What a difference a day makes

Well, here's the proof that we were, indeed, in close proximity to the Endless Caverns entrance, although I was a bit surprised to see this view from the bedroom window among awaking.  The photo doesn't do justice to the words featured on the hillside.  Marty and I certainly got quite a chuckle out of this view.

Snow never appeared in New Market,  and the day was absolutely fabulous for walking the Civil War Museum New Market Battlefield grounds.  The museum there is well presented, and Marty and I enjoyed walking through the building and reading the history from a southern perspective.

The battle took place on the homestead of the Bushong family, and the house and building structures are preserved in their original site.  We spent several hours walking the fields and exploring the grounds.  

Here Marty stands on the porch of one of the houses on the Bushong homestead.  

Just over the hill, down a very steep cliff, flows the Shenandoah River.

As you can see, we were quite fortunate to have such lovely weather to enjoy the spectacular views of this area.  What a difference a day can make!

A Time Warp, Perhaps?

This is a photograph taken from our car, at a rest stop just outside Roanoke, Virginia today.  We read the weather warnings before departing, but scoffed them off as a supermarket scare as it just didn't seem possible that it could snow right smack in the middle of the state of VA without more northern areas being affected.

About half an hour into our trip, the giant snowflakes began to fall.  And as we traveled north, the roads became hazardous.  Our destination was a B&B just outside of New Market, VA.  We thought we'd try something different on the way home, and visit the National Civil War Battlefield in New Market in the morning.

As our destination arrival time was becoming perilously close, we decided that we would order a to-go meal from our favorite restaurant in Harrisonburg.  Our thinking was that we would pick up the meal along with a bottle of wine and enjoy both at the B&B, safely tucked in out of the snow.
Our wine options were limited to a screw-on cap, since we don't tend to travel with a corkscrew in hand.  (I know that one of my blog followers will find that comment to be amusing.)

As soon as the order was complete the road conditions improved dramatically.  Within a mile, we suddenly noticed that there was no snow....anywhere.  The grass was green (or at least as green as it would look in the dark), the trees were bare....the road was dry.  It was as if we were in some sort of movie where the car just suddenly drove out of a winter scene like in a dream.

The car certainly stood out in the parking lot, covered with ice dripping onto the macadam.
We picked up the food, and started out on our way to the B&B, which we knew was in the middle of nowhere.  And, thank goodness the snow had not traveled up this far, as finding this place was enough of an adventure without bad weather to complicate things.

We are literally adjacent to the Endless Caverns Gate Entrance. Now before you get too excited, let me mention that the place is closed for the winter, so there'll be no cavern tours, not that I was remotely interested in one.

We were warmly greeted by the B&B owner upon our arrival, but I did find it amusing that the parking lot was completely empty, considering that there are about 8 rooms in this place, and when I inquired about room availability, the response was that the Andrew Jackson suite was available.
So, here we are, the only patrons in a 1790 refurbished farmhouse, next to the Endless Caverns, in the middle of nowhere.
Our room is certainly comfy, as you can see:

But, we decided to partake of our meal downstairs, next to a burning fire, rather than eat in the room.  The food was delicious and the wine was actually quite tasty.  Whoever said that you need a cork to enjoy a bottle of wine?  But then again, after today's travels, perhaps anything with alcohol would have tasted equally as wonderful.

The last time I peeked out of the window, there was still no sign of any snowflakes.

And, I swear this lady who adorns the mantle-piece was looking in a different direction when we left the room for dinner.

Curious, don't you think?  But, really, after today's adventures, I shouldn't find anything too surprising!

The ongoing excitement of Hotel Strasburg

If you recall from past blogs, Marty and I have stayed at the Hotel Strasburg on several occasions as part of our travel adventures to and from Becky and Jon's new abode in southern Virginia.
Tonight, we find ourselves once again relaxing in the confines of a building that dates back to the early 1900's.  The owner has managed to keep the hotel decorated in period style but with the obvious modern day amenities with the newest addition being  Wi-Fi.

On our last stay here, we had Buster in tow, but he is enjoying this President's Day weekend at the Country Pet Hideaway.  I'm certain that he is having a grand time, as the place was extremely busy when I dropped him off this morning.

I reserved the room here  through a 3rd party online vendor, as I have done twice in the past.  The online offerings are typically the simplest room available, and I always book a room with a queen bed.  The second time that I booked online, it was brought to my attention that the owner seems to be rather negligent when it comes to checking the online status of the regular rooms, and since those always book first, we were offered an upgraded suite with a huge room.

We showed up this evening, and I pulled out my room reservation, and the lady once again could not find my name in the book. She politely explained the same story that we had heard on a previous trip, and this time we find ourselves on the 3rd floor, in a relatively unique room with quite a bit of room.
In fact, the room holds a queen bed as well as a twin bed with plenty of room to spare.

Doesn't it figure! The one time we don't bring Buster along, and he could have had his own bed!  But, then again, we'd have to scale 3 flights of steps every time he had the whim to want to go outside.
And with Marty having just flown in from Scotland this afternoon, with his body clock still on Edinburgh time, you know who would be making that trip up and down the stairs.
Not that I couldn't use some stairmaster exercise, but I am looking forward to not waking up to a little white dog barking at 5:00 in the morning.

But something tells me that Marty's morning will be beginning around that time since he's been sleeping half an hour already.  Oh well.  At least he doesn't bark when he gets up!