The Blue and TJ

Last Sunday we made it to Waynesboro, VA and parked at the Moose Lodge for three nights. What a great spot. Besides being very welcoming (as is usual for the lodges,) they had a nice gravel spot for us to park, a view of the mountains, and lunch and dinner every day. Since we are not big drinkers, we like to patronize the lodges by buying meals. The food was good and of course we also showed our appreciation with a donation. Everybody wins.

Waynesboro is located at the south end of Skyline Drive and the north end of the Blue Ridge Parkway. On Monday we took the car and headed out. First we stopped at McDonalds for a free sample iced mocha for me while Ron paid for his regular coffee.

Then we were ready to check out part of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Here I am doing the required pose. As you can see, the skies were threatening.

Soon it started to rain and we gave up on that plan.

But luckily, we had a backup. Off we went to Charlottesville and Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home. When we arrived in Charlottesville, it was lunch time and I suggested we stop at McDonalds so I could have (you guessed it) a free iced mocha with my lunch.

We arrived at the visitors center, bought our tickets ($20 now, but for some reason I didn't mind too much), and hopped on the shuttle bus to the house. Everybody knows what Jefferson's house looked like, but did you know he designed it?


We had an hour before our scheduled tour which gave us time to see the grounds. The vegetable garden was particularly impressive - a 1000 foot long terrace cut out of the side of the hill.

Luckily the rain held off until just as our house tour began. Pictures were not allowed, but our guide was wonderful. She's probably given the tour hundreds of times, but you would never think so. I heard one of the other guides say they were paid volunteers which means they aren't paid much, so I guess they do it for the love of Monticello.

We did have to wait in the rain for the return shuttle bus, but then we spent over an hour in the exhibits at the visitors center. Ron had a lot to read.

Wow! I didn't realize Jefferson was so tall!

On our way back to the RV, we made a stop at Walmart. Since it had a McDonalds inside, I thought about another iced mocha, but I decided that was a bit much. Don't forget to get yours - every Monday until August 3.