OUR CROSS COUNTRY ROAD TRIP
APRIL 2 THRU APRIL 16
ADDISON, NY TO MONTEREY, CA
DAY 1 MON 04.02.2018
​
Monday marked day 1 of the trip. We spent the last couple days in Addison, NY visiting with Leslie’s family and picking up the new van, of course! Boy, does it look good. The plan for Monday was to head down to Richmond, VA to spend some time with Leslie's sisters. We were able to leave by 730am and got in around 2pm. We enjoyed a nice relaxing evening walking along the Virginia Capital Trail and having dinner at Conche Republic.
​
Here are a couple photos from the day...
Photos From Day 1
After a night sleep at Lauren's apartment (that's Leslie's sister), we are planning to leave Richmond about noon and head to Shenandoah National Park. It's about an hour and a half drive from Richmond and our original plan is listed below. Our itinerary may end up being slightly different because I found out my cousins from New Jersey are in. I will update the page again within a couple days (WiFi dependent)
Tuesday starts the explorations back on our own.
DAY 2 TUES 04.03.2018
​
After a night sleep at Lauren's apartment (that's Leslie's sister), we left Richmond at 12:30 and headed to Shenandoah National Park. It's about an hour and a half drive from Richmond and our original plan is listed below (plus actual plan) is listed below. Our itinerary ended up changing slightly because I found out my cousins from New Jersey are at the park at the same time as we are!
Enter via Swift Run Gap Entrance
Head North to South River Falls Hike
Swift Run Overlook
Bottom Something Overlook
Rockytop Overlook
Jones Run Falls Trailhead [3.5mi out & back hike]
Blackrock Summit [1 mi easy overlook]
Horsehead Mountain Overlook
Moorman’s River Overlook
Crimora River Overlook
We chose to drive up to the Swift Run Gap Entrance so we could start there and head south. We replaced the Jones Run Falls Trail with the South River Falls Hike so we could meet up with the family, however, if you head to the Swift Run Gap Entrance and head South, you will be able to do everything minus the South River Falls Hike. There are a ton of overlooks on the drive. I did some research in advance and chose the ones we stopped at based on pictures online and the distance of how they were spaced out on the map. They are fairly easy to see from the car, so it’s not difficult to choose which ones to stop at as you go!
South River Falls Hike: We met up with Chriselle, Mike, Zoe, and Max for this hike. We parked at the South River Falls Trailhead and from there it was a 2.2 mi out and back hike to the overlook. The hike can be stretched to about 4.5 miles or so if you take the loop. The out and back starts downhill and of course ends uphill. It's so woodsy and there is a nice river flow along the way to the waterfall overlook.
The Overlooks: There are a ton of overlooks on the drive. I did some research in advance and chose the ones we stopped at based on pictures online and the distance of how they were spaced out on the map. They are fairly easy to see from the car, so it’s not difficult to choose which ones to stop at as you go! Below are photos of each one we went to.
Swift Run Overlook
Rockytop Overlook
Blackrock Summit: This one is a 1 mile RT hike to the overlook. This was perfect because we wanted to do a hike but didn't have a long time to spend in the park. This one gets you an amazing view but doesn't take much time. It's a pretty flat trail.