Time Traveling Through Shenandoah National Park

by Jeff Alt

  Mom, affectionately known as Petunia, said what we all were thinking: “Bubba Jones, take us back to the present!”

  This was a very wild place and time in human history. Who knew what would happen next?! When Papa Lewis handed over the time travel skill to me, he gave me the family journal, an old leather-bound book, that has family recordings dating back to the Revolutionary War. Not only is the journal filled with our family history, it is also the source of my time travel ability— I have to have the journal with me to time travel. There are other rules as well: We can only visit the past, not the future. Anyone can time travel with me as long as they are within ten feet of me at the moment of departure. And we need to be near the location to which we want to time travel.

  Everyone eagerly waited as I said, “Take us back to the present.”

  I felt a gust of warm air and seconds later we were back in the Jeep, buckled in and bouncing along the road. The animal skins were gone, replaced by our T-shirts and shorts. I never thought I would enjoy being in the back seat of a car after such a long drive, but now I sure was! We all were! Papa Lewis was driving and following a line of cars, trucks, RVs, motorcycles, and bicycles on a two-lane road. A sign on the side of the road read “Shenandoah National Park” with an arrow pointing north and “Blue Ridge Parkway” with an arrow pointing south. The road we were on ran along on the top of a mountain ridge. We could see farm fields and a forested valley below. The line of traffic snaked northward around a bend and disappeared from view into the park.

  “Now this looks like the entrance to Shenandoah National Park that Papa Lewis told us about,” Hug-a-Bug said with a smile.

  “That’s right, Hug-a-Bug. We’re at the southern tip of Shenandoah National Park, a junction where the Blue Ridge Parkway connects to Skyline Drive. As soon as we clear the Rockfish Gap entrance station, we will officially be in the park,” Papa Lewis replied cheerfully. He added, “Rockfish Gap is rich with history. This gap is one of only a few low-lying gaps in Shenandoah National Park region, making it one of the easier places to cross over the mountains if you’re traveling east or west. Herds of buffalo have passed through here, Indians, settlers, armies, and as you’ve witnessed, woolly mammoths. Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States and the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, held a meeting right here in 1818 to decide where to build the University of Virginia.”

  “Bubba Jones, if you had given me a choice between dodging spears and almost being stepped on by a prehistoric elephant or meeting President Thomas Jefferson, I would’ve picked meeting the president hands down. Just saying,” Hug-a-Bug stated.

  “But Hug-a-Bug, how many people do you know that have come face-to-face with a woolly mammoth and prehistoric nomadic Indians?” I replied.

  “We’ve certainly had quite a taste of adventure, and our Shenandoah expedition has only just begun!” Papa Lewis stated matter-of-factly.

  “Yep, but how about that meeting with Thomas Jefferson? We’re right here. If we don’t go back and meet him, that would be like letting your favorite ice cream melt instead of eating it,” Hug-a-Bug insisted.

  “You got it, Hug-a-Bug. No one wants to waste good ice cream!” I responded with a grin. We all laughed.

  “Bubba Jones, take us back to August 4, 1818,” Papa Lewis suggested.

  I placed my hand on the family journal and repeated the exact date Papa Lewis had said. A gust of wind smacked us and a few seconds later our seat belts vanished along with the Jeep. We now sat in an open-top horse-drawn carriage. Hug-a-Bug, Grandma, and Mom wore long dresses down to their ankles and veils on their heads, adorned with fresh flowers. Papa Lewis, Dad, and I all had on skin-tight breeches, tall boots, overcoats cropped at the waist but with long tails in the back, and top hats. Our shirts had ruffles spilling down the front. It was a hot summer day, and these clothes seemed a little much for the weather. We were parked in front of a log building. A sign hung from the porch that read “Mountain Top Tavern.” At least thirty horses and carriages were parked all around the tavern, with the horses’ reins tied to posts.

  Hug-a-Bug sat directly across from me in the carriage. She held an open umbrella over her head.

  “Hug-a-Bug, do you know that you have an umbrella and it’s not raining?” I asked with a laugh.

  Before Hug-a-Bug had a chance to answer, Papa Lewis responded, “Bubba Jones, in this time period, that kind of umbrella was called a parasol. Ladies used it to shade their face from the sun. But back to the business at hand. Right now, there are three former presidents and twenty-four delegates meeting inside that tavern,” Papa Lewis said, pointing to the log building in front of us.

  “They are meeting to decide where to build the University of Virginia. Let’s go in and join them,” Papa Lewis suggested.

  He hopped down from the driver’s seat of the carriage and wrapped the horse’s reins around a post in the yard. We all stepped down from the carriage and followed Papa Lewis towards the tavern porch. Before we reached the steps, the front door swung open and men began exiting the building, spilling onto the porch. They were all wearing the same type of clothing as us. As the men filed out, they shook hands, patted each other on the back and dispersed toward their respective horses and carriages. Three men remained on the porch talking.

  “That’s President Jefferson and he’s talking to two other former presidents, James Madison and James Monroe,” Papa Lewis whispered as we ascended the porch steps.

  Hug-a-Bug walked over to Thomas Jefferson and stood next to him. The rest of us stood nearby on the porch. Hug-a-Bug had a smile from ear to ear. She just stood there and gazed in awe at President Jefferson. I pulled a nickel out of my pocket and compared Jefferson’s image on the coin to the actual man. Pretty close, I thought. President Jefferson shook hands with James Madison and James Monroe, bringing a close to their conversation. Mr. Madison and Mr. Monroe stepped off the porch and climbed up into their respective horse-drawn carriages and drove off down a narrow lane. My sister’s presence had piqued Mr. Jefferson’s curiosity.

  “Who might you be, young lady?” President Jefferson asked, looking down at Hug-a-Bug.

  “I’m Hug-a-Bug, Mr. President, and I wanted to meet you,” Hug-a-Bug said.

  “Well it’s nice to meet you, Hug-a-Bug. What an interesting name you have. You traveled all the way up here just to meet me?” Mr. Jefferson asked.

  “Well, not quite. My family and I are going to explore the area, and I heard you were up here on the mountain for a meeting,” Hug-a-Bug explained. (She was careful not to use the word “Shenandoah” because the park hadn’t been created and named yet).

  “I’m impressed that you’re interested in exploring the wilderness. What a great way to discover the world around you! I’m a big supporter of exploration. I dispatched Lewis and Clark on the Corps of Discovery to explore the western wilderness while I was president.

  “It sure feels good to be outside in this fresh air. We sat in that tavern all day to decide where to build the University of Virginia. I’m pleased to say that we agreed to make Charlottesville, Virginia, my home town, the location. Those who study there will have a beautiful view of the mountains you’re about to explore. Nice to meet you, Hug-a-Bug,” former President Jefferson said, taking her hand in both of his and bowing slightly. Then he turned and stepped off the porch, climbed into his carriage, and drove off down a narrow dirt road. Hug-a-Bug stood there smiling and speechless, and watched President Jefferson until his horse and buggy became a mere speck in the distance with nothing but a swirl of road dust left behind.

  “Let’s get on with our Shenandoah adventure,” Papa Lewis suggested as he stepped off the porch and walked back towards our carriage.

  We all followed him and climbed back into our carriage seats. I placed my hand on the family journal tucked into my pocket and said, “Take us back to the present.”

  A gust of hot air blasted us. The carriage jolted up and down. Seconds later, we were all seated back in
our Jeep moving in a line of traffic towards the park entrance. It was nice to wear shorts and a T-shirt again.

  “That was awesome! I got to meet President Jefferson— the author of the Declaration of Independence! There sure are a lot of famous people that visited Rockfish Gap,” Hug-a-Bug said

  “Back then, most people lived in Virginia and the other colonial states along the east coast. It wasn’t until after the Lewis and Clark expedition that people began to move west,” Papa Lewis explained.

  “So this was where all the action happened?” I asked.

  “You could say that.”

  I could feel the energy and excitement in the air, knowing we were about to enter Shenandoah National Park. We had already had quite an adventure right here at the Rockfish Gap entrance, and it fueled our excitement as to what we would discover inside the park itself. Papa Lewis had shared so many tales from his own Shenandoah exploits, we couldn’t wait to finally experience the park with him!

  We’re actually a year ahead of our originally planned Shenandoah National Park adventure. Something happened that abruptly changed our plans. You see, not only did Hug-a-Bug and I inherit Papa Lewis’ time traveling skills; we also took over an unsolved mystery, and we had discovered a clue that led us to Shenandoah National Park. So here we are, a year ahead of schedule and on the trail of a clue.

  CHAPTER 3

  SECRET IN THE MAIL

  Sandwiched between the pages of the family journal that Papa Lewis had passed along to me was an old, tattered half-sheet of paper with some sort of code written on it. Papa Lewis had never figured out what it meant. The paper was torn almost exactly in half, so we figured that the other half of the page had the rest of the coded message. On our first adventure, in the Smokies, we found Papa Lewis’ long-lost cousin Wild Bill in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Wild Bill and Papa Lewis had inherited their time-traveling ability from their grandfather while on a camping trip together forty years ago, and Wild Bill had the missing half of the paper all this time. Wild Bill gave us his half, and he turned over his time-traveling skills to our cousin Crockett. Together, we had all worked to try to crack the code.

  We had some success, but it wasn’t enough to decode the message. On the last day of our Great Smoky Mountain adventure, we had figured out a key phrase to use with the code: “Great National Parks.” But it wasn’t enough; something was missing. Crockett, Hug-a-Bug, and I had sat around our campsite picnic table for hours, but we couldn’t make sense of the code. We had the two halves of paper back together. The paper was filled with a line grid of columns and rows with a letter in each box. The entire alphabet was printed across the top row of the grid, with one letter for each column. The entire alphabet was also listed again down the left column, with a letter for each row. Finally, we had put the code aside. Mom had suggested that we take a break and join everyone around the campfire for a last night of family time.

  We had all cozied into our camp chairs around the fire and set up our famous s’more assembly line. Crocket and I roasted marshmallows on sticks, and Hug-a-Bug lined up graham crackers and chocolate squares up on the edge of the picnic table. In no time, we had s’mores for everyone. We all sat staring into the fire and enjoying each other’s company. The next morning, everyone would go their separate ways. Aunt Walks-a-Lot, Uncle Boone, and our cousin Crocket would head back to Georgia. Wild Bill would remain in the Smokies, and we would head back to Ohio.

  While we sat around the fire and talked about our adventures, Wild Bill quietly sorted through a stack of mail piled on his lap. Having been in the mountains for a while, he found his mail had piled up in his absence. Earlier in the day, he had slipped into town and retrieved it from a friend who holds his mail for him while he explores. A beam of light from the headlamp strapped to his head shone down onto his mail. Wild Bill held up an unopened envelope and said, “This is odd. I believe this letter is for Bubba Jones, Hug-a-Bug, and Crockett.”

  “Why would someone send you our mail?” I asked.

  “We’re kids; we don’t get mail,” Hug-a-Bug added.

  I stood up and walked over to Wild Bill. He handed me a standard letter-size envelope. The last line of the address read “Attn: Keepers of our Family Heritage.” The letter didn’t have a return address, but it had a postmark from Washington D.C. I walked back over to my chair, sat down, turned on my headlamp, and tore open the envelope. Crockett and Hug-a-Bug crowded around me and looked over my shoulder as the light of my headlamp fell on the note. We all read the letter silently.

  Dear Time Traveling Kin,

  I expect that by now you have both pieces of the cipher, and you’ve figured out the passcode that starts with the word “great.” The message requires a second code to decipher. Here it is: (LQ&MHDCVST). Use the “great” code for the alphabet across the top. Use this second code for the alphabet column that runs down the left side. Find each intersecting letter on the sheet and this will give you the location of the next national park to explore. Go there and I will meet up with you. I will see you there. Happy adventures!

  “Finally, a breakthrough! We got a letter from a relative who knows all about the code we’re trying to crack, and they gave us instructions on how to decipher the message,” I exclaimed.

  “Can I see the letter?” Papa Lewis asked.

  I handed it over. He looked at it for a minute and then responded, “Remarkable! Of course! I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before! This coded message is a replica of the cipher system that Lewis and Clark used with President Jefferson during their Corps of Discovery Expedition. Only difference being Lewis and Clark used Artichoke as their passcode for the alphabet column across the top of the code sheet. They used a second set of nonsense letters for the row of alphabet along the left side of the code sheet. Then they would simply follow the row each nonsense letter, in order, across the grid and match it with each letter from the passcode column down from the top. The letter in the grid box will spell out your secret message. This is as simple as matching up rows and columns,” Papa Lewis explained.

  Pass Code: G R E A T N A T I O

  (column across the top of grid)

  Coded Message: L Q & M H & C V S T

  (row down the left side of grid)

  Crocket, Hug-a-Bug, and I walked away from the fire over to the picnic table and sat down to try to crack the code again. While we worked at deciphering the message, Papa Lewis took out an Irish flute. He held it to his mouth just like Hug-a-Bug holds her clarinet. We had never seen nor heard Papa Lewis play this instrument. But that’s the way Papa Lewis is—full of mystery and surprises. He began to play a soothing melody as we continued to decipher the code. We had already deciphered the first four letters of a word, “S-H-E-N” when Wild Bill began to sing along with Papa Lewis’ flute.

  “O Shenandoah, I long to hear you.

  Away, you rolling river

  O Shenandoah, I long to hear you.

  Away, I’m bound across the wide Missouri...”

  Hug-a-Bug, Crocket, and I looked at each other as we heard the lyrics.

  “Did you hear what I heard?? In the first verse Wild Bill sang ’Oh Shenandoah.’ Shenandoah is the name of a national park,” I stated.

  That’s weird, I thought. We finished decoding the rest of the message and it read /S-H-E-N-A-N-D-O-A-H/, the song Papa Lewis and Wild Bill were singing.

  Pass Code: G R E A T N A T I O

  (column across the top of grid)

  Cipher Message: L Q & M H & C V S T

  (row down the left side of grid)

  Deciphered Message: S H E N A N D O A H

  (Letters in each box found by crossing the rows and columns of the two codes above)

  “‘Shenandoah’ is the deciphered message. The letter said to immediately go to the next park in the secret message. The mystery is solved! We need to go to Shenandoah!” I shouted excitedly.

  Hug-a-Bug, Crocket, and I grabbed the coded message and marched back over to the fire. We felt that
this was important enough to interrupt Papa Lewis and Wild Bill mid-song. “That’s it!” I shouted, “The secret message is ’Shenandoah.’ We need to go there now!” I thrust our decoded message at Papa.

  “Well look at that,” he said, holding his flute in one hand and the decoded letter in the other.

  “Our grandpa sang ’Oh Shenandoah’ to Wild Bill and me forty years ago when he turned over the time-traveling skills to us. We were just going down memory lane by singing ’Oh Shenandoah.’ What a coincidence,” Papa Lewis said.

  Our campfire conversation changed that instant from talking about the adventure we just had in the Smokies to the next one awaiting us in Shenandoah.

  “We have all the gear already packed. Instead of going home, we could head to Shenandoah. All we need is food and provisions that we can pick up on the way,” Dad said.

  “Clark, I like how you think. Is everyone else up for another adventure?” Papa Lewis asked.

  Mom smiled and said, “Let’s do it.”

  Grandma smiled, hugged Mom and said, “A family that goes on an adventure together learns and has fun.”

  Boone and Aunt-Walks-a-Lot already had work commitments back home, so they wouldn’t be able to go with us. Crockett was disappointed because he really wanted to come. He was just as focused on solving our family mystery as we were. So, it was decided that he and my aunt and uncle might meet up with us later in Shenandoah. Wild Bill had some unfinished business in the Smokies that would keep him from coming along, but he said he could join us later if we needed him. He gave Papa Lewis his contact information.

  The next morning we broke camp and said our goodbyes. Everyone pitched in and within an hour we had the dining canopy, tents, and all our gear strapped to the top of our Jeep. Then we had a long round of goodbyes, hugging and kissing, and promising to keep in touch.