Last night on the road. From Marlinton, West Virginia to Hazleton, Pennsylvania.
Today is my mother’s birthday, passed in 2004 at age 86. She’d be 108 today. Happy Birthday, Shirley, with a wink and a kiss. She was a lovely soul, and loved a good laugh!
Okay, off I go, heading back onto route 220, about 30 miles east of here, and then heading north, reaching Winchester, Virginia about 190 miles later, where I’ll be back on more conventional local roads, and eventually, as I enter Pennsylvania, an interstate or two. As I set out, I’m not sure exactly where ‘ll spend the night tonight, but it will be at least as far north as Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and hopefully a little further north east, meaning less time on the road tomorrow as I head home, and giving me more time to enjoy that final leg of this 16-day trip.
It was another lovely day of driving, covering about 390 miles, and taking me once again through Virginia and West Virginia, although I couldn’t keep track of which state I was in at any given moment as, like yesterday, I once again passed from one state to the other more than once, as well as Maryland and Pennsylvania as I headed north east, also beautiful states. Again, like yesterday, I kept to local and state roads all the way until just before Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by which time I’d decided I’d stop for the night in Hazleton, about 90 minutes north of Harrisburg. I switched to the interstate for this final leg of today’s drive as by the then it was getting late and would soon be growing dark. Down this way, the interstate is surrounded by lovely scenery and so was actually nice to drive, and as dusk started to descend in the west I saw a beautiful sunset in my rear and side mirrors. By the time I arrived in Hazleton, where I am now, I’d been on the road for about eight hours. Didn’t feel like it, though. I easily could’ve kept going.
Starting my day, the mountain road leading from Marlinton, West Virginia to Warm Springs, Virginia, where I once again picked up route 220 north, was as fun and winding as it was yesterday (of course; it’s the same road), and 220 was also a great road to drive, but not as intensely curvy as route 39 leading into (and out of) Marlinton, or route 220 south of Warm Springs, which I traveled yesterday. Today, I was able to photograph some of those curves, although the photos really don’t adequately capture the constant and frequent winding nature of the roads, or the duration of some of those long curves. It was like a prize fight: A left, a right, another left, another right, left again, etc. Lovely. Great driving. And, aside from the curves, of course, the roads are just beautiful as they pass through wonderful and changing rustic views.
In fact, the beautiful views just kept coming. They never stopped. Scene after scene of rustic and pastoral beauty and calmness.
With West Virginia behind me, and once past Winchester, Virginia later in the afternoon, I drove through Maryland, also a lovely state, with some very rural and idyllic scenes, and then into Pennsylvania, with both pastoral and dramatic views, but by the afternoon the landscape had changed significantly from where I started out out this morning. More rural and pastoral now, along the way I more frequently passed through a number of small towns along the way. As far as photos went, however, I’ve lost track of which photos I shot where.
As I passed through Maryland, with google maps set to avoid highways, it seemed to take me at my word this time. As I headed further into the state, it took me on a most convoluted, rural, and delightful route, taking side roads, country roads, and back roads of every kind. It was wonderful, although slow going. Worth doing again, though. Actually, at one point, I was only about 30 miles from Big Ken’s in Mount Airy.
Nearing Pennsylvania, google maps took me onto state route 15 north, which was pretty rural at this point, taking me through Catoctin Mountain Park, in Thurmont, Maryland, part of the National Park Service. That was really lovely, a beautiful and rustic drive along the roads surrounding the park. Fabulous.
Unfortunately, right about here my phone’s camera started taking fuzzy shots again, although I didn’t realize that until later, and so I am unable to use any of the lovely shots I took there. Too bad.
I have figured out the problem though, which is some sort of mark or scratch on the lens, preventing the camera from knowing what to focus on. I’ve made an appointment to have this looked at this Wednesday, at the Apple Store. I hope it’s repairable. Luckily, I’m close to the end of my trip, and hopefully I will still be able to get some good shots tomorrow, as I pass through Kingston and Woodstock, New York, as I near home
Tomorrow, I’ll continue heading north east, up through Pennsylvania, and then into New York, before that final leg into Massachusetts and home. Including the the stops I plan, it should be maybe 320 miles or so, and maybe 6 hours or less. The weather has most certainly changed, with the temps in the 40s tomorrow, as it is here, and dropping into the 30s overnight, but still sunny and bright during the day.