Our Family Trip to Luray, Virginia
If I know one thing about my hubby, it’s that he loves any excuse to go on a camping trip. So when we decided that we would not be able to visit family this Summer (thank you outrageously priced plane tickets), the hubby thought it would be fun to go camping in a new location that was closer to home: Luray, Virginia.
Now, let me start off by saying that this vacay was in my opinion one of the top “Peterman Family Trips” of all time. But funny enough with all of its adventure, laughter, and good food, it also had its fair share of mishaps and misfortunes.
‘What kind of mishaps and misfortunes,’ you may ask?
The kind that caused the hubby to have surgery when he got back home.
But I am jumping way ahead of myself.
Let’s recap this trip properly, shall we?
Thursday
We arrived at the campgrounds late Thursday afternoon and were less than thrilled to find out that the tent sites at Spacious Skies Campgrounds were basically RIGHT ON TOP of one another.
(Side note: Things my hubby dislikes are lazy people, when the waiter/waitress fails to refill his coffee or water, and not having his space when he goes camping.)
But aside from being so close that you could hear your neighbors’ conversations in their tents, we decided to make the most of our sleeping situation for the next few days.
While the kids made friends with the sheep and alpacas that were right behind our tent site, the hubby and I quickly unloaded the truck with our things, pitched our tent, and then started to get things sorted out for dinner.
And then, this is where the madness happened.
I was in the tent with Memphis, trying to get our sleeping bags and pillows laid out, when I heard it.
“Mom? MOM?”
Uh oh.
“I think Dad hurt himself.”
OH NO!
And as I hurriedly made my way to the entrance of the tent, I saw the hubby covering his right hand with his left and blood starting to drip from between his fingers.
“WHAT HAPPENED?!”
Apparently, my poor guy was in the middle of chopping wood (like he has done countless times before) with Jadyn and the axe slipped off the wood. So instead of hitting a piece of lumber, he got part of his thumb.
Thankfully, he didn't chop his thumb off, because I probably would have freaked out and possibly fainted. But the bleeding wasn’t slowing down and my mind went to full on “mommy mode.”
After a little back and forth, I finally convinced the hubby he needed to go to the emergency room and have it looked at. He is pretty stubborn and it took me saying that the last thing I wanted was for his thumb to get infected for him to finally give in and agree to go. Praise Jesus there was an emergency room that was only 8 minutes from where we were.
So while the hubby went to get his thumb looked at, Jadyn and I tackled dinner.
It was in the time I sat and watched Jadyn that I was so amazed at all that her daddy has taught her about the outdoors and camping. She took charge, knew exactly what to do to get a campfire started, and before you knew it, we had a full on blaze. I couldn’t have been more proud of our girl.
Jadyn and I got started on our dinner of choice that night: mini campfire pizzas. I had already prepared the pizza dough before we left the house, so all we had to do was nail how long it would take to cook in the cast iron skillet. Needless to say, we did have a fail in one of them that got super burnt. Cooking over a campfire is super tricky, y’all! But with each try, we finally nailed the right temperature and had success on our third and fourth pizzas.
The hubby got back (within an hour or so before it got dark) and said he only needed a few stitches and that he would be all good for the rest of the trip. BUT, he would probably need to make an appointment for surgery when he got back home. Unfortunately, the hubby cut through his tendon and would need to get that fixed. SMH…*sighs*
“I was just teaching Jadyn some life lessons. ‘What not to do when you are chopping wood.’”
Right.
Friday
The hubby woke up early (he is always the first to wake up on camping trips) to make coffee and breakfast. It didn’t take long for the rest of us to wake since our tent site was also right next to a farm with a rooster that had no care that we were on vacation.
But never mind that. We got up, ate our breakfast, cleared up, got ready, and off to the caverns we went.
Now after a minor mishap with the hubby’s truck window (it refused to roll up in the parking lot of the caverns which took a little macgyvering to get it to work), we were ready to take on the caverns.
Luray Caverns
Now mind you, in college I minored in Earth and Space Studies and Geology was one of my favorite classes. So naturally when I found out that Luray Caverns is the largest cavern system in the eastern United States, I just had to witness it for myself. I won’t bore you with all the minor details, but I would HIGHLY recommend making a trip out to these caverns if you ever find yourself in this part of Virginia.
They were absolutely GORGEOUS! I could have spent all day looking at the different rock formations. Take a look at some of my favorite photos from inside the caverns:
After that amazing self-guided tour of the caverns, our tickets also included admission to the other museums that are on the property.
Toy Town Junction
This was a tiny museum with lots of vintage and older toys on display. The kids loved looking for various characters that they could recognize hidden within the larger town setup.
Car & Carriage Caravan Museum
The biggest highlight for the kids was to see an old dairy truck on display. For a kid that grew up with a father who loved cars, the 1925 Rolls-Royce was a treat for me.
Shenandoah Heritage Village
After a quick picnic lunch and a photo op with one of the Virginia LOVE signs, we were off to explore the Shenandoah Heritage Village.
This small village museum had all the same “Colonial Williamsburg” vibes that we love from back home and the kids LEAPT at the chance to FINALLY go gem mining. They have asked to do this for years, so finally we were able to slow down enough for them to live out their mini dream. They were ecstatic.
And right as our day ended, the clouds became dark and the rain began to roll in. I honestly couldn’t have asked for more perfect timing. We headed back to the campgrounds, made some campfire stew and yummy smores, and called it a day.
The rain wasn’t letting up and we had to deal with some leaks in our tent (thank goodness I brought a bunch of towels and bowls), but I would still consider this the end of an absolutely perfect day.
Saturday
Not too much to share on this day. The rain was forecasted to stick around for the entire day so we made the decision to just chill at the campgrounds. We pitched up our canopy over the firepit so that we could still cook our meals amidst the rain. Campfire Chili was on the menu and it took the better part of most of the day to cook. But man, oh man, was it so worth it. It was super delish!
The kids enjoyed spending a lazy day in the tent reading, playing games and toys, and watching their favorite shows (thank you free wifi). The hubby and I enjoyed sitting by the fire and listening to the rain.
Sunday
We were delighted to wake up to a much drier surroundings and prepared for a day full of exploring. Since it was our last day in Luray, we wanted to check out what the town had to offer.
Luray Hawksbill Greenway
Not far from our campground is the Luray Hawksbill Greenway. With two miles of paved walking and biking trails, the greenway is a great way to see downtown Luray. I enjoyed all of the flowers along the trails as well as the various painted murals that were on display. The kids found the ducks pretty amusing. We even had a pair of them follow us down a section of the trail.
West Main Market Delicatessen
After getting our daily steps in, we all were ready for some lunch. We followed the trail into the adorable downtown Luray and had lunch at West Main Market Delicatessen. Jadyn’s BLT had the most bacon I have ever seen in that type of sandwich. She was super delighted. The food was great and the company was the best. And who doesn’t love to eat outside on a gorgeous day, right?
Hawksbill Brewing Company
Our last stop in downtown Luray was the Hawksbill Brewing Company. Here we cooled off inside with a couple of beers and let the kids draw on their large chalkboard wall. Kids were happy and quiet. This mama felt amazing.
Flotzie’s Soft Serve
And what would a summer vacation be without a trip to get some ice cream? After doing some research, Flotzie’s reviews were unanimously highly recommended. So we made a quick stop to grab a treat on our way back to the campgrounds. The kids opted for a simple vanilla cone with sprinkles and a rootbeer float. The hubby and I shared a simple brownie flurry.
Back to the campground to start packing things away, take a quick dip in a pool that we had all to ourselves, and bid our farewells to the sheep and alpaca friends that we made.
That night would bring on its own set of drama (poor Jadyn got up multiple times with horrible stomach cramps) but we were saying goodbye to our time in Luray and heading on to the next adventure…
…Peach Picking
Check back for next Saturday’s blog post as I share our adventure peach and blueberry picking at
Chilies Orchard in Crozet, Virginia.
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