Cascade Falls & Frontier Culture Museum

Once again, the Oates family is on the move. Now don't get too excited...we're still in Virginia. Now that the weather is warm and the trees are flowering and leafing out, so are we.
While Bryce was busy this week working, the boys and I explored more of the Blacksburg, VA area. I will once again give you a daily breakdown as this is easier for me.

Tuesday
Enjoyed some storytime with Miss Ruth at the library followed by a picnic lunch with our new friends Jack and Margaret, then some exploring on the Huckleberry trail that runs from Blacksburg to Christiansburg. A perfect warm day to spend running around the trail fending off oncoming bike traffic and pretend witches with sticks. Oh how folks on bikes love to see children running with sticks on "their" bike trail. Sorry folks.

Wednesday
What a busy day. Henry was the obstacle course king at his homeschool gymnastics class, which put him in a fine mood for the remainder of the day. We hit the Subway (thank you Aunt Pam!) and took a picnic out to the Pandapas Pond and trails for an evening meal. It might have been peaceful, had it not been for the dozen or so Canadian geese surrounding us hissing demands for veggie subs and popcorn. Wynne stood up to talk sense into them, finding only that they didn't speak english, were the same size as he was, and that it made it easier for them to nab his sammy. We finished up quickly, and walked the trail around the pond, enjoying the nature guideposts along the path. We finished up here, headed back to the car (where some crazy redneck was waving a pistol around in the parking lot. wow! the nice weather really brings the best out in folks!) It was onto poetry night at the Library, where we wrote Acrostic Poems, while Wynne entertained all the kids by telling them he was "made of fire and was going to invent a racecar that could drive through fire and blast off into space." That Wynne, he just has no imagination. Henry illustrated a poem with a painting and a drawing and had a great time chatting it up with the librarians,'telling them to visit Monticello sometime because "yeah, its a really cool place and a president lived there once too." He also added, mater-of-factly that the drive is "not too bad either." I think perhaps we've been doing a bit too much lately.

Thursday
Check out the tiny video posted of Henry & Wynne's gymnastics and that will give you a vision on thursday. It was practice for future stunt man auditions...all day. We did manage to sneak in a visit to the lovely Virginia Tech Gardens where we found bluebells, redbuds, magnolias, tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, dogwood and a few cherry blossoms all bursting with color.

Friday
Bryce joined us this afternoon - Hooray!! Hiking up to Cascade Falls (just outside of Blacksburg, VA). A perfect day for it. Lots of granite stones and boulders to climb on, amazing rushing clear water, lots of interesting waterfalls and the grand prize - Cascade Falls. A 65 foot cascading waterfall to behold at the end of your 2 mile, uphill hike. We did stop to explore the stream quite a bit on the way up. At one point Henry decided to forge a new trail across the stream on a fallen log (um...I might mention here that the log was nearly 8 ft. above the very fast moving water) to what he called "a really interesting rock, mom." He luckily made it back to us alive, with one foot wetter, as I continued to breathe deeply into a paper bag. It should be noted that I am NOT a nervous nellie type, but seeing your son just balance beam walk across a HUGE fallen log over moving water as if he is Indiana Jones is a bit terrifying for the onlooking mother. The trail back down from the falls was not as enjoyable as the boys used their energies to get to the falls, making the trip back nothing new and interesting. Right around the 3.25 mile mark a whining party commenced, scattering wildlife far and wide. While we all did complete the 4 mile loop, there were few smiles from mile 3.5 to 4.
Found some good grub on the way back home and were all the better for it.

Saturday
A day of history and culture. Out of the house early, we headed for Staunton, and the Frontier Culture Museum. This is a mostly outdoor museum consisting of several "homesteads" from a West African village in the 1700s (the slaves origins), an English homestead from 1600s with a milk cow, geese, sheep, chickens and the house and barns, an Irish Homestead with house, pens, stone fences, pigs, etc, a German Homestead with house, barn, garden, animals, well, etc and two homesteads "Appalachian style" one circa 1840 and one 1880. This place was very interesting and fun to walk around. This was a great way for all of us to learn about the various cultures based on their types of homes, gardens, animals and architectural patterns. Also, the German, Irish and English buildings were all authentic and brought from their respective countries and reconstructed on site. A blacksmith was working along with other guides in homes making cheese, buckets, and playing old time fiddle music. It was an educational and fun day in the sun. Again, the loop around the villages was a bit over 3 miles and yes, you guessed it, the walk back to the visitors center was slow and staggering. A popsicle at the finish improved moods greatly.
We drove into the town of Staunton (a town of nearly 350 years) and enjoyed the downtown scene, checking out the Cranberry Grocery & Cafe for some wraps and salads, then found some great gelato and sorbet at the Split Banana. All of these fun activities left us hoping for a slow and quiet Sunday. We wish you all the same.