Museums

The advantage/disadvantage of not having any plans is that things don't quite go like you haven't imagined them.
We were finishing up the Blue Ridge Parkway which sort of automatically loads you into Skyline Drive when you cross into Virginia from North Carolina. We were enjoying the great camping, abundant deer, and astounding vistas, but we were being affected by Bart's Boring Beauty Syndrome so we took a left down off the ridge and drove along the base of the mountains in the Shenandoah Valley. We love back roads. Up down left right cows houses barns cars trucks fields. It is very comforting to us to have a change of pace.
When we got to the Tri-State area and settled into the hostel, we realized that we were only two hours from Carlisle and we had an entire week to get there.

We were all museum-ed out. No more. We needed a break. Beth also didn't want to be around a lot of people before the week of the Hershey car show.

Washington D.C. was within a quick drive and we KNEW that we could easily grab a train into the city, but if you aren't there to collect or distribute money then D.C. means museums.

No museums. We left the hostel and turned left. We were driving right next to the old C&O tow-line canal which was recently re-opened to the public along the entire length. A couple of miles along we saw "Mr. History" from the hostel, and we stopped to talk to ask him how the locks worked way back then. He talked for quite a time about the details of the C&O and how it was George Wahington's brainchild and broke ground July 4th 18?? on the same day that the B&O railroad broke ground. He said we should go on a tour of Harper's Ferry while we were there, but we said we were museum-ed out. He showed me on the map where Antitiem was, the site where more Americans died in a single day of battle that at any other time or place.

We avoided Harper's Ferry park, and drove along next to the C&O. Ate in Shepardston. Went through Antitiem and took pictures of the battlefields. We traveled along more backroads. These are roads that we will NEVER be on again. If there is something to see, you've got to see it now.
An orchard, buy apples. Some driving. Ooooh! The town that is preparing for the huge apple festival in two more days. Sixty to one-hundred thousand people in a small town. Let's keep moving. Oooooh! The national apple museum. They are closed, but since we drove so far... our private tourguide showed us their museum which includes a nice collection of apple peelers from Goodell Company in Antrim, NH.

More backroads. We come across Gettysburg. We have no choice. We would be in trouble with some folks if we didn't stop. We drove around the fields and took pictures and read the signs.
We started talking about the importance of things that we just read about.

We drove through the town of Gettysburg, more back roads, some non-descript city. Gotta see the Clock & Watch museum, but it's Friday and housing is always tough to find on Friday.

The Clock & Watch Museum was great! After a couple of hours, Beth went out to the car to take a nap. I got kicked out at five PM. I attempted to claim that I didn't know what time it was, but when I said it, I realized that I was in a section where all of the clocks were working correctly. Damn.

I went out to the car and Beth had been on the phone with a campground to see if they had any vacancies and was yelled at for having the nerve to ask "on our busiest weekend".

I was able to find a place Pennsylvania State Campround an hour away, and off we went. We stayed the night at a wonderful camground and headed off in the morning, swearing that we were NOT going to go to any museums.

We drove straight to Carlisle.