William visit Day 12

Thursday

Time is going fast and we realized that today might be our last chance to do the tunnel walk. 

William's cousins did the Blue Ridge Tunnel Trail and had a great time. This was on his list to do when in Virginia. So he skipped VBS today and also did not need to be woken up since we had better control of the time. After breakfast we headed out. The drive took 1 hr 15 min and was easy. 

And off we went.

The stretch from the parking lot to the West Portal is a wide trail made of crushed stone and has several short, steep ups and downs (so it says on the internet) but one is quite a long down and I was not looking forward so much to the return.

We had prepared by buying headlights from Harbour Freight to the tune of $2.98 each, including batteries ha-ha. They were really brilliant. We put them on when we were in front of the tunnel entry. My arm is just not long enough for a proper selfie. 

A friendly young man took this photo for us. James had printed out something from the link which I had shared above. It is all very interesting. I find the history of it (completed in 1858) very impressive. Interesting titbits are also posted on mailmarkers along the way.

Towards the end I kept hearing rushing water ... and there was a waterfall.

The East Portal. 

And then the whole way back again. But it is not boring. Somehow it feels different. The photos look 'empty' but there were surprisingly many people walking since it was quite hot but cool inside the tunnel.

No more photos inside the tunnel. After that the way back UP to the parking lot.

Sarah had recommended to us the Blue Mountain Brewery. Great suggestion. We loved it. The food was outstanding. The server was so friendly. Would go back any time. 

William surprised us when we were leaving. He knew what this was and what you do with it.

Whow, how would he know hops?

Well, not the first time the kid surprises us.

Another 1 hr 15 minutes drive to go home. After a short rest Papa took William to the library. He found two books he liked and burried himself in one of them. But he also wanted to play a game of Five Crowns. Dang, he won against me.