Running along the Blue Ridge Mountains and crossing 8 counties in the state of Virginia, Shenandoah's Skyline Drive was a splendid autumn outing, where I finally realized why the season is also called Fall (along the entire route, leaves were falling continuously. I had never lived in a place where large, deciduous trees are as abundant as they are here --and in fact everywhere east of the Mississippi River). We were fortunate, because of citizen co-staffing, to be able see the Visitor Center at Luray during the 2025 government shutdown. Thank you, real Americans!