My wife and I went camping over the Memorial Day weekend. We went to the George Washington National Forest. We stay at the Jellystone Park at Natural Bridge, VA. We went with some friends of ours from church.
While we were down there I got the chance to go to the National D-Day Memorial. Barb, my wife, and I drove to Bedford, VA, where the memorial is located along the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you have never driven along this road, I highly recommend it. It is a fantastic driven with plenty of places to stop and enjoy the natural surroundings of three national forests. It definitely stretches out your drive time (speeds around 45mph with lots of twists and turns; probably not for those who are prone to car sickness), especially compared to I-81 which the parkway parallels.
At any rate, the drive and the memorial were well worth it. The "Landing" portion of the D-Day memorial is particularly poignant. The statues and the sounds with the water (blowers in the water make splashes and sounds that simulate the zip of bullets and the popping of mortar rounds) provide a great effect. Besides those sounds, the park was quiet even though there were hundreds of people present. I guess the approach of the 60th anniversary caused people to pause and take account of what it was the American, British, French and Canadian soldiers accomplished that day.
All in all it was a great trip. This was the first time I had been camping in years, since middle school probably, half a lifetime for me. I would like to make camping a regular event again but for now, it is back to work.