We're back! And I think we have found our spot/area for New Years! We need to go to more caverns and loved the area....and it will only be a long weekend this time, not a mid-week trip.
We were in site 137, just across from the waterslide, no problems with sewer.
The kids LOVED the jump pillows! We learned that 10-15 minutes of bouncing was enough at one time, though. They were pretty pooped out by Saturday night, but bounced some more this morning. The rangers were really great, and the staff we saw at the store/registration were friendly. I wasn't thrilled about the extra charge for more than 2/2 but even with that the price was comparable to other places at this time of year and the cg was really nice. I can't even imagine the insanity and crowds there in July...This weekend was perfect!
John had to come back in to work on Saturday night, so since we had to take two vehicles, he and Bob-dog went out early and set up, and my dad and the kids and I went out after school/work . We left here at just about 3:30 and got stuck in some crappy traffic on the way out but really, it wasn't hideous for a Friday PM, other than the construction outside Manassas. I think it took us right about 3 hours to get there, going over the top of the beltway, out I-66 and down umm 340. 125 miles according to Google.
We went to the Caverns on Saturday AM, and had a great time! No crowd, and gorgeous weather. I really liked the self-paced tour setup and the kids really liked the kid version of the tour. Kendra and I ended up listening to the kid version of each section together so I could help her figure out what she was supposed to be looking at. Once we got that sorted out she really enjoyed it too.
We ended up going to eat at the Brookside Restaurant just down the road on Friday, and my dad liked it so much he wanted to go back on Saturday. So, we did..
No cell phone service there, and we were out of range of the wifi at the pavilion. Not a huge thing other than phone contact to let John know where we were. He came back home via 211/29, and we brought the OB back the same way this afternoon. Didn't get his text saying not to go that way until we hit Warrenton, but we'd had a beautiful drive so it wasn't a problem. He apparently was in icky traffic most of the way back, and was concerned about us going up over the hill/ridgeline (I think he thought I'd cook the brakes...) Anyway, we had absolutely no problems at all on the way back, and the ride along 211 was gorgeous. No traffic, steady 60mph once we got over the hill, nice country to drive through. We hit a little bit of traffic where I-66 hits the beltway but even that wasn't bad. 2 1/2 hours to get back, 115 miles going that way.
So, a good time was had by all. We did have some mild craziness involving kids kicking off covers and/or falling out of bed but they will be getting new non-mummy/hooded sleeping bags for Christmas which should solve most of that problem (two are outgrowing the kid sleeping bags and one gets all twisted in the mummy bag and nearly falls off the bunk each trip...).
AND, we met two new OBers, one with a brand new Sydney, this was only their second time out, and one with a 25...something, I forget what. The funny thing was that they both came to ask sewer/winterizing questions and John the outside-stuff guy wasn't there. So I did the best I could and talked up JCF a whole bunch.
