Last year, we planned a low-key hiking trip to Shenandoah with our friends. The kids would love it – fresh air, fall color, wild animals,… or so we thought. It turned out they absolutely loved it AS LONG AS they stayed on our backs. Other than that, Shenandoah was beautiful! We would definitely go again when the kids are a bit older.

This time we had way too many kids in our group. See?

They only behaved when booze was served:

Yeah, me too!

We had a Gourmet Burger, which was okay. The roasted chicken (not pictured) was juicy and delicious.

The New York strip steak was executed well (it was actually rare-medium as asked), but the meat quality was just average. Not many people would go to Shenandoah to enjoy a New York steak, right?

We ordered their famous Mile-high blackberry ice-cream pie. It was huge! My hubby and I could hardly finish it. They didn’t say in the menu, but the pie had a big heap of raw egg whites – a big turn-off for us because one of us is allergic to egg whites. No, not our favorite dessert!

The next morning, we headed to the trail again. The weather was fantastics. Although we went in the supposedly-peak-season for fall color (mid October), most of the leaves had already fallen on the ground. Only a few left:

The kids were really into a competition of who would pick the most leaves and nuts:

It looked like my little girl may win:

Let’s show them some boyscout skills:

See you next year!

Staying one night at Skyline Drive Lodging
Dining at Pollock 

Some notes:

• Mid-October is a good time to go.
• Need to book at least one month in advance.
• The cabin was exceptionally clean. The heater was way too hot, and it was center-controlled.
• Food at Pollock Dining was good. It could be 30-45 minutes waiting time. Strongly recommend roasted chicken. Stay away from the blackberry icecream pie.
• We should pack our own sandwiches for the trail. Sandwiches there were average and overpriced. Service was slow too.
• Activities were designed for older kids. Even pony riding required kids to be older than 5. So, if you have smaller kids, there’s not much to do except hiking.