While a significant portion of the local population probably headed east to the ocean beaches, we took a 30-hour overnight escape by car west to the Enchanted River Meadow Cottage at Great Cacapon near Berkeley Springs, WV.

The cottage (2) was in the picaresque and smoky valley adjacent to the Cacapon River (4). There wasn't a lot to explore on foot as our valley was chopped up into private properties bounded by sheer sandstone outcroppings and pretty dense forest. At the end of our dirt road, there was a scenic access to the river. Cianna also had a great time squawking at the geese along the pond (1 & 3) by the cottage.

The highlight of the trip for me was going out on the porch at 11pm after lights out to see the valley bathed in astronomical twilight and sparkling with thousands of blinking fireflies at rest in the trees. I need to figure out how to capture that on film one day.

On our way out today, we stopped for lunch at the historic Berkeley Springs Inn & Spa (5 - 7).

- mike lee - note to self: remember to keep camera equipment stored somewhere at closer to ambient outside temperature. my nikon d70 completely fogged up when i took it out from the air conditioned cabin into the humid 90+ degree air.