The Life and Times of SIT: SIT Hits Virginia

May 27 – June 2, 2014

No we didn’t hit anybody named Virginia, but we did land in Virginia as our next place to explore. Virginia boasts the slogan “Virginia is for lovers” but we haven’t quite learned where they got that from.

Salem Virginia is just a few miles from Roanoke which was our resting place for a few days. The Blue Ridge Mountains are simply amazing and are thick with a variety of trees and plants.

Our temporary home also happened to be the location of southwest Virginia’s only show cave. I will tell you more about that in a bit.

We struck out to explore the area and meandered through some back roads enjoying the small farms and river. We didn’t find a spot to stop and fish but Steve did find a good place to go each morning with Izzy and do some walking and exploring.

We scoped out golf courses and landed at the Hanging Rock Golf Course. It is one of the best courses we have played in months well I should say best condition. We have played many beautiful and great courses, but this one is certainly at the top of our list. The course is challenging and includes some hills but you have plenty of opportunities to sit back and enjoy the view.

Picturesque

Blue Ridge Mountain View

Please land on the green

We stumbled upon a large black snake making a trip across one of the fairways. I am glad it decided to keep going as I don’t know how friendly it would have been if my golf ball landed near it.

Nice Fairway

Guarding the Green

Passing Through

The other thing we wanted to do was find a great place to go hiking. We started to plan for hiking on a portion of the Appalachian Trail but before we got there we spotted a trail in the Mountain Lake Wilderness in the Jefferson National Forest. We brought a picnic lunch with us so decided to hike first and eat later.

Izzy was pretty darn happy with being able to hike at her pace while we hiked at our pace. I bet you probably can figure out she hiked ten times farther than we did by the end of the adventure. The trail was a loop trail with a place where you could go to an overlook. We found the overlook and enjoyed the view. The picture doesn’t do it justice as it wasn’t a clear day, but you’ll get the idea.

At The Overlook

Color at the Top

Taking a Break

The View at War Spur Overlook

Color on the Trail

Izzy was glad when we headed down the trail as she found a creek that flowed and she could go get a drink and cool off. The reward at the end of the hike was enjoying a nice lunch and cold beer. Izzy didn’t have a beer but she did enjoy her water!

Glad it's Lunch Time

Now more about the show cave. The place we stayed was the Dixie Caverns Campground. The cavern is one of the largest above ground in the country. You climb 75 feet above the parking lot level during the tour.

The caverns are still alive so to speak as the moisture coming into the cavern is constantly dripping on the soil so stalactites and stalagmites continue to form and grow.

Still Growing

Would you believe a dog was the first one in the hole at the top of the hill... followed by several inquisitive farm boys — that was in 1920. And in 1923, Dixie Caverns was open to the public. The first tours required you to enter through the same small opening, slide down a rope and crawl on your hands and knees for most of the time. Thanks goodness they now have steps even though there are over 300! You get a nice work-out but you remain cool as the temperature is a constant 56^o.

Our tour guide was great and explained they have given many of the formations or areas within the cavern names. It definitely made the tour more interesting plus I could remember them for the pictures!