Day 37- July 28

Day 37: July 28th 36,950 on the odometer

Our new amended amended new new itinerary has us stopping in Hershey today on our way to Gettysburg. The route will be mostly freeway.
I only get turned around a couple of times getting in and out of Chocolate World. We don’t have time for the theme park, but find the free ride and museum fairly interesting and informative if a bit cheesy. We spend an hour and a half of our time, but very little of our money here.
Then it is on to Gettysburg. The battlefield museum is pretty good and we spend hours inside. Unfortunately, there is no where near enough time to do the entire auto tour route. You need a full day or two to really cover the place. We do make a point to stop at Little Round Top and Devil’s Den, where Ceci’s great grandfather fought as a Confederate soldier. I had a few relatives that fought for the Union, but don’t know the particulars of exactly where. We discuss the possibility that it was one of my ancestors that wounded and or captured hers here. Neat. It does almost feel like sacred ground.
We’d like to stay longer, but are now considerably behind schedule and are running out of time before sundown. So it’s back to the highway and on to Virginia. My map lets me down a bit again, as I am completely surprised by the sign welcoming us to West Virginia. I hadn’t realized it was on our route. We miss the chance to get a picture of that particular state sign. We stop at Harper’s Ferry so I can check the map. The visitor center is already closed, so no stamp here either, but at least I confirm that we are on the right track. Looks like a nice place but there’s no time to visit here.
We stop for dinner at an A&W as the sun begins to set. As we try and get back on the road, Ceci’s bike keeps dying. Wonderful. Easy fix though, as it turns out the bike just doesn’t like starting from a dead stop in 5th gear. Worth a chuckle at my beloved’s expense.
It is dark and beginning to rain again as we stop at a Holiday Inn. A lot more comfortable than trying to set up camp in the dark rain, but pretty expensive and no free breakfast either. We have stopped about 10 miles short of Skyline Drive, and about 100 miles short of our intended destination for the evening. We spent so much time sightseeing today that we covered only 175 miles. Hardly Iron Butt worthy.