Virginia Farms

We usually drive along the east side of the blue ridge mountains whenever we visit family in the mid section of Virginia. When we returned home from a road trip out west three years ago we drove along the west side. It was a really lovely and very scenic road. This week we took a day trip to Natural Bridge where the Virginia Safari Park is located. We wanted to visit the park but also see how the autumn colors were looking. Having just driven to Milwaukee in September, the season has definitely begun to affect the views. One thing stands out - whether you are in Ohio, Pennsylvania or Indiana - the farms and farm lands along the way are interesting to see. And it’s no different in Virginia - except I think the landscape, scenery and overall road trip seems so much prettier! Maybe that’s because we actually live in Virginia now rather than DC. For whatever the reason, it was a great day to be out and about. 

Ohio Barns and Farms

We haven’t taken a trip for quite some time. We moved from DC to northern Virginia six months ago and finally felt comfortable enough to venture away. Since we haven’t been to Wisconsin for about three years, it was time to visit with old friends and colleagues. So we set out last month and drove to the Midwest. We took two days to reach our destination and two more to return. What was different this time was we stayed for ten days at a VIP housing high rise in the lower east side of Milwaukee rather than staying a long weekend with our old neighbors. On the way home we took the usual route we have taken so many times before - Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia. I have always been intrigued with the barns and farms along the way. It seems the best photo ops come when I am driving, but I was able to find several lovely homesteads while my husband was driving through Ohio. There is something very Americana about it. We always look forward to these road trips. And for as long as we can drive, we will continue to take them. 

Ride Home From New Jersey

We were invited for a lunch date in Cape May, New Jersey on Monday. It took us over four hours to get there from Northern Virginia going through the scenic Delaware route. So we decided we would take the freeway route back - hopefully it would be shorter and quicker, and the preferred way for an evening drive.  Even though catching I95 takes you north up towards Wilmington Delaware first, eventually you get to Baltimore and a more familiar neighborhood. There are only so many ways to navigate around the Delaware and Chesapeake Bays. I’ve decided I don’t particularly like very long, old bridges anymore. And taking a ferry isn’t our cup of tea since we went to Michigan from Milwaukee on Lake Michigan when it was cold, rainy, and turbulent. What we never realized were all the farm and cowboy sites in New Jersey. We just never associated New Jersey with cows and agriculture. There were as many barns and farms as is on our way home from Lynchburg Virginia. We actually made good time and arrived back in a little over three hours. We like taking day trips. It’s been a while since we have done much of anything since moving to Northern Virginia from Capitol Hill in April. Hopefully now we can begin doing more of these kinds of things - while we can. That Safari in Virginia still looks interesting. 

From the Back Roads to the City

When I retired three years ago we took a cross country road trip from DC to California along a southern route. The next year we took another cross country trip from DC to Washington state on a northern route. Now we can say we have been in all of the 48 states and really don’t have any desire to see Hawaii or Alaska. Depending on who is driving, I sometimes miss interesting photo ops. More often than not it seems that  the best scenes I see are when I’m driving so I can’t take the pictures. It’s a wonderful time driving from point A to point B - both my husband and I love driving around. So when we went to visit our family in mid Virginia last weekend, we stopped at Walton’s Mountain in Schuyler and have since watched the first episode of the series to refresh my memory of it. We were on the back roads getting there, but I was driving and missed several great shots. Driving back home we took in the sights of the road primarily on US 29. We didn’t have a chance to go the back way this time. But there are always scenes of interest - farms, cows, corn, shops, homes - a very different vibe from what either of us are used to. My husband always says he would go crazy in a small or rural place. I’m not so sure. I suppose it all looks “nostalgic.” I wonder how the folks who live there really feel about it.