Wednesday, November 20, 2013

from maryland to monticello and mount cheam...

We were reunited with our motor home in Pennsylvania on a Sunday...
a day later than planned due to flight cancellations...
and decided we would 'hit the road' immediately.

We headed south...
planning to travel the Blue Ridge Parkway through the Appalachians.

After a few hours...
I could barely keep my eyes open.

That's OK for the passenger...
but the driver was having trouble staying awake as well.
That's what happens after a red-eye flight.

Just about that time we saw a KOA sign...
and so we stopped in Williamsport, Maryland by mid-afternoon.


After a bit of a 'Sunday afternoon nap'...
we went for a walk.

There were dairy farms and rivers to check out.
I thought Golden Lea Lane was the perfect name for the road we strolled along...
with the setting sun turning the corn fields into a sea of gold!
Merryland...indeed!

In the morning we carried on...
through West Virginia and into Virginia...
 where visited Shenandoah National Park.


Could there be a better time than October to visit?

We spent the night in Charlottesville, Virginia...


...and visited the Meadow Run Mill and General Store nearby.


It is housed within the Meadow Run Gristmill circa 1797.
Nothing is that old where I come from!


Next door was the Michie Tavern that has welcomed guests for more than 200 years.  
Though I wasn't much interested in joining the bus tour hordes for a meal in the tavern...
I quite enjoyed a walk about the grounds where the buildings from yesteryear were blanketed in leaves.

The gristmill and tavern are situated in the valley just below Thomas Jefferson's home...
Monticello.


We had thought we might just do a 'drive-by' of Monticello...
rather than actually doing a tour.

But this was all we could see from the road...
a long and winding driveway through the trees.

We had come this far...
so we decided to drive up that winding lane...
and take the tour.


And we were glad we did!
The house was designed and built by Jefferson over a period of forty years...
and holds many of the gadgets he invented.

Things like the double-pen device that made a copy of everything he wrote.
Brilliant! 


Born in 1743. Died in 1826.
Thomas Jefferson lies buried at Monticello...
on the grounds which were part of a large plantation worked by slaves back in the day.

It is a wonderful and most interesting historical place...
so worth touring!

Close to Charlottesville, Virginia lies the north entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway.
 And that will be my next 'milepost' along the journey.

I'll leave you with one image of the here-and-now.


I couldn't resist an i-phone photo of Mt.Cheam with her new crown of snow...
taken as I paid a visit to our accountant...
out Rosedale way yesterday.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!


15 comments:

  1. I'm going to enjoy this photo journey across the US, Judy. Mt. Cheam looks so beautiful. Missing my sister, Margaret, but we talked for 1 1/2 hours Monday night. ;) Have a great day.

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  2. Well that sure brightens a visit to the accountant's!

    Beautiful general store! It makes me want to shop there.

    Must research this double pen writing device, too. Fascinating! What a mind Thomas Jefferson had.

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  3. Your first sentence puzzled me but i was able to figure out what you meant after looking back. Like Pamela, I'm looking forward to doing some armchair travelling with you on the last part of your journey.

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  4. You saw some wonderful sights along your travels. It's always fun to take a break and explore something like Monticello. Sounds like a fascinating glimpse into the life of TJ.

    Lovely Mt. Cheam!

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  5. Your mountain is so beautiful! What a great lesson in history today - loving your travels documentary!

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  6. You definitely chose the right time of year to travel. The fall colors make those photos look so much more authentic and rustic. And of course you highlighted my favorite mountain. We just chopped down a tree so that our view would be better.

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  7. I would have loved to have walked down that leaf strewn path at the Meadow Run Gristmill.

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  8. I'm glad you didn't resist. What a glorious shot of Mt. Cheam that is. Loved all your road trip photos, too!

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  9. I do believe you picked the ideal time to take your trip. The colors are so pretty.
    We visited Monticello a few years ago in the summer. It was so interesting to see, but I remember it being very hot that day.
    Your Mt. Cheam is looking amazing. So glad you shared this photo.

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  10. Yes, isn't Mt Cheam just gorgeous this week!

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  11. Ohh .. your photos are breathtaking ! I would have stayed and stayed !
    but there is nothing like home, is there ? and Mt Cheam was brilliant the other day with the sun shining on it .. God's creative beauty truly fills the earth !

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  12. So very thankful that you took pictures and shared them. The scenery and the history make me want to get in the car and leave for that area of the country right now. As for Mt. Cheam, I cannot wait for the privilege of seeing it in person someday.

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  13. Someday I want to see Jefferson's house. I have visited Washington's home and Robert E. Lee's home too. That whole area just stinks with glorious history. Probably one could spend a year and not catch everything that there is to see historically and then I know I would want to see it all again in another season!

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  14. I visited this area about 12 years ago as a good friend lives in Midlothian, Virginia, and on a visit to her house we took a ride to Monticello one days--it is worth seeing!

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'The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it.'
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson