Saturday, April 27, 2019

Saturday Snapshot: Lake Anna State Park, Virginia

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at A Web of Stories (same host as always but with a new blog - check it out!).

It seems like a very long time ago now, with such a chaotic month full of travel, but way back in early April, we had a few days' vacation time camping in Virginia. This has become a spring tradition for us, traveling just a bit south (but still just one day's drive) to visit some Virginia state parks as soon as it warms up enough for camping. We had to cut this trip short for a family funeral, so we only visited one park, but Lake Anna was beautiful, our few days there were very relaxing, and the weather turned out pretty good, with only passing showers (mostly at night). We hiked, went kayaking, read a lot, and visited nearby Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson - a special treat for me after reading America's First Daughter last fall. I got to see everything described in the book in real life!

Here are some photo highlights:

Beautiful sunset on our first night at Lake Anna SP

ha ha Looks creepy but it was a nice, warm spring day!

Hike on Railroad Ford Trail in Lake Anna SP, VA

Tulips in bloom at Monticello

We were surprised to find loons on a Virginia lake!

My husband kayaking as the clouds begin to break up

Dock on Lake Anna, VA - sun is trying to come out!

Redbuds provided the only splash of color!

The Golden Hour

Ahhh...reading in front of the campfire - bliss!

Crescent moon at sunset (click to enlarge)

Our home away from home

Storm coming!
Sunset over and through our camper

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

7 comments:

  1. I enjoyed your beautiful photos. Lake Anna looks like a place I'd enjoy exploring. So glad you had good weather (mostly.) Looks like this was the perfect way to welcome springtime.
    Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a message.
    My post features a “crab cruise” in LaConner, Washington State, USA.

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    1. Yes, it was! Will check out your post...

      Sue

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  2. Looks lovely! Nice tradition—I’m hoping to visit Virginia next year and visit Monticello myself. I’ll have to look into First Daughter.

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    1. Wonderful! You'll love it. And definitely read the book first - it's a wonderful historical novel, fascinating and compelling, and then you'll have the fun of seeing everything described in real life!

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  3. What a beautiful trip! I love to camp, and we hope to do some now that my husband and I are retired. I have a friend that has kayaks and we do quite a bit of that in the summer. I bet you enjoyed the book-location connection very much during your visit to Monticello.

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    1. Wonderful, Deb! I hope you get to camp more now - we are hoping to do more traveling when my husband retires in a couple of years, too. Kayaking is so peaceful and soothing. Loved Monticello - we aren's usually into visiting historical sites when we travel, but the books by these two authors are so amazing, they have turned me into a history buff!

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