Past the point of no return (aka the Mason-Dixon line)

Okay, Hampton Inn, I'm starting to feel a little spoiled:

And this is the cheapest room so far.

I'm in Front Royal, VA, tonight. I stayed in Gettysburg for the morning. Did the auto tour of Gettysburg National Military Park. Have any of you been there? I find it to be peculiar--a mix of open fields and quiet forests, with monuments just plunked everywhere. All states, regiments, etc. are represented, but it's all a little random. Take the PA monument. Plunk!

Some, however, make sense. This is the spot of the High Water Mark. But behind it, you can see other monuments. Plunk! Plunk! Plunk!

 

There was a cool group by the side of the road describing a lot from the soldiers' perspective. Mad props to them for standing under the hot sun wearing wool.

The roads through the park are serene, and I'm a sucker for a dangerous-looking split-rail fence...

 Little Round Top:

Looking out over Devil's Den (to the left) from Little Round Top. I wanted to check out DD, but just couldn't find it. Not easy to drive and look at the map at the same time.

On the way out of town, I took a better picture of the Farnsworth Inn (the place where I ate, with all the bullet holes). Might be the prettiest thing in town.

And then this caught my eye:

Really?

Moving on . . . I left PA and drove through corners of Maryland, West Virginia (so pretty driving into Harpers Ferry National Historical Park), and finally:

And life was good until, suddenly:

Fucking dinosaurs. Just walking around like it's no big thang. No one even blinked. I don't know how they do things in the South, but this shit would never fly in the North. Oh wait:

I forgot we have one milling around the Saugus area.

So Front Royal is the gateway to the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. The Drive is about 109 miles, and is 35 mph the whole way. Guide books say to give it three hours minimum. I just wanna see bears. That would rock. 'Cause who cares about stupid dinosaurs when there are REAL LIVE BEARS to be seen?

Off to bed. I can hear thunder in the distance. Hope it all passes through tonight and tomorrow's clear.

-k.