Sundown

That's the sun setting behind our daughter's house in West Virginia. The sun has set on our trip as well. We left WV Tuesday morning and headed for Virginia. We took route 50 from central WV over to Winchester, Va. and then route 17 down to Fredericksburg, Va. What a terrific route it turned out to be. It took us right up over the Allegheny mountains with stunning views and fall colors at their peak. It also took us up and over quite a few 9% grades with tight twisty curves. But we went up and down just fine, if slow.

We got to Fredericksburg about 3:00 and set about finding the military visitor center. Signs directed us West to the Chancellorsville site but there didn't seem to be much there so we returned to Fredericksburg and found a different set of signs that led us to the National Military Cemetery visitors center.

By then it was 4:00 and they close at 5:00. We inquired about Diane's ancestor and were shown where his grave was located. Then I pushed her up the hill and over the grass until we found it. There are 15,243 sets of remains interred there but the identities are known for only 2,473 of them. Luckily, one of those is Diane's Great Grand Uncle, that is, her Great Grandfather's brother. He was a member of B Company of the 2nd Michigan Infantry and was killed at the Battle of the Wilderness. When we visited the family plot in NY last fall, we saw that his name was carved on the family monument but there was no headstone for him. I did a bunch of research and found his military record and his burial spot. This was our chance to check it out. No one else in the family has ever been to the grave site.

By the time we returned to the visitors center it was almost 5:00 and I just had time to get some names of references to pursue for further research. Then we headed South out of town to a huge shopping complex. After snagging some snacks for dinner, we settled in for the night in the parking lot of a Walmart. The temperature remained mild over night and the site was well removed from the highway so it turned out to be a good choice. In the morning we headed right down I95 and then I85 to home. We got home just at noon. I filled up at the Flying J near home and was pleased to see that for the last tank of fuel I got 11.8 mpg, the best I've recorded so far.

Altogether, we've been gone about 6 months and have traveled about 7,000 miles. It has been a good trip. There have been highs and lows but we're both glad we went and did what we did. We'll never do a trip West like that again but we'll certainly plan more trips. The motor home has proven trouble free on the return trip and I feel confident taking it anywhere this side of the Rockies. For us, this is the ideal way to see the country and visit family. Thank you all for following along with us.