The road home

With some degree of sadness because our journey was ending, but with anticipation of getting home, we aimed the rig west and drove into the sunset.  The trip home had highlights however!
Hunters Hill Cafe in Rocky Mount, NC had fabulous soul food and easily the best hush puppies we'd had anywhere!
IH-95 now tops IH-35 between SA and Dallas as my least favorite super slab.  All the folks in NY and NJ that have cars and only drive them in the city just go nuts when they get out on the highway headed for Florida for the holidays ... or at least that's my best guess.  With a couple of weeks to calm my nerves, it still sucked - never again!
We did stop at Pedro's South of the Border (the SC/NC border that is) which is Buccees on Mexican jumping beans steroids ... a travel stop with fireworks, multiple restaurants and gas stations, plus amusement park rides!

Our goal was to have more soul food for lunch at Big Momma's in Augusta, GA.  We were devastated when we got to their location and they had moved.  Another phone call and the friendly lady directed us just a few more blocks down the street, where we were treated to perhaps the best fried chicken of the trip, as well as key lime cake!  Mmm-hmmmm.

We did manage one more hunt with Kali outside Montgomery, AL before shutting down near Helena, MS for the night...

All the Escalades and Land Rovers on IH-10 had pretty wreaths and bows, so we stopped at a dollar store, bought some crayons, and improvised..."reindeer" fur from KY was an added touch they didn't have!

Clearing the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge we made stops at Keller Bakery in Lafayette for rum cake and cookies and the Best Stop in Scott for boudin, then crossed back into Texas ... home at last.

With the traveling done - all 16,506.9 miles of it, there's still a list of things to do.  Catch up on the blog is done.  Catch up on two months absence from family, farm, and business will take a while.

Soon I promise to sit down and blog once more with some sort of synopsis, perhaps a link to a slide show for the many photos there's just not time or space to include here, and a little reflection on the time spent with Sophia.

Can say with absolute certainty, if the opportunity for such an adventure with your child ever presents, you absolutely must take it!

More later...thanks for tagging along.

North Carolina

With one day of exploration left, we headed southeast, but not before stopping for an awesome breakfast at the Virginia Diner!  Big ol' slab of Virginny ham, eggs, home made biscuits, and peanut pie (think pecan, only better)!  Gotta give this pie 4 stars for its nutty goodness and not-too-sweet filling.  Crust could use some work and it would push 5 stars!  Sophia had the chocolate chess pie and the tangy chocolatey combination was also outstanding!

 

We then pushed for Kitty Hawk/Kill Devil Hills to complete the Wright Brothers journey we began back in November in Dayton, OH.  Since we were familiar with the engineering that led to the Flyers, we concentrated on the locale.  I always assumed they launched the craft from the dunes for the added elevation, but instead, their launch rail was on level beach and aimed slightly east of north (probably a 1/19 runway based upon the 2/20 at the nearby airfield).  The photo shows the monuments that measure the four flights that day, the longest reaching 852' in 59 seconds.

 

Of course, with a beach nearby, we had to get some sand between Sophia's toes ... see if you can discern which critter in the photo below had a better grasp of the close shelf, rapid break, and spreading volume of waves hitting the NC coast on a rising tide!

 

 

Back on the mainland (and in dry clothing), we stopped into the National Park Service's Fort Raleigh / Lost Colony site, where Sir Walter Raleigh established the first English settlement in America in 1587.  He left some 140 settlers including the first white babies born in America, but his return was delayed by the whole Spanish Armada thing until 1590.  He found an abandoned site, but no graves or indications of natural disaster.  There's speculation that the survivors were assimilated into neighboring tribes based on the eye and hair color of some tribal members encountered in later years, but all semblance of the English language was apparently lost.  All that remains now is the earthworks of their village.  And you thought New England had some old buildings....

 

 

Our last adventure stop in NC was for a quick quail hunt on a piney, swampy WMA.  Once again, successful at finding upland poop, but could not find any birds in the tangle.  We did however find something I'd never seen - a bear's skull!  That'll get your attention as you make your way back to the truck at dusk!

 

 

The Virginias

The region where Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia meet is confusing at best and chopped up by state lines, rivers and mountains.  WV formed after seceding from VA during the Civil War and was added to the Union as a border state.
The Shenandoah Region is very beautiful, but what surprised us most traversing the area was the abundance of fruits and vegetables available.  It's not the Sacramento Valley, but it's easy to forget that VA was and is an agricultural mecca and we brought home a box full of luscious apples plus other goodies as proof.
Our primary destination was Appomatox Court House where Lee surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia to Grant in the parlor of the McLean house.  Although not filmed at ACH, the set from the Lincoln movie is incredibly accurate.

The two generals agreed to meet on neutral ground, but felt the actual courthouse was too formal a setting for their discussions, choosing instead the McLean's parlor as a more suitable environment for their gentlemanly negotiations.  Lee and his staff were at the left desk, Grant to the right.

A few interesting factoids from the Ranger that conducted our tour ... many history books inaccurately refer to the setting as "Courthouse," but in the 19th century the two-word Court House was frequently used to identify the village where the courthouse was located.  Also, General Ely S. Parker, a Seneca Indian chief, was on Grant's staff and handled all of his papers, including the surrender.  Though Parker attended law school, as an Indian he was not permitted to practice law.  His biography is among the many books I picked up during the trip - should be very interesting.
It's also interesting to note the emphasis paid to the dignity with which the Confederate soldiers were treated by the Union troops that were present for the surrender.  Perhaps it was the somber realization that the war was over; the uncertainty of what waited at home for their return, both North and South; or maybe it was just respect for the gallant efforts on both sides ... but there is no record of taunting or scuffles.  In fact, the Union troops gave much of their limited rations to the starving boys in grey.  And those men, penniless, many shoeless, and all without even a hunting rifle, began their journey home.
Finally, Appomatox shares a parallel history with Helena ... the battle in the area that led to the surrender was for the rail lines that passed nearby.  When the actual courthouse burned a few years later, the new one was built on the railway, effectively sealing Appomatox Court House's fate, just like Helena.
Although Lee only surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia, that broke the Confederate spirit and resolve and the remaining armies surrendered shortly thereafter.  Interestingly, the final shots of the Civil War were fired at sea where the C.S.S. Shenandoah was attacking Union shipping in the northern Pacific, unaware of the actual surrender - a fascinating historical read if you come across that book.
Finally, for Burf!'s and my sake, I always like to check out the historical kitchens.  I could work with this...

Gettysburg

Gettysburg was on Sophia's destination list from the beginning and we arrived on a crisp Fall day.  There's not enough time or space to do the history or significance of this most-famous of Civil War battles justice, but I can brag on the new visitors' center and museum, as well as the accessibility of the battlefield.

Having recently seen the Lincoln movie, Sophia perhaps could have scored a role as an extra... 

 

I've already discussed the value of a diorama or some other exhibit to familiarize visitors with battlefield sites prior to actually walking the fields.  G'burg has a cyclorama of Pickett's Charge completed by French artist Paul Philippoteaux in 1883 after he made repeated visits to the site, often with veterans of the battle.  The existing painting has a total length of over 350' in circumference and the viewer is situated on one of the mounds overlooking the final skirmish of the battle from which you can see Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, Lee's and Meade's camps, plus numerous vignettes of close combat, terror, heroics, and the tragedy and futility that was the final assault across the open fields against the fortified higher ground.  That may be the summation of the entire battle - the Confederates won everything but the higher ground, thus losing the battle.
For reference, the first plants and rocks and actual artifacts (and obviously the hand rail) lead up to the bottom of the cyclorama, giving it a 3-D and very realistic feel.

The museum itself is in three sections depicting the events of July 1, 2, and 3 and then continues with rooms dedicated to the remainder of the war.  All-in-all, I found the exhibits very sensitive and respectful to all involved.

Fought at a critical road junction in southern PA, the state of PA honored her sons at Gettysburg with a spectacular and fitting monument visible form everywhere on the battlefield.

This view is from the tower erected behind a wall that was the CSA lines, providing a view of Little Round Top, the Peach Orchard, and the open fields crossed by the CSA soldiers.  I was stunned by the compactness of the battlefield ... pretty small area to contain 157,000+ combatants, over 50,000 of which would be killed - more costly than the entire Korean War and nearly as many as the entire Vietnam War.

 

 

Gettysburg is a somber yet well-done memorial.

 

Just south of there we stopped in Emmittsburg, MD to visit the Basilica of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, who was widowed with children when she converted to Catholicism from the Episcopal Church and dedicated the remainder of her life to service with the Sisters of Charity. 

Kisses

Mass Pike was an icy mess and the Appalachians of Pennsylvania completed covered in fog, but we descended upon Hershey, PA and decided to do a little Christmas shopping. 
Time for a bit of reader interaction ... how many Hershey's Kisses do you believe are made each day at the factory?  Write your guess down ... answer at the end of this post.
Mr. Hershey actually created an amazing thing after failing at several other attempts in the candy business.  He ultimately built a company town for his employees which has since become a destination resort as well as manufacturing facility, complete with an amusement park and gift shop!  Cows are an important part of the the Hershey milk chocolate story!

Write your Kisses guess down yet?

Here's a hint ...

Did have the best philly cheesesteak of the trip at the Parkside Bar & Grille (next to the amusement park) before we took a nearly three-hour break from the rainy weather to see The Hobbit.  I know Tolkien fans are all googly over it, but we found it long, somewhat slow and overdone with CGI.  There it is, your from-the-road movie critique.

Answer:  all varieties of Kisses on any given day ... over 60,000,000!!!

There's not an "-er" in New England!

Wow, I thought we were busy when we were on the road, but getting home just in time for a wedding and the holidays, plus with a two month backlog of "shtuff", gets one pretty far behind on his blogging...
Many miles and states behind in fact, but that's mostly due to the sprint we made across the mid-Atlantic states prior to racing back to Texas.  So will use the remaining posts to catch up, and denote some of the final leg highlights...
After the bucket list hunt in NH, we were wandering east across the state (which is usually how we stumble upon things) when I saw a sign for Tilton, NH.  Called Ski to verify that it was the town where his sons went to prep school, then surprised the boys, Johnny and Packy, by showing up at their basketball practice.  Tilton has a national reputation for its basketball program and a number of players will go to D-I schools upon graduation.  Think the boys were most excited about eating somewhere besides the school cafeteria though!

Check out this youtube video of Johnny getting a defender to jump out of his shorts!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HntSGBqusy0

From NH we moved into Maine en route to Acadia NP.  Outside Augusta we saw the Ice Vault sign...

 

and since it was Bank of Maine we assumed it must be for "cold cash" storage, but learned from a local lobstah roll expert that it was a hockey aren-er and that there was a prep game that night.  Since they play on ice, I assumed it might be a little cold in there, but since it was 24 outside, how cold could it feel?  COLDER!  We did watch 1-1/2 periods of some pretty good hockey, complete with three fights and numerous powah plays, but the metal bleachahs in a building coldah than outside was more than I could handle.  Did have an interesting exchange with an oldah gentleman/fan.  While I stood in the concession area shivering and drinking cawffee (wearing my blaze orange Longhorn cap) he walked up and asked me if I was a "Moosah or a Wolverinah?"  Told him I was just a Longhorn...
Do have to give credit to Woofy's Seafood in Augusta where we enjoyed the lobstah rolls with a seafood plattah and rootbeer float.  Owner claimed to be the only conservative left in Maine, and he certainly talked the talk, especially when he found out we were from Texas.  Sadly for Maine, he may be the last conservative as he's ready to move to Texas and open up shop in a more business-friendly environment.  I believe his rolls would be a hit anywhere - Sophia certainly liked them and spent the rest of the trip on the lookout for lobstah roll signs!
Having reached the northeastern-most point in our trip, we turned south and stopped in Massachussetts to visit with the entire Northeast Chaptah of the Swingin' W Ranch and their families.  Did experience a first when we went out to Newburyport where the Merrimac Rivah dumps into the Atlantic ... not only did it provide another beach for Sophia, it also offahed spectaculah views of standing waves where the outflow met the tide, crashing waves where the ocean met the breakwatah ... and snow on a beach!  Jeez....

We then gathahed at the Witkowski's house for a Sunday night game between the Patriots and 49'ahs, touted (by the locals at least) as a Supah Bowl preview!  The visiting was fun, the food and beverages outstanding, and the game exciting despite the Pat's loss.  Have to give the NE Chaptah credit - they love and support their teams!  Since there's only about 12 minutes of actual football action in an average game, there was plenty of time to catch up with Ski, Doc, Mongo, Duvie, Dan-man, and Lestah between plays, plus the ladies gathered in the kitchen where conversation wasn't quite so loud!
With warm hearts and bellies, and an impending Nor'eastah, we slipped out of Bahston early the next morning and resumed our south/westerly route.