Our 2016 Cabin Vacation

We’ve had a wonderful time this week on our annual vacation trip to Cliffside Cabin in Front Royal, VA! 

We actually spent the majority of the week just hanging out at the cabin and relaxing.  We got a surprise this year when we arrived, as we discovered the owners had added internet access to the cabin!  This is the first time in 9 years of coming up here that we have had Wi-fi.  It was great!  I had a review due while we were here, so it kept me from having to drive into the nearest town to sit in a cafe with Wi-fi to write and publish it.  And my husband had some work stuff to do, too, so it was helpful to him, as well.  And best of all, it kept the kids from getting cabin fever, so we were able to hang around and keep them entertained with their electronics a bit so we weren’t forced to keep having to go out somewhere.

Steve and Hayden went camping on Wednesday night in the Shenandoah National Park.  It was cold but still the warmest night without rain in the forecast, so they gave it a shot. Hayden got to practice making a fire in the middle of a creek so he wouldn’t cause a forest fire, LOL. 

I did some shopping in town with Hayden while we washed clothes at the laundromat, and we visited the town’s local bakery a couple of times (they have the best bread pudding with cranberries and really yummy cherry moonshine cake). 

Friday’s weather was absolutely gorgeous…maybe the nicest I’ve ever experienced up here!  It got up to 81, but we are in the woods, so it was shady and warm with a breeze coming off the Shenandoah River below us.  We took the kids into town in the afternoon to play in the park for an hour while I did some grocery shopping.

Saturday was our planned day to go exploring something new.  We spent the day in Winchester, VA, and we visited a few museums while we were there.  I bought a family block ticket for $20 so we could tour three locations:  Abram’s Delight (the oldest house in Winchester dating to the 1700’s, George Washington’s Office Museum, and best of all…Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters Museum.  The ladies at Jackson’s HQ were all in period dresses, and they were so knowledgeable and friendly.  In the gift shop, I bought the kids a complete playset of Union soldiers, Confederate soldiers, and an artillery set so they could stage their own battle reenactments at home.  Very cool! 

Then we stopped by the Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum to let the kids get their wiggles out.  We go there every year on the last day of our trip to let the kids unwind a bit.  It was very busy on a Saturday afternoon, but it wore the kids out so that they slept well last night.  Then we treated everybody to lunch at Chick-Fil-A before heading back to the cabin to start packing up and fixing our last dinner.

We’re packing up the vans right now and getting ready to go check out so we can head into town for worship services at Front Royal Church of Christ before getting on the road for home.  It’s been a great week!  Now the countdown begins until next year’s vacation…our last one while all three kids are still kids!