Since Corey qualified to run in the NCAA Regional Track and Field Meet in Greensboro this weekend, we decided to make the trip. Fortunately for us, he was scheduled to run his 5k race on Saturday evening at 8:30, allowing us plenty of time to drive down from home. We left here after I got out of school on Friday and drove about 5 hours where we spent the night in Waynesburg, PA, just south of Pittsburgh. Saturday morning we got an early start and continued our southern trek through West Virginia, Virginia and into North Carolina. To break up the morning of driving and to stretch our legs, we made a quick stop at the New River Bridge, a National Park facility which shows the natural history of the area and has a great wooden staircase leading down into the New River Gorge for an impressive view of the interstate bridge.
We arrived in Greensboro in the middle of the afternoon, checked into our hotel and then went to find Corey in his downtown hotel. We spent a bit of time with him before he needed to start his pre-race routine. Jim and I walked around until we found a diner for a light supper. We then went to the track where we got to see a bunch of races before and after Corey's race. Unfortunately, Corey didn't run as well as he hoped but he finished higher than his seeding, but that was little consolation to him. We were proud of him for making it to this major NCAA meet and were glad to share the event with him.
Once Corey and his teammates got back to their hotel and got cleaned up we took Corey and 4 of his friends out for a late dinner, at least it was late for us old people (11 PM!). We enjoyed a meal at a local brew pub and since Corey is now 21, we could buy him a beer!
Corey and his team flew home early on Sunday morning and we started our drive home. We took a different route north, stopping in Richmond to see Terry. She made us a nice lunch and then took us to an old cemetery in Richmond which overlooks the James River, where Terry goes kayaking. It was a good tour and we were glad to see where Terry lives. Thanks Terry for the hospitality!
We spent Sunday night in Frederick, MD. We ate dinner at a local Italian restaurant in downtown Frederick. After eating we were walking around and discovered a lovely linear park along the Carroll Creek, running right through downtown. We walked up and down the walkways on each side of the creek, enjoying all the sights along the way. What a gem for Frederick!
Monday we got an early start because we planned to stop and hike on the Appalachian Trail. We drove to Duncannon, PA, where the trail drops down into the town of Duncannon. Jim and Maw came down here in 2005 to meet Michal was he was hiking the trail. We found a place to park, near where the trail came out of the woods to meet the road. The first 1/2 mile was pretty much steep uphill until we came to a rocky outcropping which provided us with great views of the Susquehanna River valley. We continued up a bit more before the trail leveled out on top of the ridge-line. After a while, we turned around and headed back to the car. Along the way we met up with other day-hikers, section hikers and thru-hikers. We took the car into town, where we stopped for lunch at the hiker's haven called the Doyle Hotel. This place charges $25 a night for a room and hot shower. You can eat at the bar, which is where we had lunch. We got talking to the woman who owns and runs the hotel and told her that Michal has stayed with her during his thru-hike. Once we pinpointed the year he hiked (thanks Jeannie!), this woman looked him up in her collection of 3-ring notebooks and found the photo that she had of him!! She said she tried to get photos of all the thru-hikers, but misses one or two! We were thrilled to see Michal's picture and to listen to the other hikers talking in the bar. We hope to be two of those thru-hikers when we retire.
We continued our drive home arriving before 6 PM. 1500 miles in 72 hours! That is quite a road trip and gave me the summer vacation fever.
Jim got back in the car late this afternoon and went to Syracuse to bring Corey home for a few days. It will be nice to have him around, and maybe even do some biking with him.
This afternoon I picked up our first delivery from Maxwell Creek Farm, a CSA, community supported agriculture farm. Here is a photo of what we got this week. We already ate the strawberries and they were yummy!
Here are a bunch of photos from our weekend. Hopefully from my narrative, you can figure out what they are.
Hope all is well.
