid-morning and headed south through the Shenandoah Valley. The picturesque countryside was truly breathtaking. We could see where the lyrics of the song “America the Beautiful” called out the purple mountain majesties. Although the song was inspired in 1893 atop Pikes Peak in Colorado, the Shenandoah Valley could have been easily substituted, especially on this bright sunny morning. We arrived near Luray, Va around noon, sought out the Shenandoah National Forest entrance and found ourselves on the famous Skyline Drive. The park ranger at the entrance told us of a place to pull over to take a nice hike. Little did we know what was about to happen next.
Up ahead to my surprise, and among most any RV owner’s nightmare was a tunnel—Mary’s Rock Tunnel—12-feet-8-inches at its highest point. I slowed down immediately, wondering if our 10-feet-11-inch RV was going to fit or if we were going to have turn around on the narrow mountain highway and head back. I knew that we would have to hit the middle of that tunnel just right or risk scraping the topsides of the RV, or worse, scalping off the top. Thankfully, there were no cars coming through the tunnel and we gingerly took to the center of the road. We held our breath, turned off the Pandora, which was playing one of our favorite songs, and listened for any damage. Hearing none, we moved on through and collected our breath.
There were many pullovers along the way and we stopped at a few. The views were breathtaking. It was difficult enough winding our rig around the sharp turns, but adding to the adrenalin rush was the constant temptation to look off to the tremendous skyline at some 3,200 feet. We pulled over at a place called Stony Man Overlook and parked the RV. Once again, an incredible portrait of American landscape. We decided to lock up and take the trail just South of the overlook. I took a walk around the RV to make sure everything was intact and almost dropped our only set of keys down the drainage grate—something I didn’t bother to tell Chris—another breathtaking moment. Chris, Service Dog Charlie and I then embarked down the trail.
It was amazing. The narrow path led along a ledge in the mountain and one dare not slip or step too far off the trail. Huge rock formations peppered the way. The aroma of wildflowers and pink azaleas filled the air. The trees had awakened from their long winter’s nap. The wild foliage, each with its own unique beauty and properties lined the way. We remarked about how anyone could think this had been created without intelligent design. As the Bible says in Genesis 1:31, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Indeed it is. An hour later, we found the RV and headed toward our campground. Back through the tunnel, but this time I was in the middle of the tunnel when two cars entered, despite me blinking my lights. Taking my half out of the middle, they narrowly passed. Once again, breathtaking.
