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Published: October 28th 2019
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Monday October 14 we hit the road. All the planning and preparation and we are really doing this. The last couple of weeks we had some great visits with friends and family(thank you mom for bringing everyone together) and welcomed our grandson River. We are certainly missing everyone but are so thankful for today's technology to help us to stay in touch and up to date with all that is happening at home and hopefully with this blog we can keep all of you up to date with our adventure. We have seen so much already and everyday we are seeing something that reminds us of someone in our lives which sparks some good reminiscing.
Our first day on the road brought us to Pittsfield, MA where we spent 2 nights to visit with Mike's sister Deb. We had a beautiful day. She drove us around Cheshire and Adams to see the gorgeous colors and we hiked the trails in the Boulders. The area is in the woods behind where Mike grew up and used to run his dirt bike and snowmobile when he was a kid. I was happy to see it having heard all the stories and the
walk through the trails was really nice. It was a little cool but once we got going we warmed right up. Thank you Deb for a great time and yummy after hike meal.
The drive taught us a few things. First: Don't park too close to the curb or the steps will hit. Second: The generator does not support both air conditioners, the coffee pot, and the microwave all at the same time. (it was really warm that day by the time we stopped for lunch). We also were thrown into stop and go traffic, narrowed construction lanes, and feeling the push and pull of tractor trailer trucks. We were happy to be traveling along familiar routes for our first day.
Wednesday we headed to Bellefonte PA to visit our friend's Tabetha and Fred. We were able to park in their driveway and stay in the house. Mike says it's the best B&B we ever stayed at.(and he is right). We were very happy to not be in the RV those 2 nights. It was rainy and incredibly windy. Being there during the week Tabetha and Fred both were working but left us a vehicle. We never ended
up exploring, we were very content hanging out with their dog Baylee, doing laundry and watching TV. (we didn't have reception since we moved into the RV in June so a day of TV was pretty fun). Thank you Tabetha and Fred for our very comfortable stay...and GO Penn State! Maybe we will be seeing you at the Rose Bowl!
So Friday was our first day heading somewhere new. Our plan has been to head south through Shenandoah National Park(SNP) and the Blue Ridge Parkway(BRP), see my cousin Dan in Charlotte, NC and then make our way to the South West for the winter. From Bellefonte we found a place to stay just outside of SNP in Winchester, VA. We had a nice drive taking a US route rather than the interstate. We enjoyed going through small towns, old farms, and yard sale alley it seemed. The route took us through PA, into Maryland for a "nano-second", into West Virginia, then to VA. When I made the reservation for Winchester I learned there was a civil war re-enactment taking place that weekend so we decided to stay an extra night. Once there though we discovered there were lots of
civil war historical sights in the town along with the home where Patsy Cline once lived so we decided to explore all of that instead. Uber worked out really well with getting us into the town and back.
We walked through a cemetery that had a confederate soldier burial area as well as Winchester has a National Cemetery. We toured some buildings that were once headquarters for George Washington and Stonewall Jackson. The town has an "old" section that they have blocked off to traffic creating a walking mall where we found a Mason building and the old courthouse that is now a Civil War Museum. The building was used as both a jail and hospital during the war. I was moved by some of the artifacts they had. Lots of ammo to include a cross-section of the artillery rounds and the bayonets. Such brutality war is. It also struck me all that they had to carry while they walked from battlefield to battlefield. They didn't have dog tags then so they would put their names on their backs with paper. When the building was restored they found drawings and writings on the walls from the soldiers who where
held there. Our last tour of that day was at the headquarters of Stonewall Jackson. We had a one on one tour with the guide who concluded with saying he hoped we enjoyed the tour. Mike replied, "yes we did, this has been a Fantastic Day". I agree. We had an awesome day.
I hope you enjoy the pictures we took and look forward to sharing with you our next leg through the Shenandoah National Park.
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