We sleep well in the beautiful big bed. We Skype George, Marianne and Arlie as arranged, at 8.30 am; it's 1.30 pm English time. George is eating beans on toast for lunch - he has to carry on while Skyping, because their friend Hayley is due at 2.00 pm! I well remember how hard it is to fit everything in when you have a baby! (What do you mean Reg, it's just the same now?!!) Marianne brings Arlie to see us and we just want to give him a great big hug and smother him in kisses! We so appreciate our lovely son and brilliant daughter-in-law for taking the time to Skype the grandparents. We are missing all our family, bur especially little Arlie!
Breakfast is 2 eggs cooked "over easy" (fried on both sides but soft in the middle), toast done on one side only, and two mini beefburger type medallions. I'm missing my cereal (at home this is a mixture of Aldi's "Benefit" & Aldi's Bran Flakes, plus lots of sultanas added, a banana on top, and semi-skimmed milk). Similar cereals are of course available in the USA, but impossible to carry around with us. At this B&B, we are making use of our travel kettle, as there are no refreshments in our room.
Dan, the owner of the Inn, has offered to take Reg to the car hire place, as we are going to do he Skyline drive along some of the beautiful Shenandoah Park. Dan and Reg go off and I finish writing yesterday's blog.
Reg returns with a brand new white Chevrolet - he says it's the nearest he'll ever get to owning a new car! I remind him to drive on the right! It could be easy to forget this, especially when turning left or approaching a roundabout.
We pay $15 at the entrance to the Skyline drive, which gives us a pass for a week. We chat to the amiable ticket-booth man, and soon he and Reg are making cryptic comments, in a humorous sort of way, about men having to always do what they are told ...! The man tells us that on a weekday, at this time of year, the road through Shenandoah Park won't be too busy. However, they do get 2 million visitors a year, and 60% of those come in "the fall".
The Shenandoah Skyline drive follows the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains for 105 miles .. but we won't be going that far today. The road is an extremely well-maintained tarmac surface, wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other, with vegetation and trees on each side. There are viewpoints, called "outlooks" where you can stop and admire the spectacular views of the Shenandoah valley. This is nature in the raw, and it's magnificent. It's also deer and black bear country; it's very rare indeed to catch a glimpse of a bear, but we do see a deer at one outlook post.
At another outlook post, we talk to a family from Singapore. The son has just graduated from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and his parents, brother and sister-in-law were visiting for the graduation, which took place (as we well know!) last Saturday. I talk to the boy's Mum and Dad, who can remember Singapore in the 1960's, when I lived there as a teenager. They were very young then!
We have our lunch at a little cafe along the way. Later we turn off the Skyline drive and make for Harrisonburg, where there's a huge Wallmart. The internet tells us that it stocks the make of tablet we had stolen in Washington, and sure enough, it does! It's also in the sale. Reg also buys a couple of accessories and a new mouse for the old red notebook computer, which is fortunately still struggling on, though tempermental. At least we have a back up now.
We stop in the Wallmart McDonalds for a cuppa, and I enjoy a caramel McFlurry. We comment that nearly everywhere we've come across so far in America, the crockery and cutlery is cardboard and plastic; of course we know this is always the case with McDonalds, all over the world. What a mountain of landfill we are creating.
Back at the Ubon Thai Victorian Restaurant Inn (our B&B) we enjoy a Thai meal. Freshly fried spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce, followed by a Thai chicken dish for Reg, and Thai fried rice for me - absolutely delicious!
Reg puts "our" new tablet on charge - I know he'll be like a kid with a new toy in the morning!
Breakfast is 2 eggs cooked "over easy" (fried on both sides but soft in the middle), toast done on one side only, and two mini beefburger type medallions. I'm missing my cereal (at home this is a mixture of Aldi's "Benefit" & Aldi's Bran Flakes, plus lots of sultanas added, a banana on top, and semi-skimmed milk). Similar cereals are of course available in the USA, but impossible to carry around with us. At this B&B, we are making use of our travel kettle, as there are no refreshments in our room.
Dan, the owner of the Inn, has offered to take Reg to the car hire place, as we are going to do he Skyline drive along some of the beautiful Shenandoah Park. Dan and Reg go off and I finish writing yesterday's blog.
Reg returns with a brand new white Chevrolet - he says it's the nearest he'll ever get to owning a new car! I remind him to drive on the right! It could be easy to forget this, especially when turning left or approaching a roundabout.
We pay $15 at the entrance to the Skyline drive, which gives us a pass for a week. We chat to the amiable ticket-booth man, and soon he and Reg are making cryptic comments, in a humorous sort of way, about men having to always do what they are told ...! The man tells us that on a weekday, at this time of year, the road through Shenandoah Park won't be too busy. However, they do get 2 million visitors a year, and 60% of those come in "the fall".
The Shenandoah Skyline drive follows the crest of the Blue Ridge mountains for 105 miles .. but we won't be going that far today. The road is an extremely well-maintained tarmac surface, wide enough for 2 cars to pass each other, with vegetation and trees on each side. There are viewpoints, called "outlooks" where you can stop and admire the spectacular views of the Shenandoah valley. This is nature in the raw, and it's magnificent. It's also deer and black bear country; it's very rare indeed to catch a glimpse of a bear, but we do see a deer at one outlook post.
At another outlook post, we talk to a family from Singapore. The son has just graduated from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and his parents, brother and sister-in-law were visiting for the graduation, which took place (as we well know!) last Saturday. I talk to the boy's Mum and Dad, who can remember Singapore in the 1960's, when I lived there as a teenager. They were very young then!
We have our lunch at a little cafe along the way. Later we turn off the Skyline drive and make for Harrisonburg, where there's a huge Wallmart. The internet tells us that it stocks the make of tablet we had stolen in Washington, and sure enough, it does! It's also in the sale. Reg also buys a couple of accessories and a new mouse for the old red notebook computer, which is fortunately still struggling on, though tempermental. At least we have a back up now.
We stop in the Wallmart McDonalds for a cuppa, and I enjoy a caramel McFlurry. We comment that nearly everywhere we've come across so far in America, the crockery and cutlery is cardboard and plastic; of course we know this is always the case with McDonalds, all over the world. What a mountain of landfill we are creating.
Back at the Ubon Thai Victorian Restaurant Inn (our B&B) we enjoy a Thai meal. Freshly fried spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce, followed by a Thai chicken dish for Reg, and Thai fried rice for me - absolutely delicious!
Reg puts "our" new tablet on charge - I know he'll be like a kid with a new toy in the morning!
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