Road Trip

We have been discussing and discussing what else to do on the rest of our vacation. We considered going to Europe since plane deals have been good. We thought about another cruise. We pondered Hawaii and Mexico and the Caribbean. We have talked for months about renting a car and having a leisurely road trip. Every day, we'd get asked, "So what are you doing next?" and each of us would say, "I don't know." Honestly, it took us forever to decide. I told Rich I think I actually do better when everything is planned out in advance. This last minute spontaneity is not me! We searched the internet and discussed some more and, although everything sounded appealing, I just felt kinda tired and wanted to relax rather than spending more time on planes and running from one place to another trying to see everything. The road trip won out, which I think was really Rich's first choice anyway. We left NJ on Monday about 3:30 PM, intending to drive till we were ready to stop. We ended up at the historic Hotel Strasburg in Strasburg, VA, but not without traffic fun first.

I told Rich I did not want to spend all day every day in the car--definitely wanted to get out and wander and enjoy the sunshine that had mostly eluded us so far on our vacation. We got to the outskirts of DC only to find traffic backed up for miles and miles due to a bad accident on the highway (and then a couple of other smaller ones once we were already stopped). It literally took us 2 1/2 hours to go 3 miles. Not my idea of fun. Quite a few cars were speeding down the shoulder and then trying to worm their way back into line, as if that was really going to help them any. Eventually, we made it through all the delays and wanted to get past the city before stopping, which is what led us to Strasburg. We like to stay in local places when possible so we bypassed all the corporate hotels along the highway and meandered through town till we found the Strasburg, which was once a private hospital for the patients of a Dr. Bruin back in the day. We got the "summer special" for only $69 and wondered why the rates would be cheaper in the summer. The rooms were all left open so customers can actually stroll through and choose the room they want--each a little different in size and decor and amenities. And a continental breakfast was included. Sweet! We got up early the next morning and took a walk through town. We noticed that the confederate flag is still in vogue in these parts.


Rich is deliberating over possible gigs for semi-retirement and thought this one looked good.


A local man noticed Rich taking photos and came over to chat with us. He was a Navy vet and widower who has lived in the area for years and owns an antique shop. He was walking his dog named Holly and said that Holly "makes" him sing the "Howdy Doody" song to her every day, but he has to say "Holly Doody" instead. Hmmmm. We can't quite figure out how the dog "makes" him sing it, but okay.

An old church and cemetery in Strasburg

After our walk, we packed up and drove out to the Shenandoah National Park, planning to drive the 105 mile long Skyline Drive. What a gorgeous area this is, and the weather was nice and warm so I was in heaven.

We stopped in the gift shop to browse, finding a book about the mountain families who were displaced by the government in order to establish the park. Well, if that doesn't give me something to ruminate over. I had no idea that several hundred families were literally kicked off their land and told to relocate so we could have this national park. Apparently most national parks were developed in places where no one was actually living but the Congress at the time (1930's) wanted a park in the East, close to Washington DC. Virginia lobbied for the park and noted that there were a "few" small farms that were basically "worthless" so it wouldn't matter (and besides, the people were ignorant, crazy and criminal). Wow! My enjoyment of the Shenandoah was somewhat sullied at this point. I bought the book.

I kept hearing the song "Shenandoah" in my head. Love that song. Had to play the Springsteen version on my ipod for Rich.

We stopped at one of the park stores and were surprised to see a mama black bear on the ground right there in the parking lot. People had gathered around to take photos so she climbed up into a tree before we could get the camera out. She had three babies in the tree with her. She was not at all bothered by the humans, though I did have a little bit of fear that she might climb down and start charging us. Everyone kept a respectful distance and watched the four of them climbing the tree and eating leaves. So cute!


As we motored on, a deer ran alongside the road and then sprinted in front of us. Luckily, we had slowed way down to get a photo.

The rest of the day was pleasant and we aimed for Roanoke to spend the night. We had a terrible time finding a hotel in the downtown area--there was a big hotel and conference center but it was full and there didn't seem to be any more in the vicinity. We stopped at a convenience store and the guy pointed us toward a Days Inn a little further away. We have stayed in Days Inns before and found them to be just fine. We walked in and the desk clerk was a little terse and unfriendly, but what the heck. We went to our room and I was immediately struck by the horrible stinky smell. I sat on one of the beds to look up some stuff on the internet and realized that the comforter stunk like really bad BO and appeared to have never been washed at all. Even Rich, who is much more easy going and accepting of "whatever" than I am, was amazed and appalled by the smell. We made a very quick decision that we would be moving on, refund or no refund. I went back to the desk and told the still unfriendly clerk that the room was stinky, the comforters needed to be washed, and that we could not stay. He made a face, did something on the computer, and asked if there was anything else he could do for me. I said no, we were leaving. He told me to have a nice day. I did not ask if he was refunding our money and he didn't volunteer. At that point, we didn't care. Bye-bye, Roanoke. Your downtown looked interesting and we wanted to browse, but we have to move on. We won't hold one unfriendly clerk and a stinky room against you, but we ain't stickin' around.

We traveled a little further to the nice little town of Martinsville, where we had a very clean and nice smelling room at the Jameson Inn, a fabulous Mexican dinner at a local joint, and a good night's sleep.