Day 12, April 27, Birthdays, Caverns, See-Mor & Fine Dining

(With apologies to the couple mentioned later in this entry, I mistook and therefore misspelled her name -- something Patrise pointed out to me today. I wrote "Debra" rather than "Devra," This edited entry is to correct yesterday's errors. Sorry Devra!)

The title sums up the day, so I needn't write anymore.

What's that you say? You want me to fill you in on the details? Well, I thought you'd never ask. I'm delighted to do just that, so here we go. It was a full day, so hold on and keep up. Lots to share.

First, let me say that last night was the coldest night of the trip so far. After rain showers came through this area yesterday afternoon and evening, the temperatures dropped dramatically. The low was in the mid-30's. Brrrrrrrr!! We slept with the heater on, but frankly, it was not warm enough for my blood; however, my darling bride slept soundly, so I guess that's the better part of that. Tonight, the temperature is suppose to hover around freezing, The thermostat will be set higher.

At any rate, we awoke this morning to a problem that had grown worse over the past few days. Water was seeping from some unknown source into the floor of the RV and it was not abating. Since the problem started before yesterday's rain, we felt that there was some underlying issue with the vehicle we could not detect. Still, given the volume of water we were experiencing -- we went through three large rolls of Bounty paper towels and two bath towels and still no end in sight -- we wondered if the rain was exacerbating the problem. On the agenda today, was the plan to return to the See-Mor RV repair shop to get the generator repaired, since the parts would be in today. We planned to ask Dennis to evaluate the water problem also, while at the shop.

However, there were other things to do today, before getting RV repairs. So we set out on the road to the Shenandoah Caverns, reportedly the oldest and largest known caverns in western Virginia. On the way to the caverns, we called our beloved cousin, P.J., to wish her a happy birthday. She moved from Atlanta to the Sandestin area of the Florida Panhandle, three years ago. We miss seeing her, so we are happy for any opportunity to catch up with her. She is doing well and has already been celebrated by local friends and neighbors for her special day, which is good. She certainly deserves to be celebrated.

We arrived at the caverns about 10:10am, but had not yet had breakfast. Unfortunately there were no food establishments near the cavern entrance and the visitor's center restaurant did not open up for the season, until sometime mid-May. We munched on a couple of apples and some grapes from our RV pantry, then waited for the tour to begin at 11am.

The tour group was small, consisting of three couples, plus the tour guide. The two of us began this cavern tour, not knowing how it would compare with the Dixie Caverns we had just visited two days ago. However, in the end, we felt the comparison between the Dixie Caverns and the Shenandoah Caverns is like the difference between a waterfall at a local state park and Niagara Falls; both are beautiful, but there is so much more to see and experience in the latter than the former. I will not say more about the Shenandoah Caverns experience in words. I'll just share some pictures.

(Patrise heading down the 79 stairs to the cavern. The current visitor's center was originally a hotel built over the caverns; that hotel went out of business after WWII. It was later restored in the 1960's as today's visitor's center by the current family owners. )

(An example of a "flowstone" formation.)

("Bacon" stone formation. National Geographic once proclaimed that these specific bacon formations were the most "bacon-like" in appearance than similar formations in any other cavern in the U.S.)

(Another bacon stone formation. Don't think it will fit in our frying pan, so I'll leave it here.)

(One of eight [8] natural openings in the Shenandoah caverns, which allow air to flow in from outside. Therefore, there is no need for fans to provide air mechanically.)

(Standing in front of one of the many interesting formations in the Shenandoah caverns.)

(This stalactite [growing down] and the stalagmite [growing up] are almost touching. The estimate is that they will grow together, to form a column in about 100 years. We'll have to return in 100 years or so, to verify that!)

(This area is called the "Cathedral Room." Devra and Danny in the picture.)

(This tower of stone is known as the "Leaning Tower" [as in Leaning Tower of Pisa] and is believed to have broken from the ceiling and fallen during the most recent earthquake in the area, some tens of thousands of years ago. Its estimated weight is about 20 tons. You can't tell from this angle, but it is actually leaning several degrees from vertical, towards us)

(You can see the tubular structure that many of the stalactites take on as they grow, The thinner, smaller tubes are referred to as "soda straws" for obvious reasons.)

(This tabular formation is in an area of the cavern which no longer gets water. Thus, it is slowly disintegrating. Water is essential for cave formations to "live" or continuously grow.)

(Water at the tips of these two stalactites is the source for their continued growth.)

(This formation is named after a famous castle in Scotland, but don't ask me to remember the name. Smile)

(Leaving the Shenandoah Caverns, with our trusty vehicle shown in the background.)

After touring the caverns, we headed to the nearby town of New Market, to grab lunch. We could not find the restaurant we were looking for, so instead, we landed at "Kathy's on Main Street. Lo and behold, who was there? One of the other couples, we had just shared the tour with -- Danny and Devra from Fairview, CA, located in the Bay Area. They are the same couple with their backs to the camera, in the Leaning Tower photo above. Here is a front view of them. (Apologies to them for a not so clear photo.)

(Devra and Danny at Kathy's Home Cooking Cafe, in New Market, VA.))

They invited us to join them at their table, which we did. We had a delightful lunch and conversation with them. They were visiting the area around southwest Virginia and West Virginia, to celebrate their 25th year of being together -- next year will be their 25th wedding anniversary. Some of our best experiences of the trip so far are meeting a lot of wonderful folks. Lunch with Danny and Devra was one of those very special moments. (They now have the link to the blog, so they will get a chance to read this themselves.)

After lunch, we realized that the people from See-Mor had called us, likely while we were in the caverns, and they were ready to repair the RV generator, as soon as we could get down there. We hurried on down I-81 south and arrived at the shop about 2pm. Dennis (Andrews) and his young co-worker, Cody, worked on the RV issues until about 6pm. While repairing the generator and few other minor items, they also looked for the water leak problem. They figured out what was the cause and subsequently fixed it. What a relief it was for us to be able to get back on the road, knowing that our vehicle is in much better shape and having learned so much more about how to operate and maintain it. Even though we do not own it, we want to treat it that way.

Since we were both tired and very hungry, we decided to stop in Harrisonburg for a great dinner, before returning to the campsite for the evening. Patrise found a highly rated restaurant called "Joshua Wilton's House" in the heart of historic downtown Harrisonburg. Since we arrived about 45 minutes before our reservation, we used the time to explore parts of the city. We saw the James Madison University campus, The school is much bigger than we realized. Then, we called our brother, David, who for several years, had taught summer courses at another, smaller local university, Eastern Mennonite U. We talked to David as we found our way to and through the EMU campus. We eventually made our way to the street where he used to stay, when visiting in the summers to teach.

Subsequently, we made our way back the Joshua Wilton's House restaurant. It was a spectacular dining experience: the food, the customer service, the music, the ambience. We both declared we would put it up against the finest restaurants we've eaten in, in Atlanta or anywhere else in the world. Here are some photos from the dinner.

(Joshua Wilton's House restaurant on Main Street in Harrisonburg, VA.)

(Patrise and Doug prepare to order.)

(Doug had chai chicken curry soup as an appetizer, duck breast for an entree, and creme brûlée. He had a cocktail called the Wilton's Widow to start with and an incredible pinot noir with the meal.)

(Patrise started with a cocktail called a "Gold Rush", followed it with an appetizer of quail stuffed with an andouille sausage and mushroom stuffing, an entree of seared sea scallops, and creme brûlée for desert.)

We left the restaurant, having had by far and away, the best meal of the trip and one of the best meals we could ever remember.

We said goodnight to Harrisonburg and made our way back to camp in the dark, to settle in for the night.

(Harrisonburg City Hall at night.)

Birthdays, caverns, See-Mor and fine dining. It was a fantastic day!