Okay, so we experienced Northern Virginia thousands of times when we lived in Maryland. We didn’t let that stop us from coming back once more to take up residence in front of our pals’ (Geoff, Victoria and Bubbles) Alexandria home for a couple of days. We did fun things like eat delicious rock soup, watch cultish funny movies and help celebrate Victoria’s birthday. They couldn’t eat the whole cake themselves, after all. Their cat Bubbles didn’t share the joyful sentiment once she found out she was giving up her yard to our boys, though. Regrettably, our happy visit went so quickly that we were left scratching our heads saying “Wha’ Happened?” as we drove away.

From there we set out to Natural Chimneys to camp. It’s both the name of the park and the name for these rock tower things. They look like a series of fat smokestacks sitting in the middle of a flat clearing. They formed naturally from millions of years of sediment and then were pushed up to the surface. While we were there, big stones and little stoners coincided during Spaghetti Fest. This Fest had nothing to do with pasta but everything to do with live bands playing Phish-inspired music on a neat little stage, right next to the chimneys. And a Domino’s Pizza tent. I suppose pizza makes for better munchies than marinara.

The Natural Bridge, one of the seven natural wonders of the world, is in the rough vicinity of the campground too. It’s an archway that towers more than 200 feet above a small river below. From afar it’s completely hidden from view by trees, so to see it you have to pay to get to the paved (huh?!) river area below it. Turned off by the high prices and tourist trap feel of the place, we didn’t partake. Instead, we tried to steal a look from atop the arch itself, only to find they put up stockade fencing and billboards to block the view. Hindered but not halted, I snuck through an opening in the fence and got myself a real up-close gander. Ha, ha, suckers.