Meandering in the Shenandoah

We enjoyed being on the road again yesterday, traveling west before turning south, thus escaping the sometimes hazardous drive through Baltimore, Washington DC, Alexandria and Richmond.  The drive through Harper’s Ferry, New Market, Harrisonburg—the Shenandoah Valley—was just the right way to go. We are traveling in two separate vehicles until we reach our grandson’s home in North Carolina.  There, we’ll transfer title to our 2001 Honda Odyssey (18 years old with 185,000 miles) to Matt.  He and Emily are expecting their second daughter—our second great granddaughter in June and they need more room than their present vehicles afford. Granddaughter Katie has used the van for the past four years whenever she has had a prolonged stay in Maryland.  Now it is Matt’s turn.  It will cost him exactly one dollar!  I believe the van will “live” to be 20 years old and travel another 50,000 miles at least!

Since our trip across country this past Jan/Feb I’ve tried to discipline myself to drive only 300 to 350 miles per day.  We drove almost precisely halfway to Matt’s home yesterday (257 miles) and will travel the next half (250 miles) today.

We stayed at an RV park last night near Staunton, Virginia, the birthplace of Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president. Staunton was first settled in 1732 by John Lewis and family.  It was then considered “back country” and was known as the Northwest Territory at the time.  The town was the capitol of Virginia for a brief time during the American Revolution when state legislators fled Richmond and then Charlottesville to avoid capture by the British. 

When we crossed the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers yesterday I could not help but think of the song:  “Shenandoah.”  Music makes the journey more meaningful.  It expresses what one feels in ways ordinary words cannot.  I don’t know what I felt crossing the Shenandoah yesterday, but singing the song (remember I was by myself) helped express whatever it was I felt!

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you

Look away, you rollin’ river

Oh, Shenandoah, I long to hear you

Look away, We’re bound away

Across the wide Missouri

Odysseus and the Odyssey--and that shadow?
that shadow is me!