Biking the Virginia Creeper Trail

For my birthday this year, I asked for a family weekend in Damascus, Virginia to bike on the Virginia Creeper Trail. The original plan was to have a shuttle service drive us to the top of the trail at Whitetop Station and then cruise the 17 miles downhill into town. I thought we'd pack a picnic, stop along the way to let Ford out of the bike trailer to run around....and then the forecast called for an 80% chance of rain all day on Saturday.

It looked threatening when we woke up at 7:00 and by the time I walked over to the bike shop to cancel our spot on the shuttle, it was already beginning to drizzle. Determined to get at least a little ride in, we still rented a Burley trailer from the bike shop, loaded up our rain gear and snacks, and headed out of town, going up the trail instead. A few miles out, Ford said "I geeet out!" and so we stopped for snacks...in the rain. Determined to bike for at least an hour, we pressed on, but another 10 minutes down the trail, "I geet out! Geet owwwt!"

So we biked for a whopping hour as a family, got thoroughly soaked, and ended up back in our cottage by 11:00 AM, breaking all the rules by letting Ford watch a movie on the DVD player. Yeah!

Ford read himself some books too. 

Sunday (of course) dawned mostly clear and turned into an absolutely beautiful day for our drive home. Ford had fun on his balance bike before we hit the road, though.

Damascus was every bit the cute little trail town we'd heard so much about, and a very family-friendly place to visit. The restaurant scene was ok--we'd probably plan on breakfasts and dinners cooked in the rental cottage next time when Ford is big enough to ride on a trailer bike like this one.

And I think we're finished with ambitious weekend family trips for awhile!