Fences and Signs, Thoroughfare Gap

Thoroughfare Gap is a pass through the Bull Run Mountains cut by Broad Run. Today I-66 and VA-55 pass through it, as well as a railroad line.

Here we see a sign posted by the Bull Run Mountain Conservancy showing area trails.

These pictures are from last summer. I've been familiar with that area since I was a child when my parents took us hiking there. Later, when I met my first husband he was working at a quarry on the mountain. He was still a teenager and had a brother-in-law who lived up there.

Railroad tracks, Thoroughfare Gap

Civil War Trails Marker

Chapman's Mill

Heart of the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap

<On August 28, 1862, during the Battle of Thoroughfare Gap, the mill changed hands three times and suffered extensive damage as Confederate forces pushed their way through the gap from the west. Skirmishers from both armies alternately gained the mills upper windows and fired on their adversaries. Confederate Gen. James Longstreet’s wing defeated Union Gen. James B. Rickett’s smaller division here. This victory enabled Longstreet’s wing to unite with that of Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson near Manassas Junction, where Gen. Robert E. Lee subsequently defeated Union Gen. John Pope in the Second Battle of Manassas.
The Beverley family restored the mill by 1878, and it remained in operation under successive owners until 1951. An arson fire in 1998 reduced it once more to ruins. Chapman’s Mill is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.>>

Windows and Arrows

In Luray, VA

Sharing with Monochrome Wednesday and B&W Wednesday

Wordless Wild Bird Wednesday

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday,
Water World Wednesday,
Wild Bird Wednesday, and 
Wednesday Waters

The Mimslyn Inn

This gracious hotel was opened by the Mims family in 1931. It sits on a hill in Luray, Virginia.

We finally got around to going there for our anniversary lunch in June. Our meals were not spectacular but mine never is. I have food allergies so my dishes are plain and stripped down.

The dining room is elegant and I was delighted to see it has murals.

Composite Selfie

Sharing with Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday,
Today's Flowers, and Through My Lens

Flowers, Barn, and Cat Day

Random-osity August 8th

The Good: Mosaic Monday is being continued by Normandy Life.  There is also a linkup just for Floral Mosaics. I have a backlog of flower pictures so today I'm taking advantage of both with this collage.

2. The Random:  I have a red barn to link to the Backroads Traveller.

The Fun: Today is International Cat Day! I don't have a cat but sometimes I see one to photograph. This one looks unimpressed, but that's cat-typical, isn't it?

Also sharing with Seasons and Camera Critters

Page UMC

This Methodist Church is in Page County, Virginia, north of Luray. It was built in 1970.

View from Gazebo, Riley Park

Woodstock, VA

Related Post: Walk in the Park

Sweet Summer CrittersI

I waited a while for the goose to pose between the benches. 

I think this is the first egret I've seen in our neighborhood.

It's Saturday and time to share some birds, plus a squirrel and llama. I took all of these in my neighborhood except for the llama.

We live next to a lake so we get to see water-loving birds. The most common are geese and ducks of various varieties, and sometimes a heron appears briefly. I was delighted to see the egret! I've seen plenty of them on Assateague Island but not here in the Shenandoah Valley. Such graceful birds!

Young llama at a local festival

Ducks visiting our yard

American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

Friday Five from Skyline Drive

Willy Nilly Friday: Update from Dickey Ridge

1. You'll find many pictures of Dickey Ridge on this blog. It's the first visitor center that we come to when we enter Shenandoah National Park at the Front Royal entrance, so it's less than a half hour from home. I've stopped there many times and have gone hiking there more than once.

So imagine my shock to read of a bear killing a hiker's dog there! This happened on Wednesday. The hiker and another dog escaped.



2. The incident happened on the Snead Farm Fire Road, which is closed to traffic but is popular as a walking trail. It's a short hike and fairly easy.  This picture of me on the trail is from a year or two ago. Note the hiking stick; it's a good idea to carry one. Not long ago another hiker fended off a bear with a hiking stick! But don't panic; black bears rarely attack humans. Dogs, however, will attack bears, so rangers advise keeping your dog on a short leash if you walk with him in bear country.

3.  Usually I see deer at Dickey Ridge, like this one that we saw from the Snead Farm Trail. She is wearing a radio collar because researchers are tracking the habits of deer in hopes of avoiding an epidemic when chronic wasting disease reaches Virginia.

3. I've visited Dickey Ridge all my life, and felt like it was a very safe place to walk because of the proximity to the visitor center, which has a nature exhibit and book store.

This boy has a bright orange shirt.

5. I've even walked Flash at Dickey Ridge but now I'm rethinking that idea. Often I carry an air horn to scare away bears, but most black bear attacks involve dogs. Our eastern bears are generally shy of people, although lately they have been wandering into towns in search of food. I saw a small bear in our neighborhood the other day in the middle of the afternoon!

• Becoming Bear Aware, Strasburg Police Dept.
• Enjoying Bears Safely, Shenandoah NP

Some Signs and Fences

Linden, Virginia 

Rose River, VA

Yes, I blurred that license number. I was shooting their family picture. But wait, there's more! Under the tag is a bumper sticker. Let me zoom in on it. 

Randolph Macon Academy, Front Royal

Three Strasburg Scenes

Strasburg's Elusive Skyline

It's Theme Day for City Daily Photo and this month's theme is "My City's Skyline." 

This was a tough theme for me. I live close to two large towns and neither of them have a skyline that is easy to view because of trees and hills. Here I'm looking at Strasburg, Virginia, since that's where my mailing address is, although I actually reside in a different county.

The twilight view of Strasburg's water tower is one that I've shown three times on this blog, but the only thing it tells you about the town is that we have a water tower and we're near the mountains. You can see this view from the Food Lion parking lot on Hupp's Hill.

If you look back at the town from one of the hills across Cedar Creek, you see the outskirts of town that stretch out toward the interstate highway. 

The best views I've found that are reachable by car are on the hill at Stoney Pointe.  However, you can't see the historic center of town because it is obscured by trees. 

A factory is on the left. Near the center is the water tower.

Looking north from Daniel Court at Stoney Pointe you see houses.

I also drove up by the water tower and looked back toward Stoney Pointe. The historic district is below us but it's behind the trees. The hill that I'm standing on here was the location of General Banks' fort during the Civil War. To the right we see the end of the Massanutten Range.

When you drive through Strasburg, it appears to be a quaint little town, but from the hills you see it is spread out and there are many houses. The 2010 population was around 6,400. 

August Rustic

Blog Post 5660: Welcome to August!

Summer is passing quickly. Today we picked up our order of iris plants near Middletown. I drove a little farther down Chapel Road and saw this barn. Wow, two barn quilts! And so large! I'm calling these murals because they cover the entire front wall except for the door.

I started to give that barn the entire post, but then I thought I should show you one more rural beauty.

The John Deere tractor is treasured by many farmers. I don't know how old this one is but it looks like it's seen good use. The Deere company has been around since 1804!