Day 3, Nighttime

Again, I am tired. Left the hotel about 9:30 a.m. The odometer read 13711.8, it was 16 degrees and sunny with a few clouds. I got gas at $3.59.

Martinsburg is a wonderful old town. Some of the buildings are amazing. I went to the train station, but the Visitor’s Center wasn’t open. I did go inside the station and look around. There were people waiting for a train. Out across the tracks are a huge building, a round house, another building then ruins of another round house. I took a lot of pictures. It was freezing! Two trains went by. The first had car after car of coal, the second had other freight.

Heading out of town along King Street, the houses were fabulous. I could understand why this street had that name. These were homes that I envisioned of the old south. The history, architecture, and stone work are quite different from N.H.

I took the exit ramp to Rte. 81S at 10:30. The temperature had risen to 19 degrees and 15 minutes later I crossed the Virginia state line and stopped at the first rest stop; 21 degrees, a little further south, a little warmer. I collected a bunch of brochures and maps. The lady at the Visitors Center told me they don’t have scenic trains in VA because of insurance. She did tell me the Skyline Drive was open and that Rte. 66E was only 20 miles away. She specifically said that it only goes east and that it’s not part of THE Route 66 that goes west.

I had a decision to make; Skyline Drive or keep heading towards the coast. When the exit came up, I took it. I figured even though it was really cold, it might be snowing and the road closed when I came back. I paid my $10 fee at noon, odometer read 13766.2 and it was 21 degrees. I chatted a few minutes with the park ranger. He said that if I wanted to do any hiking, I’d find the trails deserted. I told him that that wasn’t going to be a problem.

Driving up, the first thing to note was a flock of bluebirds. Poor little things, bet they didn’t expect it to be this cold. I stopped at Shenandoah Valley Overlook at 1390 ft. Wow, what a breathtaking scene. The skies had become overcast and the valley looked a little foggy. It’s absolutely amazing how far you can see. Photographs are not going to do it justice.

I stopped at every pull off, every overlook. It was cold, brutally cold with the wind. The temperatures dropped the higher the elevation. I took lots of photos, but the colors weren’t spectacular. It is that time of year and I shouldn’t be surprised. It was browns and grays with a lot of dried yellow grasses. After going around one corner, there was a whole row of bushes that still had green leaves. That was surprising.

The road climbed up and wound around one way then the other. First overlooks were off to the right, then a couple to the left and alternated. After the second stop for photos, I kept my coat and sweater on which meant I didn’t do my seat belt. It was a nuisance as I was stopping so often. After awhile, though, I got tired of it. The views were similar huge open vistas that were dimmed by the bluish mountains in the far distance. (There’s a reason why they are called the Blue Ridge Mountains.) The road ran down, then back up to the highest point at Hogback Overlook, 3385 ft. Finally, it was down, down and out the gate at the intersection of Rte. 211. It was 2 p.m. with the odometer reading 13797.4 and 18 degrees.

I pulled off the road to check the map. I could continue onto the Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina like I had originally planned, but I couldn’t take any more of those similar views and dreary colors. Rte. 211 heads towards Washington DC so that’s the route I took.

What a road this was! It went down, steep, sharp curves which reminded me of a sign I saw at the beginning: “High Motorcycle Fatalities Next 3 Miles.” I could see why. It was kind of fun, kind of scary, and attention had to be paid at all times. It twisted and turned first to the left, then to the right with steep bankings and tall trees on one side and deep drop offs on the other.

I almost stopped in Sperryville for a couple of photos of dilapidated buildings, but it was getting late and I hadn’t eaten. I enjoyed Rte. 211. The speed limit was 55, traffic was light and further along, I did pull over long enough to take a couple photos out the window of the farm land. I started noticing green trees, pine and possibly yew or spruce along the road and that reminded me I saw very few evergreen along Skyline Drive. I picked up Rte. 17S in Warrentown and followed that into Fredericksburg getting here about 4 p.m.

I pulled over to get out the coupon booklet on places to stay. By then, I was too tired to go for a steak which I’d been thinking about half the day.