There are two 'n's two 's's and four 'e's

Yup.  That's Tennessee.

Day #1 of Mr Toad's wild ride consisted of a remarkable amount of driving.  515 miles to be exact.
These are the states I traveled through: MA, CT, NY, PA, WV, and VA.

There were supposed to be heavy thunder and lightning storms in Northern Virginia, so I bid for a hotel room online and got a fancy room at the George Washington Hotel in Winchester, VA for half the price.  And then it didn't storm very much at all.  I felt robbed.... until I settled into my nice pillowtop mattress and fell asleep.

This morning, I headed for Shenandoah National Park.  I last visited in 1998, I think.  Spring has just about arrived in this neck of the woods.  The trees are about to bud, so all of the skylines have a bright green haze around them.  Many of the fruit trees are flowering right now-- I would definintely not have known there were so many cherry and apple trees along the roads here if they had not been showing off their spring colors.

I embarked on what was supposed to be a 6 mile hike to a waterfall-- the Overall Run Falls which are supposed to be the "biggest" in the park.  It was chilly to start-- mid 40s, I think.  Because the leaves aren't out on the trees yet, the sun warmed me right up and it turned out to be a pleasant hiking temperature.  The falls were really more like a roaring river.  I enjoyed the sound of rushing water and the immaculately groomed trails-- part of this particular hike followed the Appalachian Trail.  My hike turned into more like a 10 mile slog after I, you guessed it, took a wrong turn and made an extra loop off of the loop.  Where is CG and his sense of direction when I need him?

 I drove through the rest of Shenandoah NP-- about 105 miles and rejoined Interstate 81 South.  I'm camping just outside of Bristol, Tennessee.  The campground office was closed when I arrived.  One of the "regulars" helped me figure out where the tent camping area is.  It's kind of amusing to lie in my tent and write this blog!  I am, according to this helpful guy, the first tent camper of the season.  I always knew I was kind of special.