18 July - odd sort of day weatherwise in and out of low cloud, not a day for taking photographs as you couldn't see anything, several encounters with deer, some a bit close for comfort. Ended the day in Roanoke, luckily we got to an hotel just before a massive thunderstorm. Dinner out on the bike was abandoned, so we had to make a mad dash for the nearest eating place - pizza, the waitress was a real pain in the neck, very pushy and unpleasant. The storm lasted 3 hours just bouncing off and around the surrounding mountains. I don't think I have ever seen so much lightening.
19 July - Misty start but cleared later and much cooler. Problem with the bike, turned out to be water in the starter from last nights storm. We stopped for picnic lunch overlooking a lake at the Peaks of Otter. Not sure why I didn't take more photos, I think I was just photo'd out. We completed the Parkway and headed into the Shenandoah National Park. Lots more twisty roads and at times scary riding on my husbands behalf! We stopped overnight at the Skyland Resort. We had a canyon view room - but this was obscured by cloud and mist!! Another storm was rolling around and the midges OMG. The walk to the dining room was through the woods uphill! (at least the return journey was easy). I thought I was having a heart attack by the time we got there, I couldn't believe how unfit I felt. We had a pleasant meal and there was a girl singing in the bar which was good. Thoughts of the impending end of our trip had started crowding in. In some respects I was ready to go home, in others I didn't want the trip to end.
20 July - Managed the rest of the park with no mishaps but still lots of deer about. Stopped for brunch in Front Royal - pancakes, eggs and scrapple, if you've not tried it do, its a bit like White Pudding, don't be put off by the description. Our destination today was Intercourse, Pennsylvania so we went through 3 states in quick succession with just a couple of wrong turns. The weather had improved nice and warm again, we stopped at a farm shop for apple juice and a dealership in Gettysburg, we had now completed the loop as we passed the Harley factory in York which we visited on a first stop on 4 May. It felt strange seeing Baltimore on the road signs again and realising how close to going home we were.
So what can I tell you about Intercourse? Everything closes early, its very quaint, lots of quilt shops (more on that later) and they have strange food. Dinner at the hotel as we left it too late to go out, Peter had stuffed pigs stomach!! I went for beef stew thought that would be the safer option followed by shoo-fly pie. We spent a quiet evening watching Witness on TV which gave us an insight to Amish life
21 July - quilt shopping day - who would of thought this could be so hard. So many to choose from. We looked round several shops in town then decided to get on the bike and do a farm tour. We called in at the Bird in Hand Farmers Market and Quilt Shop - lots to see but still not anything that really took my fancy. Next stop Riehls Farm - I found a Heart and 9 Patch quilt similar to one I'd seen in town ($900) for $585 made by the same quilter, so I was happy. Carrying it on the bike was fun. We then headed for Lititz where Peter made a new friend! It was great to ride around the quiet countryside looking at how 2 different cultures co-exist it was like being in a time warp.
Dinner was a Millers Smorgasbord - we ate far too much!!
22 July - our last week - Called the shippers to check everything was in place for the bikes' trip home then hit the road
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| Not sure how this lot is getting home!! |
You might have starting patchwork and quilting earlier if you could have bought and carried home all those lovely fabrics you saw. It's a pity for us followers that your trip is coming to an end because your blogs make excellent reading and the pictures in them good eye candy. You have such a photographic eye. It was a pity about the bad weather but, in retrospect, an enforced rest for Pete after all that driving. Looking forward to the next instalment.
ReplyDeleteThe amish make wonderful quilts, they always go for a lot of money, especially at state fairs. Also, I'm glad that you survived West Virginia, that is one of our more...eccentric states. Such a brave soul to try scrapple, I had it once when I was little but didn't like it so much once I found out what was in it. Poor Peter looks exhausted in that last photo, but you two have amazing endurance, I would have passed out by the end of the fifth day of travel for sure!
ReplyDeleteHere's a sophisticated story for you: a friend of mine once told me that her parents had called her from a trip to Pennsylvania once specifically so they could tell her they were in the middle of Intercourse. I think her heart must have skipped a few beats before she realized she was talking about the town :)
ReplyDeleteSo Close...I an waiting for the sun to rise over Skyland right now.
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