VA, still at state 23!

 

I ran in Virginia on September 14, 2024.  Because I counted my Marine Corps Marathon as VA unless I did this race, I am still at state 23, but plus DC!  I always love Vacation Races half marathons and was very happy to do this one in VA!

Camden and I started our weekend by heading to Lynchburg Thursday night.  Friday morning, September 13, Camden had a college visit to Liberty University.  Having the tour on Friday meant that we got to go to convocation.  It was a great visit and now Camden wants to go to LU!

The cafeteria has a few more options than when I was a student!

Convocation was full of LU students

We left after our tour to head to Luray, VA.  We had lunch at our favorite sandwich shop in Lynchburg, Macado's.  I also drove through UVA to show Camden where I went to grad school.  It took us longer than we planned because the actual building that housed the Speech Therapy Clinic and classes was torn down!  (It wasn't an historical building or anything,)

We arrived at packet pickup just in time to buy my sticker, a sweatshirt, and get my bib.  This race is more in the middle of nowhere than most VR races that I have done, but it was pretty!

That night we checked into the Shenvalee Golf Resort.  There were so many trucks and groups of men staying there for a golf vacation.  It was a different type of place to stay, but clean and cozy!  We ate dinner at the resort, pizza, and rested for the evening.  I introduced Camden to "Everyone Love Raymond" and he really liked it!

Saturday morning started super early.  The race was a point-to-point course, so I had Camden drop me off at the start and he drove to the finish to volunteer and wait for me.  His job was handing out post-race food and he was hoping to get to drink the chocolate milk!

The course was described as a rolling downhill course, so I thought it wouldn't be too hard.  Well, I was wrong!  It wasn't the hardest course I've run with VR, however, it was very hilly for this lowcountry girl!  I was running pretty well until around the second mile and then it was chapel hill!  IYKYK!  There were 2-3 other hills before it was finally downhill or flat.  I was doing ok until I was 1/2 mile from the finish and could see the end.  Then my calf decided to cramp up.  Such a pain, literally.  I stretched, walked a few steps, and then was able to run to the finish.  It was super nice to get my recovery food from Camden!  

 

 

They had some really cute volunteers!

Camden had to work 1.5 more hours, so I drove the 30 minutes to the hotel, showered quickly, and drove back to get Camden.  

The rest of the day was our time to visit Shenandoah National Park.  We ate lunch at a good Italian restaurant, drove past so many yard sales (it really looked like every house we drove by had a yard sale going on...guess there isn't much else to do in that part of VA), and finally made it to the Skyline Drive.  It definitely was a pretty drive!  Some of the leaves were just starting to change colors.  We also were able to do a short hike to Dark Hollow Falls.

Trucks were at the hotel, but sports cars were on Skyline Drive

We made lots of stops at overlooks and I made sure to take my medal with me!

We finished exploring Skyline Drive and then headed back to the hotel with a stop at a cute store and Cooter's Dukes of Hazzard Museum.  

Camden Bo Duke!

Our dinner plans that night were at a steak house.  There were not too many choices and this one looked good.  At least until they sat us in the empty bar area by ourselves and asked us if we wanted steak sauce!  Unfortunately, the steak could have used some extra sauce.  

We watched more "Everyone Love Raymond" before we both crashed!  It had been a long day!  

Our last day involved breakfast in New Market at the Southern Kitchen Restaurant.  It was a good breakfast to get us ready for our drive home after our visit to Luray Caverns.  

This picture was a really cool part of the cave.  What looks like formations on the top and bottom is really just a reflection of the top formations!

The organ was connected to the stalactites and was played while we were there.

The wishing well that is drained every year and the money is donated to charity.

Fried eggs

There was a car museum at Luray Caverns

A rustic Virginia LOVE sign

We had an 8-hour drive home with stops for lunch and dinner.  We listened to Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Legends" on the way home (we had listened to "Killing Kennedy" on the way to VA) and learned about Elvis and John Lennon.  It was a long drive home, but definitely worth it to be able to see and run in Virginia!!