Day 3 - Final Day of our weekend Getaway to Virginia

Leaving The Huffman House at Creekside Farm

and Claytor Lake State Park, VA
Sunday, October 10th, 2010

Photos are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578776289mfCPnH

Again, the morning started with me getting up early to roam around the farm with my camera. You just don't get scenery like this if you stay at the Holiday Inn!

If you ever plan a visit to this part of Virginia, I highly recommend the Huffman House at Creekside Farm!

After another awesome breakfast, we said our goodbyes to our hosts Carol and Ron and checked out. We will definitely be back!


I spent four years at Virginia Tech and driven this stretch of I-81 countless times, but I have never made a visit to Claytor Lake State Park. Located only about 5 miles off the interstate, we decided that we would make a quick stop to check it out!

Claytor Lake Marina

Claytor Lake is a 4,500 acre, 21 mile long man-made lake formed by a dam on the New River. The state park is relatively small encompassing only about 3 miles of shoreline, but for our short visit, it was enough to get a feel for the lake.

Jack and Amy at Claytor Lake State Park

The park has a campground, Marina, Public Boat Ramps, and numerous rental cabins. There also about 6 miles of hiking trails.

The Claytor Lake Beach

During our visit, we checked out the Visitor's Center, Beach Area, Marina, and scoped out a few of the cabins and campground. Everything seemed nice enough to justify a longer overnight visit sometime in the future. However, after a weekend away, we were anxious to get home!

The remainder of our drive home was an uneventful end to a fabulous weekend getaway!

The full set of photos from our final day of our weekend getaway are located here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578776289mfCPnH

Game Day

Virginia Tech Game Day!

Saturday, October 9th, 2010

Photos are posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578770280xHEWxN

One warning about staying at a place like the Huffman House at Creekside Farm is that farm animals make a lot of noise! Even with the windows closed, the sounds of things like cows mooing, ducks quacking, horses neighing, and geese honking goes on throughout the night!

I tend to be an early riser, so when the roosters started to cockle-doodle-doo and the smell of freshly brewed coffee started to permeate the house it was time for me to get up! I started out the day by roaming around the farm with my camera.

As always, we were served a wonderful breakfast which would tide us over until dinnertime. After a nice filling meal like this, the best thing to do is go for a little hike!

About halfway between the Huffman House and the Virginia Tech Campus is a place called Pandapas Pond.

Pandapas Pond

Pandapas Pond

Amy and I spent about an hour strolling around the scenic little pond before heading on to Blacksburg!

This weekend the Virginia Tech Hokies were facing the Chippewas from Central Michigan. It was not the most exciting opponent, and there was not a whole lot of hype leading up to this game. In fact, it was the first Virginia Tech home game in years that did not sell out!

But, for me it was not really about the game. It is about getting back to my Alma Mater and reliving the experience!

Amy at the Virginia Tech Game

Virginia Tech Touchdown Celebration!

Central Michigan did come out to a 7-0 lead on their opening drive, but after that it was all Hokies!

Hokies Win!

After the game, Amy and I had a nice meal at Backstreets Pizza!
We got there just in time and were seated before the post game queue of crowds started to arrive!

Amy at Backstreets Pizza

After a nice meal, we drove on back to the Huffman House for an evening of R&R. Amy enjoyed relaxing with her book, while I found a few more college football games on TV that caught my interest.

Later that night, the fabulous starry sky returned and I went outside for another attempt at night time photography!

My full set of photos is posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578770280xHEWxN

The Huffman House Bed and Breakfast and VT at Night

The Huffman House at Creekside Farm

and an evening visit to Virginia Tech!
Friday, October 8th, 2010

The complete set of photos is posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578760607RZOEbl


During Virginia Tech Football weekends the population of Blacksburg, VA expands from about 40,000 to over 100,000 people. This creates quite the challenge when trying book a place to stay! If you are lucky enough to find a room in Blacksburg, the hotel will be at maximum capacity, it will be noisy, and it will not be cheap!

Fortunately, last year we discovered the Huffman House at Creekside Farm. A great little Bed and Breakfast located about 20 miles away from downtown Blacksburg. From now on, when planning our annual trip to Blacksburg for a VT football game, I see no reason to look anywhere else for accommodations!

The Huffman House at Creekside Farm Bed and Breakfast
http://www.thehuffmanhousebandb.com/

The Bed and Breakfast is part of a 61 acre working farm. One of the things I love about the place is all the animals roaming around. So after checking in, I grabbed the camera and went to photograph some of animals!

A friendly Horse

This guy quacks me up!

Ducks in the Creek

Farm Cat

After spending some time with my animal friends, Amy and I took a drive into Blacksburg for some dinner. We decided on the “Hokie House” Bar and Grill for some pretty good burgers! I also had a couple of the $2.00 20-oz drafts!

Me at the Hokie House!

After dinner we took a stroll around campus where I made an attempt at some night time photography.

The War Memorial Chapel at Virginia Tech

Burruss Hall at Virginia Tech

The War Memorial Chapel at Virginia Tech

The April 16th Memorial at Virginia Tech

The April 16th Memorial at Virginia Tech

Back at the Bed and Breakfast I could not help but noticed the stars! So I finished up the evening with some more night time photography experimentation!

The Huffman House at Creekside Farm

I caught a shooting star in this shot (Right Side just above the roof line)

Starry Sky over the Farm

Night Time at the Farm

The full set of photos is posted here:
http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/578760607RZOEbl

The Wild Ponies at Grayson Highlands

Grayson Highlands State Park
Grayson County, VA
Friday, October 8th, 2010

Grayson Highlands

The Full set of Photos are posted here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/578753447lPLyQf

For years Grayson Highlands State Park in Virginia has been on my list of places to visit. The problem is that it is a bit too far for a day trip and it is not really near or on the way to anything!

However, it is not "that far" out of the way when travelling to Blacksburg, VA.

This weekend we had purchased tickets to Saturday's Virginia Tech Football game, and booked a weekend stay at a Bed and Breakfast. We decided to take Friday off from work and finally make a visit to Grayson Highlands State Park on the way to Blacksburg.

Grayson Highlands

The Highlands and adjacent Mount Rogers Recreation Area encompass some of the highest peaks in the state of Virginia and contain hundreds of miles of hiking trails. I had hoped that we would hit the area with some peak Fall color, but what I really wanted to see was the wild ponies.

Since the 1970s, several herds of wild ponies have roamed free, making Grayson Highlands one of the few places in the United States where you can find wild ponies.

A little bit of research and some tips from some of my hiking buddies informed me of the most likely places to encounter the wild ponies. Our plan was to start at the Massie Gap Trailhead and hike the Rhododendron Trail up Wilburn Ridge.

The Rhododendron Trailhead at Massie Gap

The trail almost immediately starts gaining elevation, but the climb is gentle enough to still be classified as "Amy Approved". We went about a mile across some spectacular landscape before encountering our first group of wild ponies.

I knew that we are not suppose to really approach the ponies, so I started snapping some photos from a distance. Before long, the ponies decided to approach us. It was soon obvious that these guys were completely unafraid of us and wanted some attention (or more likely some food).

Amy with a Pony

Jack and Amy with a Pony

While many visitors feed the ponies, it is completely illegal to do so. We did obey that rule, but we might have pushed the rules about not getting too close to the Ponies! We spent a good bit of time hanging out with this first group of ponies before continuing our hike.

Amy getting a Closer Look

A few minutes later, we encountered a second group of ponies and gave them a bit of attention as well before continuing on. We had probably hiked about 2 miles before we decided it was about time to turn back.

Jack and Amy at Grayson Highlands

 One the hike back, we passed by some of the ponies we saw earlier, but also spotted another couple of groups of ponies. I believe we saw (17) different Wild Ponies during our (3) hours visit to Grayson Highlands.

Nice Hair-Do

Amy making friends

I figure we were at least a week too early for peak fall colors, but the experience with the Wild Ponies more than made up for that!

It was a beautiful day and an awesome start to our weekend getaway!

The full set of photos from Grayson Highlands is located here:
http://community.webshots.com/album/578753447lPLyQf

Night Time at the Farm

Here is a quick shot from last night

Candlelight

I noticed my wife had a candle going.  So I used it for today's photo opportunity.

The Acorn

We have a bunch of Oak Trees in our yard, and this time of year they shower the ground with thousands of Acorns.  So for today's photo, I decided to focus on the Oak Tree Seed; The Acorn.

Acorn

Acorn Cap