May 2025 Trip in Van +

 We decided to take a longer trip in the van, mostly to go to PA to see my sister Rosemary when her son Pete and wife Karen from Chicago were there.  (Her daughter Jeanne and husband Kris live nearby.)

First stop:  We are members of Harvest Hosts, which allows you to boondock free at businesses, as long as you patronize them. (Boondocking means that you don't have any electric or water hookups, just use your self-contained vehicle.  Basically, you are just parked in the parking lot of a business.)  We like to stay at vineyards, so this time we spent the first night at Barren Ridge Vineyard, near Fischersville, Va.  We enjoyed a beautiful view of the vineyards, the Shenandoah Mountains, and had a great flight of wines on their outdoor patio.

Our lovely view of the sunset over mountains

First destination:  Skyline Drive:  

We spent three nights at Big Meadows Campground in Shenandoah National Park.  We did several nice hikes, enjoying how easy it is to come and go with the van whenever we wanted.  Backing is a breeze, compared to the truck and trailer.

One of the trails we took was the "Limberlost Trail."  I wanted to do it because my mother's favorite book when she was growing up was Girl of the Limberlost.  She said it inspired her to get an education and strike out on her own away from her farm home in Kansas.  I've not read it, so I don't know what it was about.

Jack-in-the pulpit on trail

Enjoyed Mary's Rock Tunnel

Mary's Rock Tunnel was built in 1932 by workers of the CCC. The two-lane tunnel is 670 ft. long and only 12' 8" high. Our van is a little over 10 feet tall, so we had no problems going through.

View from van

Skyline Drive is much like the Blue Ridge Parkway in our area.  There are many beautiful overlooks that you can stop at to enjoy the views. 

Second Destination:  Belleville, PA: 

My sister lives in a great retirement community called Valley View in Amish country.  We learned a lot about the local history and Amish culture at the Kishacoquillas Valley Historical Society.  (Don't ask me to pronounce it.  They just call it the "Kish Valley.")  We found out that there are numerous sects of Amish, all distriguished by the color of their buggy tops: black, yellow, white, or no top.  Driving was quite an adventure, because the buggies were on the main roads, which were very narrow, so you had to wait and maneuver around them all the time.  One evening, we had to pass six carriages as we wended our way up the mountain back to the campground. Luckily, Rosemary let us borrow her car the whole time we were there, so we weren't driving the van on narrow, curvy roads.

                                                    

We were at Greenwood Furnace State Park,
which was at the top of the ridge over the valley. 
The farms and farm houses in the valley were beautiful.

Rosemary and I in front of her duplex.

Mother's Day brunch at Hungry Run Winery was fantastic.
Kris' mother Ruth Ann joined us.

Rosemary

One day we drove up to State College to tour the Penn State botanical gardens.  They are really wonderful.  This is just a sampling of the lovely things in the gardens.

The gardens were filled with beautiful container plantings.

This was in a great children's area.

Alan was happy to read in a lovely covered pavilion
while I toured the gardens.

Third Destination:  Williamsport, MD

Antietam: 

We love to tour historic sites, so we spent two days going through the Antietam Battlefield, site of the deadiest one-day battle in American history:  23,000 casualties.  The National Park Service has an excellent visitor center, with movie, and a good 21-site narrated auto tour of the battlefield. The NPS has great phone ap on all the parks and monuments.  Check it out.  Here is the Wikipedia entry on Antietam for those who want more details than what I have below: Wiki on Antietam

Dunker Church, focal point of a number of Union atttacks

One major battle was in a cornfield.  The stalks were so tall that the soldiers couldn't see anyone else, except those in front of them.  At the end of the battle, all the stalks were cut to the ground by the fire.

Another battle was over possession of this sunken road.  By the end of the fighting, it was piled high with bodies of soldiers from both sides.

Burnside's Bridge over Antietam Creek
(It would be a river where I come from.)

A small band of Confederate soldiers prevented the Union soldiers from crossing this for almost three hours.  Even though they were eventually driven back, their delaying action allowed time for Confederate reinforcements to arrive.

Even though it was basically a draw,
it is considered a Union victory because the Confederates
were forced to retreat back to Virginia. 
After this victory, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.

C & O Canal: 

Williamsport was a major port on the C & O Canal, which borders the Potomac River.  The park service has a good interpretation center there, as well, with a movie filmed while the canal was still in operation.

This is an original warehouse building,
with loading dock in center.

Part of the canal

One of the most interesting things was that the canal
had aquaducts to bridge over creeks coming across the canal.
We weren't sure how they got the barges
across the aquaducts, since there wasn't space for the mules. 
Kayakers enjoy them now.

We had planned to come back through eastern West Virginia, but decided against it.  There was major flooding everywhere in the area, so it didn't seem wise to be driving in the mountains under those conditions. We arrived back home about a week ago.