Day 2: PA to Waynesboro, VA 354 miles

We were up early and Paul was on the road headed home before 6am. He had the much tougher day facing traffic in the northeast corridor. He took I-95 over the Delaware Memorial Bridge to I-287, I-87, then I-90 home. I was really happy to get his call saying he was home safe before noon. I told him that if he was even half as nervous about me making this trip as I was for his ride home today, I was sorry for what I was putting him through!

I stuck around to take advantage of the "free" (included with the room) breakfast. I enjoyed what was one of the best hotel breakfast buffets I've experienced. I was underway just before 7am, heading basically west. It was pretty foggy, although the temps were in the comfortable 60's. The first part of my route had me skirting Newark, DE. I passed by the University of Delaware campus, a collection of very pretty brick buildings. I also went through a neighborhood of nicely maintained Victorian era homes. As though it were carefully orchestrated, just as I reached the town of Rising Sun, the sun did indeed break through the mist and the temperature quickly climbed to the mid-80's. If you look on a map of Maryland, you'll see that there is no direct east/west route. I felt like I was sailing, tacking northwest and southwest in order to go west. Much of the time I was on designated "Scenic Byway" routes including the Mason and Dixon, Horses and Hounds (very appropriately named, by the way), Old Main Street and Catoctin Mountain. Eventually I turned south and passed by the Antietam National Battlefield. There is terrific history of our country in this area, worthy of deeper exploration some day.

After crossing into Virginia and just a few miles north of Front Royal, I stopped for a while at the State Arboretum of Virginia.

This was a beautiful spot to take a break. I especially enjoyed the herb garden with the lavender in full bloom.

There were huge clumps of it and attracted what must have been every bee in the area. They sure seemed happy.

Around 2pm I passed through Front Royal and headed down the Skyline Drive. Skyline climbs and descends and curves almost continuously for 105 miles along the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains until it turns into the Blue Ridge Parkway at Waynesboro, VA.

There are numerous (75 according to the map) lookout areas along the length of the Drive, showing views of the Shenandoah Valley. The azaleas along the sides of the road were in full bloom. I'm so glad I got to see that! The speed limit is 35 mph and I got behind drivers who interpreted the signs as 25. Fortunately, there are a few places to pass. This was a truly relaxing part of my day with very light traffic, beautiful views to keep it interesting, and easy, fun twisties.