Shenandoah in the Fall

We were repeatedly encouraged to go see Shenandoah in the fall, to admire the Autumn colours. We weren't going to, but then we sort of did. It turned into a little mid-week getaway, in order to get accommodation for the whole family, and it turned out that the two days and one night that we were there it was raining, but we figured it would be ok.
Turns out, raining meant torrential down pours. Timely reminder that I have been meaning to get a new rain jacket since probably just after my first child was born, also, that the same first child used to have a rain coat, but he has grown out of it this year, and the baby now claims that raincoat as his own...So we bought the only XS rain jacket in the shop on the way to the mountains, which turned out to be the best $30 we ever spent.
We made sure we wouldn't die wondering by going on a morning walk around Big Meadows Lodge for a couple of hours, long enough for me to get almost completely wet and the baby to get cold. The other members of the family escaped with wet patches (hubby even had dry feet!). Back to our room in time to change and check out, lunch of hot chips and other comfort food at a Wayside, then home.
We agreed we had fun, but would have preferred it not to be pouring most of the time. We agreed we'd have to try again next year, and that even though this years colours seemed almost over, they were pretty spectacular.