Gooney Creek, Front Royal, VA & Shenandoah National Park (May 22, 23, 2023)

​​I left home 7am Monday May 22nd for the adventure of a lifetime.  The first leg was to Berkley Springs, WV to meet up with another Vistabule Enthusiast, Dawn.  She is due to receive her Vistabule in November and was interested in the split bed, kitchen, and general management of the Vistabule.  I am looking forward to camping with her in the future. 
Then it was on to Gooney Creek Campground just outside Front Royal, VA.  Gooney Creek was in a flood plain next to a creek that during storms was bound to flood.  So glad it was wonderful weather for my visit.  After setting up, I set out to the Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport before heading to visit friends for the evening.  The Air and Space Museum was huge.  There were planes from every era, and the Discovery space shuttle in the building.  It is an awe-inspiring sight.  I spent the rest of the night visiting with friends over dinner. 
The next day was hiking the Compton Falls Trail in Shenandoah Nation Park before going to the visitor center and attending a ranger talk on black bears. Shenandoah National Park’s scenic drive is the Skyline drive 105 miles long along the Blue Ridge Mountains.  At the southern end it connects with the Blue Ridge Parkway which is 469 miles and connects with the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  I explored a very small portion of Shenandoah National Park on this trip. 
In the afternoon I took the self-guided walking tour of Front Royal, VA.  The town is steeped in civil war history.  In May 1862 “Stonewall” Jackson led his 13,000-man Confederate Army up the Page Valley, routing Col. Kenly, commanding the federal garrison at Front Royal, and completely surprising General banks, headquartered to the west in Strasburg. 
I had lunch in the town square and met the “Geritol crowd”, the local busybody boys club that meets every day in the town square.  They were hilarious and curious.  It was the first of many times I got the “Wow, your traveling alone?!” I spent the rest of the evening in Gooney Creek Campground and met a woman preparing to hike a leg of the Appalachian trail the next day.  Her husband was her support team.