DC to Seattle: Day 2

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I woke up at 9:30am to find Katie and her boyfriend John were still sleeping, so I called up Patch to see if she'd be interested in having breakfast with me. I wish it had been a Saturday so we could hit up the Harrisonburg Farmer's Market. There is a Menonite woman there that makes the most delicious doughnuts for a dollar!! Best dollar ever spent (other than at Jack Brown's for that deep fried oreo). Instead, we went to Shank's bakery in downtown. All of their baked goods are made fresh from scratch every morning and throughout the rest of the day. Raspberry coffee cake, chocolate chip coffee cake and apple crumb cake are all sold by the slice ($1.25); a variety of cookies ranging from molasses to chocolate chip to monster are $0.50 eA gooach or four for $1.75; sourdough breads, ciabatta rolls, and olive and honey breads are $3.50 each... and there's so much more. My "the usual" is a slice of chocolate chip coffee cake and a medium cappuccino (a whole three bucks).

After a solid breakfast of deliciousness, I have to visit my alma mater. James Madison is a beautiful institution dating back to 1908 with a gorgeous campus. Of course, I am a little biased, but it's worth taking 2-3 hours out of your day to walk around and enjoy the old campus as well as the new ISAT campus... and at the very least you know you will be getting some good exercise. Nestled in the Shenandoah Valley it's full of ups, downs, and in betweens. Also, it's got a lovely arboretum around back that usually hosts weddings in the late spring/early summer.

I decided that 4 o'clock seemed like a good time to leave the 'Burg. Heading south on I-81 brings you to exit 180, home of the Natural Bridge (http://www.naturalbridgeva.com/default.php). I tried to stop by, but unfortunately the ticket office was closed due to a power outage, so I was not able to go but they are usually open until about 8 or 9pm. Along the way to the bridge there are some fun things to stop and do including dinosaur world, Foamhenge, and a zoo.

And speaking of a zoo, on that same exit there is a safari park (http://www.virginiasafaripark.com/geninfo.html). It allows the last car in at 5pm and closes at 6:30, so be sure to make it before then to enjoy giraffes peeking in at your car window

Back on the road and heading further south, I had to get onto I-581. As soon as I got onto this highway, I could feel the south washing over me. The scenery was very similar to what I had experienced on I-81, but there was such a relaxed vibe that I couldn't help but slow down and drive well under the 55 mph speed limit. And it's a good thing too, because the road started sloping up and down very sharply. It almost felt like I was back in the mountains because of the hills my car had to battle. This did give me a chance to take in the wonderful scenery: no farms, but sprawling fields and trees and very few houses.

The path calmed down significantly as I hit Route 220. I stopped for gas at a Sheetz immediately off the exit and managed to fill mytank for under $30... what?! I know!! Crazy! It may not seem like a big deal, but being from the Northern Virginia area, this was an extremely huge treat.

Route 220, my friends, turns the scenery into a jungle. No, I'm not joking... it seriously looks like a jungle. And I realized why: about 20 minutes in, I was crossing into North Carolina. What surprised me the most was how many trees North Carolina has! So many trees. Forget the badlands, I'd entered the woodlands. It's true that Virginia is very verdant state, but in no way as much as NC... not a dead tree anywhere.

In order to get to Winston-Salem I had to pass through what I will call the boonies of the town. The houses are spread miles apart and I passed only one "bar" called Early Times, a little rambler of a house that's white washed and has a gravel parking lot. Thankfully, I hit civilization again right before hitting my friend, Olivia's house. She greeted me with some delicious pasta that she and her boyfriend had made and we were content eating and catching up.

And that is day 2 concluded.

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