Blog for adaysouting.com

Right now in the mid Atlantic states and across latitudes 31-37 it is peak monarch butterfly migration season. There are no butterflies in the world that migrate like the monarchs. Millions of them travel up to 3,000 miles in their two-way migration, a pattern that most closely resembles a whale’s migration. One of the greatest mysteries is how monarchs are able to find their way each year, many times they even return to the same tree to roost. Unlike birds or whales, monarchs only make the round trip once and it is their children’s grandchildren that return the following fall to the exact same place! Amazing!

If you’d like to get involved, Monarch Watch is an educational conservation outreach program sponsored by the University of Kansas that involves school children in the counting and tagging of monarchs throughout their migration. This program is monitoring the effects of deforestation in Mexico, habitat loss, global warming and agricultural practices. This fall, for example, large numbers of monarchs are migrating where typically only a few are seen. Monarch roosts appeared last week across western Kansas, and even northwestern Oklahoma and Texas. This is nearly 200 miles off course for them. I wonder what will happen next, will they continue moving west, drop down to Mexico and rejoin their course, can the dry western climate support them?

If you are anywhere near Encinitas, CA, there is also a huge vivarium open to the public April through November that shows the butterflies in all stages of their life cycle, called The Monarch Program.

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It is the perfect time of year to enjoy the many farm stands and harvest festivals that showcase the bounty of late summer fruits and fall vegetables.  There are corn mazes, pumpkin patches, open air markets and dozens of harvest fairs around the country.

My daughter and I had a fabulous outing together to the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA.  She seems to have inherited both my love of gardening and my husband’s love of cooking, so a harvest festival is perfect for her.  We enjoyed watching chefs prepare dishes with local produce, eating fabulous hot cider donuts, buying garlic bulbs to plant in our garden this fall, and sampling a few of the dozen or so heirloom tomatoes on display.  The diversity of vegetables and fruit was impressive and it reminded me that there are so many more varieties available than are offered at a typical supermarket. If you want to grow heirloom vegetables and fruits at home, look for seeds that have done well in your area. There’s really nothing as wonderful as a tomato grown in your own backyard.

Whether you set off on an adventure to a harvest festival or take a simple drive out to a local farm to buy a pumpkin, now’s a great time to enjoy an outing during the cooler days of fall.

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My anniversary is coming up and I am planning a weekend getaway with just my husband to Washington D.C.  Yeah!

Using A Day’s Outing, it was simple for me to find great outings for our trip.  I want to stop at an antique shop or two on the way there and then visit the National Museum of American Art.  The harder part of the planning was finding a wonderful hotel in the heart of D.C. that wasn’t too expensive. Then I stumbled upon an easy way to search for deals on hotel rooms through DealBase.com.  I hadn’t heard of DealBase before, but I really like it because it showed me not only rooms available through websites like Orbitz, but also all the different deals that the hotels themselves were offering over the weekend we will be in D.C.  I can see a wide range of different specials, make my choice and then book the room directly through the hotel. I really like that.

So now I have the hotel and I’ve chosen a few outings.  Now all I have to do is figure out which restaurants we should go to.  Maybe I’ll be good and ask my husband what he thinks, or maybe, I’ll just plan that part, too.

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The second weekend in September we spent hiking Jones Run at Doyles River. Again, the weather was beautiful, cool with very little humidity. The leaves at the highest elevation were just beginning to change. The entire loop is 6.6 miles and gains 1,400’ in elevation. We had our new Dachshund Max with us and so we cut part of the trail by taking the fire road down from the Brown’s Gap parking lot. The fire road was a great choice on the day we went. On a hot day though there is very little shade, it is used by horses and can be messy and smelly. The ticks can also be bad in the long grass.

Although the water was low, the falls were beautiful and the kids and dog had a great time jumping and climbing on the rocks. Because the water was so low, we spent part of the hike off trail hiking down the stream itself. We could see that there would be great pools to swim in on a hot summer day after a period of rain.

On the way back down on the fire road, we noticed a grave marker about 20 feet off of the road. Here’s what I found out when I researched it after I got home-

Browns Gap and the turnpike were used briefly during the Civil War. On May 2, 1862, at the beginning of his Valley Campaign, Stonewall Jackson marched his entire army through Browns Gap and camped there from June 9- 12, 1862. The grave marker along the road reads William H. Howard, Company F, 44th VA. INF, C.S.A. According to the White House of the Confederacy records, William Howard died from Typhoid fever while in camp. It is believed he may have been being transported back home to Fluvanna County, VA.

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The past two weekends have been beautiful in Virginia. The first weekend we hiked one of our favorites with kids on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Humpback Rocks. There were tons of people on the trail taking advantage of the beautiful weather. I like it best when there is not another soul on the trail, but the kid love saying “Hi”, checking out other kids and petting everyone’s dogs. The hike takes about two hours, but the first mile is tough and quickly gains 800’. When you get to the first intersection in .5 miles stay on the blue blazed trail. At the next intersection bear left to the Rocks and there will be incredible views.

My guys love climbing all over the Rocks. Watch for snakes, they love to sun themselves there and are very used to people and don’t move. Last fall, we saw two good size Timber Rattlesnakes sunning themselves unconcerned about all the people watching them and taking photos. After enjoying the Rocks and amazing views, turn left onto the white blazed Appalachian Trail South path. This route takes you gradually down 2.7 miles most of the trail to the parking area, fewer people take the route and it’s much easier than climbing down the rocky slippery way.

On the way out we stopped at the Park Service Pioneer Farmstead display. The kids got to watch the making of lye soap, check out the bear proof hog pen and listen to a teenage docent describe what life on the farm for kids would have been like. One of their weekend Blue Grass Concerts was also just beginning to start. It was one of those weekends that makes me miss California weather a little less.

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It’s not too late to take an outing to a ballpark.  Whether it is to see your local minor league team or a visit a major league’s stadium, the weather is perfect for a game of baseball. It’s not too hot, is not too cold.  It is perfect.

My husband is a Detroit Tiger’s fan.  A tortured fan, but a loyal one, nonetheless.  We have been to see the Tigers, the S.F. Giants and a few minor league games, as well.  Now I’m not a huge baseball fan, but I do love the yummy food, the sweet treats and the time we sit together laughing about life and talking a bit about baseball, too.

Recently, the whole family went on a weekend trip see the Baltimore Orioles. We spent the night in a hotel in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and the evening watching baseball.  The tickets weren’t too expensive, because the seats were a little high up. But really, just how close do you have to be to home plate?  I actually think we spent more on the food at the park, but we knew going into the weekend getaway that it was going to be pricey.  And really, it was worth it, because there’s so much more to a baseball game than just watching the game.

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Restaurant Reviews in Baltimore!

On any given warm weekend in Charlottesville, many University of Virginia students make the pilgrimage to Hatton Ferry to spend the afternoon drifting down the James River on a tube.  Tubing is a great, leisurely activity, where you can simply relax on tube while the current lazily floats you down the river.  UVA students love this activity because it’s a great break from the stress of school.  Honestly, how much better can it get than relaxing and getting sun on a river that does all of the work for you?

The trip begins at Hatton Ferry, about 25 miles south of Charlottesville.  Most people go with a group of friends, and everyone has their own tube.  It’s also a good idea to have a couple of tubes to tie coolers onto, so that you don’t get too dehydrated.  It takes over three hours to get down the river, so once you leave, you’re in it for the long haul..  If you don’t have the time to take a whole weekend to drive to the beach, tubing is a wonderful way to go out on the water.

A cheaper approach to tubing is to buy your own tube, so you don’t have to rent one for 20 dollars from James River Runners.  The catch is that you have to make sure to have a car parked at the ending point of the river.  If you’d rather let them do the work for you, (the option my friends and I take), you can simply show up at Hatton Ferry and rent a tube from JRR.  They will take you on a bus to the starting point of the river.

JRR recommends making reservations on weekends, as they tend to get booked (i.e. run out of tubes).  Here is the link to their website if you’d like to have a closer look!

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My husband and I took a day trip up into the Blue Ridge Mountains with our kids. We had a simple plan. We wanted to take a drive, enjoy the beautiful late summer day and end up at one of several nearby microbreweries for an early, family supper.

One of the great things about visiting a microbrewery is that breweries are often part of a fun, family friendly restaurant. Devils Backbone Brewery, in Nelson County Virginia, is exactly that. They have great food, amazing beer and kids are as welcome as they would be in any other restaurant.  I was really impressed when the manager came over to our table. My husband and I each had our beer, and he noticed that the children were struggling to stir sugar into their iced tea. He quickly brought a small pitcher of simple syrup to go with their drinks.  They seemed to enjoy their special tea as much as we loved our artisan beer.

Keep your eye out for microbreweries. They really can be a fun, family outing.

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My family and dear California friend, Grammy Pam loved visiting the Frontier Culture Museum and Virginia Wildlife Center in Staunton, VA.   It was one of those glorious Virginia Fall days.

The Frontier Culture Museum showcases English, Irish and German Old World farms and then farmsteads in the US from 1820 and 1850 with guides in period dress who are cooking, farming and answering questions. They also rent golf carts and red wagons that can make it easier to get around.  My monkeys had a great time and especially enjoyed the animals. My husband, the closet farmer, really enjoyed it.  I am going to end up on a farm.

The Wildlife Center of Virginia in Waynesboro was having one of three open houses all year and it was yesterday while we were over in the Shenandoah Valley anyway. The Wildlife Center is a non-profit group that treats wildlife that needs help. They get tons of baby squirrels, baby rabbits, birds of prey and the occasional bear, bobcat and deer. What a great place and great group of people that are really helping. We took a 90 minute tour and saw numerous birds of prey that they use for elementary school programs. No bear or bobcats were in residence.

I was almost talked into driving 2 hours out of our way to return an opossum to the wild near Lexington, VA.   I think over the next month, I’ll be taking them my 72G former saltwater fish tank for their use as it is a great dust collector in my basement.  I am going to check in with them when I am in the area to see if they need help with future releases, the kids were dying to release the possum.

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