* Monday night: Reception
Welcome reception at the historical Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg. We will have our dinner on the shelter, with appetizers and soft drinks. Come to participate to our mini-lottery as well and get your VT crafted gift. From 6:30 PM to 9 PM.
20 minutes walk from the conference venue; across the duck pond, or 5 minutes drive (parking available).
* Wednesday Afternoon: social activities
We will have a quick box lunch after the round table, and head out for excursion. Choose you favorite one on this list:
- Group 1: Moderate difficulty hike: Hay Rock in Daleville (near Roanoke). Some climb for ~1.5 hours, then a nice view over the valley. Keep walking along the rim (~1 hour), you will first have wonderful views of the Carvin Cove reservoir. Then you will find a giant rock formation, which you can climb to admire even better views. Very popular trail among locals, part of the Appalachian trail system, but not well known by tourists. The trail will provide you with a taste of the AT, mountain hiking, but is not over crowded and it starts from the city. Park at the Exxon Park and Ride on 220, exit I81. Rocommended: hiking shoes or good snickers (rocks), hiking poles if needed, backpack (you can borrow one), at least 1L of water (1.5 due to the sun), first aid kit. Most snakes are non venimous and wild life encounters are rare due to the traffic on the trail.
-Group 2: Winery tour. We will drink local wine at the Beliveau farm and winery. It has wonderful views on the New River Valley and the Blue Ridge. We will go via a mountainous road crossing into rural Blacksburg. Then, we will drive towards Roanoke and cross some of the most well known part of the Appalachian Trail (McAfee knob...) near Cattawba. We will go by car on top of the Mill Mountain (also accessible via several trails), to enjoy the view of Roanoke and the valley from the well known Star, also visible from everywhere in the city. Near the Star, there is a Zoo and a botanical garden, as well as several trails, from very easy to moderate. The road to access Mill Mountain fork towards the Blue Ridge Parkway.
- [cancelled] Easy flat hike on the historical Huckleberry trail. Bicycle is also possible (rental available in Blacksburg). Distance: up to participants. The total trail is 13 miles/20 km, one way: possibility to turn back at any time. Trails starts at the Blacksburg library. Alternative: do the part of the trail in the old mines, in Christiansburg.
- [changed to group 2] Mini-Roadtrip on the BlueRidge. We will drive the rim of the Appalachian Mountains and stop at some of the multiple viewpoints. Depending on the interest of participants, we will have opportunities to either get short walks near viewpoints, or head towards a local winery for a wine testing. Group size is limited to 12 person max.
At the end of the day, we will meet for a BBQ at the Duck Pound in Blacksburg (park across from the physics department). BBQ starts at 8 PM.
See suggestions for activities near Blacksburg (hiking, theater, museum, golf, summer events...) if you prefer to skip the social event and stay in Blacksburg.
* Thursday night: workshop dinner
Our workshop dinner will take place in Roanoke, in the Virginia Museum of Transportation Before dinner, we will have an opportunity to visit the 3 main exhibitions: trains, cars, airplanes. The visit starts at 6 PM, food and drinks will be offered starting 7 PM. We will provide transportation. We are leaving from Blacksburg at 5 PM (just after the last round table), and coming back around 10 PM.
picture: above: view from Mill Mountain, Roanoke. Bottom: view to the Appalachians from one of the local winery near Roanoke
