Country Roads, Take Me Home...

Our last day of the road trip was spent in Saratoga, New York at the National Historic Site. We arrived mid-day and had a picnic, heating up some leftover fried chicken on the camp stove. The food was delicious, but I set the steaming pot on the picnic table which was apparently plastic. After eating, we started to clean up but realized that we couldn't move the pot - the table was glued to the bottom! It took about fifteen minutes with a knife and spatula to get packed up...sheesh!

When we finally got packed up, we drove the auto-tour of the Saratoga battlefield. With the audio tour, we got a clear understanding of the two battles that occurred in the area. We also had fun posing with the cannons...



One of the heroes of the battle was Benedict Arnold, who received a leg wound during one of the last skirmishes in the campaign. Interestingly, there is a monument dedicated to him that doesn't mention him by name due to his treason. The monument is to "the most brilliant soldier of the Continental Army" and has the image of a boot signifying the wound area.



We finished the tour and headed home, which was only two hours away. It was an easy drive as we headed towards blue sky. We were home in time to see the sun setting over Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks. We'll be thinking about our adventures and pining for our next road trip.

Going Off The Rails On A Crazy Train...

It was a damp and drizzly morning in Hagerstown, Maryland. It seemed silly to take showers inside, but we did. After cleaning up, we took advantage of the pancake breakfast at the campground then headed north.

Visibility on the interstate was minimal due to fog and much of our drive was slow going, we had "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" to entertain us though. Around mid-afternoon we pulled off the interstate in Scranton, Pennsylvania to visit the Steamtown National Historic Site.

We had a picnic in the parking lot (chunky soup) and signed up for the last train ride of the day. We walked through some of the museum before our train departure, but had to get a seat by 2:30. The train went through some of the historic parts of Scranton and is usually pulled by a steam engine. However, ours was pulled by a diesel due to a break on one of the steam engines.



When we got back, we toured the rest of the museum, including the portions where the trains are still serviced. It retains the smell that is a mix of coal and grease. The museum is built around a working train turntable so that engines can be parked inside and serviced.



With the park closing, we got back in the car (a little sad that it wasn't steam powered) and headed north, towards Binghamton, New York for the evening. It was a good night since it included pie at the Red Oak Diner! Yum!

In a Cavern, In a Canyon...

Lisa made the stunning discovery this morning that our hotel provided continental breakfast! After our frosted flakes and orange juice (breakfast of champion road-trippers), we headed for Monticello, which was only a few miles away. We arrived early but tours were filling up despite the fact that they ran every five minutes!

We watched the film and toured the museum before heading up to the Jefferson family cemetery. Interestingly, there are still descendants buried there. Jeffersons’ grave mentions that he authored the Declaration of Independence, authored the religious freedom act of Virginia and founded the University of Virginia. He didn’t mention that he was president for eight years, I guess he didn’t think it was an accomplishment...



Touring the gardens made us feel like it was actually springtime! Many of the vegetables are about ready to harvest and the tulips were in full bloom. We also went underground to view Jefferson’s “necessaries” - those were everything from his kitchen to beer cellar and stables.

The house itself included many of Jefferson’s eccentricities such as a weight-driven clock that tells the day as well as the time (but the weights go into the basement to indicate Saturday!). Beds were stuffed into alcoves since he believed that they wasted space in rooms and staircases were as narrow as could be. The tour was interesting but rushed since there was another group only five minutes behind us!

In the afternoon we headed to Luray, Virginia to tour the famous caverns. There was a steady downpour of rain at that point so a cave seemed appropriate. It was full of many different types of cave formations right below the surface. One of the oddities of this particular cave was an organ that produces sound by rubber hammers hitting stalactites - it was an odd sound and tough to pick out the melody.



Getting back to the surface was easy, but getting out of the gift shop was a near impossibility! We toured the automobile museum and the Luray Valley museum which were included (for some reason...) with our ticket into the cave. We drove north (sadly) towards Williamsport, Maryland where we would camp for the evening.

Skyliner, Skyliner, Flying So Freely...

It didn’t actually rain the night that we rented the cabin in Harper’s Ferry. It was a comfortable night though - and the mercury dipped low enough that we were happy to have a heater.

We woke up, gobbled some oatmeal and packed up. We were on the road before nine and were only about an hour away from Shenandoah National Park. It was an easy drive through small Virginia towns. Entering the park, our altitude climbed as we embarked on the Skyline drive.

It was still foggy but we stopped at many of the overlooks along the way, snapping pictures of both valleys. The long mountain ranges, small peaks and clustered villages made for great pictures.



We meandered down the windy road, stopping at Big Meadow Campground to take a site for the evening. We picked a site at the corner of the campground, overlooking the Appalachian Trail. During the rest of the day, we watched scruffy, burly looking hikers wander by, looking exhausted.



After eating some spaghetti-os for lunch, we filled the backpack with snacks and headed towards the visitor center. We asked a ranger for a good afternoon hike and ended up traipsing towards Dark Hollow Falls. It was a great trail - the falls was a seventy-foot drop with a cool mist that was actually welcome on this warm April day.



Hiking back up, we found that we could skirt the road and walk back to our campsite via the Story of the Forest trail. There were two deer eating grass in a small open meadow on the way back.

We made some canned chow mein for dinner and hiked a small portion of the Appalachian Trail before bed. At sunset, another pair of deer wandered by our site. Lisa enjoyed playing with every camera setting until it got dark.



It was a cold night in the tent. I was comfortable in shorts when we went to bed, but it dipped into the thirties. We got up early and boiled water for oatmeal and tea. We even had a campfire which we huddled around.

We cranked the heat in the car and headed towards Milam Gap for our hike of the day. The ranger had suggested it the day before so we filled our backpack with chicken salad sandwiches and cheez-its and hit the trail. We followed a loop, starting with a portion of the Appalachian Trail which had some spectacular panoramic views of the valley.




Turning east, we sloshed through mud and streams towards Rapidan Camp. It was Herbert Hoover’s summer White House, the Camp David of the early thirties. We explored the areas and then ate our lunch on Hoover’s back porch, with the Rapidan River babbling in the background.



Hiking out, we followed a trail used for horses, and managed to avoid any manure piles along the way. We got back in the car to finish the Skyline Drive. It was clearer today, although there was still a characteristic haze in the distance at many of the overlooks. Seeing the valley from above helped us understand how “Stonewall” Jackson could have hid his troop movements in the crags below.



We made our way slowly to Charlottesville, Virginia for the evening. We walked around the University of Virginia campus in the evening, noticing that many of the dorm rooms still had their own fireplaces. After burgers at the Horse and Hound - it was bedtime for us - hopefully a little warmer than last night!

Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory...

We would have arrived in Gettysburg earlier, but we couldn’t find the Gettysburg Address!

Our first impression of Gettysburg was that we either had to take a bus tour or buy a CD for the auto tour of the battlefield. After asking around, we did find a short walking path on the map to the National Cemetery and the site of “Pickett’s Charge.” It was exactly what we needed, and we scoffed at the people signing up for the bus tours.

We saw the film (narrated by Morgan Freeman and including some epic French Horn solis) and took the escalator up to the cyclorama. It sounds like that ride at the fair where you get stuck to the wall, but it’s actually a 360 degree panoramic painting of the battle. At forty-two feet high and three hundred seventy feet long, one ranger described it as the IMAX theater of the nineteenth century.

After a stroll down the empty walking path, we ended up at the National Cemetery for a ranger led tour of the battle and the Gettysburg Address. It turns out that no one is really sure where Lincoln gave that speech. At least somebody thought to write it down!



Lunch was Hormel chili on a bun! We got lots of jealous looks from the hordes of boy scouts eating their gruel for the day. After filling up, we toured the museum, which included a complete set of civil war era saxhorns and a vertical bell cornet! There was some other stuff about the battles too.



We then went back to the battlefield for a ranger talk on the events of Pickett’s charge. It was a little bit of a muddy walk and looking across at the field, it was hard to imagine the Confederate Generals ordering that attack, with cannons pointed directly at you. We walked down the road and found the Vermont memorial - they were responsible for a flanking maneuver that helped turn the tide of the battle.



Since we had been walking most of the day, we were happy to get into the car and drive for a little while. After crossing into Maryland we took a quick right on a mountain road that took us near Catoctin Mountain Park. It was a stop for another day though because our goal was food. We ended up staying at Greenbrier State Park for the night after a belt-busting meal (nom nom nom) at Texas Roadhouse.

It was warm enough that we could sleep in the tent, but we awoke to raindrops around 6:30. We packed it up quickly so that it wouldn’t be stored wet and got ready for the day. Breakfast was eggs and leftover steak and ribs under a pavilion on the shores of their lake, which Lisa named “Pittance Pond.”

Arriving at Antietam Battlefield, we watched the film (which was not helpful) and listened to the ranger orientation talk (which was REALLY helpful). We asked about hiking but the sprinkles that had woken us up had become a full strength downpour. We drove the auto tour and did get out to walk “bloody lane” until we saw lightning - we didn’t want to become the next casualty in that spot.



Driving away, we turned on the GPS to lead us to Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. It led us on Harper’s Ferry Road which seemed to make sense until it told us that we were “arriving at destination” which was only five hundred yards away. Unfortunately, the GPS forgot that the Potomac was in the way...

We took advantage of a bridge that was only a few miles away instead of trying to float our car. Not knowing what to expect, we walked into the tiny Harper’s Ferry visitor center, where the ranger told us to get on the bus. We did.

It took us to the lower village of Harper’s Ferry which was a wonderful destination. The National Park Service has taken over many of the buildings, making the town itself a museum interspersed with private shops and restaurants. The history of the town includes slavery, some crazy guy who is now a’smolderin’ in his grave in North Elba, NY, the Civil War, Lewis and Clark, industrialization, shipping and transportation. We wandered from building to building, eventually finding our way to a grill to eat lunch (turkey wrap and panini with awesome sauce!). It was a great way to spend a rainy day.



Here's the inside of the gun shop. Notice the huge leather belts that run the machines:



Since there are some more thunderstorms in the forecast tonight, we’ll be staying in Harper’s Ferry in a cabin at the KOA. We’ll be looking at the weather and the map to plan our next move south tomorrow!

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Crackerjacks...

After listening to the gale outside last night, the hotel seemed like an appropriate decision. I awoke early, ready to let the chickens out, and got up anyway despite the fact that they were four hours away. We had the continental breakfast (LUCKY CHARMS!!!) and we headed for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Since it was cold and windy in Cooperstown, we were happy to have an "indoors day."

We toured the museum for about three hours enjoying the chronological history of the game on the second-floor. We especially enjoyed the artifacts relating to the Negro Leagues along with the humorous quotations of Satchel Paige.

Lisa brought her "Baby Ruth" shirt along on the trip:



What are you supposed to do with the bats?



After eating the FREE sub from yesterday's venture to Subway, we pointed south and hit the gas. It was still only forty-five degrees and we wanted to find a place where the temperature was higher than the speed limit on the interstate! After driving through Scranton and Harrisburg, we found ourselves at the KOA in Gettysburg for the evening where the temperature was a balmy 66.

Dinty-Moore Chicken Pot Pie was dinner with a generous amount of tea to wash it down. We're heading to bed, planning to go to the battlefield first thing in the morning.

That Old Gang of Mine....

After finding that the chickens had let themselves out of the coop (they were hanging out in the driveway) this morning, we eventually managed to herd them into their pen - not an easy task... However, we still managed to get on the road before 8:00, eating Jean's oatmeal cookies and stopping for only one gas-up in Whitehall.

We were on a schedule (probably the only schedule of the trip) because the Mountain division barbershop contest started at 11:00 in Colonie, NY. With fifteen minutes to spare, I had enough time to put a full Windsor knot in my tie. Lisa watched the entire show while taking entertaining notes about the hideous barbershop attire. She was excited since her Grandfather used to sing with the Green Mountain Chorus (when all the old guys were only sort-of old).

For those of you waiting with bated breath (or if you have money riding on the contest), the Green Mountain Chorus placed fourth.



After the contest we headed to the Colonie Mall to get a necessary ingredient to our road-trip diet. Two Arby's sandwiches later, we had ten Arby's sauce packets for future culinary adventures. It will be an excellent investment.



We drove on through some of the worst named towns in the country (Duanesburg, Carlisle and Sloansville) and we arrived in Cooperstown in the early evening. The weather was stormy so we found a hotel room and watched Ken Burns' Baseball (when in Rome...) while eating subs. We'll be heading to the Baseball Hall of Fame tomorrow morning and then we'll be heading south towards warmer weather!

Carry Me Back to Old Virginny...

We've been pining for another road trip since we got back in August. Since we still have a valid National Parks pass, we decided that we would meander down to Shenandoah National Park during our April break. We'll be heading out first thing in the morning.

On our most recent trip to the grocery store, we stocked up on Hormel chili, Dinty-Moore beef stew and plenty of ingredients to make two huge bags of gorp. It's going to be a great time and a huge eating fest!

We have some destinations picked for this trip but we're going to keep the trip fairly unplanned. We'll be heading down the Appalachians to find some warmer weather (hopefully) and see the Blue Ridge mountains with lots of fun along the way!