Comfort Suites Martinsburg

6 pm

I am on a 24 hour train journey from Penn Station, NY to Union Station, Chicago.  I just switched trains in DC.  Now we are riding through this tiny little West Verginia village.  I want to visit here for a weekend or something.  All the houses are on the side of a mountain and connected by bridges and stairs and pathways.  It looks like that shoots and ladders board game.  

But for now.... Chicago Ho!

... they were actually synchronizing their cries with the light show. Since we couldn't hear the orchestra , this worked well enough. It was there though that we both confessed that we are too old for babies and after we raised our kids, it should be just us. I slept all the way home, but M got us home safely. We fell alseep right away.

Day 3 (5 July, Sunday)

We missed the sunrise, but the good news is that M noticed during his early ...

... night for dinner.  Sigrid proceeded to show Madeline her old work site, to which unfortunately nothing much had happened with since she had been there.  We checked out the old town and it was already super hot outside; it reminded Sigrid how she had worked outside in this weather in long pants and a long sleeved t-shirt.  The town was cute; the shops ...

... but we were told to keep an eye on those ones at our Tuesday night meeting so hopefully they got a bit more TLC today and perked up a bit, will have to wait until tomorrow to see as they're in bed now.

Had our first proper arts and crafts session with them yesterday which went well, we had a few different ones to try but the one they really seemed to like was the one I'd picked out ( :-) ), which was making bookmarks/coasters etc out of the ...

... couple more runs, everyone meet up at the lodge for lunch...well almost everyone. Jon was enjoying himself so much he continued ski so more runs. Plus, Jana decided to switch to skis because she wanted to go faster and was more comfortable on skis. After a expensive lunch of a panini, chips and vitamin drink ($16!!), everyone returned to the slopes. After a half dozen runs on the beginner slope, I was ready ...

... 40 and the sunny breaks ended. Got into the motel and put the bike to bed while pondering what the weather channel had to say now. I hadn't planned to get this far north, now may have to think about cutting east to I-95. Should be able to do this even if there are some intermittent flurries tomorrow.

... Gettysburg to Chambersburg took us through the densely wooded Michaux State Forest and the South Mountains. From Chambersburg it was only about a 15 mile drive to Fort Loudon where we picked up signs for Cowan's Gap State Park. We were both shocked and disappointed that as non-residents of the state we had to pay several dollars more than residents, and there was also another $3.50 premium as it was a weekend night. Talk about encouraging tourism!! Oh and ...

Well, we hit the road about an hour later than planned. Not too bad at all really. We got settled in the hotel, changed clothes and headed to dinner. Dinner was at LJ and the Kat Lounge in Hagerstown. Don't let the name fool you! It's a fabulous place with a GREAT wine list ...

... War Battle of South Mountain and the Antietam battlefield is visible to the west just beyond South Mountain...this explained the blue and gray golf carts and tee locations. The course was designed by Joe Lee, a direct descendant of Robert E. Lee. I goggled Joe Lee and saw several top resort golf resorts as part of his credentials (Walt Disney World Resort, LaCosta and Sea Island). I have played one other Joe Lee course, Greystone in White Hall, MD ...

... s palettes set up around downtown. They'd been painted in different designs by I have no clue who. The girl who picked me up from Enterprise didn't know what they were for or where they'd come from. Apparently they'd just shown up one day. I'm glad they were there. It gave some character to this little town that has become my home for the past week. Thankfully though I get to go back to Tennessee tomorrow. At least, I think I do.