Tag Archives: West Virginia

Back in Pennsylvania

Day 51: Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Start: Winchester, VA
End: Duncannon, PA
Miles Driven Today: 141
Total Miles: 8,928

Today was a day to visit friends. We started out in Winchester and headed just 30 minutes East to visit one of Tom’s former colleagues, Paris Resnick. Paris now owns and runs the Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm in Berryville, VA.

It was a short but lovely drive to the farm. Our open road was quite nice.

Today's open road - Berryville, VA

Today’s open road – Berryville, VA

We were soon at the farm. Perfectly manicured Christmas trees greeted us at the foot of the driveway.

Arriving at Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm

Arriving at Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm

As we pulled up the driveway, we saw a fabulous log cabin. There was a huge wrap-around porch (which we later found out wrapped ALL the way around the large house).

Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm - Log Cabin

Moose Apple Christmas Tree Farm – Log Cabin

We got a tour of the place. They have a nice variety of trees. What was great was that it was quiet…but not. Tons of birds were chirping and darting amongst the trees; sweet voices surrounded us. We spotted a bunny in the blueberry patch. There were nests all around the rafters. A little paradise!

The farm does (not surprisingly) almost all of their business between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but many people come out in October to pick and tag their trees. The farm will also be hosting a wine tasting in October with a local winery. Taste a bit of vino, pick out a tree…come back and cut it down. Sweet!

Tom and Paris

Tom and Paris

The inside of the house was even more spectacular than the outside! And the handmade crafts were fabulous! Kathy, Paris’ wife, paints and their daughter makes stained glass and fused glass (we bought an ornament). The farm also has jams, jellies and syrups made specifically for them. I picked up a jug or two of Brandy Vanilla Syrup. YUM!

We said goodbye to the Resnicks and motored on to Duncannon, PA to visit Bob and Sharon. Our route took us through an unusual part of the area where we were in three states in a matter of five minutes. We traveled from West Virginia to Virginia and into Maryland in a short spell! What travelers we are!

Hello there Maryland!

Hello there Maryland!

We were soon in Pennsylvania and headed for our final destination.

Hello again, Pennsylvania!

Hello again, Pennsylvania!

It was good to be in familiar territory! We started out our journey here; it was fitting that this be our last stop! Jasmine was looking forward to the visit!

Checkin' out the scenery

Checkin’ out the scenery

Perhaps Jasmine likes it here because she gets away with a lot. She climbed onto the kitchen table from my lap. Sharon’s response? “She’s allowed to do that HERE!” 🙂

Dogs are allowed on the kitchen table here!

Dogs are allowed on the kitchen table here!

We’ll stay the night here, and then we’re heading HOME. Yes, our journey is coming to an end.

Of course, before we left for home, we had to see one more thing…

First there was Margaretville, then...

First there was Margaretville, then…

One Day, Four States

Day 5
Start: Duncannon, PA
End: Burlington, KY
Miles Driven: 504

West Virginia

Welcome to West Virginia

Ohio

Welcome to Ohio

Kentucky

Welcome to Kentucky

Today was a travel day. Eleven hours, 504 miles and one emergency pit stop later, we arrived in Kentucky. We left Duncannon around 8 a.m. and hopped on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Even though it was a fast-moving Interstate, it snaked through some lovely country. Rolling hills, farmland, barns painted with tobacco ads…we saw another bit of Americana.

To get to our destination, we crossed three state lines, making the day a four-state extravaganza! West Virginia was just a blur–we were barely there for fifteen minutes before we catapulted into Ohio. But hey, we got a picture of the Welcome sign. It counts!

We were about half-way across Ohio, and I was getting a bit weary of large semis and road construction. I suggested that we get off the Interstate and venture on some back roads. We got off at Route 79 and made a stop at Buckeye Lake. Juliet especially enjoyed the stop as she rolled around in goose poop! It was another beautiful day, and we sat in the sun for a few minutes and watched families picnic and a fisherman catch a sizable fish. Then it was off to Route 22 West.

Buckeye Lake

Buckeye Lake, OH.

Aside: We have been noticing that this driving tour is turning out to be a water tour as well. South of Pittsburg, we crossed the Monongahela River. We also crossed the Ohio River (WV border), the Licking River, and the Scioto River (OH). On our way to Duncannon, we were around the Chesapeake Basin, and we criss-crossed the Susquehanna river many times. We went over the East Branch of the Delaware River around the Pepacton Reservoir. We’ll cross the Mississippi, and maybe even the Rio Grande.

We drove through Lancaster, Circleville, and on to Wilmington. We were going to take Route 22 all the way to highway 275 near the Ohio/Kentucky border, but Jasmine’s tender stomach required an emergency pit stop, lots of wipes and a very large trash bag. 😦 So we made our way back to the Interstate and motored on to Kentucky.

We arrived at our destination around 7 p.m. and were immediately greeted by Minda and Pete, their kids Sam and Grace, and their dog Sparky. You’ll have to wait for the next post to find out what happened next!