23:00
Harrisonburg VA
I began the drive from Scranton and headed south passing through several rural Pennsylvania towns, many of which reminded me of the town in The Deer Hunter (I laughed because I even accidentally stumbled upon classical guitar music on the radio, just like in that movie's soundtrack). Little communities built on hillsides of some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever seen. Obviously, my crappy pictures can not do it any justice.
Maryland and West Virginia were also beautiful, but there isn't much to write about. The drive was very slow. Route 11 passes through a lot of residential neighborhoods where the speed limits can be as low as 25mph.
Eventually I crossed into western Virginia, and was around the city of Harrisonburg when the sun went down. I saw city lights off of the route to my left, and headed off in that direction, eventually coming to a spot with about 6 hotels next to each other. I called each one to find out their rates and settled with the cheapest one.
As I arrived in the lobby, I was greeted by a young man with a close resemblance to Kenneth from the TV show 30 Rock. Like the character, he was extremely polite and proper. I signed the room contract, and asked him what there was to do in the city as far as places to go out to or to just look around.
"Oh there's nothing like that, and besides, you don't want to go into town, there's lots of people out, and it'll be hard to park."
"Is there a good place to drink?"
"Oh, no, I don't know about that, no, there's some restaurants right around the hotel if you just want a bite to eat though".
I looked over the counter to Kenneth's desk and saw a book with a title along the lines of "Ebracing God", or something of that nature. I thanked him.
On the table in my room there was a copy of a bible complete with a guide on the best way for beginners to read it, and the main lessons that should be taken in from specific parts. I thanked Jesus for the cheap hotel rate, walked out of my room, passed Kenneth in the lobby as he gave me a concerned look akin to one you would give to someone walking into a lethal situation, and went out to explore.
The temperature was down in the low teens, which made it painful to walk around. There were some historical sites from the civil war, but nothing that struck out at me, so I walked into a bar & grill and ordered a beer and a steak. Two middle aged women sat down one chair away and had a very loud conversation about a reality TV show. I could sense that the one closer to my chair wanted to make conversation, and I knew it was inevitable that she would force me to talk to her at some point. I gave myself as much time as possible by looking straight at the TV, but when the bartender asked how the food was, that was her in. "Well, it sure smells great, they have great food here, I really love it." She introduced herself & her friend, and told me they were from some close by town where there are caves that were used by some southern civil war general. I think about 65% of conversations I've ever had in the south somehow make it back to the civil war. I pretended to be impressed, paid the bill, and left.
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