Road trip, Virginia to Maryland

Another gorgeous morning saw our little Mini motoring along another highway in search of old friends.

After leaving Roanoke we opted to spend as little time on I-81 and turned instead onto the old Valley Highway, Route 11, returning to the Interstate in order to bypass the cities. Our first objective was to stop at the Natural Bridge before continuing our trip north. We pulled into the parking lot and discovered that not many tourists were out yet -- a good sign that we would have a relaxing morning strolling this fantastic natural wonder in southeastern Virginia. After paying our fee inside the visitor center ($14 per person mind you) we found our way back outside and down the trail toward the Bridge.

Once owned by Thomas Jefferson this "natural bridge" is over 200 feet tall and some 90 feet wide. In addition to visiting the bridge itself -- pretty much a straightforward affair -- there is also a wonderful little trail that wends its way along the river bank for some 1500 meters or so. The trail takes you past an replica Monacan indian village:

Then past an old saltpetre mine dating back to the War of 1812 (using bat guano of course):

And past the "lost river," formerly an underground river, the subterranean entrance was exposed by blasting the front off in order to utilize the water for the mine (no I don't know why):

After returning to the visitor center (where we bought a can of Williamsburg Virginia peanuts) we walked back to the car and headed back north.

Not long atferwards we drove past an outdoor attraction billing itself as "Foamhenge", a unique bit of outdoor kitsch and yes it is a full-scale model of the you-know-what in England but made out of, well, foam.

A little later we drove through a small village zipping past a flea-market shop that billed itself as the home of "dead people's junk". Now that's marketing.

We got to Maryland a couple hours later and drove over to Antietam National Park to meet up with our friend Mannie, a park ranger and serious student of the American Civil War. We no sooner got out of our car than Mannie drove up and yelled out at us as we were entering the visitor center. He took us inside and introduced us around to his co-workers. Since he had a bit of work to catch up on before leaving for the day Susie and I just strolled around outside and hung out at the New York monument, overlooking the quiet and peace of this most terrible of battlefields.

A half later mannie joined us outside and the three of us convoyed to the their house, with a short stop at the grocery store. Shortly after we arrived at their new home, nestled in the hills around Boonsboro, Maryland, Virginia Rose joined us. We spent a wonderful evening of good food, lots of laughs and catching up on all the latest news -- the four of us shared the common thread of changing our lives in dramatic fashion so naturally we had plenty to talk about. (photo below: Mannie and Miss Vee)

Tomorrow we're off to Gettysburg and who knows where! So don't touch that dial!

Ciao,

Steve