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Published: November 15th 2008
Driving, driving and more driving. Its been a long day on the road with not much to look forward to except making it back to Massachusetts tomorrow! After 16 days in car I can safely tell you that there is such thing as car sickness and alone time is a precious gift. I think that when I see the "Welcome to Massachusetts" sign I may just cry for joy...well maybe I'll just let out a war whoop!
We left Gatlinburg this morning with the plan to push as far as possibile. I knew today was not going to be a lot of fun because it is now officially the last leg of the trip. Going somewhere is always better then coming home and though people always claim that coming home seems faster I tend to think the opposite. As we left Tennessee and the Smoky Mountains behind, along with the fog that drifted down the mountain and is responsible for the smoky appearance they give off, we made our way into Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley.
There are many things to do here if you have the time but, as I said, we were on a time constraint.
Another view
Can you see the roadway at the top??? Its a LONG way down!I did manage to get my dad to pull off on one exit so we could see the Natural Bridge. Its exactly what it claims, a natural bridge that connects over a body of water. You can actually drive over it if you follow the route. After seeing it from below I am glad we didn't have too. What the Natural Bridge is most famous for are the initials which are carved into the side of it The initials are from George Washington when he stumbled upon it many many many years ago. They are hard to make out but someone very kindly drew a white box around them so you can locate them. Today was dreary out but you get the sense that on a sunny afternoon this place would be hopping with activity. I personally thought the admission price was a little steep ($13) but all around the bridge they have a nature trail that you can walk and you can also descend (for an additional fee) into the caverns below. I really wanted to do go on the cavern tour but my father gave the veto to that idea.
Once we left the Natural Bridge we
The notorious initials
These are the initials Ol' George Washington carved on the side of the bridge. continued our journey through Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. If I wasn't so unenthuised with the car ride I may have actually been awed by it. All you can see for miles, at least from the highway, are green rolling hills in the shadow of the mountain peaks. However as your going 80 mph and whizzing by in a car you don't really get the sense that its a pleasant place...it only makes you more car sick to stare at it for all that time.
Finally we made it out of Virginia and through a sliver of both West Virginia and MARYland (hahaha) and then we finally made it to Pennsylvania. After we checked in to the hotel and grabbed a quick dinner it was time to write a blurb and hit the hay. Tomorrow will be another long day of driving so we can, finally, make it back to Massachusetts! I hope to make a quick pit stop somewhere near Amish Country...we'll see if that happens...but its mostly going to be a straight shot back to shangri la (aka Mass)
I hope life in Mass is just as I left it. I hope sunshine will soon be
heading our way even if its just for a little while before the snow starts (ugh)! Thanks for taking the time out to read the blog. I'll catch you all on the flip side!
~Mary the travel bug
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James' Mom
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Come home...
Come home Mary, we all miss you terribly. I can't wait to see all the pictures you took.