Beyond the silver rainbow: Back to the roots

"Almost heaven, West Virginia
Blue Ridge Mountains
Shenandoah River -
Life is old there
Older than the trees
Younger than the mountains
Growin’ like a breeze

Country Roads, take me home
To the place I belong….."

Jon Denver wrote and recorded this song in 1971, just over 40 years ago. During my teens I took part in a two-week youth camp in the Alps every year. This song was always one of my favourite especially during the camp fires. Yesterday I went with my wife’s teachers group to the area described in that song. On this sunny Saturday we left at 8am from College Park to visit Luray Caverns (a limestone cavern system) in Shenandoah Valley, Virginia. For more than an hour we drove through a landscape with mountains, valleys, meadows and farms. It reminded me of areas like Allgäu and Palatinate Forest (Pfälzer Berge) in Germany.

We then enjoyed a guided tour underground and the view was breathtaking. I was so glad to bring my tripod to get some nice shots, which in my opinion are the best way to ‘write’ about these caverns. Remember you can click all the pictures to see them in full size.

The days before that I spent mostly in College Park area. Laundry, grocery shopping and some nice walks were the main activities. My wife was busy with her project, so for me it was good to stop for a while after travelling so much during the last weeks. I noticed that my limit visiting major cities was reached. My soul was - and is still - hungry for nature.

Cities, skyscrapers and museums are nice and I can certainly appreciate and value them. But fact is, they don’t really give me that much energy. When I’m in the mountains, forests or at a lake, it is completely different. The feeling inside me is much more calm and enthusiastic at the same time. I guess that is one reason why I enjoyed Central Park in NYC so much. Nature is important for me. It’s one of those places where I can create positive stress, relax, re-charge my batteries and open up my mind.