At LAX waiting to board the flight to Virginia. Flying to Virginia to visit Thao, a friend that I haven't seen for almost two years.

Airborne for the five hour flight.

View of Palos Verdes as we turn towards the east.

Flying by Long Beach, I could see the Queen Mary down there.

We were flying over farms for a long time.

Great looking cloulds as we starte the descend to Virgnia.

About to land on our shadow.

The main terminal and tower at Dulles Airport.

Dulles Airport uses these vehicles to shuttle folks between terminals.

Driving to Shenandoah Nat'l Park. Thao picked me up the next morning and we headed to Shenandoah Nat'l Park. We had a cabin there for the night and plan to get a hike in.

Thao on the drive to Shenandoah.

At the Thornton Gap Entrance Station to Shenandoah Nat'l Park.

On Skyline Dr on the way to Skyland.

Driving through the tunnel.

Stopped just past the tunnel to check out the view.

We got stuck behind the Odyssey bus for a while. Later we saw this bus stuck on the side of the road.

After checking out the cabin at Skyland, we headed out to do a hike.

On the Overall Run Trail that leads to the Big Falls, at 93' is the highest falls in the park. The trail was thick with trees. so there wasn't much of a view.

There wasn't many flowers around, but there was a lot of different types of fungus.

This stuff was bright.

A closer look.

Red mushroom. There were a lot of mushrooms on this hike.

All the great looking fungus made up for the lack of view on this trail.

Tiny mushrooms.

This fall is only about 30' high, so we knew the Big Falls had to be further on.

We took a short break here, before hiking on.

About half mile further down the trail, we came upon the Big Falls.

Looking down the valley. Fall colors were just starting to appear.

Thao and I above the Big Falls before starting the hike out.

Found this walking stick on the way out.

It's easier to see on my hand.

Last fungus shot.

Dayglow caterpillar.

The next morning was foggy at Skyland.

The morning view from Skyline Drive on the way to the Metro Station. We plan to take the Metro to Washington DC so I can have a quick look around before I have to fly home later in the day

At the DC Metro station. We only had a few hours to look around before I needed to start heading for the airport.

One of the first things we saw was the Smithsonian. Like to come back and spend a week checking out all the different museums in the area.

Thao with the Washington Monument.

At the White House.

A closer view of the White House. There is a guard on the left side of the roof.

Don't know which building this is, but sure looks nice.

Another view of the Washington Monument as we make our way to the Lincoln Memorial.

Lincoln Memorial

Great looking building, wish we had more time to look around.

Lot of folks hanging out here.

Abe was there.

The view from the top of the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial.

Thao checking the map for the nearest Metro station. Running short on time and we wanted to have lunch before heading to the airport.