Mountains Are Cool

Hubby and I drove out to Shenandoah National Park (SNP) last weekend. It’s been pretty hot here, so I haven’t been on my bike in weeks.

It was about 93 degrees and humid when we left the house on Sunday. The heat index — what it feels like with the humidity — was probably about 105. It was gross.

As is typical on hot, muggy days like that, there were thunderstorms forecast for the afternoon. I told Mike we’d probably see some pretty cool skies from Skyline Drive. He wasn’t excited.

It was about 75 degrees when we reached Skyline Drive. It was still humid, but it felt much better than the temps back down on the Piedmont.

Check out this awesome quilt that was on display at the Visitor’s Center.

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Centennial Quilt

The SNP Facebook page said…

Shenandoah National Park has a lot of exciting plans to celebrate the 100th year of the National Park Service! This past winter, Shenandoah staff and volunteers created a quilt representing Parks across the nation. The quilt is currently displayed at Byrd Visitor Center. Other quilt related events can also be found on our special events page. Visit our website to learn more about the hikes, programs and festivities at Shenandoah as we celebrate our 100th Birthday! https://www.nps.gov/shen/planyourvisit/special_events.htm.

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Pretty Flowers at the Visitor’s Center

We were surprised to see a very large storm cloud approaching the lodge complex from the other side of the drive.

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Hubby watches large storm cloud rolling in.

 

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The sky looked clearer north of the Visitor’s Center.

 

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Pretty flower, but I have no idea what it is.

 

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The cluster of flowers was oddly waxy-feeling.

 

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Interesting cloud formations.

 

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Storms were definitely starting to pop up in various places.

 

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More interesting clouds.

 

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Hello, Grasshopper.

 

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Blue skies to the north.

I did say we’d see some interesting skies, right?

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Check out that downpour!

 

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Seeing such heavy, localized rain intrigued me.

 

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Look how dense that rain is!

A little while later, heading north, we saw a bear beside the road. I had to turn around and circle back for a better view. Buy then, he’d gone into the brush, so I didn’t get a decent picture.

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Raven!

You folks out West will probably laugh at me for sharing a picture of a Raven, but we don’t see them often. We have far more American Crows than Ravens. So, yes, I get excited when I see a Raven.

And that was our excitement last Sunday.

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Clear skies to the East.

It’s supposed to be cooler this week. Here’s hoping the weather folks are right. I am really, really tired of being in the house.