AS Days 13-16

October10

Time to leave the relative warmth and sunshine and risk the weather on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

We drove past the very large Fort Bragg, complete with razor-wire fences,  guard stations, and different “levels” of housing (from older looking barracks to relatively luxurious and spacious homes). Leave were really starting to change on the drive.

As we headed in to Virginia, we saw these things:

• sub-$3.00 gas (and Diesel for $3.53)
• “Hungry Church” (hungry for souls or feeding the hungry?)
• he’s back (from two years ago) and so are his signs “Hurt Congress”; couldn’t someone tell him to add the word “for” to his signs?
• another good church sign: “Exercise Daily: Walk with God”
• the BEST church (on wheels which we followed for several miles)-“Time for Jesus Ministries”:

We are not in any way finding religion, but it seems to keep finding us :-)

We got the Blue Ridge Parkway and saw some lovely views, but fog and drizzle were  starting:

We stayed at the Otter Creek Campground (Site 48, $16) and settled for a rainy, drippy but otherwise very quiet night. Here’s the view of the View at our campsite:

October 11

Driving north, we were thwarted in our ability to see the beautiful scenery (this was the kind of morning we had):

We decided to be safe, so got off the parkway and took the Interstate towards Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. On the way, we drove through some pretty countryside (and it was much clearer and drier out of the mountains). Who knew Virginia had a thriving winery scene (and it was the Harvest Festival, so buses and wine tours were everywhere).

We got to Harper’s Ferry in time to “vote” for the “1864 Election” (and yes, I voted Republican, sorry):

And enjoyed strolling the site of John Brown’s rebellion:

After this short Civil War “fix”, we headed to the Green Brier State Park in Maryland for the night (Site 39, $34 E/W). Here’s the view of the View in this campsite:

By the way, from her Cat’s Eye View, Mandy continues to be excited about the trip:

October 12

I have read about the bloody Battle of Antietam in my Civil War research and novels, so we headed to the National Battlefield.

It was a one-day battle in 1862, and it saw the worst loss of American life in battle forever! It’s said that more than 25,000 men died or were wounded, and you can really sense the bloodshed in this now beautiful part of rural Maryland:

As usual, I am moved by these places. And a little haunted. We didn’t see ghosts, but we DID see a Union soldier riding his horse down the road as we arrived then not again (though we saw one pile of horse poop). Eerie.

We also visited the National Cemetery there:

and the older, private cemetery across the road:

This was too strange as our War of 1812 saga continues:

We headed north in to Pennsylvania, got some new toys at a Camping World and settled in at the Moyer`s Grove Campground near Scranton (Site 54, $16.50 E/W PA price):

October 13

We seem to satisfy our Civil War (mine) and Railway (David’s) interests at the end of many of our trips. SO we headed to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton (despite bad GPS instructions and signage that almost sent us home!).

We took a tour of the Maintenance area, a short train ride and a stroll through the rail yard and Roundhouse:

I must say, we much preferred the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania which we visited a couple of years ago.

Since we left earlier than we expected, we decided to head home. It was clear sailing through the colours of the Pennsylvania and New York countryside. Once we crossed the border, we faced the holiday weekend traffic, but arrived home safe and sound around 9:30.

Another great trip. Next fall, we’ll likely skip the Blue Ridge Parkway and stay on the beaches a little longer!

Now, four months of dreaming and planning our next trip!