July 25: West Virginia....and more....

What day is this…yes, it’s Saturday….it’s Virginia. (why this "cut & paste" goes in with underlining....but "oh well" can't do anything about it) A far cry from New England. But we did all we wanted to do in New England, so we just kept on going. After the wonderful day in Gettysburg, we got up on Friday and headed south to Maryland. Yup….we crossed the Mason-Dixon Line into the South. Here the “pieces” of states are so close together that you can get into three states in fairly short order. We headed toward Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia. We would have gotten there before noon, BUT we got stuck in the longest traffic jam that I have ever been in. Coming down the Blue Ridge Mountains, and approaching the bridge crossing the Potomac River into West Virginia, we got stuck for 1 hour and 40 minutes! We thought it was for an accident, but it was for some road work. YUK! Then, continuing our Civil War theme, from Gettysburg, the battle that changed the course of the war, to Harpers Ferry, where the abolitionist movement really got started. It was there that John Brown decided to capture the arsenal and begin a kind of guerrilla movement from the hills, in his opposition to slavery. It was in Harpers Ferry that he was hanged, when most of his followers were either dead or captured. I kind of think that was the beginning before the actual Civil War. So it was nice to be there and see the town. Chris walked a short piece of the Appalacian Trail to Maryland and back to West Virginia…all in Harper’s Ferry!

This is a reconstruction of "John Brown's Fort"

Shenandoah street now....with folks in the different stores, in period dress, telling the visitors how it was back then.

Looks very much the same as it used to....I think.

After a very hot afternoon, walking through the restored village, we then headed out to find a camp site. But it was still very hot and we were not ready to cook dinner in the heat. We tried a wonderful Chinese buffet, then headed further west, into Virginia and low and behold, there was a Wal Mart parking lot beckoning to us. By then it had cooled down….

I thought this picture is very exemplary of Dawson "in a hurry"....yup....it's hard to move him a little faster. He's brushing his teeth. And I'm waiting patiently to come in and do my "stuff" in the camper.

Tonight we're in Athens, OH.

So, until we "connect" again....