August week two {road trip, part two}

 

Friday, August 15::  2.5-3 hours scenic drive time to Polyface Farm {Joel Salatin} near Swoope, VA. ~160 miles.

{cows pictured were seen along the way – not at the Salatins’ }  :-)

• Their farm is open to self-guided tours.  We watched their team butchering turkeys for a while, but I couldn’t bring myself to take any pictures right then…

• After spending a week on our own shed construction, we enjoyed comparing roof trusses in their barns ~ some with obviously local lumber.

• We purchased some ground beef to have for supper later, as well as a couple dozen eggs for Saturday’s breakfast fodder.
• And it was time to move on down the road!  from Swoope it was about 4.75 hours to our overnight home in the mountains near Ferguson, NC.  254 miles or so.
• Rest stop picnic lunch.
• We also stopped in Wilkesboro for a few more groceries before heading to “Crosswinds.”

• Lovely views {and not much cell coverage}.  But when we finally arrived ~5pm, we were not expecting this on the front door!

• Nevertheless [and after Tim smooshed the big ugly spider], we were all very happy to be there!

• Air hockey, ping pong, burgers to grill, gorgeous sunset, Abby’s nilla wafer treats {with a name I can’t repeat, let alone spell}, lotsa laundry, and a very serious game of Jenga.

 

Saturday:: the view was still wonderful!  After breakfast Tim & crew took a quick hike while I continued to process laundry and re-pack.   About 11am we headed back down the mountain on the one-lane road… with the trash conveniently riding on top of the Suburban.

• After finding our way out of the hills we headed on down to Lattimore!  {about 2 hours, 82 miles}
• Yay!  Daniel’s favorite Cook-Out for lunch!   Great shakes and burgers {and more, but did you count how many times I’ve mentioned burgers?!}

• We unloaded Daniel and his loot and found our own guest rooms… Dined on-campus {burgers or hot dogs?!}… concluded with a round of Agricola.

 

Sunday::  We enjoyed meeting Daniel’s church family in Shelby, NC.  They even had a noon meal at church so enjoyed some good food {no burgers! ha ha} along with the sweet fellowship.

• Supper after the evening service… Sonic!  for burgers/chicken and half-price shakes.

 

Monday August 18::  We finally rousted Daniel from his bed long enough for a last farewell just before 6am.

• 16 hours or so to drive the 1050 miles home from Lattimore, NC.

• Breakfast biscuits at Bojangles in Tennessee and no memories of or receipts for lunch(?)
• We passed at least four accidents along the way.  The first was so fresh that the highway patrol hadn’t arrived yet.  
• Indianapolis!!!  we limited ourselves to an hour with Jodi & her kiddos.  We could have talked all night… but she had an oils class to teach, and we were committed to beating the rush hour out of the city.

• Abby and the Cowgirl took a turn or two at driving for Tim.  Kate did some school work.

• Supper at a Subway in Illinois… and onward to home. 
• Arrival:  11:30pm Central/12:30pm Eastern.   Cue the dogs and their Snoopy-style Happy Dance!
• Thankful for good times, safe travels, and the quieter Suburban {muffler stopped rattling, but the engine light came on in NC – Tim took it to an auto parts store, but nothing showed up on the computer analysis so we continue to drive it…}
• No small thing::  This trip = 2,880miles, give or take.  Our Suburban now has over 275,000 miles on it!

August week two {high mileage adventures–part one}

 

Tuesday, August 12::  16 hours drive-time from home to Cleveland {Macedonia}. 707.4 miles according to mapquest.

• We left home just before 6am.  That is impressive, folks.   Almost as impressive as our noisy muffler system (catalytic converter?)
• Kate helped with driving for a couple hours, which included going around Chicago!
• Lunched at a McDonald’s in a toll road plaza.  Not so impressive. ha ha

• Dined at Steak & Shake in Macedonia.  Yum.  {note the burger menu repeat…oops}

• Shopped w-mart for lunch fixings…

 

Wednesday::  5 hours drive-time from Cleveland to Gettysburg, PA. 293 miles.

• Morning news was all about flooding in Detroit and the Mid-Atlantic.

• Stopped at a fruit stand for apples, peaches, and maple syrup!

• Lunched at Gettysburg National Military Park – picnic style {& no burgers}

• And on to the 2-hour auto tour.  Which took us All Afternoon.

[I remember it being 6pm when we discovered the Visitor Center was now .c.l.o.s.e.d. and someone needed a restroom!]

 

• + 1.5 hours drive-time from Gettysburg to Fairfax City, VA.  84 miles.
• We enjoyed some of the scenery along the way…

• Touring in Philadelphia was scratched from our list when we cut a day off of our trip.
• Hotel clerk who greeted us was a little wacko, but we enjoyed our 2-night stay anyway ~ including the great breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant.

 

Thursday::  23 miles to George Washington’s Mount Vernon

{which is privately owned by a foundation, did you know?}

• Lunch this day was enjoyed at Mt. Vernon’s own food court – Pizza!
• Then we headed upriver to Arlington National Cemetery… parked and ran up the hill to witness the changing of the guard… twice.

• Headed downtown to park/take a walk up and down the Mall… from the Supreme Court to the WW2 memorial and back to our parking garage.  We could no more walk.  We could also not even touch the steps of the Capitol building ~ a sorry change from when Tim and I both visited 30+ years ago.  We surely look like a bunch of unhappy citizens bent on blowing up the place, don’t we?

• Really Late Dinner {after watching Tommie Rae win the Chopped Teen Tournament} at Five Guys Burgers & Fries ~ our most expensive meal of the entire trip!  but at least they were overly generous with the fries…   We. could. not. eat. them. all.