Day 11-Shenandoah Valley

 Tuesday, May 13

We spent today exploring several towns in the Shenandoah River Valley.  

It rained hard all night and it was still coming down when we got up, so we were in no hurry to get going.  

I made coffee and we headed to the city of Winchester to visit the local Ford dealer since the "check engine light" came on last night.  The service manager said they were too busy to fit us in, but as long as that light isn't flashing it's safe to drive.  He recommended we go to the local Auto Zone store where they'll run a check engine light test for free.  We also needed new wiper blades, so that became our next stop.  

The guy at Auto Zone was great.  He immediately came out to the van, in the pouring rain, and ran the "check engine light" test which identified a minor problem which is easily fixed with an additive to pour into our gas tank.  He also installed new wiper blades as the rain continued to pour down.  I felt a whole lot better and am confident we can continue our travels without the van breaking down.  Hopefully I'm right!

Leaving Auto Zone we drove to the "Museum of the Shenandoah Valley" which focuses more on the natural history of this area and not its role in the Civil War.  We really enjoyed the exhibits which included a painting display from Jacob Lawrence, and multiple displays of what life was like in the 19th century in this area.  We loved it, and could easily revisit anytime.

                                          Museum of the Shenandoah Valley

Toussaint l'Ouverture

Bloody Sunday on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama

A tribute to Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad

Although he lived in Harlem at one point in his life, he painted this scene from memory.

A recreation of a typical kitchen in the Valley.  Rural residents became dependent on the Sears Catalog.  The stove in this picture was sold for $65 in the 1932 edition of the catalog.  The average income in the Valley that year was only $100/month, so that stove was quite a luxury.

These objects all came from a temporary storage room since the archives of the museum were being renovated.  The official name for this exhibit is "uncharted chaos."

An interesting explanation of how slavery functioned.

Leaving the museum we headed for lunch in downtown Winchester.

Lobster bisque

I'm not sure what this was, the waiter didn't want Joni to have nothing while I enjoyed the lobster bisque.

Pasta Primavera for Joni

Fettuccine Carbonara for Rick

On the way out of Winchester we stopped by the childhood home of Patsy Cline.

Leaving Winchester we continued to explore some of the small towns in northwest Virginia:  Middleburg & Upperville, both of which were beautiful land dominated by horse culture. 

A 3/4 scale statue of a weary horse with Civil War tack.  Commissioned by Paul Mellon

Returning to our campsite at Shenandoah River State Park we stopped for dessert/dinner, hot fudge frozen custard sundaes.  We capped this evening doing laundry and watching the rain continue to fall.

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