Diane and I returned late last night from our two-week Grand Tour of the East Coast - Georgia to Nova Scotia. On this trip, we were behooven to visit:
The west side of the Appalachians south of the Mason-Dixon line (we never saw them before!)
Family (I have lots of aunts & uncles, eight brothers and sisters, countless nieces & nephews)
High School chum in GA
Letterboxes and letterboxers
Historical recreators (our other hobby)
Civil War sites
Fort Gordon, GA - home of the Army Signal Corps (Hooah!)
Acadian sites in Maine, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick
So we didn't get to even a third of it all. We're very sorry to have missed the GA gathering! Also, there was no way to fit in a drive through Western Kentucky and still make it to my niece's wedding in Beaufort, SC on time.
Friday, the 30th after work we made it from RI to Hazelton, PA. Night travel - no boxes.
Next day, drove straight through I-81 to get to West Virginia. AS SOON AS we went from Winchester, VA into WV, it rained big. Undaunted, we followed absolutely lovely (even in the rain) Rte. 219 to Droop Mountain battlefield & park. The rain and clouds let up just long enough for us to get a gorgeous view of the valley from the tower. Droop letterbox is dry, alive and well, though the rock it's under is a bit heavy. DrooP placed this and the Hot Pepper HH at the spot, and we were the first finders! WooHoo!
But with the rain and very twisty mountain roads, what would've been about a six-hour drive took over nine hours. We got to southern WV and there were no hotels available! We drove to Wytheville, VA on Rte. 81 before we found a bed!
Next morning - really behind the eight-ball for time! We took Rte. 81 through to Tennessee, enjoying the scenery. We both prefer getting off the highways and seeing sights, but time was a-tickin'. Thank you VERY much to Quiet Place for all your advice about the route! We came into the state armed with all kinds of clues, maps and such, but so very little time! We went by Dave's Starfish LB in Kingsport and Zed's Gatlinburg LB (guess where?) and both were alive and well. Gatlinburg also had the Lost and Found HH in a cute little (teensy!) package. Then off through the Smokies (gorgeous! No time for a letterbox!) and down the Ocoee River to Chatanooga and just made it to Marietta, Georgia by nightfall of August 1st. Whew!
August 2nd. Diane's friend from school, Janet, took us to Kennesaw Mountain battlefield. We returned the favor by taking her and her husband, George, to Squirrel in a Mailbox LB - their first! The skeeters were noticing us, and we didn't want to have them get cranky on their first letterboxing experience, so we got out of the heat and finished our visitin'.
August 3rd, we drove to Mother Gordon (Fort Gordon is in Augusta) to pick up some stuff. We made it to Beaufort before dark and immediately got put to work readying for the wedding. Heck. August 4th - all wedding and reception. Couldn't even get away. The reception was in the back yard. Naturally, my niece picked the day where the heat index put it to 115 degrees. Why don't more of the Northerners visit?
Next day, we pack up. On our mind is getting to the Acadian festivities in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and getting to COOLER WEATHER! We cross into the North and make it to New England in two days. Then comes the rest of the story...
Dave
The von der Insels
P10 F238 X121 H9 E2
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